GENERATIONS OF BLESSING
Opening Prayer
Gracious Lord, sometimes I am petulant, and the next moment I am praising You. Thank You for Your patience with me.
Read 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 guardian-redeemer. 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.
The Genealogy 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.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“From everlasting to everlasting, the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children” (Psa. 103:17).
Think Further
With the marriage of Boaz and Ruth and their son’s birth, the focus turns again to Naomi. In contrast to her emptiness at the book’s beginning, she now embraces a joyful future. Although she lacks the quiver of “seven sons” (15)—the height of family blessing—the women around her testify that Ruth’s love for her surpasses that. Now God has given Naomi a grandson. The widowed mother who mourned two childless sons receives a new heir and new hope.
Baby Obed is identified by the women as Naomi’s other kinsman–redeemer. Through Boaz and Obed, Naomi receives back her inheritance and her future. The women’s prayer for Obed will be more than answered. He will carry on the name of Elimelech, restore the family to its ancestral land and place his grandmother in a royal lineage.
In God’s mercy, Naomi gets to see the outcome of Ruth’s faithfulness and their trust in God. Many of us do not. Many believers struggle to the end of life with unrealized hope, despite their faith and prayers. Yet Naomi never grasped the full picture. She died unaware that her great-grandson would be Israel’s greatest king; died never hearing the psalms, penned by her descendant and sung through history; never knew that Messiah would come through her line. I have met many people whose parents, pastors or friends died knowing nothing of the blessings that would follow as a result of their faith—yet the outcome for those who followed was greater than they could ever have believed. We see through a glass, darkly and for only a short time, but God, who is eternal, can bring fruit far beyond what we see or experience. We are called simply to faithfulness, trust and hope. We leave the rest to God.
Apply
As you consider your life, how has God made “the crooked places straight” for you?
Closing prayer
“This, this is the God we adore, / our faithful, unchangeable Friend; / whose love is as great as his power, / and neither knows measure nor end” (Charles Wesley, 1707–1788).
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