In chapter four we find one of the clearest illustrations of the kinsman-redeemer in all the Old Testament. The Hebrew word, goel, clusters in Chapter 4, being used 15 times in two forms.

  Love, duty, and honor motivated the kinsman-redeemer. There was no compulsion placed upon him. The act of redemption was left at the discretion of the redeemer. He had to be both willing and able to perform.

  Remember Boaz has resolved to bring this to fulfillment this day. He had promised Ruth as much, and she and Naomi were waiting, resting in his promise. However, it seems as if he goes about his daily business just like any other day. We noted in 2:1, when Boaz was introduced, that he was a gibbor, a mighty man. We will see Boaz, as a mighty man, complete the redemption he had promised.

  The gate of the city was the place that both personal business and civic affairs were conducted. We know that Boaz was a wealthy landowner, but this shows us that he was also one of the elders at the gate. Otherwise he would have no authority to direct the action of the nearer kinsman and ten others to sit as witnesses of what he was about to do.

  Boaz is bringing the matter to a conclusion, like he said he would. But before we continue with that, let’s take a moment to talk about the law of redemption concerning the land because it is strange when compared to our western culture. We think of transfer of title in fee simple. When we pay for a piece of property it becomes ours as long as we want to keep it. It transfers to our heirs should we die.

  However, in the East such was not the case. God owned the land, and He had Joshua divide it up amongst the twelve tribes of Israel. (Now Levi did not get a portion, but Joseph got two portions, one for Ephraim and one for Manessah so it ended up being divided into twelve portions.) The concept was that the land was to stay within the tribe. That is one reason that genealogies are so important in the Bible. The land was an inheritance of the tribe and was passed down from generation to generation. If an Israelite got into trouble financially and had to sell his land he could do so, but it was more like what we would call a lease. What was really sold was the right to use the land, because on the year of Jubilee the land always returned to the original owners.

  The law of redemption established a procedure where the next of kin could repurchase the land for his troubled family member and return it to him. Boaz had no right to redeem the property until the nearer kinsman refused, and neither he nor the other kinsman was under any obligation to do it; but having once assumed the redemption, the one thus exercising his right was by that act under obligation to marry the widow.

  The goel had to be related, a kinsman. He had to be able to perform, and he had to be willing to perform. He would also be obliged to assume all the obligations of those he redeemed.

  Oh no! That’s not what is supposed to happen. We are rooting for Boaz and Ruth to get together. However, Boaz is not shook, he continues “as if reading the fine print” unto him.

  Boaz continued to explain that it is more than just redeeming the land. The kinsman-redeemer was also duty-bound to take Ruth to wife and raise seed unto Mahlon and Elimelech. Apparently that was beyond what this other unnamed kinsman could do. He was willing to redeem the land, but not willing to marry Ruth. Since he couldn’t do one without the other, he responded:

  The nearer kinsman deferred to Boaz and gave him the right to act as the kinsman-redeemer before the witnesses. Although the specific details are left out, we are left with the simple explanation of why he changed his mind in the phrase, “I cannot redeem it, lest I mar my own inheritance.” Although there is no textual support, some suggest that the fact that Ruth was a Moabitess was the reason for his change of mind. That would not have been the deterrent to Boaz that it might have been to others. (Do you remember who Boaz’s mother was? Rahab. Both his mother and his wife appear in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.) If it were just a matter of redeeming the land for Naomi, he would have done it, but it also meant taking Ruth to wife and raising up seed to her. Naomi was past child-bearing age, but Ruth was not. Offspring from the union with Ruth would inherit Elimelech’s land at the expense of the kinsman-redeemer’s other progeny who would have gotten that money had it not been used to redeem the land. According to Deuteronomy 25:6, the first child would take the inheritance of the dead, but remaining sons would receive from the inheritance of the kinsman redeemer further distributing it among more offspring.

  The drawing off of the sandal denoted the forfeiture of the right. The custom of walking the land that belonged to you led to the custom of using the sandal as a symbol of possession in land transactions. Symbolically, the forfeiture of the sandal represented abdicating the promise. They wouldn’t go there. Therefore they would not receive those promises.
Like Orpah, the nearer kinsman walks off the pages of God’s Word never to be heard from again, while Boaz finds a prominent place in the genealogy of the Promised Seed.

  Boaz pulls off his plan. By the end of the day he has acquired the right to be kinsman redeemer, and he is elated. Boaz has redeemed both Naomi and Ruth, and will provide for both of them from now on. Boaz declares that he will raise seed to the dead (Remember Ruth had been barren for 10 years when she was married to Mahlon.) who would come to the gate of the city to take part in judicial matters serving as an elder at the gate. Then he calls the people to witness. They witness and also speak a blessing.

