Ruth Chapter 4 2026 - Jared Skitt

about came by. Boaz said, come over here and

sit down. So he went over and sat down. Then

Boaz took 10 men of the town's elders and said,

sit here, and they sat down. He said to the redeemer,

Naomi, who has returned from the territory of

Moab, is selling the portion of the field that

belonged to her brother, to our brother Elimelech,

and 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. 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. 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. Now at an earlier

period in Israel, 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. So the redeemer removed his sandal

and said to Boaz, Buy back the property yourself.

Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you

are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi

everything that belonged to Limelech, Killian,

and Milan. I have also acquired Ruth, the Moabitess,

Milan'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 own hometown. You are witnesses today.

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. 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. 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. The woman 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. 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.

Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap,

and became a mother to him. The neighbor woman

said, A son has been born to Naomi, and they

named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse. the

father of David. Now these are the family records

of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered

Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered

Nashon. Nashon fathered Saman. Saman fathered

Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse.

And Jesse fathered David. Well, We are coming

to the end of our study in Ruth. So this was

four weeks. Some of you may have noticed there

were four chapters, which was convenient. But

we are going to be closing this book up. And

as we get started with that, if you don't have

a Bible, there are some on the back tables, on

the black tables there. Grab that. It's yours.

Take it home with you. And we are going to dive

in to God's word. But before we do that this

morning, let's pray. Lord, you are so good. We

give you all honor, praise, and glory. Lord,

as we open your word this morning, I pray that

we wouldn't be distracted, Lord, but that we

would just... allow you to work in our hearts

and our minds. Lord, thank you so much for the

richness of your word. And as we get to explore

it together, we just ask that it would teach

us more about who you are and what you have done.

I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, I mentioned

we've been in the book of Ruth, but I have a

question first. Have you ever looked at a season

of your life and wondered, how did my story end

up here? See, often we go through times of struggle,

of grief, of loss, and maybe we're not where

we expected. We're not where we planned to be.

Maybe we even feel like... Everything that made

life stable has fallen apart. And that's exactly

where the book of Ruth begins. See, over the

course of the last three weeks, we have explored

Ruth chapter 1 through chapter 3. And the book

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

begins with a man named Elimelech, whose name

means, my God is king. But... He doesn't live

like God is his king. See, instead of trusting

the Lord during famine, he moved his family to

Moab, and then everything collapsed. Elimelech

dies. Malon dies. Kilion dies, his sons. And

now there's three widows that remain in Moab.

So Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, believing

her story has ended in emptiness. And she leaves

and she tells her daughter -in -law, don't come

with me, there's nothing for you as foreigners

into Israel as widows. One daughter -in -law,

Orpah, goes home. Ruth comes and she says, no,

I am going to choose to follow you, but more

importantly, I am going to follow you. And so

they go back, and it sure just seemed like there

was nothing left for them. It was all just empty.

It was hopeless. Many of us have been there.

Many of us feel like, I'm in that season right

now. But the surprising thing that happens in

the book of Ruth is, we're going to see a shift.

See, because they return to the land of Israel

and they return to Bethlehem. And that's where

this story takes place. Now, typically when we

think of Bethlehem, we don't typically think

of the story of Ruth. We often think of the town

of Bethlehem and we think... of some shepherds

that were watching their flocks by night outside,

and these angels came, and they come, and they

come, and they're told that the Messiah has been

born in Bethlehem, and they rush down, and we

think of, we sing songs about Bethlehem, a little

town of Bethlehem, and that's often what we think,

but long before Christmas, there was actually

another redemption story that was unfolding there.

See, it says that Naomi and Ruth returned to

Bethlehem at the start of the harvest. The narrator

gives us a whisper of hope. They arrive at the

start of a season where there is food where there

wasn't before. In Ruth chapter 2, Ruth goes to

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

glean, and the Bible says it just so happens.

