Thoughts for the Day

No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, ‘Come over, friend; sit down here.’ And he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, ‘Sit down here’; so they sat down. He then said to the next-of-kin, ‘Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.’ So he said, ‘I will redeem it.’ Then Boaz said, ‘The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.’ At this, the next-of-kin said, ‘I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.’

Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, one party took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, ‘Acquire it for yourself’, he took off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.’ Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’

The Genealogy of David

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

When Ruth returns home to Naomi we have seen how the latter is pleased at the response made by Boaz, that he will marry her daughter-in-law, but because there is a closer relative to her dead husband Elimelech, this person must first be asked whether he is interested in acquiring the land and marrying Ruth under the rule of 'Kinsman-redeemer'. Naomi assures Ruth that Boaz will resolve the issue with the closer heir quickly (Ruth 3.16-18).

Now in chapter 4 of this short book we see how the story plays out. Naomi is right. Later that day, Boaz goes to the city gate with ten elders o witness and judge between him and the other relative as they make this legal agreement. Boaz tells the other man that Naomi has a field to redeem, and the man agrees to buy it. Then Boaz tells him he will also have to marry Ruth and provide Naomi with an heir. Usually this would have meant marrying the widow of Elimelech, but since Naomi is too old to bear a child, her daughter-in-law is offering herself for this position. The man knows Boaz is asking him to buy the field and then give it away to a son he will have in another man's name. For does not appeal to him and he politely refuses. The task now revolves onto Boaz the second relative, who subsequently marries Ruth. The townspeople praise Boaz for his honourable way of dealing with the issue, and offer the couple blessings for the future.

The final part of the chapter should not surprise us! When Ruth gives birth to a son, she takes him and lays him in Naomi's lap - the sign that he will be brought up as Elimelech's heir to inherit his land. The book ends with the revelation that Ruth and Boaz's son Obed, will be the grandfather of King David. In other words he will be an ancestor of Jesus who will be born in Bethlehem centuries later. When the angel Gabriel gives Mary the news she is to bear a son he says that this child "will give him the throne of his ancestor David."

Heavenly Father,
we praise and bless you for Your great plan
to send Your Son, our Lord,
to inherit the throne of His ancestor David,
and to be the King of all kings.
We thank You for all who obeyed You
and followed Your wishes down the centuries,
and ask Your blessing on us
as we seek to follow Your will this new year.
Amen.