Ruth 4:1-12
Based on an idea by Steve Zeisler
In Matthew 5:16 we read:
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
In the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth we see this verse fulfilled. Twice in this passage we hear the local people give praise to God. The first time, the men of Bethlehem bless Ruth and Boaz. They pray that God will keep working through Ruth, just as He worked through the women who built up the house of Israel (vv. 11,12). Then the women bless the Lord for His providence toward Naomi (vv. 14,15).
How can we be like Ruth and Boaz? How can we live in such a way that we produce similar praise from the people of our own town? The answer is: by living an unhypocritical, righteous life and by practicing redemptive thinking.
UNHYPOCRITICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS
Let us recall what happened the night before. Boaz and Ruth spent the night together on the threshing floor after the celebration marking the end of the harvest. They talked with one another, and for the first time they reached a genuine freedom in their relationship. Boaz realized that his fears — that Ruth had no interest in him because of his advanced age — had been groundless. Now in chapter four we see him begin to take the necessary steps to resolve the matter of the nearer kinsman.
What is remarkable, though, is the restraint that both of them show. They do not take advantage of the darkness, of the barriers that had fallen, or of the romantic atmosphere after the celebration to allow themselves greater physical intimacy. They understand that in order to remain honorable, they must reckon with God and with the man who is the nearer kinsman, the one who has the prior responsibility to marry Ruth.
What is it in the relationship between Boaz and Ruth that moves the men and women of their town to praise God? What kindles the fire of faith and godliness in the hearts of their neighbors and friends?
It is that Ruth and Boaz make the same choice and act in the same way both when no one is watching and when they are the center of public attention. Many of us can appear “salty” only when we are in a Christian environment. But Ruth and Boaz are “salty” even when they are alone, in the darkness. When no one sees them, they go on being restrained and placing their trust in God. They do not take shortcuts, they do not compromise, and they do not serve themselves even when they are “in secret.”
Nothing stays hidden forever. The truth always comes to light. But we have the opportunity to see Ruth and Boaz both out in the open and when no one but God is watching them. In both cases they are righteous and upright.
The people around us are watching us too. How do we behave in society? How do we treat our coworkers and our neighbors? What are we, and how do we act, when the issue is not only church matters but also secular affairs and the things bound up with our everyday life? If we serve God in the same way both publicly and when we are alone, then our fellow citizens will see our light and will glorify the One from whom it comes (Matthew 5:16).
Our conduct in church or in a religious setting cannot make up for hypocrisy in the rest of our life. We must be consistent. We must be resolved to live righteously — a devotion that begins in our heart and flows out into everything we do, into the whole of our life. When the people around us see that we are honorable, righteous, and unhypocritical, they will respond the way the people of Bethlehem responded to the actions of Boaz and Ruth — they will give glory to God!
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Along with unhypocritical righteousness, the thing that will encourage the people of our society to hope in God is redemptive thinking.
But before we go on, let us pause for a moment over some historical details in the narrative of this fourth chapter. There are a number of things in it that are unfamiliar to us — elders sitting at the town gate, the removing of a sandal… These people are part of a different culture.
Let us recall the history of God’s people. There are two important marks that set the Israelites apart.
First, there are the special promises that concern Abraham and his descendants. Every family descended from Abraham inherits God’s promises to the patriarchs. This is why in Israel genealogies, family ties, and the preservation of the line were of the utmost importance.
The second distinguishing mark of the Israelites is their bond with the land. After bringing them out of slavery in Egypt, God led the Israelites into their promised land. The Promised Land is so important that to this day it remains at the center of international politics.
The Law guaranteed the right of families to protect themselves and their heirs and to keep their land — not to sell it, not to let it pass into someone else’s hands. When Boaz turns to the responsible relative, who was the “nearer kinsman,” he raises both matters — the preservation of the land and the continuation of the line.
If the line of Elimelek were not continued, there was a danger that Naomi’s field would be sold to a third party or leased out, with no one later to whom it could be returned. So the relatives had to take the appropriate measures to keep the land as the property of their line.
And the problem was that all the men of Naomi’s family — Elimelek, Mahlon, and Kilion — had died before they could produce an heir. And if Ruth now failed to marry someone who would agree that their first child should carry the name of her deceased husband, part of their line would be lost forever.
What did the Law say about these matters?
On the question of the land, the Law of the nearer kinsman applied (Leviticus 25:23-28). According to it, if a given family had a living heir, there was no danger of it being left without land. In the year of Jubilee (every fiftieth year) its property would return to it.
23 “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. 25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. 28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property. (Leviticus 25:23-28)
Every fiftieth year the families recovered their land. But what would happen if a family had no heir? It would lose not only its name but also its land. So through the Law God had provided not only for the land but for the heir as well!
On the question of the heir, the Law of the brother-in-law applied (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
5 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. 6 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. 7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9 his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10 That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
If a man refused to keep this law, he was regarded as a traitor and was shamed forever.
