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.
Boaz was a man of action. Read Ruth 4:1-10.
The closer relative, who was supposed to act as guardian-redeemer, was failing in his responsibilities. Perhaps he was already farming Elimelek’s land, without providing for the widow or heirs. Boaz pressed him to fulfill all his responsibilities as “goel,” but he was only interested in the land, not the widows.
Boaz, however, stepped up to be the true “goel,” fulfilling God’s provision for redemption. He legally bought the property, took Ruth as his wife, and committed himself to support any children who were born into the family.
The elders and others at the gate witnessed the transaction, and blessed Boaz and Ruth. Read Ruth 4:11-12.
The first part of the blessing is not surprising: Rachel and Leah, Jacob’s wives, were the matriarchs of the 12 tribes. But Tamar? That was another story—a seedy story of the breakdown of the obligations of the guardian-redeemer—the “goel.” (The story is found in Genesis 38.)
Judah, one of the 12 sons of Jacob, married a Canaanite women, and they had 3 sons. The first son was wicked, and God put him to death. The second son went in to Tamar to produce an heir, but he pulled out because the son would dilute the inheritance of his children. God put him to death for his wickedness. Judah began to feel that Tamar was bad luck, so he held back his youngest son, with the excuse that he was not old enough to fulfill his responsibilities as guardian-redeemer.
Later, Judah’s wife died, and he went out to shear his sheep. On the way to the sheep camp, he came to a prostitute along the road, and he took her. The prostitute was Tamar, who had put off her widow’s clothes to seduce Judah.
Judah was clueless on her identity, until she turned up pregnant with twin sons. Tamar provided proof of their encounter, and Judah was forced to say, “She is more righteous than I, because I wouldn’t give her to my son.” There was no “goel” for her.
The firstborn of the twins born to Judah and Tamar was named Perez, and since Bethlehem was in the tribe of Judah, many of the people of Bethlehem claimed him as an ancestor. So when the people of Bethlehem blessed Boaz and Ruth, lifting up Tamar as an example, they were saying something like, “This isn’t an ideal situation, but maybe God can make some good come out of it.
And something good did come out of it!
Read Ruth 4:13-16. The poor widow has found a husband, and they are soon blessed with a son to care for them in old age. Grandma Naomi gets to hold the child in her lap, almost like her own. The faithful love in the family brings joy and happiness, and a promising future.
The story of Ruth is a lovely story. Who is the hero of the story?
Some say the hero is Ruth, as she was a remarkable example of faith. Some say Boaz, as he was a righteous, godly man. But ultimately, the hero the story of Ruth is God. He is the Provider of “hesed,” faithful love, the ultimate “goel,” the Redeemer.
At the time of the exodus from Egypt, Moses and people sang, “You guided in ‘hesed’ the people your redeemed [goel]” (Exodus 15:13, literally). God was their guardian redeemer, even then.
In Isaiah, chapters 41 to 63, God says over and over—13 times in all—that he is the Redeemer (“goel”) of his people. In Isaiah 54:4-5, he speaks as a husband to a needy people: “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your REDEEMER; he is called the God of all the earth.”
God is the source for every faithful guardian-redeemer.
Yet the story of Boaz and Ruth leads into a greater story of redemption.
Read Ruth 4:16-22. Boaz and Ruth became the great-grandparents of King David. And, as Paul says in Acts 13:23, “From [David’s] descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.” Jesus was counted as a descendant of David, through Mary’s husband, Joseph.
(Note to preacher: The Bible does not say that Mary was a descendant of David! As a cousin of Elizabeth, she was probably a descendant of Aaron [Luke 1:15, 36]. Joseph does not get much attention in the Christmas story, but without him, could the prophecy have been fulfilled?)
Jesus was the ultimate Guardian-Redeemer.
In Luke 1:67-75, shortly before the birth of Jesus, “John [the Baptist’s] father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and REDEEMED them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.’”
As God, Jesus was a Redeemer. As a man, Jesus was a kinsman-redeemer! Hebrews 2:11 says, “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” Jesus is family!
Like every guardian-redeemer, Jesus paid a price for our redemption. What are we worth to him? How much would he pay to redeem us? 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ…”
God’s story of redemption is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Savior.
But like Ruth, each of us has our own story, and we recognize that we need a Rescuer, a Redeemer. We might feel worthless or weak. We might feel forgotten or unloved. We might be troubled or afraid. We might be empty, lost in a life without meaning or hope. We might be ashamed, unworthy, cut off from the “good people” in the world. We might be oppressed by evil, unable to overcome and break free.
WE HAVE A REDEEMER!
Paul says in Galatians 1:3-5, “…Jesus Christ…gave himself for our sins to RESCUE us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Because we have a Redeemer…
…we know we are valuable, loved, and deemed worthy of redemption.
…we are full of his love, no longer ashamed or afraid.
…we are accepted into his family, and honored as his Bride.
…we can rely on him to rescue us when we are oppressed by evil.
Our Redeemer is with us, through his Spirit, and at the end of life, he will welcome his Bride into eternal glory.
As Ephesians 1:7-14 says, “In Jesus Christ we have REDEMPTION through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us…In him we were also chosen… for the praise of his glory…When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the [final] REDEMPTION of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
