Ruth 4 A Future Secured

Ruth 4

A Future Secured

Intro: How many of you watch tv shows or movies interactively? Do you give the actors advice on what they should do or not do? Because this week is the part in the story where you may feel included to interact or gasp at the events. The story captivates you. Sucks you in and you want to know what happens.

Last week we watched Naomi Instruct Ruth to go and essentially ask Boaz to marry her. Boaz said yes, as long as the other redeemer says no. Boaz told her to meet up at the Town gate and so the story opens in the morning with Boaz arriving at the gate.

Read Verses:

Main Idea: We can demonstrate God’s Hesed or gracious loving kindness in our relationship with others.

I. Finding The Right Redeemer (1-9)

The town gates where all the business gets taken care of. So Boaz forgoes and waits and just by chance, the other Redeemer walks by and so Boaz grabs him. He also grabs ten elders from the town to hear him out and discuss the possibility of taking on Elimelech’s responsibilities.

In a condensed form, Boaz starts off and says you are the rightful redeemer, if you want to have Elimelech's land, then say so and it will be yours. So the redeemer, who is not named by the narrator, says at the end of verse 4, “I will redeem it.”

This is the part in the movie that you yell at the screen No. or are you kidding me. Ruth is supposed to marry Boaz. That is how it is supposed to be.

And if they pan the crowd, the camera would probably settle on Ruth and Naomi and you would watch their faces fall, maybe their heads go down and. It seems like well I guess the other guy wins and that is the end of the movie.

But Boaz jumps back into the conversation, and says, wait there is more. You have to take on Elimelech's widow and his son’s widow, Ruth the Moabites. And once

And you see the other guy pause, weighing his options.

He could keep going with the deal and assume all the responsibility of the two women, he could just say he wants the land and leave the women to fend for themselves, but then that would make him look bad in the public’s eye.

If he takes on the women and marries Ruth it may affect his other children’s inheritance because it seems that Eliemelch takes precedence over his family and by the law, he loses proof the land he just agreed to buy once his and Ruth’s half Jewish/half-gentile child comes of age.

In a nutshell, Boaz is telling the other family redeemer, So whatever you buy today, you’re going to have to give away later. Just thought you might want to know all of that before you seal the deal.”

And it is essentially an all or nothing deal. And he decides to take nothing and concedes it to give everything to Boaz who has no qualms about taking on the responsibility of Ruth, who to him is more important than the land.

Application 1

The right redeemer is the one willing to take on all of your baggage.

There is not one person who dares that. Jesus. He is the redeemer. All false religions tell you to carry your own baggage and if you carry it far enough,then we l let you in.

But Jesus says take my burden, it is light.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Just like God arranged the other kinsman redeemer to walk by the gate, God orchestrated the incarnation of Jesus, through the line of David to rightful heirs of Judah to the throne.

He orchestrated the moment you accepted Christ as your king and redeemer. He gave you the grace that you can show others. Not because we earn points but because we are acutely aware and in awe of The grace God showed us.

We see God acting in the world bringing His plan to fruition. Then in the gospels we see Jesus acting on our behalf. Acting all the way in obedience to the Cross to the point of death. I like they way John puts it in the last line of his Gospel. In chapter 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”.

God does so many things for us that it would take too many books to fill. So we have the important parts. The main storyline of God righting the world to himself by himself.

But we have witnesses to make sure it gets seen to make it legal.

II. Bought in Front of Witnesses (10-12)

In verse 2 were told that Boaz gathered 10 elders to act as witnesses, because this was essentially a legal case Boaz needed a jury. So the ten men watch this trial or maybe more. Like a will reading to see who is going to take on the responsibility of not only the land, because that is the easy part and probably the money maker, but take care of both the Judahite, Naomi and the gentile Ruth?

But in verse 9 we learn that a crowd had gathered. When the narrator says the elders and all the people.

So all of the people are in front of the gate, watching the proceedings.

They are watching One man turn down the redeemership. And then they watch Boaz take ownership of the land in question and take up the responsibility of Ruth. In verse 10 he says also Ruth bought to be my wife. Now this is not a mail order bride situation. Remember Ruth asked him to marry her. And Boaz states you are all witnesses this day.

