We have reached the end of the Book of Ruth, but instead of ending the story with Ruth living happily ever after with Boaz, we end with a genealogy. The genealogy of Ruth and Boaz’s descendants.
Ruth 4:13-22 New International Version (NIV)
Naomi Gains a Son
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The 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! 15 He 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.”
16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The Genealogy of David
18 This, then, is the family line of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
19 Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,[a]
21 Salmon the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
22 Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.
As a child I was made to memorize what we referred to as the “Begats”- Matthew 1: 1-17. I admit that most of us didn’t like Memorizing all these strange names in order. Reading the biblical genealogies was hard enough. They are filled with names we can hardly pronounce and people we have never heard of. But genealogies are important. They tie together all of the Sunday school stories and VBS lessons and show God’s plan from the beginning.
Through genealogies we see how God uses ordinary people for His extraordinary work.
As beautiful of a love story the book of Ruth is, we see that Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz are part of a much larger story: a story guided by the hand of God in order to bring about the future events that would lead to the coming of a Savior. We see Him accomplish this by using normal people, like Ruth, with common lives, like that of a field owner, in a small insignificant town called Bethlehem. God, in His sovereign wisdom, uses what we might deem as insignificant and humble to bring about the extraordinary. And what is more extraordinary than the true Kinsman Redeemer being born to the undistinguished descendants of Ruth and Boaz?!
Genealogies also show that we belong. When you study your genealogy you will quickly find out that you belong to a family and a heritage; to a certain culture and ethnicity. But for those of us whose trust is in Jesus, we have the unearned privilege of belonging to the family of God. We have been gifted with a heritage rich in grace, mercy, forgiveness, and sacrificial love.
Genealogies are important because in them we see God using imperfect people for His perfect plan. We have Jacob who was a liar and a thief, Rahab who was a former prostitute, and David who was an adulterer and murderer and yet God brought the Messiah through this line of misfits.
This should give us encouragement. There are no perfect people, and yet God uses us anyway. He uses us through our ordinary lives in order bring about His kingdom work.
Continue in your faithfulness to the calling God has for you no matter how ordinary you may feel it is. You, also, are part of a larger story. A story that involves the kingdom of God.