Words To The Wise: Covenant Love
“But Ruth said: “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 will be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”-Ruth 1:16-17 (NKJV)
It has been said that blood is thicker than water. However, this oath Ruth made to her mother-in-law Naomi may flip that saying on its head. Why would Ruth, related only through marriage to Naomi, make such a plea and a promise? And what does this reveal about God’s relationship to us, and ours to Him?
The story of Ruth is ultimately one of God’s providence and dealings with humankind. Ruth, a Moabite - a descendant of Moab, a son of Lot through his daughters’ incest - married one of Naomi’s sons, who later died. When God visited (showed compassion to) the Israelite people after their famine ended, Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem together, even as Orpah remained in Moab.
Why would a Moabitess, who wasn’t even allowed to enter the temple of God, come to Israel? How could she know that she wouldn’t be treated with hostility by the Israelites, considering her ancestry?
We know that God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - revealed Himself to Ruth as the one true God such that Ruth could say to Naomi, “Your God will be my God,” and call God, “The Lord.” This is how our relationship with God functions as well. When we consider that God had no obligation to show us who He is, and yet still has the right to condemn us for our sins, the importance of revelation shines brighter.
The truth is, God revealed Himself to you and me because He wanted to be in relationship with us. He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. He walked with Enoch - and He walks and talks to us. He does this because He is love, and He loves us.
Yes, it is true that He loved even a Moabitess widow. God has a special heart for vulnerable people.
“A father of the fatherless, and a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.” -Psalm 68:5
Ruth followed God, and God, faithful to His word, defended her, as the rest of the book shows. This is a love that is not partial but is indeed sincere and genuine. Ruth ended up being the great-grandmother of David, through whom Christ would come. This all happened because God dared love an outsider.
This reminds me of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:16-17 and Romans 9:25. Quoting from the Old Testament, Paul says this:
“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [cf. Ezekiel 37:26-27]. Therefore, “come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. [cf. Isaiah 52:11].” -2 Corinthians 6:16-17
In the latter verse, Paul writes,
“As He also says in Hosea: I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved [cf. Hosea 2:23].” -Romans 9:25
God promises to be the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles who believed in Him, that those who were not his people would become thus, and those who were not beloved, His beloved.
That’s us. God loves us - people of the nations, for that’s what Gentiles means - so much that we are called His beloved, made acceptable in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6), and made His people! Therefore, He calls us to live holy lives! When we understand who we are in Christ, holy (set apart) and beloved, this is what enables us to live for God.
When we understand how deeply we are loved by God, just as Ruth was, this enables us to love Him in return.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ozi Ojukwu is a girl wildly in love with Jesus. A recent graduate of Cedarville University, she is a Colson-Fellow-In Training, learning about the fundamentals of a Christian worldview and how it connects to all of public life. She recently completed an internship at the Borgen Project, a nonprofit that makes global poverty a focus of US foreign policy. A bookworm to the core, she loves reading both historical fiction and memoirs. Her favorite verse is Romans 1:16.