Kinsman Redeemer

Intro

This mornings, we are going to be taking things a little bit out of order. Since we began our series, Finding the Messiah, in September, we’ve been working our way chronologically through the Old Testament, with the express purpose of recognizing Jesus through all of it. We’ve seen Him in a number of different ways:

Christophanies - When he’s actually shown up in Human form

Prophetic Teachings/Laws - Things that would one day be fulfilled by Christ

Types - Shadows of Christ, things that don’t just, by chance, resemble Christ, but were given as purposeful foreshadows of Him

We’ve journeyed from Creation, through the Fall, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and the establishment of his family line as the chosen people of God. We’ve walked through the lives of the other Patriarchs of Israel, this chosen people, and their eventual enslavement in Egypt. Most recently, we’ve seen God’s miraculous salvation of this people from Egypt and their eventual conquest of the land first promised to Abraham (afer a few hiccups along the way).

The people are now settled in the land and we come to a period of time in the history of the nation of Israel known as “the time of the judges”. There are two books in the Bible that take place during this time: Judges (obvious name), and Ruth. The book of Judges comes first, and describes the, roughly, 410 years in which Israel was given Judges to lead them. The book of Ruth is a narrative that occurs within this time period.

Where we are getting a little bit out of order this morning is, we are going to taking a look at the story of Ruth first. This was not intentional (on my part), but somewhere along the way, we got ahead a week in our series, and by the time I realized it, I wasn’t able to adjust because I am going to be away next week, and I had already asked Cody to preach on The Messiah in Judges.

So instead of unpacking this time period, what’s going on overall in the Nation of Israel, we’re going to zero in on this particular moment.

Because of that, we have to go through a little bit of an overview of what’s going on…

In a nutshell, the time of the Judges was not pretty. As Cody is going to unpack next week, as the people of Israel settle, as one generation passes away and the next takes over, there is a great falling away. And again and again, God is going to provide these judges as guides for the people, but even these judges, as time goes on, get worse and worse and worse.

And the resounding theme throughout the book of Judges, as the events and wickedness is recounted, is “There was no king in Israel”. And as I try not to step too much into what Cody is gong to unpack next week, we get this sense that Israel is in need of, not just any King, not just any leader, but a particular kind of King.

And this season in the life of this people group is setting them up to embrace the leader, the King, God has for them (and it’s not going to be the kind of leader they expect).

Where Ruth fits into this is, during this time period, when the nation is struggling, immensely, as they are reminded again and again and again of their great need for, not just a leader, but the particular leader God is preparing for them, we start to see how God is going to provide.

Let’s pray together before we jump in…

PRAY

Famine & Sojourning

Alright, if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me to the book Ruth. This is a small book, only 4 chapters. We’re not going ot read it all together this morning, but we’ll catch the highlights and specifically zero in on where we see Jesus in the midst of this narrative.

Let’s get started, Ruth 1:1-5.

So we’re told this happens in the time of the Judges. We’re not sure under which judge, but we know one thing: the events begin to take place during a period in which the people have turned away from God. Because, as the book of Judges reveals to us, famine was one of those things that God bought as judgement against the people when they turned from Him and instead turned to other gods.

There’s a man, Elimelech, who decides he just needs to leave. We’re not told here all of his reasoning…it could be that he had lost hope in Yahweh, or it could have been that he was simply fed up with the people around him…or he could have gotten to a place of complete desperation.

But he leaves with his wife, Naomi, and his two sons, and they go to country of Moab. Now, regardless of his reasoning, this is a big deal. He leaves the land of Promise, the land God has given them, to seek refuge from another nation. And while there, Elimelech dies. Not only this, but his sons end up marrying Moabite women (if you remember last week, this was something expressly warned against by Joshua —don’t intermarry! And this wasn’t a racial thing, but a faith thing—in marriage, the two become one—you are now identifying yourself, not just with another people, but their gods as well.) Before either son is able to have children, they both die as well.

It’s quite a tragic story. And we’re not going to try to unpack all the ins and outs this morning about the reasoning for all of it—what were their motives, were they justified in their decision to leave Israel, because, frankly, the text doesn’t go into that.

But what we can say is this woman, Naomi, the widow of Elimelech is in a tragic state. Not only is she a widow, but both of her sons have also died. She has no provider, to protector, and she’s living in a foreign land. This has become a very accurate picture of this time period for the nation of Israel.

