The Mother-In-Law Called Naomi

The Mother-In-Law Called Naomi

In the Woman called Ruth, the focus was on Ruth’s qualities. In this article, we would be focusing on Naomi’s qualities as a mother-in-law. Ruth was Naomi’s daughter-in-law.

It takes a good daughter-in-law and a good mother-in-law to co-exist. Having observed the way some mothers-in-law treat their daughters-in-law, I don’t blame some ladies who pray for their future mother-in-law to die before they get married; but then again, if we are to look at this from a different angle, how would you feel if your future daughter-in-law wishes you dead? It is hard to chew, right? I guess it makes sense that you shouldn’t dish out what you wouldn’t want to be served or what you can’t eat.

For Ruth to be good to Naomi, then Naomi had certain attributes.

Let’s continue our journey through the Book of Ruth.

If you haven’t read the article on the woman called Ruth, then you should.

I’d like to assume that Naomi had a good mother-in-law; or maybe not. I wouldn’t know #smiles. She was first a daughter-in-law before she became a mother-in-law.

From the first chapter of Ruth, we see that Naomi, her husband and their two sons left Bethlehem-judah for the country of Moab due to the famine in the land. Her two sons got married to two women of Moab – Orpah and Ruth.

When Naomi lost her nuclear family, she was left with her two daughters-in-law. Then she heard that the famine in Bethlehem-judah had ended and she decided to return to her own people. I would like to end the summary here; read your Bible #smiles.

Straight to the discussion for today, we’ll observe the qualities of the mother-in-law called Naomi.

The qualities of Naomi include but are not limited to the following:

1. She was a good mother-in-law. For her daughters-in-law to choose to remain with her even after the death of their husbands, it is safe to say that Naomi was a good mother-in-law. We can say that she treated them as she would treat her own daughters. Also, the woman called Ruth wouldn’t have followed her mother-in-law to her own land and do all she did in the points stated in ‘The Woman called Ruth’.
2. She wasn’t a controller (as in a controlling mother-in-law) like we have these days. She didn’t force her will on her daughters-in-law. Unlike like some controlling mothers-in-law who would want everything in their son’s or daughter’s house to begin and end with them. I mean, imagine taking permission from your mother-in-law when you want to get pregnant for her son. I am glad that you can’t see my facial expression right now. Naomi didn’t enforce her will on her daughters-in-law unlike some controlling territorial commanders.
3. She was a considerate mother-in-law. I wouldn’t bore you with the customs of those days; read your Bible. She told her daughters-in-law to return to their fathers’ house because she knew that there was no way she could have given birth to sons in her old age that would become their husbands. As a considerate mother-in-law that she was, she thought it wise that they returned to their parents’ house so they could get suitors.
4. She was a great and an excellent matchmaker. When she discovered that Ruth worked in the field of her kinsman, she began the matchmaking process. I am certain that it is only a good mother-in-law that would do this.
5. She gave a good report of Ruth. She knew that Ruth was good and she shared the testimony of this amongst her people else Boaz would not have testified to this in Ruth 2:11
6. She was a wise mother-in-law. It is only a wise mother-in-law that would give Ruth the instruction she gave her in Ruth 3. I mean, what is the correlation because I don’t know.

I’d like to conclude here. As a result of her relationship with her daughter-in-law, she finally had a grandchild which she nursed and the people of the land blessed the name of the Lord on her behalf.

Thank you for reading. We hope you learned a thing or two.

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