JUL 26

Ruth 4:13-22
Memorise Ruth 1:16-17
“thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God”

In the midst of the terrible apostasy in the 400 year period of the Judges, there is a bright glimmer of light, as we read the story of a young lady Ruth, her mother-in-law Naomi, and her future husband Boaz. This is indeed a very touching love story - complete with brave, honourable, generous and wise characters that we can learn from. Yet one might wonder why such a book was included in the Biblical canon in the first place. The whole account seems so insignificant and trivial in comparison with the national issues that many of the other books deal with.

Our answer comes at the end of the book in Ruth 4:17-22, where it is revealed to us that Ruth is actually the great-grandmother of David who became King of Israel. It is indeed the story of God’s grace, that amidst the apostasy of the period of Judges, God provided for Himself a remnant through a Moabite lady whose courageous faith continued to shine despite the godless surroundings that she found herself in. God was looking out for His own people. He would care for this young lady from Moab, and promote her to become a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ Himself!

In Ruth we see a wonderful example of faithfulness, of a lady who was devoted to her mother-in-law, even after the death of her husband. This love that she showed was said to make her better than seven sons (Ruth 4:15). We also see the wonderful fruits of a witness for the Lord, for there must have been something special that she noticed in Naomi that made her want to uproot herself from her homeland to become a poor widow in a foreign land. Naomi must have shown forth a testimony that prompted Ruth to declare that Naomi’s God would be her God as well.

Although the story begins with two recently widowed women, sorrowfully mourning over their losses, it ends with them experiencing great blessings because of their faith. They would never have imagined what plans God had in store for them, in providing Ruth with a noble husband, and blessing her with a son who would become the grandfather of the greatest king Israel would have. Likewise for us, all God expects of us is that we be faithful to Him, and He will always guide us.

Thought: Will you be faithful to our faithful God?
Prayer: Lord, help me learn from the godly examples of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz.