Redeeming Love - Studies in the Book of Ruth
13 - Witnesses to the Redeemer
We come now to our last study in the Book of Ruth. This time we are looking at chapter four verses eleven to twenty-two. Boaz has become the kinsman-redeemer and taken upon himself the full responsibility for redeeming the property of Elimelech and providing an inheritance for Naomi and Ruth. This transaction was a public one, done at the gate of the town where all the business was discussed and where important decisions were made. Boaz announced that he had fulfilled the duties of the kinsman-redeemer and he called the elders of the town and others present to bear witness to this. We read in chapter four verse nine, “The Boaz announced to the elders and to all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Mahlon and Kilion. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess”.
What had the elders and people actually witnessed? They had witnessed redeeming love in action. How did they respond to this act of redeeming love? They responded in two ways. We read their first response in verse eleven: “Then the elders and all those at the gate said, ‘We are witnesses ... ”. In the same way, Christians are called to be witnesses to the redeeming love of Christ. In Isaiah chapter forty-three verse twelve we read, “I have revealed and saved and proclaimed - I and not some foreign God among you. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God”. We are to bear witness to the fact that God is the saviour of sinners. Jesus said to his followers in Acts chapter one verse eight, “You will be my witnesses”. We are to be witnesses to our kinsman-redeemer who has redeemed us by his death on the cross. If anyone were to ask the elders of Bethlehem what they thought about Boaz, and what he had done, they would speak well of him and pass on the good news. They would say that through the self-sacrifice of Boaz, Ruth now belongs to the people of God.
As Christian believers we too will speak well of the Lord Jesus. We will tell others what He has done for them. We will speak much about the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We will make his death on the cross known to everyone as the only way for them to be saved from the judgement of God against sin. This is the only was to belong to God’s family. We read in Acts chapter four verse twelve, “Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”. Christians will also bear witness to his redeeming love in their own personal experience. We will share with others how we became members of God’s family. It was through God’s goodness towards us, and by faith in the one who paid the redemptive price, that we are now in the Kingdom of God. We will tell others how real Christ has become to us, just as Ruth’s redemption by Boaz was real to her.
We are saved through the agency of the gracious action of our kinsman-redeemer. We then become the agents through whom others find redemption. Our duty as believers is to point them to Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith. We must not keep to ourselves the grace of our redeemer. We must witness about Him and pass on his invitation to come to Him and be saved from the penalty and power of sin. Jesus commands us in Mark chapter sixteen verse fifteen, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation”.
The second response of the elders and people is found in verses eleven and twelve. It is the response of prayer. We read: “May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel”. The whole nation of Israel descended from Rachel and Leah. This prayer was that Ruth would become the ancestress of a famous race. This was a spiritual prayer. It was not a request for fame. Rachel and Leah fulfilled God’s purpose and great blessing came out of it for the world. This prayer was that Ruth would likewise fulfil the purpose of the Lord in her family life and so bring blessing to others as a result. Ruth had now been accepted into the family of God’s people and they were showing their support and care for her. It is our privilege and responsibility to support new believers in Christ by praying for them. We seek that the hand of God will be on their life, and that He will work his perfect will and purpose in them and through them. We pray that they in turn will be a blessing to everyone they meet.
The elders go on to pray for Boaz that he would be blessed in his family life and prosper. They prayed that he would have a large number of descendants like Perez one of the sons of Judah and an ancestor. The spiritual lesson here is that we should pray for each other’s spiritual prosperity and growth. We should pray for each other that we might bare fruit for the Lord as we serve Him; fruit from our witnessing that will result in many souls be added to the family of God.
Ruth’s story ends with her marriage to Boaz. From this marriage was born a child and this brought great joy. We read in verses fourteen and fifteen, “The women said to Naomi, ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-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 is better than seven sons, has given him birth”. So the Book of Ruth ends happily: “Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap 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”.
The book closes with a short genealogy. It takes us through nine generations from Perez to David. There is an important reason for this. God works through a family, a woman from Bethlehem, a Moabite woman, and a wealthy farmer. Ruth, Naomi and Boaz had their part to play in the ongoing purposes of God although they probably did not realise it. Through subsequent generations, from the family of David who became king, would come the Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the God of the individual. Boaz and Ruth would never have met David, but they were part of the ongoing purposes of God for our salvation. Jesus was born of the line of David. Paul says this of Him in Romans chapter one verses three and four: “Who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord”. Ruth and Boaz fulfilled God’s purpose in their time. So we are called to do God’s will for our own generation. Commit your daily routine to the Lord because He is working in it all for his purpose and glory, and for your ultimate benefit and good.
We trust that you have been blessed as we have discovered Ruth’s story together, and that your faith in the love of your Kinsman-Redeemer and in the providence and guidance of your loving Heavenly Father will have been strengthened.