Happy Women’s Month, ladies!
Anddddd a warm welcome to the men who’ve joined us too. This month, we’re diving into the lives of women in the Bible, some you know well (like Hannah), and others you may not have heard of (like Philip’s daughters). We kick things off with one of our favourites : Ruth! Let’s get some background from Gugu!
Ruth: Background According to Researchers
The story begins with a famine in Bethlehem that drives Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and their two sons into Moab for survival. Ruth was originally a Moabite woman, a Gentile from Moab, a nation that was actually very hostile toward Israel. Yet Naomi’s sons marry them anyways. After ten years in Moab, Naomi loses her husband and both sons, including Ruth’s husband, Mahlon. Ruth was widowed & childless.
I know we always reference Ruth in relation to Boaz but her life didn’t begin there. Like many of you, she was married and living at home. Life must have seemed stable. Then tragedy struck: first her father-in-law, then her husband and her brother-in-law passed away. What seemed like a secure home became unstable and uncertain. The three women Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah are left widowed and without children. What did the future of this family look like? Hopeless right?
Allow me to say, gentlemen: women deeply value the protection, presence, and provision that you bring. Without that masculine presence , Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi found themselves exposed and vulnerable, like a walled city whose defences have been torn down. They were widows without sons, without security.. Those of who say men aren’t needed, lf I katch you? I will pinch you.
In Ruth 1:8–18, Naomi decides to return to her homeland after losing her husband and both of her sons. Part of her plan is to send her daughters-in-law back to their own families so they can remarry and rebuild their lives. She says to them, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home… Even if I thought there was still hope for me, if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would you wait until they grew up?”
Orpah is willing to go back home, but Ruth is different, she seems to be a covenant woman. She says no. In saying no, Ruth wasn’t just rejecting Naomi’s suggestion, she was saying no to a “new life” that could have been easier. There was no promise of a husband waiting for her, no prophecy of a brighter future in Bethlehem. In human terms, it made no sense to stay. But Ruth was willing to give up her own comfort, opportunities, and dreams simply to remain with Naomi and follow her God.
Think about that, she had the chance to marry again, yet she said no. She had the chance to return to her people, yet she said no. She chose instead to live with an aging widow in a foreign land. I don’t know if I could’ve done that. It’s easy to say “ I am a Ruth,” when you’re looking for Boaz but are you also the Ruth who chooses God boldly?
It’s the same choice believers face today. You might have the chance to date someone who doesn’t share your faith, someone “good” by the world’s standards but staying in covenant with God means saying no. Ruth rejected what could have been good for her in the natural just to stay with Naomi.
Would you do that?
There’s so much we could say here, but let’s pause and think: What are you willing to give up to follow God? Peter said to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow You.” Are you only willing to be Ruth when there’s the promise of a husband or are you also willing to be the Ruth who makes God her first priority? Ruth was broken, hurt, widowed, and yet she still chose God. She was never told about Boaz. She didn’t have a prophecy to hold on to. She simply valued covenant and relationships.
Some women don’t care about relationships, they cut people off, they live in isolation, and they move only when they get a full prophecy about their lives . But Ruth teaches us something different. She shows us what it means to choose God, not because of a reward, but because of love and loyalty. Would you still follow God if there was no Boaz prophecy?
This is the Ruth we all claim to be. And this Women’s Month, let’s truly learn from her and other women of faith. In the face of many “freedoms” the world offers us, may we still choose to prioritise God. See you tomorrow as we finish the study on Ruth ! If you can, please read the book of Ruth.
🌸 l love you.🌸