As a secondary character in the Old Testament book of Ruth, often times we don’t give too much attention to Naomi. Naomi was an extraordinary woman; even though it never says so in the bible explicitly, we can glean some wisdom from this woman from
When a famine was in the
The next verse is perhaps the most touching verse of all. Verse 16 says "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. (17) Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." What an impression Naomi must have had on Ruth! What kind of a person Naomi must have been to cause such loyalty, honor and friendship.
Further on into the text, we see Naomi urging Ruth to seek the hand of Boaz, a rich relative. Ruth succeeds with the aid of Naomi and the two are married. This marriage is an extremely important. It is through this line that Jesus the Christ is born (Matt 1:5). You see, this son of Ruth and Boaz had a son named Jesse and Jesse is the father of King David. Picture what it would have been like if Ruth had not come home with Naomi.
Because of this friendship Naomi became the great-great grandmother of one of the most influential kings of
I ask this question in closing. Christian, are you leading a life of Godliness? Are you the kind of person that would cause one to desire to leave all they know, follow after you and your God? Ruth had no idea she would marry a rich, handsome man and as a result, be in the lineage of the savior of the world when she begged Naomi to go with her. We as Christians, however, can know our actions and words will lead to salvation and a much greater inheritance than mere silver and gold. We have the opportunity and duty to live a life like Christ in order to seek and save the lost (Matt. 28:19-20)