She landed in the field of Boaz. Or what's interesting,

the way it's written in the Hebrew, it's like

a tongue, not quite a tongue twister, but it's

like her hap happened to be. So it was really

clear that this wasn't just coincidence. It was

actually the providence of God. And then she

meets this man, Boaz. Boaz, who has the potential

to be a kinsman redeemer. for Naomi. And Boaz

shows remarkable chesed. We've talked about this

word. There's no perfect translation to English,

but it's this idea of a covenant loving kindness.

And Boaz shows remarkable chesed toward Ruth.

And then the whole book quietly moves towards

one central moment. In Ruth chapter three, Verse

9, Ruth says to Boaz, spread your wings over

me or spread your cloak over me. You are a kinsman

redeemer. And that moment sits at the center

of the book because the whole story up until

then is about there's emptiness. And maybe there's

this redeemer, but can we be redeemed? And then

that moment sits at the center of the book. Will

there be a redeemer? Everything before leads

to the request. Everything after then flows from

it. Because redemption begins when Ruth turns

to the Redeemer and says, I'm willing. I want

to be redeemed. And then Boaz says he's willing.

But there's a closer Redeemer. And Boaz promises

the matter will be settled in the morning. Well,

guys, Ruth chapter 4 is that morning. See? To

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

recap it simply, Ruth chapter 1 shows us a broken

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

story. Ruth chapter 2 gives us a hint at redemption.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

Ruth chapter 3 brings the request for redemption.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

In Ruth chapter 4, we actually ask, will the

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

redemption be complete? So that's what we're

going to look at today. So please open your Bible.

to Ruth chapter 4. We're going to read verses

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

1 through 6. 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. Then Boaz took 10 men of the town's elders

and said, sit here. And they sat down. 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.

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. 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.

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. So let's

look at what's going on here. See, It starts

off, if we remember from last week, where there

was this whole thing going down where Ruth comes

to the threshing floor. She's laying at the feet

of Boaz. She got all nice and dressed up. And

Caleb said, smelled nice and looked nice. And

she says, I am available for you to redeem me.

I want you to redeem me. And Boaz then says,

okay. If there's someone else closer, I'm willing

there's someone else closer. And if he's willing

to do it, good. If not, I will. So no matter

what, have hope in redemption. And then she goes

back and talks to, Ruth goes back and talks to

Naomi. And Naomi's like, oh, it's going to be

settled tomorrow. And so that is where we start.

So Boaz goes to the gate of the town and sat

down there. We don't really have town gates all

that much today. Maybe if you go over into like

some of the old cities in Europe. But in Israel

and in the Middle East in this time, the town

gate was pretty much where all of the business

was done. It was the courtroom. It was the center

of commerce that was outside of the market. It

was kind of where the business deals got done.

And so Boaz goes to the city gate. And then what's

really interesting, so the CSB translation doesn't

quite help it land, but it says, soon the family

redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. ESV,

I think, says behold. The Hebrew says, lo and

behold. He just happened to walk by. And so we

see this really interesting piece again where

we're seeing the author saying like, hey. Knuckleheads,

here's the providence of God. Because back in

Ruth chapter 2, Ruth just happened to land in

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

Boaz's field. And here, Boaz goes to settle this

business, and scripture says, and lo and behold,

the exact guy that he needs to deal with happens

to walk by. He probably would have come through

at some point, but there is evidence of the...

providence of God at work. And so Boaz explains

the situation. He says, hey, you come here, sit

down. And then he goes over and he grabs 10 of

the elders. The elders would have been in the

gate, but it seems like Boaz has a bit of respect

and sway to be able to be like, hey, you sit.

Hey, you 10 elders? Yeah, sit. We're going to

get this done. So they all sit down and Boaz

explains the situation. And this guy hears, hey,

there is a chance that I could get some land

probably at a pretty good discount because I

can redeem this land that Naomi's selling. Boaz,

it's really interesting how he goes about this

because he talks about the land first, and then

he says, yeah, and, because the Redeemer's like,

yeah, I'll buy the land. And then Boaz is like,

right, cool. Also, With this business transaction,

you're going to acquire Ruth the Moabitess. And

yeah, also with that, you have to do all the

duties of Leverite marriage. And your inheritance

from this land isn't going to go to your posterity.