  Now that’s quite a blessing. Rachel had been barren for many years before she conceived and between she and Leah twelve sons were born to Jacob which became the twelve tribes of Israel. Ruth had been similarly barren for ten years in Moab while married to Mahlon, but this blessing speaks of Ruth bearing those who would be famous in Bethlehem. Who is the most famous of all who have been born in the little town of Bethlehem? Right the kinsman-redeemer of all mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, they have not finished speaking. Let’s read on in verse 12.

  On the surface that sounds good, just like verse 11. Without knowing the record of Pharez and Tamar we do not really know what this is saying. Pharez was an illegitimate child born to Tamar because Judah had refused to have his son Shelah perform the levirate marriage to Tamar. Although on the surface Boaz may want to say, “The same to you, Buddy!” a closer investigation is very enlightening.
 Now what would the house of Pharez have in common with the house of Boaz? Why would Boaz think that having his house like the house of Pharez would be a blessing? Verses 11 and 12 are more than just a casual blessing. They are prophetic, foretelling the coming of the Promised Seed. Pharez was blessed because he carried on the Christ-line. Similarly Boaz would be blessed as the Christ-line proceeded through him and Ruth.

  Judah refused to give Shelah his youngest son to Tamar to do as the law required according to the levirate marriage command. Therefore Pharez who was born to Tamar out of wedlock was a bastard child. Because of this, according to Deuteronomy 23:2, there would be a curse on the line until the tenth generation. The prophecy had already been given that the Messiah would come through the tribe of Judah.

  Since Genesis 49:10 declared that Judah was to be the royal tribe, why did Samuel seek a king from the tribe of Benjamin? The children of Israel were not really wrong to want a king; God had promised them one in Genesis 49:10. They were just in too big a hurry to have one. They wanted it now, instead of waiting for the tenth generation from Judah, which would be David. It was not until the tenth generation, David, that the curse was lifted. Remember God took the kingdom from Saul and gave it to David.

  What was spoken here in Ruth 4:12 is prophetic of David (Remember it said, “shall give.”) and of David’s offspring who would be the Messiah. The last four verses of Ruth are the genealogical tie between Judah and David. The next one in the believer’s line after Judah to be prophesied to be the father of the Messiah was David. He was ten generations removed from Pharez. The curse due to the failure of Judah to perform the levirate marriage was completely reversed when Boaz graciously did perform the levirate marriage law. They spoke prophetically of the tenth from Pharez as the seed of this young woman.

  The seed Boaz would raise through Ruth would be blessed indeed. Verses 13-17 then bring the narrative to a close as marriage, God-given conception, and the longed for heir are mentioned in a few short verses.

Look at the wonderful hand of blessing of the Lord upon this couple. The redeeming work of the goel has been realized.

  At the first meeting of the women and Naomi, Naomi did all the talking out of her grief, declaring that the Lord had dealt bitterly with her. Now the women do all the talking and are quick to point out just the opposite. The women who had witnessed Naomi in desolation when she returned from Moab, now sing praises to the Lord Who has turned her captivity. She who had returned in great sorrow now radiates joy and elation. She who had returned empty has now been made full. There is an important point to be made here that BOTH Naomi and Ruth were redeemed by the kinsman redeemer. Life and vitality had been restored to both.

  Remember the first son inherited Elimelech’s land. That was Obed, he received Elimelech’s portion in Bethlehem thereby providing a place for his offspring (which eventually included Jesus). The promise that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem had been intricately planned. However, it required the work of the kinsman-redeemer in Ruth and later a Roman taxation or registration to ultimately bring it to pass.

  The last four verses list the genealogy from Pharez to David, and provide documen-tation of the lineage of the Promised Seed.

  Why is this important? First of all it links David to the tribe of Judah. Second, it shows David as the tenth generation from Pharez and no longer under the curse. Thirdly it shows God’s providential care in providing for his people. The seemingly ordinary travels, marriages, deaths, harvesting, gleaning, eating, and land purchases are an intricately woven tapestry of the guiding activities of our sovereign God. He works in people, who trust Him and commit themselves to Him, to bring His Word and will to pass.

  None of us really see all of the big picture of what God is working in our lives. We learned in Ruth that God does great things in the lives of ordinary people who are faithful to Him. The choices we make; the journeys we take; the pasts we forsake all occur under the mighty hand of God. He is ever watching and ever working to lead us in the way that we should go. Just as surely as His hand was on Naomi and Ruth, and He had them redeemed. He has also worked in our lives to redeem us. Our goel, the Lord Jesus Christ purchased us. We are bought with a price. We belong to him, and he belongs to us.