5 Days in the Book of RuthНамуна

Day 5: Redeeming Love

Read Ruth 4

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.

Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 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. 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.

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.”

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.”

(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.)

So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

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. 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!”

Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. 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. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

Reflection on the passage:
In this final chapter, we celebrate love in marriage and family: the love between Ruth and Boaz, the love of daughter-in-law Ruth for Naomi, and Naomi’s love for her newborn grandson Obed.

The book of Ruth provides us with a vivid picture of Israel’s “guardian-redeemer” tradition. At least in this case, it involved not only marriage to a relative’s widow but also acquiring a dead relative’s land. The fact that the unnamed guardian-redeemer, who was closer kin than Boaz, did not want to redeem Ruth along with the land shows that there was a cost to him: the cost of the land, the cost of providing for Ruth, and the fact that the first-born son and the property would retain the name of the relative who had died.

Boaz, the next kinsman in line, however, does not hesitate to take on this redeemer role. His decision is witnessed by the town elders and sealed by the custom of handing over one’s sandal. The witnesses then bless Boaz and remind him of his own ancestor Perez. Perez was born of Tamar after she tricked Judah into being her guardian-redeemer because Judah’s sons had not redeemed her (See Genesis 38 for this earlier guardian-redeemer story).

As the book of Ruth comes to a close, Naomi is a happy grandmother whose sorrow has been turned to joy, and Ruth, once a vulnerable foreigner, is brought fully into the fold of God’s family through Boaz’s redeeming love. But the story is not over yet. It ends with a genealogy that traces the line from Tamar’s son Perez all the way down to Boaz, then Obed, then Jesse, then David. Yet that’s not the end either, because we know that this line continues all the way to Jesus, our Messiah, and true Redeemer!

How wondrous that God’s gracious provision in the lives of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz is part of the larger story of God’s deepest purposes for humanity.

Focus verse for prayerful reflection:
“…Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” (Ruth 4:14-15)

1. In addition to Boaz, Baby Obed is referred to as a guardian-redeemer in this chapter; for upon Boaz’ death, Obed is the one who will provide for Naomi and Ruth and carry on the line. Think about someone God had provided in your life to bring you new hope, love, or provision. Thank God for this person.

2. Now Praise God for the ultimate redeemer Jesus. In what ways have you experienced renewal, sustained life, love, and provision through Him?

For further reading:
Read Matthew 1:1-17 to compare the genealogy in Ruth with the one in Matthew.

Thank you for doing this devotional. To continue growing in your faith find a podcast that meets you where you are at purposely.com