Ruth 4: Hope Redeemed
Notes
Transcript
Ruth 4: Hope Redeemed
Ruth 4: Hope Redeemed
Ruth 4 “Now Boaz went up to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth. Boaz said, “Come here, what’s-your-name, and sit down.” So he came and sat down. Boaz chose ten of the village leaders and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down. Then Boaz said to the guardian, “Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech. So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people. If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” He replied, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of our deceased relative, in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.” The guardian said, “Then I…”
EXORDIUM
Isaac T Hopper, was born in 1771 in new jersey. After the American war of independence at the age of 16 he moved to pennsylvania. He was a devout Christian. And as a devout christian living in the late 1700, he became involved with the pennsylvania abolishionist society. And he very quickly found himself devoting the vast majority of his time and his resources into freeing slaves, and working toward laws that would abolish slavery.
He was active in the underground railroad, he oversaw a school for black children in pennsylvania.
and he also was heavily involved in the process of mannumission. Mannumission is basically where you would put up your own money to purchase a slave. And then set him or her free. He was also involved a lot of legal cases, and political movemements to end slavery. So that wasn’t the only thing he did. But he did, along with many other Christians in Pennsylvania, put up his own money and just purchase slaves outright. And then move them up to pennsylvania, and then set them free.
It was probably not the most cost effective way of going about it. Probably wasn’t the most efficient way of going about it.
But he was so commited to his cause, that he was willing to put his money where his mouth was, in order to purchase these slaves and set them free.
NARRATIO
In the book of Ruth, We’re not dealing with purchasing someone out of slavery, but we are dealing with Purchasing someone out of generational poverty. And redeeming them back into a family line.
Naomi is a widow. She’s lost her husband and her two sons while they were living in moab. She and her daughter in law ruth return back to bethlehem empty handed.
and as they arrive, God puts Boaz in their life. Boaz is a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband, and he’s eligible to redeem them back into the family line, into the inheritence, into the propety rights, into the family name.
But Naomi is unable to have children in order to produce an heir and pass on her husband’s family name, so the plan they come up with is for Ruth, a moabite woman, to meet boaz late at night and convince him to mary her.
Mary ruth so that she can act as a surrogate mother for Naomi so that Naomi’s family lineage can be passed on.
Last week we talked about Naomi’s plan for all of this to happen, and we discussed how on the face of it the plan was absolutely rediculous.
And yet…God made it work.
A million to one odds, and she managed to pull it off, nothing bad happened. But at the end of Chapter 3 we found out that there’s another man who is more closely related than Boaz. Another relative who is closer on the family tree.
And as we left chapter 3 last week we were left on this cliff hanger. Becaus we don’t know this new guy. We don’t know his character, we don’t kknow if he’s going to be able to provide for ruth and naomi.
We do know boaz. We know his character.
But boaz tells ruth, stay right here, I’m going to go settle this first thing in the morning. And we pick up right there in chapter 4 verse 1.
Now Boaz went up to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth. Boaz said, “Come here, what’s-your-name, and sit down.” So he came and sat down.
-Your Bible probably says “Friend.” In Hebrew the term is literally “a certain one”
-In the Ancient world not naming someone was a major snub.
Boaz chose ten of the village leaders and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.
-Boaz wants to make sure the entire thing is done above board.
-He’s got witnesses to the whole deal.
Then Boaz said to the guardian, “Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech. So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people. If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” He replied, “I will redeem it.”
-Boaz is being extremely shrewed. This other guy had first rights to the land that belonged to Elimelek. So Boaz can’t just claim Ruth and claim the land. He needs to go through the proper channels.
-There are a lot of moving pieces
Presumably, if namoi dies without having an heir, her property goes to the nearest relative. That would be this guy. So if the relative just “does nothing” He’s going to get an extra plot of land.
Boaz needs to get this guy to decline the land, and the inheritence so that he can mary ruth and produce an heir for naomi.
Boaz puts the guy on the spot at the city gate with several city elders, in order to corner him into making a decision.