All the people affirm they watched it. They see Ruth being redeemed and accepted into the family line.

And they bless and wish the couple to have children.

These people have no idea how their blessing will one day come true. Ruth will become the great-grandmother of King David. Boaz and Ruth will continue the line through which our Lord Jesus Christ will come—the great Kinsman Redeemer.

Application 2

Don’t be afraid to let your commitment to Show.

Boaz Confidently claims his Moabitess fiancé in front of a host of witnesses and elders. Its not about the money or the land. He is drawn to her because God is drawing them together.

Boaz trusted Ruth’s commitment to Israel’s God. She had not converted to her faith for position or money or advantage. In fact, following after God had meant that Ruth walked away from every possible source of security.

The virtue of her testimony was the appealing factor to Boaz. But she also reminded him of someone. Boaz already knew the testimony of a Gentile woman who had left her country and her heritage and her idols to follow after the God of Abraham.

His own mother.

Boaz’s mother had followed Israel, converting from idolatry to faith in the true and living God after the walls of Jericho fell before the Israelites.

Boaz also knew that his father had been willing to risk his good name by marrying a woman with a past but, more importantly, a woman with a heart devoted to God.

Like father, like son.

Think of it; Boaz isn’t afraid to trust his future children to the care of a former Gentile idolater because he was a child raised by a former Gentile idolater: the woman listed in Matthew 1 and Hebrews 11 as Rahab the harlot.

III. A Family Restored; A Future Secured (13-18)

The people bless the couple to be and hope they bring fame to the family and to Bethlehem.

Ruth and Boaz have a child and the story comes full circle, where one that started with death, begins a new with a life.Naomi has lost everything but now has been made. A nursemaid over her grandson. Boaz was already doing pretty well for himself, so he moves Ruth and Naomi into his probably none home and she goes from depending on the good will of others to being completely taken care of in her Golden years.

Now the author of Ruth, whether it was Samuel or someone else, knows that David is the end result from their vantage point.

Little does everyone know a few thousand years later every December Bethlehem would be sung about because the incarnate God lay in a feeding trough

And he would grow up in another small town of Nazareth.

Our Kinsman redeemer is Christ, he has gentile blood. Running through his veins because he is a descendant of both Boaz and Ruth. Matthew makes this very clear in His Genealogy.

Application 3

When You accept God’s gracious gift You are restored and Your future is secured.

A lot of times, the movies we watch or the books we read, leave us wanting more and the author or writer never writes another story with that story line. And so we are left wondering, what happened to those characters. Fairy tales just conclude the story with and they lived happily ever after. When Ruth was written, the people knew that David was the outcome and he was a good king overall.

Even David had a past. David was essentially part gentile. He had done things wrong. But God restored Him.

And is that the good news? That God seeks us and has already restored us through the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He restores you. No one has a perfect blood line. We are not pure breeds. We are all in need of restoration.

And only Jesus, the right redeemer Does that and has done that. It is not the fact that He could, it is fact that He Did. He did Redeem you. You have to acknowledge and faithfully believe what he did.

Romans 10:10-13 says One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Conclusion

The story starts off tragic and gets better for Naomi and Ruth. With God’s nudging and orchestration, Naomi and Ruth act boldly for God. Boaz responds with the heart of God, so perhaps this is where David gets it from. The story is about faithful loving kindness (hesed), patience, grace and redemption and most importantly the redeemer.

From the earthly standpoint, Boaz seems to be the hero, But really it is all three characters and really Naomi and Ruth are the main characters, Boaz is motivated by Ruth and Naomi’s actions.

But God is still and always is the Hero. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz are merely hints or images of what we can all be when we fix our heart on God.

The question is, what is your heart fixated on? God, the right redeemer or something or someone else?

If it is anyone or anything other than God, then you need to move your heart to God.

Believe on him Love the Lord God with all your soul, all your heart and all your might. And love your neighbor the same.

Doxology

Psalm 111:1–3 CSB

Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them. All that he does is splendid and majestic; his righteousness endures forever.