We find ourselves still in chapter 26 of Genesis today we see our word used for the first time in the Bible in our chapter. מֹרָה bitterness, sorrow, grief. It is used only twice in the Old Testament as the noun form. The other time it is used is in Proverbs 14:10 The heart knows its own מֹרָה bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy. We see that our word is a very personal individual thing. I think this is referring to each person experiences bitterness or grief differently. The same thing can happen to two people, and they will handle it differently. It can be shared, however, in the sense of two people experiencing the same source of the pain of bitterness. This is what we find in our chapter today. Genesis 26:34-35 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of מֹרָה grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
The verb form מָרַר is used 16 times in the Old Testament. A great example of this word is found in the book of Ruth. After Naomi’s husband and two sons died she leaves to go back to her home country in Bethlehem. Ruth 1:12-14 Turn back, my daughters; go your way…No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly מָרַרbitter 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. Then when Naomi and Ruth get back to Naomi’s hometown we see our word again. Ruth 1:19-21 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me מָרָ֔א Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very מָרַרbitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” I think we can all relate to Naomi because it is hard to deal with loss in this life and not understand what God is doing or allowing to happen to us. After Joseph died and a new Pharaoh became king of Egypt who did not know all that Joseph did. This is what happened to God’s people. Exodus 1:13-14 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives מָרַר bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. Wow after God used Joseph to save the world from starvation and enrich Egypt this is how his people are treated. Sometimes we just don’t understand why these things happen in this fallen messed up world. Both Naomi and the Hebrew people did what God calls us to do with these painful emotions associated with bitter realities that we face. They cried out to God about it. When we trust God with our feelings he leads us to healing and gladness. I like how Ecclesiastes 7:3 points out how this works. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. When we allow ourselves to feel the emotion of sadness people can see it on our face because we are not stopping ourselves from feeling what we need to feel. We don’t act on our emotions nor do we stop them by pushing them down. Instead we trust God with them. Watch how God works in Naomi’s life to bring her from sadness or bitterness to gladness. Ruth 1:14-17 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!...for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse...“A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. God not only brought joy and hope back into Naomi’s life he was working through her to bring his son Jesus Christ into the world to save us and to bring us all joy and hope.
