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 Ruth
The Foreign Woman
By Patricia Chadwick
Ruth was born a foreigner. Not only that, she
was a Moabite. According to Moasic law, Israel
was not to associate with the inhabitants of
Moab (Deuteronomy 7:3; 23:3). Yet God saw fit to
let this foreign woman become part of the
bloodline of Jesus Christ, making her part of
the Christmas story.
You can find the story of Ruth in the book of
the Bible that bears her name. Hers is a great
love story, not only between a man and woman,
but between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
I encourage you to read it for yourself, but I
will give you the highlights.
Naomi had left Israel with her family during a
famine to live in the neighboring country of
Moab. While there, her sons married women of
Moab. Naomi's husband died...then her sons died.
She was left alone with no family other than her
daughters-in-law. In her despair, Naomi decided
to move back to her home in Bethlehem. When she
went to leave, the wives of her sons sought to
join her. She encouraged them to turn back to
their own families. One did. But one would not.
Ruth begged Naomi to let her return with her.
The Bible shows us that somewhere along the
line, Ruth had become a believer in the God of
Israel. Ruth 1:16-17 states: But Ruth replied,
"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 anything but
death separates you and me."
So, Ruth joined Naomi and returned with her to
Bethlehem, where a hard life awaited them. They
were poor and had to work hard to eke out a
living. Ruth loved Naomi and worked hard in the
fields to
supply for their needs. Everyone in Bethlehem
saw Ruth's hard work and concern for her
mother-in-law (Ruth 2:11). Despite her ungodly
heritage, Ruth became known as a virtuous woman.
Just as Ruth was concerned for Naomi, Naomi was
just as concerned about Ruth. She wanted the
best for her. When she noticed a budding respect
between Ruth and Boaz, a long-lost relative that
had shown kindness to Ruth by letting her glean
in his fields, Naomi encouraged the match.
(Note, part of the Hebrew law provided the
landowners not harvest all their fields, but
leave some grain for the poor and the foreigner
to glean from so they could provided for
themselves). Ruth, knowing that Boaz could
provide for the aged Naomi, followed Naomi's
instructions to propose marriage to Boaz. Both
ladies offer a beautiful portrait of
selflessness. Each clearly wanted what was best
for the other.
Now, don't feel sorry for Boaz. He loved Ruth
and jumped at the chance to marry her. And it
appears from the Bible account that Ruth loved
him too. They were married and had a baby, which
was named Obed. Naomi was blessed by this child,
having the opportunity to participate in his
rearing. What a perfect end to the story!
But the story doesn't really end here. Ruth was
a woman of virtuous character. She married a man
of virtuous character. The union of this noble
couple continued the line of descendants who
also loved God, leading up to the birth of the
Christ Child on that first Christmas day.
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Excerpt from Old Fashioned Holidays from
History's Women written by Patricia Chadwick. It
is available in both print and ebook formats at
www.HistorysWomen.com. Stop by
and pick up your copy today.
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