Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad. Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am! John 8:56, 58.

Those were some of the verses that were shown before the movie His Only Son which my husband and I saw yesterday. One of the things Abraham and Sarah kept saying to each other was “Nothing is impossible for God!” “God keeps His promises!” was another thing they were able to say though it was decades before those promises came to be. Long decades when Sarah especially felt abandoned and forgotten. And yet…she became the mother of nations and God’s promise to Abraham is and will be fulfilled…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:3.

All people. Even a Moabite widow. In Ruth 4, the final chapter of this wonderful book, Boaz wasted no time in securing Ruth’s position as his wife. Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. v. 2. Along with the elders was the closest guardian-redeemer to Naomi and Ruth. Boaz let him know the land that had belonged to Naomi’s husband and would be inherited by his son, Ruth’s deceased husband, was available to buy. The man was pleased to redeem that land. Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.” v. 5. At that point the man gave up the right to buy the land and gave that right to Boaz who was the next in line as near relative to Naomi’s husband. All things are possible with God!

Boaz took Ruth as his wife. She bore him a son named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David. v. 13, 21-22. From David the line continues…and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. Matthew 1:16-17.

Ruth, a Moabite, loved and trusted her mother-in-law Naomi. Naomi loved Ruth and entrusted her into the care of Boaz who loved and trusted God. All things are possible with God.

In the movie His Only Son, Abraham wrestled with the impossible ask from God. “Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:2. Abraham kept remembering all of God’s promises to him on that fateful long walk to Moriah. “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Genesis 21:12. Abraham was called the Father of the Faithful for a reason. To whom much is given, much is required. Though Abraham wanted to die himself, he did as God asked trusting Him to keep His promises though he didn’t know how that would be. “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Genesis 12:12. Then a ram was provided for the offering because God provides. Isaac was spared. As the movie showed at the end, God did not spare Himself. He gave His life for us.

The I Am who spoke to Abraham, to Moses, to the Disciples, was known by Naomi, Ruth and Boaz and their lives were blessed in that knowing. Little did they know what promises would be kept in that faithfulness. God knows.