Text: Ruth chapter 3
Title: The Redemption of Ruth
Introduction
The story of Ruth is a story about redemption. The story begins in chapter one with a great tragedy and will end in chapter 4 with a great triumph. It begins with a Crisis and ends with a Celebration!
Today we are in Ruth chapter 3 so we are not yet at the triumph part but it’s in this chapter that we are introduced to what made the triumph possible; in one word it is redemption.
The word Redemption means; to rescue by the paying of a ransom price.
Here is the Outline we will use for Ruth chapter 3
1. The Pain (v1)
"One Day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for?
A. One day Naomi expresses to her daughter in law Ruth her hope of a rescue.
What that hope of a rescue looked like was this: "a home for you, where you will be well provided for"?
We see that Naomi wanted a better life for Ruth;
a. to see her in a new home
b. to see her well provided for.
2000 years later Jesus would wish something similar for his disciples
John 14:1-3
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. trust in God, trust also in me. in my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so i would have told you. i am going there to prepare a place for you. And if i go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
a. Jesus too wanted to see his disciples in a new home
b. Jesus too wanted to see his disciples well provided for
And two thousand years on Jesus wants the same for us.
a. He wants every one of us to be in his Father's house (heaven)
b. He wants all of us to be well provided for there.
Back to our story:
B. Every rescue needs a rescuer
Ruth could not rescue herself. She was too poor. After all she had come to Bethlehem from Moab with nothing
v2. Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours?
Thankfully the law of God provided a way for someone to be rescued.
a, A person could be rescued by a kinsman redeemer
3 conditions had to be in place in order for a kinsman redeemer to bring about a rescue
1. the kinsman redeemer had to be the closest living relative
2. the kinsman redeemer had to have the financial means to carry out te rescue
3. the kinsman redeemer had to have the willingness to carry out the rescue
We see Naomi already had in mind who was going to do the rescuing.
v2. Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours?
Now of the three conditions necessary for a rescue
Naomi was sure of one: Boaz had the financial means to pay the price to carry out the rescue
Naomi was mistaken about another. we will later discover Boaz was not the closest living relative
Naomi was unsure about the third. Did Boaz have the willingness to carry out the rescue?
but thinking she was 2 for 2 Naomi goes for 3 for 3!
2. the plan (2-6)
“tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. then go and uncover his feet and lie down. he will tell you what to do. I will do whatever you say, Ruth answered. so she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother in law told her to do."
Naomi has already done her homework! She has come up with a plan to help Ruth get rescued; a plan to bring about a home for her where she will be well provided for.
In John 14:1-3 Jesus too had a plan in place so that his disciples could have a home in heaven where they would be well provided for.
The plan of Jesus was simple: in order to secure a home in heaven for yourself and to be well provided for they had just to -Trust in Jesus!
Question: everyone who believes in heaven has a plan for how they think they will get there? But Will that plan work for them? Will it actually get them into heaven?
Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
back to our story (v7-11)
from all accounts it appears the plan of Naomi to rescue Ruth is working great
Ruth has found favor with Boaz and Boaz is willing to rescue Ruth from poverty
3. The problem (v12)
Boaz does not meet all three conditions to become a kinsman redeemer to Ruth he meets only 2.
he meets the financial condition.
he meets the willingness condition.
but he is not the nearest living relative. (v12)
According to the Law he cannot give Ruth a new home and provide for her.
Are laws meant to be broken or are laws meant to be kept?
After all 2 out of 3 should be good enough
one of the theme you will find throughout the old testament is that you can't do what you are not qualified to do.
the law was very precise about who could and could not do certain things.
for example there was certain things that only the High priest could do on penalty of death.
Even king Saul lost the kingdom for offering the sacrifice that only the prophet Samuel could offer.
If a person has a plan on how they will get to heaven that plan must line up with the law of God in order to work
Any plan that involves trying to be good enough to get into heaven won't work!
the person who sins; he will die.
you wish it said, the person who sins he will not die because all of us has sinned.
If the law says "the person who sins he will die" then we have to be redeemed from the curse of the Law
4. The Promise (v13)
Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to redeem good, let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it! Lie here until morning.
Ruth received a promise from Boaz that either way she was going to be redeemed!
the only way Boaz could redeem Ruth was if the one closer living relative was not financially able or willing to do it.
The Lord too gave his disciples a promise of redemption
i am going there to prepare a place for you. And if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where i am.
We too have the promise of Redemption from the curse of the law
Ephesians 1:7 in him we have redemption through his blood
1Peter 1:18 there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Next week when we look at chapter 4 we will find out that Ruth was successful in being redeemed. She will find a new home. She will be well provided for.
Her hope will be rewarded. Her faith will become sight!
Today you and I also have the assurance of a new home in heaven and a place where we will be well provided for.
Jesus is our Boaz.
He has redeemed us from the curse of the law by dying on the Cross in our place.
1. Acknowledge your pain.
2. Let go of your plans
3. Receive the promise
