13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The Genealogy of David
18 This, then, is the family line of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
19 Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
21 Salmon the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
22 Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.
(Ruth 4:13-22 NIV)
From yesterday’s reading and study, we see Boaz fulfill his promise to find a guardian-redeemer for Ruth – either the man closer in relation to her or himself. Since the man closer in relation to Ruth was not willing to obey the Lord in this matter, Boaz honored her request and took her as his wife.
In today’s passage, we see the Lord blessing Boaz and Ruth with a son. This was the fulfillment of God’s promise that Elimelek and Mahlon’s name would not die out. For whatever reasons, Mahlon and Ruth did not have any children before Mahlon died, so Boaz honored God’s command to carry on their family name.
The main focus in this passage is Naomi. Notice the response of the town women when Ruth had a baby. They praised Naomi for God’s hand of blessing upon her! This was a complete turnaround from her arrival back in Bethlehem after being gone ten years. She had left with a husband and two sons and had come back with a foreign-born daughter-in-law. Everyone wanted to know, “what happened?”
Naomi even changed her name to Mara to reflect this seemingly bitter life that she was living through. But God had other plans – to redeem the seemingly impossible into reality. And now we see Naomi holding this realization of God’s hand of blessing in her arms, caring for him as only a doting grandmother can.
Last but not least, the author / biographer of this family history shows us the culmination of God’s hand of blessing upon Naomi, Boaz, and Ruth: the lineage and genealogy of King David.
May we always keep our focus on the Lord and not our circumstances. Yes, life is hard and we have shattered dreams and broken hearts. No, we would not choose this path if life were up to us. But yet, God can redeem even the most broken things in our lives and make us more like Him.
God protects and provides for His own. May we look for and find our rest and comfort in Him during our darkest days and nights. Whether our redemption comes in this life or the next, in our generation or one yet to come, God keeps His promises.
Blessings,
~kevin
kevin lotz 