Ruth and Naomi · the loyalty God blesses
A Bible story to tell as a family · Ruth 1:6–18 · ages 6–12 · 12 min
The story
In the days of the judges, there was a famine in Bethlehem, a town whose name means house of bread, but which had no bread. A man named Elimelech went to live in Moab, a neighboring land, with his wife Naomi and their two sons. There, Elimelech died. The sons married two Moabite young women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later, both sons died too. Naomi was left with no husband and no sons, far from home.
Then news arrived: the LORD had come to the aid of his people and there was bread again in Bethlehem. Naomi decided to go back, and her two daughters-in-law went with her. But on the way, Naomi stopped and said: “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home.” And she asked God to show them kindness, as they had shown kindness to her family. She kissed them both, and they all wept aloud.
The daughters-in-law said they would go with her. But Naomi insisted. She was old, she had no more sons to offer them as husbands, and she felt bitter, thinking the hand of the LORD was against her. They wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back home. She did nothing wrong. But Ruth stayed: the Bible says she clung to Naomi.
Naomi tried once more: your sister-in-law has gone back; go back with her. And Ruth answered with words that have echoed through the centuries: “wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Ruth, a foreigner, was choosing not only her mother-in-law but the God of Israel. When Naomi saw that she was determined, she stopped insisting.
The two arrived in Bethlehem and the whole town was stirred: “Can this be Naomi?” She answered that now she should be called Mara, which means bitter. She had left full and come back empty. But she was not empty of everything: Ruth was by her side. And they arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Ruth went to work. She followed the harvesters, gathering the stalks of grain that fell, as Israel’s law allowed the poor to do. And, as it happened, the text says with a smile, she came to the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. Boaz had heard about everything Ruth was doing for her mother-in-law. He gave her water and bread, told the workers to protect her and even to drop stalks on purpose for her. And he blessed her for coming to take refuge under the wings of the God of Israel.
Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer, a relative with the duty of protecting the family and keeping its inheritance alive. He married Ruth, and God gave them a son, Obed. The neighbor women told Naomi that this daughter-in-law loved her and was better to her than seven sons. Naomi took the boy in her arms and cared for him. The bitter woman smiled again. And Obed was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David.
6When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab. 7Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road leading back to the land of Judah. 8Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud 10and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands? 12Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, 13would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” 14Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.” 16But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.
What the Bible says
- v. 8–9: Naomi blesses her daughters-in-law and asks the LORD to treat them with kindness, even though she felt God’s hand was against her.
- v. 16: “your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
- v. 18: Naomi sees that Ruth is determined and stops insisting.
What we learn
God works in the middle of grief, poverty and ordinary choices, like gathering grain in a field. Ruth shows a loyalty that doesn’t depend on what she gains; Naomi shows that it is possible to bring pain and bitterness to God honestly. A foreigner joins God’s people and becomes David’s great-grandmother and an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). Boaz, the redeemer, points to Christ, who redeems us. Families made of losses, mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law and new beginnings also fit in God’s story.
Questions to talk about
For little ones
- What did Ruth do when Naomi told her to go away?
- How was Boaz kind to Ruth?
For kids
- Why do you think Ruth wanted to stay with Naomi, even though it was hard?
- Naomi said she was empty. What did God do to fill her up again?
For teens
- Ruth chose a people and a God that were not her own. What does it cost to choose to follow God for yourself?
- Naomi was honest about her own bitterness. Does the Bible leave room for that kind of honesty with God?
For adults
- Who in our family or neighborhood is coming back empty and needs someone who will stay?
- Is our home a place of refuge for people from outside, the way Ruth was welcomed in Bethlehem?
Activity
Scatter grains of rice or beans on the living room floor to be the stalks of grain. The children gather the grains into a bowl, like Ruth. Then put it all together and decide who in your family or neighborhood you will do an act of care for this week.
To memorize: Ruth 1:16
Prayer
God of Ruth and Naomi, you see who is empty and who is alone. Make us a loyal family that welcomes others and stays by their side. Comfort those who have lost someone, and show us that you are still writing our story. Amen.