Ruth 4

Kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvest, about two months.

! And she lived with her mother-in-law.

So beginning in the final verse of chapter 1 to the final verse of chapter 2, we see that God has provided.

He has been providential in his care for Naomi and Ruth.

Now they have some temporal provision, but how long will this last?

I have no idea how much grain she may have gleaned and how long that may have lasted, but it's finite.

It's not going to last forever.

How are Naomi and Ruth, these two widows, to be cared for long term?

Now, we don't tend to read the narrative this way, but original readers of it, and for many centuries beyond,

would have been concerned what happens next for these two women who are without a livelihood because they have no husbands.

Chapter 3 begins with a plan hatched by Naomi to see Ruth married.

She gives Ruth very careful instructions, and Ruth agrees to do exactly what she says.

And so we see a short little summary of that in Ruth chapter 3 and verse 7.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

When Boaz had eaten and drunk, he's at the threshing floor dealing with, processing the harvest.

And his heart was merry.

He went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.

Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.

Now, a brief note at this point.

Last week, I stated that this was not a salacious act, is the word that I used,

by which I meant that we should not think that anything suspect was happening here.

A problem that I find being an avid reader is that sometimes I write with words

that I realize in the moment of saying them out loud may not be the clearest word.

This happens to me very often.

I read a word and I go, oh, I could have used a better, simpler word in that place.

So I seek to quickly insert a synonym to give the meaning.

If you ever see me fumbling and like my brain is shutting down,

it's because I'm Rolodexing through words that I want to insert into that spot instead.

I'm going, no, not that one.

That's less clear.

And finally, something comes out of my mouth, which is sometimes helpful and sometimes not.

Last week, as I was searching for a word synonymous with salacious,

I grabbed the word, hear me carefully, hinky with an H.

Hinky from somewhere in the recesses of my mind.

And it's a word that means suspect.

And I think I picked it up from Scooby-Doo back in the days.

Fred used that word a lot in that cartoon.

Some of you thought I said kinky with a K, which means sexually deviant.

So it sort of applies, but wasn't at all what I intended to communicate.

I would never use that word in a sermon or perhaps ever,

unless, of course, I am using it to tell you that I wouldn't use it.

Now, that said, if you know me well, you likely assumed I wouldn't use such an odd word in a sermon,

if you know me well.

If so, you may even know me better than my own wife,

who did not hear me say hinky and thought it was a strange word choice.

So anyway, my apologies for the lack of clarity.

I do want to use my words very, very carefully.

So, hinky.

It was not hinky.

All right, back to our summary.

So we see in chapter 3, verse 8, that Boaz wakes up.

He's startled.

I think the fair assumption is that his feet are cold.

So he pulls him underneath his blanket,

and it startles him awake.

And he turns over, and a woman is laying at his feet.

And he says in verse 9,

Who are you?

And she answered,

I am Ruth, your servant.

Spread your wings over your servant,

for you are a redeemer.

She calls back to chapter 2,

to that blessing that he had uttered over her.

She had come for the protection of the Lord under his wings,

and she says to him,

Spread your wings over me.

Again, she's seeing that God's providence uses human agency,

and she's bringing his own words to mind.

Boaz promises that she will be redeemed,

but that he first must address a man that has a closer right to redemption,

a closer relative to Naomi.

The chapter concludes with Naomi's assurance

that Boaz will settle the matter that very day,

which is exactly what he will do in chapter 4.

So chapter 3 sets up the stage for the next scene in chapter 4.

Rather than read the entirety of the chapter at once,

and then make comments,

I want to just walk through the text.

It has a really nice and clear, distinct outline to it,

and kind of make notes.

And I'm going to do that in the following outline.

In chapter 4, we see four redeemers.

So this is the outline we'll follow.

Number 1, the nearest redeemer.

Number 2, Boaz the redeemer.

Number 3, Obed the redeemer.

And number 4, I know you can't see my notes,

but all capital letters, the redeemer.

The redeemer.

So let's begin chapter 4 in verse 1.

Before I start to read, let me remind you, beloved,

this is God's word to us,

written for his glory and our good.

So we all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

So the first point, nearest redeemer,

verses 1 through 6.

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.

And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said,

Sit down here.

So they sat down.

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.

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.

Then Boaz said,

The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi,

you also acquire Ruth the Moabite,

the widow of the dead,

in order to perpetuate the name of the dead

in his inheritance.

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.

So the very first redeemer that we're looking at,

the nearest redeemer,

is a rather poor redeemer altogether.

In fact, he doesn't do the work of a redeemer.

He seems to be juxtaposed against Boaz.

