The Understanding Of A Marriage Covenant

And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her…. And Ruth said, 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:
Ruth 1:14‭, ‬16 KJV

The difference between Orpah and Ruth was in their understanding of a marriage covenant. They were both foreigners in Israel, but they both married into the God of Israel. Ruth did not only marry her husband, but she said something we repeat in marriage ceremonies around the world. She told the mother in-law why she couldn’t leave: Naomi’s people were now her people. Naomi’s God was now her God. Something happened to this young woman than just a mere attachment in marriage. Its called a transformation. Until there’s a a transformation within a person, what you have is a ceremony in marriage. The core of any covenant is the transformation it brings. In the ancient times, a covenant was literary the sacrifice of one life for another. When the two parties walked between the sacrifice, they declare death to self, for a new life. Ruth understood the implications of the covenant. If their stories were told halfway through, Orpah would have been the heroine. Interpreters would have harped on her strength and doggedness to return. Except, that is not where the story ends. Don’t conclude anybody’s story till God says so. Your story may have complications, but its not the end. We know how Ruth’s story ended. There’s Boaz waiting to change the elements, leading it in a new direction. Don’t let anyone conclude your story when you haven’t seen what your Boaz,Jesus Christ, will do I’m excited about your case. Your and will be better.