A Family

Let's take your Bibles and you can be turning them to the book of Ruth, that precious little book in the Old Testament, the book of Ruth.

And we're going to be looking, I'm going to read, rather, here in just a moment, Luke, not Luke, Ruth chapter 4. Ruth chapter 4.

So we've come to the final chapter of this book and also the final sermon. And with this sermon, I plan to kind of put it all together, just to kind of help us recall, chapter 1, the focus was the famine.

In chapter 2, a field, Boaz's field. In chapter 3, a floor, the threshing floor. And then here in this final chapter, the family, a family.

And I would even call it a royal family because the chapter ends with the genealogy of David. And, of course, then we can go forward into the New Testament and see that genealogy continuing all the way up to Christ.

And so, obviously, Ruth plays an important part in the genealogy of Christ, even mentioned in his genealogy. All right, so a royal family.

So let me read chapter 4. Now, Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. And, behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by.

Just happened to come by. So Boaz said, Come aside, friend. Sit down here. So he came 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 this close relative, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

And I thought to inform you, saying, Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. 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.

That is, this near kin said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.

And the close relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.

Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging. To confirm anything, one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other. And this was a confirmation in Israel.

Therefore, the close relative said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself. So he took off his sandal. 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 Kilion's and Melon's from the hand of Naomi.

Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Malon, by the way, this is the first time we know who her husband was, which of the sons was her husband.

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. 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 in Judah because of the offspring which the Lord would give you from this young woman.

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when he went into her, the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son. Then the woman, 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 born him.

Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him. Also the neighbor women gave him a name saying, There is a son born to Naomi.

And they called his name Obed, who is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now this is the genealogy of Perez. Perez begot Hezron.

Hezron begot Ram. And Ram begot Abinadab. And Abinadab begot Nashon. And Nashon begot Salmon. And Salmon begot Boaz.

And Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse begot David. And so it ends with David. Now, remember, as we kind of recall back several, well, many Sundays ago when I started this.

Remember that the story of Ruth, I'm not talking about the book, but the story of Ruth, occurred sometime during the time of the judges. Chapter 1 and verse 1 make that very clear.

But the book of Ruth was not written until David had become king. And the end of the book, the genealogy at the end of the book makes that very clear.

David could not have been included in the genealogy if indeed the book of Ruth had been written back during the time of the judges. So it occurred during the judges, written during the early reign of King David.

And so we would have to say just on the surface that the author's intent, whomever the author was, the author's intent was to validate David's lineage, give a history of his lineage, and therefore to validate his qualification to be king of Israel.

That was the intent, the primary intent of the book of Ruth. The author's intent. But now the big A author, the capital A author, the Holy Spirit, had or presents us with an additional application, one that's very dear to us, an application of the book of Ruth.

Because you see, we need to understand, and I hope that you do, because I've kind of emphasized this from the very beginning, we must understand that the book of Ruth is more than just a love story, a heartwarming story of how a Gentile named Ruth and a Jew named Boaz got together and became husband and wife.

It's much more than just the story of that. Now it is more than that, as I've said, that the book of Ruth was intended to validate David's right to the throne.

But it goes even further than that. Because the reason, and I guess I would say more significantly, the way Boaz and Ruth became husband and wife is a crystal clear picture of redemption.

That's what we, today, need to understand about the book of Ruth. Because Ruth, the Moabite, the Gentile, Ruth, the alien, the alien from the chosen of God, separated from the chosen people of God, she represents the sinner.

She represents you and me. And Boaz, the Jew, Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, represents the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now how do they represent these things? And most importantly, how does Boaz represent the kinsman redeemer, our redeemer, our Lord and Savior?

Well, I've mentioned it a number of times, you know, in the series of sermons. I mean, I've kind of put it in there a few times, and I kept saying, we'll get to that eventually.

And we've sung about it here during our worship time about the redeemer. And, but it has to do with some specific provisions that were given by God through the law of Moses.

And you can read about those. In fact, they're mentioned in a number of places in the Bible, but particularly, these provisions are detailed for us in Leviticus chapter 25, and also in Deuteronomy chapter 25.

Now in Leviticus 25, it is the laws concerning the leverate marriage. And then in Deuteronomy 25, we have provisions there in the law concerning the gaal, and I've mentioned him a number of times, or the kinsman redeemer.