Boaz is presented to us as an honorable man,

and his character continues to be put on display

in chapter 4.

First, we see him keeping his promise to Ruth.

He told Ruth he was going to do something,

and he did it immediately.

He goes to the gate,

and if that seems like a strange place for him to go

and to have such a meeting,

it was a common place that these types of affairs were transacted,

because people came in and out.

It was a place you would run into people,

and this kind of thing could take place.

So he does it.

He does the very thing he said he would do.

Naomi's confidence at the end of chapter 3 in him

is not unfounded.

Secondly, we see him following the law and customs

of the Israelites.

This nearest redeemer, right?

This unnamed man.

He's not even given a name in the text.

He's just simply called friend, right?

He doesn't take up the right,

the privilege, I would suggest,

the thing that he was meant to do,

but rather passes it on to Boaz.

At first, he is glad to have the benefit of Elimelech's land.

But when Boaz informs him of the further obligation to Ruth,

he is unwilling to be financially sacrificial

for the sake of these two widows.

Now, I am no expert on all of these laws,

and a lot of commentators have different ideas.

Most of them say,

we're not exactly sure what's happening here.

So it's helpful not to get bogged down in the details

of exactly what's going on.

But what's probable is that this would have been

a temporary redeeming,

so it would have gone back into the ownership of the family,

and that if he were to have a son with Ruth,

then that son would have been entitled to the land.

So he would have spent something of his estate

to gain some temporary benefit of this land,

but then that land would have left him.

And so he doesn't want to put that in jeopardy.

He is entirely financially driven, right?

Not willing to be sacrificial for the sake of these two women,

as Boaz has expressed that he is, right?

So a few things about these redemption laws,

as well as, we can read about those in Leviticus 25,

as well as some laws about leverite marriage,

which is a Latin word which means brother marriage.

It had to do with when somebody was widowed,

the brother was obligated to marry the widow

to keep the line of his brother going on.

I want to just read a quick little short summary.

I read this to you last week,

but again, it's helpful to us.

Some things that we can understand about this.

Firstly, when an Ezrealite family became very poor

and had to sell their land to survive,

the nearest male relative, called the kinsman redeemer,

had the responsibility of rescuing them from poverty

by buying their land back and restoring it to the family.

And this was called the redemption of property.

If they become so poor

that they've had to sell themselves into slavery,

a rich relative had to rescue them by buying their freedom.

This is the main thing we think about

when we think about redemption,

the redemption of Christ,

because it's called that also in Leviticus chapter 25.

Leviticus 25 · chapter mention

Also, which I just mentioned,

if a man died leaving his widow without children,

which is where we found Ruth and Naomi,

their nearest male relative had to step in and marry his widow

and enable her to have children

so they could inherit their father's property

and keep it in the family.

Also, this was called redemption.

But nowhere in the Old Testament

are the redemption property laws

connected to the Leverite laws.

So it had either become customary

or, and this is the explanation I most like,

because it just feeds the story well,

Boaz was extending the spirit of both laws

to ensure the care of Ruth and Naomi.

I just imagine there's a bit of tone,

and hear me clearly, this is imagination,

but a bit of tone in his response

when this Redeemer is willing to take the land,

and he says,

yeah, but you're also going to be obligated

to take Ruth as your wife.

And the Redeemer says,

oh, well then, well then, I won't.

But perhaps it was baked into their custom of the day.

Boaz very, very masterfully, right,

leads this negotiation to the result

that he's looking for.

He doesn't desire for this Redeemer

to redeem the land and to marry Ruth.

He desires to do this.

He is finding himself loving this woman, Ruth.

So it brings us to our second Redeemer, Boaz.

We see this in verses 7 down through the first part of 13.

So remember, the initial Redeemer,

the nearest Redeemer,

has refused to redeem,

and has said,

take my right of redemption yourself,

for I cannot redeem it.

Now, this was the custom in former times in Israel

concerning redeeming and exchanging.

To confirm a transaction,

the one drew off his sandal

and gave it to the other,

and this was the manner of attesting in Israel.

So when the Redeemer said to Boaz,

buy it for yourself,

he drew off his sandal.

Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people,

you are witnesses this day

that I have brought from the hand of Naomi

all that belonged to Elimelech

and all that belonged to Chilion and Malon.

Also Ruth, the Moabite,

the widow of Malon,

I have bought to be my wife,

to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance,

that the name of the dead may not be cut off

from among his brothers

and from the gate of his native place.

You are witnesses this day.

So in their day,

this was the legal transaction, right?

The paper is drawn up and it is signed,

is what we're seeing happen here.

