Redemption!
Notes
Transcript
Main Point: God has PROVIDED us with REDEMPTION just as He PROVIDED for RUTH and NAOMI.
Application:
1. GOD can use ANYONE to ACCOMPLISH his PLANS.
2. JESUS is our ULTIMATE REDEEMER.
3. WHO do YOU know that NEEDS to hear this STORY OF REDEMPTION?
INTRODUCTION:
The Story of Ruth is really a powerful story. When we started our series through Ruth on December 3rd, I made a statement. I said, Ruth really has some similarities to the Christmas Story and the story of our salvation.
Today, we celebrate Christmas Eve and we also have the chance to examine Ruth 4. Ruth 4 is the most clear parallel between Christmas, salvation and Ruth.
I want to challenge us today to truly see HOW this passage applies to our lives because it does. It isn’t just history, it is also APPLICABLE TO EACH ONE OF US TODAY!
There’s a simple reason for that. We all NEED redemption.
Redemption is all throughout the Bible. Consider Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. God provides a substitute. Or consider the story of Joseph. (Tell the story briefly. Benjamin finds himself imprisoned) and Judah offered himself to REDEEM or to SAVE Benjamin!
Redemption is throughout scripture!
The redemption that we are talking about today could never be matched again!
When we started our series through Ruth, I gave us a few themes we would see:
Restoration of Hope by God alone- We’ll see that today
Faith in a faithless time- We saw that in Ruth 2 and Ruth 3
How God can use ANYONE in HIS plan!- We’ve seen this throughout!
We will see Godly character in a godless time- We have seen this in Ruth 1,2 and 3
And as a bonus, we saw many reflections of Proverbs 31 in the life of Ruth!- We have seen many of these, but Ruth 1 (the promises she makes) and Ruth 2 really show it!
The CENTRAL POINT OF RUTH IN ALL THIS THOUGH IS REDEMPTION! WE SEE HOW GOD REDEEMS AND SAVES IN THIS BOOK! WE SEE THE FORESHADOWING OF A FAR GREATER REDEEMER IN RUTH! AS GREAT AS BOAZ IS, THERE IS SOMETHING GREATER COMING!
The entire book has been building towards this theme of redemption that we see today!
Our main point today sums that up well I think.
Our main point is: God has PROVIDED us with REDEMPTION just as He PROVIDED for RUTH and NAOMI.
BODY: Last week, we looked at Ruth 3 together. In Ruth 3 we saw Naomi listening to the will of God.
She listened to God, sent Ruth to the threshing floor to propose marriage and trusted God to work it out.
Ruth trusted God humbly and put herself totally at God’s mercy. She went to the threshing floor despite knowing the risks.
Remember, the threshing floor was a place of celebration! It marked a successful harvest. Israel at this time was described well in Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.
The Israelites were not walking in obedience to God. They were very much walking in sinful lusts and desires. The risks for Ruth to be at the threshing floor were VERY HIGH! The threshing floor had become a place of drunkenness and sinfulness!
Yet, she humbly went in FAITH!
Boaz also listened to the will of God and he agreed to go and pursue redemption for Ruth.
Beyond that, Boaz SACRIFICED by giving Ruth 60-90 pounds of his harvest! He had worked hard to thresh this barley and he sacrificed for her.
Boaz revealed to Ruth his interest in redeeming her and also his knowledge of a closer redeemer. Boaz promised that he would resolve the situation the next morning as his top priority!
That is really where we pick up this morning. We pick up with this potential for redemption, but we see how this redemption is not guaranteed!
Boaz’s redemption is not perfect and it is reliant on a decision of another man.
Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down. He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”
“I want to redeem it,” he answered.
First thing in the morning, Boaz goes to the town gate just as he promised Ruth.
The town gate was the central gathering place and the place where much of the business would take place.
As men went between town and their fields, they would pass through the gate.
Boaz sees the redeemer coming and calls out to him. He calls him and the Hebrew makes clear that Boaz knows this man pretty well.
He actually uses the same word that David uses to talk about his soldiers in 1 Samuel as David is on the run.