GOD IS THE REDEEMER!
Both laws were redemptive — the first secured the recovery of lost land, and the second secured the recovery of a lost family. Twice in Ruth 4 (vv. 5,10) there is talk of “maintaining” the name:
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.” (Ruth 4:5)
10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses! (Ruth 4:10)
Redemption is the restoration of something that has been lost. Many of the New Testament parables are in fact redemptive stories — the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son. All of them present God as the Redeemer! Redemption comes from God and points to God!
People do not glorify God when winners receive a prize or when beautiful people receive admiration. That is something natural and ordinary.
Our heavenly Father is glorified:
— when the needy, the forgotten, and the failed are lifted up;
— when people who have been pushed out of life and regarded as outsiders and worthless are placed back at the center of things;
— when lives that have been wasted are restored through the gospel.
In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 we read:
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
THE NAMELESS KINSMAN-EXPLOITER
There is a telling silence at the beginning of chapter 4 that betrays the author’s peculiar attitude toward the “nearer kinsman.” He deliberately refuses to mention the man’s name (v. 1).
1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. (Ruth 4:1)
In our translation the word “friend” was supplied by the translators. Here the Hebrew idiom “peloni almoni” is used, which means “such-and-such a person.” So a more precise rendering would be: “Hey there, so-and-so, come, sit down here” (Strong’s: 6423 — a certain one; 492 — that one, someone — without giving the person’s name). This form of address is impersonal and carries a negative undertone.
It is implied that the author knows the name of the nearer kinsman (and Boaz surely cannot fail to know it), but deliberately omits to mention it throughout the whole account. From the conversation between the nearer kinsman and Boaz it appears that the kinsman is completely unaware of Ruth, or does not take her into account at all in his calculations. In the conversation he never once mentions Ruth’s name. Perhaps this is why the author of the book decides that since the nearer kinsman has forgotten about Ruth, his name too does not deserve to be remembered.
All of this shows a hidden distaste for the nearer kinsman. But what is it due to? His decision to refuse to take on responsibility for the widows and their property is not necessarily wrong. He knows that Boaz will take on that responsibility if he declines it, so there is no danger of the women being left without protection.
What is repulsive about the nearer kinsman are his motives. Perhaps he reasons like this: “It is a good thing that Naomi is already too old to have any more children (as she herself admits in chapter 1). So from this deal I can only gain, because I will add Elimelek’s portion to my own estate, and after Naomi dies I will inherit even the money with which I bought it. This really is a very profitable deal.” In this way the nearer kinsman would take advantage of the Law without fulfilling its purpose.
What is striking in all this is that the nearer kinsman seems not to see Ruth at all. He simply does not include her in his calculations. He behaves as though he had never known that there was a second responsibility as well, one that is part of the same transaction. Why? Perhaps because to him Ruth is an outsider, a foreigner, a stranger. I think the reason he takes no account of her presence is that the nearer kinsman does not think or see things redemptively.
What an enormous difference there is between him and Boaz. Even before he had seen her, Boaz knew about her, was moved by her faith and devotion, and saw God’s redemptive love at work in her life (2:11,12; 3:11). That is why he was ready to be an instrument in God’s hand for her blessing.
The other, nearer kinsman saw the responsibilities, the deals, the land, and the property — everything that is part of ordinary life. He could think only within those limits, only about commonplace things. He simply could not imagine that a Moabite widow could be anyone’s concern — whether God’s, his own, or anyone else’s.
The nearer kinsman is a “kinsman-exploiter” rather than a “kinsman-redeemer.” At first he is ready to make use of his privileges and buy the field (vv. 2-4).
2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.” “I will redeem it,” he said. (Ruth 4:2-4)
But then Boaz tells him that the deal involves not only the old widow but a young widow as well, and that if he wants to buy the field, he will also have to marry her and have a child by her that will not carry his own name but the family name of Mahlon and Elimelek (v. 5):
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.” (Ruth 4:5)
On hearing of this added obligation, the nearer kinsman backs out of the deal. No property will be added to his land. It will belong to Ruth’s son. For the nearer kinsman this means only responsibility without any benefit from it. So he yields his right to Boaz (v. 6).
6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.” (Ruth 4:6)
In chapter 1 we find the name of a sister-in-law from Moab who never even comes to Israel — Orpah. Yet the name of the nearer kinsman, though he is an Israelite, is crossed out of history forever, because he has not enough insight to see that God acts as a Redeemer and that it pleases Him for us to think in the same way.
THE KINSMAN-REDEEMER
After hearing the refusal of the nearer kinsman, Boaz formally “seals” the transaction of the purchase (vv. 7-11a):
7 (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.) 8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!” 11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses.” (Ruth 4:7-11)
In this whole situation the happiest of all is Ruth. She is a symbol of someone whom most of the people in town overlook, disregard, and ignore. But God sees Ruth, and Boaz sees her, and as a result she is lifted up to a place of honor and respect.
