Last week we saw two remarkable man and woman, namely Boaz and Ruth; we saw them interacting with each other with utmost respect and dignity. Their meeting during the night out in the threshing floor could have been disastrous and tragic. But, as Naomi suspected we saw Boaz, a man of standing, treating Ruth with deepest regard. It was Boaz who saw Ruth, not as an outsider, a foreign origin with no value, but a woman of noble character. As s a person of character himself, he was able to see what an extraordinary person Ruth was. Her noble character adorned her beautifully.
Ruth left everything that was familiar to her in order to stay with Naomi and care for her. Ruth was a faithful and loyal woman. Naomi could not persuade Ruth to take the course that her sister-in-law Orpah took. To go back to her home country of
Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.
There was no promise for Ruth that things would turn out all right. Judging from the tragedies that Ruth and Naomi experienced, being hopeful was not easy. Yet, we see Ruth committed to go with Naomi, to embrace Naomi’s people, her land, and her God. Ruth’s love for Naomi was truly deep. Instead of making choice to help herself by going back to Moab, she made her choice out of her love for Naomi. Her action reminds me of a passage from Apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
This is what Ruth did. Instead of being self-seeking, looking out for her own needs, desires, and future, she made her choice with her heart that was filled with love for Naomi. Ruth was kindhearted person!
We also saw Ruth work hard and diligently from early mornings to late into the evenings during the harvest season to provide for Naomi and herself. She didn’t take Boaz’s generosity for granted.
As in Boaz’s words, Ruth didn’t go after the younger men whether rich or poor. Why didn’t she?
Ruth went by the book. She learned through Naomi that God of Israel put in his law to provide for the needed, poor and defenseless; Naomi and Ruth were indeed poor, needed and defenseless. God’s law called for the provision for them through kinsman redeemer. When Ruth showed up at the threshing floor and during the night uncovered Boaz’s feet and laid next to him, she was acting in faith in God’s word. She trusted God would provide for her and for Naomi through kinsman-redeemer. And, Boaz already having demonstrated his kindness to Ruth and Naomi and being Naomi’s kinsman, she trusted Boaz to be God’s helping hands. This goes for Naomi as well. Both of them trusted in God’s word. This explains their initiatives! They weren’t being aggressive when they initiated their request for marriage; their action was driven by their trust in God’s provision in his word.
All these made Ruth truly an extraordinary woman, a woman of noble character, a faithful, loyal, self-giving, kindhearted, diligent woman of faith in God.
Before chapter 4 opens, Naomi made a comment about Boaz. She said in verse 18, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” They trusted God’s promise to take care of them through the kinsman-redeemer. They initiated and acted in faith in God. And, now the ball was in Boaz’ court. Naomi encouraged Ruth now to wait patiently to see how God would work out the details through Boaz. She was confident that Boaz wasn’t going to waste any time to get this settled once for all. And, indeed that is what we see Boaz doing in chapter 4. When God’s will was made known to him clearly, a man of standing he was, he wasted no time to carry out God’s will.
Chapter 4:1 tells us that he went up to the town gate and sat there. This was a strategic move on his part. Pretty much all the town people used the town gate to go out to their fields to work in the morning. He chose this gate in order to meet a man who was nearer kinsman than he was to Naomi.
And, just at the right time, the man showed up at the gate. A coincidence, do you think? Well, from the flow of Ruth thus far, we know it was no coincidence. God was on the move.
As soon as Boaz spotted the man, he called him and had him sit down. Then he got ten of the elders of the town to also sit with them. Boaz told him in verse 3-4;
Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in the line.
The fact that Naomi was selling the piece of land that belonged to her husband is little puzzling. We are not sure why she is selling it. Nor can we be sure of what legal claim she was making on the land. The land in Israel was passed down from a father to his son; if he had no son, it would pass down to his nearest kinsman or to his daughter; it usually didn’t pass down from husband to wife.
It is important to remember that in Israel, the land belonged to a family, to a clan and could not be sold permanently. You see this in Leviticus 25:23 where it says, “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” So, when Boaz said Naomi was selling the land, it refers to the transaction in which the right of use of the land is being transferred for certain value for certain period of time. It is likely according to K. Lawson Younger that the land in question was initially sold by Elimelech before leaving to Moab. When Naomi returned with Ruth, she obviously didn’t have money to repurchase it. So, she was trying to have her nearest kinsman repurchase the land from its current possessor. So, this would fit the situation described in Leviticus 25:25, “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what this countryman has sold.”[1]
To this the nearest kinsman said, “I will redeem it,” in verse 4. He figured he would financially come out ahead from spending money to repurchase the land by what the land might produce.
