The story of Ruth, as told in the Bible book titled with her name, is familiar to many. To recap, without names, a man from Judah took his family, wife, and two sons to Moab because of a famine in Israel. In Moab, the sons took wives from that country. The man died, followed by both sons, leaving the mother, Naomi, and their wives, Orpah and Ruth, both Moabites. Naomi heard that God had brought food to Judah and recognized her circumstantial plight was from the hand of God. She knew it was time to go home. She instructed her daughters-in-law to go back to their families. Orpah cried, said her goodbyes, and departed. Ruth would not leave. Her famous words touch the hearts of many believers today, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more if anything but death parts me from you” Ruth 1:16-17.
Naomi and Ruth make the trip back to Naomi's hometown. I will edit out some details, but the next point is that Ruth finds herself gleaning wheat in the fields of a relative named Boaz. Boaz is attracted to Ruth's integrity and love for her mother-in-law. He offers her and Naomi protection and provision. Naomi suggests and arranges for Ruth to offer herself as available for marriage to Boaz. Something is confirmed about Baoz's integrity in this offer, which presents itself with deep humility and honor.
In Deuteronomy 25, the details are important to be spelled out because they are significant in what we need to know. Verse 5 begins: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the dead man's wife shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9 then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.’ 10 And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’
As we read in Ruth, Boaz is aware of a family member who is closer in blood than he and who should be first offered the opportunity to become the "Kinsmen Redeemer." As Deuteronomy 25 lays out, the relative rejects the offer, and the ritual ensues of him being "named, 'The house of him who had his sandal pulled off." Boaz takes responsibility for perpetuating the property and the posterity of Naomi's husband's heritage; he also takes Ruth as his wife. Taking Ruth for his wife was not as part of the obligation, but that part for him was because he loved her. In Ruth 4, Boaz says something that has broader ramifications spiritually, from verse 9, "Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place..." Naomi would take in Boaz and Ruth's first child to raise as her own to fulfill this ritual of carrying on her husband's posterity.
The part where Boaz says, "to perpetuate the name," touches my soul for a more profound spiritual lesson. We are instructed in various ways to be those who perpetuate the name of Jesus and His Kingdom. That is a responsibility that is significant for his followers. Unlike the family member who rejects this responsibility, we don't walk away with the moniker,"‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’ Those who choose not to perpetuate the name of Jesus will find that they have no life in him. 1 John 5:12: "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life."
We continue his legacy since he sits with the Father in the seat of honor. We are responsible for carrying on the posterity of his Kingdom's work, John 14:12: "... Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father." We get to continue the work that years and years of Christians have carried on. Making disciples is one way of carrying forth the posterity of Christ's Kingdom. There is much to glean from reading and putting into practice what is taught in Matthew 5-7, The Sermon on the Mount. The way to carry on the legacy of God's Kingdom through His son isn't just found in the teachings of Jesus, but through the Epistles, written by the Apostles and those who were authorized to write in His their name, which means in Jesus' name.
One thing you will notice in Ruth's story is that when the first relative rejected the offer, there was no debate or division. They continued the ritual, and God still covered the widow and her husband's inheritance. One of the most significant ways we can protect God's inheritance is in John 13:35: "By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." Just as the relative went on with his rejection of his responsibility, another chose to take on the responsibility of perpetuating the name of Naomi's husband. Let's show we are more united in the things of God, than we differ. We can spend more time sharing the hope in Jesus than debating theology. We can disagree, more agreeably, on the important yet not essential issues. When we think a theological topic is critical, let's pray more, asking God to open the eyes of those who may disagree, those who are part of the family. We don't need to bite and destroy one another.
What is of first importance is that God's inheritance is perpetuated in the way that honors Him the most. Those of us who call His son Lord will obey him. This way, more children are born into His Kingdom and His name is perpetuated for time, then eternity.
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