大结局
路得记四章9至17节
9波阿斯对长老和众民说：你们今日作见证，凡属以利米勒和基连、玛伦的，我都从拿俄米手中置买了；
10又娶了玛伦的妻摩押女子路得为妻，好在死人的产业上存留他的名，免得他的名在本族本乡灭没。你们今日可以作见证。
11在城门坐着的众民和长老都说：我们作见证。愿耶和华使进你家的这女子，像建立以色列家的拉结、利亚二人一样。又愿你在以法他得亨通，在伯利恒得名声。
12愿耶和华从这少年女子赐你后裔，使你的家像他玛从犹大所生法勒斯的家一般。
13于是，波阿斯娶了路得为妻，与她同房。耶和华使她怀孕生了一个儿子。
14妇人们对拿俄米说：耶和华是应当称颂的！因为今日没有撇下你，使你无至近的亲属。愿这孩子在以色列中得名声。
15他必提起你的精神，奉养你的老，因为是爱慕你的那儿妇所生的。有这儿妇比有七个儿子还好！
16拿俄米就把孩子抱在怀中，作他的养母。
17邻舍的妇人说：拿俄米得孩子了！就给孩子起名叫俄备得。这俄备得是耶西的父，耶西是大卫的父。
信息分享
路得与婆婆拿俄米留在家里，表面上是等候一个不知名的至亲来决定将来的命运。然而，神其实是在这一切事情的背后掌管着；这正是认识神不久的路得所要学习的另一项功课。
当那位至亲作出决定之后，便轮到波阿斯发言。对于他能够在十位长老和众人面前表明「他愿意娶路得为妻，以及赎回拿俄米丈夫以利米勒的产业」，他似乎显得很高兴。
对于能够圆满解决此事，众人都显得很高兴，都同心祝福波阿斯。第12节甚至暗示他们祝愿他将来得到一对孪生子。
好了，这个爱情故事终于有一个美好的结局。路得可能成了一位众人艳羡的新娘。不久之后，她和波阿斯还生下一个儿子，拿俄米的同乡都来祝贺她。他们深深体会到她们婆媳之间的爱，以及神如何祝福晚年的拿俄米，甚至更胜从前。
因着神的祝福，这个小婴儿后来除了成了大卫王的祖父，更成了祂儿子耶稣基督的远祖；并且，路得的儿子跟主耶稣一样，都是在伯利恒出生。
神掌管我们的一生，只要我们信靠祂的带领，祂就能够在我们的生命中成就美好的计划。路得若是留在摩押，没有跟从婆婆回到伯利恒，并且不相信以色列的神，波阿斯根本不可能娶她。我们如今知道她的生命交在神的手里之后，有一个圆满的结局；而终有一天，我们也必知道自己的一生交在神的手里之后，会有一个怎样的结局。此刻，我们虽然还未得知结局，但我们已知道一个最重要的事实，就是路得的神就是我们的神。
经文反思：
「我们晓得万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处。」(罗八28)
THE FINAL SCENE
Ruth 4:9-17
9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.
10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”
11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.
12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.
14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!
15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.
17 Also the neighbor women gave him 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.
Message
Ruth was at home with Naomi while her future was being decided by a man whose name we are never told. But God was in it all and it was another lesson in faith and trust that the new convert, Ruth, had to learn.
As soon as the unknown relative's decision was known Boaz spoke up. He seems to have been very happy to be able to say to the ten witnesses and whoever else was there 'I now take Ruth to be my wife as well as buying back the land that 'I' once belonged to Elimelech, the late husband of Naomi'.
The people too were very happy about the outcome and gave Boaz all the best wishes they could possibly think of. Verse 12 seems to indicate that they even wished he might have twin sons in the days to come.
So our love story ends. Ruth would have made a radiant bride wouldn't she? Soon a son was born and the women of the village crowded around Naomi congratulating her. They recognised the love there was between Ruth and Naomi and how God had blessed the later years of Naomi's life even more than the beginning.
Who did this baby become? The grandfather of King David. God allowed Ruth to be one of the ancestresses of his own Son who was born in the same village, the town of Bethlehem.
God can overrule in our lives and when we come to trust in him, his plans are always for our good. Boaz could not have married Ruth while she was an unbeliever, but she came to know the God of Israel and put herself into his hands. We know the outcome of her story and her life. Some day we will fully know the outcome of our own as we put our faith and I trust in God-the same God of Boaz and Ruth.
A VERSE FOR TODAY:
'We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.' Romans 8:28.