“So you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Jeremiah 30:22 NIV

This was not the first time I had seen this sentence. It was also found in Exodus 6:7 and in Leviticus 26:12. As I was reading this over and over again in Jeremiah (see also 31:33 and 32:38), I continued to think of Ruth as she spoke to her mother-in-law, Naomi. “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.'” — Ruth 1:16 NIV

I looked back at Ruth and wondered where she would get the idea of “your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth was about 500 years before Jeremiah. She was also not an Israelite. Ruth was a Moabite, from Moab, on the eastern border of Israel. Her husband’s family had moved to Moab from Bethlehem during the famine in Israel. Even so, the father and two sons died and left Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws alone. How were three women supposed to take care of themselves in that culture without their extended family? So, Naomi did what she knew to do: return home to Bethlehem. It was fitting, then, for Naomi to release the two girls to go back to their families as she couldn’t provide husbands for them.

How, then, through these struggles and lack of growing up in a Jewish society would Ruth understand the importance of being God’s people and Him being our God? I believe she was given several gifts by Naomi’s family that we, as followers of Jesus, should receive, as well.

1. Leading by example. Ruth married into Naomi’s family. Her husband was the spiritual leader of their family, but she was a part of a larger spiritual family through his extended family. She learned Jewish culture and history through her husband’s family. We all have something to learn. If we submit to God’s authority, as Ruth in that day and time submitted to her husband’s leadership, we can listen and learn. This requires that the person we are listening to and learning from be consistently godly, holy, and righteous. We must be godly, holy, and righteous for others to realize we are different and worth following.
2. Releasing others through free will. Naomi didn’t require that the girls stay and take care of her. They were all widows. Yet, there must have been something completely different about Naomi for Ruth to leave her family behind and travel to a foreign nation without a guaranteed survival. She must have loved Naomi through the love of her husband. True love will release others to be themselves. There are proper boundaries in true love. We can’t force anyone to change who doesn’t want to change. If we use our power or authority to do such, we are manipulating. We serve a God who loves us so much that He gives us free will. We have to give others the same luxury.
3. Having proper expectations. Relationships are hard. Ruth makes a commitment to Naomi, though, that the people of Israel, Naomi’s people, would be Ruth’s people. She was saying that she was committed to going all the way to Bethlehem and staying there with her for the rest of her life. Commitments often require sacrifice as we say yes to them because that requires we say no to other things. This is no different than in our relationship with Christ. We say yes to Christ and we can expect to say no to other things in order to follow Him for the rest of our lives. We need to be okay with saying no because we believe wholeheartedly in the “yes” of following Christ.

God leads us by His example, He releases us to our free will, and He gives us proper expectations.

“So you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Jeremiah 30:22 NIV

What needs to change in your life for you to be “God’s people”? What needs to change in your heart and/or attitudes for God to be your God?

© 2017 Susan M. Sims

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