Redemption

Have you ever had that joyful feeling of being set free?

Earlier in the week, Alyssa's parents came and picked up our three kids.

Yes! Freedom! Freedom of the bondage of snotty noses.

Freedom from the bondage of being woken up at 6.30, if not earlier, every single day.

Freedom from fights over dinner.

I remember a similar feeling once I'd finished university and started working full-time.

I didn't have this burden on my shoulders of always having another exam or assignment or something coming up.

That feeling of freedom when you first get your driver's license.

And you can go anywhere.

And invariably, at my time, we just all went to Macca's.

That feeling when maybe the first feeling when lockdown happened a couple of months ago

and there wasn't the daily grind to get out of the door with kids or to go places and we could just stay at home.

Or maybe that freedom when the restrictions opened up and we could go out again.

How wonderful is that feeling of being set free?

Unfortunately, all of those freedoms I mentioned were fairly temporary.

We picked up our kids yesterday.

I did really miss them, but we've got them back.

You know, the full-time job that you get gets busier than just the nine to five.

Moving out of home brings all kinds of burdens.

And you just wish you had, you know, mum and dad to cook and clean for you again.

Well, we can get a taste of freedom and long for it.

God's good news for us is that he offers us the most wonderful freedom.

It is called redemption.

We are set free from the bondage of sin and death.

Our debt is paid.

Our sin and shame are covered in the blood of Jesus.

And this freedom is not short-lived.

It is eternal.

And whilst we only see it dimly now,

we will enjoy this freedom to be the people that we have been made to be.

And I think this is the most wonderful thing that we can be rejoicing in.

But I wonder if we can take this redemption, this freedom for granted.

I wonder if we can forget how amazing this freedom is.

And I wonder if we can chase bondage too quickly.

Today we are finishing our short series in the book of Ruth.

And as we have seen Naomi and Ruth, they have gone from ruin to refuge.

And now they are heading towards redemption.

They moved from Bethlehem in Israel into Moab.

Naomi's sons found wives.

But Naomi's husband and sons died.

And so Ruth, Naomi's daughter-in-law, came back to Bethlehem with Naomi and Ruth,

you know, their tails between their legs as they came back.

They aren't slaves yet.

But these two women were within touching distance of being forced to sell themselves to just stay alive.

As we look at the conclusion of this short story about God's people,

we will see three things this morning.

We will see a Redeemer sought, a Redeemer found, and a Redeemer born.

And we will be reminded of the joy that we have today in our redemption that God has given us.

So first of all, we're going to see the Redeemer that is sought.

Ruth has been picking grains in Boaz's field.

He has been very kind and very generous with her.

And Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, has just found out that it's Boaz.

Boaz is a family member.

And in Jewish law, a family member could redeem a person stuck in debt or stuck in slavery.

So Naomi devises a plan.

A plan to get herself and Ruth out of their situation.

Please have your Bibles open.

Ruth chapter 3 verse 1.

Ruth 3:1

You can be in the app following these points and reading along in the Bible.

But we're going to start in Ruth chapter 3 verse 1.

Ruth 3:1

And Naomi said,

My daughter, I must find a home for you where you will be well provided for.

Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours.

Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.

Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes.

Then go down to the threshing floor.

But don't let him know you were there until he has finished eating and drinking.

When he lies down, note the place where he is lying.

Then go, uncover his feet and lie down.

He will tell you what to do.

And so Ruth goes down to the threshing floor where they have just brought in the harvest.

And Boaz, he's in good spirits.

The grain has been harvested.

It's been brought in.

And maybe out of a desire to protect the grain and protect his earnings,

he goes and lies down at the end of his pile of grain.

Verse 8.

In the middle of the night, something startled the man.

He turned, and there was a woman lying at his feet.

Who are you?

Which I think is a fairly small exclamation to just find a woman lying at your feet when you're asleep.

Who are you, he asked.

I am your servant Ruth, she said.

Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian redeemer of our family.

Poor old Boaz.

There's women plotting to get him married.

But Ruth's actions can seem very strange to us.

And it's important to note here that there's not even a hint of sexual inappropriateness.

Ruth lies down at his feet, not by his side.

But in this situation, Ruth is claiming a new relationship, a new level of intimacy.

In chapter 2, when she first met Boaz, Ruth said to Boaz,

Why are you being so kind to a foreigner?

I'm not even your servant.

Why are you being kind to me?

But now, Ruth's language has changed.

She describes herself as your servant Ruth.

