I Will Go

“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.’”—Ruth 4:16-17

Commitment. Our culture today has a phobia when it comes to commitment—whether that be of a man to a woman, or a parent to a child, an employee to a job, or an individual to a church, we are commitment phobes—but not Ruth. The story of Ruth is one of passionate, unwavering devotion in the midst of great difficulty. The story of Ruth is the story of two women—the Moabitess Ruth and her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi.

Naomi was from the land of Judah, and because of a great famine, Naomi and her husband had left Judah with their two sons to live in the land of Moab where times were better. While there, her husband died and her two boys married Moabite women. We are not told why, or what happened to them, but after ten years, both of her sons also died, leaving their wives as widows. Naomi had never remarried after the death of her husband and probably lived with one of her two sons until they too passed away. Three widows: a mother and her two daughters-in-law in a Middle Eastern culture meant very little status in society. It was a patriarchal culture and three single ladies would have a hard time making a living in Moab. Naomi survived by working in the fields of Moab, and that too seemed to be drying up. Destitute, dejected and distraught at her life in Moab and the future she faced, Naomi made a difficult decision. While working in the fields she had heard that Judah had recovered from the famine and there was food again. Intrigued at the possibility of a better life in Judah, she decided to return to her homeland. Soon after leaving, she decided to send her daughters-in-law back to Moab. In a display of great emotion and love, she kissed them good-bye and wished God’s blessing upon them in the hope of each of them finding a husband. Both of the women objected to Naomi’s wishes, desirous to stay with her, but Naomi reminded them of the Middle Eastern custom (known as Levirate marriage) whereby the widow would marry her dead husband’s brother. But since there were no more brothers and Ruth was too old to have any more kids, it would be easier if the girls were to return home and find another husband. One daughter-in-law, Orpah, complied with Naomi’s request and returned to Moab, but not Ruth—Ruth “clung” to Naomi and refused to leave. The word for “clung” in Hebrew demonstrates Ruth’s deep compassion and loyalty to Naomi—she loved her and would not leave her, binding herself with an oath,

“Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

Ruth’s declaration of love and loyalty spilled over into every facet of her life. She would not part from Ruth; she would take Ruth’s people as her own, and even her God. She would even go to death itself in her commitment to her.

Ruth’s commitment pays off as she does go with Naomi to Judah where she is shown kindness and eventually marries Boaz. Ruth, a foreigner who refused to leave her beloved mother-in-law, is rewarded with a husband, marriage and a child who eventually becomes the grandfather of King David. Ruth becomes one of the women in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5), and a symbol of God’s plan to reach the nations. Her commitment and loyalty is rewarded not only temporarily with a husband and home, but with the honor of being one of the ancestors of Jesus—who is the ultimately committed Savior of the world.

I pray that the example of Ruth might be a challenge and encouragement to each one of us—a challenge for us to love more, but an encouragement in that we realize that God looks upon the plight of those who are destitute. God saw her in her affliction and chose to honor her for her love and commitment. May we all love as Ruth did, and may we have a faith that clings to Christ and won’t let go. Amen.