Ruth’s Faith

At one point, Naomi was as secure as a woman could be in the ancient world. She had a husband, Elimelech, who was a prosperous landowner, and two sons who could take care of her when that husband was gone. But then there was a famine. Often in Israel, God sent famines to discipline Israel when they engaged in idolatry. Instead of staying and trusting God, her family left the promised land for Moab, where there was food. Elimelech died, and her sons married Moabite women, a sign of spiritual unfaithfulness. Things went from bad to worse when her sons died, leaving her a widow in a foreign land with two dependent daughters-in-law.

She told her sons’ widows to go back to their fathers’ houses, where they could remarry and perhaps better their circumstances. Orpah reluctantly left, but Ruth clung to Naomi. Ruth no longer considered herself to belong in Moab, living a Moabite lifestyle and serving Moabite idols. She would be loyal to the family she married into and their God, even if Naomi was the only remaining member of that family.

The biblical narrative shows that God blessed Naomi through Ruth, a comparatively “worthless” woman, more than through her husband and sons.

The biblical narrative shows that God blessed Naomi through Ruth, a comparatively “worthless” woman, more than through her husband and sons. Ruth went into the fields to do the hard and embarrassing work of gleaning in the fields. Providentially, she went to the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. He became her protector and, eventually, Elimelech’s kinsman-redeemer. When Ruth married Boaz (the son of Salmon and Rahab) according to the custom of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5–10), her firstborn son carried on the name of Elimelech, and Naomi became the baby’s nursemaid.

Normally, we can’t see until years later how God can use even terrible circumstances in our lives for his glory and our good. But people who have been blessed to walk with the Lord for decades often have wonderful stories of God’s faithfulness in tragedies. Naomi had no way of knowing that the circumstances that led her to go to Moab, then return with only a daughter-in-law, were ultimately used to get an ancestor of the Messiah to the right place and time to marry her husband.

Questions for Discussion/Reflection: Can you think of a time in your life when God used a tragedy for his glory and your good? If so, how has that experience grown your faith?

Suggestion for Prayer: Ask for help in maintaining an eternal perspective on your life’s circumstances, even when going through hard things.