Spread your garment over me.

Protect me, because I am your family.

Boaz is someone who can redeem her.

Someone who can save her family.

And she's putting that to him.

Please, save my family.

I really love this.

It's like a love story.

It's really great.

And Boaz responds, verse 10,

The Lord bless you, my daughter.

This kindness is greater than which you showed earlier.

You have not run after younger men, whether rich or poor.

Boaz says that she is being kind,

because it seems that there were younger men that Ruth could have approached.

And he's inching towards a problem.

There is a closer relative.

There is a redeemer closer in law and in the family

that should have been the first to redeem.

Verse 12,

Although it is true that I am a guardian redeemer of our family,

there is another who is more closely related than I.

Stay here for the night.

And in the morning, if he wants to do his duty as your guardian redeemer,

good, let him redeem you.

But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it.

Now, I really love this interaction between Ruth and Boaz,

because it comes across as a love story,

but it doesn't play like a normal Hollywood love story.

Usually in your Hollywood movie,

you know, two people, star-crossed,

Romeo and Juliet types,

they would fall in love,

they would profess their love to each other,

and then they would fight at all costs to be together.

You know, they would go off on a lope,

they will do anything,

they'll fight any battle, whatever,

just so that they can be together.

But that's not Boaz and Ruth.

Boaz and Ruth are both far too godly people for that.

Boaz says, well, look, there's somebody else who's got the first responsibility.

And if he does that, that's fine.

I'm not going to fight.

I might love the idea of being married to you and caring for you,

but he's got first rights and that's okay.

But if he is not willing,

as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it.

That is a very large oath to make.

I really love this story because

Boaz wants to do things in the right way.

He wants to obey God.

He wants to honor God and he wants to obey the Lord.

And so Ruth has sought a redeemer.

But Boaz needs to go and speak to the other one,

to the other redeemer who is closer,

so that we can see the redeemer that is found.

Boaz goes to meet the man who is closer

and we see the wonderful godly character

as the redeemer is found here.

He doesn't just, you know, take Ruth off

and they don't just elope somewhere.

He doesn't sneakily redeem her on the side

and then deal with the consequences.

He's not creeping around in the dark.

He went to the town gate and met with the other redeemer.

Verse 2.

Boaz took 10 of the elders of the town and said,

sit here.

And they did so.

Then he said to the guardian redeemer,

Naomi, who has come back from Moab,

is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative,

Elimelech.

I thought I should bring the matter to your attention

and suggest that you buy it

in the presence of these seated here

and in the presence of the elders of my people.

Boaz, again, obeying the law,

wanting to honor God,

he is giving this closer relative the right to redeem it.

And the man agrees.

All right.

I will redeem it.

But Boaz has very cleverly hidden one piece of information.

Verse 5.

Then Boaz said,

The man says,

I can't redeem it because it will endanger my own estate.

Now, this could be because he's already married.

Maybe he already has a wife and children

and he needs to take care of them.

He doesn't want to add on another wife

and potential rivalries of inheritance.

And so the man says,

You buy it yourself.

You redeem it.

And he takes off his sandal.

I thought about taking my shoe off,

but, you know, that's a bit annoying.

So he takes off his sandal

and hands it to Boaz as a sign.

And Boaz says,

Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi

all the property of Elimelech, Kilian, and Marlon.

I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Marlon's widow,

as my wife in order to maintain the name of the dead

with his property

so that his name will not disappear

from among his family or from his hometown.

Today you are witnesses.

Then the elders and all the people of the gate said,

We are witnesses.

May the Lord make the woman

who is coming into your home

like Rachel and Leah,

who together built up the family of Israel.

It's a really strange but exciting development.

It's not the usual response to an engagement.

You know, there's,

I don't know if there was cheering.

It's not the kind of, you know,

I've gone to my parents

and I've told them I'm engaged

and there's, you know,

cheering and celebration.

But there is a blessing that is made here.

And again, Boaz is shown to be a man of standing,

a godly man who obeys God.

He cares for the poor.

He loves and he shows mercy.

I just want to take a very brief aside

to talk about how great Boaz is.

When people see men or boys doing the wrong thing,

being buffoons or idiots,

people often have a saying,

boys will be boys.

And I think that can be really dangerous

that we just allow boys to get away

with doing dumb things

and don't hold them accountable.

But I want to suggest a new phrase.

Boys should be Boaz.

It's not quite as catchy,

but I think there's something good about it.

