Dear Fellow Students,

Recently, I did a study on the book of Ruth, and how it compares to a biblical model of a family. I love the story of Ruth because it can apply to anyone. Sure, it is a pretty girly story, but at the same time it can teach lessons to more than girls. It is a wonderful picture of a family tied by loyalty and love. What is a biblical model of family? I find it important to know the answer to this question so that I and others who are members of families can emulate it and know how to glorify God through my position in my family. Throughout all other teachings on families, there is one model of family in the Bible that stands out from the others as a model of a genuine, godly family. This is the story of Ruth. Ruth was a woman of Moab, who married one of the sons of Elimelech. Elimelech was a man of Bethlehem-judah. His wife’s name was Naomi. After his sons were married, Elimelech and his family dwelt in the country of Moab. Ten years later, Elimelech and his sons died, leaving Ruth, her sister-in-law, Orpah, and Naomi alone. Naomi then entreated Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab while Naomi went back to her country. Possibly, Naomi said, the women would be able to find husbands. Orpah relented, yet Ruth clung to Naomi. In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth tells her mother-in-law “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following 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, I will 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 was willing to give up the possibility of remarrying as long as she was allowed to go with Naomi. Seeing that Ruth was steadfastly minded, Naomi allowed her daughter-in-law to go with her. Loyalty among family members will keep a family together. This is one of the things that bring about a godly family, a model family of God’s design. Ruth was loyal to Naomi despite all odds. Then, instead of seeking a younger man to replace her husband, Ruth stayed loyal to her family and went to Boaz for protection, since he was her husband’s kin. Later, Boaz calls her a “virtuous woman” (Ruth 2:11-12) because of her loyalty to Naomi. Obedience is also needed in a godly family. Ruth was obedient to Naomi when she told her daughter-in-law to seek protection of Boaz, who was one of their kinsmen, by lying at his feet. In Ruth 3:5, after Naomi tells Ruth what to do, Ruth says “All that thou sayest, I will do.” Obedience brings unity between family members, and in Psalm 133:1, it describes unity as “good” and “pleasant.” Even if a family has loyalty, obedience, and a virtuous mother, there is one thing that will tie this family together tighter than any bond. Without it, they are nothing. It is love. 1 John 4:12, “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us.” Naomi loved her daughters-inlaw, an example of this being what she said when she sent them away. Yet Ruth stayed loyal to Naomi because she loved her. A good example of how we should treat the command from God to love one another comes from 1 Corinthians 13:1, when it says that speaking without love is like a sounding brass. Families are commanded to teach one another about God, but if we do not have love when we teach, we are like a sounding brass, an ongoing sound that is soon ignored. Soon after Boaz and Ruth were married, they had a son, whom they named Obed. The women of Bethlehem said to Naomi in Ruth 4:15 “And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter-in-law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.” I believe that is what God had in mind when he established family. Because Ruth loved Naomi, she was better than seven sons who did not love her. Obedience brings unity, unity brings loyalty, and a virtuous woman as a wife and mother brings both of these. Yet love is what truly holds a family together. After we learn to love one another, these other traits gradually develop until we become the Biblical, godly family that God wants us to be. 1 Corinthians 13:2 states it best, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, sothat I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

- Taylor Simpson