Ruth and Naomi -"Where You Go I Shall Go - "Where You Go I Shall Go"

RUTH walked beside Naomi on a road that stretched across the high, windswept plains of Moab.  They were alone now, two tiny figures in a vast landscape. Imagine Ruth noticing that the afternoon shadows had lengthened, the looking at her mother-in-law and wondering if it was time to find a place to rest for the night.  She loved Naomi dearly and would do all she could to care for her.

Each woman bore a heaven burden of grief.  Naomi had been a widow for years now, but she was mourning more recent losses-the deaths of her two sons. Chilion and Mahlon.  Ruth too was grieving. Mahlon was her husband.  She and Naomi were heading to the same destination, the town of Bethlehem in Israel.  In a way, though, their journeys differed.  Naomi was going home. Ruth was venturing into the unknown, leaving her own kin, her homeland and all its customs -including its gods-behind her. -Read Ruth 1:3-6. 

What would move a young woman to make such a drastic change?  How would Ruth find the strength to make a new life for herself and to care for Naomi?  In learning the answers, we will find much to imitate in the faith of Ruth the Moabitess.  First, let us consider how those two women came to be on that long road to Bethlehem.  

Next time: Ruth and Naomi -"Where You Go  I Shall Go" -A Family Torn Apart by Tragedy

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