Ruth and Boaz

If you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth. We told you last week that the Bible is a Christmas story. Everything about Christmas is in the scriptures because the thread of redemption runs throughout the scripture. And so you need to understand that the Bible is a Christmas narrative. And so as we begin to study the scriptures today, we open up to the book of Ruth to understand that the narrative takes place in Bethlehem. That's very important. Because the story of Ruth of Boaz is a story of the kinsman redeemer.

And we're going to talk to you about that this morning so you understand that. The kinsman redeemer had to fulfill three specific roles. One, he had to be a near kinsman. That is, he had to be close relative to the individual. Number two, he had to be willing and he had to be able to redeem that kinsman or that person, that family.

And so Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the story of Ruth and Boaz. That is, he is our near kinsman. For he himself was our near kinsman when he came and took on flesh and was born in Bethlehem. Hebrews 2, 14 to 16 talk about the fact that it was Christ who became the man. And so he became our near kinsman. Not only that, he was willing to redeem us because Philippians chapter 2, also Hebrews chapter 10 talk about he came to do the will of his father and he submitted himself to the will of the father and he was able to redeem us because he is able to save to the uttermost those who are being sanctified, Hebrews 7, 25.

So Christ becomes the perfect fulfillment of the story of Ruth and Boaz. So let me, before I get ahead of myself, explain all that to you by giving you an overview of the 85 verses in the book of Ruth so you understand the story of the kinsman redeemer.

It begins in Bethlehem. And I've been to Bethlehem on many occasions. And when I go to Bethlehem, I usually talk about the birth of our savior because that's what we do when we go to Bethlehem. We look at the shepherd fields, we go into a grotto and we understand the nativity and understand the birth of Christ.

But 1100 years before the birth of Christ is a story of Ruth and Boaz. It really should be called the book of Boaz instead of the book of Ruth because Boaz is essential figure. Boaz is mentioned 20 times in the book, 10 times in chapter 2, 10 times in chapters 3 and 4. So 20 times he is mentioned. He becomes essential figure because he is the kinsman redeemer. And when you recognize the redeemer, he becomes essential focus of your life. So it is with Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so 1100 years before the birth of Christ is a story of Ruth and Boaz.

It takes place during the time of the judges where every man did that which is right in his own eyes. And that's how the story begins with Elimelech doing that which was right in his own eyes. Elimelech is from Bethlehem, Bethlehem of Judah. Okay. Bethlehem the house of bread, Judah meaning praise. In other words, the bread of life would be born in the house of bread because the bread of life would feed us eternal food. And so the story begins with a famine in Bethlehem, a famine in the city called the bread of life.

And Elimelech takes his wife Naomi, his two boys Mahalon and Kilion. Mahalon means unhealthy, Kilion means puny. So if I'm Elimelech, I say, here are my two boys. One is unhealthy and the other is puny. Now, I don't know why he named his boys that, but that's exactly what he named them. But he decides to leave Bethlehem and journey to Moab some 50 miles away. And the question comes, why would he do that? Elimelech's name means my God is king. Except Elimelech did not act as if God was his king because he never sought the will of the Lord in moving his family to Moab.

A lot like Abraham did way back in Genesis chapter 12, when there was a famine in the land of Canaan and he moved his family to Egypt, never consulting the Lord. And the ramifications of that are seen to this very day. But the great thing about the Christmas story is the precision of all the events surrounding the Christmas story. To understand how Christ precisely orchestrated his birth, his life, his death is completely unfathomable to us. But the story of Ruth and Boaz begins to bring everything into perspective to show us how precisely God orchestrates his redemptive plan.

In spite of Elimelech taking his family without consulting God, because he, like everybody in the book of Judges, did that which is right in his own eyes, except for Boaz, who remains in Bethlehem. We'll see him in a minute. But he, like everybody else, did that which is right in his own eyes. In Judges, there was no king. In Ruth, there is Elimelech who says, my God is king. Following Ruth comes first Samuel, where you have man's king, Saul.

