Redeeming Love (Ruth 4)

And chapter four is no exception.

If we rush right to the wedding, ah, finally the wedding, we're going to miss not just the human drama that's driving this book.

We're going to miss the theodrama.

We're going to miss the story that God is weaving, the story of salvation, the story of redemption, the story of rescue between God and his beloved people.

What does Ruth chapter 4 want us to see?

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

Ruth chapter 4 wants us to see a redeeming love.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

But not just that, it wants us to see that redeeming love comes at a cost.

It comes at a cost, and that cost is high.

But that's a cost the Redeemer is willing to pay because the Redeemer loves us, because the lover loves the redeemed.

That's what Ruth chapter 4 is all about.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

And that is what this weird sandal scene is all about.

Are you left scratching your head about the first 10 verses of Ruth chapter 4?

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

If you are, you're in good company.

There's a big cultural gulf between where we are in 21st century Canada and what exactly is happening right here in ancient Israel.

But if we can cross that bridge, we're going to see so much more than just a love for Boaz and Ruth.

As beautiful as that is, we're going to see the cost of our redemption.

We're going to see the gospel being put on display.

Friends, there is good news for us in this text.

There's good news for us in Ruth chapter 4.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

And that news is that the Redeemer's love comes at a high cost.

That is a cost he's willing to pay for you and for me.

So let's dive in.

Ruth chapter 4.

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

We've been going these last couple of weeks, of course, with the exception being last week, our outdoor service there.

We've met Ruth and Naomi in chapter one.

Naomi left with her husband Elimelech from their hometown in Bethlehem out to the uh the country of Moab, trying to find some food, desperately trying to find some food in the middle of a famine.

And while Naomi and Elimelech were out in Moab, the unthinkable happens.

They lose everything.

In fact, Elimelech dies, and so do his sons, Malon and Chilion.

And now Naomi and Ruth is left with her daughter-in-law Ruth and Orpah who decides to stay back in Moab.

But Ruth dedicates herself to Naomi.

Ruth commits herself to Naomi's well-being.

And so they come back to Bethlehem, but when they come back to Bethlehem, Naomi says, I'm nothing but forsaken.

I'm as good as dead.

Remember what she says to the women in the town?

She says that I went away full, I've been brought back empty.

Don't call me Naomi.

Naomi means pleasant.

Call me Mara, because Mara means bitter, and the Lord has dealt bitterly with me.

The conclusion of Ruth chapter one is a worst case scenario.

But in the midst of this worst-case scenario, we start to see a glimmer of light, a glimmer of heavenly kindness shining through through the character of Boaz.

Ruth begins to glean in Boaz's field, and Boaz looks out for Ruth's security.

We begin to see how God is weaving the threads of his story providentially through Ruth and Boaz, and how God is shining his rescuing faithfulness, his redeeming love through Boaz, who's one of the family's redeemers.

So now in chapter three, Ruth makes her intentions clear.

She wants to marry Boaz.

And so she approaches him and she pops the question, and Boaz commits himself to Ruth's well-being, much like Ruth committed herself to Naomi.

Now Boaz is committed to Ruth.

But there's a problem.

Coming out of chapter three, this is setting up the dramatic tension for the chapter that we're in right now.

The problem is this.

The problem is that yes, Boaz is a redeemer.

He can step into this unique play role of rescue in Naomi and Ruth's life, but there's a closer Redeemer.

There's someone who's first in line.

Boaz is second in line.

So now here we're entering into the drama of chapter four here.

We're going to meet this nearer Redeemer.

So let's do a quick background survey here, because there's a few things we can get lost at a few points here.

So Boaz goes to the town gate, and the town gate is more than just the entrance to the city.

It's kind of like, it's kind of like town square and the courthouse, all rolled into one.

It's where commerce and justice and culture is kind of happening.

This is the place where everything's happening.

Boaz gathers the elders, which are witnesses and representatives of God's people in Bethlehem.

He's gone to the place where things happen.

He's gathered the right people to make things happen.

And now he's got a proposal for the kinsman redeemer who just so happens to be walking by.

Now the Hebrew referring to the kinsman redeemer, I know in the ESV it says, turn aside, friend, but the Hebrew there is kind of like uh is kind of like the English equivalent of Mr.

So-and-so.

