WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:25.440 If you have a Bible with you this morning, I encourage you to open it to the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:31.280 If you do not have a copy of your own, you can find one in the seat back in front of you. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:37.359 We have just heard of a little boy born in Bethlehem. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:45.200 The story of Ruth concludes with a different boy born in Bethlehem. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:53.359 This morning we're going to look at a portion of the last chapter of the book of Ruth. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.920 And I mentioned last week how we don't get a conclusion to this story. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.879 Oh, probably until about 5.15 this afternoon. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.959 So you have to come back to hear the end of the story. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:17.200 Imagine you had an insurmountable debt. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:28.879 The Gospels actually record a story like this, where an individual had a debt that would take multiple lifetimes to pay off. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:31.519 Imagine that is you. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:41.920 You have an insurmountable debt, and there are two different people who are able to assume your debt or even pay it off entirely. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:51.519 Would you care about their character if they could rescue you from your debt? 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:53.840 Would you care at all? 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:05.519 Let's say that one of the individuals was selfish and nasty and only thought about himself and what benefited him. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:12.560 Would you want that person to rescue you and to provide for your future? 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:26.960 Only to be repeatedly reminded how much you cost him, or to be continually berated about your foolishness that got you in that position in the first place, or how much of a burden you are to him? 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.840 Would that make your rescue enjoyable? 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:44.000 Let's imagine a kind, gentle, and considerate person who took over your insurmountable debt. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:56.400 This individual pays your debt from his own resources and then steps in to ensure the future of your children and your entire family. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.240 He never once mentions the cost to himself. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.199 He never reminds you of your foolish mistakes. 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.520 He never even mentions himself. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:16.960 Would you want to be rescued by the first selfish individual? 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:22.719 Or the one who considers others more significant than himself. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:33.919 On the one hand, being saved is sufficient, especially in the moment that you are released from that burden. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:53.599 But you might wish to choose differently over time, especially as the unkind, perpetual selfishness displayed by the first individual erodes your spirit just as water washes away soil. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.560 Now consider though, if you have no choice. 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.599 Imagine that the choice is not left to you. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:13.360 Ponder the possibility of being rescued from your insurmountable debt, but having no choice in who saves you. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:19.920 All you can do is pray that God would give you the right kind of person. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:25.120 What kind of redeemer would you pray for? 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.279 I know it's hard to imagine, but try. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:33.199 What kind of individual would you pray to redeem you? 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:37.199 A selfish and self-centered redeemer? 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:43.360 Or one who considers others more significant than himself. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:50.000 This is the setting for the fourth chapter of the account of Ruth and Naomi. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.040 Listen as I read it, if you want to follow along, that would be good. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:57.279 Ruth chapter 4, verse 1. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:02.319 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:07.120 And behold, the Redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken came by. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.360 So Boaz said, Turn aside, friend, sit down here. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:13.519 And he turned aside and sat down. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:18.160 And Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:20.480 And so they sat down. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:30.399 Then he said to the redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:37.680 So I thought it would I would tell you about it and say, Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.959 If you will redeem it, redeem it. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:48.560 But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:52.399 And he said, I will redeem it. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:06.560 Then Boaz said, The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:13.839 Then the Redeemer said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:18.639 Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:27.600 Now this was the custom, in former times in Israel, concerning redeeming and exchanging, in order to confirm a transaction. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.360 The one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:35.600 And this was the manner of attesting or confirming in Israel. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:42.240 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, he drew off his sandal. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:55.120 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that belonged to Kilon and Mahlon. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:10.639 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.680 You are witnesses this day. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:18.319 Then all the people who are at the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:26.480 May Yahweh make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:42.879 May you act worthily in Ephra and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that Yahweh will give you by this young woman. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:43.839 Amen. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:58.959 This morning I hope that we see the Redeemer's glory displayed particularly in his willingness to bear the cost of redeeming the needy. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:12.879 Last Sunday we learned how our storyteller caused Boaz and Ruth to tower over all others in the days of the judges when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:18.079 We left off mid-story without rest. