My answer to this question will be based on the story of Ruth for it is stated of her in the book of Ruth that she is known to be a woman of noble character. V3:11.

A nobleman or woman is a person of noble rank, with title or status, a person belonging to a priviliged class, having special status and dignity.

Ruth was the daughter in law of Naomi, an Israelite married to Elimelech.Ruth was a moabite. Moab was at times in conflict with Israel and there were specific guidelines concerning the Moabite people. There seems nothing noble about Ruths heredity or genealogy.

Naomi's family had chosen to make their home in Moab due to the famine in Israel. Subsequently Naomi's husband died, then her two sons Kilion and Marlon died. Naomi and her two daughter in laws are left.Ruth and Orpa.

When the famine was broken in Israel, Naomi decides to go back to Bethlehem. She encourages her two daughters in law to leave her and go back to their own people. Orpa does decide to leave but Ruth clings to her mother in law and covenants her life to her.

Ruth and Naomi make their new home in Bethlehem. Ruth goes out to work the fields for food and very quickly gains favour from the owner of the field, Boaz.

Boaz however is a kinsman of Naomi. For Naomi's life and family line to be redeemed she instructs Ruth to lay at the feet of Boaz, who does acknowledge his duty as a kinsman redeemer and subsequently marries Ruth. Together they bear a child by the name of Obed,who becomes the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of king David.

Ruth enters into a covenant relationship with her mother in law. A Covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. Ruth states '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."

Her example reminds me of my 'pop' who is now 89 years of age. Pop was born in a fishing village along the central coast of NSW. After his marriage he decided for a better future for his young family that they would move to Sydney. There he began working for Nestles.Back in my pops generation a handshake was an unspoken agreement of commitment and loyalty.Pop worked whole heartedly and happily for over thirty years. When he began work for that company he was committed for life. Now almost 30 years after retiring he still receives a Nestle christmas hamper every year and invites to their functions. Pops covenant was for life.

Today in our throw away society even signed and sealed agreements are often broken. Do we display this same sense of loyalty to our spouses, employers, our church? How easily we disregard a fundamental characteristic of nobility. To hold fast to a covenant agreement.

Our faith rests upon the unbreakable covenant that Jesus made with us. Do we hold fast to our commitment, are we faithful under any circumstances,do we stay loyal until the very end? To this day my pop will only buy Nestle chocolate.

Ruth , willingly made a life change. She turned her back on her home land and her people to follow her mother in law. Pop too walked away from all he had known. These acts required faith. Faith is my second point for 'what determines a woman of noble character.

Faith is part of the very fabric of Ruths being. After their arrival in Bethlehem Ruth decides to step out once again, to pick up the left over grain from harvesting.Ruth is willing to work to provide food for herself and her mother inlaw.She humbly places herself as a begger gleaning the fields after the harvesters.

Very quickly the harvesters notice Ruths strength and tireless work. Even the owner of the field admires her and shows her favour.Because of her step of faith Boaz, the owner offers her protection, refreshment and provision. Boaz says to Ruth in v2:21 "stay with my workers until they have finished harvesting all of my grain" The average time for harvesting is seven weeks, Ruths step of faith to provide herself and Naomi with food for one day is rewarded with provision for seven weeks.

How easy it would have been for Ruth to weep and wail over the loss of her home and husband, she deserved to rest and recover after her long journey from Moab. But no, Ruth is a woman of noble character.She puts her faith into action.For as we know 'Faith by itself if not accompanied by action is dead.'

I have heard the unemployed complain about their lives, discontented with their financial situations, yet sitting around waiting for a job to be handed to them on a silver platter. These people have not grasped the consept that Ruth had. To step out in faith. Many of us are frightened to take the first step to change our future yet one step can catapult us into an incredible destiny. Think back to the simple step of faith that it took to follow Jesus and how it changed the entire course of your life.Faith requires action. Whether you are willing to take the crucial step is the question.

Think over your time as a Christian. Has God ever asked you to deliver a message to another, to stand and worship when the congregation are sitting, have you been asked to serve or give more than you are able? How often we face the decision to obey or not to obey. Obedience is the third attribute of a noble character.

Ruths mother in law asked an extremely difficult thing of Ruth, that she would dress and perfume herself and go to the threshing floor where Boaz would be working. This was no small request. The threshing floor, a messy and dirty place was normally off limits to women. If Ruth was noticed she may have been ridiculed and scorned, she was risking her reputation, livelihood and protection.

Naomi also instructed Ruth to wait for Boaz to sleep then go and lay at his feet.Ruths choice to obey is fundamental to the final outcome for her life.Boaz is a kinsman who can redeem the family line of Naomi if he consents to buying their land and marrying Ruth.

Boaz awakes during the night to find Ruth at his feet .This is the pinnacle of Ruths obedience. What is the response of Boaz? He blesses her in the name of the Lord, he reassures her not to be afraid, he keeps her dignity in tact by hiding her until morning, he provides her with food and he consents to redeeming her.

Ruths ability to obtain blessing was not merely through finding a kinsman redeemer. Ruth's covenant, faith and obedience resulted in blessing.

Ruth redeemed Naomi's name and estate.She became the wife of Boaz. Ruth received prophetic blessing over her marriage, life and offspring.

Ruth stands as an example to all of us as we walk out our lives, however difficult. She too faced extreme loss, confronting issues and overwhelming brokenness.But Ruth was able and willing she was in covenant, she exercised her faith and she was obedient at all cost. She reaped the blessings associated with a nobleman or woman.

She is mentioned in the word of God with the noblest of ranks as the mother of Obed the father of Jesse in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.