RUTH 4

1 ¶ Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there:

• The previous chapter left us with a "cliff-hanger" - Boaz fully agreed with to perform the work of a kinsman redeemer, but first he had to wait and see if the nearer kinsman would perform the right, and thus, he began the legal proceedings necessary. Boaz placed the entire outcome of the matter into the hands of God. He did not try to marry Ruth is some backdoor kind of a way.
• The book of Ruth gives us insights into how legal things were carried out in those days. A commentator by the name of Huey writes, “The city gate was a kind of outdoor court, the place were judicial matters were resolved by the elders and those who had earned the confidence and respect of the people . . . a place for business and as a kind of forum or public meeting place.”
• The fact that Boaz sat at the gate, plainly declared that he sought a judicial decision. When the person for whom he waited made his appearance, he made no delay to seat himself as requested, for the language addressed to him was a formal judicial summons.

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.

·      It is worth noting that the human writer of Ruth and the Holy Spirit of God never identified the name of the nearer kinsman.

 

2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

• Any transaction that was witnessed by the elders, and attested to by them, was of absolute validity.

 

3 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:

• When Naomi and Elimelech had moved to Moab they had sold their parcel of land, and according to the reversionary clause, the time was up, and now it was the time to redeem it. However, Naomi did not have the resources to do so, so the right of redemption was given to the next of kin.
• Under the Jewish law, when the time to buy the land back had arrived, if you were unable to carry out the purchase because you were too poor, then one of your family members could step in and buy it in order that it remained in the family, because God wanted to preserve the family inheritances in Israel.
• The duty of the goel - the kinsman-redeemer - was more than the duty to preserve the family name of his brother in Israel. It was also to keep land allotted to members of the clan within the clan.
• When Israel came into the Promised Land during the days of Joshua, the land was divided among the tribes and then among the family groups. God intended that the land stay within those tribes and family groups, so the land could never permanently be sold. Every fifty years, it had to be returned to the original family group.

 

4 And I thought to advertise thee (serve you notice), 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.

• When Boaz initially brought the matter of redemption up to the nearer kinsman, he brought it up as a matter regarding property - something any man would be interested in. Anyone would want to buy back a piece of property and keep it in the family name by keeping it for one’s self. At this point in time, there was no hesitation to redeem the property.

 

5 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.

6 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.

Though it would be great to receive the property associated with Ruth as an investment, the nearer kinsman knew that taking her into his home and raising up her children would ruin his own inheritance. Why he chose not to redeem the land and Ruth is not specifically mentioned.

• The Chaldee paraphrase makes his reason for this refusal to be that he had another wife, and, if he should take Ruth, it might occasion strife and contention in his family, which would mar the comfort of his inheritance. If there should be fruit after the marriage, the child would be heir of the property, just as if he had been Machlon's son, even though the father should have other and older sons by another wife.
• Another possibility is that he did not want to marry a Moabite woman. That would have been understandable, and it probably would not have been held against him.
• Still another reason is that paying for the land and taking on the responsibility for caring for Ruth and Naomi would have involved a considerable expense. Not only would he would pay for the land, but the land would stay with Naomi's family. So his own family would suffer the loss of some of their own inheritance.
• Another possibility is that the kinsman may already have been married and not wanted to have a second wife.

• Many bible scholars see in this near kinsman unwilling and unable to redeem the land and Ruth as a type of the law of God. The law was not given by God to save us but to point us to The Lord Jesus Christ.
• In Rom 8.3,4 we read, For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh. could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.
• Moses, the lawgiver could not bring Israel into the promised land; that was accomplished by Joshua (Yeshua). It is Christ alone that can redeem us and bring us to The Father.
• Religion has no redemptive value; our good works have no redemptive value. It is only by grace through faith in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus that we can be saved.
• One last note to consider. One reason why Boaz wasn't concerned about marring his inheritance was because his own mother was a woman of unclean birth. His mother was Rahab the harlot, Joshua 2!

 

7 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. 8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.

• Deut 25.5-10 describes the ceremony conducted when a kinsman declined his responsibility. The one declining removed a sandal and the woman he declined to honor spat in his face. But in this case, because there was no lack of honor was involved, they just did the part of the ceremony involving the sandal.
• The shoe in the Middle East at that time was a symbol of both rest and possession. The nearer kinsman here surrenders to Boaz the right of full possession on the land and Ruth. The ceremony of the kinsman’s delivering his shoe to Boaz was significant only of his simple, voluntary renunciation of his rights

 

9 ¶ 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.

