Redemption. Historically, the word means purchasing the freedom of a slave in order to set them free. In Hebrew law, when a married man died, his closest, male next-of-kin, had the right to purchase his property and also marry his widow. They came together as a package deal. In the story of Ruth, Naomi is the widow of Elimelech, whose name means “God is King”. Ruth is the widow of Naomi and Elimelech’s son, Mahlon. Apparently, there was a closer “kinsman-redeemer” than Boaz. This person, probably was a 1st cousin, where Boaz may have been a second cousin. The family-redeemer would also save the widow from poverty. Boaz, though in love with Ruth, had to do the right thing and go to the closer kinsman-redeemer before he could marry her. Let’s dig in….
Ruth 4 – The Kinsman-Redeemer
Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. Just then the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together. 2 Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. 3 And Boaz said to the family redeemer, “You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 I thought I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don’t want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.”
The man replied, “All right, I’ll redeem it.”
5 Then Boaz told him, “Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband’s name and keep the land in the family.”
6 “Then I can’t redeem it,” the family redeemer replied, “because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it.”
7 Now in those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. 8 So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”
9 Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”
11 Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”
The Descendants of Boaz
13 So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15 May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”
16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.
18 This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Ruth 4 NLT
19 Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon (the husband of Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho).
21 Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
22 Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.
Check out Jesus’ full lineage here.
Points to Ponder
- So, Jesus has not one, but two, not just Gentile, but former pagan women, in His ancestral line. Which goes to show that He came to save not just Jews but Gentiles, too! And, no matter how deep you are into today’s pagan religions, you can surrender your life to Jesus and He will forgive you!
- The other family-redeemer refused Ruth because of the law. (Probably because she was a Gentile woman with a pagan heritage.) However, the law itself cannot save us. Neither can the rites or rituals demanded by many religions.
- Boaz was noble and did the right thing — even if it was in a very clever way. He probably knew that the family-redeemer wouldn’t accept Ruth, a pagan Moabite.
- In v. 10, the women say that the child will carry on the family name of Elimelech, which means “God is King”.
- Here, the lineage of Jesus is solidified. As we continue our trek through the Old Testament, we’ll see how God’s plan for sending our redeemer lays out perfectly. We’ll also see how Jesus fulfills not only the Laws of Moses, but every single prophecy that speaks of the coming Messiah. Jesus is Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, the King of kings!
Praise the Lord Who Has Provided a Redeemer!
No matter what we do, we can NEVER save ourselves! What many fake religions tell you is that you’ll get to heaven by doing good works, by being “good”. The truth is that, by yourself, You can NEVER be GOOD ENOUGH! Only THROUGH Jesus! Praise the Lord! He provided a Redeemer for us! He is our Confident Hope!
We ALL were born as slaves to sin. But He loved each and every one of us SO much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be our Redeemer. Jesus Himself said…
28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28 NLT
You are NOT FREE if you are a SLAVE to Religion!
Jesus didn’t suffer torture and die so we could have religion! He died so He could have a Relationship with YOU!
Jesus is also coming back for His born-again believers any day now! Are you ready?
It’s Time to Get Right With GOD!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
Son of David
The Story of Ruth Movie
Even though Hollywood took an extreme artistic license with the Book of Ruth, I’m including it here because, it’s well-acted and it depicts what ancient paganism and child sacrifice looked like. They give Ruth a backstory of being a priestess to the Moabite god Chemosh, to which they sacrificed children. (Think about today’s version of child sacrifice — abortion. The child is sacrificed for the gods of pride, vanity, greed and lust.)
There are many instances where they deviate from the Biblical story. The deviation that makes me mad is when they show Boaz as a mean person, where in the true story, all he showed Ruth was kindness and respect. But, that’s Hollywood! They twist the story to make it more dramatic. So, watch this movie and since you’ve read the true story in the Bible, see how many errors or deviations you can spot….
Learning Biblical History is fun! If you read the Bible cover-to-cover, the stories are not exactly in chronological order. It gets a bit confusing with all the kings after Solomon and then the exile and then the prophets. Some prophets were before the exile, some after. I’ve studied the Old Testament several times and the best way to really grasp what God was doing, and how most of the people kept disobeying, is in chronological order.
Starting with tomorrow’s post we’ll begin going through the Old Testament in historical sequence.
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Soli Deo Gloria! To God Alone Be the Glory!
Top image by Sweet Publishing from FreeBibleImages.org, (CC BY-SA 3.0)