A Redeemer Provided

Introduction

PRAY AT BEGINNING!

Review the story of Ruth

Chapter 1

Elimelech takes family to Moab

All men die leaving three widow women and no sons

Naomi goes back to Bethlehem with Ruth

Naomi calls herself Mara (bitter) and says that she is empty after leaving full

and that it is the Lord who has done this to her

Chapter 1 leaves Naomi and Ruth with two problems; no food and no family

Chapter 2

Ruth gleans

just so happens to go to a field owned by Boaz

the two meet and Boaz immediately gives her protection, provisions and extra food for Naomi

one of the needs left from the first chapter is met

chapter leads us to believe these two, Ruth and Boaz, will get together

at the end is says Ruth lived with Naomi

Chapter 3

Naomi tells Ruth it is time to find a husband

Boaz is a family redeemer

a person who by law is to ensure that the family name and honor is extended

Naomi sets us a plan for Ruth to go to Boaz and propose marriage

everything goes great

then we find out there is another redeemer closer than Boaz

We are left with the thought, what is going to happen?

will he get the girl, will Naomi stay bitter,

Ruth 4 CSB

1 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.

We were left with Naomi telling Ruth to sit and wait, that Boaz would not rest until it is all figured out

Ruth went back to Naomi’s at the end of three, Boaz went to the city gate

at this time, all business was done at the city gate

you had a transaction or some other kind of agreement that you wanted to do you met them at the city gate and conducted it in front of everyone

the other family redeemer that is closer than Boaz comes by the gate

we never hear the name of this man

the Hebrew uses an idiom, Mr. So and so.

Come over here and sit mr so and so… we have some business to discuss

Ruth 4 CSB

2 Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down.

Hearts are starting to pound a little faster and we are thinking this is all coming together

Ruth 4 CSB

3 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. 4 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.

Heather and I love the movie, “The Princess Bride”

seen of the grandson telling his grandfather that he is telling the story wrong - who kills prince Humperdinck

Mr. so and so cannot redeem, that is not how this ends - how do Ruth and Boaz get together

I wonder if Ruth and Naomi were close by, could they hear

were they thinking, what are you doing

does Boaz have any idea what he is doing, he is giving everything away

Ruth 4 CSB

5 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.”

Oh, I forgot this detail… Mahlon was married to a Moabite woman

you get her too in this transaction

meaning he is to have a son with her and all the inheritance of this will go to him

this redeemer is just going to be tending the land, caring for the widows and raising this son until he hands it over to him

small detail, but important

Ruth 4 CSB

6 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.”

Mr. so and so has a sudden change of mind

possibly married with sons of his own

he is counting the costs of bringing in people for years

decides that this will mess everything up for him

Ruth 4 CSB

7 At an earlier period in Israel (meaning even when the writer was putting this on paper they did not do this anymore), 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. 8 So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”

Boaz did know what he was doing…

he did not have to beg for the right to redeem, he had the redeemer telling him to do it!

Ruth 4 CSB

9 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. 10 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.”

a climax to our story… Boaz has acquired Ruth

she has a husband that will provide for her and Naomi

not only financially

but a son

honorably, by keeping the name of their family going

Ruth 4 CSB

11 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. 12 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.”

Then the town rejoices… you can hear them celebrating and offering up blessings over this marriage

may you be like Rachel and Leah… Wow!

we looked at them a couple months ago

Matriarchs of the nation of Israel

the prayer was not simply that you would have a lot of kids… but that you would be important in the nation

remembered in Bethlehem and the surrounding area

remembered in history

Ruth 4 CSB

13 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.

we get the idea in chapter 1 that it was close to 10 years that Ruth was married before he husband died

she was barren

in the OT we see over and over that God open and closes the womb

look back to Rachel and Leah

Now, after all of this God opens Ruth’s womb

she conceives and has a son

Ruth 4 CSB

14 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. 15 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.” 16 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a mother to him.