Boaz then brings 10 elders who are responsible over. These 10 men could trace their role back to Exodus 18 and are responsible for helping judge the land and lead the land in righteousness.
Boaz brings the elders over and sits everyone down to start discussing the situation.
Boaz begins to lay out the situation. He shares that Naomi has come back, that she needs to have the land redeemed.
She is looking to sell Elimelech’s land.
Now, Boaz says that Elimelech is his brother, but the word here doesn’t mean biological brother.
The word here could be defined as “man of the same tribe.”
The redeemer therefore is a Judahite, or someone from the tribe of Judah, like Boaz and Elimelech.
The man is given the opportunity then to buy the land back. He’s told that if he wants to redeem the land, he should do it then in front of the elders.
Redeeming land involved buying it at a lower price than it would normally sell for because it came with the responsibility of continuing on the family line.
In this case, this meant a level of responsibility to care for Naomi and Ruth.
If no family member could redeem the land, then in Leviticus 25, we see that it is sold as essentially a long-term rental that will be returned in the next Year of Jubilee.
My point is simple- redeeming the land was a cheap way to get more land for this man, but it came with an additional cost.
The cost is about to be revealed by Boaz.
Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”
The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”
Boaz tells the redeemer the rest of the cost. This isn’t just land up for sale. He will need to marry Ruth.
The redeemer cannot do it though, so he chooses not to redeem the land.
Remember, one portion of the COST is a new marriage! It’s taking on responsibility for RUTH and for the line of Elimelech.
Being a redeemer wasn’t about getting rich quickly. It was always designed to CARE for the people of Israel!
The heart of the law is summed up well in this quote from Ian Duguid. Speaking about this passage, he wrote, “If there were to be a child from the relationship with Ruth, the redeemer would lose the field and there would be no benefit to his own children and estate to compensate for he costs involved in taking care of Naomi and Ruth. In other words, Mr. So and So was interested in ministry to the poor only if there was a payoff for himself and his family.”
Talk about doing what seems right in your own eyes! This could-be redeemer chooses NOT to do the right thing because HE doesn’t have a guarantee of benefit!
It’s showing of his character.
That’s not noble character. Boaz on the other hand is a man of noble character. He wants to redeem Ruth and Naomi not for selfish gain, but for the good of others.
Paul speaks about this in Philippians 2. He says: Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
That’s the attitude that Boaz shows! He is not concerned with HIS gain from Ruth, but rather with what is best for her.
Boaz uses his blessings he’s been given by God to CARE for others around him.
In a similar way, our redeemer put others before himself, rather than putting his own desires ahead.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Part of the very core of redemption is that it is NOT SELF-SERVING!
We continue to see the redemption take place in verse 7. Ruth 4:7-8
At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.
So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”
The writer of Ruth gives us some insight. In the time of the Judges, it was common to exchange a sandal to make a legally binding document. This was like a signature!
The other man gives Boaz his shoe to acknowledge that he is giving up his right of redemption!
Then we read Ruth 4:9-10
Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”
Boaz has redeemed the land and Ruth the Moabitess!
The man of noble character has lived out his faith and has done this not for his glory, but as he tells the crowd, to ensure that Mahlon and ELIMELECH’S names do not die out!
Boaz calls to the elders and all who are at the gate and say that they are witnesses of what has happened!
Boaz makes sure there are witnesses so that no one can question what has happened. It is further proof of his noble character.
He lives a life that is TOTALLY ABOVE REPROACH!
His character is IMPECCABLE! Rather than live based on what seems right in HIS EYES, he lives out what GOD SAYS TO DO!
All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem. May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
The people of the city accept their role and they bless Ruth, Boaz and the descendants of Boaz.
They bless Ruth by comparing her to Rachel and Leah, the wives of Jacob! These women were seen as the mother’s of Israel!
This is a big blessing!
They bless Boaz by saying that they hope he is powerful and that his name is well known!
Finally, they bless his house by comparing it to Perez’s house.