To this, Boaz told him, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabites, you acquire the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.” Boaz was telling him that his responsibility didn’t end in just repurchasing the land; as a nearest kinsman, he was to buy the land, but also to marry Ruth so that the family line of Elimelech and his dead son Mahlon could continue according to the spirit of the levirate law from Deuteronomy 25:5-6. The first son from that marriage would be legally Ruth’s dead husband Mahlon’s son.
To this the man responded in verse 6, “Then I cannot redeem it because it might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.” First, he agreed to buy it for the prospect of financial gain. But, then, he backed off when he heard that his obligation also involved marrying Ruth, the Moabite woman, to continue the dead man’s name.
Now, we know why Boaz got ten elders to sit with them. He wanted to makes sure they witnessed this man’s refusal to redeem the land and the family. So, when he stepped up to redeem the land and also to marry Ruth as the next kinsman in order, the deal was legalized and finalized through a peculiar custom of taking one’s sandal and giving it to the other.
To this the elders gave their blessing to Boaz in verse 11 and 12.
Their blessings were fourfold.
- They blessed that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah. Although not being able to be pregnant for over ten years, God would bless Ruth to have many children.
- For Boaz to have standing in Ephrathah, to prosper even more.
- To be famous in Bethlehem
- For his family be like the family of Perez, whom Tamar born to Judah. Perez was an ancestor of the house of Judah.
And verse 13 sums up at least 10 some months of event. Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
Now, the women of the town jubilantly praise the Lord in verse 14-15. “Praise the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Here, their praise is about how God provided a kinsman-redeemer for Naomi. They weren’t talking about Boaz here. They were talking about the son born to Boaz by Ruth.
In chapter 3, Boaz had Ruth carry in her shawl barley so as not to return empty handed to Naomi. This was a symbolic turning point for Naomi, going from being empty and bitter to receiving fullness and joy. Now, in chapter 4, we see even greater fullness given to Naomi by God. When she came back to Bethlehem, she thought her life would continue to be empty and bitter. She didn’t have much go on. But, by God’s grace, things changed for her and for her beloved Ruth. The child born to Naomi by Ruth and Boaz was to make up for her lost years. She was bitter and empty, but now she found herself full, renewed, sustained, truly blessed! Verse 16 describes her holding her grandson and caring for him! If you’ve seen grandparents hold their first grandchild, you can imagine the kind of joy that Naomi experienced.
If the story were to end here, it would be a story of an ordinary family in Israel, struggling through tragedies and difficulties; a story of God coming to help those who are in need; a story about a woman going from bitterness and emptiness to fullness and joy-filled life; a story of romance between two outstand godly people.
But, the story didn’t end here. There was a greater picture to this story. The story ends with a genealogy. And, this puts the story of Ruth right in the center of God’s salvation plan.
Boaz was a descendant of Abraham and Ruth a descendant of Lot. Their son Obed was the grandfather of David, who the most famous and God-fearing king of Israel.
The story that seemed like an ordinary story about ordinary people proved to be a really big story about God’s amazing salvation plan.
Matthew 1:6-16 passage shows the genealogy from David to Christ and Luke 3:32-38 shows from Boaz back Adam.
Without the kinsman redeemer, Boaz, Naomi and Ruth would have perished. But, God provided them Boaz to redeem them from their perilous circumstances. God transformed Naomi’s empty and bitter life to full and joyful life through the birth of Obed.
But the bigger picture of the story of Ruth is Jesus Christ redeeming each of us through his blood. Without Jesus, we would all perish in our sins. Without him redeeming us, we will face the fate of Satan, the eternal fire of hell. Colossians 1:13-14 reads, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The big picture is being redeemed from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 130 fits so well to this describe this big picture for us.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
The story of Ruth points us to the big picture, the picture of Jesus Christ as our great Redeemer, who purchased us by laying down his life and shedding his blood for us. When life brings dark moments to us, we don’t loose our hearts! There is always hope even in the darkness hours! Hope in Jesus for he showers us with his unfailing love in his redemption!
1 comment:
This really blessed me!!
Thank you!
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