Hey, so-and-so, why don't you come over here?

I mean, it's like the Hebrew is going out of its way to make sure that this guy is unnamed.

We know nothing about him.

The only thing we really know about this guy is that Naomi directed Ruth to go to Boaz for redemption and not this fella.

Now, maybe Naomi didn't know that this guy was a near Redeemer, but I find that hard to believe if Naomi lived in Bethlehem and knew Elimelech's family in the area.

We don't know much about this guy.

In fact, we don't know anything about this guy.

We don't know his motivations, we just know that Naomi has sent Ruth towards Boaz and not this Redeemer.

So Boaz gets this Redeemer over, he gathers the elders, they're at the town square.

Things are about to happen, and Boaz has a proposal to make.

He proposes a costly redemption.

So when we sell a house, Rachel and I sold our house moving to Ottawa, uh here to Port Perry.

We probably did what a lot of you have done when you sell a house.

You uh contact your real estate agent, you stage the house, you do the showings, and then on a certain day, you're going to take offers.

People are gonna give you, uh, you know, they're they're gonna they're gonna write down an amount, and that's that's the offer of the house.

Now, Rachel and I had determined that we were going to take the highest offer.

We thought that that's a smart plan.

And the honest truth is uh when we receive those papers, when we receive those authors, the first place our eyes went was to the number, not so much the name.

I'm sure whoever bought our house is a lovely person, but we weren't so much thinking about that person, we were thinking about that dollar amount.

We buy low, we sell high.

That's the idea with property here in the 21st century, right?

Not so much in the ancient Near East.

In the ancient Near East, what's going on here is a little bit more complex than that.

See, the people of Israel are governed by the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy.

And the Torah includes the story of God's redemption, God's creation, God raising up this covenant family in Abraham, God rescuing this uh nation from uh oppression in Egypt and bringing them into the promised land.

It contains that story or sets it up for that promised land story, but it also contains laws.

It contains civil laws that govern the political life, it contains moral laws that govern the ethical life of this people, and it contains religious laws that govern the worshiping life of this people.

Okay, you tracking?

So here we got the first five books of the Bible that govern the people of Israel, and part of that is governing how land and property is transferred.

See, God's word in the Torahs is very keen to keep property within the family, and there's a reason for that.

It's not just gonna sell to the highest bidder, it's gotta keep property within the family so that no one family, no one wealthy family can buy up all of the land in the area and have something of a monopoly, so that the wealthier just keep getting wealthier and wealthier, and the poorer get poorer and poorer.

Within God's word, there is uh there's a mechanism to make sure that wealth is equitably distributed for the sake of the community and for the sake of the families.

Property is gonna stay within the family line.

Now, a whole other sermon would be talking about principles of wealth and distribution for the good of God's people, but that's another sermon.

That's just a little note to get you mad at the preacher today.

But here we've got uh built into God's word, property stays within the family line.

So, what's Boaz saying in his proposition here?

Here's one commentator, here's his paraphrase.

Naomi has a field.

She needs to sell it to raise money to live on.

If there were a kinsman redeemer, if there's a family member, a close relative who can step into that role to buy the land, he could buy that field and he could keep it in the family.

Of course, the buyer would ultimately get to add that property to his own inheritance, provide there's no children involved.

Now, Boaz is saying to Mr.

So-and-so, you're the first in line to do this.

Are you gonna do it?

Because if you're not gonna do it, I'm next in line and I wanna buy this property.

I wanna step into that role of redeemer.

You catching what's going on here?

This isn't just about selling the land to the highest bidder.

This is about keeping the land and property in the family for Ruth and Naomi's benefit, right?

And for this family line's benefit.

So when we get to uh verse four, the latter half of verse four, and this redeemer says, I will redeem it, maybe we can catch a little bit of what's going on in this edge of your seat negotiation drama.

This Redeemer, Mr.

So-and-so, is saying, What a deal.

I'm in.

Count me in, I'll pay that price.

I mean, that seems like a pretty sweet deal.

I'm gonna add some property my own, generate a little bit more revenue.

This seems pretty deal.

I'm gonna lay a little bit of money down, I'm gonna see a whole lot of return.

We're gonna see Mr.

So-and-so's preoccupation with his financial security in a couple verses, but here we're left on the edge of a knife.

