A happy ending

Ruth 4:1-22 (New International Version)

1Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer  he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

2Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you  will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”

“I will redeem it,” he said.

5Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the  dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”

6At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”

7(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)

8So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

9Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”

11Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lordmake the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.12Through the offspring the Lordgives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lordenabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.14The 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! 15He 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.”

16Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

19Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

20Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

21Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

22Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

Praise the Lord for the family redeemer

When Ruth gave birth to a son, the people of the town said to Naomi, “ praise the Lord who has given you a family redeemer today! May he be famous in Israel". They named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. Ultimately the ancestor of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ! Remember that in the lineage of Christ there was one Rahab from Jericho, then there was one Ruth from Moab, and there was one Bathsheba who was a Hittite. In christ all the racial prejudices, narrow tribalism and casteism are all broken. A new community based on love and justice is what is expected. Can you be a part of the Kingdom of God?