Ruth 4:11-22
11 Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”
The Descendants of Boaz
13 So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel.15 May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” 16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. 18 This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron. 19 Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. 20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.[a]
21 Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. 22 Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.
I am in no way a bible historian or theologian and in fact the simplest family tree can confuse me and leave me scratching my head!
I do understand from scripture that Ruth is a Moabite woman who was born in Moab, a heathen sinful nation. The Moabites were known for worshipping the pagan God Chemosh. I find the story of Ruth fascinating and the connection between Ruth, David and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is extraordinary. Ruth’s past did not define who God had created her to be – it did not matter where she was born and it did not matter into which tribe she was birthed. God’s purposes outweighed her nationality, family and religion to form a legacy and new direction for her life. She would be defined by His call on her life and not by the circumstances of her birth and upbringing.
When Ruth met Boaz, Boaz was well aware of the inheritance that her mother in-law Naomi had lost. We read in chapter 4 that Boaz decided to redeem the inheritance of Naomi by purchasing Ruth and taking her to be his wife. This allowed him to raise up children to Naomi and restore to Naomi’s family her inheritance. The very fact that Ruth came to live in Israel and came to marry Boaz was nothing less than the work of God and His grace. Naomi was blessed but Ruth was blessed beyond what she could have ever imagined. She was, by God’s grace embedded into the line of the coming Messiah and Bethlehem was to become the place of the birth of Christ just as the scripture predicted in verse 11.
What I take away from this chapter is that God has a future for each one of us and if we trust, obey and submit to Him, He will open up doors that seem incredible and unbelievable. We need to learn to trust that our Lord determines our future – it is not determined by our experiences, our circumstances or the effect of those around us.
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