But then she gets word…in verse 6, we’re told she gets word “that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.” Perhaps there might just be hope for her survival. So she decides to return home.

But, she has two daugters in-law. And they’re Moabites. For them, to follow Naomi, would mean no hope of a future. They were foreigners…to find a husband, from Naomi’s perspective, would be impossible if they came with her to Israel.

Ruth’s Conversion

Ruth 1:14-18

This is nothing less than a conversion experience, as Ruth chooses to repent (to turn away) from her people and gods, and be counted among the people of God, trusting in Yahweh. And we’re going to see this fleshed out more in Ruth’s later interactions with a man by the name of Boaz.

As they return to Israel, they are still not out of the woods. They still have no way of providing for themselves. Other than…gleaning.

OT Law Regarding Gleaning: (Leviticus 19:9; 23:22,

Deuteronomy 24:19–21 ESV

“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.

So they are depending on Yahweh, fully and completely. Remember what brought them back…yes, there was food…but The LORD had visited His people. They were trusting that as they returned, the LORD would provide for them. And here’s a summary really quick of what they’re going to find:

God sovereingly orchestrates all things in order for them to experience His scandelous and lavish grace.

Sovereignty of God

Ruth 2:1-13

So we are given some back story right up front that Ruth & Naomi didn’t know…the field Ruth goes to “just so happens” to belong to Boaz who is a Kinsman Redeemer to Naomi’s family.

What does this mean, a “redeemer”? We’re going to get into that in chapter 3, but before we do, I want us to really press into the “how” of this situation.

We could say it was by chance. We could say that she got lucky, as she contemplated which field to go to. We could imagine that it was strategic, or any number of things.

But there’s something that Boaz says in these verses that sheds some light on this:

Ruth 2:12 ESV

The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

Remember the choice she made. It wasn’t just to go back to Israel with her mother-in-law.

“Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” -Ruth 1:16b

This was a recongition that her people, her gods had nothing to offer her in her sorrow and need. Yet through the testimony of Naomi…perhaps her husband before he died…her father-in-law before he died…she came to know of Yahweh. Perhaps she’d heard of the miraculous salvation he had brought to Israel when He brought them out of Egypt, or the miraculous provision as they wondered the wilderness…

Whatever the testimony she had heard, she had come to know that it was the LORD, YAHWEH, who was worthy of her life’s devotion. And it was under His wings that she sought refuge.

And so when it came to how to find the very basic necessities for life—what to eat—and she sought for a field to glean from, it was the LORD who’s refuge she sought, who led her to this particular field.

How often do we read of moments like this, hear of them, experience them…and our first response: that was lucky!

It wasn’t luck! It was the soverignty of God! It was His working….from long before Ruth ever stepped foot in Boaz’s field.

She is coming to know the One, True God, the Soverieng and Gracious God of the universe. How did she get there? An Israelite family just happened to move down the road…this family just happened to have a son…when trajedy struck and her mother-in-law decided to go back to Israel, she just happened to be from this little town called Bethlehem. And as she arrives in this town, of all the fields she could go to and glean from, it just so happens to be the field owned by Boaz…

God is soverignly working all things together…

EVEN: Israel’s disobedience. Had there been no rebellion, no famine, Elilmelech and his family would have never left Israel and gone to Moab, and Ruth never would have met this family and returned to Bethlehem. Israel rebels, but it still doesn’t keep Him from fulfilling His good plans and purposes. But actually, it’s even deeper than that…as if God somehow has to react to their disobedience. He isn’t caught off guard by their disobedience, and then somehow has to make up for it. He Soverignly uses even their disobedience—not justifying their sin, but proving His complete power and goodness in the midst of all things.

But let’s also note here: The sovereignty of God does not negate personal responsibility. Naomi and Ruth still had to return to Israel, return back to Yahweh. Ruth still had to get up and go glean from a field. This isn’t a lazy indifference. God’s Sovereignty doesn’t do away with the responsibility of these women to engage with what He is doing.

Kinsman Redeemer - Scandalous & Lavish Grace

And here’s what we see in this Sovereign provision of the LORD- He leads Ruth, and by extension Naomi, to the place of experiencing His scandalous & lavish grace. And I’m going to explain in a minute why I used those to adjectives to describe it, and where we see these things.

