Week 22: Ruth, Psalms 148 – 150 and Proverbs 1 – 3

Ruth is a brilliantly written and captivating historical account.  Furthermore, sown into the story of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz, are layers upon layers of implicit meaning and typology.  I have been blown away as I have read/listened to many different teachers give their interpretation of the prophetic undertones of the tiny book of Ruth.  Each one has presented an entirely different perspective on who the various characters in the story represent on the larger scale, save one…the kinsman redeemer!

Since “kinsman redeemer” is not a term that we frequently use in our culture, I have never been entirely certain of what it means.  Just in case I am not the only one who could not confidently define the term, here is the definition from Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology:

“Male relative who, according to various laws found in the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act for a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need of vindication.”

Ruth is made up of a tapestry of beautiful themes.  The one that stirred my heart this week was the profound impact of generosity, as demonstrated by Boaz, the kinsman redeemer.

“Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.  Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them.  Have I not charged the young men not to touch you?  And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”  Ruth 2:8-9

Leviticus 19:9-10 commanded that the people of Israel not reap their field right up to its edge or gather the gleanings after their harvest.  They were to leave them for the poor and the sojourners to gather up if they had need.  It seemed that, while it was a commandment of God’s law, it was not the common practice of the day when Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem.  In Ruth 2:22, Naomi stated that it was good that Ruth stay close to the young men of Boaz’s field whom he had instructed to protect her and that she would have likely been assaulted in someone else’s field.  We need not remember any further back than the book of Judges to confirm Naomi’s concern.

Boaz, however, was a different man than the cultural norm of the day.  He obeyed God’s law.  He loved it and his life and practices were shaped by it.  He did not just seek to obey so he could check off each of the miscellaneous laws of the Torah as “complete,” and thus expect his due reward.  He delighted in the law of God.  He went beyond what was commanded by the letter of the law and instead embraced the heart of the law as he extended unexpected kindness, provision, encouragement and protection for Ruth the Moabite, the foreigner.

Also, notice that Boaz did not address Ruth as “the Moabite,” as she had been called by the other locals.  Rather, he called Ruth, “my daughter.”  Ruth had left the covering and protection of her father’s house when she married Mahlon.  When Mahlon died, she could have gone back home to be cared for by her father’s house again, but she stayed with Naomi out of love and loyalty to her widowed and childless mother-in-law.  Both Naomi and Ruth were then left without the protection and provision necessary to survive in ancient near-eastern culture.  Boaz’s address to Ruth as “my daughter” carried profound and life preserving weight.  Later, when Boaz took Ruth to be his wife, the implications of his covering and generosity become even more profound.  His joyful obedience to God’s law not only preserved the life of Naomi and Ruth, but also the family that would come from their union.  On this side of history, we know just WHO would come from that union!

Did Boaz have any idea of the implications of his generous acts toward Ruth and Naomi?  Of course, he did not!  He was just a man simply obeying the law of his God with a joyful heart.  Did he know the child he would conceive with Ruth would be the grandfather of King David, and the family line of the Savior of the world, the King of Kings?  Certainly not!  If he had even the slightest idea of the significance of what he was doing, he would not have offered up the opportunity to someone else for fear of missing out (Ruth 4:1-6)!

In heartfelt trust and faith in the law of God and its supremacy over his own, he obeyed.  In so doing, salvation not only came to Ruth, Naomi and the house of Elimelech.  Salvation would come to the world!

God’s ways are good.  They are sufficient and incomprehensibly thorough.  They leave no detail unconsidered, no person forgotten, no opportunity missed.  His wisdom and sovereignty are distinct and give us every cause to trust Him with all that is within us.

Boaz’s obedience to God’s law revealed just how perfect God’s law is.  Not only did it provide for the sojourner and the foreigner in a way that magnified the generosity of God’s heart, it also was the means through which God preserved the Messianic line.  Even more, Boaz’s obedience demonstrated the beauty of the redemption made available to all those who would come under the covering of another who would come from his family….a better Boaz.

Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer is the better Boaz.  He too, obeyed the Father’s perfect law that cares for the outsider and those in need, costing Himself everything.  Joyfully going beyond the letter of the law, He did so not for his relatives, but for His enemies.  As the Son of God, he had everything.  He emptied Himself of it all (Phil. 2:7) in order to redeem us, to buy us back and take us in as His own.  In Boaz, we see Jesus, our true and eternal Kinsman Redeemer who takes us from our hopeless state of emptiness and bareness and purchases us in order to abundantly satisfy us with blessing and new life.  Jesus’ generosity goes so far beyond my comprehension.  I only hope, as a recipient of His kindness, that my response would resemble that of Ruth’s as she humbly received grace upon grace:

“Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’”  Ruth 2:10

Take it all in, fellow sojourner.  Receive His indescribable generosity towards you.  Listen for the sound of His voice as you ask the same question that Ruth posed…”Why have I found favor in your eyes?”  As I ask that question even now, I hear Him say,

“Because you are mine.”