September 12 – Obed

September 12 – Obed
Ruth 4:13-17

The story of Ruth is a beautiful tale of loyalty and commitment, redemption and love. The main characters, Ruth and Naomi are well known to most all of us and Ruth’s words to Naomi have been used in many wedding services as promises of a lifelong pledge: “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following thee, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die and will be buried. May the Lord deal severely with me, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

Ruth meets Boaz when she follows Naomi back to her home and he ends up falling in love with her.  They have a son.

One of the central stories in the book of Ruth is that of the kinsman-redeemer.  Boaz was part of the clan which Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, was from.  Upon Naomi’s return, she wanted to sell the land he had owned.  There was another man who was going to purchase it, but if he did so, he then had to take responsibility for Naomi as well as Ruth.  That actually wouldn't be good for his estate, so Boaz accepted that responsibility and at the same time, took Ruth as his wife.

When their son was born, the women proclaimed to Naomi that now she had a kinsman-redeemer, a man who would grow up and take care of her in her old age.  With the birth of Obed, not only did Ruth and Boaz have a son, but so did Naomi and she cared for the boy as if he were her own.

Obed’s son was named Jesse. Isaiah 11:1 says that "a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." Jesse had many sons, but his youngest, David, became the great king of Israel.

Ruth was just a young woman whose husband had died.  She was lost and refused to be alone. She had committed to being part of Naomi’s family and death wasn’t going to get in her way.  Love was more than just words, it was action.

That love brought her a new love when she and Boaz found each other. Centuries later, Matthew would note once more, the Gentile woman who followed her heart and stood by a commitment to a friend in the lineage of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the ultimate kinsman-redeemer who took responsibility for the sins of the world and through his crucifixion purchased our redemption.