Previous chapters:
Ruth 1 – Turning to God in Your Pain
Ruth 2 – God’s Care in Your Despair
Ruth 3 – A Promise of Redemption
Sermon Text: Ruth 4
To see a summary of chapters 1-3, see the posts linked above. There are three key pieces of information from chapter 3:
- Boaz promised Ruth that he will act as her redeemer (Ruth 3:13).
- There is a closer relative to Elimelech and Naomi than him (Ruth 3:12).
- He will settle the matter today (Ruth 3:13, 18).
BIG IDEA: Through the work of a redeemer, God changes our past failures into a promising future according to his plan and for his glory.
Through the work of a redeemer, we have an inheritance (1-12)
The city gate (v. 1) was the place of activity in the town. Here, business transactions and legal proceedings took place. Today, we might think of the city gate as the chamber of commerce, the courthouse, and the supermarket rolled into one. Here, people of status could be found. We would find the mayor, the city council, local judges, and businessmen.
Archaeologists have found benches near the city gates in ancient towns. To sit was the position of authority or doing business. Boaz has 10 elders to sit down and conduct business (v. 2). These elders were men that were not those of a certain age but were the men that administrated the affairs of the community. They had significant life experience and could help guide the community.
In v. 3, Boaz reveals to the man why he wants to talk. Naomi has returned from Moab and is selling the land that belonged to Elimelech.
Ruth 4:3-4
“Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.”
We might wonder, is Naomi a landowner? Not technically. Numbers 27 speaks to this issue.
Numbers 27:8-11
8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”
Here, Boaz is saying that the land is to be transferred to the nearest kinsman, the kinsman-redeemer, and then used to provide for Naomi.
Three Qualifications of a Kinsman-Redeemer
- He must be a blood relative.
- He must have sufficient resources to buy the property and care for the widow and her family.
- He must be willing to buy.
At first, the nearer redeemer is salivating at the prospects of adding land to his estate. He says in front of the elders, “I will redeem it” (v. 4). At this point, the redeemer is thinking this is a good business transaction. He would get free land and in return he would simply have to provide for Naomi, who is past childbearing age until she dies. Then the land would become part of the inheritance for his children.
In vv. 5-6, Boaz lets the man know about Ruth.
Ruth 4:5-6
5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
Three Responsibilities of a Kinsman Redeemer
- Marry the widow and provide for her (Deut 25:5-10).
- Take the land (Lev 25:25-28; Num 27:8-11).
- Protect the family line by providing an heir for the estate (Deut 25:5-10).
Levirate Marriage
Deut 25:5-6
5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.
Now the game has changed. The redeemer will have to marry Ruth, who is a Moabite. The redeemer has a responsibility to raise up an heir for Elimelech through Ruth. The oldest son will then inherit the estate. Additionally, any additional children that Ruth had would have had to be provided for and would cut into the inheritance of the unnamed redeemer’s own children.
The unnamed redeemer sees that the redemption is now too costly for him. He says, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” I think we’re all tempted to think like Mr. So-and-So. It’s so easy for us to think only about what is best for us instead of thinking about how to love our neighbors well.
In verses 7-10, Boaz takes on the responsibility to be a redeemer for Naomi and Ruth. Boaz is willing to take on the responsibility to perpetuate not his own name, but the names of Elimelech and Mahlon. The elders then pronounce a blessing on Boaz (vv. 11-12).
11 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
Perez was an ancestor of Boaz (vv. 18–22) who was born to Judah and Tamar through circumstances related to the practice of levirate marriage (Gen 38).
Through the work of a redeemer, we have an inheritance. But not only do we have an inheritance, we also have a family.
Through the work of a redeemer, we have a family (13-17)
Boaz and Ruth consummate their new marriage and in one verse (4:13), every problem in chapter one meets a solution:
- Ruth, who is without a husband, now has one.
- Ruth, who was likely barren is granted immediate conception.
- Naomi, who was without a son to take care of her in the future now has one to continue her family’s line.
The child born of Boaz and Ruth actually continued two family lines – those of Boaz and Elimelech.
