This is a
beautiful story of loyalty of one woman towards another and the godly path it
created….. a story of another ruby above price.
Ruth's story
begins in Moab, her home-land, where she married Mahlon, one of the sons of an
Israelite couple called Elimelech and Naomi, who had fled from their hometown
of Bethlehem because of famine and came to Moab, a gentile country east of the
Dead Sea. Another Moabite woman by the name of Orpah married Chilon, the other
son of that family. Neither of the women produced any children before the
father and both sons died leaving three women destitute.
Ruth's story
is a prime example of how you can go from nothing to everything if you live a
life of loyalty and selflessness. When the famine abated, Naomi, the matriarch,
decided to return to Bethlehem and entreated her daughters-in-law to remain in
Moab and return to their families. Both of the women wept at the suggestion
wanting to follow her but Orpah consented after further encouragement from
Naomi while Ruth refused to abandon her aging mother-in-law who faced a life of
uncertainty without offspring and opportunity (Ruth 1:15-17). And here begins a
life of loyalty.
Ruth, a
convert, accompanied her mother-in-law to Bethlehem and there gained a
reputation of a virtuous woman in Israel. The entire city of Bethlehem knew how
good she was and told Naomi that Ruth was better to her than seven sons (Ruth
3:11, 4:15).
As the poor
in Israel were accustomed to do, Ruth offered to go gleaning the barley fields
being harvested. Gleaning was in effect gathering any stalks of barley that
fell from the harvesters' hands and that were left on the field for the poor to
gather to save them from starvation. Being new in the area, Ruth, unbeknownst
to her, chose a field that belonged to Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi's
husband, but not just any relative. Naomi identified him as the 'next kinsmen’.
This is
where Ruth’s sense of duty, loyalty and care comes into play. Ruth, a young
woman did not seek a man closer to her own age and of her own liking to marry.
She instead heeded the counsel of her mother-in-law and approached Boaz to lay
claim to a 'levirate marriage'. As the 'next kinsmen' it would be his duty to
marry the widowed Ruth and provide her with offspring. This duty would have
fallen to her husband's brother had he remained alive.
What is even
more interesting is that Naomi could have laid this claim herself but Naomi was
too stricken in years to bear more children. If Ruth married and had a son, she
would provide a way for both women to be cared for in their old age. Lucky for
Ruth, Boaz was a good man and was impressed that she was following the
Israelite family law in seeking a rightful husband rather than going after her
own selfish desires. He regarded her proposal as 'a proof of feminine virtue
and modesty by offering herself as a wife to an old man like him rather than
going after young men’. (Ruth 3:10,11)
Ruth, a
converted Gentile, came to Bethlehem empty but was filled in every way. She
went from nothing to everything. By chance that she might have a son, she
married an old man she didn’t know and they had a son, Obed who was the father
of Jesse, who was the father of David, who was the progenitor of Mary, who was
the mother of Christ (Ruth 4:17-22).
By giving
birth to Obed, Ruth brought honour again to her mother-in-law who was left
childless: "And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom and became
nurse unto it. And the women, her neighbours, gave it a name, saying, There is
a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed...." (Ruth 4:16,17).
Thus by her
life's choices Ruth became a symbol of selfless loyalty to be emulated by all the
daughters of God……a loyalty that alleviated the suffering of another…..there is
no greater.
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