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Biblical Ruth: True friendship, and doing the right thing
By Julie | May 27, 2008
Recently I was talking to a friend of mine about questions we have from the Bible. She said that when she gets to heaven she’s going to ask, “Is Orpah here?”
I asked, “Who?”
She said “The woman from the book of Ruth. Naomi’s other daughter-in-law.”
Ruth has been one of my favorite books of the Bible for years. So, I re-read it. Here’s what it’s all about:
There was a famine in Bethlehem where Naomi lived with her husband and their two sons. To be able to feed the family, they packed up and moved to Moab. Later Naomi’s husband died. Each of her sons married Moabite women: Orpah and Ruth. After they had lived in Moab about 10 years, both of Naomi’s sons died, leaving their wives widowed. Since women weren’t exactly allowed to have careers in those days, Noami had no income, and no one to care for her. She decided she would return to Bethlehem, because there she had distant family, with an obligation to help her.
She told her daughter-in-laws to go back their families. Both Orpah and Ruth loved her and refused. But Naomi insisted, telling them she had nothing to offer them. Eventually a tearful Orpah left and returned to her family. (Which is why my friend wants to know if we’ll see her in heaven.)
But Ruth refused to leave, she said,
“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.” Ruth 1:16-17
So Naomi returned to Bethlehem, with Ruth. They had no money or food. Ruth combed the fields, behind the men who were harvesting, and collected the little they dropped. The man who owned the field, Boaz, saw her, and asked who she was. He was informed this woman had returned with Naomi. Boaz was struck by Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law so he instructed his men to drop extra grain for Ruth to pick up. Both Naomi and Ruth were shocked by how much she was able to collect.
A few more things happen that prompted Naomi to go to work as a matchmaker. By the end of the book Boaz married Ruth, and Ruth had a son. The story ends with Naomi and Ruth, still together and Naomi holding the baby.
I don’t know what becomes of Orpah after she leaves Naomi. But I fully expect my friend to look her up immediately after entering heaven.
For me the story of Ruth is the ultimate story of friendship. These were women who were left with nothing but each other. In times when we’re down on our luck, we really do learn who our true friends are. Some people are Orpahs, who walk away because they feel they have no other choice. We miss them, though we understand why life took them in a new direction. Other Orpahs are a bit crueler, their parting really hurts us, but in time we know their absence is a blessing in disguise. So, as these people walk away, we find we had fewer friends than we thought. But, the Ruths in our lives, the ones who never leave, who never judge us, and go along to offer suggestions and help to get us back on our feet, they are the greatest gifts we can have in this life. The Ruths who live with honesty and integrity, and help strengthen us to do they same, help us to heal from the people who tried to be cruel. And like Naomi’s story shows; Ruths are the best people to share the rewards of getting through the hardships. And they give us a peace in knowing we’ll be there together to face the next ones.
For your life, I wish you a few really good Ruths.
Topics: Life and Living |