Verse 11 says,

Then all the people who were at the gate

and the elders said,

We are witnesses.

May the Lord make the woman

who is coming into your house

like Rachel and Leah,

who together built up the house

of Israel.

May you act worthily in Ephrathah

and be renowned in Bethlehem.

And may your house be like the house of Perez,

whom Tamar bore to Judah

because of the offspring of the Lord

will give you by this young woman.

So they utter blessing, right?

That there would be a family

that would come from this marriage.

And the first part of verse 13 says,

So Boaz took Ruth

and she became his wife.

Now, Boaz, I believe,

should be understood typologically

to teach us something of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So whenever you hear us use this kind of language,

typology is the looking at things

in the Old Testament

that prefigure,

that give us shadows,

some reflection,

some hints of the antitype,

which is the fulfillment.

So there's type and antitype.

The type is the,

the antitype is the fulfillment

of the type.

It wants to show us something of Christ.

Now, many preachers make this

the entire point of the book of Ruth,

and I don't think that it is.

The entire point.

As I have said,

I believe that God means for us

to carefully consider his providence

as the major theme of this book.

But we should not miss

what the inspired author is doing

with Boaz.

Remember, this author,

we're not sure who he is,

but this narrator is sitting down

and under the inspiration of the Spirit

is carefully recording

some interesting facts

about the life of Boaz.

Typology can be a bit tricky,

and it should be done carefully.

While all roads in the Bible

lead to Christ,

we want to be careful

not to find him

where he is not found.

Some critics of typology

will say that we should only

understand something typologically

when the New Testament writers do so,

and there's many cases of this.

These instances,

without a doubt,

are the clearest,

but I do think

we can reasonably draw

additional typological connections.

I think we see one here.

Boaz serves as a shadow

of the ultimate Redeemer

for a handful of reasons.

Just think together.

First, he is from the tribe of Judah,

just as Jesus is.

He is from Bethlehem,

just as Jesus is.

He is honorable.

Now, we know, to be sure,

that Boaz was not a perfect man.

He didn't keep the law perfectly.

Only Jesus Christ

has ever kept the law perfectly.

But he's presented in this text

as an honorable man.

We don't see any of his failures

in the text,

and I think that's by design.

Not that we would think of him

as perfect,

but that our gaze

would go to the perfect one.

Not only is he

keeper of the law,

he's also gracious

in his provision.

He not only keeps it,

but he goes beyond it.

He's abundant in the way

that he cares for Ruth

and Naomi.

He rescues Naomi and Ruth

from certain destitution.

They would have found themselves

as slaves of some sort

just to survive.

And at his own expense,

he keeps them from that.

And then lastly,

he makes for himself.

He says,

also,

Ruth the Moabite.

He calls her that,

and he's clear about it.

The narrator shows us this,

and I think we're meant

to see that connection.

Now, we have the clearer picture

of Christ.

So, how does a faint picture

serve us?

What are we to do

with this information?

Well,

as we admire

a man like Boaz,

and I think we have reason

to admire a man like Boaz,

we should,

in higher measure,

set our affections

on Jesus Christ.

As we think about,

oh, this man, Boaz,

who is so very generous,

and does this rescuing,

this redeeming work

on behalf of Naomi

and of Ruth.

We have a greater redeemer,

which we'll think about together

in just a few moments.

I think this is what it's meant

to do for us

as we are warmed

by this kind of activity.

It's supposed to then

turn red hot

in affection

for Jesus Christ.

So, that's Boaz,

the redeemer.

Thirdly,

we see Obed,

the redeemer.

The last part of verse 13

and into verse 17.

After Boaz has taken Ruth

as his wife,

verse 13 says,

and he went into her,

and the Lord gave her conception,

and she bore a son.

Then the women said to Naomi,

Blessed be the Lord

who has not left you this day

without a redeemer,

and may his name

be renowned in Israel.

He shall be to you

a restorer of life

and a nourisher

of your old age,

for your daughter-in-law

who loves you,

who is more to you

than seven sons,

has given birth to him.

Then Naomi took the child

and laid him on her lap

and became his nurse.

And the women of the neighborhood

gave him a name,

saying,

A son has been born

to Naomi.

They named him

Obed.

This narrative

does not make much

of the fact

that Ruth and Malon

had been married

for ten years,

about ten years,

the text says,

before his death,

and they had

no children.

Perhaps he was unable

to impregnate her,

his name means sickly,

after all,

or perhaps she was unable

to conceive

his original audience.

That would have been

an oddity to them

as they read it.

Many couples in our day

decide not to have children.

