Ruth 4: Redemption
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here. We're going to be in the final chapter of the book of Ruth. That's chapter 4. That's on page 128 in a blue Bible that may be around you. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that as a gift to you. I want you to have a Bible that you can read.
But we're going to be finishing out Ruth today. My wife loves happy endings. When we watch movies, if it does not have a happy ending, it is a wash. It doesn't matter that the beginning, middle, all the way up towards the end was good. If it does not end correctly, the movie was terrible. We have a difference of opinion there.
But what I've realized is that she's not alone. There are a lot of people that really want to see a happy ending. And yeah, all right. So if that's you, you're going to really appreciate Ruth. Because it does indeed have a happy ending. If you have not been here the last few weeks or you've missed some, let me recap a little bit of where we've been in Ruth.
There are three central figures in this story. The first central figure is Naomi. So Naomi and her family, they live in Bethlehem in Israel. And a famine strikes the land. And they decide to survive. They have to leave.
They leave Bethlehem and they go to Moab. Moab is not in Israel. It is actually enemy territory. The Moabites and the Israelites fought quite a bit. So in order to survive, they go amongst the people that are not their own, even hostile to them.
And while they are there, they settle down for a bit. So her sons marry Moabite wives. One of them marries Ruth. Ruth is the second major figure in the story. Probably knew that from the title of the book. But she is a Moabite.
And they settle down. And after this, tragedy strikes. So Naomi loses her husband Elimelech. He dies. And then both of her sons die. So after this, in the aftermath, it tells us that there actually is bread again in Israel.
The famine is over. And Naomi decides, I'm going back amongst my own people. As a widow who is poor, who doesn't have any really hope in front of her. She says, I'm going to go back amongst my own people. And she tells her daughter-in-law, stay. You're Moabite.
Stay amongst your own people. And Ruth says, no. No, I'm going with you. Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people.
Your God shall be my God. And where you die, I will die. And there, I will be buried. She loves her mother-in-law, Naomi. She is loyal to her. And she follows her back to Israel.
And to get back to Bethlehem, we're introduced to the third major figure in this story. And that is Boaz. Boaz, we learn very quickly, is a worthy man. He is a good man. And he is a close relative of Naomi's late husband, Elimelech. So Ruth goes to glean in his barley fields amidst the barley harvest.
Gleaning is just picking up the remainders from the field. And when Boaz realizes that's Ruth who's gleaning in his field, he says, you're not just going to glean. I've heard your story. I know what you did, the kindness you did to Naomi. You are taking as much as you can handle back with you today. And then Ruth goes home with as much barley as she can handle.
And Naomi's like, who is this from? She's from the fields of Boaz. And Boaz, in that moment, Naomi says, all right, she hatches a plan. And this plan is a pretty bold thing. That in that very night, Ruth is to go back and she is to propose. And that's what we sat last week in chapter 3.
That Ruth goes back and has this bold marriage proposal to Boaz. And the cliffhanger from chapter 3 to chapter 4 that we've been waiting for all week is that Boaz says, I want us to settle this matter the very next day. But there is a redeemer who is closer, a closer relative of Elimelech, a closer relative of Naomi. And he says, we're going to have to settle this matter tomorrow. And I'll explain more of this in a moment. This is what Chet walked us through last week.
But that is chapter 4 as we launch into seeing how this story is going to conclude. Is Boaz going to end up with Ruth? And as we witness the conclusion of this story, I want us to actually realize and see by the end of this that this is a bigger picture of redemption that it points to and why this story is actually really good for us. Let me pray for us. And then we will walk through the text together. God, I thank you for the scriptures.
They give us a picture of who you are, how good you are to us. May we listen. May you go to work in our hearts. May we respond in faith and repentance and in worship. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so start off in chapter 4, verse 1.
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, friends. Sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. All right, so Boaz meant what he said.
I'm going to settle this matter today. He does not waste any time. Now, this closer relative, this Redeemer figure, is a closer relative to Ruth's late husband, Malon, and Naomi's late husband, Elimelech. Now, we don't get his name. We just know he's the next in line Redeemer. So Boaz goes straight to the gate.
