Friend of StrangersSample

Due to a famine, Elimelech, an Israelite, and his wife Naomi leave Israel with their two children and go to the neighboring country of Moab to live there as climate refugees. In Moab, Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi alone with her two sons, who each marry Moabite wife - Orpah and Ruth. After some time, Naomi's sons also die, and she is left alone with her daughters-in-law. This was a difficult situation for Naomi; in biblical times, a single woman without a husband or sons could not support herself. Naomi returns to her homeland of Israel but asks Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab, where they can remarry. Orpah agrees to stay, but Ruth refuses to leave Naomi and says:

“But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ru 1:16)

By choosing God and His people, Ruth goes from being a Moabite stranger to becoming a spiritual citizen of God's kingdom. At first, Ruth was considered a stranger in Israel. As a stranger, she has the right, according to the Law of Moses, to pick leftover sheaves from Israelite fields. It was part of God's covenant that the Israelites would give a portion of their harvest to the strangers, and if they did, Israel would, in turn, be blessed by God.

When native Israelites were generous with their abundance, foreign strangers could survive in the land. Ruth, a stranger in a foreign country, decides not to get stuck in alienation or welfare dependency but to actively try to become part of her new country and make a new and better life for herself. When Ruth takes advantage of the right of foreigners to pick leftover grain, she meets Boaz, a member of Elimelech's family. Eventually, they marry, and Ruth becomes the ancestor of both King David and Jesus Christ.