Ruth 4: God Provides A Redeemer Series

Ruth 4: God Provides a REDEEMER

(Preacher: I began with a children’s message, asking the children about their favorite fairy tale or animated movie. Is there a rescuer? Someone is in trouble, and they are rescued. At a deeper level, right or good wins, love overcomes, wrong is defeated by a hero or superhero. Galatians 1:4 [Jesus Christ] “gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age…”)

Do you remember any fairy tales? When you think about it, many of them have the same theme: The main character is in a difficult, even impossible situation, and someone comes to rescue him or her. The situation might be caused by foolishness, pride, jealousy, or unfairness. The rescuer might be a prince or princess, a woodsman, or in Disney’s Frozen, sister Anna.

Why is there such a fascination with rescuers? Stories convey our deepest needs and desires, and sometimes we wish that someone would appear in our own life stories to fix everything, and make things right.

If you found yourself in a story, what would be your dilemma? Would you be unappreciated, insignificant, or disrespected? Would you be misunderstood, or would there be trouble in your family? Would you feel unworthy or ashamed? Would you be threatened, with wolves at the door, or death staring you in the face? Or would your story be about people you love: a family member in danger, an abused friend, a lost child?

Is there a rescuer in your story?

God’s story has a Rescuer, and we see a foreshadowing of the Rescuer in the story of Ruth.

Ruth’s story begins as Elimelek takes his wife Naomi and their two sons to Moab, to escape famine in Bethlehem. His sons marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. The man and his sons die, leaving 3 widows. Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, and the daughters-in-law go with her. On the way, Ruth tells her daughters-in-law they should return home to their mothers’ houses. (Do they not have fathers?) Their only hope, she says, is to marry a decent Moabite man.

Ruth, however, declares her undying faith in the God of Israel: “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” For a woman raised in a pagan home, her faith could only be a gift of God’s grace.

Acting on her faith, Ruth returns to Bethlehem with Naomi. To give them something to eaty, she goes into a field to gather grain, since God has commanded that people like her be allowed to glean whatever grain she can find on the ground. By God’s providence, she goes into the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelek. Boaz is a righteous man, who goes beyond the legal requirements of gleaning, to arrange for extra grain to be left for Ruth to gather. Boaz treats the poor foreign widow with respect and honor.

In his dealings with people, Boaz reflects the “hesed” of God—the faithful covenant love, by which kindness and grace are shown to all people.

At Naomi’s suggestion, Ruth risks her honor on the “hesed” of God and Boaz. In the dark of night, she throws herself at the feet of Boaz, saying, (Ruth 3:9) “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”

The word translated “guardsman-redeemer” is the Hebrew word, “goel.” The noun and verb forms of “goel” appear 20 times in the book of Ruth! Maybe it is important.

“goel” can be translated simply as “redeemer,” but in Ruth and elsewhere it refers to a special person, a kinsman who is responsible to redeem or rescue a relative in need. In Leviticus, the “goel” was a relative who could redeem property that had been sold to pay debts, or purchase the freedom of a man who had sold himself as a slave.

A brother had even greater responsibility, under God’s law. Deuteronomy 25:5-6 says, “If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.” This seems very strange to us, but for a widow without any means of support except prostitution, it was a godsend.

Boaz was not a brother of Elimelek or Mahlon, Ruth’s deceased husband. Besides, Ruth was not an Israelite by birth, so he was not obligated to marry her or support her. Yet Boaz, motivated by “hesed” (faithful love), as well as his respect for Ruth, chose to assume the role of the “goel.”

So there in the dark, Boaz laid out a plan. Read Ruth 3:9-13.