by John O’Malley
“So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son” (Ruth 4:13).
Their first days surely were filled with the joy of any newly wedded couple. Rays of love splashed across their home as they began in earnest to establish their new home together. Laughter and smiles were abundant as they shared stories of their thoughts of what once was and what would be in their future. There was no question; they were in love!
Their marriage was not one entered into with reluctance; rather, it was one with rejoicing. This redeemed bride and her kinsman-redeemer sought to share their love and to seek God’s blessing in conception. They desired a son to continue the family name of Elimelech and Ruth’s deceased husband, Mahlon. This desire was honorable in the eyes of God and man.
In yesterday’s reading, we saw that, as hard as Satan fought, God is overall and reigns supreme. His sovereign hand oversaw and orchestrated the events of Boaz and Ruth’s lives to bring them down His aisle of grace. Their meeting was not by chance. It was by divine appointment, and it would be the same with the fruit of their union.
Who would have thought that a generous act several thousand years ago by a wealthy relative toward an impoverished, childless widow would play such an important role in the redemption of the world? Yet it did. Redemption is the very heart of God. He allowed nothing to prevent making redemption available to all of mankind in all ages. He blessed Boaz and Ruth with a son, as He would thirty generations later as He blessed the family of man with the virgin birth of Jesus, the Messiah.
The blessing of the birth of a son to Boaz and Ruth highlights a clear truth. God is in control in the matters of redemption and reproduction of mankind. Man cannot redeem himself, nor can he reproduce without God. God desires to redeem every man without exemption or exclusion. He still gives heritage even today in the reproduction and adoption of children. Through both, He receives the glory.
Our focal verse today states it clearly: “And when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.” It is no wonder that, as Satan fought against their union, God would bless it and give them conception, and at that a son. Four generations later, God used their great-great-grandson Solomon to write in Psalm 127:3, “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”
Perhaps you are aware of someone who is having a baby. Why not use it as a reminder to tell others of God’s redemption available to all men? Let us thank God today for His grace and goodness toward us. It is easy when reading a verse like this one today to understand what John wrote in the New Testament: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Think about it...