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:25.600 Naomi would not rest until Ruth and her future was secure. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:33.840 And Naomi trusted that Boaz would not rest until he had accomplished Ruth's redemption. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.000 And that may be a literal statement. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:42.879 Boaz not resting until he had accomplished his purpose. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.320 I mean, think about it. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:56.080 Would you be able to go back to sleep after being awakened in the middle of the night with cold feet, and then you realize there's a woman laying down on the ground at your feet, and she wakes up and proposes that you marry her? 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:59.120 Guys, would you be able to go back to sleep after that? 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:03.840 We're not told. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.039 But it seems probable that Boaz didn't go back to sleep. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:27.679 Instead, early in the morning, before daybreak, he he left the pile of harvested grain that had accumulated on the threshing floor, and he goes into the village of Bethlehem, into the house of bread, to ensure Ruth and Naomi's redemption. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:39.679 But who would their redeem with the right of redemption? 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:48.960 So this section of the story before us this morning takes place in an ancient kind of courtroom. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:54.159 It details the legal proceedings of redemption in the ancient world. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:01.440 In fact, verse 7 expects readers not to understand the process. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:11.679 It says, Now this was the way it happened in ancient times, that if if one man gave up his right of redemption, he took off his shoe and gave it to the person who now has the right. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.639 Strange, but that's what they did. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:21.039 These proceedings, though, are not in a courthouse. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:25.919 They're outside, near the entrance to the village. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:40.000 This courtroom has no cameras, there's no internet, no cell phones, but it is fully public as people move in and out of town. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:45.200 So imagine yourself in Ruth and Naomi's shoes. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:56.159 Your desperation and your poverty are discussed openly and publicly by community leaders. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:08.159 Any passers-by can stop and listen in as your future, including your new potential spouse, is decided by others. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:16.879 If you think about it, this takes the proverbial small town where everyone knows everyone's business to a different level entirely. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:22.559 And Ruth and Naomi can only endure the process. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:27.600 So think about that process for a moment. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:30.639 Let's think about the legal proceedings themselves. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:37.440 Breaking down this section into its parts helps clarify what we are reading. 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:45.039 And the storyteller sets the table with this narrative recounting of the courtroom participants. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.840 Boaz leaves the field and arrives at Bethlehem. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:12:01.440 And like most communities in the ancient world of that time, Bethlehem had a gate, an entrance into the community that served as much more than just a doorway into town. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:08.879 City gates were places of public business, even civic business and legal matters. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:26.639 We have archaeological ruins today that detail entrances with small chambers on each side of a city gate, where soldiers could be stationed, kings or rulers could issue judgments, or even official business of any kind could be transacted. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.480 Some of these rooms had have benches along the insides. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:37.279 So it was likely a place like this that Boaz entered and found a seat. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:52.000 And behold, by chance, it just so happened that the Redeemer, first in line, walked by where Boaz was seated. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.360 We're not told the Redeemer's name. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:00.399 Sometimes it's translated as friend or Mr. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:01.440 So-and-so. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:14.080 Perhaps the best way to relate how Boaz calls out to him as he's walking by in our way of speaking today is with, hey you, stop here for a minute. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:15.679 We want to chat. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.399 So we have two potential redeemers. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:31.759 Then Boaz grabs ten more men, reputable and upstanding community leaders, and the official proceedings now involve twelve men. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:38.000 Twelve men decide Naomi's and Ruth's futures. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:55.200 Once everyone is present, perhaps in one of these little side rooms, all gathered together in close quarters as people are moving back and forth by the little room, Boaz lays out the case to be decided. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.519 And it has to do with the land that belonged to Elimelech. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:11.600 We haven't heard from Elimelech since the very first chapter when, lacking trust in Yahweh's provision, he left the house of bread to go to Moab, and there he died. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:18.639 Now it says in at least the English Standard Version that Naomi was selling the land. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:20.960 Not exactly. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:34.320 The reality is that Naomi didn't own the land. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:36.720 It didn't belong to her. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.879 You see, widows didn't inherit property. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:46.960 Children could, and brothers could, and fathers and uncles, but not widows. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:56.559 But she still had sort of a say in kind of what happened or what might not happen, but it didn't belong to her. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:03.120 Remember, the land given to Israelite families by God was a permanent gift. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:16.320 So if you sold the property to someone else, like Elimelech likely did before leaving Bethlehem, that land eventually returns to the original family in the year of Jubilee. