17. How are Boaz and Ruth blessed in accepting the challenge presented to them, and in what way are Naomi’s interests intertwined?

¹⁷ On the other hand, Boaz, true to his promise, takes Ruth as his levirate wife. (Ruth 4:13-15) Their marriage did not produce a king or the Shiloh; the time of the Kingdom of Israel had not yet begun. But they did produce one who became the grandfather of King David, the eleventh in line from Judah and with whom Jehovah made a covenant for an everlasting Kingdom (Matt. 1:3-6; 2 Sam. 7:12, 13) and one in the line that leads eventually to the Lord Jesus Christ, the permanent heir of King David. (Luke 3:23-31; 20:41-44)

Thus, Boaz and Ruth, in accepting the challenge presented to them, with the interests of Jehovah’s purpose at heart, unselfishly devote their lives to fulfilling that purpose and Jehovah blesses them in allowing them to produce one of royal prospects indeed in the line of the promised Shiloh, whose “scepter will not turn aside from Judah, neither the commander’s staff from between his feet, . . . and to [whom] the obedience of the peoples will belong.”​—Gen. 49:10.