IN THE Bible, you will find a book called Ruth. It is a story about a family that lived when Israel had judges. Ruth is a young woman from the land of Mo'ab; she does not belong to God's nation of Israel. However, when Ruth learns about the true God Jehovah, she loves him very much. Na'o·mi is an older woman who helped Ruth learn about Jehovah.
Na'o·mi is an Israelite woman. She and her husband and two sons moved to the land of Mo'ab at a time when there was little food to eat in Israel. Then one-day Na'o· mi's husband died. Later Na'o· mi's sons married two Mo'ab·ite girls named Ruth and Or'pah. But after about ten years, Na'o· mi's two sons died. How sad Na'o·mi and the two girls were! What would Na'o·mi do now?
One day Na'o·mi decides to make the long trip back home to her people. Ruth and Or'pah want to stay with her, so they go along too. But after they have traveled awhile on the road, Na'o·mi turns to the girls and says: 'Go back home and stay with your mothers.'
Na'o·mi kisses the girls goodbye. At that, they start to cry because they love Na'o·mi very much. They say: 'No! We will go with you to your people.' But Na'o·mi answers: 'You must go back, my daughters. It will be better for you at home.' So Or'pah starts on her way home. However, Ruth does not go.
Na'o·mi turns to her and says: 'Or'pah has left. You too go home with her.' However, Ruth answers: 'Do not try to make me leave you! Let me go with you. Where you go, I will go, and where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried.' When Ruth says this, Na'o·mi does not try to make her go home anymore.
Finally, the two women get to Israel. Here they settle down to live. Ruth right away begins working in the fields because it is the time to gather the barley. A man named Bo'az lets her gather barley in his fields. Do you know who the mother of Bo'az was? She was Ra'hab of the city of Jer'i·cho.
One day Bo'az tells Ruth: 'I have heard all about you, and how kind you have been to Na'o·mi. I know how you left your father and mother and your own country and how you came to live among a people you had never known before. May Jehovah be good to you!'
Ruth answers: 'You are very kind to me, sir. You have made me feel better by the nice way that you have spoken to me.' Bo'az likes Ruth very much, and it is not long before they get married. How happy this makes Na'o·mi! However, Na'o·mi is even happier when Ruth and Bo'az have their first son, named O'bed. Later O'bed becomes the grandfather of David, about whom we will learn a lot later.
We can learn a lot from the relationship of Ruth and Naomi, and loyalty is among the lessons. Ruth was the Moabite daughter-in-law of a Jewess named Naomi. They were living in Moab when both of their husbands died. Naomi planned to return to Israel and encouraged Ruth to stay in Moab and return to her mother's family. There would be nothing for Ruth in Judah, Naomi told her.
Rather than heed Naomi's advice, Ruth begged Naomi to allow her to emigrate to Judah. Ruth's statement of fidelity is touching: "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me" (Ruth 1:16–17). These beautiful words of commitment, sometimes included in wedding vows, show Ruth's deep loyalty to Naomi.
Ruth and Naomi were family. They had lived closely for some time due to Ruth's marriage to Naomi's son. Ruth and Naomi had already developed a strong relationship prior to this decision by Ruth to go to Israel with her mother-in-law. Ruth 2:11 says that Ruth "left [her] father and mother and [her] homeland and came to live with a people [she] did not know before." Ruth cared enough for Naomi to forsake her homeland and help provide for Naomi with no guarantee of security for herself.
Ruth expressed her loyalty to Naomi in a solemn vow, calling judgment upon herself if she ever left her (Ruth 1:17). Ruth also committed to following Naomi's God (Ruth 1:16). She would abandon the gods of Moab, and Ruth and Naomi would both be committed to the one true God of Israel. Significantly, when Ruth said, "May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me" (verse 17), she uses the covenant name, Yahweh. Naomi was convinced Ruth was serious: "When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her" (Ruth 1:18). Ruth and Naomi set out for Bethlehem together with Ruth's decision.
The story of Ruth and Naomi is contrasted with that of Orpah and Naomi. Orpah was Ruth's sister-in-law, having been married to another of Naomi's sons. When Naomi bade her daughters-in-law farewell, "Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye" (Ruth 1:16) and returned to her family. Naomi tried to use Orpah's departure as an incentive for Ruth to also stay in Moab: "Look . . . your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her" (Ruth 1:15). But Ruth chose the path of loyalty to her mother-in-law, even if it meant giving up everything she was used to in Moab.
The story of Ruth and Naomi shows what true loyalty is like. In addition to loyalty, Ruth exhibited respect, love, friendship, and humility. The provision of many blessings followed Ruth's loyalty (see Ruth 4). Just as Ruth chose loyalty to Naomi and Naomi's God, so should we choose loyalty to God and God's people over any commitment to the world. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness," Jesus said, "and all these things [of daily necessity] will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).
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?"
"Do not 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."
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest began.
Ruth might hold the title of best daughter-in-law ever. However, the book of Ruth is more than it might appear at first glance. Recently I have discovered the parallel between the familiar tale and a New Covenant life.
The book of Ruth and us
So how could this story possibly relate to our lives now?
We, too, have to decide to turn our backs on our old lives and start a new journey. God calls us and draws our hearts to Him, and we receive faith to start a new life. This means that we give up all of our wills and whatever else God requires of us, anything that would prevent us from following Jesus 100%. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple," Jesus said. (Luke 14:26) This seems to be a tall order of things to give up, but it does not mean that we turn our backs on everyone we know; instead, we do not allow anything or anyone to divert us from following Him.
Just as Ruth may have been tempted to leave Naomi and return home, Satan will try to persuade us to turn back to our old ways of living. However, our commitment as disciples must be complete. What we have left behind will become like garbage when we get our eyes opened to the blessing that comes from following Jesus out of love for Him. Faith conquers our will, feelings, and lust as we follow Christ.
"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Nevertheless, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish so that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:7-8.