And then second Samuel, you have God's king, David. And all that is very instrumental in the book of Ruth and the plan of Almighty God. The book of Ruth is an amazing book when you begin to understand the names, the people, the events, and how God orchestrates everything. And so Elimelech would move his family, Naomi, Mahalon, Killian, to Moab. They would be there for 10 years. And whenever you make a mistake outside the will of the Lord, you're going to make another mistake, right? And so what did Elimelech do?

He allowed his boys to marry Moabite women. Well, that was against the law of God. God said you can't do that. And Mahalon would marry Ruth. Killian would marry Oprah. Okay, not the TV character, but this individual in Scripture. They were Moabite women. And God had cursed the nation of the Moabites. Remember Moab? This is all so interesting. Was born of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his firstborn daughter. Remember that? Way back in the book of Genesis. And so the Moabites became a cursed nation.

God had cursed them because when Israel had journeyed from Egypt to Canaan, they had troubled Egypt and would not let them pass through. And they had invaded the land for 18 years in the book of Judges to make Israel their slaves. And there are the Moabite women in the book of Numbers, the 25th chapter, who had seduced the men of Israel, and they committed idolatry and immorality, and 24,000 of them were killed. So God had cursed the nation of Moab. So why would a man named Elimelech, whose name means my God is king, move his family to Moab, a cursed nation during a famine, and then allow his boys to marry Moabite women?

But God, who is bigger than all of our sin and all of our decisions, has a plan. And that plan is going to be seen. See, they escaped a famine because they were afraid they were going to die, only to move to Moab and father and sons all die. Interesting, isn't it? They didn't want to die in the famine, so they left to go eat and live a life of plenty, yet they died anyway. So you have three lonely widows, Naomi, Oprah, and Ruth, standing over three graves after 10 years of living in Moab. And Ruth hears, Ruth hears that there is no longer a famine in the land of Bethlehem.

It says Ruth heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited his people in giving them food. That's Ruth 1, verse number 6. So now she's going to go back. Does she go back because of the Lord, or does she go back because of the land? Well, it never says she confessed her sin, never says she got right with the Lord. She followed her husband all the way to Moab, but when she heard that the Lord had given food in the land of Judah in Bethlehem, she's going to go back. So she begins to take her two daughters with her.

But on the way, she changes her mind and tells them to go back. She says, verse 8, and Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, go return each of you to your mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. And may the Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. They said to her, no, but we will surely return with you to your people. But Naomi said, no, return my daughters.

Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Return my daughters, go, for I am old, too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight, and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying Naomi's daughters? For it is harder for me than for you. For the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me. And they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

Then she said, behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people, and her gods return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people should be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me and worse, if anything but death, part you and me. Orpah becomes the symbol of those who hear about the Lord God Jehovah and know about the opportunity.

And even with tears, turn and go back to serve other gods, the false gods of Moab, the god Kemesh, who sacrificed, who required sacrifice of children. But Ruth, Ruth was different. Ruth had heard and understood about the God of Israel. That's why her great confession in verse 16 and 17 is so profound. Because through her husband, through her father-in-law, through her brother-in-law, through her mother-in-law, over those 10 years, she had heard about the living God. And she wanted that God. So she would cling, she would cling to Naomi.

She wanted to be a part of her land, her Lord, so she wouldn't depart. See the book of Ruth is about ruin, resolve, redemption, rejoicing, and revelation. It's about the ruin of a people, the Moabites. And one person, Ruth, who because of the law of God was excluded from God's kingdom, but because of the grace of God could be included in God's kingdom. Isaiah 56 plays a very important part in the understanding of Ruth and Boaz. For it says in verse 3, Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from his people.

Verse 6, Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and holds fast my covenant, even those I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar. So God in his provision of grace and mercy would always provide a way for the foreigner, a Moabite, an Ammonite, a Jebusite, who would believe in him and come to him to embrace him, would experience the joy of the Lord.

And that was Ruth. That was evident in her confession. So she journeys with Naomi to Bethlehem. And the Bible tells us in verse number 22 that they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. And so they settled in Bethlehem and in verse 1 of chapter 2 it says, Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. Okay, so Boaz now is introduced. His name means in him is strength. In him is strength. So Ruth does not know about Boaz.

