English Standard Version
We don't know the reason the relative of Naomi declines to take responsibility for Ruth. There are cultural practices where relatives would marry the widow of their brother and have children by the widow, ensuring that the brother's lineage carried on. In this case, the relative declines, likely having something to do with Ruth being a Moabite, a foreigner. The man doesn't want this responsibility.
God, however, looks to include. It starts here in the Old Testament, but Jesus is teaching the same thing in the New Testament -- that God will gather people from the north and south and east and west. The genealogy of Jesus is remarkable in that Ruth is included in it, despite her status as a foreigner! God is at work in and through her, and her demonstration of faithfulness to Naomi lives on to this day.
May the church have the same Holy Spirit guided heart to look for ways God is at work in every corner of this world. May we be careful not to exclude, ready for the continually surprising ways God expands the Kingdom, day by day.
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