But first, I said I would come back to it: What is a “redeemer”? Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is a redeemer of their family.

In the Law, specifically in Leviticus 25, provision is made through this idea of a Kinsman Redeemer. These individuals played a huge role in protecting the people of Israel, and they did so in a number of ways:

The Land- Remember, the land was a huge part of the covenant of God. And each tribe was allotted a certian portion of the land. So if an Israelite ever fell into poverty to the point of having to sell their land in order to survive, the Kinsman Redeemer had first responsibility to buy it in order that it would remain within the family, within the tribe. (The, year of Jubiliee, it would return to the original owner.)

People - If an Israelite ever got to the place that they had to sell themselves into slavery in order to survive, to prevent them from getting to the place of, again, being slaves to a foreign people, the Kinsman Redeemer had the responsibility of “buying him back”, but not to treat as a slave, but as a hired hand. To protect the people of Israel from slavery and bondage to a foreign people.

If a man is married, but dies before he has a son to carry forward his name, the Kinsman redeemer had the responsibility, not only to buy the land and care for it, but to also marry the man’s widow in order to provide a son who would carry on the lineage of the original man. This was to protect and care for the widow, and protect and care for the lineage (which was a huge deal in this culture and covenant) of the original man.

This was a huge responsibility for a Redeemer. Yes, there were some benefits (like more land), but there was great sacrifice. To first bear a son who would carry on, not your lineage, but that of the first husband. Then, praying and trusting, that you would also have a son to carry on your lineage.

So that’s what a redeemer is.

So now think about this: Naomi’s first argument as to why Ruth should not return to Israel with her…do you remember? No husband. No hope for Ruth…a foreigner…what Redeemer would marry a foreigner? What hope that they would ever find favour, get the attention, of a redeemer…

Yet the soverignty of God not only places Ruth in the field of Boaz, but right in his sights…

And Naomi starts to clue in…when Ruth doesn’t see it yet, Naomi sees the magnitude of what this could mean for them…

Ruth 3:1-18

Interesting. This is another one of those moments where Scripture is not necessarily “prescriptive” (prescribing what we should do), but “descriptive” (describing what others did). So this is the plan Naomi comes up with: Get all prettied up…then go and, while everyone is asleep, when no one else can see…lay down at his feet, then uncover them…

Scandelous? Yes. Absolutely.

Ruth could not put herself in a more vulnerable position than she did here. And I don’t think I need to spell out all the possibilities of what could have happened here. She placed hereself fully at the mercy of this man.

But there’s something we can’t miss here…

As Boaz wakes up, as he sees her there, and asks who it is…

Listen to Ruth’s words again:

Ruth 3:9 ESV

He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”

Your version might put a different word there, “spread your _______ over your servant”, but in the Hebrew, it’s the exact same word as Ruth 2:12 when we saw Boaz’s recognition that it was the LORD who Ruth was seeking refuge from.

So in this moment, Ruth is trusting that Boaz is going to act as a representative of Yahweh, that he is going to act and treat Ruth in a way that falls into alignment with God’s character. And so as she says this, she’s pointing back to Boaz’s words…

She’s basically saying: Yes, I’m seeking refuge in the LORD…and you are the one who is able to be used by Him to provide this refuge…

And…Boaz redeems her. He could have done any number of things in this moment…most of which would not be reflective of the character of God. Yet in this moment, he fulfills fully the reality of a Kinsman Redeemer.

And the grace he shows to Ruth is two things, I’ve mentioned them already: Scandelous & Lavish.

Scandelous - As we can see, Ruth places herself in an incredibly vulnerable place. This absolutely was a scandelous moment for Boaz. And he could have responded (1) inappropriately and taken advantage of Ruth, or (2) in fiery legalism—how dare this foreign woman place herself at his feet and risk disgracing his reputation. He could have destroyed her. But he didn’t. The grace he showed to her was scandelous. And in that grace, he protected her. Protected her from the eyes and judgmeent of others that would lead her to a place of shame. He said, sleep until morning, but then, “get out of here before other people see you!”. Don’t let your character be called into question.

This grace was lavish! Let’s read again what he did as he sent her back to Naomi:

Ruth 3:15 ESV

And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.

He’s going to then fully embrace his his role as Kinsman Redeemer. Fully.

Finding the Messiah

Where do we see Jesus? Where is the Messiah?