I can picture this grandmother holding the precious baby grandson

all the bitterness she expressed in chapter 1 and feeling empty has been replaced by the hope and love in this child

Look at the honor that Ruth is given

better than 7 sons (number of completion

better than a full house of sons

a redeemer has come and as the final scene is about to come to a close we feel like all is right

then this last little bit of detail is given…

Ruth 4 CSB

17 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.

Wait… they named him Obed

the father of Jesse… the father of David

to us hearing that it might not sound like a big deal

at the time… Wow!

Application

We stand here on Easter, resurrection Sunday and I have not mentioned the empty tomb yet

let me try and get us there, I believe all scripture points to that empty tomb

The Right Standing

Not just anyone can be a redeemer

Boaz did not go to the city gate looking for just anyone

at this time, it was a brother of the deceased, if no brothers it went to an uncle, then cousins and so on

Mr. So and So had the right to redeem, but declined

giving Boaz the right standing to redeem his bride

We cannot redeem ourselves, we do not have the right standing

beyond that, I cannot redeem you, and we cannot redeem our children, parents,

we do not have the standing

so we are not looking for somebody that says they are willing, we are looking for somebody that is in the position to redeem

we all need redeeming, somebody to pay a price to get us out of our slavery to sin

Jesus is the only one who could redeem us

Jesus is fully God and fully man

It had to be a man to pay the price for mankind

fully God, born of a virgin, meaning he was not born with the sinful nature that you and I were born with

Jesus has the right standing to redeem us

The Ability

There is a cost to redemption

Mr. So and So had the ability to pay for the land, but declined to pay for a wife and kid

kids are expensive to raise up

there was no real financial gain for him in this

We know that Boaz was a man of wealth

he had fields and servants

but like for mr so and so, it was going to cost him

but he was willing to pay the cost

Jesus did not pay a fee he gave his life

the price for our redemption was a perfect sacrifice

throughout the OT sacrifices were made for the sins of God’s people

bulls, lambs and goats were sacrificed, but it could not be just any animal

they had to be spotless, perfect

when John the Baptist saw Jesus walking by he proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

we do not use the word behold enough

Jesus is the perfect spotless lamb

not only was he born of a virgin not inheriting sin from Adam like we did, but he lived the perfect life

making him the only on in all of human history and future that had the ability to pay that price for you and I

The Resolve

Mr. So and So did not have the resolve to take on Ruth, a potential child or children

it was fine when it was farm their ground’

Boaz was in it for Ruth, not the land

he resolved the night before to make sure that she was taken care of

he did not rest until everything was decided

I can hear him quickly saying, “I will redeem it… I will take Ruth as my wife!”

all before mr so and so could think more about it

he married her and had a son

Christ could have called for a legions of angels to come from heaven to fight for him

he could have taken himself off of the cross

but he went to the end to redeem his bride, to present us as sons to the father

he went to the grave so that we could be forgiven

and he rose so that we could live!

that is why we celebrate Easter, the resurrection

Ruth 1:1 CSB

1 During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land…

Time of the judges,

before there were kings

a time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes

After this in 1 Samuel, the people of Israel desire to have a king like the rest of the nations

thumbing their nose at God, wanting something else instead

even during that time, God had been orchestrating for them to have a king, a man that would be after his own heart

Ruth 4 CSB

18 Now these are the family records 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.

God has orchestrated all of this for us too

David was the line in which Christ came

David was the King that the eternal king would come from

ever since Gen 3, God has told us of this plan to redeem his people

and just like Ruth “just so happen” to go to Boaz’s field, I believe that you just so happen to be here today, or listening to this message and hearing the gospel

This gospel message, this opportunity for redemption and life through our risen savior is available to all who would call on the name of the Lord

because this is not just a story in an old book

Jesus is a real person, who died on a real cross and walked out of a real grave so that all who come to him could spend eternity with him