God's Best Plan (Ruth 4:5-7)

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.” And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.
(Ruth 4:5-7, NKJV)

Ancient customs do seem strange to us. For example, family lines could be continued through the wives of the deceased. So if this “close relative” chose to redeem Naomi’s land, he’d also have to marry and have a child with Ruth … and that child would inherit the land.

The close relative chose not to redeem the land because of that stipulation. Somehow taking on Elimelech’s inheritance would jeopardize his own. Perhaps it might interfere with children who already lived. We don’t know for sure, but he gave up his right to the inheritance to Boaz.

Again we see a little more of God’s plan. Ruth and Naomi probably would have been well taken care of by this close relative, but he wasn’t the right one for Ruth. He wasn’t the better choice for her.

And we can remember that He does the same for us. We may think one direction is better than another, and then God closes the door. Instead of fretting when our plans don’t come to fruition, we can rejoice. Because God’s way is always the best way. Always.