Lesson 16: A loving family

Read Ruth 4

When harvesting was done, Ruth had gathered far more grain than could normally have been expected. Naomi understood that Boaz had given this extra grain to Ruth because he knew who she was and cared about Naomi as well. So Naomi did what anyone who knew the traditions of the people could do to gain a permanent solution for them both – make it possible for Ruth to marry, so her husband could provide a home for both Ruth and Naomi.

In an earlier lesson we read how Ruth had given up her family in Moab to be with Naomi. Jesus did not tell us we were to live without our family – He wants us to be in families where everyone loves Jesus the most. A husband who loves Jesus most will love his wife as Jesus loves him. A wife who loves Jesus most will honor her husband as Jesus asks. Children who love Jesus first will honor and obey their parents. A Godly family will be a beautiful testimony to the world around them of the difference Jesus can make in each person. This is why God made the family so important.


Family, God’s way, meant that parents raised their children to know and love Him. And then when the parents grew old, the children would care for their parents with continued love and respect. God had also asked of His people, that if a brother or a close relative were to suffer hardship and his family should need help, that others in that family should help. In this case, where Naomi’s husband and sons had died, leaving her with no way to care for herself; someone of her husband’s brothers or their sons was to take on this responsibility. In this way, a family’s property would remain in the family.

This is what Naomi’s purpose was as she sent Ruth to Boaz. The story you read in Ruth 3 is Naomi’s way of sending Ruth to Boaz to propose marriage to him. Verse 9, where Ruth said, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer,” meant Ruth was asking Boaz to marry her for the purpose of securing Naomi’s inheritance for a rightful heir. The fact that Boaz blessed Ruth for not seeking this from young men (Verse 10) means Boaz was an older man. We will learn more about what it meant to be a “redeemer” in this culture in our next lesson.

Ruth had done just as Naomi asked her. Even though she was a foreigner in this land, she did not fear what someone else might think. But neither did she bring shame on Boaz as she did what Naomi asked her to do.

God cares about our families. He wants the family to be a reflection of His own. It does not matter if we are the parent, the child, the sibling, the grandparent, or an uncle, aunt or cousin – we should be a reflection to the world around us of how much He loves us, His children, and how much we love Him as our Father.

*How does your relationship to your own family reflect God’s love?