Ruth 1-4: Offspring of Significance

We always think of the faithfulness of Ruth to Naomi when we read this story, but what about the story of Boaz.  It can be inferred from reading between the lines, that he was a prosperous, but older man, with a good heart, whose mission in life had yet to be fulfilled.  He went about his business, planting and harvesting his crops, but he had no family to pass it on to.  Then into the picture comes this young woman that he has heard about.  “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”  Ruth 2:11-12: NIV 

Boaz's designs on Ruth were not dishonest and he does the right thing by becoming her kinsman-redeemer.  As a result he receives the blessing of the elders. “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” - Ruth 4:11-12 NIV

Their blessing was prophetic for through Boaz and Ruth came David, all the kings of Judah, and eventually the King of Kings.  All because one quiet man waited on God and did the right thing.  Being zealous for God when you're young is a good thing, but sometimes God's will for a persons life is revealed only as one gets older after having spent years living a very insignificant life.  Sometimes it is the offspring of one's old age that is of lasting consequence. 

2010 Post - Ruth 1-4::  A Jewish Mother-In-Law