Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Ruth 4:1-22

Theme: Trust the Lord; He has bigger plans for the investment of your life than you do.

Date: 09/04/2022 File Name: Ruth_04 Code: OT08-04

There was a time when “redemption” was a theme more readily understood in our culture.

• When I was a Cub Scout, our pack regularly went around the neighborhood collecting soda bottles.

In a day when all soda came in bottles and all soda bottles were identical you could “redeem” them for 3¢ a bottle — that was 18¢ for a six-pack!

And if we were really fortunate, someone might give us an entire case of empty beer bottles — 48 bottles.

That was a $1.44! (Just more than $12 today).

• There were other things in our culture that could be “redeemed” — remember S&H Green Stamps? Green Stamps was a line of trading stamps popular in the United States from 1896 until the late 1980s.

Customers received stamps at the checkout counter of supermarkets, department stores, and gasoline stations among other retailers.

You pasted them into booklets that, once they were full, could then be redeemed for products from the S&H Green Stamp catalog.

Most products were from 2-5 books, but you could also redeem a 17" Admiral Color TV ... for 150 books!

I remember licking a lot of Green Stamps when I was a kid.

• How many of you still clip coupons out of the newspaper inserts?

You bring your coupons to the store and “redeem” a certain product at a discount.

As we arrive at the final chapter of the Book of Ruth, we will witness her ultimate redemption — and Naomi’s — as Boaz works to bring her under his wings.

Boaz will choose to become their Kinsman-Redeemer and in doing so save their lives.

I. THE LITIGATION

Ruth 4:1-6

1. Boaz is a Kinsman Redeemer

a. I’ve used the term repeatedly throughout this short series but what does it mean?

2. in Jewish society, a Kinsman Redeemer was a relative who protected the needy members of their extended family

a. they could do three things according to Jewish Law

1) 1st, they could buy back a relative who had been sold into slavery, (Leviticus 25:47-49)

2) 2nd, they could purchase back land a relative had sold outside the family (Leviticus 25:25)

3) 3rd, they could preserve the family lineage of a deceased husband by marrying his widow, and providing a male heir for the deceased husband (Deut.

25:5-6)

a) this was called a Levirate marriage

b) it is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man (or the nearest male relative if there is no brother) is obliged to marry his brother's widow and produce an male heir

c) Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which marriage outside the clan is forbidden

ILLUS.

It is still practiced in many parts of Africa, and the Kurdish people of Turkey and Kurdistan.

3. in order to accomplish any of these things, a Kinsman Redeemer had to meet three qualifications ...

a. 1st, they must be a blood relative

b. 2nd, they must be able to redeem — i.e. they had to have financial means

c. 3rd, they must be willing to redeem

4. Boaz meets all three criteria — in fact, he is most anxious to redeem Ruth and Naomi

a. but as we ended the story last week we saw that there was the proverbial “fly-in-ointment”

b. there was, unbeknownst to Naomi, a kinsman redeemer who was a closer blood relation to Elimelech than was Boaz

A. THE URGENCY OF BOAZ

“Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there.

And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by.

So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.”

And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.”

So they sat down.”

(Ruth 4:1–2, ESV)

1. in chapter 3, Ruth had received a confident promise and an encouraging assurance

a. 1st, Boaz had told her to be patient because her future was secure, and she would be protected and taken care of one way or another

“Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it.

But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you.

... .””

(Ruth 3:13, ESV)

b. 2nd, Naomi had confirmed the resolve of Boaz telling Ruth that he would not rest until he had secured their future (Ruth 3:18) and that he would do so that very day

2. the fourth chapter of Ruth picks up the story — indeed that very day Boaz resolves to speak with the man who is an even closer kinsman to Ruth and Naomi than he is

a. the city gate of any Jewish community was the place where the community’s elders gathered to adjudicate conflicts, resolve disputes, and witness transactions

1) Boaz is there bright and early

b.

Boas has an urgent matter to attend to — he is not thinking about his previous business, but about his potential bride

c. as Bethlehem’s townsfolk are all exiting the city to go gather the grain that has been threshed and winnowed and to bring it back to town Boaz has come to the city gate to put his plan into action

1) he takes the initiative and gathers the cast of characters for the drama that is about to unfold

a) there is himself

b) there are the elders — ten men Boaz trusts to witness the proceedings

c) there is the un-named kinsman who is a closer relative to Naomi and Ruth than he

2) according to vs. 11 there is a larger crowd who have gathered to watch the event — they want to see how this real-life Hallmark romance turns out

a) does boy really get girl?

b) is there a wedding in story for Ruth, and the subsequent community feast that goes with it?

d. the ensuing litigation will tell the story

3. topic #1 is Naomi’s land

“Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.

4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’

If you will redeem it, redeem it.

But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.”

And he said, “I will redeem it.””

(Ruth 4:3–4, ESV)

a. Boaz gets right to his first point: his concern was the case of Naomi, and the plot of land that belonged to Elimelech — Naomi’s deceased husband

1) the closer kinsman had first choice — he could purchase the land or he could refuse to do so

2) if he refuses, Boaz immediately stands ready to purchase it

3) his heart must have sunk when the kinsman responds “I will redeem it” vs. 4

a) ahhh ... but Boaz has a plan

4. topic #2 is Ruth’s hand

a. Boaz shares with the other kinsman that if he agrees to part one of the deal — the redemption of Naomi’s land — that he’s also bound to accept part two of the deal — Ruth’s hand in marriage

1) if the kinsman is going to redeem the land, there is also the obligation to redeem Ruth — which means marriage

a) this is a two-for-the-price-of-one offer

b. in vs. 5 Boaz puts as negative a spin on the deal as he can

1) she is a Moabite (the only time in the entire story that he nationality is used in a negative way) ... she’s a dead man’s widow ... the kinsman is obligated to produce children by Ruth until there is a son (what happens if the first three children are girls)?

... and when there is a son the property (that he has just redeemed) will pass on the heir of Mahlon, Ruth’s husband and Elimelech’s son rather than passing on to the un-named kinsman

c.

Boaz is not being dishonest, but he is being shrewd

1) the idea of enlarging one’s property holdings is certainly a tantalizing prospect for the un-named kinsman, especially in an agricultural society

2) the prospects of a second wife, however, with all the additional responsibilities and costs, dampen the kinsman’s excitement

a) plus, a second mother-in-law is also part of the deal

3) he quickly does a profit-loss analysis in his head, and concludes that this transaction is not a “deal”, and decides not to go through with it

“Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance.

Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.””

(Ruth 4:6, ESV)

a) while gaining Naomi’s land would be to his advantage, gaining Ruth and Naomi would complicate both his life and his bank account

II.

THE NEGOTIATION

Ruth 4:7-12

1. Boaz now willingly and enthusiastically embraces the role of kinsman redeemer to Ruth and Naomi

a. the elders and the people of Bethlehem witnessed the transaction and blessed the relationship

2. in vs. 7-8 when the near kinsman abdicates his role as redeemer it is attested to by a strange custom — sandal sharing