What can we learn from Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi?

Answer

We can learn a lot from the relationship between Ruth and Naomi, with loyalty being one of the key lessons. Ruth, a Moabite, was the daughter-in-law of Naomi, a Jewess. Both of their husbands passed away while they were living in Moab. Naomi decided to go back to Israel and advised Ruth to stay in Moab with her own family. Naomi believed there was nothing for Ruth in Judah.

Instead of following Naomi’s suggestion, Ruth pleaded with her to allow her to go with her to Judah. Ruth’s declaration of loyalty was heartfelt: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17). These beautiful words of dedication, sometimes included in wedding vows, demonstrate Ruth’s profound loyalty to Naomi.

Ruth and Naomi were not just relatives; they had a close bond from Ruth’s marriage to Naomi’s son. Even before Ruth’s decision to accompany her mother-in-law to Israel, they had already built a strong relationship. Ruth 2:11 mentions that Ruth “left [her] father and mother and [her] homeland and came to live with a people [she] did not know before.” Ruth cared deeply for Naomi, leaving her own homeland to support Naomi without any assurance of her own security.

Ruth expressed her loyalty to Naomi through a solemn vow, invoking judgment upon herself if she ever left her, “where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”, (Ruth 1:17). Ruth committed to following Naomi’s God as well, “And”Ruth said, “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). She would abandon the gods of Moab, and Ruth and Naomi would both be committed to the one true God of Israel. Significantly, when Ruth said, “May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me” (verse 17), she uses the covenant name Yahweh. Naomi was convinced Ruth was serious: “When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her” (Ruth 1:18). With Ruth’s decision made, Ruth and Naomi set out for Bethlehem together.

The story of Ruth and Naomi is contrasted with that of Orpah and Naomi. Orpah was Ruth’s sister-in-law, having been married to another of Naomi’s sons. When Naomi bade her daughters-in-law farewell, “Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye” (Ruth 1:16) and returned to her family. Naomi tried to use Orpah’s departure as an incentive for Ruth to also stay in Moab: “Look . . . your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her” (Ruth 1:15). But Ruth chose the path of loyalty to her mother-in-law, even if it meant giving up everything.

Giving up everything she was accustomed to in Moab.

The tale of Ruth and Naomi illustrates what true loyalty entails. Along with loyalty, Ruth displayed reverence, affection, companionship, and modesty. Just as Ruth opted for loyalty to Naomi and to Naomi’s God, so should we opt for loyalty to God and to God’s people over any allegiance to the world. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” Jesus stated, “and all these things [of daily necessity] will be given to you as well” «But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. », (Matthew 6:33). Ruth’s loyalty was followed by the bestowal of numerous blessings (see Ruth 4).

The account of Ruth and Naomi holds significance, not only due to the loyalty exemplified by Ruth but also because of how it unveils the sovereignty of God. In Bethlehem, the Lord permitted Ruth to remarry and bear a son named Obed, who later became the grandfather of King David. Despite Ruth’s status as a non-Jew and an outsider, God used her life to alter the course of world history.