So these are specific provisions that were given by God given for a purpose. And these two provisions, the leverate marriage and the gaal, they come together here in the book of Ruth.

And they picture our redemption in Christ. Now, here's basically what these laws consist of. In the case of the untimely death of a husband, of the man of the house, and in cases where there are no sons to receive his inheritance, to carry on the family name, and by the way, that's the case here, isn't it, with Elimelech's family.

He's dead. Naomi is a widow. Her two sons also die. So no sons to pass on the inheritance, no sons to pass on to continue on the lineage and the name.

So in that case, the deceased husband's brother, specifically in the law, or possibly a near kin than a brother, if there's no brother to perform or be a part of the leverate marriage or to perform the duty of the gaal, then maybe a near kin, the next near kin, would be allowed to do it.

And so he then would be allowed to redeem both the property of the deceased man, but also, though it's not required, to also redeem his widow.

His widow. So that through her, sons could be provided and the name would continue. And that's basically the idea behind the leverate marriage and the gaal, when you kind of put those two together.

Now, the near of kin was called, as I've already said, the gaal. And that means kinsman, near kinsman. Or, in some places, it's translated, and rightfully so, redeemer.

The gaal is the redeemer. It comes from the Hebrew word galal, which means to redeem. Alright? So the redeemer. Now, this law, which was really a provision, not, I mean, it is part of the law, but it was more in the context of a provision, a gracious provision, that was designed by God to preserve the family lineage.

Alright? It was all for that. And to carry on the, or keep the inheritance within the family. And actually, this goes all the way back to Joshua, when Joshua, or God through Joshua, divvied up the land in the promised land.

See, the people of Israel were given their property. It was allotted to them. And they were to continue to keep that in their family.

And if, again, if the man dies and there's no heir in his family to keep that property and carry on the name, then God, that's why God provided this provision.

So that it could be kept within the family. But the law was also God's way of presenting his plan of redemption in a very visible way.

And that's how we ought to see many of the laws that were given, especially the ceremonial laws and so forth, the civil laws, were all foreshadows or precursors to spiritual shadows of, or physical shadows of the spiritual which would come later.

Alright, so the leverate marriage that all and all the laws pertaining to these two things were meant by God to be a picture for us.

To, to point to something that would come later. And that would be our kinsman redeemer. Our the all who for us of course has come.

Now, let's see how that unfolds in this book. And we'll do this based upon the qualifications of the Ga'al. We're not going to go back to those texts and kind of hash out all of the laws pertaining to it.

We can identify some key elements of what it meant to be and what was what was required for the Ga'al. And let's look at that and see if if Jesus lines up with all of those things for us.

And I think you'll see that he does or did and does. All right, first and most basically the Ga'al must be qualified. Maybe that goes without saying.

He must be qualified. How do you qualify in the barest sense of the word? You have to be a true near kin. All right, so first of all the Ga'al the redeemer had to be a near of kin.

He had to qualify as such in order to perform this task to perform this duty. Now, what about Boaz? Well, according to the Bible, Boaz was a blood relative of Elimelech.

We don't know just what he was to Elimelech. It's, you could make a case going back to the law itself that he was a brother, very possibly a brother.

And a little bit later we're going to meet the, or have already, as I read the text, a nearer kin, and he may too have been a brother. But we don't have to force that into it because there is some indication that if there were no brothers, then it would be the next kin, whatever he might be.

but we know Boaz was a relative of Elimelech, a blood relative. And so Boaz qualified, plain and simple, end of discussion concerning Boaz.

But what about Jesus? what about our kinsman redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ? God is the only one who can redeem a sinner.

Right? That's right. He's the only one who can. So how could God be our near of kin? I mean, you already know the answer to this, don't you?

I mean, he's God. I'm a man. He is deity. I'm humanity. How could God being God, being deity, how could he be my near of kin and therefore be my all, my redeemer?

How is it possible? Well, only one way. God must become like me. and that's the incarnation.

God must become a man, become human, take on humanity and that is just what he did.

Right? And so he became our near of kin, our kinsman through the incarnation. So through the incarnation, the son of God became a man. He became our kinsman, our near kin.

He qualifies as the gall because he is a man. John 1.14 plain and simple. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and of truth.

So this is the incarnation. We can add to that Galatians chapter 4 verse 4. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons.

