Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Ruth 1:8
She was Widowed
Naomi, Ruth, and Naomi’s other daughter-in-law, Orpah, were all widowed and all at the same time, and this was not good because their sons were also dead, so here were three widows all without a means to survive, so Naomi tells Ruth and Orpah to return back to their homeland, so these three women certainly knew the sting of death as all were widowed and had only God to look after them.
She was Faithful
When Naomi suggested Orpah and Ruth go back to Moab, she said, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me” (Ruth 1:8), so Orpah did but Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16).
She was Loyal
Naomi could have returned to her own people but her loyalty was to Naomi and she forsook her own people and pagan religion to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem and said Naomi’s God would be her God and wherever Naomi went, Ruth would go. I think this is a picture of Ruth’s faithfulness to her mother-in-law and even though her husband had died, Ruth still considered Naomi her mother and as a sign of her loyalty to Naomi, she went with her, but not so much so she would be taken care of by Naomi, but to make sure Naomi would be taken care of.
Conclusion
Ruth is a picture of the believer in Christ. Her humility and submission shows that God will resist the proud but only give grace to the humble (James 4:6), so until a person humbles themselves, they are resisting God…but Ruth never resisted God and through marrying Boaz, she became part of the royal lineage of Jesus Christ.
