The book of Ruth only comprises four chapters, so l would encourage you to read it if you are not familiar with the account. In summary, Naomi was Ruth’s mother-in-law. Naomi had two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, both of them married and they were married and lived in Moab for ten years. The names of their wives were Orpah and Ruth. The scripture tells us that Naomi lost her husband (Ruth 1:3) and after a while she also lost both of her children (Ruth 1:5). She was left with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, and Orpah.
Naomi then decided to return to Judah. She told her daughter in-laws to return to their mother’s house (Ruth 1:8). Initially, both Orpah and Ruth said that they would follow Naomi, their mother-in-law to Judah (Ruth 1: 10), but after persuasion from Naomi for them to return to their own(Ruth 1: 11-13), Orpah went back (Ruth 1:15) but Ruth was not taking no for an answer. This is Ruth’s response:
“But Ruth said:
“Entreat[e] 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 shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
18 When she saw that she [f]was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her (Ruth 1: 16- 18).
To keep a long account short, Ruth ended up marrying Boaz, and she gave birth to Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4: 17; 22).
So Ruth is now in lineage with David because she refused to take no for an answer. It’s very unlikely that Ruth knew what would happen when she decided to follow her mother-in-law back, but we can see that the Lord honoured her decision. Could it be that there was something deep down inside of her that she just knew that she had to follow Naomi?
Bearing in mind that she was married before with no children, this is simply a miracle.
Ruth abandoned herself to the God of the mother-in-law, and today, the bible has a book called “Ruth”.
We never hear again about Orpah.
One lesson we can learn from this account is that if Ruth had turned back, we may have never heard about her. She was fully persuaded that she would not leave Naomi. Could she have known that her destiny was tied to Naomi despite losing her husband and never having a child from her first marriage?
What is it that the Lord has placed in your heart? What desires has the Lord placed in your heart? Are the circumstances looking impossible? Trust the Lord, follow His guidance, and be fully persuaded that which He has birthed in you will come to pass as you stay aligned with the Lord and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Ruth today is someone that we can all learn from because she refused to take no for an answer from her mother-in-law. This led to her being in David’s lineage.
What a remarkable reward for staying with what she knew was the right thing to do.
Be encouraged!
Bisi Oladipupo © Copyright 14th May 2026
Leave a Reply