So he qualifies, Jesus qualifies as the gall, the kinsman redeemer. Boaz qualified as Ruth's gall, Naomi's gall, kinsman redeemer, and Jesus qualifies as well.

Second, and these are really very simple to see when you think about them. Second, the gall must be free. He must be free to perform this duty.

There's nothing in the law that forces the near kin to fulfill the role of the gall. Nothing in it that forces him. That's why I say it is a part of God's law.

law. It's more a provision, but it's not a law that is binding on a particular person. They have the will.

They have the freedom to choose to be the gall. Now, this near kin may have a feeling of moral obligation, and perhaps that's mixed in it.

I mean, there is the letter of the law. There's the spirit of the law. Maybe there would be on the part of many a moral obligation that they might feel to be binding. Maybe even a kind of family loyalty.

There may be feelings of this, but nothing in the law made it a requirement. The gall is free and must be free, and therefore he would do it willingly.

Now, what about Boaz in that regard? Well, Boaz was certainly willing. I mean, you can't read it without getting a very profound sense of that.

He was willing, willing, and his willingness was motivated by love. That's what makes the story such a beautiful story. He was motivated by love for Ruth.

Let's just kind of walk through here. I read it a moment ago, but let me go a little slower, walk through chapter 4, and kind of get a sense of this. And we already know from chapter 3 that Boaz was more than willing to redeem Ruth, Naomi, the property.

And it's obvious from the text in chapter 3, though I say obvious, it's not just explicit, but it really is very clear that Boaz loves Ruth, and he's more than willing to be the redeemer.

But remember in chapter 3, he mentioned the nearer kin. There's one that's near, and he has first choice, and I'm going to go take care of that, and here is where he is taking care of that.

And as you read through this kind of business transaction that's taking place here in chapter 4, you have this feeling that Boaz is just coming this short of being deceptive.

I mean, he wants this so badly, and yet he's going to follow the law. Okay? Now, I said that Gaal is not obligated under the law to perform the duty, but if he chooses to perform the duty, he has to follow the law, and this is what Boaz is doing.

Now, Boaz went up to the gate, and it's raining. It wasn't raining that day, probably, but anyway, and sat down there. So he goes to the gate of the city, and historians tell us this is where a lot of business transactions were taken care of there, at the city gate, and it's not that they necessarily sat out there in the open when they performed the duty.

The gate would have a room off to the side that would be used for multiple purposes, but one of the purposes would be to come together and perform a business transaction.

All right? So he sat down there, and behold, a close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. And by the way, the language really, in fact, some translations may even say this more clearly, that it's almost as if he just happened to come by.

All right? But Boaz clearly hoping that he would and counting on it, and so he came by, so Boaz said, come aside, friend. Sit down here.

So he came aside and sat down. All right? So now, both principal parties are there, but he needs more than that in order to do this legally. And he took ten men and the elders of the city and said, sit down here.

So they sat down. All right. One thing, by the way, and this is just a footnote, Boaz was apparently a pretty highly respected man in the city, and he could just say, hey, come over here, sit down, and they would sit down.

And so he had great power, great influence. And so here they are. They're all together, and they're about to take care of some business. They don't know what it's all about yet, but Boaz does, and he's going to be very careful, very methodical, not conniving, but methodical at how he conducts this business.

All right. Verse 3, then he said to the close relative, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Limelech.

And I'm not going to get into all of the problems with that sentence. The translation of it, they say, is very difficult.

felt, and one of the problems is, Naomi, because she was a woman, had no rights to sell the property. It very likely means that the property has gone over to someone else.

It's very likely that Limelech sold the property before they left to go to Moab. And he might have done that to bide a little more time, to live a little longer.

It was a famine. And finally, it came to the point where he either had to pay back the money in order to get the property, sell himself into slavery, or flee the country, and he chose to flee the country.

All right, but the fact is that the property is now up to be purchased. And if it is indeed now owned by someone outside the family, they can have it for a time, but they don't have a right to hold on to.

That was just the law. And so if a near kin wanted to buy it back, then he had every right to do that so that the property would stay within the family. That was the provision of the law. All right, so here's some property, though.

It's Naomi's or part of her dead husband's legacy, inheritance, and it needs to be purchased. Who's going to purchase it? Well, he goes on.

And I thought to inform you, saying, buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants of the elders of my people. 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. All right, so you think the transaction is over. It's done. All right? Here's the opportunity. You may redeem it. Now, at this point, we're just talking about the property.

