August 8, 2025
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Ruth, Proverbs, & Psalms? Here’s today’s reading:
Ruth 1 (NIV)
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion.….Continue Reading
Ruth 1
The story of Ruth is a small but powerful one. Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah find themselves in quite a bad way. To be a childless widows was to be among the lowest, most disadvantaged classes. Left without anyone to support them because they had no family or husbands, they needed to come up with a plan. I love that while Naomi was in a bad way, feeling rejected by God after losing both her husband and her two sons, she did not turn away from God angry but rather she sought to draw nearer to Him. She decided to return to Bethlehem and the Israelite people. There is no logical reason for Orpah or Ruth to stay with her and follow her to the place that is certainly not their home. So Orpah makes her difficult decision based on logic but Ruth makes hers is based on love and stays with Naomi. She clearly saw something in the faith of Naomi that made her want whatever she was running to more than what the world was telling her she should have or need.
Once again we see the sovereign hand of God working through circumstances, hard and tragic though they be. All the decisions made make sense in responding to the things that people are facing, except for Ruth’s. She shows commitment and care when it doesn’t really make sense, and expresses that commitment in a very beautiful way. And yet even in her deciding to come back to Israel, God’s hand is working. And He will continue to work on Naomi and Ruth’s behalf. We can very much understand Naomi’s sadness, but there is always a place to be open to the consolation that comes from people and God. But it is not always easy to get there…but God is always there to offer His compassion and comfort for us.
Ruth 1
Loyalty seems to be a trait of Ruth. It reminds me of my mother, Ruth. She also was a very loyal person. This is a rare trait—one to be admired, and seems to be increasingly rare!
Ruth 1
In all their grief of losing their husbands and for Naomi also her two sons, God still had a plan. Maybe the decision of Elimelech to up root his family and bring them to Moab because of the famine was wrong or not. But we do know that God brought good out of it, for we see looking back how Ruth was an ancestor of David. We also know that Jesus came from that line. It was a trial of their faith. But despite how Naomi became bitter, Ruth still saw her faith in God and wanted it. For years she must have observed how this whole family loved and worshipped God. We don`t know but Ruth`s husband may have taught about the things of the Lord. She must have observed their example of living each day and realized that this was far better than what she had before she married Mahlon. She must also have observed how Naomi lived for her family and how real her faith was for God on a daily basis. When given the choice, she wanted to follow their God and make Him her God. She loved and was loyal to Naomi for she saw that Naomi was true to her God. Stay strong in the Lord even when things can be hard. The Lord knows all and will bless.
Ruth 1
Ruth 1
”And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:“
Ruth 1:16 KJV