Boaz Redeems Ruth

Boaz kept his word. Naomi had told Ruth, “The man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day” (3:18). She was right. Boaz went straight to the city gate (4:1). The city gate. The gate was like a town hall and a courtroom. Boaz gathered “ten men of the elders of the city” (4:2) so everyone could see the deal was fair. What is a redeemer? In God's law, when a poor family had to sell its land, “his redeeming relative” could buy it back (Leviticus 25:25). A redeemer had to be a close relative, he had to be able to pay, and he had to be willing. The first answer. The closer relative said, “I will redeem it” (4:4). More land sounded good to him. The full cost. Then Boaz explained that the buyer must also take Ruth as his wife, “to perpetuate the name of the dead” (4:5). Perpetuate means keep going. Ruth's first son would carry on Mahlon's family and own the land. The second answer. “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance” (4:6). He would pay for land that his own sons would never own. He cared about his own family, but he would not pay that price. The sandal. Handing over a sandal sealed the deal, a little like signing your name (4:7-8). What this means for you. Some kinds of help cost us nothing. Real love pays a price. Boaz was able and willing, and Jesus is the Redeemer who was willing to pay everything for you.

Go'el (4:1). Every “close relative” in Ruth 4 is the Hebrew go'el (say: goh-AYL), from ga'al (say: gah-AHL), to buy back or set free. A go'el was the family member responsible to rescue a relative in trouble. Two laws meet. Leviticus 25:25 let a go'el buy back land a poor relative had sold. Deuteronomy 25:5-6 told a man to marry his dead brother's widow so that the first son would carry on the dead man's name. In Ruth 4 both duties fall on the same man. God at work (4:1). Verse 1 says, “and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by.” Boaz did not have to search the town. God was arranging the morning. The elders (4:2). Ten elders made it a public, legal act. What Boaz did at the gate could not be quietly undone later. The cost (4:5-6). The field would belong to Ruth's son, counted as Mahlon's heir, not to the redeemer's own children. He would spend his own silver on property his family could never keep. To protect his own estate, he stepped aside. The sandal (4:7-8). Verse 7 explains the custom: it “was a confirmation in Israel.” Handing over the sandal handed over his right to act as redeemer. Why it matters. The law could name the duty, but only a willing redeemer could carry it out. Jesus did not hold back to protect Himself. “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Boaz did not wait around. He went to the city gate first thing. That was where leaders settled important matters. Boaz wanted to keep his promise to Ruth. In Israel, a close relative could buy back a family's land. That helper was called a redeemer. A redeemer is someone who pays to set things right. The other man wanted the land. But he did not want to marry Ruth too. He was worried about his own family. He was not a bad man, but he held back. Boaz was willing to pay the whole cost. That is what real love does. God was guiding every step that morning.

Boaz went to the city gate. He wanted to help Ruth and Naomi. Another man said no. Boaz was ready to help.

Bought from Naomi. Boaz said, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi” (4:9). Naomi's broken family now had a protector. Ruth the Moabitess. “Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife” (4:10). Acquired means gained. Boaz said it out loud, with her name and her people. He was not ashamed of where she came from. A name kept alive. Boaz did it “that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren” (4:10). He was caring for a family that could no longer care for itself. Witnesses. All the people answered, “We are witnesses” (4:11). The deal was public, and it was final. A blessing. They prayed that Ruth would be “like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel” (4:11). Rachel and Leah were Jacob's wives, the mothers of the family that became Israel. Perez. They also prayed that Boaz's house would be “like the house of Perez” (4:12). Perez was a son of Judah and Boaz's ancestor from long ago (4:18-21). What this means for you. Boaz paid the price and gave Ruth his name. Jesus paid for you with His own life. Everyone who trusts Him is welcomed into God's family and given a new name: a child of God.

Acquired (4:10). The verb is qanah (say: kah-NAH), to buy or acquire, the same word used for buying the field in 4:9. Ruth was not property. The word shows that Boaz took on a real cost and a lifelong responsibility for her whole future. The Moabitess. Boaz names her people out loud (4:10). God's law kept Moabites out of the assembly of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:3). Ruth came in by faith, having come to the God of Israel, “under whose wings you have come for refuge” (2:12). Witnesses (4:11). In Israel a legal matter was settled on the word of witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). Ruth's place in Israel was a matter of public record. Rachel and Leah. The two sisters “built the house of Israel” (4:11). The Hebrew word for build, banah (say: bah-NAH), sounds like ben (say: BEN), son. To build a house meant to give a family children. Ephrathah and Bethlehem. Ephrathah is the old clan name for the Bethlehem area (1:2). The prophet Micah later named Bethlehem Ephrathah as the town from which Israel's Ruler would come (Micah 5:2). Perez (4:12). Perez was born to Tamar and Judah in Genesis 38, a painful family story. God still worked through that family to bring kings. Why it matters. At the gate, Boaz did publicly what Ruth had asked privately at the threshing floor (3:9). Jesus redeemed His people in public too, on a cross outside Jerusalem, for everyone to see.

Boaz stood up in front of everyone. He said he was buying all of Naomi's family land. He also said Ruth would be his wife. Ruth had come from far away in Moab. She was poor and far from her home. Boaz did not treat her like a stranger. He made her part of his own family. All the people watched it happen. They said, “We are witnesses.” Then they prayed for God to bless Boaz and Ruth. They asked God to make their family great. Jesus does something like this for us. He paid our price on the cross. He brings us into God's family.