All right? As stipulated by the law, the near kin had the right to buy the property. And so, having been informed, the near kin says, I will buy it.

I will purchase it. Nothing has been said about Ruth, nothing about Naomi, particularly though the part about Naomi may have been assumed because she's the dead widow. but not necessarily.

And Ruth would not have been assumed, and so Boaz is just not saying that part of it yet. But now he's going to. So, the near kin is going to buy.

In fact, it would be interesting, if Ruth was there, can you imagine how she might have felt at that very moment? He will buy it. And maybe Boaz inside, he said, I was hoping he would say no.

All right, but this is not the end of it. Boaz being very shrewd. Just use that word. Very shrewd. And he said in verse 5, then Boaz said, on the day, by the way, it's almost like he's saying, by the way, on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.

Now, we must admit at this point, though, that there was not a strict requirement for this.

if we read the letter of the law, the near kin had a number of options at that point. He could have said, I will just be the gall and buy the property, but I'm not going to do the part about Ruth.

And he could have done that legally. That's why I say there must have been also a moral obligation, a kind of duty based upon the mores of the Israelite society that, you know, you just need to do that as well.

Because there's more at stake here than just the property. There is the name. Limelech's name, his lineage, his heritage. And if you don't also buy Ruth, redeem Ruth to be your wife so that she, you can have offspring for, so that a Limelech's family will have offspring, if you don't do that, then Limelech is done.

It's done. And there would have been a moral obligation on his part to do it. And I think Boaz knew that. But he didn't say that at the beginning. He's kind of unfolding this bit by bit.

maybe you might even say in a sense he is setting a trap for this near kin. Putting him in a position where he cannot back out.

He's already said, I'll do it. I'll redeem the land. Oh, but also, there's Ruth. By the way, the implication is Naomi and Ruth. Now, Naomi very likely was past childbearing age.

And so just to mention Naomi, with the idea of marrying her would not have worked. It had to be Ruth. She is the one to bear children so that the name of Elimelech, his family, would continue.

The lineage would continue. Right? So he lays that out for him. And so what is the near kin going to say? Well, okay, I'll do that too. No? Probably he said no because he hadn't met Ruth yet.

But anyway, the close relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself for I cannot redeem it.

Now, honestly, we don't really know why he said it that way. We don't just absolutely know what part of that would possibly cause damage to his own inheritance, his own lineage.

Could be that he had no sons. And if he redeemed Ruth and she had a son, then not only would Elimelech's inheritance have been restored through her, but maybe this near kin, his inheritance also would have belonged to her son, the offspring of a Moabite.

Could be that his inheritance was in jeopardy, his property, even his name is in jeopardy because he had no sons, at least at that point.

Could be the stigma involved. It was not necessarily because maybe he was already married. I mean, he could marry, he could marry Ruth as well. There wasn't any problem with that necessarily.

So we don't really know, but he just wasn't willing to go down that path. He still could have said at this point, no, no, I'll redeem the property, but not Ruth. He could have done that, but he didn't.

He could have said, I'll do it, and then later kept the property and did nothing with Ruth, and still he would have been alright, but he would have been really criticized by the community.

And he had a few other options as well. Now what's Boaz, the point here is what's Boaz doing? He is so willing and to redeem not only Limelech's property, but redeem Ruth.

So willing that he is being very careful to try to do this thing so that that would be the outcome. And he's not motivated by the property.

He's motivated by love. By love. Now, if it were not, you see, if it were not for chapter 3, we might get the impression that all there was here was just a cold business deal.

Cold business transaction. But Boaz is not motivated by money or greed or the desire to increase his possessions, personal gain.

He's not even motivated by praise. You know, the praise of the people of the community. Look at Boaz, what he has done. What a gracious, wonderful man he is, that he would not only purchase the property, but he would also marry the Moabitess and so forth.

He didn't do it for any of those reasons. He was motivated by love. Now, what about Jesus? Huh? Our kinsman redeemer, Hebrews 12, 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How about Ephesians chapter 5? Let me just read a portion of that, starting with verse 25, and you're going to be thinking, well, how does this apply to Jesus? But just hold on.

It's instructions, presumably, to husbands, and in the immediate sense it is, but it says, husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church.