Perez is one of the two sons of Judah by Tamar. The tribe of Judah came through this line, so they are comparing Boaz to their forefathers!
This is a significant blessing!
It also further highlights something so important about God.
God does not care about background, God works in anyone! Whether in Ruth the Moabite, or in the line of Perez which starts because of the wickedness of Judah in Genesis 38!
GOD CAN WORK IN ANYONE!
Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the Lord granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a mother to him. The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
So, Boaz takes Ruth to be his wife. The Lord then gives them a child.
And look at this! She bears a son and the women begin to celebrate with Naomi!
Naomi, who came back wanting to be known as “BITTER” is now celebrating and is happy! Naomi, which meant PLEASANTNESS or GENTLE, now is pleasant again!
The LORD did not turn his hand against her and abandon her! He has given her a grandchild and a blessing!
The women then bless Naomi. They say that the LORD has given her three things. God:
Gave her a redeemer
Renewed her life
Has given you a son (through your very special daughter in law who is said to be better than 7 sons!)
All of those are true!
In Ruth 1, everything seems terrible. Things seem hopeless, but here we are in Ruth 4 and we see that God has OVERCOME all of the challenges that Ruth and Naomi faced!
God has brought them a redeemer at exactly the right time AND God provided a son to carry on the line!
We see that this son is named Obed. Obed then grows up and has a son named Jesse. And Jesse has 8 sons, the youngest of which is named DAVID!
Notice this! God USES RUTH and she is in the Davidic line. She is then mentioned in Matthew 1, in the line of Jesus, THE MESSIAH!
This Moabitess woman who seemed to be in a totally hopeless situation, is in the line for the savior of the world! That’s pretty remarkable!
And that’s what our God does!
Verses 18-22 contain a genealogy that has been condensed to be 10 men.
In Ancient Near East culture, this was a common way to do a genealogy for a king. It was common to go back 9 generations from the king.
So, notice who the 10th generation is and understand, it’s being written specifically to show that he is king.
Now these are the family records of Perez:
Perez fathered Hezron,
Hezron fathered Ram,
Ram fathered Amminadab,
Amminadab fathered Nahshon,
Nahshon fathered Salmon,
Salmon fathered Boaz,
Boaz fathered Obed,
Obed fathered Jesse,
and Jesse fathered David.
This starts with Perez, the son of Judah and it ends with David! David, the greatest king of Israel!
David who was a MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART!
And God used David to save many people. David saved Israel many times from enemies. But, David was not perfect. David could not truly REDEEM his people!
See, David would sin, or do wrong against God, just as every human has.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see example after example of this!
Boaz is a great man! But he only can redeem one person. David is a great king, but he sins sexually and in pride. Moses is a great follower of God, but he relies on himself when faced with a hard time. Joshua was a great leader! But under his leadership the Israelites did not finish conquering the promised land!
All of these men were great men of God who seemed like heroes, but they also all fell short.
This shows us our need for one who is GREATER!
So who can be that greater redeemer, that PERFECT REDEEMER?
There can only be one greater, perfect redeemer- JESUS!
APPLICATION:
1. GOD can use ANYONE to ACCOMPLISH his PLANS.
The story of Ruth is a story of people from diverse backgrounds that were used by GOD! Naomi, comes from an Israelite family that is not walking in obedience. Boaz is an older man who is of noble character, but is not yet married. Ruth is a Moabitess who is a widow. She is a foreigner and she is not a part of the covenantal people of Israel!
Yet in the book of Ruth, God uses each of these three people and draws them together in a way that only God could!
Honestly, Ruth and Boaz never should have met! From a human perspective, we would expect Ruth to return to Moab to dwell as a widow with her parents until she could remarry. Naomi then would have gone to Bethlehem alone and wanting to be called Mara. She would have been miserable and would have struggled deeply. Boaz would have continued building his reputation as a man of noble character who was not married.
BUT GOD! BUT GOD HAD OTHER PLANS!
