Ruth 4:13 – “Treasure Chest”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

¹³And Boaz took Ruth to be to him to wife and he came in to her and YHVH gave to her conception and she bore a son.

This is another verse that is easy to read and say, “Awwww,” and keep reading; but I think if one stops to ponder it a while, it is full of encouraging truth. As I thought about it and read the thoughts of others who’ve gone before me, I learned a number of things I don’t want to forget! This one verse is a treasure chest of truth to help us!

First of all, was there ever a more deserving couple than these two? They so deserve each other. Boaz was a wealthy man living in the days of the judges, when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” One has only to read through the book of Judges to realize what a disgusting moral pit into which Israel had fallen. Yet in spite of all that, Boaz had resolved to be a godly man, a man of genuine integrity. Then on the other hand, there is poor Ruth. She was a young woman who suffered so much. Yet in spite of all the utter hopelessness of her life she chose to put her trust in the God of Israel, to be a virtuous woman even in abject poverty. Boaz chose to trust God in spite of his wealth; Ruth chose to trust Him in spite of her poverty; and the Lord gave them to each other! For richer, for poorer, they trusted God and He blessed them for it.

Another thing I observe is that Ruth is clearly an illustration of Jesus’ words, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 18:29,30). Ruth chose to forsake all to follow Christ and she found it true, “Delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4). Ruth left everything to trust God and He gave her “beauty for her ashes.” Oh that I could never forget the Lord is kind beyond my wildest imagination. I need only fall trusting into His everlasting arms and again and again and again He has blessed me far “beyond anything I could ask or think.” Lord give me Ruth’s heart for You!

See too how our prayers for others may come back to bless us in unexpected ways. This wealthy Boaz had once prayed over this impoverished widow, “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” (2:12). He prayed that prayer in pure kindness, sincerely wishing well for this needy girl, never dreaming that he himself would become God’s instrument to fulfill it. That day he had done all he could personally to see it fulfilled, allowing her to reap in his fields, urging her to stay in his fields through the entire harvest, commanding his men to treat her with respect, providing water for her to drink and food to eat. But those few fishes and loaves of kindness the Lord took and blessed and multiplied and suddenly Boaz finds her in his arms, his wife, and bearing him a son. Someone has said prayer makes us participants in God’s great plans and, like Boaz, while we pray for others, sometimes it is we who receive the greatest blessing!

Then notice too that suddenly Ruth has command over the very servants she had worked beside! The Bible says, “He raises the poor from the dust … and seats them with princes,” (Psalm 113:8). One thing I have learned from life is to build relationships with everyone, to treat people kindly no matter whether they seem to hold any “importance” or not. It is surprising how often this very thing happens. Working as an engineer, I go into wastewater treatment plants and usually work directly with whoever is the superintendent. But in the course of things, I end up one way or another working with their operators. I have sincerely tried to treat those fellows and gals with respect and many, many times, all of a sudden one day the old superintendent is gone and one of those operators is in charge! Boy am I glad then I had treated them well! Of course I should treat them well just because they are human beings,  but I would never have guessed as a young man how often that kindness would come back to bless me! It is certainly true that the Lord “raises the poor from the dust!” I’ll bet there were a few servants who were suddenly glad they had been kind to Ruth! And I’ll also bet there were a few who were embarrassed to realize things they’d said and done and now this girl is their master’s wife! Godliness really is great gain!

Another thing that one of the old commentators noted is that we are reminded in this one verse how it is the Lord who holds the keys. “The Lord gave her conception.” Oh that we could never forget that He is the Great Cause. It is ultimately Him who makes all things happen. We live in a world ruled by very predictable laws and filled with people who imagine they can “make it happen” – whatever that may be. And to some extent it is true. Certainly when you throw a ball in the air it will come back down and when a young man takes a young woman in his arms there is a good chance a baby will result. It’s “just natural.” And yet it isn’t, and many a couple has found what’s “natural” doesn’t always come so easily. A Christian doctor once told me, “I can put all the parts together, but it is God who has to do the healing.” May we depend on Him for the most seemingly minute and “natural” details of our lives, believing that it is Him who holds the keys. He holds them in great kindness but He holds them!

Lastly, and someone called this “the big takeaway” from this book, this verse reminds us never to despair in the darkness. From the very beginning of this book we saw people wrestling in the dark, starting with an awful famine and a family feeling they had no choice but to leave their home, to heart-wrenching funerals of a woman’s husband and then both her sons, to Ruth’s trusting plunge into a world of utter hopelessness. And yet, through it all, the Lord knew He’d write chapter 4, verse 13! Ruth reminds us He is the Great Cause, but she also reminds us “the Lord is good.” No matter how dark our world may appear today, may we remember that the Lord is working it all together to do us good. Let us go on trusting, go on loving and know that He has a 4:13 planned for our lives as well!

What a treasure chest!