Ruth 4:1-6; 13-17 4 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, Come over, friend; sit down here. And he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here ; so they sat down. 3 He then said to the next-ofkin, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman 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, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you. So he said, I will redeem it. 5 Then Boaz said, The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man s name on his inheritance. 6 At this, the next-ofkin said, I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it. 13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him. 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17 The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. 1
07.19.2015 The Redeeming Nature of the Gospel My Korean is slowly getting better. It has a long way to go, but little by little, day by day, it s incrementally improving. Having studied the language somewhat faithfully for two years now I have learned that one of the challenging things about learning Korean is that one word can have multiple meanings, and not only multiple meanings but wildly different meanings as well. For example, I know a young woman named Hwa ( 화 ). She is a student at Heavenly Dream School ( 하늘꿈학교 ), a high school for North Korean refugees here in Seoul. A small group of us from the EM visit there twice a month to help the students practice English conversation. Hwa is a delightful young woman, and Hwa is a pretty name. It sounds pretty and its meaning is pleasant; it means flower. And yet, as I discovered as my Korean vocabulary slowly expands, 화 also means fire. And that s not all. It can also mean anger, or even better, wrath. Still another meaning for 화 is disaster or misfortune, as in 화를당하다, to meet with misfortune, or 화를자초하다, to bring disaster upon oneself. Now, I m sure that in naming her, Hwa s parents weren t thinking of fire or anger, and certainly not disaster or misfortune. It s simply an interesting facet of the Korean language, owing to its relationship with Chinese, that one word can take on such different meanings. 화 is but one of many examples. Another I learned is bae ( 배 ), which can mean abdomen, stomach, boat, pear, fetus, and two times, and it can even serve as a family name. That s a lot of mileage for one little word. For students learning Korean, we are told that context tells us which meaning is intended in any given sentence. If someone says 배고파 before ordering lunch it s safe to assume that they don t mean that their boat or their pear is empty, but rather their stomach is, meaning that they are hungry. 2
In English we don t so often see one word having such different meanings. What we see instead, which can be challenging for students learning English, is that one word can have many similar meanings, each with its own nuance, or slightly different meaning. Take, for example, the word redeem, which we see today in Ruth chapter 4. In verse 4 Boaz tells Naomi s next of kin of the land that she is selling [SLIDE]: 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, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you. So he said, I will redeem it (Ru. 4:4). Redeem is a nuanced word. It s meaning can subtly change depending on how it s used. Perhaps looking at the dictionary will help us understand. Here is how the Merriam-Webster website defines redeem [SLIDE]. The first definition says that redeem means to buy back, or to get or win back. The second says that it means to free from what distresses or harm and then includes four examples: (a) to free from captivity ; (b) to extricate from something detrimental ; (c) to release from debt ; and (d) to free from the consequences of sin. Well, those are all quite a bit different. The third definition is to change for the better. The fourth is repair or restore. The fifth is actually three definitions: (a) to free from a lien by payment ; (b) to remove the obligation of by payment ; and (c) to make good, as in, fulfill. The sixth and final definition of redeem has two meanings (a) to atone for and also (b) to offset the bad effect of or to make worthwhile. So, that s clear, right? Six definitions, several of which have multiple nuances. And that s just the verbal form. We haven t looked up the noun redemption or the adjective redeeming. 3
First of all, it s strange, isn t it, that we learn only in chapter 4, the final chapter of Ruth, that Naomi is selling a plot of land? For some reason, that was not mentioned earlier. Although that fact was concealed from us as readers, Boaz makes it known in the public square. He goes to the city gate, which was the village green, or town center, of cities in ancient Israel. It was the place where business was transacted, in the open air for all eyes to see. Boaz is going about things in the most proper manner possible. First, he finds Naomi s nearest relative her next of kin who happened to be passing by. He then gathers ten elders from the city and asks them to serve as witnesses to his dealings with Naomi s next of kin. Whatever Boaz and this next of kin agree to, it will be conducted in the open and with numerous witnesses. So Boaz tells him that Naomi is selling her land, and as the nearest blood relation, he has the first opportunity to purchase it. If the next of kin does not wish to purchase the land, then Boaz says that he will do so. All of this is said within the presence of the elders. This is as honest and as open a business meeting as has ever been conducted. When Naomi s next of kin says that he will, in fact, redeem the land, Boaz informs him of one other piece of information. Oh, and by the way. I almost forgot to mention. Along with the land comes Ruth the Moabite, the dead man s widow. The author of Ruth never lays it out clearly, but we can piece the story together. Apparently, the land that Naomi is selling belonged to Elimelech, Naomi s husband. He had intended to pass it on as an inheritance to his and Naomi s son, the one who married Ruth. You may remember that Elimelech and both of his sons passed away at the beginning of chapter 1. So the land now belongs to Naomi. She is selling it, but there s just one complication. Whoever buys the land is also getting Ruth in the deal. The one who redeems the land must also redeem the landowner s widow. Upon hearing this, the next of kin changes his mind and declines his right to redeem the land and offers it to Boaz, who is next in line. 4