The gate in their culture was the place where it was a little bit part town square, where people gathered, part courthouse, where matters were settled, where transactions and disputes were handled. So he goes straight there. He finds the Redeemer. And then he pivots to the situation to settle the matter at hand. So this is what Chet walked us through last week with this Redeemer language.
Because there's two different threads that are packed into this word Redeemer. And there are two parts of the Old Testament. The first that we're going to see in a moment has to do with land redemption. This comes out of Leviticus 25. Land, this is what Chet explained last week, is very important. It's very important to the people of God.
When God settles the promised land, and the 12 tribes settle different areas of the promised land, within those 12 tribes are individual clans and families that have individual land parcels. And land was important because that was what your lineage was tied to. That was the inheritance. That's how you were provided for your family and your children and your children's children. It was very important for land to stay within the family. And in this specific instance, Naomi is going to need her land redeemed.
That's the first part of redemption that is tied into this word Redeemer. The second has to do with something called Leveret marriage. This comes from Deuteronomy 25. Leveret marriage code. Leveret just means brother-in-law. And what Deuteronomy 25 teaches is that if you have a husband and a wife, and they have no son, and the husband dies.
If she has no son, she has really no hope in front of her. Like financially, widows and their culture were poor. They didn't have anyone to take care of them. Your son was going to be the one that would take care of you. He was going to be the one that inherited the land. He was the one that was going to end up providing for you in your older age.
So not having a son is a very big deal. So God built into the Old Testament law that if this was the case, if your husband died and you had no son, that the next close relative, which would be the brother, would marry his sister-in-law. He would marry her. And that was to provide for widows, but it was also to perpetuate the name of, to sustain the line of the deceased brother. And what would happen is, is the firstborn son of this new marriage would legally belong to his late brother. He would get the inheritance.
In the future, he would get the land. He would sustain and perpetuate the name of that deceased brother. That's weird to us. We look at that like, I don't know about that. Some of y'all are thinking, I ain't have it in our family if that happens. Like, I don't know.
Like, it's strange to us, but this is God's way of providing, of taking care of his people so that the names of families would not be blotted out in Israel, that they would be sustained and carry on. So, that's what is happening when it says redeemer. And a lot of times the phrase here is kinsman redeemer. That's what's happening in this passage. That's what Chet walked us through last week. And that's what Boaz is here to settle because there's a closer relative that is in line to do this before him.
And that's where we pick up in verse 2. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. So, they sat down. So, every village, every town in Israel is going to have different elders, different men that oversee the town's affairs. They're the rulers, the leaders in that town. That's still the case in many parts of the world.
You go to different cultures in the Middle East and in Africa. There are villages that have elders that still do this today. They're the ones that settle disputes that handle the matters of the town. So, he's got the redeemer and he's got the elders and now they're about to see some legal proceedings. So, if you geek out about, if you like Judge Judy or like the back end of every Law and Order episode, get excited because we're about to see some legal proceedings that go down in verse 3 and beyond. So, pick up in verse 3.
It says, Then he said to the redeemer, so this is Boaz talking to the redeemer, in front of the elders. 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, 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's no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.
So, we're dealing with the land aspect first. That's the first part of redemption, which for us, we're not excited about that. We want to know if he's going to end up with Ruth. We've got to wait. They're going to handle this land stuff first. And it says, And he said, this is the redeemer responding, I will redeem it.
I will redeem it. Okay. So, Naomi, in this transaction, is selling this parcel of land. We don't know the exact situation of what has gone into this. We don't know if she, if Elimelech sold this, her husband sold this before he went to Moab in order to pay for their trip. We don't know if they sold the rights to it.
We don't know if Naomi owns this, but it just needs the money because she can't sustain it. We don't know exactly. We do know that Naomi is in deep poverty, and this is the redemption that she needs in order so that she can survive. So, while this is an incredible kindness for this redeemer to step in and say, I will redeem it. And it is. It is a kindness.
It is also an opportunity. This is a financial investment for this redeemer. One commentator puts it this way. He says, Since Naomi had no heir, when she died, the land would revert to his family and be passed on to his heirs. And the money put forth for the land would be an investment on future returns. So, it's a kindness, but it's also an investment.
