The story of Naomi from the Bible is one that never ceases to amaze me, it’s an amazing story of faith, love, and loyalty that can teach us so much. I love how this story brings us full circle and we get to see Naomi change in each season of her life until God restores what has been lost and blesses her with a grandchild, and a son-in-law that will care for her and her beloved daughter-in-law.
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A Look At Naomi From The Bible
The story of Naomi from the Bible is one of the better know stories of women in the Bible, and yet there are still so many pearls of wisdom to be mined from it.
Meaning Of Naomi From The Bible
The name Naomi is from the Hebrew name נָעֳמִי which means “pleasantness”.
Who Was Naomi From The Bible?
Naomi from the Bible was an Israelite woman in the Old Testament book of Ruth, she was a wife and a mother who through tragic events was left alone in a foreign land with her two daughters-in-law.
Naomi From The Bible Verses
The story of Naomi from the Bible is a wonderful story that teaches us how to rely on God even when we don’t understand. Through the beginning of the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament, we get a wonderful look at the back story of the characters in this book and we get to know two of the best-known women mentioned in the Bible.
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. Ruth 1: 1-5 NIV
Naomi from the Bible experienced great loss in her lifetime, she had to leave her home because of the drought and then arrived in a new land only to lose her husband and sons.
When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Ruth 1:6-7
The Story Of Naomi From The Bible
The story of Naomi in the Bible can be found in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament and takes place during the Book of Judges.
Facts About Naomi From The Bible
Naomi from the Bible is an amazing story about God seeing this woman through the hard times and using the pain and confusion for a great purpose. Let’s look at some interesting facts about Naomi:
- Naomi was married to a man named Elimelek.
- Naomi had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion.
- Naomi from the Bible left her home town of Bethlehem with her husband and sons because of the famine.
- While living in Moab Naomi’s husband and sons died leaving her and her two daughters-in-law alone.
- Naomi returned to her home land after the death of her family with Ruth one of her daughter-in-laws.
- In the end Naomi’s sorrow and bitterness are turned to joy, as the Lord provides for both her and Ruth.
Why Did Naomi From The Bible Changer Her Name To Mara?
When Naomi from the Bible returned to her hometown she was changed, she wasn’t the same woman who had departed with her husband and children. She was alone now, except for her daughter-in-law Ruth. Bitterness had taken root in her heart after losing so much, she was hurting and angry. When she arrived back in her hometown and faced with answering all the questions from old friends it all comes to head as she declares to them, call me Mara which means Bitter.
So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” Ruth 1:19-21
Why Did Naomi Encourage Her Daughter-In-Law To Stay in Moab?
As a widow returning home Naomi from the Bible had no home, and no way to support herself, though she loved her daughters-in-law greatly and to all appearance they loved her she knew that they had families and homes in Moab that they could return to. Despite the fact that Ruth & Orpah would have been a comfort to her, she loved them enough to send them back to their families where they had a home assured.
What Do We Learn From Naomi From The Bible
Empty is a journey, a walk, a season that proves everything that we’ve learned in the storm. Empty is a lonely, broken place. You’ve walked through a dry season for so long… you followed eager to be a part of what God was doing- but now you find yourself used up, poured out, tired of fighting.
You’ve been in the trenches, on the front line giving your all. But it’s not like what it was at first, it’s not as easy, it’s not as fulfilling and you feel yourself being pulled back. Part of you feels relieved, you can rest now, you can lower your arms. But the other side wonders what you did wrong, what happened? Why, do I feel so empty? Naomi from the Bible returned to her homeland empty and bitter, she’d lost everything. She returned with empty arms and a broken heart and there was no way for her to hide it.
God Is Still On The Throne When We Feel Empty
Now you find yourself walking through an endless desert. Your hands are tired, your arms are weary, your heart is battered. Maybe you even doubt that you heard His call bringing you to this place, surely, surely this empty feeling wasn’t supposed to happen. Perhaps you question if it was worth it, the need was so great, and your best was like a single tear in an ocean of need.
We’ve come back home like Naomi from the Bible, empty and now we must face all those who knew us when. We have to face the people that cheered us on when we left or cast their stones, and we feel like we have to explain why we’re empty. Quickly that doubt creeps in maybe we were wrong, perhaps He didn’t call us there. Maybe, maybe… so soon in the face of that doubt, the lessons we learned out on the water start to fall flat. They fade from view, and we try to hide the empty place, we try to cover it up. In our desperation to hide that we’ve come home empty that area is left a void. It begins to harden, and crack, what had been born out on the water withers in the wasteland.
You know I think we are much harder on ourselves than anyone back home ever would be, but fear slithers back up, and before we know it, it becomes heavy shackles. The fear of what our friends, our family members will think keeps us hiding behind a wall of shame that should never have been born. The truth is that our feelings lie, and even though we may feel abandoned, God is still on the throne.
