“Fearless Together,” For the Strength of Youth, June 2022.
Come, Follow Me
Fearless Together
Naomi and Ruth didn’t have much. But they had each other and faith in God.
Illustrations by Katy Dockrill
Her whole world had collapsed beneath her. Naomi, a righteous Israelite woman in the Old Testament, had not only lost her husband but also her two sons (see Ruth 1:2–5).
Because of when and where she lived, this meant almost certain financial disaster for her. In that culture and time, it was difficult for a woman to earn a living by herself. If a woman’s husband died, her sons were supposed to take care of her.
But when they died as well, Naomi was left without support, living far away from home and from her people. So she and her daughters-in-law started journeying to Israel.
Thinking of the welfare of her daughters-in-law, however, Naomi told them they should go back to Moab so their families could take care of them.
But they loved their mother-in-law. They replied, “Surely we will return with thee unto thy people” (Ruth 1:9–10). They wanted to stay with Naomi.
Despite their protests, Naomi urged them again to go home. After some weeping, one daughter-in-law chose to leave.
The other, however, clung to Naomi even more. She then spoke words that are one of the great examples of loyalty in all of scripture:
“Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
This faithful woman and daughter-in-law was named Ruth. And she had no idea that her display of loyalty and love to Naomi would set off a chain of events that would bless the whole world.
What Ruth Faced
Let’s be clear on one thing: Ruth didn’t have money stashed away. She wasn’t in any position to take care of Naomi financially—or even of herself. In fact, Ruth’s safest path was to return home like Naomi said. By sticking together, they would have to struggle for a living. Even knowing this, Ruth would not leave Naomi to face that fate alone. Her loyalty ran deep.
Ruth faced more hardships. She had converted to the God of Israel, Jesus Christ, sometime after she married her husband. She came from Moab, where the people worshipped other gods. Ruth was willing to journey to a foreign land (Bethlehem) where she would be an outsider with a different religious background and upbringing. All of this without any promise of help or security.
What she did have, however, was faith in God and loyalty to Naomi.
Blessings from Faithfulness
When they arrived at Bethlehem, Ruth suggested that she go to the fields to glean for food (gather the grain that had fallen to the ground, after the harvesters had passed).
Gleaning in the fields led Ruth to meet Boaz. He was an important man who was related to Naomi’s husband. Boaz felt compassion for Ruth. He had heard how faithful Ruth was to Naomi and to the God of Israel (see Ruth 2:11–12).
Soon Ruth was gleaning only in Boaz’s fields, and Ruth and Naomi had enough food to eat. Naomi saw an opportunity to help Ruth. She suggested that Ruth present herself to Boaz as a possible wife.
Ruth responded as you would expect: “All that thou sayest unto me I will do” (Ruth 3:5).
Boaz did marry Ruth (see Ruth 4:13), which provided safety and security for Naomi and Ruth. Even more, they had a son who was an ancestor of Jesus Christ (see Ruth 4:17 and John 7:42).
Naomi and Ruth were left at one time without much to call their own. But they had each other. “Thy daughter in law, which loveth thee,” some women said to Naomi, “is better to thee than seven sons” (Ruth 4:15).
What they had, in each other and in the Lord, was all they needed.