Introduction
Ruth the widow who left with her mother-in-law rather than return to a soft life at her father’s house who more than likely could have arranged for a nice marriage for Ruth came to Bethlhem and a difficult time gleaning in the fields to help support herself and Naomi. God has blessed her efforts and brought her into favor with Boaz, a near kinsman who wants to play the role of kinsman-redeemer to raise seed or children for the dead so the household would not die out.
We have studied how this story as an allegory shows Naomi as a disenchanted, disenfranchised church member who is being restored, Ruth as the earnest seeker after God and Boaz, the kinsman redeemer who is like Christ in redeeming the lost.
Finally we need to remember the prayer we should have been praying for the last month:
Lord, break out of the box we try to put you in and destroy everything in our lives that is not of You. Mess up our schedules, plans, and preconceived notions of what a relationship with you should be and bring us into a real, vibrant, living relationship with You. God we are tired of knowing about You, we want to know You. We want more than just Your anointing, we want You, Your presence.
-Ruth in seeking God made the tough decisions time and time again and followed God. She chose to leave Moab. She choose to glean and not complain or ask for handouts. Ruth followed Naomi’s advice on approaching Boaz and be obedient. If she had stopped at any time she would have missed her blessings.
The Redemption Processes
Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. (Ruth 4:1)
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. (Ruth 4:2)
-Despite the fact this was a busy season for the farmer, he took the time out of his schedule and sat at the gate and waited for the opportunity to redeem.
-He sat at the gate of the city. The gate of the city is a place where judgments were made.
-Why so many witnesses? Ten men of the elders of the city-as witnesses. In ordinary circumstances two or three were sufficient to attest a bargain; but in cases of importance, such as matrimony, divorce, conveyancing of property, it was the Jewish practice to have ten.[i]
And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. (Ruth 4:3-4)
-Boaz follows proper customs and does follow the law as Elimelech’s brother he had first right to redeem the land.
Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. (Ruth 4:5)
-But here Boaz springs his trap and lets the other shoe drops as it were and adds the fact he must also marry Ruth the Moabitess.
-Both the alienation of land and the extinction of a family were to be prevented by the law of the (go'el). The (go'el) would not come into possession of the land himself, but would hold it in trust for his son by Ruth, who would inherit the name and patrimony of Mahlon (her first husband). 6. I cannot redeem it. This would involve financial loss to the purchaser. The prospective (go'el) would mar his own inheritance by spending money on land that would belong not to him but to a son of Ruth. The Targum suggests that the relative was already married, but this would not have relieved him of obligation.[ii]
And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. (Ruth 4:6-8)
-At his own cost, at expense that he would never recoup for some reason he still paid a debt he did not owe, reaping not for himself but for the heir yet to come, picturing the Christ who would come and pay a sin debt not for Himself but for all those who would come and accept His finished work. Why would he do that? Just love, nothing else.
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. (Ruth 4:9-10)
-Purchased, bought: qanah OT:7069, "to get, acquire, create, buy." A common Semitic word, qanah is found in ancient and modern Hebrew and in ancient Akkadian and Ugaritic. It occurs in the text of the Hebrew Old Testament 84 times. The first occurrence of qanah in the Old Testament is in Gen 4:1: "I have gotten a man from the Lord." In this passage, qanah expresses a basic meaning of God's "creating" or "bringing into being," so Eve is really saying, "I have created a man-child with the help of the Lord." This meaning is confirmed in Gen 14:19,22 where both verses refer to God as "creator of heaven and earth" (KJV, NASB, "possessor"; RSV, "maker").[iii]
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman. (Ruth 4:11-12)
-A blessing pounced by the witnesses that Ruth would be a fruitful as the wives of Jacob (he had 12 kids) and Tamar who played a harlot to get Judah, son of Jacob, to play the role of kinsman-redeemer after her two husbands died.
Blessing Of The Lord
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. (Ruth 4:13)
-Children are a heritage of the Lord and are a blessing from Him. In fact if we look at those who were barren their greatest desire was to have children (Hannah, Rebekka, Sari, Rachel) but the children that eventually came eventually became great blessings from the Lord. (Samuel, Jacob, Isaac, Joseph).
-Look at how far we have fallen in this, where we despise children to the point where we in America feel that killing children is an acceptable form of birth control under the disguise of a “right to privacy.”
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. (Ruth 4:14-16)
-Naomi now is pleasant again, blessed by the Lord that her husband’s house will not die out.
And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:17)
-Obed: OT:5744 `Owbed (o-bade'); active participle of OT:5647; serving; Obed, the name of five Israelites: KJV - Obed.[iv]
-She, a Moabitess who followed God with all her heart got more than she could have ever expected. She was grandmother of David, Israel’s greatest king.
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. (Ruth 4:18-22)
And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; (Matthew 1:5)
Not only was she mentioned as grandmother of David, but in the linage of Jesus, the Christ and redeemer of mankind.
Wrap Up
We need to stop trying to put God in the box and expect Him to meet our expectations; He is so much greater than that and we need to yield to Him and His will for our lives, follow His commands, seek His face, actively develop an intimate relationship with Him. Get up to and beyond the anointing, and get into His presence.
Lord, break out of the box we try to put you in and destroy everything in our lives that is not of You. Mess up our schedules, plans, and preconceived notions of what a relationship with you should be and bring us into a real, vibrant, living relationship with You. God we are tired of knowing about You, we want to know You. We want more than just Your anointing, we want You, Your presence.
[i] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.
[ii] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press.
[iii] Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[iv] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
