is one of the greatest love stories in history.
Movies, novels, and books have been written
about this beautiful story, but there would
have been no love story had it not been for
Ruth’s loyalty. What comes as an even greater
shock is that the whole story begins with and is
built around the loyalty of a daughter-in-law to
her mother-in-law.
Understanding in-law dynamics is nearly
impossible until you either have one or become
one. I would be less than honest if I did not tell
you in my ministry I’ve heard enough in-law
stories that make me think sometimes that in-
laws ought to be outlawed! Comedians have
made fortunes off of in-law jokes.
I read about a magic show where after one
particularly amazing trick, someone screamed
out to the magician, “How did you do that?”
The magician replied, “I would tell you, but
then I would have to kill you.” The same voice
came back and said, “Well, then would you tell
my mother-in-law?”
Many in-laws get a bad rap. I could not have
asked for a better, sweeter, finer father-in-
law and mother-in-law than God gave me. I
will also tell you that when we read about the
relationship between this daughter-in-law and
her mother-in-law, it makes me think of my
wife, Teresa, and the wonderful daughter-in-
law she was to my mom and dad.
The book of Ruth is basically a pamphlet. The
entire account is given in only eighty-five verses
and it concerns ordinary people living ordinary
lives who face ordinary problems. The story
begins with three funerals and it ends with a
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marriage and the birth of a baby. But this was
no ordinary baby. The story takes you from
the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory, and
it makes you appreciate your family, friends,
future, and faith more than ever.
Two Israelites, Elimelek and his wife, Naomi,
and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, live
in Bethlehem where a great depression is
occurring. Food and money have run out, so
Elimelek decides to take his family to the land
of Moab. Soon after, Elimelek dies, his two sons
marry two Moabite women, Orpah (not Oprah)
and Ruth.
After about ten years, the two sons die, and now
Naomi is left with out a husband or her sons. In
that culture, this was an impossible situation.
No way could three women, particularly
widows with no children and no relatives, hope
to survive for long in a time of famine. Naomi,
this precious mother-in-law, proves to be as
much a mother as a mother-in-law in what she
tells Orpah and Ruth.
She has heard from her relatives back home
that life is better in Bethlehem and she intends
to go back, but it would be bad, if not perhaps
dangerous, for two Moabite women to go to a
country where they were not welcome. Naomi
knows they will have a better chance of meeting
a man, remarrying, and having children in
Moab, plus they will be with their friends and
family they have grown up with.
Orpah takes her up on the offer and hightails it
back home, but Ruth digs in her heels. She says
to her mother-in-law words that have become
so famous they are used in weddings and put