Orpah Goes Home

Was this a mistake? Hindsight is always 20:20.

This is Part 5 looking at The Book of Ruth.

Naomi loved her two daughters by marriage and they loved her, otherwise they would not have wept at the idea that they needed to part. It broke Naomi’s heart to see either of these young women go. After all they were with each other every day for perhaps a decade, and especially close after the loss of her sons, their husbands. Think of the deep and long conversations they must have had as the grieved.

Where was God?

Why did this happen?

Are we being punished?

And what is also not overtly mentioned as part of their great sadness of this — no children. In a very deep way they had been derailed from the life of their dreams. For Naomi it was outliving her boys. For Orpah and Ruth it was their empty wombs.

The two young ladies persist to stay with Naomi and to the old lady’s credit she is more concerned with their future happiness than her own. In fact I think the evidence thus far is that Naomi was a devout religious follower of Yahweh who honored her God and husband by accepting his decision, whatever the reason, to go to Moab. It must have seemed a good idea at the time. My point is she did not necessarily believe this idea to be particularly brilliant, she just happened to believe she wasn’t in charge. Plus she had the character quality of intense loyalty and love. She accepted the decision of her husband to move to Moab and her sons to marry women from another culture because she loved them. Full stop.

This is not to say that Orpah and Ruth were not Yahweh believers by the time they joined the family, but certainly it was not a part of their their culture growing up. They had much to learn.

This takes us back to their journey on the dusty path heading back to where Naomi was from, Bethlehem in Judah, somewhere before crossing the boarder out of Moab.

[Naomi speaking]

“The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!”

Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”

But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?

Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown?

Would you therefore refrain from marrying?

No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again.

And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

Ruth 1:9-15 (ESV)

Poor Orpah.

She made the rational choice.

She returned to her people and their way of life.

What’s wrong with this?

Isn’t every culture the same?

Of the two options before her she chose to leave a life she was growing into with two people she loved and who loved her and return certainly with the hope of finding a husband and having a family of her own. What’s wrong with this?

Nothing is wrong with this.

She left with Naomi’s beautiful blessing and prayer that God would keep her safe and give her what her heart desires.

We, the ones reading this story know of the ending for the other two but not for Orpah, but let’s not be quick to impugn her motives or character. She was a broken young lady doing the best she could under her circumstances.

It reminds me of another story earlier than this one about Hagar. It is the entire chapter 16 in Genesis.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the LORD said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

This story shows that even in the follies of men God is still caring for each one. In fact you might say that God loved Hagar as much as he loved Abram who would later be renamed Abraham. And he loves you no less than he loved them.

So Orpah moves off the page of our story and we know no more about her life, but the one who knows every star by name and every hair on your head and mine knows Orpah intimately and his nature is to redeem.

Good bye Orpah and go with our blessings as well.

God, the real author of the Bible, is also the one behind the bigger story that includes your life and mine. History, as life continues, and it may for continue for millennia more. And if it does, time will erase you and me and everyone we know. Yes, this seems sad, except when we choose to place our lives into the hands of the one outside of time.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Revelation 21:5-6 (ESV)

Next time, let’s meet Ruth.