That's just a decision

that they make.

They're not going

to have kids,

but this was not so

in Ruth's day.

Ruth and Malon

would have been trying

to have children,

progeny,

from the very first days

of their betrothal,

and yet they had none.

And it would have been assumed

that Ruth was unable

to conceive,

that she was barren.

So, Obed's conception

is meant to be seen

as especially blessed.

In a long line

of barren women

conceiving children

that play a very important part

in God's redemptive plan,

God here clearly intervened

in this child's birth.

In fact,

the narrator says there

in verse 13,

and the Lord

gave her conception.

We also see

that Boaz and Ruth

do not name Obed,

but rather the women

of Bethlehem

name him.

It highlights

the significance

of this little boy

and God's work

in the life

of this little family

for the sake

of his people.

So how is it

that he's a redeemer?

We're not reading

that into the text.

It says it right there.

The women say

that Naomi

has not been left

without a redeemer.

Obed is a redeemer

to her.

He's rescuing her

from that emptiness

that she declares

to have

when she shows up

in chapter 1.

Her family

had all.

Her family

carries on.

And she's now

a grandmother.

And we see

this beautiful

little picture

of affection,

the child being

laid in her lap

and her caring

for him.

This little boy

is significant

and we're going

to see why

the narrator

takes us right

to why

his name

means worshiper

or servant

of God.

The women

of Bethlehem

name him.

So that's

the third

redeemer

in the text.

Obed,

the redeemer.

And now

we arrive

at the

most important

redeemer.

So number four,

the,

all caps,

redeemer.

Beginning in

verse 17

and to the end

of the chapter

we see this

kind of double

announcement.

He was

the father

of Jesse,

the father

of David.

Obed

is the

grandfather

of King

David.

And then

again,

it launches

back into

it.

Verse 18

and expanded

a ten

person

genealogy.

Now these

are the

generations

of

Perez.

Perez

fathered

Hezron.

Hezron

fathered

Ram.

Ram

fathered

Amenadab.

Amenadab

fathered

Nashon.

Nashon

fathered

Salmon.

Salmon

fathered

Boaz.

Boaz

fathered

Obed.

Obed

fathered

Jesse.

And Jesse

fathered

David.

And the

book ends

at that

point.

This is not

the only

genealogy in

the Old

Testament,

but it's

the only

book in

the Old

Testament

that ends

with the

genealogy.

And it's

leaving us

hanging there

at that

point.

We know

why.

That's a

wonderful

thing.

I'm so

glad that

we know

why.

Early

readers of

this,

pre-Christ

readers of

this would

have seen

the

significance

end with

King

David.

Oh,

Obed is

the

grandfather

of

King

David.

Naomi,

poor

Naomi,

taken off

with her

husband and

two sons,

widowed,

returns with

her daughter-in-law.

The story

unfolds,

this love

story that

we see,

and oh,

look at

this.

She gets

to be the

great-grandmother

of King

David.

But there's

something so

much more

significant going

on here that

we have the

privilege of

understanding.

You see,

in 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7,

in verse 16,

just to keep

it brief,

there's much

to be read

there,

and I

encourage you

to do

so.

Nathan,

the prophet,

says to

King David,

on behalf

of God,

your house

and your

kingdom

shall be

made sure

forever

before me.

Your throne

shall be

established

forever.

And we

understand that

the Davidic

covenant is

fulfilled by

Jesus Christ.

One that

came from

King David

would be the

ruler that

would rule

forever and

ever and

ever.

That one is

King Jesus

who sits on

a throne now

ruling over

all things.

It's what we

call his

session.

Seated at the

right hand of

the Father

and nothing

escapes his

attention or

control.

All things.

I think we're

singing a couple

of songs this

morning about

that.

He reigns

even now.

So we see

the Redeemer

at the end

of chapter

four.

And the

redemption that

he brings to

us is not

just a temporal

redemption,

although God

is caring for

us as well.

In his

providence,

he cares for

every detail

of our

days.

But it's a

much grander,

much more

important redemption

that's being

accomplished by

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

Paul says in

Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

and verse

7,

in Jesus

we have

redemption

through his

blood,

the forgiveness

of our

trespasses

according to

the riches

of his

grace.

We are

delivered from

slavery,

from destitution,

from lostness

in sin,

from being

utterly cut

off from the

blessings of

God.

This picture of

these two

widows not

knowing where

their next meal

may come from,

the possibility

that they become

slaves is only a

little tiny picture

of the reality

of who we are

apart from

the redemption

of Jesus Christ.

Christ.