Naomi doesn't have any heirs. So, when she dies in this transaction, the land will become his. And it's a way for him to, you know, future investments, y'all. Better and more sound than crypto is land, right? So, he's like, I'll do it. I will be the one that redeems it.
And then Boaz, I don't know why he doesn't do this all in one clip, but he goes, Well, it's a bit of a catch. And he gives the curveball in verse 5. He says, 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. And he throws in that curveball. He says, This is a package deal. This is land redemption alongside of this leveret marriage duty.
That phrasing, to perpetuate the name of the dead is inheritance. That is straight out of the leveret marriage code in Deuteronomy 25. Which means that this is going to be costly. This is not just land redemption. It means that Ruth and the kinsman redeemer, that their firstborn son will take the inheritance. It will take the land that he just agreed to redeem.
So all that kindness and that money that he puts in that land, once he produces a son, is going to go to him and that son will legally belong to Elimelech and Malon and that line. So this is no longer a good investment for him. This is actually going to be costly. Not to mention if he produces any more children with Ruth, that's going to, if he has his own children, it's going to tie up a lot of different things. It's going to mess with his inheritance and the redeemer considers all of this and then in verse 6 he says, 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. So once he hears that, kindness becomes too costly. He can't do it. He's not going to impair his own inheritance. He says, you do it. Boaz, you be the one that actually steps in and redeems.
And Boaz has been waiting for this and he absolutely is ready to redeem. Verse 7, 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. I appreciate that it says that at the end and this was the manner of attesting in Israel because a lot of times in the Bible it'll just give you some kind of, like you hear a sandal, take off your sandal, pass it. You're like, oh, that's weird.
What are you talking about? And sometimes the Bible goes, alright, next verse. It says, this was a manner of attesting. And the most helpful commentary explanation I heard was this is basically like a title exchange which me having a real estate background was very easy for me to understand. When you buy a property, you have, there's a title with that property and it's exchanged and it gets recorded with the county. Alright?
So, he took off the sandal and they even said like, these are the shoes that would walk the property off with. So, they would survey the property and they'd have their sandal and they'd say, alright, here is the title, here is the exchange. We don't know that, if that's 100% exactly what it is, we do know that this is the official way to seal the deal. I just like the real estate explanation because that was the best one I found. So, that seals the deal officially. The sandals have been exchanged and then in verse 8 it says, 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 belong to Elimelech and all that belong to Kilion and the Mehalon, meaning, it's done. The land redemption is done. He is taking care of Naomi. He is buying this land to take care of her and then in verse 10, the moment we've been waiting for. Also, Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mehalon, I have bought to be my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead and 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.
He's done it. Like Boaz, he is going to be the Kansman redeemer. He is going to be the one that restores Elimelech and Melah. He's the one who's going to redeem Naomi. And he says, you are witnesses this day. then all the people who are at the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. And then they give a blessing.
May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah. That's a blessing, y'all. Rachel and Leah are the matriarchs of the people of Israel. Their line goes back to them. May you be blessed like them, like Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah.
Which we don't know if Ephrathah is a part of Bethlehem or if that's just another name for Bethlehem. But that's just saying worthily in this land. And be renowned in Bethlehem. Verse 12, 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 woman. Which that tie in is also incredible. Because this is the tribe of Judah.
They come from Judah. Their history goes back to Judah and Tamar which is the first leveret marriage story in the Bible. Not quite the same if you've read Genesis 38. Ruth is this is like Hallmark. And Genesis 38 is like an episode of Mari. Like it's it's a lot more it's a lot rowdier a lot sketchier.
And I've piqued your interest when you get down today go read Genesis 38. If you have questions come talk to me. But it's just cool that that's the story they come from. They're referencing that story purposely. Like that is where we come from is this lever this redemption that happened then and now you get to do this as well. And then the deal is done.
And I want you to imagine Boaz walking back Naomi and Ruth are probably waiting like just looking over the distance is he home yet? Is he coming? And then finally they see him and he's approaching and they're anxiously awaiting what's going to happen and he says it's done. I've settled the matter. Naomi your land has been redeemed you will be taken care of and Ruth I am your kinsman redeemer. I am redeeming you.