The genealogies in the New Testament

aren't something that we spend a lot of time on,

but there is some really interesting detail.

Boaz is the son of Salmon.

We see that at the end of Ruth.

He's the son of Salmon and Rahab.

Rahab is one of the four significant women

in Jesus's genealogy.

Boaz's mom, Rahab,

she was a prostitute

who helped the spies get into Jericho.

When Israel was coming through into the promised land

to defeat the stronghold of Jericho,

Rahab helped them

and then she joined the people of God

as they were heading into the promised land

and she became part of the people of God.

I wonder what kind of mother she was.

Was she someone who had seen

the kindness and mercy of God,

who had raised her son

to show that same kind of mercy?

And here we see how merciful and kind Boaz is.

He's portrayed as a good boss.

He goes above and beyond

what is needed to do to protect Ruth.

Ruth came to get food at harvest time

where the harvest would have been very high.

The wheat, the barley would have been very high.

This means that it actually would have been

very possible for Ruth

to be taken off into one of the fields

and raped by one of the workmen.

But Boaz told the men not to lay a hand on her.

He placed Ruth with the other female workers.

He gave her a blessing.

Boaz is a really wonderful, godly man.

And even when Ruth lays at his feet,

he doesn't take advantage of a woman

being there in the middle of the night

asking for help.

He wants to do things in the daytime,

in the morning, to do things legally.

And remember, this is in the midst

of the period of the judges.

The period of the judges

was when there was great moral failure,

so great that God would send armies

against his people

to bring them back into dependence upon him.

But here, Boaz stands out

as a model of godly character

for us to copy.

So let's see if we can get that

as a catchphrase,

that boys should be like Boaz.

So Boaz has been found to be the redeemer.

But this is not the end of the story.

Redemption comes fully

from the birth of a child.

This is our third point today,

that we see a redeemer is born.

And verse 13 sums things up nicely.

Verse 13,

So Boaz took Ruth,

and she became his wife.

When he made love to her,

the Lord enabled her to conceive,

and she gave birth to a son.

Isn't that wonderful?

It's easy to think this book

is just about this couple,

how God has brought them together

and their family.

But it's not just about them.

In one sense,

it's actually more about Naomi

than Ruth,

even though the book is called Ruth.

Verse 14,

The women said to Naomi,

Praise be to the Lord,

who this day has not left you

without a guardian redeemer.

May he become famous throughout Israel.

At the start of this book,

Naomi was cursing God.

Cursing God,

saying that he had brought calamity upon her.

But now she can see

that God is to be praised.

She has blessed God,

and now people around her are blessing God,

because how God has cared for her.

And she was not left without a redeemer.

Verse 15,

He will renew your life

and sustain you in your old age

for your daughter-in-law,

who loves you

and who is better to you

than seven sons,

has given him birth.

And whilst having a son

and grandson will continue the family

and be good for Naomi,

the women have just said something

really interesting.

They have used the word love

for the first time in this book.

For what can at first

seem like a love story,

this is actually the first time

the word love has been used,

and it's used to describe

Ruth's love of her mother-in-law,

Naomi.

The word love wasn't used

of Elimelech and Naomi.

The word wasn't used of

Marlon and Kili and the sons

for their wives.

It's not even used to describe

Boaz and Ruth.

But Ruth loved her mother-in-law,

Naomi.

At the start of this book,

Naomi was filled with too much grief

to see Ruth,

who had stayed by her side.

When Naomi comes back

into Bethlehem,

she says,

my life is empty.

God has brought calamity

against me.

She couldn't even see

the value of Ruth.

She,

who is worth more than seven sons,

a perfect number of sons.

This is a relationship

that goes beyond

the letter of the law.

Ruth could have left

her mother-in-law,

but she chose

to show kindness

and faithfulness,

like the God of Israel.

It is as if

Naomi is the main character

of the story,

and everyone else

is used by God

to show blessing

and kindness.

Boaz and Ruth,

and even their baby

that is born,

Obed,

show kindness

and God's blessing

to Naomi.

This conclusion

of the story

points to the love

of God,

not from a story

about a man

and a woman

loving each other,

but the love

of a foreigner

to her aged

Israelite mother,

her mother-in-law

who never fully

appreciates her.

It shows the supernatural,

other-person-centered

love of God

that has worked out

the redemption

of Ruth and Naomi.

Now, we can be left

wondering what the point

of this little story

is in the Old Testament,

but the conclusion

makes it very clear.