But the Bible introduces him to us by telling us that he is a kinsman of Elimelech. Introducing to us the concept of the near kinsman or the kinsman redeemer. It's a word in Hebrew called the goel. We'll talk about that in a minute. Very important. And it says in verse 2, Ruth the Moabitess said Naomi, please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor or grace.

And she said to her, go my daughter. So here is Ruth understanding the law of God. For the book of Leviticus it says that this is how God was going to take care of the poor and the destitute. That they could go to the fields during harvest time and they could follow the harvester and that which fell off the wagon, that which wasn't harvested, that which was left over, they could gather for themselves. There weren't any freebies given. You had to work to get it, but you had to follow the harvester.

And God had set up a plan to take care of the poor and the destitute. Ruth knew the law of God. How'd she know the law of God? Because she had learned it from her husband, from her brother-in-law, father-in-law and mother-in-law. So she said, let me go to a field.

This is where God's precision is at work. Which field would she go to? If you've been to Bethlehem today, there are many shepherd's fields. There are many fields in which you could harvest in. But she would choose a particular field, not knowing whose field it was. She would find herself in the field of Boaz because God was at work. God was orchestrating all the events to take place in his own timetable. And so it says, verse three, so she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.

And she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Now, she didn't know this. She knows this, but the Bible's informing of this for us. Now, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, may the Lord be with you. And they said to him, may the Lord bless you. So Boaz shows up. Boaz shows up at the time that Ruth is in the field. Again, God's sovereignty, God's providence. Then Boaz said to the servants who was in charge of the reapers, whose young woman is this?

Who is this? The servant in charge of the reapers replied, she is a young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. Very important. Why? Because Boaz, Boaz has a mother who was a foreigner. Her name is Rahab. And so Boaz shows partiality to the foreigner, the outcast. See that? Remember, if you read the genealogy of Matthew chapter one, it was Rahab who married Salmon, who begot Boaz. Boaz is the great grandfather of King David. See that? All the golden nuggets at 85 verses is enormous when you understand the book of Ruth or the book of Boaz, whoever you want to call it.

And so the servant in charge of the reapers replied, she is a young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. And she said, please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.

Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now. She has been sitting in the house for a little while. And so she's taking a break. She's sitting in the house. She's already begun to be involved in a reaping process. And Boaz is going to take the initiative because Boaz is the Redeemer. And the Redeemer always takes the initiative. And the Redeemer is going to initiate grace in the life of Ruth. Because grace does certain things. Grace initiates, which Boaz does. Grace communicates, which Boaz does.

Grace accommodates, which Boaz does. Grace motivates, which Boaz does. And grace satiates, completely satisfies. And that's exactly what Boaz does. Because Boaz is the kinsman Redeemer, the perfect picture of Christ, who is our kinsman Redeemer, who initiates grace, who communicates grace, who accommodates us through his grace, who motivates us through his grace, who satiates us through his grace. He completely satisfies us because his grace is that which satisfies. And Boaz goes and says, in verse eight, Boaz said to Ruth, he takes the initiative.

Listen carefully, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field. Furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids. You see, Boaz knows his mother's Rahab, the harlot from Jericho. So he knows about the foreign woman. And so he has great sensitivity, wants to bestow great grace because his mother received great grace. So now he's going to bestow grace to the Moabite woman, Ruth. Let your eyes be on the field, which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you when you are thirsty.

Go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw, because grace accommodates. Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, why have I found grace in your sight that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner?

You see, Ruth recognizes the grace bestowed upon her by this man, although she does not know that he is a kinsman of Elimelech, her father-in-law. She does not know. And so Boaz replied to her, all that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me. And how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.

You see, Boaz knew that she had converted to the God of Israel. He knew that because he was told about the testimony of Ruth and Naomi. And so he knew all of that. And so it goes on at mealtime. Boaz said to her, come here that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the finger. So she ate beside the reapers and he served her roasted grain that she ate, was satisfied, had some left. When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servant saying, let her glean even among the sheaves and do not insult her.

Also, you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean and do not rebuke her. So he was providing for her. That's what grace does. Just kept providing, pull out some of the grain, throw it behind the wagon, let her pick it up. Do not rebuke her, let her alone. So she gleaned the field until evening that she beat out what she had gleaned. It was about an ephah of barley, meaning she had five days of food for her and Naomi. She took it up and went to the city.

