The Day The Devil Took Off His Shoe

THE DAY THE DEVIL TOOK OFF HIS SHOE

Ruth 4:7-8

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A man, down on his luck, went into a church which catered to the "uppity". Spotting the man's dirty clothes the pastor, worried about the churches image, went to the man and asked him if he needed help. The man said, "I was praying and the Lord told me to come here."

The pastor suggested that the man go pray some more and possibly he might get a different answer. The next Sunday the man returned. The deacon asked, "Did you get a different answer?"

The man replied, "Yes I did. I told the Lord that they don't want me in that church and the Lord said, 'Don't worry about it son - I've been trying to get into that church for years and haven't made it yet."

2. An old pastor made it a common practice to visit the church school once a week. He walked into the 4th grade class, where the children were studying the states, and asked them how many states could they name. They came up with about 40 names. He jokingly told them that in his day, students knew the names of ALL the states. One lad raised his hand and said, "Yeah, but in those days there were only 13 states."

3. A debt-overwhelmed man, hopelessly poring over a pile of bills, suddenly shouted “I’d give a thousand dollars to anyone who would do my worrying for me!” “You’re on,” said his wife. “Where is the thousand?” “That is your first worry,” he replied.

B. TEXT

“(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.) So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.” Ruth 4:7-8.

C. THESIS

We’re going to look at the story behind this quote, the symbolic nature of the people involved in it and the brilliant light it casts upon our powerful liberty in Jesus Christ.

I. THE STORY OF THE BOOK OF RUTH

A. MISFORTUNE STRIKES A FAMILY

1. Famine in Judah.

2. Jewish family decided to move to Moab; Elimelech & Naomi, and two sons, Mahlon & Kilion.

3. Both sons grew up and married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Then, possibly because of some pandemic, Naomi’s husband and both sons died, leaving only the daughters-in-law.

4. After a time of mourning, Naomi decided to go back to her home town of Bethlehem. She attempted to dissuade her daughters in law from coming with her, but Ruth said, “Where you go, I will go; where you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God my God.” And so Ruth went with Naomi back to Israel.

B. LAND STAYED IN THE FAMILY

1. There was still a piece of land in Judah owned by Naomi, it was her husband’s inheritance when the land was divided up by Joshua. When a man died in Israel without an heir, the closest male relative by Law was allowed first choice to buy or “redeem” the property.

2. If the man who died left a widow young enough for childbearing, the kinsman redeeming the land also had to marry the widow and procreate one child for the deceased man, that his name not disappear from the registry of Israel. This is what happened to Ruth, the widow of Mahlon.

3. “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” Deut. 25:5-6.

“If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold” Lev. 25:25.

C. BOAZ, THE KINSMAN-REDEEMER

1. Boaz wanted to redeem/claim the land of Mahlon and add it to his inheritance, but even more he wanted to marry Ruth. The Problem? There was a Kinsman-Redeemer who was closer in the family tree to Mahlon than Boaz was; this man had the prior right and had to give it up for Boaz to claim it.

2. What made the Jewish readers of this story excited was something you might not know; that the child that Boaz and Ruth ultimately bore was Oded, the grandfather of David who was chosen by God as the ancestor of Christ! And Christ is the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer, of which Boaz is a type!

II. THE TRADITIONS SURROUNDING THE SHOE