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:23.679 So what Boaz describes is likely that Elimelech sold the property before leaving for Moab. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:35.919 And because Elimelech and his sons died there without children, Elimelech's ancestral land would go to someone else in the clan in the year of Jubilee. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:41.360 Which means Naomi has nothing. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:50.080 That's why Ruth had to go out and scrounge for barley and wheat in order to have something to eat. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:16:05.279 However, a redeemer, a close relative, could purchase that property back into the clan before the year of Jubilee, so that it would remain in Elimelech's family. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:06.159 So Mr. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:15.360 So-and-so here was the relative first in line to buy that property so that it would at least stay in the same general family clan. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:22.639 Naomi is permitting that redeemer to carry out that rite of redemption on her behalf. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:28.159 That's the case to be decided and witnessed publicly. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.879 Boaz then announces the procedure to be followed. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:42.000 He says, buy it, by the property, in verse 4, in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:45.519 If you will redeem it, then redeem it. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:56.720 But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.200 Pretty simple, right? 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:01.039 Pretty simple. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.440 Signed, sealed, and delivered. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:10.559 Or is it? 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:23.680 Without assigning any kind of ill will or malice to him, our narrator tells us something else happened. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.440 The Redeemer says immediately, Yeah, I'll buy it. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.240 Absolutely. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:29.119 No problem. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.319 Let's take care of this right now. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.519 And without a pause, the storyteller records, I will redeem it. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:51.119 But then Boaz speaks to ensure that the Redeemer, first in line, understood that acquiring this property also meant taking Ruth as his wife. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.359 And that changed everything. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:04.559 The first Redeemer suddenly backs out of the purchase agreement and says, I can't do that. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.079 Sorry, I might impair my own inheritance. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.200 Now that the famine is over, Mr. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:20.640 So-and-so was thinking about the financial benefit of possessing the rights and privileges to another field. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.119 He says, Why not add to my landholdings? 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.599 I can get more grain, more barley, more wheat. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:28.400 Yeah, that's a great business decision for me. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:32.160 But that all changes once Ruth enters the picture. 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:40.079 Do you remember how the property belongs to the family in perpetuity? 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:45.839 That means it always returns to the original family every 50 years. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.960 No matter what happens to it, it comes back to that family. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:54.960 The only thing that changes that is if a family has no children. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:03.200 In that case, the property shifts to the next closest family member. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:08.160 In that case, it's our redeemer, Mr. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:09.279 So-and-so. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:13.440 But he failed to think about Ruth. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.079 Now there was no law that stated Mr. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.160 So-and-so had to marry Ruth. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:24.000 There's no stated expectation in the culture anywhere that Mr. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:28.880 So-and-so had to take Ruth as his wife if he bought the property. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.759 That would have been expected if the Redeemer was Elimelech's brother. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.279 But that doesn't seem to be the case. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:46.640 So Boaz appears to be operating on the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:59.039 And in Boaz's mind, God cared for the widow so much that the right act in the spirit of the law was for the Redeemer to acquire the land and marry Ruth. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:06.640 And if he agreed to marry Ruth, then he's also agreeing to care for Naomi all the rest of her life. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.839 How does the businessman deal with that? 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:26.799 As a business decision, he's mentally imagining his overall net worth and cash flow increasing as he has the opportunity to purchase another investment property. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:34.559 But caring for a wife and a mother-in-law impacts that negatively. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:44.160 And to top it off, if he and Ruth happened to have a baby, the field would no longer belong to him, but to that child. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:57.039 Meaning all of the expenses that he poured into that property and into caring for Ruth and into caring for Naomi would not benefit his family, but only that child. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:11.920 And if that particular redeemer has no other children, then the property that he has inherited would all go to Ruth's family line, leaving nothing for his family to inherit. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:14.960 So Mr. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:23.039 So-and-so is now unwilling to bear the cost of redeeming Ruth and Naomi. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.039 He says, no, that is not a wise business decision for me. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.680 He could see no profit in that arrangement. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:42.960 So following the custom of the times, he confirms his decision to hand over the rite of redemption to Boaz by taking off his sandal and handing it to Boaz. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.720 He said, It's yours now. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:45.839 You can do this. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:53.680 That outcome is immediately announced in this small public space. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:22:01.119 Boaz said to the elders and all the people Notice, we go from twelve men now to All the people. