SOUNDING
OUT: Love’s Reward: Rejoicing
in Redemption
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.
Ruth 4:1,2:
Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there:
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.
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said,
Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
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.
Ruth 4:3,4a:
And he said unto the kinsman,2nd
Naomi, that is come again14th
[shub] out of the country of Moab, selleth
a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:
And I thought to advertise [uncover or reveal to] thee,
saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the
elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem3rd
it, redeem4th it: but if thou wilt not redeem5th
it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none
to redeem6th it beside thee;
and I am after thee….
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.
Ruth 4:4b:
And he said, I will redeem7th
it.
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.
Ruth 4:5:
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.
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:
Ruth 4:6-8:
And the kinsman8th said,
I cannot redeem9th it for
myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem10th
thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem11th
it.
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.
Therefore the kinsman12th
said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his
shoe.
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.
Ruth 4:9,10:
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.
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 [i.e. serving as an elder at the gate]:
ye are witnesses this day.
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.
Ruth 4:11:
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:
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.
Ruth 4:12:
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.
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.
Ruth 4:13:
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.
Look at the wonderful hand of blessing
of the Lord upon this couple. The redeeming work of
the goel has been realized.
Ruth 4:14-17:
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD,
which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman13th,
that his name [Obed] may be famous in Israel.
And he [Obed] shall be unto thee a restorer15th
[shub, again in the Hiphil, the cause of the
return] of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age:
for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is
better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom,
and became nurse unto it.
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.
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.
Ruth 4:18-21:
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat
Hezron,
And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
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.
The book of Ruth wants
to teach us that God’s purpose for the life of
His people is to connect us to something far greater
than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow
Him our lives always mean more than we think they do.
For the Christian there is always a connection between
the ordinary events of life and the stupendous work
of God in history. Everything we do in obedience to
God, no matter how small, is significant. It is part
of a cosmic mosaic which God is painting to display
the greatness of His power and wisdom to the world and
to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places
(Ephesians 3:10). The deep satisfaction of the Christian
life is that it is not given over to trifles. Serving
a widowed mother-in-law, gleaning in a field, falling
in love, having a baby?for the Christian these things
are all connected to eternity. They are part of something
so much bigger than they seem.
(Piper, John, Ruth: The Best Is Yet To Come)
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.