It's actually going to go to our dead brother,

Elimelech. And he's like, maybe not. Never mind.

I actually can't do it because it's going to

endanger my inheritance. He's telling this guy

he has to marry Ruth and then raise the first

of the offspring as the child and legal inheritance

of the deceased. So he backs out and he says,

I can't redeem it or I might ruin my own inheritance.

And what's so interesting, there's irony here

that we can miss because it's really clear in

the original language. But this guy who is so

concerned about his inheritance and his name,

the original language, when it talks about when

Boaz is inviting him over, the Hebrew is basically

saying, hey, Mr. So -and -so, come sit over here.

It's intentional in actually leaving this guy's

name out. So I find a little bit of irony, and

I think the author was intending some of that,

of the guy who is most focused, on his inheritance

and his name, refuses to redeem and his name

is left out of the inheritance and in moving

forward. So he becomes the character whose name

is forgotten. And yet the man who risked in his

inheritance, Boaz, who is still willing to redeem,

his is remembered and lasts forever. When I was

reading through this, it just made me think,

of Matthew chapter 16, verse 25. So Matthew 16,

Matthew 16:25

25 says this. For whoever wants to save his life

will lose it, but whoever loses his life because

of me will find it. Boaz was more focused not

on a land deal and transaction. and getting to

marry this lady, he was more focused on what

was right before the Lord. So he was willing

to lose on inheritance because this is what would

honor God. So we see there's a redeemer that

was put into play here who was not willing to

redeem. He said, No, I can't do that. That has

personal cost to me. I'm not going to do it.

So then we have Boaz, and he's the redeemer here

who chooses to redeem. So we're going to look

at verses 7 through 13. At an earlier period

in Israel, 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. So

the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz,

buy back the property yourself. Boaz said to

the elders and all the people, you are witnesses

today that I am buying from Naomi. everything

that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Malon.

I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Malon'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.

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. May your house

become like the house of Perez, the son of Tamar,

bore to Judah because of the offspring the Lord

will give you by this young woman. So 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. So Boaz steps forward. And

he tells the people there, you are witnesses

today. And Boaz redeems the land, the family

line of Elimelech and Ruth. When I read this,

I thought, why? What? was the motivation of Boaz

in choosing to redeem Ruth, who's an outsider,

Naomi, who was bitter at cost to himself. And

as I chewed on that, I also shot a text to Josh

and to Josiah, and I said, hey guys, what do

you think? And what was really cool is we all

kind of came to the same point, which was Boaz

was motivated by this chesed, this covenant loving

kindness. And this word runs throughout the entire

book. See, in Ruth chapter 1 verse 8, Naomi prays

Ruth 1:8

that God would show chesed to her daughter -in

-law. Ruth chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, Ruth shows

Ruth 1:16

chesed by staying with Naomi and choosing the

God of Israel. Ruth chapter 2, verses 11 through

Ruth 2:11–12

12, Boaz shows chesed in his protection and provision

for Ruth. Ruth chapter 2, verse 20, Naomi sees

Ruth 2:20

God's chesed again in the provision of a redeemer.

In Ruth chapter 3, verse 10, Boaz calls Ruth's

Ruth 3:10

request for him to redeem her chesed. And then

in Ruth chapter 4, Boaz shows chesed by redeeming.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

Throughout every single one of these moments,

this loving kindness, throughout all of this

redemption, we see God's providence at work.

Because God is moving the story toward redemption.

That piece about the sandal, we're not going

to unpack that today. It's kind of interesting.

We don't really normally use sandals anymore.

Like when Jay closes a real estate transaction,

he's not like, cool, here we go. It's all done.

But there was significance to that. We just don't

get to unpack that today. So if you have questions

about it, dig further. We can talk about it.

But we see that God is moving the story toward

redemption. we started with a redeemer who was

not willing to redeem. Then we moved to a redeemer

who did choose to redeem. But what's kind of

interesting in this text here is after the Lord

grants Ruth and Boaz a son, Boaz's name kind

of fades out of the story. Like he's mentioned

again in a genealogy, but this guy who, you know,

if we're writing this as a book, we're going

to think, oh, wow, look, we're going to focus

on the end of their story. We see him fade out.