ALSO
Legally, Ruth isn’t neccecariy tied to the land. Naomi is. So even if the deal ends up being taking care of Naomi, the other redeemer is going to be willing to make that deal. Because all he has to do is put down some money on the field, maybe take care of naomi for a few years, and wait until she passes away and he gets a new field.
What does NOT factor into the whole deal is Ruth
Ruth really doesn’t have any legal claims to the land, or anything.
-Boaz is being extremely shrewd about offering the land first, and Then he says “oh wait. There’s one thing you should know”
Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of our deceased relative, in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.”
What’s going on here, is that separate and apart from the legal inheritence laws is what’s called “Leverite marriage”
-Basically, if a husband dies and there is no heir, the brother is expected to mary the woman, and preserve her family line.
-it seems odd in our modern context but it worked for them.
-For the redeemer, this wouldn’t have been such a good deal.
He would have gotten the land, but he also would have had to take care of any kids Ruth had.
On top of that, the inheritence of his own kids would deminish.
-And on top of that he’s morally legally, and ethically responsible for caring for ruth naomi and any future children ruth has.
-What Boaz basically does, is he says “hey, here’s a benefit you can have, because you’re the closest relative, you are entitled to this land.
And the man agrees.
And then Boaz says “oh by the way, along with that benefit also comes a duty. A responsibility. You need to redeem Ruth, and continue on their family line.
And boaz takes these two separate concepts and welds them together.
He says “ you can have all or nothing”
-Legally, there’s nothing in the Torah that overtly states that in order to get the bennefits of inheritence laws that you also have to take on the duties. There are laws discussing inheritence. And there are laws discussing Leverite marriage. But nowhere in the Torah are they linked together as an all or nothing deal.
What boaz does, is he has this conversation in the public square, in front of all the elders and all the town people and basically says “It sure seems like if youwant all of the benefits, you should take on some responsibility”
And what’s this guy going to do, argue?
The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.”
(Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. This was a legally binding act in Israel.) So the guardian said to Boaz, “You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal. Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property so the name of the deceased might not disappear from among his relatives and from his village. You are witnesses today.” All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. May your family become like the family of Perez—whom Tamar bore to Judah—through the descendants the Lord gives you by this young woman.”
Notice how they compare her to Rachel and Leah.
These women were the matriarchs of israel.
Notice how they compare her to Perez, the lineage of judah through tamar.
Tamar
Ruth 4:13-22
Ruth 4:13-22
So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her. The Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian today! May he become famous in Israel! He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She is better to you than seven sons!” Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; she became his caregiver. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. Now he became the father of Jesse—David’s father.
These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab was the father of Nachshon, Nachshon was the father of Salmah, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.
PARTITIO
And David, was the father of Solomon, the father of
CONFIRMATIO
We have been redeemed so that we can live by the spirit of the law. Not by the letter.
Look at how boaz handled the law. He took the law and interpreted it in such a way that it was Pro-love.
The redeemer could have interpreted the law differently. He could have made a legal case against it, but he knew boaz was right, because boaz was following the spirit of the law
Boaz was willing to sacrifice his own self interests, and go above and beyond the law in order to care for Ruth and Naomi
When we live by the spirt, there are times it means that we go above and beyond what God’s law says
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says “you’ve heard it said, do not commit adultery, but I say to you do not even look at a woman in lust.” You have heard it said, “you shall not murder, but I say to you do not even hate your brother, or else you have commited murder in your heart”
That’s above and beyond what the law of the old testament says.
Other times the spirit of the law means knowing how to apply Grace
The same jesus who took the old testament law and made it more strict, when he saw a man with a withered hand on the sabbat, and the pharisees said “are you going to heal him? you know it’s technically considered ‘working’ on the sabbath if you heal him
Jesus told them “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
He said if you had a sheep who fell in a pit on the sabbath, wouldn’t you go out and rescue it?
It is God’s desire that all 100 sheep be found. We have been redeemed so that all nations can be redeemed.
God called abraham and told him “I will make a great nation out of you and your decendants” But the plan was ALWAYS so that all nations could be redeemed.