Her mother-in-law saw that she gleaned. She also looked it out, gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied. Her mother-in-law then said to her, where did you glean today? Where did you work? Where did you get all this? How'd you get five days worth? Usually the poor and the destitute would get one day's worth. How'd you get five days worth? She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked with, the name of the man with whom I work today is Boaz. Well, immediately Naomi knew. Naomi said to her in verse 20, the man is our relative.

He is one of our closest relatives. He is a Goel. He is a kinsman redeemer, a kinsman rescuer, a kinsman deliverer. A Goel could rescue you in three ways. One, if you were a prisoner, he could purchase you out of that prison. He could buy you back. Two, your land, if it was being mortgaged, he could purchase that. And three, the family by marrying the widow or the woman because he was the closest relative. He was the Goel. He could rescue, he could deliver them. Ruth had no idea because God was at work.

God was orchestrating all the events of everything that takes place. And this is not even the best part of the story yet. It's going to get better. And so she went and she would continue to do this throughout the season. When the season was over, verse three, Naomi said to her, her mother-in-law, then Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, my daughter, shall I not seek security for you that it may be well with you? Shall I not seek protection for you? Shall not I seek security for you? This is chapter three, verse number one.

Now is not Boaz our kinsman with whose maids you were. Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. Tonight's the night. Tonight, she says, wash yourself, clothe yourself, put on the fragrant aroma. Tonight you're going to make yourself available to Boaz to let him know you want to marry him. This was a near Eastern custom. Now today we understand how women ask men to marry them because we live in the 21st century. But in those days, you see, what would happen is that because Boaz was a mere kinsman, she had to make herself available to him.

See, Boaz was the daughter or the son of Rahab. He was of an older generation. The older generation would not propose to those of a younger generation. And so she had to make herself available to him. Now he's in his probably early fifties. She's maybe in her early to late twenties somewhere. And so she would then have to go and make herself available. So Naomi says to her, you need to present yourself, clothe yourself, you wash yourself, you put on the aroma, you go. And when he is done threshing on the threshing floor, you lay at his feet, okay?

And you remove the cloak from his feet and clothe yourself for that being symbolic of his protection and his watching out for you. And you wait for him. She said, that's what I would do. So she did. So she went and she laid at his feet when he was eaten, when he'd eaten and was satisfied, he was asleep. She laid down at his feet and she uncovered his feet and took that cloak upon himself. He wakes up. He wakes up. He says, it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled. This is chapter first eight of chapter three and bent forward and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.

He said, who are you? She answered, I am Ruth, your maid. So spread your covering over your maid. For you are a close relative. You are a Goel. You are a kinsman redeemer. Then he said, may you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter, you have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich, you could have had anybody you wanted.

You're a beautiful woman. You could have had a young man and I'm an old man. And you chose the older man. Now, my daughter did not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask for. All my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. Now it is true. I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I, he's a man of integrity. So he says, and she laid his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another. And he said, let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.

And again, he said, give me the cloak that is on you and hold it. So she held it and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. He told her in verse 13, remain this night. And when morning comes, if he will redeem you good, let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you as the Lord lives, lie down until morning. So in other words, he says, there's a closer relative. He must have the opportunity to redeem you because he is obligated to do so.

And so he would go the next day. He would give her as the text says, six measures of barley, which is about 60 to 80 pounds. Okay. So she would carry 60 or 80 pounds. Not only she was, she was a beautiful woman. She was a strong woman. Okay. No wonder he wants to marry her. And so he, and she, she takes it back to Naomi and Naomi tells her, she says, wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out for the man that is Boaz will not rest until he has settled the matter today. So the very next day he would go to the city gate because that was where all the transactions took place.

He would go to the city gate and behold, the text says in verse number one, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by.

Well, why would he just be passing by? Because God was orchestrating everything to take place in the perfect time. Remember Galatians four, verse number four, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law that he might redeem those who are under the law in the fullness of time. God's precision was at work in every detail of the Christmas story. Even with the closer relative walking by, don't even know his name. He walks by the city gate. Boaz calls out to him and says, Elimelech, your brother, he's dead.

