Ruth
A Hero Who Followed
Author: Heather Lynn
Illustrator: Lauren Mays
There she stood. She was at the center of a crossroads. Ruth could go back to her people and find comfort with her family as she grieved the loss of her husband. Or she could blindly follow the woman she had come to love (Naomi) since her marriage to her son. One road led to comfort and safety. The other meant giving up everything she knew to follow a woman and her God. She had been living in Moab her entire life, and within the last ten years she had lived with her husband, brother-in-law and wife Orpah, and mother-in-law Naomi. Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, had taken his family to live in Moab because of a famine in Bethlehem; however, he passed away leaving Naomi and her two sons. They married Moabite women, but then they died too, leaving Ruth and Orpah as much of a widow as Naomi was. Naomi urged both of the women to stay in their homeland and marry while Naomi would travel back to her home: Israel. The decision they would make would determine their future. One of the women would choose comfort, while the other one would choose the unknown. That decision would make her a hero for generations to come.
Naomi described how bitter she had become to the women and once again pleaded with them to leave her and return to their home. They wept and Orpah kissed her goodbye and went away. However, Ruth clung to her mother-in-law as if she was the only family she had. Then she spoke the words that would become a part of her story forever. “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us! (Ruth 1:16-17)” Ruth had such a deep love for Naomi and her God that she wouldn’t let anything stop her from moving towards that life. She was a hero because she followed after love and an unknown God she wanted to know.
Naomi and Ruth journeyed back to Bethlehem to start a new life. Naomi’s husband’s relative, Boaz, was a wealthy and influential man as chapter 2:1 says. Ruth told Naomi she was going to pick leftover grain in the fields of anyone who would let her. She was doing anything she could to take care of her mother-in-law. Little did she know that the field she was gleaning in belonged to Boaz. Ruth immediately found favor in his eyes, so he asked his foreman about this beautiful young woman. The foreman’s response was a testimony to who she was. He responded that Ruth was Naomi’s daughter and a very hard worker. Boaz was so impressed that he told her to follow behind the women in the field every day to get what she would need. Ruth was a hero because she worked hard to take care of those she loved.
When Ruth questioned his kindness, Boaz answered that he had heard about her kindness toward Naomi. He said that he had heard about how she had left her father and mother to join Naomi in a foreign land amongst strangers. He then said, “May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done. (Ruth 2:12).” Everything Ruth did she did out of her love for Naomi and her newfound love for the Lord. She would definitely be blessed for her servant’s heart for many years to come. She not only served others, but she served the Lord, and that made her a hero.
Boaz continued to show his love for Ruth by ordering his workers to leave her extra grain as she gleaned in his fields. When she returned to Naomi, she had more than enough for the two of them. As soon as Ruth told Naomi whose fields she worked in, Naomi’s bitter heart softened. Boaz was a kinsman redeemer, which meant that he would be able to marry and care for Ruth. Naomi instructed Ruth to stay in his fields and work with the rest of the women in the fields until harvest was complete. Ruth continued to work in his fields throughout the season and stayed with Naomi until she decided one day that Ruth needed a more permanent home. She needed to find stability through marriage.
Naomi devised a plan for Ruth to go to Boaz and request that he become her kinsman redeemer (a kinsman redeemer was a relative who had the responsibility of caring for the widow). Boaz’s love swelled in his heart as he told her how he admired the kindness she had shown him and how she was known in town for being a virtuous woman. However, there was one who was closer and first in line to marry and redeem Ruth, and Boaz would have to speak with him before he moved forward with her.
Ruth returned to Naomi as she waited to hear if Boaz would be able to redeem her or not. Boaz wasted no time in speaking with the man who was next in line and discovered that he was not interested in redeeming Ruth, so Boaz would be free to marry her! God had a plan for Ruth the moment she left Moab and followed the Lord. Ruth would have a child and name him Obed. He would be the grandfather of David, the man after God’s own heart. And from this line would come the One who would save mankind: Jesus.
Ruth was a hero for all who would follow in her footsteps because she followed the Lord, cared for others, and had a servant’s heart. She abandoned everything she knew to follow after the God of the redeemed. It is no coincidence that Jesus came from the line of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth needed to find redemption after her husband died, and in the same way, we are a people who need to be redeemed. Jesus was the One who would do just that; he would save us all.
Heather Lynn
Heather Lynn is a teacher, mom of three children, and a pastor’s wife. She and her husband have been serving churches for the last 15 years. Writing, reading, blogging, and women’s ministry are just a few of her passions. She also loves studying the Word and teaching women to grow deeper in their walk with the Lord through Bible studies and conferences. You can read her personal blog at: www.hisbrokenremnant.wordpress.com