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:10.559 People streaming in and out of the gate have now stopped to overhear the proceedings and they're interested in what's going to happen to Ruth and Naomi. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:11.759 It's like a soap opera. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:16.079 And now it's announced publicly. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:27.599 You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belong to Elimelech and all that belong to Mahlon and Kilon. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:37.599 Also, Ruth the Moabite, the foreigner, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.960 And so finally, there is a public confirmation of this legal outcome. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.640 Verses 11 and 12. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.640 All the people who were at the gate, and the elders said, We are witnesses. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:57.119 Yes, we we see this, we hear it, and now we want to bless you. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:04.960 But notice that the blessing has absolutely nothing to do with the property. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:07.279 Did you catch that? 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:11.279 All along we've been talking about the property, the land. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.920 And then Boaz says, Oh, by the way, there's Ruth involved too. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:15.839 Don't you have to consider her. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:28.079 And in the end, the blessing is not on the productivity of the property, not on the amount of grain, barley, and wheat that's going to be harvested, not on not having a famine. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:33.519 The blessing is on the people. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.759 The blessing is all about Ruth and their upcoming marriage. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:38.640 So Mr. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:45.920 Hey, you sought a blessing through the property and didn't get it. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:53.759 Boaz, though, receives a blessing through his redemption of a foreigner. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:57.519 That's the story. 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:08.000 The family's tragic wanderings and their struggle to survive have a happy ending. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:13.039 You could turn off the TV right at that point and be good. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.400 Ruth will be married to a good guy. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:26.160 And Naomi will have a pleasant end of life supported by Boaz and Ruth. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:33.440 That would be a satisfactory ending to the way the story began. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:40.559 But friends, we miss our blessing if we only hear a happy ending. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:44.240 You now know the whole story. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.799 They didn't trust Yahweh to provide, so they left town. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:50.799 They left the country. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:56.960 When God began to provide again, they came back, but it was only Miss Bitter and Ruth. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:01.519 When God began to provide, Ms. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.799 Bitter changed her name back to Naomi, Miss Pleasant. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:08.240 And everything started to work out. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:10.480 Isn't that wonderful? 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.799 You now know the whole story, but what is the storyteller's point? 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:23.279 Following the legal proceedings, we have to observe this literary point. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:30.319 In the story, only one Redeemer is worthy. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:38.480 Only one Redeemer is worthy. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:43.279 Verse 11. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:47.119 All the people who were at the gate and the elders said, We're witnesses. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:53.920 May Yahweh make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.440 May you act worthily. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:03.519 And who are the only two worthy people in the book of Ruth? 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:06.799 Boaz and Ruth. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.759 There is only one worthy Redeemer. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.079 Boaz won the rite of redemption and got the girl. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:34.079 And this section details how that happened in the culture of the time, but in telling the story, he's also weaving in elements that shout to all readers the unworthiness of the first redeemer. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:45.599 It's not unusual in our day and age to hear that someone marries someone else for their money or for their fame and power. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:48.640 That's Mr. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:49.759 So-and-so. 00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:53.759 He was in it for the money. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:58.400 But he would have made a terrible redeemer. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:01.599 He didn't care about the people. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.319 He didn't care about Ruth and Naomi. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:08.319 He only cared about himself and keeping his property in the family. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:14.799 He wasn't about to endanger that to help a couple of widows, one of them a foreigner. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:26.720 If you're following along with me, now you begin to understand why the storyteller doesn't tell us his name. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:32.880 He's not worthy enough to have his name remembered. 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:42.480 His character reveals that he is unworthy of even having a name. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.920 Why put his financial future on the line for them? 00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:01.440 Why endanger his family's future to help them? 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:08.880 But Boaz gave no thought to his financial future. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:14.000 He gave no thought to what might happen if he did the right thing. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:18.240 He was under no legal obligation either. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:30.720 But he knew, he knew that in the mind of Yahweh, pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:32.960 James chapter 1, verse 27. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:40.000 So as Yahweh visited his people with bread, Boaz visits the widows with provisions. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:50.559 Yahweh had visited his people with bread, and Boaz visits the widows in their affliction, all while keeping himself unstained from the world. