Boaz--A Man of Valor

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

Today, I want to focus on this man named Boaz

We learn to know him in the book of Ruth, so that is where I want to spend my time

A lot of attention is put on Ruth—the book is named after her—it’s her story

And rightly so. She was a woman of faith

But Boaz is also quite a remarkable character

In order to study Boaz, we need to know what’s going on in this story

This story takes place in the very early days of the Israelites settling in the land of Canaan

They had been freed from slavery in Egypt

They had traveled through the wilderness

And into the land of Canaan which they conquered and divided up according to their tribes

And they settle there

We can read about all of this in the book of Joshua

And in the book of Judges, we read that in these days Israel had no king—everyone did was what right in his own eyes

This is sort of the political scene in the book of Ruth

In chapter 1—Elimelech from the town of Bethlehem

Took his wife, Naomi and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to live in the land of Moab

The reason for that is found in Ruth 1:1. There was a famine in the land and I’m sure that Elimelech was looking for a way to provide for his family

We learn that eventually he found wives for his two son

And in due time, again, maybe it was some sort of plague or starvation, I don’t know, but Elimelech, and Mahlon, and Chilion, all died

Leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law as widows

And so, Naomi, not being from Moab, and wanting to be with her relatives, decides to return to Bethlehem

And she gives her daughters-in-law, Orpha and Ruth the option of going with her, or staying with their people in Moab

And Orpha does decide to stay, but Ruth comes along with Naomi

Your home is my home

Your people are my people

Your God is my God

Only death will part me from you!

And so, the two of them, both being widows and having no one to provide for them return to Bethlehem

Well, in those days, there weren’t very many options for widows to survive.

There wasn’t much for them as far as jobs

They were limited as far as being able to work their own fields and things like that

But there was one thing that they could do to get food:

They could glean in the fields at harvest time

Which means that they could go in the fields and pick up wheat or barley that was left behind when the reapers went through

This was a practice that was commanded by God in Leviticus 19:9–10 “9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Isn’t this an amazing thing that God commands? When you harvest your fields and vineyards, you are NOT to harvest everything out of it

Rather, you are to intentionally leave some behind so that the foreginers and the poor will have something to eat

Is that maybe a little different than the way we think about things today?

So, at the end of chapter 1, it says that Ruth and Naomi arrived back in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest

And Ruth decides to take full advantage of this practice of gleaning and get them something to eat

Enter Boaz

Naomi has relative named Boaz

Actually, he is a relative of her late husband

And he seems to be someone who is well off because he has fields and workers

And Ruth goes to glean barley in his field

And they begin to get to know each other

And Boaz turns out to be a man of honor who, even though he wasn’t required to by law, stepped up and took care of Ruth and Naomi

Not only does he make sure that they are well taken care of,

But later, he accepts what amounts to a marriage proposal from Ruth

And she becomes his wife

And together they are part of the line and the story that God uses to bring the Messiah into the world

They are the grandparents of King David, and the ancestors of Jesus, the Messiah

You know, as we look at the old Testament, there are various people and objects and ceremonies that we call “types”.

And what types are meant to do is point us forward to the coming of Jesus

As we look at them and study types, it is supposed to trigger something in our mind and we say, “Yes! you know, this was made clear when Jesus came”

Because all of Scripture is about Jesus. He is the central figure of this Book

When it comes to Boaz, we see in him a clear “type of the Messiah”

Boaz as a type of the Messiah

His Family

It’s worth calling attention to Boaz’s parents.

His mother was not an Israelite. She was Rahab the prosititute

Her story can be found in the book of Joshua. As the Israelites were marching in to conquer the land of Canaan

Rahab was a very important piece in the story of their success. She hid two of the spies that the Israelites sent in,

And the Lord blessed her by seeing to it that her life was saved when her city was conquered

She was a pagan, Canaanite woman. Yet, she trusted in the God of the Israelites, and God blessed her and she is remembered to this day

She lived among the Israelites and married this man, Salmon

And their son, Boaz, was this remarkable man who also plays a key part in continuing the line of the Messiah

Jesus, as well, was from unlikely parents

Mary found herself pregnant before she was married..a huge no no in those days

People probably looked at her as being an immoral woman

Yet, we look at her today as being a great woman of faith who believed God and was blessed by God because of her faith

He was from Bethlehem

Boaz was an upstanding man of the town of Bethlehem

I’m assuming that he had been born there,

He was a prominent citizen…when people thought about this town, they probably thought, “Oh yeah, that’s where Boaz is from”

Jesus was also born in the town of Bethlehem

But before Jesus was born, Bethlehem was nothing more than a little collection of houses out in the country.

