Obed means “servant” and their choice of a name fascinates me. It takes many years of care and feeding and education before a baby can grow out of childhood to the point of serving others, so in one sense the name is an expression of faith and praise to God that he is the answer to Naomi’s previous predicament of facing old age with no one to provide for her. While she will be tending and feeding him for some time to come, it’s acknowledged that he will grow to prove to be God’s answer to Naomi’s prayers.
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Yes, Naomi needed a redeemer. “Redeemer” was actually a technical, legal Old Testament term describing someone who could make recovery for a family member by marrying a widow to bear children and continue the family name, to continue the family inheritance allotted in the Promised Land, or to avenge injustice. In the course of Naomi’s life there were elements of all three. But she also needed a redeemer for these things from an eternal perspective as well. And through the redeemer of her earthly life would eventually come the Messiah, the Redeemer of eternal life who would provide Naomi redemption for her eternal name, heavenly inheritance, and ultimate justice for all time.
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Boaz is encouraged by the witnesses in his taking of Ruth as wife by wishing for him that she would be as productive and famous as Tamar, Rachel, and Leah. From Rachel and Leah, of course, came the twelve tribes of Israel, and from Tamar the most famous and prolific family within the tribe of Judah, the tribe to which Boaz belongs. But Naomi shared an interesting, additional common characteristic with Rachel and Leah and Tamar: They were all Gentile women.
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The most likely and perfectly legitimate interpretation of Naomi’s statement,“May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead” is that she is recognizing that Boaz is acting on behalf of family members that have passed away, in this case Naomi’s husband Elimelech and their son Mahlon. But there is no small irony in the parallel that from many perspectives Naomi herself was dead and essentially “remembered” among the living by Boaz’s kind actions.
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Boaz perceives that what has and is going on in Ruth’s life is a reflection of something greater taking place spiritually. She sees herself as a poor foreigner struggling to make a living; Boaz sees the spiritual harvest of her work and sacrifice on behalf of her mother-in-law as “wages…from the Lord“, a greater reward than any earthly treasure could bring. He knows that such spiritual character is not a happenstance result, but the result of one running TO God “under whose wings you have come to seek refuge”.
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Consider the salient points in this vivid picture of salvation and how they build individually into the biblical definition of the visible life of one dedicated to and saved by the One True God:
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The proof of faithfulness comes not in times of peace and prosperity but hardship and testing. It’s easy to remain faithful during the good times, but more of a direct challenge to one’s strength of character when everything seems to be going wrong. Naomi trained her daughters-in-law the best that she could, putting their needs before her own, and in their choices was revealed the true depth of each one’s faithfulness. There is affection displayed in the course of Orpah’s departure, but the greater strength of love in Ruth’s clinging to Naomi, refusing to be parted. Only Ruth was truly faithful.
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