Boaz went to the city gate, (v1,2) which was the usual place of meeting, in Israel it was a combination of a city council chamber and a courtroom. The city gate was a kind of outdoor court where judicial matters were resolved by the elders and a place for business and as a kind of forum or public meeting place. The other kinsman came by. Boaz spoke to the man and called ten elders of the city as witnesses and the two ‘kinsmen’ sat down to speak. Boaz was wasting no time to exercise his right, but he was doing things correctly. The writer doesn’t identify the man as he can’t or won’t carry out the kinsman-redeemer role. I think that is fair to the man as he could have been badly thought of and his reputation ruined.
In our day, we have people being accused of things, then found to be innocent, but their reputation could be in tatters.
Boaz informs the man that Naomi had sold a piece of land and he would have to buy it back as part of his duty as kinsman-redeemer – “If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” (v3,4)
During the days of Joshua, when Israel came into the Promised Land the land was divided among the tribes and then among the family groups. God intended that the land stay within those tribes and family groups, so the land could never permanently be sold. Every fifty years, it had to be returned to the original family group (Leviticus 25:8-17). However, God provided that if land had been sold it could be redeemed by the Kinsman-redeemer.
The kinsman-redeemer was understandably interested in the land, but Boaz informed him (v5) that not only could he redeem the land, but he would have to take Ruth as his wife to redeem the posterity of Elimelech. He had to fulfil all the ‘deal’. Property was very attractive to him, but it was not so easy to take on Ruth. Therefore, he declined (v6) because it would ruin his own inheritance. Maybe he was married and had sons so it would have caused a problem dividing his inheritance in the future and also having a wife already, might cause problems. He therefore said, “You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” The custom was to take off one’s sandal and give it to the other as confirmation of redeeming and exchanging (v7,8) (Deuteronomy 25:5-10) so the closer kinsman took off his sandal thus handing the ‘deal’ to Boaz.
It seems that Boaz dealt with this quite carefully and the nearer kinsman was taken by surprise. I’m certain that Naomi and Ruth were delighted to hear the result.
“And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.” (v9,10)
The ‘deal’ was sealed before the elders and all the people. This was surely something above all that Ruth imagined when she left Moab to travel with Naomi. This story is a supreme example of God’s plan for man and man’s redemption. We mentioned right at the beginning that Elimelech meant ‘God is King’ who married Naomi whose name meant ‘pleasant’. He didn’t live up to his name and he disobeyed God, and we see what happened. However, as we are witnessing now, that was not the end.
Boaz publicly announces that “I have acquired Ruth as my wife.” Someone has said that this is a picture of what a marriage should be – a public ceremony before God and witnesses, recognised by the civil authorities.
Marriages are under threat these days, all the more reason why we must be carefully prepared for marriage. We run a Marriage Preparation Course. This is by no means a warranty for guaranteed success, but it means that the two have been led into giving some thought over all aspects of what they are entering into. Sadly, even Christian marriages are breaking up. We live in a throw away society even relationships and the devil is doing his worst. As Christians we must surrender our lives to God and ask His help to sustain our marriages. Boaz and Ruth surrendered their lives to God and trusted Him for His will to be done in their lives and future. Marriage takes a lot of work on both parts and break up often causes great distress especially if there are children. We might think a breakup can be ‘clean’ but, from my experience of working in courts dealing with families and children, and more recently working in prisons and meeting men and women who are separated from their families, they never are and many, mainly innocent people get hurt, often never recovering from it.
“And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.”” (v11,12)
There is no doubt that this was a loving, romantic occasion. It is interesting and probably scary the likenesses referred to – Rachel and Leah, mothers, whose children were the founding of the tribes of Israel; the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah (Genesis 38) and was the ancestor of the Bethlehemites (1 Chronicles 2). What predecessors are they to follow! These are great blessings bestowed on this couple. We shall see in a moment what those words convey about Bethlehem, Ephrathah.
“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son”. (v13)
It is said that the fact that they had a son was testament to God’s blessing on this couple. It is interesting that the Lord ‘gave her conception’- this goes to show that all children are a gift from God Himself and should be treated with great care and protected at all costs.
However, God’s blessing did not stop there as we shall see shortly. In the immediate – “Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him”. (v14-16) Naomi was also a recipient of God’s blessing. She has a grandson and a child to nurse. After the situation in Moab, she could not have foreseen this, but to her credit she did go back home and, if she hadn’t, this would not have happened.
The women praised God and recognised that Naomi had been blessed with a grandson. Testament that God blesses obedience even when previously been disobedient. God has a perfect plan for us all and we should be obedient and trust Him in everything.
The neighbours gave the child a name – ‘There is a son born to Naomi’. They were rejoicing for Naomi as things had turned out so well for her. Of course, the baby was born to Ruth and Boaz, and they named him Obed and then the chapter finishes with a lineage, and what a lineage that was! (v17-21)
Obed had a son named Jesse, the father of David and who was his descendent? None other than Jesus. What a gift and what a blessing! This was in Bethlehem and what earth-shattering event took place there? The incarnation, the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, ‘Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth’.
Boaz marrying Ruth was no accident, God’s hand is on all of history. Boaz becoming Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer is a complete picture of Jesus, our Kinsman-Redeemer. Every aspect of that role is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, not just for life but for eternity. He was fully God and fully man and we, who repent and receive Him, become His bride.
What a glorious picture, in a little book tucked away, just after the book of Judges, in a time when things were in a mess, this beautiful event took place. Out of what seemingly appeared to be disaster, a rescue took place. Even more amazing, the most life-changing event took place when our Kinsman-Redeemer was nailed to a cross, seeming disaster but after three days, a resurrection and glorious victory.
Without the cross, resurrection and coming again of our Saviour we would still be in our sins, a place of disobedience and eternal death and loss, but turning to Jesus we have been brought into a new life. Ruth arrived as seeking to glean in the rich man’s field and finished up by marrying the owner. We begin with nothing and end up as heirs to the kingdom of God, joint heirs with Jesus Himself. What an exchange and what a rescue!
Someone said, ‘The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there.’
For the Christian there is always a connection between the ordinary events of life and the amazing work of God. Whatever we do, however small, is significant and part of the jigsaw in which God displays His power and wisdom. Someone has said that ‘incredibly small beginnings can lead to incredible endings in the good hand of God. The devil is not in the detail, God is!’