And gave himself for her. That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having any spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

That's us. For we are members of his body, of his flesh and his bones. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So yeah, the instructions of Paul are for husbands to love their wives, but he compares that to Christ loving the church.

He's speaking of Christ and the church. Jesus redeemed us, not because of any personal gain to himself, but we must say certainly he receives all the glory and praise.

But he became our go-all because he was willing, and he was willing because he loves us. Loves us.

All right, now third, the go-all must be able. It's not just an automatic thing. You know, you just choose to do it and you can just go out and do it and be it.

You could require all of the stipulations of the law and still not be the go-all because you're not able. You don't have the necessary funds or resources to be the go-all.

And so that's not the case here, is it? I mean, Boaz was certainly able. In fact, in chapter 2, verse 1, it says that he was a man of great wealth.

And so after the near kin refused, gave up his right, then Boaz at that point, became, apparently, became Naomi and Ruth's only hope.

Only hope. Now, to become the acting go-all, the kinsman had to be financially able to purchase the property, in this case, the property that once belonged to Elimelech.

But not only that, but you ought to consider that the go-all must be financially able to take into his home, in this case, a couple of women. Naomi, to care for her, and Ruth, to become his wife and care for her.

And so there had to be an ability to do this financially and otherwise. Now, Boaz had the wealth to do that. I mean, there's no question about it. Boaz was well able to perform the duty of the go-all.

Now, what about Jesus? Well, Jesus was mightier than Boaz. More wealthy than Boaz.

Mightier and more wealthy than any man, right? I mean, because, listen, Jesus was able to redeem a world of lost sinners.

Not just one family. And Jesus has the power, by the way, to keep us redeemed. It's not just to redeem us. You see, Boaz could have redeemed Naomi and Ruth and the property and then maybe something happens and he dies.

And then they're right back where they were. But Jesus has the power to keep us redeemed. We quoted or read a portion of this, a larger portion of this passage in Hebrews 7.25, Therefore, he is able, our goal is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For such a high priest was fitting for us. That's how it's worded in the New King James. Fitting. I think you could translate this way. He is exactly what we needed.

Exactly what we needed. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens, who does not need daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the people's.

For this he did once for all when he offered up himself. That's our redeemer. He was able to redeem to the uttermost. Now, let me give you a fourth thing about the Gaul.

He had to pay the price. He had to pay it. He had to follow through with this thing. He had to pay the price. Now, Boaz had to pay the full legal price.

He had to pay it in full, and he had to pay it. That had to be done before the transaction was complete. It's not on an installment plan. You can say, well, I'll pay it when I get around to it.

It had to be paid before the transaction was complete, before he could marry Ruth. this all had to be done. And I think it's safe to assume just from the reading of the text that Boaz had no problem whatsoever paying the price.

I don't think he had any problem. He was a man of great wealth. He evidently had no problem paying the purchase price. And his ability to pay, according to the Scripture, was never in question.

Even the other kinsman, apparently, was able to pay it. He said, I will pay it. He didn't even hesitate. I'll do it. The question was not money.

Now, what about Jesus? Well, I think in a sense, this is where the comparison breaks down. Breaks down significantly because with Jesus, the redemption price was incredibly high.

Adrian Rogers has said, the price my Redeemer paid literally literally bankrupt heaven for a time. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me.

Jesus could pay the price. It's not like he had to scrimp and save and check the sofa for loose change, things like that. He was well able to pay it, the price, the purchase price.

But the point is, what a price. what a price. 2 Corinthians 8, 9 gives us a sense of it. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, rich beyond imagination, yet, for your sakes, he became poor.

And the word poor means literally emptied. That you through his poverty might become rich. And what was the price for Naomi's property, Elimelech's property?

We don't have any idea what it was. It may have even been an insignificant amount. I don't know. But what was the price for our redemption?

Our salvation? What did that cost our Redeemer? Well, just everything. everything he had.

Like the old hymn, Jesus paid it all. All to him, I owe. What a beautiful and accurate, by the way, very, very accurate picture of Christ, Boaz is.

Let me wrap this up quickly with one other feature of Boaz as the go-all. go-all. He was successful. He was successful as the go-all.

What do you mean? He got Ruth. And Ruth got him. me. And what about Jesus, our Redeemer?

He got me. And I got him. And everything in him. He or I am his and he is mine.

Praise the Thank you.