It was just a tiny village that had very little significance

People were probably just like us from Kalona, or Wellman, or Sharon Center

God recognized as well that Bethlehem seemed to have very little value or significance

Because Micah 5:2 “2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

But God ordained that this is the town where His Chosen One, the Messiah, would be born. This is the town where Mary and Joseph came to be counted in Caesar’s census and where a baby named Jesus was born

So, we see in Boaz, a prominent man living in an insignificant town

But in Jesus, we see more than a prominent man.

We see God’s annointed Messiah. The very one who was foretold by the prophets. The one who would come and change the world

He was a “worthy” man 2:1.

Some translations—a man of standing

he could have been rich—

he could have had a high social standing

Both of these turn out to be true

He was rich enough to own fields and hire workers

He had social standing and the respect of others in the village

Interesting— Literal translation—Mighty Man of Valor

Also used of Gideon

Gideon is hiding out in his winepress and an angel appears to him and says, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor”

And I believe that this same description is used of Jephtha—both of these are men that God used to deliver Israel

I don’t know if either Gideon or Jephtha would have called themselves “men of valor”

But God saw them and identified them as men of valor

Both of these were men whom, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon them were unstoppable in battle

And did mighty things in the power of God

And God had used them to deliver the land of Israel from the hands of their enemies

So, I don’t know if Boaz was a warrior or not, but without a doubt, he was a significant person and one to be reckoned with

Again, this is a clear picture that points forward to the kind of person that the Messiah would be

Isaiah prophesied this about the Messiah

Isaiah 11:1–5 ESV

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Folks, this sounds like the kind of man to whom you would want to pay attention

This sounds like a worthy man. A man of great significance

But it is such an accurate description of who Jesus was

We think of a man from a humble town, of humble upbringing

He went around loving people and healing people, and doing good

And all of that is true

But after Jesus was crucified, there were two men, disciples of Jesus, walking on the road from Jerusalem to their home town of Emmaus. Listen to how they remembered Jesus

They said, “Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people”

We thought for sure that He was going to be the One to redeem Israel

I think they remembered him, not as meek and lowly, but as a mighty man of valor

One who had strength and wisdom

A man of purpose and wisdom

The life of Jesus shows us a man who knew without a doubt what His mission was

A man who was intimately and completely in tune with His Father, God

He Understood, and even saw into, the hearts of people

He commanded the attention of all who heard Him teach because He didn’t teach like the religious leaders of the day

They taught rituals and rules

But Jesus taught the heart of the Scriptures

He cared for the widows and children

But He called out the hypocrisy of the most prominent of the religious leaders

Jesus was truly a man of valor as the Scriptures said that He would be

This prophecy in Isaiah was fulfilled in Jesus

So, Boaz was a man of valor, just like the Messiah would be

He welcomed the foreigner—Ruth

The fact that Boaz welcomed Ruth is significant because not only was Ruth NOT an Israelite,

But she was from Moab

And Isreal did not have warm and fuzzy feelings about the land of Moab, or the people of Moab

Not too many years before Ruth, the children of Isreal, on their way to Canaan tried to pass through Moab

But the King of Moab was scared of them because he had heard what God had done to the other nations that they passed through

And the King of Moab said, “Nope, you aren’t coming through MY land!” and would not let them pass through

In fact, he even hired Balaam the “prophet” to put a curse on them

That’ didn’t quite go the way that the king thought it would, but still the Israelites knew about what he had tried to do, and I’m sure that didn’t go very far in helping them like him

On top of that, the people of Moab were pagans and worshipped false gods, unlike the Israelites who worshipped one single true God

They were like the Canaanite people whom the Israelites had destroyed before entering the land

And they knew, I believe, that they were generally supposed to steer clear of folks like the Moabites

They were not supposed to have close relationships with them or become like them

Yet, Boaz saw something in this woman

Most likely what he saw was her faith.

He saw a Moabite woman who was different.

