Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.
(Ruth 4:10 ESV)
When Boaz stood before the elders of Bethlehem and took Ruth as his wife, he made it clear why he was doing it: “to perpetuate the name of the dead.” That word “name” in Hebrew is shem (שֵׁם), pronounced “shame”.
In our world, a name is just a way to identify someone. It distinguishes one person from another. But in the Hebrew way of thinking, a person’s shem was far more significant. It represented a person’s identity, character, reputation, legacy, and their place within God’s covenant people. That helps us to understand why losing one’s name was such a tragedy. To have your shem disappear meant more than being forgotten. It meant your family line ended, your inheritance vanished, and your place among God’s people faded away.
That’s exactly what happened to Elimelech. Years earlier, famine drove him from Bethlehem to Moab where he died. His two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, also died. No sons remained. No heirs were left. Humanly speaking, the family name was finished.
But then Boaz stepped forward. Redeeming the land and marrying Ruth cost him time, money, and responsibility, but he willingly paid the price because he believed Elimelech’s shem was worth preserving.
As beautiful as that is, the story points us to an even greater Redeemer. Spiritually speaking, we were in a similar condition. Sin cut us off from God. We couldn’t restore ourselves. We couldn’t reclaim our inheritance. It appeared that our story would end in judgment and we would be forgotten. But then Jesus stepped forward.
Like Boaz, Jesus willingly paid the price. Unlike Boaz, the price He paid was His own life. Through His death and resurrection, Christ redeemed us and brought us into God’s family.
Most of us will never be famous. We won’t have buildings named after us or books written about us. A few generations from now, our names may be forgotten by those living on earth. But our God will never forget the people He has redeemed.
Because God remembers us, we ought to remember others. There are people all around us who feel forgotten — the widow whose phone rarely rings, the nursing home resident who seldom gets visitors, the coworker who eats lunch alone every day. Sometimes the most Christlike thing we can do is simply say: “I see you. You matter. You’re not forgotten.”
Boaz did that for a Moabite widow. Jesus did that for all of us. We can do it for someone today.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being the God who sees me, knows me and redeems me. Help me to reflect your heart toward those around me who feel overlooked and forgotten. Help me to honor their worth and remind them that their name matters. Because to you, it does. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day