Let's get married. And in verse 13 it says so Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Can you imagine what kind of wedding that might have been? how joyous that would have been? People know their back story. Have you ever seen or been to a wedding where there's a lot of joy but the backdrop is? There's a painful story of how it got to here.
And they're just people are just overjoyed seeing this beautiful redemption that is happening. And then it says and he went into her and the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son. that after all of this loss she has a son. Years ago my wife and I she went through a very painful miscarriage and it was a painful experience and then a year later we had our son. And being able to hold our son and the joyous moment that that was with the backdrop of the pain from the last year was powerful and that is this moment and then some after everything that they faced Naomi lost her husband. She lost her only sons.
She lost everything. Ruth lost her husband and she left her people and these widows went back poor without a shred of hope they thought. and now they are holding this baby boy this redemption in their arms. How beautiful is this moment and what I love about this book is it actually doesn't end with focusing on Ruth and focusing on Boaz it ends with focusing on Naomi. That is how the story ends that God saw Naomi in her suffering and he provided. And this is where we pick up in verse 14. 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. Like the women of the neighborhood are just praise the Lord bless the Lord he did not leave you without redemption Naomi. He didn't forget you. Like we gotta remember when Naomi comes in from out of town when she comes back from Moab they say Naomi we haven't seen you in years it's good to see you and she says don't call me Naomi call me bitter call me call me Mara that's what she wants to be renamed because her life is bitter and it's like no no your life is not bitter God has not forgotten you Naomi means pleasant you will be called Naomi God has been kind to you and his kindness is displayed in his daughter-in-law and her daughter-in-law the kindness is displayed that she has Ruth and they say Ruth is of more value to you than seven sons which is a profound statement for all the reasons we just highlighted sons were your future they were your inheritance they were your social security they're the ones that sustained the line they say this daughter-in-law of yours is more valuable than seven sons praise the Lord that you have this woman in your life and then in verse 16 it says then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse and the woman of the neighborhood gave him a name saying a son has been born to Naomi they named him Obed so that's the only time we see this in the scriptures that the women of the neighborhood named the child they just threw out a name and it stuck and they ran with it Obed means the one who serves and the picture here is that this child is the one who serves Naomi this child is her redemption this child is a reminder that God has not forgotten about Naomi that he has taken care of her can you see this moment as she's bouncing little Obed in her arms as she's holding this bundle of joy and redemption in her arms she has been redeemed and it says she she's going to take care of this child she's going to raise this child Obed is her redemption and this is how Ruth ends 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 Amenadab Amenadab fathered Nashon Nashon fathered Salmon Salmon fathered Boaz Boaz fathered Obed Obed fathered Jesse and Jesse fathered David and that is when we learn that this is the family of David that Obed is the grandfather of David this is David's story this would have been a family story they passed down the kind of family story that said get around let me tell you let me tell you kids about our story let me tell you about my great grandmother Naomi let me tell you about my grandfather Obed this is a family story that they passed down this means that the nation of Israel would know about this story that's why they have it and it is a vivid joyous picture of God's redemption and his providence on behalf of his people and how he loves and takes care of his people but for us as Christians this story means all that and more because when you get to the very first page of the New Testament that's when this becomes more clear for us Matthew 1 the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham Abraham was the father of Isaac Isaac the father of Jacob Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers Judah the father of Perez and Zerab by Tamar and Perez the father of Hezron the father of Ram Ram the father of Menadab the father of Nashon the father of Salmon Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab which pause for a moment that's powerful in itself because if you know the story of Joshua Rahab was a Jericho she was a Gentile that's Boaz's mama which means that his mom was a Gentile outsider enemy of the people of God and he marries an outsider of the Moabites of the people who are enemies of God that's an unbelievable connection then it gets down it says Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth and Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David the king Ruth Boaz Naomi are a part of Christ's story listen it is no accident that God chose to come in the line of Obed this redemption story is bigger than Naomi it is bigger than Ruth and it is bigger than Boaz this is a picture of Christ's redemption of his people that's the hidden subplot that's the Hitchcock M.