Ruth 4:13-22 – Living a grace rewritten life

Publicly Boaz firmly made his commitment to Ruth. He fulfilled his Levirate responsibility and married Ruth. They then had sexual relations and Ruth conceived and gave birth. Her first marriage was a barren one and she did not bear Mahlon any child. This marriage to Boaz was a fruitful one because God blessed it and opened her womb. Enabled by God, she conceived and a son was born. In four chapters we find Ruth progressing from a widow to becoming a wife. She played four roles in this book. She was first a widow shown in chapter 1, then a worker in chapter 2, and a woman in chapter 3 and finally a fruitful wife in chapter 4.

In chapter 1, Naomi left Bethlehem with great hope and anticipation. But the turn of fortune forced her home and she returned empty. She lost not only her husband Elimelech but also her two sons, Chilion and Mahlon. From her earlier miserable experiences came the theme of bitterness. Naomi meaning sweet or pleasant became Marah or bitter. But in these last ten verses of the book, we see the emergence of a new theme – joy and hope. The birth of Obed by Boaz and Ruth brought satisfaction, security, and hope. He would be his mother and grandmother’s redeemer, restorer and sustainer. The women of Bethlehem praised Ruth who had been to Naomi a great blessing. Ruth’s love for her mother-in-law outweighed the worth of seven sons. So, out of the ashes of Naomi’s life came a new hope. She returned empty to God but He had restored her. She was once again full of hope and full of blessings.

So, Naomi took the newborn son of Ruth and laid him on her lap and nursed him. This is possibly an indication that she was the one who would finally be responsible for raising him. She was accepting her role as guardian to the newborn, who came to be recognized as the son of Naomi rather than Ruth’s. They gave Naomi the honor and privilege of naming the child and she called him Obed, meaning one who serves. He went on to become the father of Jesse, the father of King David. This would make Ruth the great-grandmother of David. The book of Ruth shows us that David came from the solid line of an Israelite. But it also shows us that he came through the womb of a Moabite woman, who bravely gave up her all to become a lover of Yahweh.  

The birth of Obed had helped to fix Ruth’s role firmly in the history of Israel. Through him, Ruth became connected to the royal family. From Obed came Jesse, who fathered King David, from whose line came Jesus, the Messiah. Ruth’s brave act gave her a place in the genealogical account of our Lord Jesus Christ. She was one of the women honored in Matthew’s account of the ancestors of Jesus our Lord.  The life of Ruth is a story of the power of grace. It was with the grace of God had re-written her life. Like Ruth, God takes us out of our fallen life and with grace, rewrote our lives. And He continues to do so. The grace of God will now sustain us through the journey of life.  He will change the course of our meaningless life to bring us into a meaningful, fruitful, and fulfilling path of a great and glorious life. The question is: will we let Him do it? The choice is obvious!