Do You Know the Other Biblical Baby of Bethlehem?

The Baby born at Christmastime came as the promised One of hope, rest, comfort, peace, truth, love, righteousness — the “yes” of every promise of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). In reading of the earthly family of the Messiah, another baby of Bethlehem is pronounced in the Scriptural record: Obed. As the son of Ruth and Boaz, the restoration that Obed brings to Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, prefigures for us the gift of the One we worship, the divine Baby of Bethlehem.

Who Was Obed?

Little can be ascertained of Obed’s life from what Scripture records. But, of course, we are told exactly what Scripture wants us to know. We are told of his family, that he was born in Bethlehem (Ruth 1:19), and that he brought joy both to that family and to Bethlehem (Ruth 4:14-19). Concerning the rejoicing that stems from the birth of Obed, Scripture especially focuses on Naomi’s story.

Toward the beginning of Scripture’s record of Naomi (see Ruth 1:19-22), the women of Bethlehem seemingly expressed surprise at the woman before them, saying, “Is this Naomi?” For she had returned to Bethlehem after journeying to Moab with her husband and two sons — yet was standing before them absent the same company. Naomi replied to these women, addressing their surprise, that God had dealt bitterly with her, that she was empty. She returned without her immediate family members, and with her was only a new figure — a “foreigner” (Ruth 2:10) named Ruth.

Later, at the conclusion of Naomi’s Scriptural story, once again the biblical writer brings the women of the town of Bethlehem into view. Fascinatingly, these figures collectively name the child of Ruth and Boaz. Earlier, Naomi had asked the women of the town to call her Mara, meaning bitterness. Bethlehem’s women ultimately issue their response to Naomi’s request by instead naming the child in Naomi’s arms Obed, which means worshiper. Naomi would not be known by bitterness, but by the praise of the Lord who mercifully brought restoration into her life, her arms.

A Continual Need for Mercy

God’s grace in this restoration is particularly apparent when considering some of Naomi’s actions. While grieving, Naomi woefully instructed her daughter-in-law, Ruth, to go back to her gods instead of continuing toward Bethlehem in worship of the true God. Also, even after safe arrival in Bethlehem, a land with food during a famine, she solely spoke of her emptiness. Later, only after Ruth first went out to glean in the fields did Naomi warn her about the dangers of being assaulted (Ruth 2:22).

I can relate to a continual need for God’s mercy in my life.

As with Naomi, grief and sin can squeeze our hearts, constricting them — tempting us to eschew life’s goodness or neglect the receiving of God’s grace. Naomi’s story brightens us, then, as we are reminded that those who are the Lord’s will not be remembered by deeds of darkness or by what happens to us in this world of darkness. We will ultimately be remembered by the Baby who is the subject of our praise; for we will serve as eternal examples of His work and pure grace.

In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes that we have been redeemed according to the eternal counsel of God for this, for lives that redound to His glory:

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12).

By the conclusion of the book of Ruth, Naomi is a figure transformed by grace. She belongs in a family, has been given a reputation based upon the praise of God, and would be called “grandmother” by this baby boy. She admirably and wonderfully responds by receiving what the Lord had done, holding the baby in her arms and caring for him (Ruth 4:16). We can see how the Lord tends to Naomi’s heart (including throughout other aspects of Naomi’s story by way of Ruth’s kindness). Her heart opens to God and others as she both surrenders and commits to His flow of love, mercy, kindness, and grace into her life.

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See the Ways God Redeems Us

Naomi once considered God as the One who had “brought calamity” upon her (Ruth 1:21). But, at the conclusion of her recorded story, the women of the town improve upon Naomi by saying of her because of Obed: “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age…” (Ruth 4:14-15). We can only envision, with all joy, that Naomi’s ensuing years are redolent of the townswomen’s proclamations as she is nourished to the fullness of her days by God’s kindness.

Boaz’s words indicate that this baby, Obed, would “perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance” (Ruth 4:5). Boaz was redeeming the line of his relative, Elimelech’s line, through the birth of Obed. Thus, Elimelech’s widow, Naomi, was grandmother to the boy who would indeed be of renown in Israel: “He [Obed] was the father of Jesse, the father of David” (Ruth 4:17b). And, our Baby of Bethlehem, the Messiah, was born in the line of this David (Romans 1:3).

Naomi held the line of Christ in her arms, a symbol in Scripture of grace to come. The book of Ruth demarcates this grace as its height of conclusion, recording a genealogy of David as its final expression (Ruth 4:18-22). This hopeful conclusion propounds to us that Christ would come with hope as of, and superior to, Obed, who was redeemer, restorer, and nourisher.

In reading Naomi’s story, we can think of our Redeemer and how we who are in Christ become suffused with His grace through what did not belong to us but was extended and embedded into our lives and selves still. As we set our eyes upon His work in our lives, may we see His redemption, restoration, and nourishment for and in us. And may we not forget it.

We can look to our laps to see what, through Him, we hold: peace with and knowledge of God, the hope of life in an eternal family, the security of our completed sanctification — our glorification — that will come one day through the perfecting ministry of the Holy Spirit, and every other benefit — every other “yes” from the hand of God. Through what is listed here of God’s grace toward all who believe in Christ, and much more, how we can rejoice that Jesus Christ was born “unto us” (Isaiah 9:6)!

What the townswoman said of Obed befits our praise of Jesus: “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left me this day without a Redeemer, and may His Name be renowned!”

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Lianna Davis is author of Keeping the Faith: A Study in Jude and Made for a Different Land: Eternal Hope for Baby Loss. She is also a contributor to We Evangelicals and Our Mission with Cascade Books. Lianna is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She lives in Illinois with her husband and daughter. You can learn more about her writing at her website.

This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. We have compiled these articles to help you study those whom God chose to set before us as examples in His Word. May their lives and walks with God strengthen your faith and encourage your soul.

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