She dared to stick close to Naomi and support her and help take care of her

And for Boaz that probably was very significant

You know, Jesus also welcomed those who in Jewish society were generally not welcomed

He welcomed the foreigners and did not keep the good news of the Kingdom of God just for the Jewish people

He commended people for their faith, even if they were not Jewish

There was a Roman centurion whose son was dying and he comes to Jesus and pleads for help

And he says, “Jesus, you don’t even have to come to my house. You are a man of authority. Just say the word and my son will be healed”

And Jesus, being a Jew, and the centurion being Roman, could have said, “Get out of here! You Romans are in our land taking what isn’t yours and oppressing us. You expect me to help you?”

But instead he says, “Wow! Look at this faith! I haven’t seen this kind of faith, even in all of Israel!” (which just had to have galled those listening) and He heals this Roman’s son

We don’t know anything more about this Roman. Did he follow Jesus after this? We don’t know

But Jesus had a heart, not just for the Jewish people, but for all those who put their faith in Him

We could talk about other examples,

e.g. the Syrophoenician woman who cried out to Him to cast out a demon from her daughter

Again, Jesus commended this woman because of her faith and healed her daughter

Which was true to prophecy because prophesied to be “A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of God’s people, Israel”

jesus came to offer salvation to the whole world and we are recipients of His salvation

He gave Ruth and Miriam an abundance of barley chapters 2-3

Boaz was not a stingy person

When he noticed Ruth gleaning in his field, he told his workers to keep an eye on her

He told Ruth to help herself to the water that the workers had brought

When it was lunch time, he told Ruth to come and share his bread and wine with him, and she ate until she was satisfied—it wasn’t just a little corner of his sandwich

After lunch, he told the workers to let her even pull grain out of the sheaves of barley, and for them to pull some extra out of the sheaves for her to pick up

She picked up so much barley, that after she had beat it all out, it amounted to an ephah which is about 2/3 of a bushel

Which was a good bit of food for two women!

The Bible says that she kept going back to the same field and gleaning all through the barley and wheat harvests

And later, after she had told him of her desire to marry him, he gave her 6 measures of barley

We see in Boaz someone that would keep giving to them and was not in the least upset about it

You know, Jesus is the same way

Jesus gives good things to His children

Jesus, in one of His parables, said, “if you as fathers know how to give good things to your children, don’t you think that your Father in heaven knows how to give good things to you?

James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change

This is who our Father God is

when Jesus gives, He gives good things, and He gives those things in abundance

And He does not does not scold, he does not roll His eyes when you come seeking more from Him

He isn’t going to open His wallet and says, “Well, shucks, you caught me on a real bad day. I’m fresh out of that.”

Jesus—the Bread of Life. If you come to me for food and eat of me, you will never get hungry again

I have the living water—if you drink the water that I give, you will never get thirsty again

He said, “I Am come to give LIFE and to give it more abundantly!”

it’s not just “get by” kind of life.

It is abundant life! It is full, it is meaningful, it is rich

Have you tasted that kind of life?

If not, ask Him for some!

He was Ruth’s Redeemer

Ruth recognized in Boaz someone who could take care of her and her mother-in-law, and also give her children

Because he was a relative of Elimelech, he had the opportunity to buy Elimelech’s land, and through that purchase, also marry Ruth in order to keep the family name of Elimilech alive

But there was another relative that was closer to the family than Boaz was

And so Boaz went to this relative and essentially sealed the transaction that was needed in order to purchase the land and also claim Ruth as his wife

Again, what a beautiful arrow forward to what the Messiah would do

The Bible gives us different pictures of our situation before Christ and what was needed for our salvation

We are in darkness: Isaiah 9:2 “2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”

We are slaves to sin: Romans 6 talks about this

We were in bondage

We needed to be redeemed, to be bought back.

There was a transaction that had to happen

The Bible says that the wages, or the payment for sin, is death

Just as God had told Adam and Eve, if you do what I’ve told you not to do, the result is death

And that is what Jesus did for us. His death on the cross was a transaction

He made the payment that we just did not have the strength or ability to pay

Just like Ruth did not have the ability to take care of herself, but Boaz was in a position to take care of her

We looked at the verses recently in Colossians where it says that through the death of Jesus, God canceled our record of debt and nailed it to the cross

Jesus redeemed us, bought us back from the power of sin and death

And He has set us in a right relationship with our Father God, fully accepted by Him, as members of His family

Boaz is such a good picture of our Messiah.

The One whom we celebrate this Advent season

Do you know Him?

Have you been welcomed in by Him?

Have you tasted of His goodness and His abundance?

Have you been redeemed by Him?

Closing song

Call to worship