Ruth's Key Moment
Today's Reading: Ruth 1:16-17
Ruth 1:16 (ESV) "But Ruth said, '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. '"
In Ruth's day, God's law forbade the Israelites from worshiping with or marrying Moabites, Ammonites or their descendants (Deuteronomy 23:3-6; Nehemiah 13:1-3). Interestingly, Ruth was a Moabite woman. How did this Moabite woman receive the honor of both having a book of the Bible named after her and being in the lineage of Jesus?
The answer to this question reveals a key moment in the story of God's redemptive plan for humanity.
In Ruth 1:16-17 we find Ruth at a crossroads. While standing between her home in Moab and her mother-in-law's home in Bethlehem, she faced a decision: Would she choose to face an unknown future with God or return to what she had known in the past without God? She chose to pledge her allegiance to God, Yahweh.
"But Ruth said, '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'" (Ruth 1:16-17).
This language echoes the covenant language God Himself used in Genesis 17:7-8:
"And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
Ruth's words mark a key point in Scripture, which some scholars see as her conversion. Her decision to take refuge in Yahweh brought her into God's family (Ruth 2:12).
God, by His rich mercy and grace, brought in Ruth, an outsider, to be one of His daughters even though her people were enemies of God. He used her faithfulness to fulfill His purposes for Israel. As we will discover, her descendants became key people in God's family. Her declaration of faith as an outsider shows us God's heart for the nations, foreshadowing Galatians 3:28, where Paul says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
When we profess faith in Christ, we - gentiles, outsiders and foreigners - are brought in, just like Ruth.
Prayer: God, I praise You for making a way for me to be brought into Your family. Your perfect plan through Jesus is such a gift. I ask that You would remind my heart afresh today what it means to be part of Your family. Show me how to invite others in as well. In Jesus' name, amen.
This was originally published in the First 5 app study of the book of Ruth. I co-wrote the study guide with Wendy Blight, click here to order your copy today!