You may have noticed in verse 4 that two verbs are used to describe the transaction involving the land: buy and redeem. Of the land Boaz says to Naomi s next of kin [SLIDE], 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 (Ru. 4:4). Buy and redeem. They seem to be used interchangeably. As we saw earlier one of the meanings of redeem is to buy back. To buy back suggests a return of ownership. So it s a little different than simply buying. There is this subtle suggestion of regaining possession of something. Boaz extends to Naomi s next of kin the opportunity not only to buy the land but to redeem it, i.e., to buy it back, and with it Ruth. But buy it back from what or for what? As Boaz tells the man in verse 5, the point of buying back the land and Ruth is to maintain the dead man s name on his inheritance (Ru. 4:5). Ruth s husband died without a son, so there was no one to inherit the land, and there was no one to carry on his name. Whoever would buy the land would be doing more than simply buying it he would be redeeming it. That is literally what the Hebrew word that is translated as redeem means it is to do the part of the next of kin by buying a kinsman s land, marrying his widow, and providing for her an heir in the form of a son. And when Naomi s next of kin declines his right to redeem, Boaz gladly takes on the role of redeemer. He redeems the land, he marries Ruth, and their marriage produces a son. All s well that ends well. But no! Wait! There s something off here. This is the book of Ruth that we ve been reading, but here in the climax of the book the focus is not on Ruth but Naomi [SLIDE]. The women congratulate Naomi, saying to her, Blessed be the Lord who has not left you without next of kin (Ru. 4:14). The son who is born to Ruth is described as being a restorer of life to Naomi. There is a reason for that [SLIDE]. There is a passage in chapter 1 that focuses on Naomi s reaction to returning home to Bethlehem after leaving Moab. Her husband and sons have died. She has been away from home for years. When the people of 5
Bethlehem first see her they strain to recognize her. Is this Naomi? they ask. Naomi responds, Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me (Ru. 1:20). Because I began this sermon talking about the meaning of a woman s name, it seems appropriate that we consider another woman s name. In Hebrew, Naomi means pleasant. It s easy to see why someone would want to name their daughter Naomi. But Naomi renames herself Mara, which means bitter. In losing her husband and both of her sons in a foreign country and returning home a childless widow, Naomi finds nothing pleasant. Her name seems a cruel joke given the multiple tragedies that she has suffered, and so she tells the people to call her Mara, i.e., bitter [SLIDE]. It s true that Naomi has tasted the bitterness of death. But this grandson of hers is a restorer of life. The book of Ruth begins in death but it ends in life. The book begins with tragedy but ends with joy. It is therefore a story of redemption, and one that operates on multiple levels [SLIDE]. The land that once belonged to Naomi s deceased husband is redeemed when Boaz agrees to purchase it. The Moabite widow Ruth is redeemed redeemed in the sense that her situation is changed for the better. Once a childless widow, she ends the book having remarried and given birth to a son. Naomi too is redeemed. With the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, her future is secured. And beyond the land, Ruth, and Naomi, the nation of Israel itself is redeemed. This child born to Ruth has an important role to play in the history of Israel. He is the grandfather of the king who will unite Israel and become their greatest king. Within two generations, no longer will Israel be a collection of competing tribes ruled by tribal warriors but a nation united under one king. That will come about, in part, through the child born to Ruth and Boaz. As we have seen over the course of these four weeks, the book of Ruth is a family story. It is a love story. And it is a story of redemption. And in that sense it is not only the story of Israel, but it is our story as well. The family story will continue with 6
the birth of another child many centuries later. He too will be a descendant of Ruth and Boaz, and he too will be born in Bethlehem. Through his life and death, we who were strangers to Israel s narrative have been written into the story. It is now our story as well. Jesus life was a love story that revealed to the world an expression of love that the world had not known. This love wasn t based on tribe, national identity, or family relationship. It was not concerned with where you were born or into what family but with whether you were born again. This love gave and expected nothing in return. It was a love that was particularly directed at those on society s fringe and its outcasts the sick, the poor, the unrighteous, the stranger, the enemy. It was a love that was different, radical, and dangerous. It was so threatening to the established order that he had to be killed. He was hung from a cross and made an example. That could have been the end of the story, but it was not. Just as in the book of Ruth God brought life from death, that is precisely what God did by raising Jesus from the dead. God redeemed the life and teachings of Jesus by not letting death have the final word. In the end, love wins. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a family story, a love story, and a story of redemption. And it is our story, for the God who redeemed the lives of Ruth and Naomi and who redeemed the life and teachings of Jesus also redeems us. Even now, this very moment, whatever is afflicting you any kind of pain and suffering (physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual), any fear, any lingering doubt, any regret, any guilt that you carry God is ready to redeem. If God s love and grace can redeem even death itself, then God can redeem whatever bitterness you may be tasting. Where do you need God s redeeming love and grace in your life? Ask for it. Seek it. And if God has already brought you to a place of peace, that is wonderful. You are blessed. So let me ask you a related question: Where can you, like Boaz, be an agent of God s redeeming love and grace? 7