Ruth 4:17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The Heritage of Choice
My family and I recently drove from Pensacola, Florida to Williams, Arizona. It was a two-day trip and a good 800 miles each day. It was a lot of driving, but, of course, nothing makes us happier than driving hours on end. As we were driving through Texas, I couldn’t help but notice that we were driving right through old Rice country, the places where my grandparents on the Rice side were born and lived. I pointed out different counties and towns to my sons, and even told them a story or two about what they represented. I love history, and I am very much aware of both national history, as well as my own personal history. There is some significance to a person’s knowing the context for his life. Having said that, the heritage you leave is far more important than the one you receive.
Ruth was not a Jewess. She did not have a grand heritage, and she had not grown up in a home that knew or loved Jehovah God. But she married into a family, though imperfect, who knew Jehovah. But when Ruth’s husband died, she was given a choice whether to go back to her own people or to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth famously said, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
Ruth went back to the home of Naomi, where she met and eventually married Boaz. Boaz was the son of a woman named Rahab, who had been a harlot. Rahab was a Canaanite, yet she chose to serve and follow God Jehovah. Rahab had basically said the same thing that Ruth had said, “Thy people will be my people, and thy God shall be my God.” The book of Ruth highlights the fact that God is gracious, regardless of your lineage, upbringing, or parentage. The only pedigree that impresses God is the one defined by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, “What will you choose to do with Jesus?”
The reason the book of Ruth is in the Bible to begin with is largely because of what is says about the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Ruth 4:17 says, “And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” When Ruth and Boaz had a child, Naomi perhaps became aware to some extent of God’s leading in her life and in the life of Ruth. Through two very unlikely candidates, Rahab and Ruth, passed the lineage from which would be born the Son of Man and the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Whatever your heritage may be, the heritage you leave is so much more important than the one you have received. That is because it is the one about which you have a choice. We all come from very different backgrounds, but each of us has the same choice. Will we love God, follow God, and pass Him on to the next generation, or will we be the link that turns future generations away from God?