So let's look at verses 14 through 17. So this

is after Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife.

So verse 14 says, 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. 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. Naomi took

the child and placed him on her lap and became

a mother to him. 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.

So Boaz marries Ruth, and the Lord gives them

a son. But the focus then shifts to Naomi and

to this child. And this was the first time I

read this. where this actually kind of like clicked

and sunk home for me. Because every time I've

read this before, when I'm reading through the

book of Ruth, I've read this and it's like, oh,

you know, he hasn't left you without a family

redeemer. May his name be well known in Israel.

I was like, yeah, go Boaz. No. Boaz actually

isn't the redeemer at the culmination of this

story. The child is. This little baby is the

Redeemer. The women of the town say, Blessed

be the Lord who has not left you without a Redeemer

today. So while there is this thread all throughout

the book of this story of the desire for redemption,

and then redemption happening. And we see this

interplay between Ruth and Boaz. We get to the

end, and this child is the redeemer. But notice

who the women praise. The Lord. The Lord was

the one who was at work bringing about the redemption.

Throughout the entire process, we see God at

work in amazing ways to bring about this redemption.

And the women helped remind us, and probably

Naomi at the end. We talked about how Naomi had

said when she came back at the end of chapter

one, call me Mara because I'm bitter. The Lord

has oppressed and afflicted me. And then in chapter

two, we said about how her theology actually

started to change a little bit. Because she said,

wow, the Lord is at work in this. And now she's

reminded by the women in the town, blessed be

the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer.

And they said something surprising. And this

was the piece that for me was like, what, wait,

Boaz isn't the main redeemer? A son has been

born to Naomi. So the last time I checked, the

way that typically works is if Ruth and Boaz

got married and loved each other very much, and

the birds and the bees, that child was the son

of Ruth and Boaz. And yet, throughout the rest

of the story, it talks about how he sat on Naomi's

knee and she was a mother to him. See, the community

is recognizing the work the Lord has done. that

this child is God's restoration for Naomi. And

then the women in the town name him Obed, which

means servant. So Obed's actually the redeemer

in the story. The whole culmination of the story,

all of this subplot of redemption, we see a culmination

in the redemption that is brought by Obed. See?

The Redeemer restored Naomi's life. The whole

line describes future generational restoration,

not just the legal act. That's actually what

Boaz redeemed, was essentially a legal transaction.

But Boaz, through faith, then brought about Obed,

because the Lord granted that. And then he now

continues. the generational line. And what's

so interesting is Ruth, sorry, not Ruth, Naomi

said, I came back empty. And what's so cool is

at the end now, she holds this child in her arms,

the product of God's remarkable provision. So

we're going to go back to our text. And it says,

and Ruth and Boaz married, and the Lord gave

them a son, and Naomi was redeemed, and everyone

lived happily ever after. the end. Right? No?

Some of you are looking at me like, dude, did

you just like go crazy? No, that's not what God's

Word says. We transition to a genealogy, everybody's

absolute favorite type of read in the Bible,

a list of names that are tricky to pronounce.

But I want us to focus on this. Because there

is so much that is cool about this, so much richness

in this. And generally, anytime you see a genealogy

in the Bible, it's not there because somebody's

like, well, I had a word count for my assignment

today, and I'm going to throw in a whole bunch

of names. It actually has important theological

significance. So, Ruth chapter 4, verse 18 through

Ruth 4:18–22

22. Now these are the family records 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. See? The author includes

this genealogy, I believe specifically to sink

home that God's providence and redemption is

at work. See, we talked about at the very beginning

of this, this is set during the time of the judges

when everyone did what was right in their own

eyes and they were crying out for a king. And

through this book, we see that God was preserving

and bolstering and bringing about the line of

King David. So the question of the book of Ruth

as we've been going through it is, will there

be a redeemer? And we got to see a culmination

of this book. But then the author says, yeah,

but look forward. This was all coming towards

King David. And guys, I want us to look even

a little bit further forward because there's

something really interesting about this line.

