Ruth 4:13-22

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 family guardian. 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.

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.

Questions to consider:

• What happens after Ruth and Boaz get married?
• Why is their child significant?
• What do the people say about Ruth's relationship with Naomi?
  

Possibilities for prayer:

While the beginning of this story is a bit sad, we can see the way in which God redeems things that were originally broken. Ruth is a woman who finds herself in a strange land, without any real family of her own, and without even her husband. Naomi loses all her family and feels old and lonely. But transforms and redeems this situation so that Ruth finds a loving husband, and is able to build a family, while Naomi gains a son and a grandson in the process. Ruth's story of courage and boldness can give us hope in the way that God redeems things that seem lost, much like Boaz redeemed Ruth! Let's thank God today for the ways that we have seen redemption in our own stories, and ask that we would have eyes to see his works of redemption in the future as well.