His land is available. Will you redeem it? He says, yes, I will redeem it. Then he says, if you redeem the land, you have to redeem the lady of the land as well, Naomi. He was not willing to do that. And so he says, Boaz, you can redeem her. Takes off a sandal, gives Boaz his sandal, a near Eastern custom to symbol, to symbolize that the land that I would walk on, you have to walk on. He did it in front of 10 witnesses. So everybody would know. And Boaz is now able to redeem, not just the land, but the lady, not just the property, but the person.

So the text tells us these words. So Boaz verse number 13 took Ruth and she became his wife and he went into her and the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. Oh, it's a story of ruin because she was a Moabite woman. It's a story of resolve because once she understood the beauty of the Lord God of Israel, she was resolved to go with Naomi to Bethlehem. Story of redemption because Boaz would redeem her. It's a story of rejoicing because he would be given a son. It's a story of revelation because it reveals to us the beauty of God, the sovereign work in the plan of salvation.

It says in verse 16 that Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name saying a son has been born to Naomi. So they named him Obed, which means servant because Boaz served his God and Ruth served her God and they named their boy Obed to symbolize their service to the Lord. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now listen carefully. Now these are the generations of Perez. To Perez was born Hezron and to Hezron was born Ram and to Ram Aminadab and to Aminadab was born Nahashon and to Nahashon Salmon and to Salmon was born Boaz and to Boaz Obed and to Obed was born Jesse and to Jesse David.

Why is that so important? Give me three minutes, I'll tell you. It's 10 generations from Perez to David. Listen to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Deuteronomy 23 verse number 2 says, no one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord. None of his descendants, even to the 10th generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord. Very important. Why? Do you know the story of Perez? You need to know the story. The Messiah would come from the line of Judah. Remember that? Genesis 49 verse number 10.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes or Shiloh be interpreted the one to whom it belongs comes. The one to whom the scepter belongs who was the Messiah. Okay? Judah, the line of praise, would give birth to the Messiah. Judah married a Canaanite woman. Judah had three sons, three sons, Ur, Onan, and Shiloh. Ur married Tamar. They had no children. He died bearing no children. So according to Leveret marriage or the kinsman redeemer, the next son would then marry Tamar. That was Onan.

He married Tamar, but God killed Onan, still no son. Judah would not allow Shiloh to marry Tamar. Tamar got a little perturbed. So she disguised herself as a prostitute, seduced her father-in-law Judah, slept with him, and became pregnant. The son, she had twins, but the one that came out first was Perez.

Why is that important? Deuteronomy 23 says that no one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord. So that is from the line of Judah will come the Messiah, but nobody can enter the assembly of the Lord until the 10th generation. So you have in the book of Ruth all these generations, 10 of them to be exact. Jesse is the ninth generation. Israel cries for a king and for Samuel. So God's going to give him a king, but God, because he's true to his word, cannot give them a king from the line of Judah.

So he gives them a king from the tribe of Benjamin. His name is Saul because God has his king, but his king can't enter the assembly of the Lord until the 10th generation. So to stay true to his word, he has his own king, which is King David, which is the line of the Messiah. And so when Saul fails as king, which God predicted he would, he put his own king in office under the 10th generation from Judah to understand that God is true to his word. The beautiful precision of all that takes place in scripture shows us that God is a complete control of everything.

And the Messiah would come from the loins of David, king of Judah, king of praise. And that Messiah would come. He would be our near kinsman, our kinsman redeemer, because not only was he our near kinsman by incarnation, not only was he willing by submission, but he was able through his crucifixion because it's by his stripes, we are healed. It's through his blood that we are redeemed. And Christ is our near kinsman pictured in the book of Ruth, in the fields of Bethlehem to show us that God's in complete control of everything.

Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today, the chance to be in your word. What a beautiful story Ruth and Bo has. So much more. We didn't even begin to touch the whole book, but Lord, there's so much more to be said. We pray that we would have said what needed to be said on this day for the glory of your kingdom in Jesus name. Amen.