See, the question of the book of Ruth was, will

there be a redeemer? But the story actually continues

in the gospel of Matthew chapter one. See, the

answer of scripture to will there be redeemer

is yes. And his name is Jesus Christ. If you

have your Bible with you there, turn with me

to Matthew chapter 1. And we're going to look

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

first at verses 1 through 6, and then we're going

to skip ahead. We're going to look at verses

16 and 17. Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, an account

Matthew 1:1

of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of

David, the son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.

Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob fathered Judah and

his brothers. Judah fathered Perez and Zerah

by Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered

Aram. Aram fathered Amenadab. Amenadab fathered

Nashon. Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered

Boaz by Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Obed

fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered King David.

and then we go through a whole bunch of more

names, but I want us to skip forward to verse

16. This is the same lineage. And Jacob fathered

Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to

Jesus, who is called the Messiah. So all generations

from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and

from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations.

From the exile to Babylon until the Messiah,

14 generations. What's interesting in the book

of Matthew, Matthew actually adds in even a little

more detail than we saw back in Ruth. Because

we see something that would have been really

unique back then. He's including some names of

some women. He says that Boaz was the son of

Rahab. Rahab was the prostitute from Jericho

when the people of Israel were first coming in

to the promised land. She's the one who hid the

two spies and let them down. When the city of

Jericho was destroyed, only her and her family

survived. See, she was an outsider rescued by

grace. And then it specifically mentions, and

then Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. Ruth, a Moabitess

widow of Israelites who left the promised land

when things got tough, she came back, but she

was still an outsider rescued by grace. There's

more there. There's so many pieces that if we

had the time to unpack, I'd love to. This whole

thing about Perez via Judah and Tamar, that's

a crazy story. It's like, it's real crazy. But

there's so much here where you're seeing this

pointing to God working through what you would

least expect in his providence to bring about

redemption. And see, the line leading to Jesus

Christ is filled with stories of redemption.

That baby that Naomi holds becomes part of the

family line that leads to Jesus Christ. So all

this time, throughout all of this story, God

was quietly preparing the way, not just for redemption

for Ruth, not just for redemption for Naomi.

Not just to bring about a king in Israel, but

to bring the redeemer of the world. Naomi believed

her story had ended in emptiness. But that wonderful

reminder from the women in Bethlehem, blessed

be the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer

today. See, Naomi thought she had been abandoned,

but she hadn't. God had already written redemption

into her story. That truth of God writing redemption

into Naomi's story, guys, that's true for my

story. That's true for your story today. See,

if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are not without

a Redeemer. If you feel empty right now, your

story is not without a Redeemer. Maybe your emptiness

looks like grief. Maybe it looks like a broken

relationship, a future that didn't happen. Maybe

you're wondering if God has forgotten you. Naomi

felt much of that too. But the women of Bethlehem

saw something Naomi couldn't see. And as a reminder,

even for myself this week, and it's a reminder

I want to pass on to you guys this morning. Sometimes

we can't see the redemption that God is writing.

But that doesn't mean he's not writing it. See,

God restores broken stories through a redeemer.

And that story leads to Jesus. Let's pray. Lord,

you are good. You are sovereign. We praise you.

Lord, thank you that we get to praise you in

music and as the team comes up to lead us in

that, Lord, I just pray that our hearts would

be tender to what you would have even as we respond

in song. Lord, thank you that you are at work

in each and every story. of each and every person

here. Lord, you love us deeply, beyond all comprehension.

We thank you for that. Lord, thank you that we

are not without redemption because of the work

of your son, Jesus Christ. His perfect work on

the cross, his death, his burial, his resurrection.

Lord, if there are any... this morning that don't

know you, that just feel like their story is

irredeemable, that their emptiness is too great,

Lord, I pray that today would be the day that

they would surrender that to you. Lord, for those

who are here who do believe you are Lord and

Savior of their life, but are wrestling with

emptiness, are wrestling with struggle, Lord,

Give peace. Draw them to yourself. Help them

to trust in your chesed, your loving kindness.

Lord, you are so good, and we praise you. We

pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.