Ruth’s Faithful Love

I believe the saying of Ruth that she made to her mother-in-law Naomi has to be the most powerful statement of faithfulness from one person to another in the Bible, though the covenant between Jonathan and David is certainly close. After Naomi's husband and sons died while they were in Moab, she decided to go home to Canaan. Her daughers-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, were minded to go with her, but she sent them back to get new husbands in their own land and among their own people, seeing they were native to the land of Moab (Ruth 1:1-13). After convincing Orpah to return from her, Naomi persisted with Ruth to go back with her sister-in-law. Ruth refused to leave her aged mother-in-law, feeling a strong bond and sense of devotion to her. Ruth's words prevailed over Naomi's in the matter, when she uttered the following unforgettable words of absolute faithfulness: "And Ruth said, Intreat 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: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me" (Ruth 1:16,17). All I can say is, WOW!! I have rarely read these words of total worthiness without weeping. What a heart! What a woman! Ruth was a perfect example of a woman after God's own heart even before she knew who God really was. Can you imagine what this world would be if everyone had a heart like that? Well, I don't know about you, but I plan on going to a world just like that one day. That is the kind of heart that the elect of God have in them, and that is the kind of heart that it will take to "endure till the end [and] be saved" (Mat. 24:13). I'm referring to Matthew 24, Jesus' memorable sermon about the end time, because that time is right on top of us, and Jesus said some sobering things about God's people who live at that time.

To further the point I'll copy the verses just before the one I referenced above: "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Mat. 24:10-12). Make no mistake my friend, these things are in reference to God's people who are living in the end time, and these things will happen just as Jesus said. I can tell you that these are words that should invoke the fear of the Lord, and they should compel each of us to, "Examine [ourselves], whether [we] be in the faith; [and to] prove [our] own selves" (II Cor. 13:5). We simply cannot allow circumstances, or anything that anyone else does or says, to leave any effect on our heart other than the love and the peace of God. That may take some praying through on some things, but Jesus has given us the faith and the power in the holy Ghost to indeed "keep [ourselves] pure," even as we are admonished by the scriptures to do (I Tim. 5:22). When it's all said and done Ruth was only demonstrating the heart and motivation of a human being who was naturally living in her design. We were all designed to be faithful like that, but sin came in and all of that was perverted and distorted. That is why Jesus came and paid the great price that he paid for us, to bring us back to our natural design which is to "love [our] neighbor as [ourselves]." None of us would want to have been in Naomi's position, and then be left alone to go back to her country to try to make something of the rest of her life. Ruth did the right thing, and she wasn't afraid of the commitment that she made with her words there to Naomi. I might add that she lived up to her words as she had spoken, and also that David was born of her lineage, being her great grandson (Ruth 4:18-22).

After Ruth married Boaz and they had their son Obed, the grandfather of David, the women of the land pronounced a great blessing upon Naomi, and Ruth was highly exalted for her heart toward Naomi as well: "And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him" (Ruth 4:14,15). Would God that the same can be said of us all for our faithfulness to one another. Somebody will no doubt say, "My faithfulness is to God!" Well, amen indeed; but we should remember the saying of the beloved apostle in saying such things: "For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I Jn. 4:20) The words of Jesus are concurrent with these words as well: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Mat. 25:40). Jesus is not here in person, so he has left us with one another to prove whether we love him or not. He also has given us his Spirit which imparts HIS love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). It is that love that he commanded us to love one another with, whereby he said that "all men [would] know that [we] are [his] disciples" (Jn. 13:34,35). Jesus has promised that he will "never leave [us], or forsake [us]" (Heb. 13:5). I believe that means that we should be that way with one another, and if we are that shows that we are being that way with him. In other words we should be like Ruth, who both spoke and demonstrated over the long haul, her devotion and faithfulness to her mother-in-law Naomi; thereby proving her love for God. Amen.