RUTH Redeeming Love Ruth 4:1-22 Sunday, February 26, 2017 By David A. Ritchie Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, Turn aside, friend; sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. So they sat down. Then he said to the redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 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. 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. 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. Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the redeemer said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, he drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day. 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, 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. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 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 given birth to him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. (Ruth 4:1 22, ESV) Heavenly Father, through all of your Holy Scriptures and especially in your Son the Lord Jesus Christ, you have revealed yourself to be a God of extravagant and redeeming love. By the grace of your Holy Spirit, I pray you would pour into our hearts a greater knowledge of that love, so that our lives, our marriages, and our families would be transformed by that love and give glory to the name of our King and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. 1
I. Introduction This morning we continue the story of the Old Testament book of Ruth. Ruth is a story of love, a story of redemption, and a story of hope set in one of the darkest ages in the history of ancient Israel. It is the time of Judges (Ruth 1:1). The time before there was a king who ruled over God s people, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). Famine and hardship had struck town of Bethlehem, and as a result an a man named Elimelech, a woman named Naomi, and their two sons left God s people and forsook their inheritance in the Promise Land to pursue a better life in the country of Moab, which was an enemy land that shared a border with Israel. The two sons even married Moabite women, which was a big no-no. But rather than finding satisfaction in their sin, Elimelech s family finds suffering and death. First, Elimelech dies. Then, his two sons die. Naomi stands over three graves a bitter, broken, and empty woman. But she decides to go back where she started. She visibly illustrates true repentance; she turns away from and walks away from her disobedience from trying to do life her way, on her terms, and in her control and she returns to the land God had given her people. But she does not return alone. Shockingly, one of her Moabite daughter-in-laws has come with her in order that she may serve Naomi in her old age, as well as serve the one true God of Israel. She leaves her homeland, her family, and her gods to embrace what will likely be a hard life of rejection and poverty, in order to serve the Lord and his people. The name of this daughter-in-law is Ruth. When Ruth and Naomi arrive in Bethlehem, it happens to be barely harvest, and Ruth happens to go searching for food in the field of in one of Bethlehem s most godly and eligible bachelors. His name is Boaz, and he happens to be one of Naomi s redeemers, meaning he has the power to potentially reclaim all that was lost from Naomi s family. There are a lot of things that happen to happen in the book of Ruth, but they are not the product of random chance. Rather, this is what we call providence ; the invisible hand of God, moving behind the scenes for the good of his people. It is by providence that Boaz and Ruth meet, and it is by providence that they begin to grow attracted to one another. Boaz is amazed at how this Moabite woman has sacrificially served her mother-in-law and followed the God of Israel at great cost to herself. Ruth is astonished at how Boaz seeks to protect Ruth and provide for her. They are attracted to one another because they are both displaying and imaging the covenant-kindness of God in the way they live their lives. Sparks are flying. A romance is budding. However, Naomi doesn t have time for long, drawn out flirtations. She devises a plan that will accelerate this love story. As Boaz is winnowing grain one evening at the end of harvest, she instructs Ruth put on her best date night outfit and as Boaz to redeem her. In other words, at Naomi s direction Ruth the Moabite, asks Boaz to marry her. Boaz lets Ruth know that he very much wants to marry her, and a promise is made. This is where we left off last week. The lovers are in love. They want to be married and live happily ever after. But there is one thing that stands in the way. There is another man who stands in the way; another man who has a claim on Ruth and the land of her family. And this leads us to today s text, the concluding chapter of our story. But as we delve into this passage, I want us to do so with eyes that search for deeper spiritual truth. As we will see, this story is intended to point us toward the story of the universe. Ruth is not just a tale of redemption and love, but a story that points us toward God s ultimate Redeeming Love. 2
