Ruth
A Moabite woman whose unwavering devotion to her mother-in-law Naomi led her to Bethlehem, where she became an ancestor of King David and Jesus Christ.
Ruth's story begins in tragedy. A famine in Bethlehem drove Naomi's family to Moab, where her two sons married Moabite women — Ruth and Orpah. When Naomi's husband and both sons died, she was left destitute in a foreign land with two widowed daughters-in-law.
Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem and urged both young women to stay in Moab and remarry. Orpah tearfully agreed, but Ruth clung to Naomi with words that echo through history: 'Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.'
In Bethlehem, Ruth's devotion took practical form. She went to glean in the fields — the backbreaking work of collecting leftover grain, a provision in Israelite law for the poor. Providence led her to the field of Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi's deceased husband.
Boaz noticed Ruth's extraordinary character — her loyalty to Naomi, her humility, her tireless work ethic. He protected her, provided for her, and eventually, following the custom of the kinsman-redeemer, married her. Their son Obed became the grandfather of King David.
Ruth's story is remarkable for many reasons: she was a foreigner who chose faith in Israel's God, she is one of only four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5), and her book is one of only two in the Bible named after a woman. Her life proves that faithfulness in small things leads to extraordinary purposes.