Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No.10 – March 2001

 

A Willing Redeemer

 

Sermon by Rev G H Milne

on Ruth 4:1-10

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-11

 

Beloved people of God.

Introduction:

Politicians are notorious for making promises and then failing to keep them.  They realise that the public gets disillusioned when these things happen, but they usually keep on making the promises, and we keep voting them in.  I say usually, because some political parties, realising the unpopularity of a government, know that all they have to do is to promise nothing and then they will be elected.  However, that sort of a ploy doesn’t last for long, and so they have to return to making promises.

Well Boaz made a promise in chapter 3 verse 13.  “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.”

Today we are going to notice that not only has Boaz promised to effect the redemption of the land, but also he is a willing redeemer.  In making that observation we will reflect upon the truth that Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer is a type, or example, of our spiritual redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ.

We will notice
            first that, in this story, we see an urgent willingness to redeem;
            secondly, we see that there is an unwilling kinsman redeemer, and
            finally, we conclude that Christ still calls.

1.  An Urgent Willingness to Redeem

 Naomi’s faith that Boaz would deal with this matter immediately had been justified.  Immediately following her statement in verse 18, of chapter 3, we read in verse 1 of the final chapter, Boaz going to the gate and addressing the nearer kinsman.

I think we can say that we believe Boaz wants to redeem the land and marry Ruth himself.  His interest in Ruth has been seen in a number of ways already, including being kind and generous toward her.

We know, too, that it is not Ruth’s beauty that has attracted Boaz.  Her looks are not mentioned and it may well be that because of the harsh climate, her outdoor existence and poverty, that she was not necessarily physically attractive at all.

But Boaz knew what was important.  He was attracted to her, it seems, because she was a virtuous woman – a woman of outstanding character.

Boaz doesn’t waste time.  He does what Naomi said he would do.  He seeks to sort out the matter straight away.

Application:

There is an obvious lesson here for us.  We should keep our word and be quick to keep it.  And when there is a task to be done we should not procrastinate.  But there is a deeper significance to Boaz’s actions as well.

Over the past few weeks we have reflected on the obvious fact that this book is all about redemption; that is to say, the paying of a price to free something or someone.  Here, obviously, it is the redemption, the buying back of land.

But when we read of redemption, whether it was the redemption of the children of Israel from Egypt at the cost of God’s mighty power, or the redemption here of family land by a kinsman-redeemer, the Holy Spirit is not pointing us to only those events, but beyond them to spiritual redemption.

Every human being is sold into the bondage or slavery of sin, as Paul tells the Romans.  There is only one way that we can escape that bondage, which will ultimately issue in God’s rejection on the Day of Judgment, unless we are freed from sin.

That way is if one would redeem us – one would pay the price to liberate us from our bondage.

The redeemer kinsman in the story of Ruth is then a picture of that spiritual redeemer.  So let’s keep that in mind as we continue through the story of Ruth.

Therefore let’s notice that Boaz’s willingness to redeem is also a pointer to the willingness of the spiritual redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of a woman and who suffered and died as the Redeemer of His people. 

The Lord Jesus was willing to redeem His people.  He went willingly to the cross.  He did not avoid the hard decisions that took Him inexorably to the Cross.

Even in His anguish in Gethsemane, as He considered the awfulness of what it meant to bear the eternal anger of God upon His human body and soul, even as He prayed, “If it be possible let this cup pass from me,” He said in the same breath, “Yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”  He was willing because He subjected His will to the Will of the Father.

And when He was betrayed and arrested, He could have still escaped, but He chose the path of sacrifice, the path of a costly redemptive act.

As Paul writes to the Philippians, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

As Paul also writes to Titus, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

God’s love is seen in the obedience of the Lord Jesus in going to die to redeem those who would believe.

Yes, the love of Boaz for Ruth was seen in his eagerness to redeem the land and ensure that a husband was there for Ruth.  He redeemed as a substitute for Naomi.  He purchased the land from Naomi for Naomi who was vicariously represented by Ruth.

And he was willing to even let another have the blessing of marrying Ruth.  But notice that just as Boaz was willing, so this other potential redeemer was unwilling.  And this is our next point.

2.  An Unwilling Kinsman-Redeemer

Notice, in verse 1, that Boaz does not name this nearer kinsman.  Neither does the narrator of these events.  Some have suggested that because of his unwillingness to redeem, this was a sign of God’s judgment in that his name is not recorded for posterity.  In Leviticus 25:25, there is indeed a law requiring the nearest relative to redeem land sold by the poor.

Application:

This is a sober pointer to God’s attitude to those who do not obey Him.  Their names will not appear in the book of life.  Another way of saying this, is that God will reject those who reject God.

In verse 2, we read about the assembly of ten elders either as witnesses or judges in the matter of Naomi’s land.  They gathered at the city gate.  In these ancient cities, the streets were narrow and the only place for communal gathering was often the gate area, where benches were provided for people to sit on.  The gate served as the civic centre and was also the market place.  Here prophets later addressed Kings and commoners, and Ezra read the law to the returned exiles.  This area also served as the courthouse, where public justice was dispensed.