II. The Text 1.) The Redemption of a Bride Until now, Ruth has worked, now she rests her redeemer goes to work on her behalf. Boaz will now take the initiative. 1 After his midnight rendezvous with Ruth at the threshing floor, Boaz is a man on a mission. He has zero interest in a long engagement. He doesn t even bother to go home. The next morning he comes into the city gates, sits, and waits to get to work. Now this setting of the city gate is actually pretty important. Ancient cities often were surrounded by a wall for protection, the only way in and out was the gate. So you can imagine this location had a lot of traffic. More than that, it was the center of public life. Often times in ancient Israel, the elders of the city sat next to the gates and this is where official public business was conducted; exactly like a county courthouse. 2 And guess who happened to come by? The redeemer of whom Boaz spoke. This is the man who has a legal right to the land and marriage to Ruth. And really, for the last two months or so, he should have been doing his duty to provide for and protect Ruth and Naomi. But he seems to not know or care about any of this. As opposed to Boaz who knows the law of God desires to provide for Ruth and Naomi, this guys seems clueless and completely self-focused. Boaz apparently knows this, and thus hatches a plan to use this man s selfishness against him. He gathers a quorum of elders, and starts talking about the land that this redeemer is entitled and even obligated to redeem. Now Naomi is not putting a piece of property on the market per se. While selling is a good translation of the Hebrew text, but in this society a widow had no claim to the land. Rather, she is notifying the court that she is requesting and authorizing a redeemer to redeem the farmland that once belonged to her husband. 3 Thus far, the nameless redeemer has been passive and absent on his duties, so Boaz is forcing his hand to make a move. Now it is worth noting here, that this nameless man is has no regard for the purpose of the Old Testament laws of redemption. These laws were grounded in two purposes: 1.) to remind Israel that the Promise Land was a divine gift from God, not something they earned or deserved, and 2.) to keep families together and living in their inheritance. But for the nameless redeemer, the claim to the land looks like a pretty sweet deal. Since there are no male living male descendants to Elimelech, it would seem the redeemer basically gets to add wealth to his estate. All benefit; no sacrifice. So without asking any further questions, he says, I will redeem it before a court of law. Now this is the moment where our heart is supposed to sink. And indeed, if Naomi and Ruth happen to be at the city gate, their hearts would have sunk. But, Boaz isn t finished. He then reminds this man that, as a redeemer, his moral duty is not only to take the land, but also to marry Ruth the Moabite and provide for Naomi the widow. He should seek to have babies with Ruth, as a way of resurrecting the family line of Elimelech (cf. Deut. 25:7). 4 But this man does not want do this. Maybe he doesn t want the financial obligation of providing for a widow. Maybe he doesn t want to marry a woman who was previously married or from another race. Maybe he is concerned that any children he has wouldn t really be considered his children, and that as a result his name would be forgotten. Maybe it was all of the above. 1 Daniel Isaac Block, Judges, Ruth, vol. 6, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 704. 2 Ibid., 704 705. 3 Ibid., 710. 4 Ibid., 714. 3
Whatever the case, the nameless redeemer has a tremendous amount of pressure to get himself out of this public predicament. So he draws off his sandal and offers to give Boaz the right of redemption. And the significance of this sandal ceremony is that it illustrates that this transfer was legal and above-board in everyway; not a back-alley arrangement, but in full view of a public court. Boaz wins. Boaz is able to rescue Ruth from the claim that another had on her. He is no longer a redeemer or a potential redeemer, but rather the redeemer. And the man that was so anxious about his own inheritance being preserved is now not even known by name. 5 Now I think there are a few interesting applications we can draw from this as it relates to marriage. Firstly, Boaz is able to get over the fact that Ruth has been married before and that she is from a different culture. Maybe the fact that as we learn elsewhere in the Bible, Boaz s mother was Rahab of Jericho. But whatever the case, Boaz is able to see Ruth with eyes of grace. Likewise, as we have already mentioned Ruth displays a life of utter devotion to God. She does what is right even when it is not easy or convenient. She is the epitome of repentance. She has turned away from her past, her old gods, her old sin, and walked toward God. Now the reason I mention these two attributes of grace and repentance is because I believe they are the keys to a thriving marriage. The keys to a good marriage are this: forgive well and repent well. And when we do this with our spouses, we like Boaz and Ruth bring out the best out of one another. One final note on this point is that the same community that once seemed to be scandalized by Ruth s presence now rejoices and blesses her. Ruth s entire identity is transformed: the foreigner becomes a servant; the servant becomes a wife; the wife becomes a matriarch in the kingdom of Israel and the mother of a line of kings. 