WHAT NAOMI HAD
D. E. Burr
I have been impressed, as we have been listening to what has been said, as to what Naomi had. As we know from the history, her husband had died, and then her sons died. She was in a land of famine, a land where outwardly everything was against her, where there was no resource, where what she had leaned on for support had been entirely removed, no masculine comfort whatever. But it appears from what Ruth said, and from what the Spirit of God records, that she had at least three things: she had a God, she had her people, and she had a relation, a mighty man of wealth. And as we have been taught, Naomi really is expressive of the assembly in days of brokenness, in days when things are publicly weak and of no account with men, indeed passed by without any recognition. Naomi is a figure of weakness, a figure outwardly to be pitied because of what is lacking; and that is what the assembly publicly has come to—the church publicly in breakdown. You think of what it was in the pristine day, the unity that was there, the resource that was there, what the service of God must have—been, and the speaking of the Spirit when all were together and had all things common—what a time it was! But it lasted only a very brief while before discord and disintegration began to come in, and we have seen this extended right down to our day.
But then Naomi and all that she speaks of is not without resource—she is not without what properly belongs to her; and Ruth the Moabitess the gentile, who had no claim, and yet who was
stimulated by affection and an appreciation of the worth that was there in Naomi—recognises what Naomi has, and she says, “Whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge—thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God”. Whatever else Naomi lacked she had her people, and she had her God. She had her own people, as our brother has been saying (see March 1979 issue p.14), she had those to whom she could go, with whom she had an affinity, who loved and appreciated her. Whatever her failings, whatever the breakdown, whatever the departure, there were those that belonged to her, those that she had a right to go to, and those who would appreciate and recognise the claim that she had over them. No doubt Ruth had not met them; she had only heard by report; but to say that “thy people shall be my people” means that she senses that there is something of great value there, something that is for her comfort, for her encouragement and for her building up in resource and strength and wealth, that these people that Naomi had were available for her to lay claim to. In a sense she had not been invited; you might say, What temerity to lay claim to this. But then Ruth had a right—as all those that are found washing their robes have a right—a “right to the tree of life”
(Revelation 22: 14); and Ruth had a right to all the resource and power and comfort that were to be found in Naomi’s people.
And then, “thy God my God”—what a resource that was, that Naomi had a God. Ruth evidently had been acquainted with her for some years—she must have been—and yet perhaps until this moment of testing came, the true value and worth of Naomi’s God had not dawned in her soul. However, when she sees Naomi retracing her steps, going back out of Moab towards Bethlehem, anticipating the wealth of a city where there was food, the light of what Naomi’s God could be to her dawned on her.
And this is what the assembly has. The assembly has, even in days of brokenness and weakness, a unique appreciation of God Himself that no other family has, the appreciation of the resource that there is in God. So she found as she clung to Naomi, as she joined with her, followed her lead, went in her steps, took this way over the Jordan and came to Bethlehem, the place where the Lord Himself was born, “little to be among the thousands of Judah”
(Micah 5: 2), that the appreciation of what God was to Naomi deepened in her. Thus Ruth is found in full association with Naomi, clinging to her, going in her steps in a way of faith, not fully knowing where she was going because this was a new way to Ruth, she had not been this way before; but she was going away content to leave Moab and to enter into the small confines of Bethlehem in the reproach of association with one who had lost everything publicly. She was drawn into it by the recognition of the fact that Naomi’s God was the source, the power, and the fulness of all that she found comfort in.
But then she goes a stage further, because she discovers that Naomi not only had this, but that she also had a relation who was a mighty man of wealth. What treasure he had under his hand!—what food supply; the immenseness of the barley and the wheat that were his; the fields were his, the product was his, the reapings were his. The gleanings he left for others, but the sum of the wealth was his—a mighty man of wealth.
Well, Ruth hears of this and goes on until she is brought into full association with this mighty man of wealth; but she arrives at it by association with Naomi. Typically she finds through the assembly what Christ really is as a provider of food. One who can elevate her above all that she had ever dreamt of or lived for. She finds that this
mighty man of wealth is going to raise her up and set on a line of things that brings in the worshipper and brings in David and Solomon. Think of Ruth thus becoming productive of that great royal line that goes on to Christ.
These passages came to mind, as complementing perhaps what our brothers have said, as to what Naomi had, whatever she might appear to be outwardly. As in touch with her and in vital contact with the life that is there she brings into expression and shares these things that she has—her people, her God, and the mighty man of wealth. Well, let us appreciate the assembly in this way as bringing us into the enjoyment of this vast area of resource, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Helston
30 May 1978