I recently stumbled on the book of Ruth as I contemplated what to study next in my bible reading. I felt the Spirit prompting me to spend some time therein.
The book of Ruth in the bible has many lessons for us today and for me in particular. One of them is an appreciation of Christ as a “kinsman’s redeemer!” What an atonement He is! What a savior! What an advocate! Thank you Jesus! I love and appreciate you soooo much oh!!
Ruth was a Moabite woman who obtained favour in life due to God’s grace and her loyalty to her mother in law! She was a widow to Naomi’s son in Moab. After her husband died, she decided to go back to Bethlehem with Naomi her mother in law. There she met a gentleman called Boaz who redeemed her and married her. They bore a son called Obed – King David’s grandfather!
Naomi was a Hebrew woman who became a widow in Moab, a foreign land of idolatry. Her and her family had run away from Bethlehem due to famine. She had a husband – Elimelech and two sons – Mahlon and Kilion. After 10 years of living in Moab, Noami lost her husband and the 2 sons, with no grand-child.
Isn’t this how we feel lost in the wilderness without Christ? We feel empty and live does not mean much!
Boaz was a relative of Naomi’s late husband who later fell in love with Ruth and got married to her as the next in line of Naomi’s kinsman’s redeemer. (Ruth 4:1-12).
Boaz went to the gate to make this legal transactions. Boaz called upon the elders of the city and Naomi’s closest relative. For any transaction to be legal then, one needed 10 elders/mature men present as witnesses to the discussions. Boaz presents the issue. She wanted to sell her late husband’s land according to the property law then. (Lev 25:25). Keep with me please, I am going somewhere with this…According to the law, the nearest kinsman’s redeemer could purchase the land and marry the widow. So Boaz spearheaded this process required for the fulfillment of all the rules, laws and requirements at the gate. The closest redeemer was not ready to buy the land for Ruth but not marry her. So he removed the sandal and gave it Boaz, symbolically allowing him to buy the land and marry Ruth.
This story that may seem ordinary is really a picture of Jesus Christ loving the world, fulfilling all that the legal requirement and then redeeming it to Himself. (Rom 5:8; John 15:13 – greater love has no man….). Jesus purchased us – His body! At the gate of time – the fullness of time, He took care of legal matters that pertained to us as people who needed redemption. The wages of sin is death …..so Jesus had to die.
- He redeemed - Jesus came to redeem – Mk 10:45 John 1:14
- Fulfilled the law He paid the penalty – Mtt 5:17 – 18
- Purchased Naomi and Ruth – Jew and Gentile
- Ruth became his bride – we are the bride of Christ.
In conclusion, the law can never save us Just like Ruth’s closest kinsman redeemer could not save her. We need redemption by faith in Jesus Christ who paid the price for it just like Boaz paid the price for Ruth. It is free of charge to us! Hallelujah!
Just as God was busy writing a story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz without their knowledge, So is God writing stories with our lives that we shall understand along the way and when we reach heaven.
As we walk along life’s journey, falling in ditches, climbing mountains, going through the valleys of the shadow of death, through the wilderness and patched places of the earth, let us keep the end of this story in mind.
Let us just keep trusting God and keep in step with Him. He knows precisely what he is doing! He is never too early nor too late. And let us never underrate or take for granted the price Christ paid for our freedom! He is to be praised for ever
AMEN!
