OUTLINE

I) BOAZ TOOK RUTH AS HIS WIFE (v. 13a)

II) BOAZ AND RUTH ENJOYED INTIMACY WITHIN THE COVENANT OF MARRIAGE (v. 13b)

III) THE LORD GIFTED RUTH WITH CONCEPTION (v. 13c)

IV) THE LORD GAVE RUTH AND BOAZ A SON TO REDEEM THE INHERITANCE (v. 13d)

APPLICATION

THE LORD IS ULTIMATELY IN CONTROL OF WHO IS A MOTHER, GIVING OR WITHHOLDING CONCEPTION (Gen. 30:1-2)
THE LORD CLOSES THE WOMB (Gen. 20:18)
THE LORD OPENS THE WOMB (Gen. 29:31)
CHILDREN ARE A GIFT FROM THE LORD (Psalm 127:3-5)
CHILDREN, EVEN IF THEY ARE CONCEIVED IN THE ACT OF SIN, ARE A GIFT FROM THE LORD (Ruth 4:12)
GODLY MOTHERS ARE GIFTS TO CHILDREN (1 Tim. 1:5, 3:14-15; Prov. 31:28-29)
BEING A GODLY MOTHER IS ONE OF THE CHIEF WAYS WOMEN REMOVE THE SINFUL STIGMA OF THEIR FIRST MOTHER EVE (1 Tim. 2:14-15)
QUESTIONS

I. What if you have been forsaken by your mother? (Psalm 27:10)

Psalm 27:10 “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.”

II. Seeing that motherhood is a happy thing, what happiness is there for those who will never be mothers? (Luke 11:27-28)

Luke 11:27-28 “…a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to [Jesus], ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!’ But [Christ] said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’”

III. What if you want to have children but have not been able to conceive? (Gen. 30:22-23; 1 Sam. 1:20)

Genesis 30:22-23 “God listened to [Rachel] and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son.”

1 Samuel 1:20 “And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the Lord.’”

IV. What if my child or children have died in the womb or in infancy? (2 Sam. 12:22-23)

2 Samuel 12:22-23 “22 [David] said, ‘While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.’

DISCUSSION

1. Read verse 13. What did Boaz and Ruth do? What did the LORD do?Who gives conception and how must this direct our actions?