Saturday 8 June 2024
They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. (v. 17)
Background
Today the story of Ruth continues: she and Boaz marry and have a son, Obed, who becomes the ancestor of King David.
I will own up to loving the story of Ruth. She is a foreigner (from Moab), an outcast (not Jewish), and a woman who is widowed and alone apart from her mother-in-law, Naomi. She makes a journey to a foreign land when it would have been simpler to return to her family; she has a chance meeting with Boaz in the harvest fields where the widowed were allowed to glean stray ears of corn; he takes her as his wife; love comes and a relationship develops, and then a son who starts a dynasty that leads to the person of David, the greatest king.
It is such a simple story in so many ways, set in a small town called Bethlehem, but one that has far-reaching consequences for Ruth, for her mother-in-law Naomi and for the Jewish nation. It would have been so simple to overlook Ruth as small and insignificant in the vast tide of events and circumstances. She is lowly, humble, meek and with no power. Yet her life makes a huge difference to the course of history. She starts a dynasty that leads to King David and eventually to Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, where the story of Ruth had taken place so many years before. What goes around, comes around!
To Ponder:
- Who are the small, quiet and seemingly insignificant people who have had an impact on your life?
- Who may your life be having an impact upon?
Previously published in 2021.