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.039 Only one redeemer was worthy. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:07.440 Now consider, consider not having a choice of redeemers. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:22.240 Ponder the possibility of being rescued from your dire position, but having no choice in who saves you. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:28.319 What kind of redeemer would you pray for? 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:37.039 Would you ask God for a selfish and self-centered redeemer who thinks only of himself? 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:45.519 Or would you ask God for the redeemer who considers others more significant than himself? 00:29:50.799 --> 00:30:04.559 Now, beloved, consider Jesus, who endured from sinners such hostility against himself. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:19.359 Look to him, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame. 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:43.039 For Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of Boaz and Ruth might come to the Gentiles like it came to Ruth the Moabitist, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:54.559 My friends, on this Christmas Eve, only one Redeemer is worthy of your trust. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:06.799 That's why the writer to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 3, verse 3, for Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than even Moses. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:30.400 Two Redeemers met in Ruth four. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:45.200 And much like Esau with his birthright hundreds of years earlier, the man first in line gives up his place. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:52.960 But the scriptures also tell us that God chose Jacob over Esau. 00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:02.079 By scanning through the storyteller's intent here, we can see that God also chose Boaz over Mr. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:03.039 So-and-so. 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:14.160 As Esau chose to dispense with his birthright, so too the Redeemer who had no name is not worthy to have his name remembered. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:15.359 He is Mr. 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:22.160 Heyu, who refused to rescue others when it might cost him. 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:34.400 As so many times in the times of the judges, the first Redeemer did what was right in his own eyes. 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:39.279 But Boaz lives out his faith in Israel's God. 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:46.720 We see that in his unquestioned willingness to do what is right in the Lord's eyes, no matter the cost. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:33:12.160 So we see then again and again this lasting principle that the Redeemer, the true Redeemer's glory, is seen by everyone who has eyes to see that his great glory is found in his willingness to bear the cost of redeeming those in need. 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:14.720 Mr. 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:19.920 So-and-so's identity is long lost to history. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:40.000 But Boaz is memorialized forever as the redeemer willing to pay the price to secure redemption for Naomi, the widow from Bethlehem, and Ruth, the Moabite, the foreign widow, who took refuge under the wings of Yahweh. 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:46.880 Boaz was not a judge in the days when the judges judged. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:53.119 Yet his glory towers over even the judges. 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:58.559 For he gave himself to redeem those without hope. 00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:03.359 He saved those who could do nothing to save themselves. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:09.360 He gave himself to redeem those without hope. 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:22.239 If you return this evening, you will see how the divine author of Scripture reveals that Boaz is far more than a good guy occupying a brief moment on the screen of history. 00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:30.800 Boaz is a glorious prelude to the real story. 00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:45.440 The real story of how a son of Boaz would be born in Bethlehem, who would bear the cost to redeem all who trust in him. 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:50.400 He is the redeemer who is God's own son. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:35:05.760 One who did not hold on at all costs to the glory that he had, but set it aside so that he could take on the form of one of his creatures. 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:25.760 One in whom there is no condemnation, who purchased our redemption so that we might be granted the forgiveness of sins and might be fully adopted sons and daughters of the living God. 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:38.320 Observing Boaz's glory as a redeemer, must direct our eyes of faith to see Christ's glory. 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:45.840 That glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:50.400 And so by faith we trust him now to redeem us. 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:59.280 And by faith, we look ahead to the day when he will return to complete our redemption. 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:11.679 As Naomi and Ruth may be sitting at home somewhere, wondering what will happen? 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:14.800 What will happen this morning? 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:18.400 Will we be redeemed? 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:21.599 We have no thought about that. 00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:33.199 For Christ has already died, been buried, and risen again to purchase a redemption if you trust in him. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:49.440 In the same way, as Ruth and Naomi could anticipate Boaz's return as their redeemer, so God's people today anticipate his return to complete their redemption. 00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:50.400 Let's pray together. 00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:55.840 Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you, giving you thanks for what you've done. 00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:09.760 Thank you that we can look at this account in the Old Testament of needy people and see ourselves in Ruth's shoes and Naomi's shoes and desperately needing rescue. 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:17.119 Thank you that we can see and receive that rescue. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:26.400 And the hope of your birth, of your life, of your death, burial, and resurrection. 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:38.719 May we lift up our eyes this morning to see with eyes of faith and hope your eventual return to make all things right. 00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:45.920 We give all of this praise and glory and honor to you, for you are the worthy redeemer of your people. 00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:47.039 Amen. 00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:52.880 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:59.920 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:04.320 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.