Boaz paid for the land. He took Ruth as his wife. Everyone saw it happen. Now Ruth belonged to his family.

The Lord gave. Boaz married Ruth, and “the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son” (4:13). Conception means the start of a baby's life. Every child is a gift from God. Praise goes to God. The women did not begin by praising Boaz or Ruth. They said, “Blessed be the Lord” (4:14). God was the real hero of Naomi's story. Not left alone. The women said God “has not left you this day without a close relative” (4:14). This is our memory verse. The baby would grow up to protect and provide for Naomi's family. Life again. They prayed he would be “a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age” (4:15). A restorer brings back what was lost. Empty to full. Back in chapter 1, Naomi said, “I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty” (1:21). Now “Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom” (4:16). God filled her empty arms. Better than seven sons. The women said Ruth “loves you” and “is better to you than seven sons” (4:15). In Israel many sons meant a strong, safe family. Ruth's love was worth even more. Obed. The neighbor women named the baby Obed (4:17). What this means for you. When your life feels empty, God is not finished. He sees you and He provides. In Jesus He has given you a Redeemer who will never leave you.

The Lord gave conception (4:13). In Moab, Ruth's marriage left no son to carry on the family (1:4-5). Twice in Ruth the Lord acts directly: He gives Israel bread (1:6), and He gives Ruth a son (4:13). Everything in between is God working through ordinary choices. The go'el (4:14). “A close relative” in 4:14 is go'el again, and this time the women mean the baby. Obed would be the family's protector in the next generation, carrying the name and the land forward. Restorer of life (4:15). The Hebrew is meshiv nephesh (say: meh-SHEEV NEH-fesh), one who brings back the soul. Psalm 23:3 uses the same two root words: “He restores my soul.” Empty to full. Naomi had said, “I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty” (1:21). In 4:16 she lays Obed “on her bosom” and becomes his nurse, the one who cares for him. A son born to Naomi (4:17). The neighbors said, “There is a son born to Naomi.” Through Ruth's love, Naomi's family line did not die out. Obed (4:17). The name Obed (say: OH-bed) means one who serves. He is “the father of Jesse, the father of David.” Why it matters. God turned Naomi's bitterness into blessing through people who were kind and faithful. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

Boaz and Ruth got married. Then the Lord gave Ruth a baby boy. Every baby is a gift from God. The women of Bethlehem praised the Lord. They knew God had not forgotten Naomi. Do you remember how Naomi felt before? She had come home sad and empty. She had lost her husband and both sons. Now she held a grandson in her arms. God had turned her sadness into joy. Ruth loved Naomi very much. The women said Ruth was better to Naomi than seven sons. God can bring joy even after very sad times.

God gave Ruth a baby boy. Naomi held him close. Naomi had been very sad. Now God filled her arms with joy!

A family list. “Now this is the genealogy of Perez” (4:18). A genealogy is a family list. This one runs from Perez to David (4:18-22). The last name. “Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David” (4:22). Begot means became the father of. The list ends with Israel's greatest king. Nahshon and Salmon. Nahshon led the tribe of Judah in Moses' day. Salmon married Rahab, the woman from Jericho who hid the spies (Matthew 1:5). So Boaz's own mother was an outsider whom God had welcomed. In Jesus' family. Matthew writes, “Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king” (Matthew 1:5-6). Ruth is named in the family line of Jesus. Bethlehem again. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Boaz's town. The angel said, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). God's long plan. Ruth could not see the whole plan. She simply trusted God and was kind to Naomi. God wove her small choices into His great plan. What this means for you. Your choices to trust and obey God matter more than you know. God is still working out His plan, and Jesus, the Son of David, invites you to be part of it.

Genealogy (4:18). The Hebrew word is toledot (say: toh-leh-DOHT), generations. Genesis uses the same word for its family lists (Genesis 5:1; 11:27). Ruth carries that family story forward toward a king. Perez to David. The line runs Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David (4:18-22). It reaches back to Judah, the son of Jacob to whom the promise of a royal scepter was given (Genesis 49:10). Nahshon. Nahshon was the leader of Judah's camp in the wilderness (Numbers 2:3). His son Salmon married Rahab of Jericho (Matthew 1:5). Boaz grew up as the son of a Canaanite woman who had been rescued by faith (Hebrews 11:31). Outsiders in the line. Matthew 1:3-6 names four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uriah. Rahab and Ruth came from nations outside Israel. Grace was built into the family line of the Messiah (say: meh-SY-ah), God's promised King. Son of David. God promised David a son whose kingdom would last forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Jesus calls Himself “the Root and the Offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16). Bethlehem. Boaz's town became the city of David and then the birthplace of the Savior (Luke 2:11). Why it matters. God's kindness to one poor widow and one Moabite woman was preparing the way for King David, and for Jesus. God is never only working on today. He is faithful across generations.

Ruth's story ends with a family list. It starts with Perez and ends with David. David became Israel's greatest king. Ruth was David's great-grandmother! Ruth came from Moab. She was not born into God's people. God brought her in because she trusted Him. Many years later, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He came from this same family. Matthew even names Ruth in Jesus' family list. God was working all along. He can use your story too. Nothing in your life is too small for His plan.

Obed's grandson was King David. Many years later, Jesus was born in this family. God had a big plan all along!

Boaz Redeems Ruth

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