We need to just rest in this biblical tension for a moment.

Because the reader is going to ask, is Ruth really going to end up with this guy?

Is this really where the story is going?

Because Ruth, we know, is a worthy woman.

We know that from chapter 3, verse 11.

She's a godly woman.

She's a wife fit for a king.

Is she really just going to end up with Mr.

So-and-so?

We don't know anything about him.

We didn't know what's motivating him.

We're going to see that he's a little more preoccupied with his own self-interest than Ruth's.

Is this really where it's going?

So here we get verses five and six.

Ruth's, or pardon me, Boaz steps up and pays the cost.

See, this is more than you bargain for, is what Boaz says to uh says to this particular redeemer, says to Mr.

So-and-so, the day that 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.

What's Boaz saying here?

He's saying this if you're going to step into the role of redeemer, if you're going to step into the role of Elimelech's Redeemer, you're not just going to get all the property attached to his name, you're going to get everything attached to his name.

And you're going to get everything attached to his family line, which includes Ruth, who's married to his son Malon.

If you step into that role of redeemer, you're not redeeming some of Elimelech's assets.

You're redeeming everything that belongs to Elimelech.

Now, Ruth is not being traded around like property.

This is not about calling women his property or Ruth his property.

This is about making sure that Ruth and Naomi are cared for.

That's the purpose of the kinsman redeemer in the Old Testament.

So now this deal just went sour.

This deal just got just went south for this particular Mr.

So-and-so because he's realizing, well, if I step into this role of Redeemer, I'm going to be paying the cost upfront for this field.

I'm obligated to have a child that will continue Elimelech's family line.

He's going to see all the revenue from this field.

He's going to get all the inheritance.

I'm not going to see any of it.

My family line is in trouble.

If I have a child with Ruth, he's obligated to marry.

For I have a child, then that child's going to get everything.

I'm just going to have paid the cost.

I'm not going to see any benefits from that.

So he says, no deal.

Why don't you step into that role of Redeemer, Boaz?

We're starting to see his motives come up from the surface.

See, Ruth and Naomi need a redeemer, but they don't just need any Redeemer.

They don't need a Mr.

So-and-so who's interested in his own profit and in his own game.

They need a worthy redeemer.

They need a redeemer who's willing to pay the cost.

And so that's exactly what Boaz does in verses 9 through 10.

He tells the elders, I am willing to do that.

And that sandal exchange is a symbolic act of saying, I am redeemed Elimelech's property, I've redeemed Ruth, and I've redeemed Naomi.

That's final.

That is complete.

We're starting to see the heart of the Redeemer come out, don't we?

This isn't just a story of a redeemer, this is a story of the Redeemer.

This is a Redeemer who's willing to pay the cost.

See, Mr.

So-and-so wasn't willing to pay the cost.

He was interested in what I have to gain from this deal.

But Boaz is in much the same situation, isn't he?

He's going to have to pay for this field.

He's going to have to risk his inheritance.

The child that he would have with Ruth will be a part of a limelex family line.

It won't perpetuate his own.

What's in this for Boaz?

What does he have to gain from this deal?

He simply loves Ruth.

He loves Ruth with a redeeming love.

That redeeming love is a costly love.

But Boaz is eager to pay the cost because he loves Ruth with a redeeming love.

And that love extends even to Naomi.

He's committed himself to Ruth.

He's committed himself to their well-being.

This Redeemer is willing to pay the cost.

And so we end with a royal blessing.

The elders say to Boaz that we're witnesses.

May the Lord make this woman who's coming into your house like Rachel and Leah.

You know the matriarchs of Israel who built up the whole people of Israel.

They gave birth to the twelve sons of Israel who became the twelve tribes.

May Ruth build up God's people in such a way.

May she be like, uh may your house be like Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.

And we see this kind of twisted story in Genesis 38 about Tamar and and Judah.

It's similar to Ruth and Boaz in some ways, but it's almost like the story in a mere darkly.

But what are they saying here?

They're saying that Judah is the royal line of the people of Israel.

He received the royal blessing in Genesis 49.

May your house be a royal house.

May it build up the people of God.

May it be a house of redemption, of renewal, of restoration for all the people of God.

We're starting to see a greater story emerge here, aren't we?

