Thoughts on Ruth 4

You can read Ruth 4 here.

I just love this chapter because we see Boaz takes action. He goes straight to the city gate to settle the matter at hand. He has a clever plan to get his bride. He identifies the closer kinsmen redeemer and tells him about the land in question. The closer redeemer is interested in this. Boaz then throws in, "Oh and it comes with a Moabite woman who you will need to marry." He is a great business man. Any man would love to obtain land. Land was what was very important in their time. Boaz knew this. However, taking in a wife (of Moabite origin) and having to have a child in her dead husbands name, well that is another thing. So Boaz cleverly gave each piece of information timely as needed.

Boaz said if the nearer kinsman didn't want this then Boaz wanted to redeem the land and take the bride. The closest kinsmen declined, not wanting to jeopardize his own inheritance. Now Boaz and Ruth are husband and wife. The people are happy and pray blessings over them. They have a baby boy named Obed. He is the grandfather of King David. That makes Ruth and Boaz the great-grandparents of King David. Their story is amazing. Also this lineage of people will go all the way to the lineage of Jesus Christ through Joseph in Matthew 1. Some really cool stuff.