Ruth had faith in GOD! GOD BROUGHT RUTH FROM MOAB TO BETHLEHEM! GOD BROUGHT RUTH TO BOAZ’S FIELD, that is no accident! God led Naomi to suggest marriage to Ruth. God worked in Boaz to make him aware of this woman, Ruth. Then, God gave Boaz and Ruth a son. This son would be in the line of Jesus, THE REDEEMER! God worked all this out!
GOD USED THESE THREE PEOPLE FROM VASTLY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND LET ME TELL YOU THE GOOD NEWS, GOD CAN USE US!
In Ruth, God uses Boaz to save and uses Ruth to be WITH Naomi in a hard time and God uses Naomi to provide direction for Ruth.
God used each of these people in a unique way and they are not alone! Even in the line of Boaz we see Tamar, who is in the victim of a terrible situation and Rahab, the prostitute! Men may have written them off, but God did not! God used them! So how can God use us?
Let me start with a disclaimer. It is wise to not limit how God can use you. God is God! I don’t think Ruth moved back to Bethlehem thinking, “I’ll be the Great-Grandmother of the second king of Israel and I’ll be in the lineage of the Messiah!
Yet she was.
So let’s start with that. Don’t limit God. And honestly, that brings us to the first of 3 things we will say about how God can use us.
1. We need to be available for God to use us. (God can and will use us! We need to be available! Think back to Ruth on the Road to Bethlehem- where you go, I will go, etc- she was available! Think about Boaz sacrificing part of his harvest! He was AVAILABLE! So, BE AVAILABLE!)
2. God can use our lives when we surrender them to him! (God used Ruth’s willingness to go WITH, God used Naomi’s willingness to TRUST in Ruth 3 and God used Boaz’s NOBLE CHARACTER and the fact that he was still single!)
3. We should allow God to use the gifts that He has given us! (Boaz’s wealth- he could redeem the land with no concern! That was a God-Given blessing) WHAT GIFTS DO YOU HAVE?
2. JESUS is our ULTIMATE REDEEMER.
As we’ve gone through Ruth, I’ve said a few times that Ruth is similar to the Christmas story. The reason? Ruth talks about the coming of a redeemer and foreshadows the GREATER redeemer and at Christmas we celebrate the REDEEMER THAT HAS COME!
What did we see when redemption came for Ruth? We saw joy and excitement! In the same way, when we understand that our REDEEMER has come, we will be filled with JOY AND EXCITEMENT!
WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HELP OURSELVES BUT TO SHARE OF OUR REDEEMER WHO CAME and rescued us!
What did he redeem us from? He redeemed us from the punishment that we deserved. See, we are all sinners (define) and have earned separation and punishment from our HOLY AND PERFECT GOD! Our Redeemer came to save us from that punishment and to RESTORE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
Let’s talk about that REDEEMER for a minute. HE IS THE REASON THAT WE GATHER TOGETHER EVERY SUNDAY!
GOSPEL AND CHRISTMAS STORY (Highlight Christmas Story and how it points TOWARDS the cross and THE RESURRECTION! BE EMOTIONAL AND PREACH IN 5th GEAR)
3. WHO do YOU know that NEEDS to hear this STORY OF REDEMPTION?
Now, let me offer one last application from our time studying Ruth.
Ruth was written down and it is a narrative. It is designed to be told! The same is true of the story of our Redeemer! We are to TELL THE WORLD ABOUT IT!
And as we’ve seen over the last few weeks, the story of Ruth can point us to how we NEED A REDEEMER, how we need JESUS!
Over the last month, we’ve seen how this narrative is not just passive, but rather it calls for us to take action. So let me ask, who can you share the good news of Jesus with? Let me encourage you, maybe you can share the story of Ruth and Naomi, the women who lost everything to help someone see how GOD IS GOOD AND HOW WE NEED A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!
Remember, Ruth ultimately points us to how we need our own redeemer. So really, what we should ask ourselves this Christmas is who can I share the hope of my redeemer with? It’s great to give presents to friends and family and coworkers, but let’s ask ourselves- who can I share the greatest present of all with?
And the greatest gift we could give this Christmas IS UNDOUBTEDLY the message of our REDEEMER!