Seeing The Living Testimony of a God Fearing Woman.

DEVOTIONAL FOR NOVEMBER 6, 2010

I’ve always been impressed with the supporting character in the book of Ruth; the one who is so important to the book of Ruth that if it was not for this character, we would not even know of Ruth. Her name is Naomi.

Like us, Naomi lived in a time of economic strife. Israel was suffering through a famine. And, like most of us would do, Naomi and her husband did what they thought was best, they moved to a place where they thought they would find relief of their hunger. However, like some of us, they moved outside of God’s will. Unfortunately, doing so brought more tragedies into their lives.

In spite of Naomi’s suffering, though, we know something about her character by reading between the lines. You see, after Naomi decided that the time had come for her to get back in line with God, for there was just nothing left keeping her in this foreign place and the Lord was enticing her to return by ending the famine, she found that there was an unshakeable companion on her journey home. It was Ruth…hence the name of the book.In just a few verses in the first chapter, we learn that Naomi must have been quite a gem. For it’s not every day that a widow clings to her mother-in-law begging to never be separated from her. But this is more than a story of a relationship between a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law that happens to be more than unusual.

As far as we know, Naomi was connected to only two people in this foreign land, the two who married her two sons and became, like Naomi, widowed. It seems that Naomi’s sad story was not only fleeing her own devastated home, but losing her own two sons to death some years after she herself had become a widow all in a pagan land.

Naomi’s daughters-in-law loved her dearly, and it’s because of this that we’re led to believe that she had quite a bond with these women and quite an influence as well. These women came from a people group who normally treated Naomi’s people with contempt. Yet, the two of them loved her. Naomi had nothing left and no way of supporting herself. Yet, both women wanted to follow her.

Finally, Naomi convinced one to stay with her own family, but Ruth would not hear of it. How is it that a young woman from a pagan culture would choose to follow a poor foreign woman to a land that would be alien to her when she too could’ve returned to her own family? Well, I’m not a historian, and I’m sure there are aspects about this ancient culture that I’m not aware of, but I’m convinced that Ruth must have seen something in Naomi that she’d never seen before. Could it be tenderness, wisdom, or a love so different that it could only be a result of knowing the One True God?


After everything that Naomi had suffered through, she no doubt exemplified strength, but I’d like to believe that she also had hope…hope that would spill over and minister into the life of the young women who looked up to her. She may have felt that her life had become bitter, but she still knew that her God, a God of redemption, was present in her homeland. And I’ll bet she made that truth known to Ruth.


The Word tells us that she discouraged Ruth from remaining faithfully by her side. She implored the woman to go back to her people, but how can you change the mind of someone who has seen the living testimony of a God fearing woman. How could Ruth turn back when she knew that there was something in this woman that was so much more different than anything she’d ever seen and so much more desirable than anything she’d ever experienced. What hope would she have of obtaining it if she gave up? As the story goes, Ruth did not give up. She followed this woman of God, and because of Naomi, Ruth found her kinsman redeemer in a man who was a type of Christ, Boaz. So, here we have Ruth and Boaz the great grandparents of King David, and ancestors of Jesus Himself.

There’s no reason to focus on the mistakes that Naomi and her husband probably made in their decision to leave Israel and marry their sons off to pagan women. They knew God did not want His people living in a foreign land and marrying foreign people…at least not at this time. I have to believe that in spite of her sin, Naomi still lived her life as a godly woman and just look at the results. I know it’s hard not to focus on the troubling circumstances around us, but I wonder how many people can be positively impacted by a godly attitude as we strive to persevere, giving God praise throughout the storm. Is it your children, your spouse, your neighbors? Who could benefit from the hope and trust that you have in your Lord and Savior in spite of what you’re suffering through? You just might lead someone to their Kinsman Redeemer.

Amie Spruiell 11/5/10