Redeemer Baby

May his name be renowned in Israel!

(Ruth 4, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 20, 2015)

(1-10) The wrong man and the right man

[4:1] 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, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. [2] And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. [3] 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. [4] So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and 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 is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” [5] 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.” [6] 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.”
[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. [8] So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. [9] 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 belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. [10] Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in 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. You are witnesses this day.”

Boaz had a plan, and as much as it was in his power to achieve it, he went to work on that plan immediately. What was required was an official recognition that he or some other eligible man was taking on the duties and privileges that once belonged to another man—now deceased. In our culture we go to town hall and get a marriage license or record a real estate transaction with the registrar of deeds. In their world these important moments were under the oversight of the city elders.

Boaz gave a closer relation the opportunity to act as redeemer of “the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.” (See Leviticus 25:23-28—Note that the land is not “sold.” There is a transfer of stewardship.) This other relative would have redeemed the land had it not been for the requirement of Deuteronomy 25 to raise up offspring in the name of his deceased “brother.”

The public nature of this decision was witnessed at the city gate in a ceremony involving one man taking off a sandal and giving it to another man. No one could later claim that this had not taken place. These matters of property and family inheritance were not left solely up to the secret desires or actions of one man or another. The goal of what happened at that city gate was a transfer of responsibility from one deceased man to another man who was still alive. All sought the same thing—“that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place.”

If anyone (the wrong kind of buyer) thought that he might gain the parcel of land and leave two widows without any hope for the future, there was a true redeemer (Boaz) who was going to raise an objection. This was one of the advantages of the public nature of this transaction. No funny business. The redeemer would have to fulfill not only Leviticus 25 concerning land. He would have to do Deuteronomy 25 as well.

(11-22) The testimony of the faithful

[11] Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, [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 young woman.

[13] So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. [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! [15] 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.” [16] Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. [17] And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
[18] Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, [19] Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, [20] Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, [21] Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, [22] Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

These were matters that were the reasonable concern of the entire community. They were not only witnesses of the event, but they also were agents of the Lord's blessing upon His obedient people. “All the people who were at the gate and the elders” were eager to speak a good word on this important occasion. They saw these events in light of the heritage of the Lord's covenant people. May Ruth be like Rachel and Leah, and not simply a young woman from another land. Those women of old had “built up the house of Israel.” May Ruth do the same. May she be like Tamar who was the mother of Perez, the father of their clan. This Tamar had worked out a way to have a levirate marriage after the death of her husband. May God make the “young woman” Ruth as fruitful as these famous women who had lived so long ago.

“So Boaz took Ruth,” and the whole course of the history of the world was changed—not immediately, but through the coming of future generations. Not only was Naomi's life greatly blessed through the birth of Obed, the Lord's gift of conception would soon bring about the line of David. Through the greatest “Son of David,” Jesus, all the people groups of the earth would be greatly blessed. It all began with a baby. As in verses 14-15, the baby would be the redeemer!

The story of Ruth and Boaz is worth telling. It would be interesting even if we did not know what happened in future generations. But it is the genealogical surprise of the gift of the Messiah that gives this such cosmic significance. The book of Ruth is a major turning point in the Old Testament because it will lead to the line of David which will fill the pages of all Old Testament history from this point forward. But because of Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem—the city of David, this account has become a part of the heritage of all those who have the name “Christian.” Ruth 4 is the turning point in Old Testament history because the coming of God in the flesh is the turning point of all human history. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

Old Testament Reading—Malachi 4 – The Day of the Lord is coming.

Gospel Reading—Luke 2:1-7 – The birth of Jesus