• I have bought. Boaz purchased all that had belonged to Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon. In other words, Boaz bought out the whole inheritance of this family, lock, stock and barrel!
• Think for a minute about Orpah. She went back to her family in chapter 1. If she had followed Naomi back to Bethlehem, it seems clear that Boaz would have redeemed her too!
• This is also a beautiful picture of what Jesus Christ has done for us. As our Creator, He made us and owned us, but by our rebellion we sold ourselves into sin. It took the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to buy us back. That price was the blood of Christ. Thus, for those who receive Him as Savior, we are twice owned.
• We do not belong to ourselves; we have been bought with a price. Our “thank you” is giving Jesus complete control over our life by living worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth.

 

10 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.

Boaz joyfully proclaimed - legally sealing the transaction - that he would redeem both the property and the posterity of Elimelech, and (best of all!) take Ruth, the woman he loved, as his wife. This book opens with a funeral and closes with a wedding!

• Because of his love for Ruth, Boaz bought the field in order that he might obtain the bride. His primary interest was not the field at all. He was a very mighty man of wealth. He didn't need any more fields. But he bought the field in order to obtain the bride. In that he becomes a very beautiful picture of Jesus Christ, who bought the world in order that He might purchase His bride, the church, out of the world. Not interested necessarily in the planet earth as such, but interested, and in love with His bride.
• In the kingdom parables recorded in Matthew 13, "The kingdom is like unto a man going through a field, discovering a treasure, who for the joy thereof immediately goes out and sells all that he had in order that he might buy the field, and obtain the treasure"(Matthew 13:44). So Jesus seeing the treasure, His church, His bride, within the world, bought the whole world in order to take His bride out of it.
• Even as Boaz was the kinsman redeemer, fulfilled the law, redeemed the property in order to get the bride, so Jesus Christ is our kinsman redeemer. He became a man in order that He might be next of kin to man, in order that He could redeem man. It was necessary for Him in order to be the kinsman redeemer, the goel, to become a man. That was an essential. That is one of the reasons for the incarnation, so that as a man He could be a kinsman redeemer to redeem man, because the earth had been sold by Adam to Satan.        
• It should be noted here though Boaz bought the entire inheritance of Naomi’s husband as well as Ruth's, Orpah is lost in this picture because she turned and went back to her own people and to her own gods.

 

Ye are witnesses this day- This explains why a marriage ceremony is important, and why it should be recognized by the civil authorities. Boaz had a love for Ruth that was public, a love that wanted to be publicly witnessed and registered.

• There are some people professing to follow Christ who live together and deceive themselves into thinking that what they are doing is right in the sight of God because they love one another in their hearts. They object to any kind of legal, civil ceremony as being necessary. Their copout is “Well, if we were on a desert island and no one was there to marry us, could we still be married before God?” need to hear the answer: “Yes - on a desert island. But you aren’t on a desert island. There are witnesses and civil authorities for you to proclaim your commitment of marital love to.

 

11 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:

• Rachel and Leah had thirteen children between them, and were the “mothers” of the whole nation of Israel. Since the entire nation of the Jews is considered to have descended from Rachel and Leah, this prayer is that Ruth and Boaz will be fruitful and multiply.

 

12 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.

• The account of Pharez birth is found in Genesis 38.27-30.  Perez was one of the sons born to Tamar after her affair with Judah. God did not overlook Judah’s sin, but He did choose to bless the family line in spite of their sin and failures.
• The grace of God runs deep in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
• Pharez, the grandson of Jacob had the honour which none of the rest had but Manasseh and Ephraim, that his posterity was subdivided into two distinct families, Hezron and Hamul, Nu 26:21.

 

13 ¶ 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.

• The gift of children was never taken for granted in Israel. The fact that Boaz and Ruth were able to raise up a son to the deceased Elimelech was evidence of God’s blessing.
• Thus was her self-denying faith rewarded.  She left behind her both relatives, country, and prospects, to cast in her lot with the Lord's people, and the Lord not only blessed her, but blessed distant generations through her.  Those who follow the Lord at all hazards shall be no losers in the long run. SDC

 

14 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.

• Please note that the women give the chief praise to the Lord Who has worked "all things after the counsel of his own will". "Blessed be the Lord" is the usual way to express thankfulness.
• One of the old Jewish prayer forms, is known as "The Eighteen Benedictions" because each prayer begins with the phrase "Blessed art Thou, O Lord." It is basic to the author of Ruth that God is over all men and all things, and that He brings His plans to pass.
• Note the vertical devotion to God that surrounded this family. Prayer to God attended the marriage (Ru 4:11) and praise to him attended the birth of the child. May every house represented here tonight be a house of prayer.