Verse 17,

And they named him Obed.

He was the father

of Jesse,

the father of David.

This book is the prequel

to the great King David.

Boaz and Ruth

are the great-grandfather

and great-grandmother

of the most significant

king of Israel.

Ruth and Naomi

have been set free

by the birth

of their son,

but all of Israel

would be redeemed

and saved

by the birth

of David,

who would be king.

This little genealogy

points to the much

larger genealogy

of Jesus,

where we see

that the birth

of that king,

that king Jesus,

would bring redemption

for all people,

the son who would lead

to the salvation

of all of us.

The book of Ruth

is a really sweet

little part of history

contained in four

short chapters.

We've seen Naomi

and Ruth go from ruin

to refuge

and to finally

be redeemed.

They've been set free

as they are brought

into Boaz's family.

He has shown them

so much kindness.

And this is a wonderful picture

of the redemption

that God offers for us.

But we don't need

another person

to be set free.

And I think this is

one of the unhelpful things

I hear in our culture today,

that we need to find

someone to be set free.

You know, girls,

you need to find a man

like Boaz

and then you can be happy.

He is a wonderful model

of a godly man.

He is great.

He is a man

that all men

should see

and be encouraged by.

But marriage

is not our path

to redemption.

I'm trying to teach

my five-year-old daughter

this.

She's grown up

on a steady diet

of Disney princesses.

And they teach you

much about

how you need

to find a man

to save you.

But there's only one man

who can do that

and that is Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6

reminds us

that we were bought

for a price.

That we were redeemed

by God

at the cost

of Jesus' blood.

A costly,

incredible gift

that we can never repay.

Far more significant

than being redeemed

from a life

of struggle

and poverty

for a widow

like Ruth.

God has redeemed

his enemies

and shown

his loving kindness

to us in Jesus.

And in the every day

that he allows us

to continue to live

and to follow him.

Let me encourage

us all

not to sell

ourselves

into slavery

again.

For us

in Sydney

we probably

don't see

the impact

of slavery

that much.

The work

of IJM,

International Justice

Ministries,

do some amazing

work

seeing people

in slavery

be set free.

But for many

of us

we are not

that kind

of slave.

We can be

a different

kind of slave.

We can have

a different

kind of slavery

that we need

to be redeemed

from.

We can sell

ourselves

into slavery

of things

that will

make us

happy.

We allow

other things

to capture

our hearts

and to enslave

us again.

We can be

slaves to our

work thinking

that pursuing

work will

bring us

happiness

and set us

free.

We can be

slaves to social

media.

Getting attention

and responses

to posts

that we make

it's really

addictive.

It rewires

our brains

and we

can think

that we need

to have a

certain amount

of clicks

to show

that we have

self-worth.

But again

that is just

another kind

of slavery.

Our self-worth

was shown

in the cross

that Jesus

would redeem

us.

That he would

set us free.

So don't

enslave

yourself again.

There are

so many

idols that

can capture

our hearts

that we

can become

enslaved to.

I'm not

going to be

exhaustive

and list

them here

but there

are so many

things that

can fill

up our

hearts

and replace

our God.

Our band

is going to

come up

and sing

for us

in a moment

but there's

another issue

that we can

have

which is

ignoring

when people

share a

difficult word

for us.

If you've

ever had a

friend say

to you

oh look

friend

James

I wonder

if this

is an

issue.

I wonder

if you're

pursuing

your career

too much.

I wonder

if you're

on social

media

too much.

If our

response to

that is

to get

defensive

it probably

is an

issue of

idolatry.

God has

redeemed us.

He has

bought us

for a price.

We are

his.

We need

to remember

that all

all that

God has

done for

us

but also

be people

like Boaz

who offer

redemption

and forgiveness.

One of the

issues I have

with our

current culture

is the

culture of

cancelling

people.

It's called

cancel culture

where people's

past sins

things that they

have said

may be an

inappropriate

joke

they get

brought up

and people

just get

cancelled

and there

is no

way forward.

It is a

way of saying

that there

can be no

forgiveness

no redemption

because you

have made

a mistake

but that

is all

of us.

God

offers all

of us

redemption

and forgiveness.

Let's not

be people

that just

push others

away but

continue to

offer redemption

and forgiveness

even when that

is incredibly

hard.

Ruth

and Naomi

have

finally been

redeemed.

They have

been set

free

but the

redemption

that we

have been

offered

is far

better.

And we're

going to

sing about

that now.