Only twice is the Lord explicitly said to be the cause of actions in the book. In Ruth 1:6 the Lord provided food. Here in Ruth 4:13 God grants conception to Boaz and Ruth. Perhaps Boaz’s ability to father a child was in doubt, as certainly Ruth’s ability to bear one was since she had not conceived with her previous husband.
In v. 14 the word “redeemer” is not talking about Boaz, but about the son that has been born. When the story begins, Bethlehem is a place of famine, but it becomes a place of fruitfulness because of God’s faithfulness.
A young guardian-redeemer is born for Naomi who will grow and protect her family and inheritance (v. 15). The image of Naomi holding the child on her lap is very beautiful. This formerly bitter woman now has a grandson to play with and this boy will continue the family line of her late husband (v. 16). The son born in these unlikely circumstances (Obed) became the grandfather to Israel’s greatest king.
Burying a child is arguably the hardest thing to do in this life. On the flipside, the birth of a child brings more joy than anything else. The book of Ruth begins with the death of a man and his two sons. It ends with the joy of new birth. The book of Ruth takes us from death to life, from devastation to joy, and from despair to hope.[1]Christopher Ash, Teaching Ruth & Esther: From text to message, 127.
The book of Ruth takes us from death to life, from devastation to joy, and from despair to hope.
Christopher Ash
Through the work of a redeemer, we have a future (18-22)
During a period when many people did what was right in their own eyes, there were at least three who did what was right in God’s eyes.
God worked through Boaz to redeem not just Ruth and Naomi, but to bring about David, the greatest king of Israel. The same godliness that drove Boaz would guide David to bless his nation and redeem their lives from the moral chaos of the judges.
God was doing far more than Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz could have realized during their lifetimes.
Conclusion
God worked through Boaz to redeem not just Ruth and Naomi, but to bring about the great redeemer Jesus Christ (see the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1).
Remember how the book of Ruth started:
- moral chaos
- famine
- funerals
- incredible pain
- desperation
Naomi and Ruth experienced incredible pain and hardships. Naomi wanted to be called bitter (Ruth 1:20-21). But God, in his goodness which shone through the kindness of a redeemer, gave Naomi and Ruth:
- provision
- protection
- an inheritance
- a family
- joy
- future
How did that happen?
- For Ruth, it meant turning to the one true God.
- For Naomi, it meant returning to the one true God.
- Together, they went to God’s place (Bethlehem) to be with God’s people and to experience God’s presence.
- But things really changed when they approached their redeemer in faith.
Things change when we approach our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, in faith.
During our lives, God lets us go through trials in order to expose the depths of our need and to show us the fullness of his provision.
This morning, whatever you’re going through – the pain of loss, the pain of a bad diagnosis, the pain of strained relationships, or perhaps sadness over your sinful past and past failures, here is what I want you to know this morning.
BIG IDEA: Through the work of a redeemer, God changes our past failures into a promising future according to his plan and for his glory.
Matt 1:1-6, 16-17
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
Boaz, the kinsman redeemer of Naomi and Ruth, points to our great redeemer Jesus Christ.
Remember the Three Qualifications of a Kinsman-Redeemer
- Blood relative (Gal 4:4-5)
- Sufficient resources (1 Pet 1:18-19)
- Willingness to buy (Mark 10:45)
(1) Jesus is our blood relative.
The eternal Son of God was born of a woman and become a man.
Galatians 4:4-5
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
(2) He has the sufficient resources to buy.
He obeyed God’s law perfectly and was thus an acceptable offering for our sin.
1 Peter 1:18-19
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
(3) Jesus was willing to buy.
He paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross for our sins.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Through Jesus, God’s own son, not only do we have the forgiveness but we also have a spiritual inheritance – we inherit the righteousness of Christ and spiritual blessings. We have a family – the church. We have a future with God forever (Ruth 1:16; Rev 21:3-4).
The story of Ruth is the story of the Bible. We are sin-sick Moabites who are hopeless without a redeemer. But, when we throw ourselves at the feet of our Redeemer, we have an inheritance that never fades. We have a family that never leaves. And we have a promising future. All of this is because of the work of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins in our place so that we can be reconciled with God.
References
| ↑1 | Christopher Ash, Teaching Ruth & Esther: From text to message, 127. |
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