Chronology of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-17) gives us four women names. What is interesting is that all this women were gentiles. First was Tamar the Canaanite, Rahab also a Canaanite, Ruth the Moabite and Bathsheba a Hittite.
I am aware that volumes have been written concerning Ruth the Moabite girl but I feel obliged to write a summary which draws a picture of Ruth as rose among thorns (Rose Model)
Let me give the background of Ruth by first explaining who the Moabites were. They were the descendants of Lot by his daughter (Genesis 19:37). It is important to know that the second daughter gave birth to Ammon the father of the Ammonites. Edomites were descended from Esau the son of Isaac while Amalekites were descended from Eliphaz, a son of Esau.
Though related, Moab refused passage to Israel on their way to Canaan. They however did not fight the Israelites like the Amalekites. In fact, Deut 2:29 makes no complain about hostility either of Edom or Moab, only mentioning that Moab lacked hospitality and hired Balaam to curse Israel. Lack of hospitality and the hiring of Balaam caused them to be excluded from the congregation of the Lord to the tenth generation (Deut. 23:3-4).
Moabites adored Chemosh (ke-mosh) as their national deity. They also worshiped Ashitar and Baal-peor (Numbers 25:3 Deut. 4:3). We can conclude that Moabites were polytheist in contrast to Israel who (were monotheist) worshiped only Yahweh.
Ruth was born and raised in this environment where idol worship is the norm of the day. All of a sudden a family of immigrants appears in the community. These were Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion. Soon or later Elimelech died. The two sons took wives from the daughters of Moab. Mahlon married Ruth while Chilion married Orpah. Another tragedy hits the family, Mahlon and Chilion died. We are not told the cause of their death. Any reason for the deaths of Elimelech and his two sons can only be attributed to speculation.
Naomi decided to go back to Bethlehem of Judah when she heard that the Lord had visited His people and there was plenty of bread in Judah. First both Ruth and Orpah accompanied Naomi to go to Israel. Naomi persuaded them to go back to their families. Orphah was persuaded and went back to her people, but Ruth could not be persuaded. She 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. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17).
This is a very strong statement of faith. How did Ruth develop such faith? It was Naomi who lived the faith and gave her testimony concerning Yahweh God of Israel. Yahweh can be trusted by all no matter their religious back ground. Ruth surrendered her life to this God and was ready to live under His wings no matter the current condition. Another reason could have been that Naomi matched her words with her actions. Her life was a model of a type of a person who could be trusted.
When Naomi realized that Ruth couldn’t be dissuaded, they returned together to Bethlehem, the old home from which Elimelech had migrated. In Bethlehem, Ruth portrayed a wonderful character, her actions testified for her :( Ruth 2:11-12 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.")
Furthermore Boaz said "...all my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character" (Ruth 3:12b)
Ruth was eventually married to Boaz a relative of Elimelech. She became mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. Thus Ruth, a gentile, is among the maternal progenitors of Jesus. She is a role model.