The blessing pronounced by the elders of Bethlehem is worth noting (vv. 11,12):
11 May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah. (Ruth 4:11-12)
Four people are mentioned in this blessing: Rachel, Leah, Tamar, and Perez. All of them were in one way or another stained, wronged, and disgraced. But what they all have in common is that they were all objects of God’s redemptive grace:
— For long years “Rachel was childless” in a culture that condemned the childless, but God listened to her and gave her Joseph (Genesis 30:22-23).
22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” (Genesis 30:22-23)
— Leah was an unattractive daughter and an unloved wife, so God made her very fruitful (Genesis 29:31-34):
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.” 33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. (Genesis 29:31-34)
In all, Leah bore Jacob six sons and one daughter — Jacob could not help but truly come to love her.
— Tamar was wronged by her brother-in-law and by her father-in-law in a horrific way (Genesis 38:6-26). Her story is, from our point of view, repulsive in many respects, but it demonstrates the fact that for God the failure to fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law was even more shameful than fornication.
Tamar’s first husband was a son of Judah named Er. He died before producing offspring, so Judah gave Tamar his second son, Onan, so that he might fulfill toward Tamar the duty of a brother-in-law and raise up offspring for his brother. Onan wanted to have Tamar as his wife, but not to fulfill his duty as a brother-in-law. Because he knew the offspring would not be his, during their marital relations he would spill his seed on the ground. This selfish thinking was displeasing to God, and so God put him to death. Then Judah sent Tamar to live in her father’s house and to wait until Shelah — Judah’s third son — grew up, so that he might fulfill toward her the duty of a brother-in-law. But when he too grew up, she was not given to him as a wife. So Tamar remained wronged, for without a husband and a son around her she was doomed to poverty and want.
Then she decided to take the situation into her own hands. She seized the right moment at a sheep-shearing festival which Judah attended after the death of his wife, disguised herself as a prostitute, slept with him, and became pregnant with twins, one of whom was named Perez. To prove who the father was, as a pledge for the payment for her “service” to him (which was a young goat), she asked Judah for his seal, his cord, and his staff (these objects served him as a document of identity).
Three months later word reached Judah that his daughter-in-law was pregnant, and in his anger he ordered that she be burned at the stake as a prostitute. But when they were bringing her out, she showed Judah’s things and said: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” Then Judah recognized them and said that she was more righteous than he, since he had not given her his son Shelah so that he might fulfill toward her the duty of a brother-in-law (Genesis 38:24-26).
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” 25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.” 26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again. (Genesis 38:24-26)
Through this story God condemns selfish thinking and defends Tamar’s right of redemption. Moreover, the main conclusion from it seems to be that for the culture and laws of that time, the failure to fulfill the role of a brother-in-law was more shameful and more disgraceful even than fornication and prostitution. Why? Perhaps because to fail to raise up the name of someone who had died before he could produce offspring, when there was the opportunity to do so, was contrary to God’s redemptive nature.
In the book of Ruth we read that, unlike Judah and his sons, who were selfish, and unlike the nearer kinsman, Boaz was a man who acted rightly. And he did so because he thought redemptively. Redemptive thinking glorifies God.
— The fourth person mentioned in the blessing — Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar — was a link in the scarlet thread of redemption, part of the genealogy of King David and of Christ — our Redeemer. In fact Perez was the great-great-grandfather of Boaz himself (Ruth 4:18-22):
18 This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. (Ruth 4:18-22)
God is the Redeemer. He thinks redemptively. Even though we are only dust, God has still loved us and redeemed us. In Psalm 8:3,4 the psalmist exclaims:
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8:3-4)
But although, compared with the stars, we may be insignificant, God has nevertheless made us the crown of His creation and has given us authority over all the earth (Psalm 8:5-8).
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:5-8)
And when, despite all these privileges, we failed to justify God’s trust and sinned, God did not leave us in our sin. He did not cast us off as hopeless. He loved us. He sent His Son as a kinsman-redeemer to pay the full price so that we might be restored to righteousness and privilege. And that price was unimaginably high. In order for us to be lifted up, Christ had to shed His own blood on the cross of Golgotha for us.
If we are like Him, then we too must think redemptively. Not to write people off in our calculations. But on the contrary — to be sensitive to their needs, to be able to see how God is at work in their lives, and to be willing to be instruments in His hand for their blessing.
SPIRITUALLY REFRESHED AND BLESSED
People bless God when they see honorable lives and when someone gives them hope that their existence has meaning and their life is precious. They give glory to God when they see the rejected lifted up. This gives them hope that they could be next, that God will act for them too. The people of Bethlehem bless Ruth and Boaz, but in fact they themselves were spiritually refreshed and blessed by what had happened to them.
Let us be like Ruth and Boaz. Let us live righteously and think redemptively! Let our light shine before others, that they may see our good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father!!! Amen.