 

15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age:

• This child to be born is a beautiful picture of the life and ministry of The Lord Jesus Christ, our restorer of life: Jesus redeems us and nourishes us; He removes the things that the cause death in our life, and replaces them with vitality and life.

 

for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.

• To say that Ruth "is better than seven sons" is the supreme tribute. Seven sons is proverbial for the perfect family (1 Samuel 2:5), so to speak of Ruth as being better than this is high praise indeed.

 

16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

17 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.

The son of Ruth and Boaz was named Obed. He had a son name Jesse. He had a son named David. And David had a descendant named Jesus!

• This child's name, Obed, means "serving or servant.” The meaning of the name of the child of Boaz and Ruth, servant, is what every Christian is called to be. Servants of The Living God. 

 

18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,

20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,

22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Naomi returns to Bethlehem, thus the roots of David in Bethlehem, go back to Ruth and Boaz. This is why Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to register in the census of Augustus (Luke 2:1-5).

• “God’s hand is all over history. God works out His purpose, generation after generation. Limited as we are to one lifetime, each of us sees so little of what happens. A genealogy is a striking way of bringing before us the continuity of God’s purpose through the ages. The process of history is not haphazard. There is a purpose in it all. And the purpose is the purpose of God.” (Kidner)

 

From A. E. Cundall and L. Morris, "Judges and Ruth", pp. 317,318, The Tyndale Press, London, 1980.

"A genealogy is, to say the least of it, a curious way to end a book. The author does not tell us why he has done this, and we are left to guess. But at any rate we can make this comment. Through the book in all its artless simplicity there runs the note that God is supreme. He watches over people like Naomi and Ruth and Boaz and directs their paths. God never forgets His saving purposes. The issue of the marriage of Boaz and Ruth was to lead in due course to the great King David, the man after God's own heart, the man in whom God's purpose was so signally worked out.

"These events in Moab and Bethlehem played their part in leading up to the birth of David. The Christian will think also of the genealogy at the beginning of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. He will reflect that God's hand is over all history. God works out His purpose, generation after generation. Limited as we are to one lifetime, each of us sees so little of what happens. A genealogy is a striking way of bringing before us the continuity of God's purpose through the ages. The process of history is not haphazard. There is a purpose in it all. And the purpose is the purpose of God"

 

In closing, let’s recap the purpose of the kinsman redeemer and how it is a perfect picture of The Lord Jesus Christ.

• The kinsman-redeemer had to be a family member; Only Jesus, the eternal God who added humanity to His eternal deity, can be both the kinsman and the redeemer for mankind.
• The kinsman-redeemer had the duty of buying family members out of slavery; Jesus redeemed us from slavery to sin and death.
• The kinsman-redeemer had the duty of buying back land that had been forfeited; Jesus will redeem the earth that mankind “sold” over to Satan.
• Boaz, as kinsman-redeemer to Ruth, was not motivated by self-interest, but motivated by love for Ruth. Jesus’ motivation for redeeming us is His great love for us.

 

Woodward Kroll from “Back to the Bible” ministry writes these thoughtful words for us to close with tonight…I pray that they would use them to challenge you, bless you and encourage you in your walk with The Lord.

The relative who was closest to Naomi and Ruth turned down the opportunity to redeem Naomi's land and marry Ruth because he feared it might jeopardize his own inheritance. He could see clearly what he had; however, he failed to discern what might be in the future. He chose to protect his current possessions, and thus missed the opportunity to be the grandfather of a king and the ancestor of the Messiah. Consequently, he passed off the scene without even a mention of his name.

Many individuals today do the same. They pour everything they have into this life; all their time, talent, energy and money. Yet they fail to invest in eternity, as Jesus instructed us to do (Matt. 6:19-20). They clearly discern what they have, but they fail to see that there's something even more in store for them. They focus on the present and neglect the future. They give up all the wonders of heaven for the temporary security of earthly treasures. And when the winds of history pass, even their names are forgotten.

Don't suffer from spiritual myopia. Beware of being nearsighted in your walk with Jesus Christ. As a good steward, take care of what God entrusts to you today. But don't let today's possessions blind you to eternity's possibilities. What lies ahead is worth far more than anything you hold in your hands today. God’s purpose for today’s events may not be seen till tomorrow.