It seems from verse 3, that because of her poverty, Naomi had decided to sell the land of her husband.  Boaz and the others are gathered there so that the land would be bought by a kinsmen redeemer, and who presumably would then ensure the ownership of the land would remain in the family of Elimelech.  This was to be ensured by the marriage of Ruth to the kinsman redeemer.

Notice in verse 4, that the other unnamed relative does indeed promise to redeem it.  Actually the phrase in Hebrew is an emphatic one.  He is stressing that he certainly will redeem the land.

Since there were no other blood relatives whom Naomi could produce, this relative no doubt thought that here was a great investment, for small outlay.  No doubt his reputation would be enhanced as he pays over money to Naomi and thereby helps her out, and no doubt too, the production of grain in the future would more than compensate him.

But notice Boaz’s clever reply in verse 5.  When you buy the field, then you have to marry Ruth as well.  No doubt Naomi had made this a condition of the sale.  Although not required in the Mosaic law, it may have developed by custom to ensure that the dead were identified still to their land.

At this point, the nameless relative, changes his tune.  If he had to marry Ruth as well, then quite simply he was not prepared to take the risk.  Why not?

He mentions his own inheritance here in verse 6.  He refers to his ancestral land that will be passed on to his children.  If he married Ruth and she had a child, then the land would become the child’s.

He would have jeopardised his own property.  Having invested in Naomi’s land, if a future child born of Ruth claimed it, it would have been at no cost.  This would mean that the relative would have lost his investment and then perhaps be forced to sell some of his own land.

Application:

If it is legitimate to see redemption by Boaz as foreshadowing Christ, it is equally legitimate to see this other relative’s refusal to redeem in opposing terms.

Man has devised many different ways to redeem himself.  It’s quite remarkable how religions almost universally see the need for payment by sacrifice.  Sometimes it involves the sacrifice of people, like the religions of the ancient Mayan civilisation of South America.  For others it involves the sacrifice of animals, or the payment of monies to priests.  Or the sacrifice of a complete renunciation of the world as we see in mystical forms of Hinduism and Buddhism.

There is a recognition which all men have that God is deeply offended by man’s lack of holiness.  And men seek ways to be justified, to be declared righteous before God or gods.

But like this unwilling redeemer, these other ways cannot satisfy the requirements of redemption.  Initially they hold out much promise, particularly the predominant religion of our own society.

Ask most Australians/New Zealanders whether God would receive them, and they unhesitatingly believe He will, because they have lived good lives.  They believe that their own good lives will satisfy God, but of course, the whole point of Ruth and the entire Bible is that our own efforts or man-made religions will fail to do that.

And although other religions, other views of the world will fail to help us, the Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, stands ever willing to redeem, just as Boaz was there waiting and willing to redeem.  Christ still calls you, and this is our final point…

3.  Christ Still Calls You

Have you tried seeking the answer elsewhere?  If you have not already, one day you will find it is impossible.  Though another way might seem to give an answer, whatever that way might be, ultimately you will see that it is unable to redeem you, a lost sinner, and so reconcile you with the Living God.

How can I be so dogmatic about that?  The Bible tells me so!  God declares all other ways to His friendship are blocked.  Our Lord Jesus says, “I am the way.”

Boaz, then, as the faithful redeemer, takes off his sandal, a sign of transaction.  He redeems the land from Naomi, agrees to marry Ruth, and gives his reason in verse 10, that he “will raise up the name of the deceased.”  By this he means that Elimelech will have a posterity after all, and the land will continue to be identified with the dead.

Application:

There is much we can say about this.  The promise of land was part of the covenant promises that God had made to His people.  They were to be heirs to the land of Canaan.  And as in all covenants, the idea of succession was present.  The land was to pass on from faithful covenant believer to faithful covenant child.

We should all desire to be like Elimelech.  He was to be remembered as an heir to his ancestral land, granted to him by covenant deed, from the hand of God Himself.  We, too, should desire to be so remembered as those heirs of a heavenly Canaan.

There was a documentary on television recently, which followed the last days and hours of a dying man.  His death, too, was actually recorded on film and was part of the documentary.  Sadly, he considered that life was merely biological and that death was the end of everything.  The programme narrator also espoused this view, seeing man’s significance in terms of being recycled atoms.  Becoming a lettuce leaf in someone’s salad hardly does justice to what can be discovered about man and his soul even by the limitations of unbelieving scientists.

No, we are those who will discover that there is life after death.  And that the thing that matters is not that we have left land here for our descendants.  What matters is that first and foremost we are heirs of that heavenly Canaan, the New Heaven and the new earth where righteousness dwells.

But secondly that our posterity also become heirs to that same inheritance.  We have a faithful Redeemer, who has paid the price for all those who will come to Him in faith.

Boaz says in verse 10, “you are witnesses today.”  We, too, are witnesses of the reality of Christ’s purchase.  Let’s shout this from the rooftops, speak it to our neighbours, and make it the ever-present subject among our children as they grow up as well.

What is the most important thing in this world?  It is to know that “my Redeemer lives”, as Job put it.

Let’s sing of that beautiful reality in the words of number 439.  But before we do that, let us pray.