We needed

him to

offer up

himself

to pay

that eternal

debt

that we

owed

because of

our sin.

Paul says

here in

Ephesians

1

7

that we

have

the

forgiveness

of our

trespasses,

that debt

taken

away.

By faith

in Christ,

the church

is wed

to Christ.

We are

delivered

from our

spiritual

destitution

and final

destruction.

We are

cared for

spiritually

and

temporally.

The book

of Ruth

reminds us

to look

to the

loving kindness

of our

God

in the

person

and work

of Jesus

Christ,

regardless

of the

circumstances

that we

walk in.

He loves

you,

and he

is working

providentially

for you.

Now,

at the

beginning of

our study

of Ruth,

I did

something so

shocking,

so many

of you

said,

by having

a visual

image.

I pulled

out of the

front of my

Bible a

little origami

sparrow.

I promise

I'm not

going to

become this

guy.

There will

be no

multimedia

presentations.

This is as

fancy as it

gets for

me.

But I

have this

little

origami

sparrow

in the

front of

my

Bible,

which

reminds

me,

I told

you,

and I'll

tell you

again,

to look

at the

birds of

the air

in the

Sermon on

the Mount.

You can

see in

this creased

paper the

form of a

sparrow,

assuming that

you can see

it from

where you

are.

It's

formish,

the best

form I

could make

of a

sparrow.

But how

it takes

this form

is not

quite

clear.

Some

of the

folds

just

don't

make

sense

as

you're

making

them.

It

comes off

odd,

some of

these

folds,

but then

they become

more and

more

clear,

and it

becomes the

shape of

a

sparrow.

If you

were to

take it

and carefully

unfold it

and fold

it back

again,

you would

begin to

understand

how it

is that

it comes

to take

this

shape.

how we

understand

providence

is a

bit

like

this.

We

don't

often

understand

how

God

is

working

in

the

circumstances

of our

life,

but often,

not always,

but often,

we are allowed

glimpses of

how all

that he

does

is for

our good

and his

glory.

When we

don't get

to see

those glimpses

for ourselves,

we get

the benefit

of seeing

them in

the lives

of others

like

Naomi

and Ruth

and Boaz

and the

lineage

that

follows.

So just

for the

comfort of

your own

soul,

we think

about

providence

being unfolded.

I want to

take you

to two

texts,

just a

brief

closing.

So if

you will

please join

me in

Matthew

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10.

I want

to show

you

something

rather

astounding

in parallel

recordings

of what I

want to

assume is

the same

teaching,

but it

could be

that Jesus

taught this

way multiple

times and

in multiple

ways and

therefore it's

recorded that

way,

but any

way you want

to slice

it,

these are

inspired

texts and

so we can

know that

it's recorded

this way

on purpose.

Let me show

you this.

He says in

Matthew

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

beginning in

verse 29,

this is Jesus

speaking,

are not

two sparrows

sold for

a penny?

This would

have been

for sacrifice

in the

temple.

Are not

two sparrows

sold for

a penny?

The least

of all of

the sacrifices

that could

be bought.

There was

an allowance

for this

for the

poorest of

people.

They could

buy two

sparrows

for a

penny.

And not

one of

them,

Jesus says,

will fall

to the

ground

apart from

your father,

his providence,

his control.

But even

the hairs

of your

head are

all numbered.

Fear not,

therefore,

you are of

more value

than many

sparrows.

So this

cheap bird

that's being

sold is

cared for

by the

father.

We are

much more

than that

is what

Jesus is

teaching us

here.

Now,

Matthew 10,

keep your

hand marked

there and

turn to

Luke chapter

Luke 12 · chapter mention

12.

The record

here is

almost identical

so I won't

read it in

its entirety,

but there's

one very

notable

difference.

Remember

Matthew 10,

29 says,

are not

two sparrows

sold for

a penny?

Luke 12,

6 says,

are not

five sparrows

sold for

two pennies?

So we have

in the one

case,

two sparrows

for a penny,

in the other

case,

five sparrows

for two

pennies.

And so,

if you do

the grocery

shopping in

your home,

you already

know,

there's a

free sparrow.

There's one

thrown in.

Two for

one,

or five

for two.

There's an

odd sparrow.

Even

that sparrow,

right,

the God

providentially

cares for.

Do you ever

feel like the

odd sparrow?

I do.

I do.

The story

of the

book of

Ruth is

a glimpse

of God's

providence

for even

the odd

sparrow

unfolded.

May we

remember it,

recognize

its grand

significance,

and take

great courage

from it.

I hope it's

been good for

your soul

as it has

been for

mine.

Let's pray

together.

here.