Widower, foreigner, and poor
The news of her last son’s death came as a shock to Naomi, who would have thought that husband and both sons would die before her! The family she helped raise was now gone from the face of the earth and all she had left were two daughters-in-law, who should soon go back to their own families.
One of them didn’t though. Ruth insisted on staying by Naomi’s side, which was the same as saying ‘I give up on life’, after all, the widow had nothing to lean on: no income, no heritage, no family, and no prospect of a future.
Ruth had not only heard about the God of Israel that Naomi served, but most of all, seen His characteristics in her. After all that she had gone through, Naomi was a strong woman, different from every other women she knew. She was wise, caring, loving, strong, patient, and everything she wished she could be. When the moment came for Ruth to decide to either go back home and to the same old ways or go with Naomi to a strange land, be poor and despised for being a foreigner, and have no prospect of a love life as a widower – Ruth chose the latter.
Everybody must have thought she was crazy, but Ruth was certain of her choice, this was the only choice she had to come close to this God of Israel. She was ready to sacrifice her future, her family, her status, and her entire life just for that.
It is no wonder that God placed Ruth right in His plans. She became not only the grandmother of King David, who is by the way, in the lineage of the Kings of kings, our Lord Jesus, but also got a book in the Bible just to tell her story – one of the few women the Bible gives not only reference to but dedicates an entire book to.
It is pretty clear to me that Ruth was not a lucky lady! She just made the right decision, which sometimes may look crazy and inadequate.
A jump in the dark, a step to the unknown, an uncomfortable way to go, and so on.
When Ruth got to Israel, she had nothing to hold on to, except her relationship with Naomi and God, which made everything even greater, because if she had riches and popularity, one could think it helped her a bit – but no, she had nothing.
She stood out among the other young women who had everything she didn’t have and soon people started to talk about Ruth throughout her town. What an amazing woman!
God blessed her love life, gave her a family, prospered her tremendously, and made her name be known throughout the world and spoken about until today. Can anyone be more blessed that that?
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