God’s plan from the very beginning of creation was that His people would come from all nations. From all backgrounds. From all walks of life. Men women, rich poor, democrat republican, black white
Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all.
Ruth was a moabite. We discussed this last week. but Ruth had no business being involved in God’s covenant. Ruth was a foriegner and an enemy of the jews.
But not only was she redeemed by god, not only was she brought into covenant relationship with God, not only was she blessed by the people of bethlehem, but also god made her and intergral part of his plan to redeem humanity through Jesus Christ.
We’ve been redeemed to live by the spirit of the law we’ve been redeemed so that all nations can be brought into God’s covenant, and God went to extraordinary lengths to do it.
God went to extraordinary lenghts to preserve the lineage that was going to bring us Jesus.
Jesus is the central driving point of the entire old testament.
On the road to emmaus, after he had risen from the dead Jesus explained
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures.
Without Jesus, the entire old testament is kind of just aimless and wandering. Without Jesus the entire old testament is kind of a tragedy.
There’s a reason why the first book of the New Testament starts with a Geneology. Because God wants you to know on page 1 that every little thing from Adam and eve all the way until Mary and joseph was God’s design to get us to Jesus.
Every name in the beginning of Matthew is a reminder of the extraordinary lengths God went to in order to send his son into the world.
Tamar: Ruth was compared to tamar by the women in Bethlehem.
Tamar is the woman from Genesis 38. Her husband died. She had no heir to her family line.
Judah had one of the man’s brothers fulfil his duty to provide an heir, much like what we read about in ruth.
But he refused to do it. So God struck him dead. The story is completely bizzare, until you realize that God was not going to let this unbroken lineage that leads to the savior of the world die out.
Judah in Genesis 38 starts to get afraid that more of his sons will die so he doesn’t make any of them fulfil their duty to tamar.
So tamar dresses like a prostittue and tricks judah into providing an heir .
Again, without Jesus the story is weird and a little bit creepy, and difficult to understand. But when you realize that tamar was almost the end of the line in the road to Christ…it starts to all come together.
David and bathsheba, The exile into babylon, Queen esther.... And here in ruth. Every single story is an instance in which the Jewish people and the lineage that leadsto Jesus
REFUTATIO
Here’s the thing. It can be extremely difficult to see the God who is working to redeem the world when you’re in the middle of the famine. I understand that it can feel like there are times when God isn’t working in our lives. But he never stops working. I know there can be times when we’re trying to work out where we are in God’s grand plan, and all we want is ansswers.
You don’t think Naomi wanted answers when she said “don’t call me naomi anymore, call me marah, call me bitter”
You don’t think Naomi had to wonder while she was holding baby Obed, you don’t think she didn’t wonder why God couldn’t have made it so that Her boys could still be there? Why Elimelek couldn’t be there?
I get it. We want answers. And unfortunately a lot of times we don’t get to now
So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
He told them, “You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.
We don’t always get to know what God is doing. We don’t always get to see what he’s doing.
But we do get to know this: We get to know his character. We get to see that God is love. God is Faithful. God is merciful. We get to see that God cares for you. That he made you in his image. That he desperately wants to be with you.
PERORATIO
So much so that he goes to extremely extraordinary lengths jsut to redeem you.
Isaac T Hopper came dangerously close to bankrupcy multiple times throughout his life. He was behind on his debts more often than he was ahead. He was actually excommunicated from his church three times in his life, because he was so behind on his debts, and was unable to make his payments.
And it was because he poured everything he had into purchasing and redeeing slaves.
He died in 1852, 9 years before the civil war started. Dirt poor.
He laid it all on the line because he was dedicated to redeeming these slaves.
God gave everything to redeem you. HE was there with Tamar, he was there with Ruth. he waas there with david, and daniel in babylon and the exiles, he was there on the return trip.
The word took on flesh and dwelt among us.
He lived a sinless life for you. He was arrested for you. HE put his money where his mouth was and put his life on the line for you.
Our response is to put our trust in him. and our hope in him. Because when we have hopeless situations, our hope comes in the fact that we have been redeemed.