When You Have Nothing Left To Give, He Is All You Need
Do not get so caught up worrying about what they will think or say. This season isn’t about them. You do not need their seal of approval. Remember, you don’t need their acceptance, you don’t even need them to tell you it was worth it because when you have the approval of someone higher up, people’s approval doesn’t matter. You didn’t do this for them.
This season doesn’t mean you messed up, it doesn’t mean you’re lost, it’s just another tool, like the lessons we’ve learned in the storm. Like Naomi from the Bible learned when you have nothing left to give when your hands are empty, and all you see is swirling sand, HE IS ALL YOU NEED.
Naomi From The Bible Shows Us That God Uses This Season
We try so hard to get away from this place- but it is the thing that God is using to teach us. He is using it to prove His power in your life. God let Shadrack, Meshach, and Abendago walk into the furnace to show Nebuchadnezzar that He was God. He parted the Red Sea so that the nations would know that He was God. He allowed Daniel to spend a night in the lion’s den so He could shut their mouths and Naomi to experience this season so that she would return to her homeland with Ruth and through Naomi from the Bible Ruth could fulfill her destiny.
Don’t worry about the fire that surrounds you, or the water, because He’s right there with you. Every step of the way He is there. It’s another layer of learning to rely on Him. Perhaps the very reason He brought you to the lion’s den is so that He could shut their mouths and you would know it could only be Him.
Just Because We Feel Empty Doesn’t Mean That God Can’t Use Us
Do not get so caught up worrying about what they will think or say. This season, this season isn’t about them. You do not need their seal of approval. Remember, you don’t need their acceptance, you don’t even need them to tell you it was worth it because when you have the approval of someone higher up, people’s approval doesn’t matter. You didn’t do this for them. Naomi from the Bible shows us that even when we feel empty, God can use this season.
Naomi From The Bible Shows Us That He Has A Purpose
This season doesn’t mean you messed up, it doesn’t mean you’re lost, it’s just another tool, like the lessons we’ve learned in the storm. When you have nothing left to give, when your hands are empty, and all you see is swirling sand, HE IS ALL YOU NEED.
We try so hard to get away from this place- but it is the thing that God is using to teach us. He is using it to prove His power in your life. God let Shadrack, Meshach, and Abendago walk into the furnace to show Nebuchadnezzar that He was God. He parted the Red Sea so that the nations would know that He was God. He allowed Daniel to spend a night in the lion’s den so He could shut their mouths.
Don’t worry about the fire that surrounds you, or the water, because He’s right there with you. Every step of the way He is there. Just like God was with Naomi from the Bible, He has and will be with you. It’s another layer of learning to rely on Him. Perhaps the very reason He brought you to the lion’s den is so that He could shut their mouths and you would know it could only be Him.
Naomi From The Bible Reminds Us That God Has Already Won
Don’t surrender to what is already under your feet, this battle has already been won. He’s already forged the way across this wasteland, you just have to keep walking. Don’t forget the lessons you’ve learned in the storm. Some of the dry places that we want so badly to avoid are the very places that God is going to use the most.
Maybe faith is believing in what we will only understand after we walk through this season. Naomi from the Bible couldn’t understand why she had to walk through the pain, why she had to return home feeling empty. And yet in the end despite her struggle with bitterness her faith in God was unshaken.
Keep clinging to Him, He will sustain you. You were not lost in the storm, He will not forget you in the desert. This season is where all the promises and the lessons that we’ve learned are put to the test. Sometimes we get so caught up describing what we are going through, that we forget to praise the one that is seeing us through. If we can praise Him in the storm, why can’t we praise Him here? Praise Him in the dry season!
The Story Of Naomi From The Bible Tells Us That He Will See Us Through
Perhaps the whole purpose of us walking through the dry season was so that someone who is also walking through a wasteland will know they are not forgotten. That this place is not where they are lost. He is still faithful in this season, and even if our only offering is broken praise and salty tears it’s enough. Because He takes our little and pours Himself over it, and it becomes enough.
You are not the first person to walk through this desert, my friend you are in good company. I know this wasteland feels empty, it feels barren and endless without a chance of changing- but I promise it’s not. You may not be able to see what is over the next hill, but He’s already been there, He’s already carved the way.
He is the water your parched soul craves. Perhaps the lesson of the dry season is to strip away everything we think we need, everything we think will fulfill us, every seal of approval we think we need so that we’ll remember when the next storm comes that all we need is Him. Maybe it takes the trek through the dry season to compound the knowledge that we don’t need the world’s approval. If He is in it, IT’S WORTH IT. Perhaps we’ve been brought to this place so we won’t fear the discomfort of being squeezed out because He is the living water and He will never run dry.
Before you go, check these out!
- An Important Lesson From Mary And Martha In The Bible
- 4 Things The Woman With The Alabaster Jar Can Teach Us
- Important Lessons From Jairus’s Daughter In The Bible
- What The Adulterous Woman In The Bible Can Teach Us About Mercy
- How Rahab In The Bible Can Impact Us Today
- Powerful Lessons From Deborah In The Bible
