Ruth 4:13 – 22 “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The Line of David: Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.”
Finally! After all that suffering, all the bereavements, all the struggles, all the worries about starvation, all the shame, and all the anxiety about the actions of the other relatives – finally, Boaz and Ruth are married and have a baby boy, Obed. Naomi is thrilled beyond belief! Now she has a grandson to care for and her husband’s name will not be erased from the roles in Israel. Boaz is thrilled and proud because he has fathered a son so promptly after his marriage; all the elders at the city gate are undoubtedly congratulating him and expressing their admiration.
Ruth is thrilled, proud, and relieved because she has given Boaz a son and because she is now able to bear children. (Remember, there is never any mention of Ruth having had children while she was in Moab. Ruth was probably terrified that she might prove to be barren and thus a failure as a woman. Ruth might well have feared that she would lose the pregnancy or that she would be unable to get pregnant at all. Such a failure could have resulted in Boaz putting Ruth away and taking a younger woman to give him offspring to carry on his name.)
Why wasn’t Ruth able to get pregnant before? Was there some kind of genetic problem in Elimelech’s family that caused both Mahlon and Chilion to die early deaths? And why didn’t Boaz already have children? We don’t know. All we do know is that God enabled Ruth to conceive and Obed was born, continuing the line that would ultimately produce both King David and the Messiah, Jesus.
APPLICATION: INFERTILITY! This problem is one of the cruelest things that can happen to a couple. Sometimes there are compelling reasons why the man or woman cannot contribute to the pregnancy. But many times, there are no reasons that can be found. If a marriage is predicated mainly with the goal of child – bearing, that marriage can easily fail. For a woman who loves her husband and who wants to give him a child, there is nothing more painful than watching other women who do not want their pregnancies abort their infants. In polygamous cultures, the first wife may either be divorced or merely shunned in favor of a younger woman who is fertile.
The Biblical account does not mention any previous children for either Ruth or Boaz. In that culture, both these otherwise admirable people would have been scorned for their failure to reproduce. (Overheard at the city gate: “Oh, Boaz! Well, you can’t deny that he is an excellent businessman and a good farmer. But what good is that wealth doing him? Where will that wealth go when he dies?”) Overheard at the village well: (“Oh Ruth? That woman from Moab who came to Bethlehem with Naomi? Well, my dear, I heard from someone who knows Naomi VERY WELL that woman never got pregnant all the time she was married to Mahlon! Humph! So she’s pretty – so what? She’ll be a hag before she’s thirty!”)
The why’s of infertility may be difficult, but this one thing we do know: God wants to put children in families. For many, adoption is the answer. For some, God withholds biological children but gives them young men and women who need parenting of a kind that their biological parents cannot provide.
For years I ran a bush hospital in a remote part of northeastern Ghana. I still work in that hospital. As the only doctor for more than 100,000 people, I had no time to parent small children and never became pregnant, despite trying. But God has given my husband and me non – biological children, young men and women whose parents are generally peasant farmers. These young people need funding for school and encouragement and guidance as they negotiate their way in a world their parents have never known. My husband and I do not replace biological parents; we come along side biological parents when they are present. But many times one or both parents are dead, leaving the young to fend for themselves. When we can educate the older children in a family to the point that they have professions, they can then help their younger siblings, thus saving the entire family.
Perhaps God has not given you biological children of your own. Why not ask Him to show you how you can help widows and orphans and children at risk? James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving each of us so much that You want us to be in families! Help us to look around us and to see those who need whatever assistance we can give. Thank You that when we care for widows and orphans, we can be sure that we are doing Your work. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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