Ruth’s Long Road
Her journey teaches us what it means to choose and be chosen.
by Laura Costea
Ruth the Moabitess was one of the most beloved Gentiles to ever align herself with the Jewish people. Her story is one of loyalty—an unexpected loyalty that led her to a lasting connection with the God and people of Israel.
The journey began with Ruth’s choice to leave behind everything she knew and stick by her Hebrew mother-in-law, Naomi, in a courageous act of love. The wisest of men and women know that love is more than a feeling: it’s a decision to be loyal, like the decision Ruth made. And in committed relationships, loyal love often looks like choosing one another “even though.”
Modern couples might choose each other even though the bank account is dwindling, even though cultural expectations tell them not to, or even though they’ve chosen each other a thousand times before.
Ruth made her oath to Naomi even though it would mean leaving everything she knew, even though she and her mother-in-law would certainly live in poverty, and even though she didn’t have to make any such promise.
She decided to go with her mother-in-law before she knew what her future would look like in the new land (and definitely before she knew that she would have a book of the Bible named after her!). Her life is an important part of Jewish history, not only because of her loyalty but also because the Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of a certain lineage. Ruth’s calling to join in with the Jewish people is a piece of that story: she eventually became the great-grandmother of King David.
But before she was a great-grandmother (or even a mother), she was Ruth the Moabitess, Ruth the widow, Ruth the hopeful.
Leaving Home
Her husband buried, Ruth could have followed the custom of her people. She could have stayed in her own land and gone back to her father’s house. She could have found a new husband from among her own people.
But instead, she said to Naomi, “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 1:16–17).
Some readers have noticed that these words sound a lot like a marriage commitment. But Ruth made this above-and-beyond promise to her mother-in-law before she knew that she was journeying towards a husband and security. So, Ruth’s journey towards building a family began with a commitment to the God of Israel and His people.
In leaving behind her people and their ways, it might appear that Ruth ran away from home. But maybe she knew she was running towards her permanent home. Perhaps Ruth had seen that the pagan gods of Moab were not enough and that her mother-in-law’s God was worth seeking.
What we do know is Ruth literally refused to be left behind. She wouldn’t forget Naomi, nor would she let herself be forgotten. Hers was an unconditional promise of loyalty built on something deeper than circumstances.
And with that promise, Ruth’s path was decided, and her feet set off down the road to Israel.
The Cost of Faithfulness
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Ruth is her level of determination. She clung to her mother-in-law and refused to let go. Her loyalty went beyond saying, “Sure, I’ll take a walk with you.” She left her family, friends, and everything she’d ever known, knowing full well she wouldn’t be back (Uber wasn’t around yet!).
She could have said no to the journey, like her sister-in-law, Orpah, did. In fact, it seems Orpah parted from her sister- and mother-in-law with peace—Naomi even gave her a blessing.
Ruth’s decision was sure, but the future wasn’t. Where would they live? Who, if anyone, would help them? How would they survive? Would she be accepted? These are questions anyone on such a journey might ask. But despite all the uncertainties, Ruth never turned back.
We’re not told anything about their journey, but we do know that any mother- and daughter-in-law will have differences in culture, tradition, and opinion. How much more so when one is Jewish, and one is not? Ruth shows us a loyalty that transcends differences.
When the road to home stretched on, Ruth kept on. And her loyalty to her mother-in-law only deepened when they arrived in Israel. Ruth and Naomi lived together in poverty, sharing what food Ruth could manage to glean in the fields.
Choosing One Another “Even Though”
Ruth was widowed; Boaz had never been married. Ruth was young; Boaz was older than the other men she could have considered. Ruth was homeless; Boaz was a settled landowner. Maybe it’s true what they say: opposites attract. (What they don’t say is, then those opposites have to learn to live together!)
Choosing someone means choosing to love all of that person—the easy-to-love parts and the hard-to-understand parts. We don’t know exactly how Ruth and Boaz felt about their differences, but we do know that they noticed those differences.
Ruth went to Boaz’s field to glean (gather the unharvested grain left behind for the poor and displaced). When Boaz extended kindness to Ruth by inviting her to stay there safely, she was surprised. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10).
He knew that she was different, and yet he praised this young woman who had come to take refuge under the wings of the God of Israel (Ruth 2:12).
Boaz, too, was surprised when Ruth came to him. He imagined how he must look in her eyes: “You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich” (Ruth 3:10), he said.
Generations later, when the prophet anointed young David, God would tell Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Perhaps Ruth and Boaz both understood the inner worth of a person too.
And they each were willing to focus on what they had in common to build a legacy together.
Following God’s Ways—Together
Boaz’s actions show that he knew the Torah (which, when translated, means “instruction”). He knew how to act rightly, how to behave in community, and when and how to show kindness to a foreigner. His character was known well enough that after Ruth visited him, Naomi assured her that he wouldn’t rest until all was settled. He was the kinsman-redeemer, and he would act according to God’s ways.
Jewish Encyclopedia offers this simple definition for go’el (kinsman-redeemer): “Next of kin, and, hence, redeemer. Owing to the solidarity of the family and the clan in ancient Israel, any duty which a man could not perform by himself had to be taken up by his next of kin.”¹
When death claimed someone’s husband too early, the kinsman-redeemer’s job was to run to help those he had left. And yet—to run towards someone who is in trouble is a risk. Love itself is a risk because it means committing yourself so fully to someone that you might get hurt. Boaz risked that and more in his unselfish commitment to care for others.
His character sounds a bit like that of the woman who has a story named after her.
Boaz and Ruth didn’t come from the same lineage. But they came together and stayed together because they had the same committed heart.
Lasting Loyalty
Boaz welcomed not only Ruth but also her mother-in-law into his home. And the loyalty that Boaz and Ruth shared not only extended to Naomi, it also impacted the generations to come. They had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David, who grew up to be king of Israel. And as we retell it, Ruth’s story has a chance to impact our generation too. Whether you’re Jewish or Gentile, God has given you a chance at life! He’s given you a chance at love and at loyalty in your relationships.
But what motivated this intermarried couple’s unexpected and deep commitment?
Ruth and Boaz came together in spiritual harmony with the God of Israel. Though Boaz had grown up under the shadow of His wings, it wasn’t only his commitment that spurred on their relationship. Ruth’s choice of lasting loyalty was possible because she’d seen how God had been lastingly loyal towards His people. Was Ruth reciprocating the love of God as she’d seen it?
Ruth’s journey to her true home started when Naomi heard this news in the fields of Moab: “The Lord had visited his people and given them food” (Ruth 1:6). The famine that had originally driven Naomi and her family to Moab was over. God had taken care of His people, and two women obeyed the call to go home.
God chose His people unequivocally, even though they might not have understood why. Perhaps Ruth knew He had chosen her too. She found herself embraced by the same God—and knowing Him made all the difference.
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End Notes
Executive Committee of the Editorial Board, Joseph Jacobs, “GO’EL,” Jewish Encyclopedia, accessed May 13, 2024.