Ruth 4: 13-22
This little love story actually began when Ruth decided that the real God was the God of Israel and gave her love and allegiance to the Lord, when she came with Naomi to Judah from Moab.
Being a poor widow without a man to support her, she needed to get a job, to work for food for herself and her mother-in-law to eat, so she began to glean some grain that the reapers had left, in a field that she just happened to find.
Lo and behold, who would own that very field, but a relative of Ruth's deceased husband, who qualified to be a go-el, "kinsman-redeemer," and he had even noticed her and given her extra favors.
So Naomi advises her in a very bold and risky plan to let Boaz know what his options were, and to leave the outcome with him.
Well, Boaz has been watching this beautiful, exotic girl all summer, and when she showed up after the harvest party, asking him to marry her, he wasted no time to seal the deal, convincing the "closer relative" to give up the foreign girl! So Boaz bought all of their property and claimed Ruth the Moabitess to be his wife, and their prospects for happiness were very bright.
(13) So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
Boaz married Ruth, and even though she had not conceived during her 10-year marriage to Mahlon, God opened her womb now, and she had a little boy!
(14) Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.
These are the women who witnessed Naomi's despair when she first got home to Bethlehem, and they are rejoicing with her at God turning everything around for her, providing this grandson, who will grow up to take care of her. And they bless this baby with fame and popularity.
(15) "May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him."
They recognize that having this grandson will encourage her discouragement, giving her back her life, and bring joy and sustenance to carry her in old age. And that her dead son's wife has given her more than a whole passel of sons, in loving her so much and obeying her which led to having this son.
(16) Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse.
This doesn't mean that Naomi was a wet-nurse, which was not possible, but the word used here, aman, means that she "cared for him" as a guardian.
Some scholars have taken this as a ceremony in formally adopting this child as her own, but it may have been just a loving grandmother delighting in her first grandchild.
(17) The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi!" So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
This is a different group of women, these are Naomi's close neighbors, rather than the acquaintances who lived in the town. These friends are the ones who named him, which is the only example of a child being named by someone other than the immediate family. The name means "a servant," probably as an indication that he would serve Naomi in enriching her life.
(18) Now here are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron,
(19) and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab,
(20) and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon,
(21) And to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed,
(22) And to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.
This genealogy expands the brief account in V. 17, giving the whole line from Perez, the son of Judah. This line was honored by God in choosing David to be the king over Israel, but it was already honored with Nahshon being a prince of the house of Judah, also, in Moses' time (Numbers 7:10, 12).
This list agrees with the accounts of Jesus' ancestry lists in Matthew 1: 3-6 and Luke 3: 31-33.
O my Father, You are so good to all of us. Thank You for this beautiful love story, that demonstrates so wonderfully how our Redeemer rescues us, the foreign outsiders! You are Love, and even romantic love! You called Israel your wife, who was repeatedly unfaithful to You with other demonic gods; and now the church is the bride of Christ, the Bridegroom, looking forward to the Wedding Feast, and so romantic!
Father, You had Solomon also give us the Song of Songs, but this little tale puts it all in a nutshell. You love us so passionately, even our Lord's death on the Cross is called His Passion. Help us to see and understand these romantic concepts clearly, without any of the distortion the world puts on it.
O Father, help us to see our relationships with one another through Your pure eyes, to not allow anything in that would sully our friendships or our romantic entanglements. Keep the marriage bed pure, and guard us from overstepping the bounds of Your narrow road our feet trod.
My Father, help us to enjoy the one-flesh pleasures innocently as we anticipate the one-Spirit marriage with You forever. Let us understand the pictures You give us to see Your spiritual realities that You are preparing for us.
O my Father God, send out your children while it is still today, to share Your love with every living person before tomorrow, when they will not be able to hear. Show us how to bring every embryo to the birth into Your family, Father, to fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable family.
And eventually every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Messiah, our Bridegroom, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
