The Book of Ruth: A Rare Bond of Love

Where you will go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God...May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.

During a severe famine, things got so bad in Canaan that Naomi's Israelite family migrates into enemy territory to survive. There, her two sons marry local pagan women and settle down. Years later, both of her sons and her husband die. With no man to rely on, the women's lives were at risk in those rough times. No one else would come to their defense. Naomi then decides to return to the land of her birth. Taking a big risk by immigrating to a land where the people may treat her as a despised foreigner, Ruth, the daughter in law, insists on returning with Naomi to the land of the Israelites and somewhere along the way, converts to the worship of the true God.

In fact, behind the story of Ruth looms the invisible helper- God. He didn't intervene in the events, so far as the story tells, but nobody in Ruth doubted that life proceeded under God's direction. It was the Lord by whom Ruth swore when declaring her love to Naomi and the Lord whom Naomi credited for bringing Ruth to Boaz's field (2:20). God's law brought Boaz and Ruth into marriage. Finally, the Lord gave them a son, in whom mother, father, and grandmother found deep satisfaction. Despite being a member of the despised Moabites- staunch enemies of Israel- God not only accepted Ruth into his family but also used her to produce Israel's greatest king. Ruth's great-grandson turned out to be David.

Ruth's life make a fascinating story in itself, but it has a much larger significance. She contradicts a common assumption about the God of the Old Testament- that only members of one special tribe could be his chosen people. Ruth was fully accepted among God's people because she chose to follow the true God, despite her foreign background. God's love and grace is an open invitation to anyone who chooses to accept him.

Life Question: Do you find it hard to accept and admire those who come from outside your group? What "qualifications" do you set up?

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I'd like to think that one of my strengths is to initiate new friendships. I try not to cling to any pre-conceived notions about anyone. I've always believed that God sends you people throughout the course of your life for a very specific reason, and it would be rather foolish on my part to close the door on an individual because he or she didn't meet some kind of rigid "floor-plan" that I've concocted...my plan isn't always God's plan.