6 2.) The Redemption of a Family It is as if the curtain draws and opens to a scene nine months later. Ruth who had not been able to have a child with her former husband now gives birth to a baby boy. 7 Now in the context of this story, this child is more than a child. He symbolizes a type of resurrection. For this child is the resurrection of a family, the restoring an inheritance, and even the saving of what will become the royal bloodline. This is why the women of the city say to Naomi something truly remarkable about Ruth. She is viewed as better than seven sons. Now every commentary I came across made a huge deal out of this statement. Why? Because to have seven sons was considered, in this culture, the ideal family. 8 Even now in many cultures, baby boys are desired and preferred above girls, because they have access to power and prestige and standing. But Ruth subverts this. She is better than seven sons. Naomi has a new family with Ruth the Moabite and her adopted grandson Obed, neither of which descends from her by blood. In the same way the extended family that is the community of the church is often a healing to those who have suffered loss and loneliness. True, we may not share blood that runs through our veins, but we share the blood that has redeemed us. But the bigger picture is that a story that began in death now is teeming with life. 9 A book that began in emptiness now concludes with fullness. But this is how God works. His providence is able to work in and through our suffering to produce our good and his glory. This book began 5 Arthur E. Cundall and Leon Morris, Judges and Ruth: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1968), 289. 6 Block, 721 722. 7 Ibid., 726. 8 Ibid., 729. 9 Ibid., 730. 4
with Naomi standing over the graves of her children, and ends with a baby in her lap; a baby from which kings will come. 3.) The Redemption of All Things The book of Ruth is a beautiful tale of romance, but romance is not the reason for the story. And the reason we know that is because this little book ends with an interesting genealogy that leads us to none other than David, the greatest king of ancient Israel. Ruth shows us that in this dark ages of judges, God has been preparing a king. As Dr. Barry Webb writes: David is not a participant in the story, but the rationale for it, the reason it has been told at all. 10 And for us, this story is told because of a king who is yet to come; not just King David, but his greatest descendant King Jesus. Thus all of this is meant to point us to Jesus. In Naomi we see one whose one whose emptiness is filled. Her emptiness is filled by Obed; ours is filled by Jesus. In Ruth we see the utter transformation of identity; the foreigner who could not redeemer herself is given a new name and a new identity. In Obed, we see who is a restorer of life and one who triumphs even over the power of death. In Boaz we see Christ the victor, who has become our redeemer by taking away the legal claim that Satan sin and death had against us. Eugene Peterson says it this way when he paraphrases Colossians 2:13-15 in The Message: When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. 11 And in David, we see the king who is coming. For us too, may we be a people who see our lives as a part of a bigger story, and may our lives always point to our coming King, who redeems us with redeeming love. AMEN. Questions for Community Group Discussion: 1.) In the first part of chapter 4, Boaz is able to rescue Ruth from another who had a legal claim against her (Ruth 4:1-10). How does this prefigure Christ s redeeming work (see Col. 2:13-15)? 2.) The book of Ruth ends with a genealogy that concludes with David, the great ancient king of Israel (Ruth 4:18-22). This suggests this story is meant to point us toward the coming of a king. How can your story point people to Jesus, the true king? 3.) Throughout Ruth s story whether single or married, her life gives honor and glory to God. If you are single, dating, or married, how can you steward your current season to glorify Jesus? 4.) What are the big ideas that you have taken from our study of the book of Ruth? 10 Barry G. Webb. Five Festal Garments: Christian Reflections on the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. New Studies in Biblical Theology. Ed. D.A. Carson. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 49. 11 Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Col 2:13 15. 5