"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
Ruth is one of the few women in the Old Testament whose story has been preserved to come down to us in modern times. She is an example of loyalty, faith, perseverance and virtue.
Ruth was a Moabite from Moab, her people had at various times been at war with Israel and had even occupied Israel for a brief period. This occupation came to an end with the assassination of the rather portly Egalon. Needless to say, Ruth risked quite a lot by choosing to return to Bethlehem with Naomi. Imagine today being an American and moving to Afghanistan to be with your in-laws. You probably wouldn't be very popular with the people there. But out of a feeling of loyalty to her husband's mother - who was a widow - she followed her back to Israel so that she would not have to fend for herself.
Once in Israel Ruth was a faithful and virtuous woman. Boaz praises her for her fidelity when he says:"Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for
thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning,
inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich." In whatever condition of life she found herself, either in wealth or poverty; she did not stray from that which was right. Ruth was in great poverty in Israel. A "gleaner" is someone who is allowed onto a field after it has already been harvested to collect the stray grains that are left behind by the harvesters. In Israel at this time it was a law that widows were allowed on the fields to glean. This is incredibly difficult and back-breaking work, where you are essentially on your hands and knees in the stubble searching for what little grain you can find, and as the story tells us, it usually wasn't very much.
It was because of this fidelity (and the inspired maneuverings of Naomi) that Boaz finally takes notice of Ruth and marries her. During this process Naomi teaches us an interesting lesson on patience and faith as she instructs Ruth to: "Sit still, my daughter,
until thou know how the matter will fall:" This is in part due to Naomi's understanding of how men work, but also her acknowledgment of the principles of patience and faith. She and Ruth had done all that they could, and having done so could then wait patiently for the outcome.
None of us (unfortunately) are young women or widows in our class, but we can take away a few lessons from Ruth for our own lives. Many times we lose too much spiritual energy worrying about things that are beyond our control. This is a tool that the adversary uses to distract us from our goals and to lower our self-worth. As we do what is correct, and exercise faith, then many times the correct thing to do is to "sit still". Joseph Smith put it this way: "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."
Because Ruth was able to do this, she gained the privilege of becoming one of the progenitors of Jesus Christ himself through the line of David. Brethren, as we exercise faith in our lives and then patience in the Lord, we too will see his hand in the trials and problems we face. Though it may not come all at once or as soon as we would want it to, it always comes on time.
- Brother Gough
