Boaz and Ruth a Marriage Made in Heaven

When Boaz was considering taking Ruth as his wife he understood that their was a closer relative who scripturally had the right/obligation to take Ruth as a wife.

The un-named relative said he could not because it would “ruin his own inheritance” So Boaz took Ruth as his wife.

To find out how the un-named relative’s (Let’s call him Barney) inheritance might be impacted lets go back and look at the other example of Levirate obligation… Judah and Tamar.

After God killed Er (Tamar’s husband) Judah instructed his brother Onan to couple with his sister-in-law so that his deceased brother Er would have an offspring.

Onan refused to and God killed him as well. The reason Onan didn’t want to provide an heir for Er was because Er’s son’s inheritance would be greater than his own but if Er did not have a first born then Onan would receive the greater inheritance.

Onan’s greed trumped his righteousness and God killed him for it and he inherited… zero.

So how does that apply to Barney? If Barney took Ruth to be his wife it would somehow impact the inheritance of his existing children. Perhaps Barney only had daughters and if Barney had a son with Ruth the girls inheritance would be diminished. Who knows exactly?

Here’s what we do know exactly… Barney’s self interest trumped his spiritual obligation.

Barney was the real loser in this scenario because Ruth was the “Pearl of Great Price” and Barney, if his spiritual eye sight had been focused, should have been able to see that.

Boaz and Ruth were a marriage made in Heaven.