“If someone invited you to listen to a story about a redeemer from Bethlehem in Judah who fulfilled and exceeded the law with his acts of mercy and abundant provision before entering into covenant with a bride from the nations, that story could be about Boaz or Jesus. Such is the beauty and brilliance of the Word of God.” -Mitchell L. Chase, “A True and Greater Boaz: Typology and Jesus in the Book of Ruth

When we turn to the Gospel of Matthew and read the geneology of Jesus, we find, just as Rahab was included, so is Ruth. This moment recorded in the history of the nation of Israel, forever connected to the Messiah that came to the earth.

And as we think of this story, this narrative…this revelation of God’s Sovereignty and His Scandelous and Lavish Grace, we see it as a type of the Messiah to come…a picture of who this Saviour is going to be…

Turn with me:

Ephesians 1:3-14

I believe in this passage, we see so clearly this reality of God’s grace—to which Boaz was a type, and which is fully realized in Christ. As we see the same reality for us as we did for Naomi and Ruth:

God sovereignly orchestrates all things in order for us to experience His scandelous and lavish grace.

Sovereignty of God in Our Salvation

JUST A NOTE: Perhaps you have experience in a debate that has gone on for centuries: the debate between God’s Sovereignty and Human Free Will, specifically when it comes to salvation. To boil it down: Do we choose Him or does He choose us? My response when I’m asked this: YES.

And here’s the thing: We do not have to understand how “God’s Soverignty” and the “free-will of man” theologically connect in order to both marvel and rest in the glory of God’s soverignty. We also cannot disregard the clear teaching of Scripture on God’s Soverignty because we don’t fully understand how it works together with our free will. So this morning, we’re not going to try to tackle that debate or understanding how those things could go together. Because in reality, we will never be able to fully comprehend them…and that’s okay, because we aren’t God. Even John Calvin, the father of “Calvinism”—often quoted Deuteronomy 29:29 in regards to fully understanding these things:

Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

The secret things belong to the LORD. He has granted us to understand certain things, and those things we obey.

So this morning, we’re going to revel in what He has revealed to us:

In God’s Soverignty, He plans and purposes that we would, by no merit of our own, experience His Scandalous and Lavish Grace.

UNPACK CHOSE; ADOPT CONCEPT IN EPHESIANS PASSAGE

Redemption - Scandalous & Lavish Grace

Scandelous: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Do you want to know what is more scandelous that a foriegn woman laying at the feet of a man in the middle of the night, when no one can see? You and me, in our sin, standing before a Holy and Just God, expecting anything but the deserved wrath and punishment for our sin.

Lavish: “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” “adoption as sons” “obtained an inheritance” “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, wh ois the guarantee of our inheritance”

Conclusion

Let us trust in the Sovereign, Scandelous & Lavish Grace we have been shown in Christ.

God sovereignly orchestrates all things in order for us to experience His scandelous and lavish grace.

There have been some very real and very intense tragedies that have struck the Christian community here in Quesnel in recent weeks. As a Pastor, I tend to hear about most of these things when they happen. And when these things happen, I come to see more and more why it is so immensly important that our theology is right.

Because what do we say in these moments? What do we say when the tragedy seems pointless? When the suffering seems so intense, there seems no way through it? Where is God? Where was God? If God is all powerful, why didn’t He do something? If God is all good, how could He have allowed something like this to happen?

This is why our theology matters, and it’s why we never graduate from the Gospel:

We live in a fallen and broken world…that’s where we start. Our world and the entire race of mankind is under the curse of sin. We’ve all left Israel and travelled to Moab to seek refuge from a foreign people and foreign gods. We are separated from God, and the result of that is death. And we see it. Day in and day out, we see it. If it isn’t personally, it’s in the lives of those around us.

So where is God? Where was God? In these moments when the pain is so great, when we see nothing but the tragedy in front of us, where is God?

He is our Soverign Kinsman Redeemer.

And in the midst of this evil and corrupt world, when death comes far sooner than it should, when tragedy hits…He is soverignly orchestrating the events of our lives so that we will come to know His Scandelous and Lavish Grace.

I can’t tell you the “why” of everything that happens. I can’t tell you how this all works intricately together with our free will.

But I can preach day in and day out His Sovereign, Scandelous and Lavish Grace. So that’s what I’m going to do.