This isn't just about Ruth and Boaz, this is about all of God's people.

And this is the redeeming love God has for all of his people.

And that's why it's not an accident, friends, that this story ends with a genealogy.

We love genealogies, don't we?

We're tempted to skip them from time to time, but they're important.

This isn't an accident that it ends with a genealogy that weaves a family line through Ruth and through Boaz right through to King David, the ideal king, on whom hung so many expectations of deliverance, of salvation.

He was a man after God's own heart.

And his was an everlasting throne, we read in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

But what else do we know about David?

Well, we know that David might have been expected to be the redeemer of God's people, yet he fell so short of his calling.

He committed horrendous sin in 2 Samuel chapter 11.

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

And though he repented, he fell so short of his calling.

And the kingdom divided, and the kingdoms went into exile.

And the story of God's people leaves us wondering: is there going to be a worthy Redeemer who's going to faithfully rescue us from our being outcasts, from being lost, from spiritual death?

That's what Naomi comes back to Moab.

She says, I'm as good as dead.

That's us in our sins and our transgressions.

We need a redeemer.

Is there a worthy Redeemer?

Is there a Redeemer who loves us with that costly love that we truly, completely, fully need?

See, friends, this brings us to the cross, doesn't it?

We need a Redeemer.

A Redeemer who's going to love us with a costly love.

And not just that, but a worthy Redeemer.

A Redeemer who will pay that cost.

There's good news because the genealogy continues.

This genealogy might end with David, and it might leave us with a question mark.

But we can pick it up in Matthew chapter 1 and see that this family line weaves through Boaz and Ruth and Obed, and it goes right through to Jesus, our worthy Redeemer.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

The Redeemer who's willing to pay the cost.

Just like Boaz ransomed Ruth at his own expense, he laid everything down on the line for Ruth, so too does Jesus lay everything down for us.

Peter writes this you know that it is not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you are redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and defect.

Apart from Christ, we are like Naomi in chapter one.

We come back empty, but with Christ we are full indeed.

Boaz ransomed Ruth.

Boaz gave Ruth a new future that came at his own cost.

So too we were bought with a price, and that price is the blood of our Savior.

Mr.

So-and-so wanted to know what he could gain out of this act of redemption, but Boaz wants to know what he has to give out of redeeming love for Ruth.

So too, the Son of Man did not come to be served.

He didn't come to get gain what he could get out of the deal, but he came to serve and to give his life as a ransom, a rescue, a redemption for many.

Ruth or Boaz loved Ruth so much that he gave her everything, his very self, that she wouldn't perish an outcast, but be brought into the family and have hope for a new life and a new future.

So too God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

We see the real love story here, don't we?

God's undying, faithful love for his people.

We are not left without a redeemer.

We are given newness of life, a new hope for a future.

In Christ the outcasts are brought into the kingdom, and in him the dead are raised to new life.

So that we the redeemed can become more and more like our Redeemer.

We who know Jesus, who've received that redeeming love, can then go into the fields where we're called and ask, who needs that generous grace that I've received?

Who needs that redeeming love?

I'm not talking about going and marrying a Moabite widow.

I am saying, Lord, show me where that redeeming love needs to go.

Would you guide and direct me?

So we end with a final scene with Naomi.

Naomi is uh bouncing a baby on her knee, maybe.

Maybe we can picture her doing that and cooing.

She is holding baby Obed.

And the women of the town, perhaps these very same women who Naomi said, Don't call me pleasant, don't call me Naomi, call me Mara.

These very same women pronounce a blessing over her.

They say, Blessed be the Lord who's not left you this day without a Redeemer, that his name may be renowned in Israel.

He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age.

Friends, do you know what it's like to hold the hope of your redemption?

We can hold our Redeemer in our hearts by faith, as it were.

We can know what it's like to lay our hands, to reach out, and to know the hope of our redemption has come completely, fully, and that one day we the outcasts will be brought completely and fully into his kingdom.

Do you know your Redeemer?

There is a Redeemer, Jesus God's own Son.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this word.

Thank you for your servant Ruth for Naomi.

Lord, lead us to the cross.

Let us see our Redeemer.

Let us receive Him by faith.

Lord, restore us, renew us, redeem us.

Thank you for the costly love that you've given us in Him.

We praise your name.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.