Ruth is the first book in the Bible named after a woman. A woman, who was not a Hebrew but a Moabite. The second was Esther. Ruth’s name sounds like the Hebrew word “friendship.” She was a devoted friend to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and the Hebrew God. When Naomi gave Ruth, and Orpah, another daughter-in-law, the freedom to leave, Ruth’s reply was, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For 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.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more” (vs. 16-18).

Ruth’s deceased husband, Mahlon’s name means “weakling.” But God rewarded her with a strong and honorable man, Boaz as her “kinsman-redeemer.”Leviticus25 tells us what a kinsman-redeemer is, “In the case of an Israelite man's death in which he fails to leave behind a son, the brother of the deceased is commanded to take his widow as wife and both redeem the land and provide a son to carry on the deceased father's name.” Thus, she was mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus as the great-grandmother of David.

Ruth lived in the period of the Judges, a time of religious and moral decay when Israel was politically disunited and oppressed by her enemies. Famine brought Elimelech, an Ephrathite with his wife, Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, to Moab from Bethlehem. Bethlehem means the “House of Bread” to search for bread in Moab. Thus, their two sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, respectively in Moab. Shortly after, the two sons passed away and left behind their widows.

When news about God providing food for His people in Bethlehem spread, Naomi decided to return there. This was when she told her two widowed daughters-in-law that they were free to return to their families. But Ruth chose to stay with Naomi while Orpah left. Thus, Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem. When they arrived, “The whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

People leave God for various reasons. Career or work is one of the reasons. It can begin with having to work on Sundays, so they had to skip Sunday worship services. Slowly, they “then skipped” away from God. Then they become like Naomi and say, “I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty.” Have you left God in search of food and not realized that the food you need most is spiritual food? Brothers and sisters, God wants you to return to feast at His table instead of physical food that may leave you losing everything including even your family like Noami returning to Bethlehem with only a daughter-in-law. God wants to give you a life that is abundant and eternal!

Prayer of Reflection: Search my heart O Lord that I may seek to follow You all my life!