Ruth

The Faithful Foreigner

READ Ruth 1:16–22

Perhaps when you were a child your parents read picture books to you before bed, or you read to your own children now. You may have favorite ones about unbreakable love, where a parent character (often a bunny, a fox, or another animal) assures their child, I will love you, no matter what. These simple books of unbreakable love and faithfulness are moving. What child would not want to hear that their parents love them, no matter what?

That kind of loyalty and faithfulness is put on beautiful display in the book of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite woman, and the Israelites did not care for the Moabites (Deuteronomy 23:3). Yet she showed the most unlikely, unwavering, inspiring loyalty and love to her mother-in-law, Naomi.

Naomi’s life falls apart in the first chapter of Ruth. A severe famine sent Naomi, her husband, and their sons from Israel to the land of Moab to survive. In Moab, her husband died. Her two sons married Moabite women, but then the two sons died as well. Naomi was left empty, in a foreign land with only her two foreign daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. When word reached Naomi that the famine back home in Bethlehem had finally ended, Naomi set out for Israel. Her daughters-in-law set out with her, but Naomi bid them to return to their own parents and homes. Life would be hard for Moabite widows in Israel.

Orpah returned home at Naomi’s bidding, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi. In a powerful speech, Ruth professed, “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” (Ruth 1:16–17). These are words of such total commitment that I have even heard them included in wedding vows. Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi knew no limits, even though she didn’t know what the future would hold.

Although circumstances were grim for the two widows in Bethlehem, God provided for them. By God’s providence, Ruth gleaned for grain in the fields of Boaz. Boaz, it turned out, was a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband. He took on the role of the family guardian redeemer, caring for the family in the wake of a relative’s passing. Although Ruth was a foreign widow, Boaz agreed to marry her in order to care for her and for Naomi.

Both Boaz and Ruth are described as having noble and upright character, and both showed stunning loyalty and love. Unfortunately, loyalty and relationship faithfulness seem to be in short supply today. People are fickle. Often we see people put themselves first, abandoning marriages when they deem the relationship inconvenient or unexciting. Our society needs models of loyalty and “no matter what” love, like Ruth demonstrated, and commitment to noble character.

Faithfulness and loyalty are not just for children’s books and Bible stories. Ruth’s story invites us to reflect on the most important relationships in our lives. How can we deepen and demonstrate a Ruth-like faithfulness and loyalty to those God has placed around us, starting with our families?

Consider how you can demonstrate loyalty and selflessness in the important relationships in your life. View this assignment not as an imposition on your independence, but instead as a witness to your love and a testimony of God’s grace working through you. As Christ said, the world will know we are his followers through our acts of love (John 13:35). Paul instructed Christians to be devoted to one another out of love and to honor others above ourselves (Romans 12:10). This is what true loyalty looks like—something Ruth beautifully and powerfully modeled.