One of the most beautiful accounts of human love is found in the book of Ruth. NAOMI had gone to Moab in time of famine with her husband and two sons. Within the next ten years, the two sons married Moabite girls and then died. Naomi’s husband died also.
WHEN THE FAMINE WAS OVER, NAOMI DETERMINED TO GO BACK TO ISRAEL.
11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.
14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
16 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:
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me (Ruth 1:11-17).
RUTH HAD COME TO KNOW THE GOD OF ISRAEL THROUGH A MOTHER FROM ISRAEL WHO WAS FAITHFUL TO THE ONE TRUE GOD. Ruth wanted to live with her devoted mother-in-law, where there were others who loved God. Many times today, verses 16 and 17 are read at wedding ceremonies. They are indeed a touching expression of love and devotion.
JESUS SPOKE OF THE FAITHFUL MOTHER WHO GAVE BIRTH TO HIM.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying,
8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly (Psalms 22:7-10).
JESUS APPRECIATED THE MOTHER GOD GAVE HIM.
THE SCRIPTURES DESCRIBE A SPECIAL LOVE IN THE DEATH OF A MOTHER.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother (Psa. 35:13-14).
LOVE FOR THE MOTHER GOD GIVES SHOULD GIVE ANY MAN A SPECIAL LOVE.
DAVID LOVED THE MOTHER GOD GAVE HIM.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb (Psa. 139:9-13).
DAVID WAS THANKFUL FOR THE BODY GOD GAVE HIM.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee (Psa. 139:14-18).
GOD GIVES MOTHERS THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE LAWS FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
The mother’s laws are worthy of praise (Pro. 1:8-9).
SOLOMON WAS THE ONLY CHILD OF HIS MOTHER.
3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (Pro. 4:3-7).
GOD USED DAVID AND BATHSHEBA TO DIRECT SOLOMON IN THE WAYS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Yes, the father and mother made a grave mistake, but they repented and served God.
THE MOTHER’S LAWS CAN DIRECT THE CHILD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
20 My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: (Pro. 6:20-23).
WE SHOULD HONOR THE MOTHER GOD GIVES US.
“A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother” (Pro. 15:20).
WHETHER OUR MOTHER IS YOUNG OR OLD, WE SHOULD HONOR HER.
“Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old” (Pro. 23:22).
IF WE ARE WISE, OUR MOTHER WILL REJOICE.
“The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.” (Pro. 23:24-25).
ALL THE ISRAELITE PEOPLE KNEW OF RUTH’S FAITHFULNESS.
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.
5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: (Ruth 2:2-6).
THE LORD HAS A SPECIAL LOVE FOR THOSE WHO ARE KIND TO THE POOR.
1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
2 The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness (Psa. 41:1-3).
Ruth 2:8-11—Boaz was a kind person who was kind to the poor
8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. (Ruth 2:8-11).
IT IS TRUE, RUTH DID NOT KNOW THE NATION OF ISRAEL BEFORE. But Ruth saw that Naomi was a godly mother who worshipped the God of Israel.
Ruth 4:13-17—Boaz was an ideal man for Ruth – same kind of heart
3 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.
14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4:13-17).
RUTH WAS KING DAVID’S GREAT GRANDMOTHER, OUT OF WHOSE SEED CHRIST CAME. Truly a godly mother is something to thank God for!
-Beth Johnson