Christmas Prelude

On one of our mission trips to Honduras, we stopped with our missionary friends to get lunch after leaving the airport. After eating, we went back to the car and found it had been broken into and all our things stolen except my carry-on suitcase. I had most of my clothes in my carry-on, but my husband’s and our friend’s clothes were all stolen along with our camera, iPad, my husband’s work laptop, and supplies we had brought down. I was doing pretty well with the theft until I realized that my stuffed Eeyore always travels on the outside of our camera backpack. Eeyore was gone. That is when I cried.

Yes, Eeyore is just a stuffed animal. Yes, I was in my late forties at the time. Yes, a stuffed animal being stolen in comparison to everything else we lost that day was insignificant, but it mattered to me. My brother and sister-in-law had given me Eeyore years before. He has travelled with us around the world. He’d been my pillow on every plane. I had years of history with Eeyore. Now, my tears were probably also connected to the rest of the loss impacting me, but in the moment, it was Eeyore. I began searching online for a new one without much hope. After all, it had been over fifteen years since I was given Eeyore. What was the chance of that exact Eeyore still being made? I found not one but two in excellent condition with the tags still attached. I bought them both in case another tragedy befell the replacement Eeyore.

I know this is a very small thing in the scheme of life, but God still took a sad and difficult situation (everything that was lost not just Eeyore) and brought joy out of it. There were also numerous ways God blessed us on the rest of that mission trip and used the theft for His glory. New Eeyore was just one of those blessings. Ruth chapter 4 is the account of a much more impactful journey from heartache to blessing.

Ruth 3 ended with a cliffhanger. Ruth asked Boaz to honor his role as kinsman-redeemer, Boaz was willing, but surprised Ruth with the existence of a closer kinsman-redeemer that should be approached first. Let’s continue in chapter 4.

Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lordmake the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. [1]

Boaz wisely chose the city gate to approach the other kinsman-redeemer because the gate was a place of business as well as acting like a city council or a court. It was also the place where esteemed men gathered (Proverbs 31:23). Here Boaz would have witnesses to any agreement made between him and the other kinsman-redeemer which was essential at a time without the ease of pen and paper or digital contracts. Boaz also had the upper hand as the other kinsman-redeemer was unaware of Ruth’s situation.

When the other man came, Boaz addressed him as friend. It’s likely Boaz knew his name. We don’t know if Boaz actually addressed him as friend or if the author of Ruth used this address because the man didn’t honor his obligation as kinsman-redeemer. Whichever is true, the term in Hebrew is equivalent to saying, “Mr. So-and-So.” Not a good introduction to this man.

The man sat down, Boaz gathered ten witnesses, and he initiated the business at hand. Boaz wisely brought up Naomi’s land first. If you remember from Chapter 3, another duty of a kinsman-redeemer was to keep the land in the family (Leviticus 25:8-17). Not many would pass up a land opportunity. Boaz read the man correctly. He wanted the land.

Sinking hearts! What about Ruth and Boaz? If you don’t know the full story, this would be a tense moment. It appears it is the end for Boaz and Ruth, but then Boaz announced that Ruth would be redeemed with the land, a packaged deal. At this, the man quickly retreated. It’s possible he had sons already and acquiring Ruth as a wife and having children with her would have made his sons’ inheritance messy. It could be he didn’t want more than one wife. Whatever his reasons, he relinquished the role of kinsman-redeemer to Boaz. The deal was sealed by the witnesses and the giving of a sandal (the manner of attesting a deal in Israel).

Boaz publicly declared that Ruth was his wife. Then the witnesses offered a prayer and blessing that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah who with their maidservants were the mothers of the nation of Israel, that Boaz would act worthily (he already had proven this) and be renowned in Bethlehem, and that his house would be like the house of Perez (of the tribe of Judah, from Bethlehem). Little did these witnesses know how God would fulfill their prayers. The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10; Matthew 1:1-5; Isaiah 11:1; 2 Samuel 7:12). He would be renowned in Bethlehem the place of His birth (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:1-5; Matthew 2:1). And those who follow the Messiah would be more numerous than the offspring of Rachel and Leah.

Boaz married Ruth, and Ruth had a son. In verses 14-15, we see the response of the women in Bethlehem. “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you [Naomi] this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!” Like the witnesses to Boaz’s agreement, these women couldn’t begin to imagine how God would fulfill their words. The Messiah would not be a redeemer for only two widows. He would redeem all those who put their faith in His atoning work on the cross alone. The Messiah would not be renowned in only Israel, He would be renowned through all the earth for all time, and one day every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord.

The book of Ruth ends with the naming of the baby boy, Obed, and his genealogy before and after his birth. Obed’s grandson would be David, a man and king after God’s own heart. Although the record of the genealogy stops with David, we know that it isn’t the end of Boaz and Ruth’s descendants. Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham from Abraham all the way to Joseph the husband of Mary the mother of the promised Messiah Jesus.

Naomi and Ruth had quite a journey from heartache to joy, from bitterness (vs 1:20) to blessing. Just as the account in Ruth pointed us to the true and lasting Redeemer, their journey from heartache to joy points us to our standing in Christ. Apart from Jesus, we were sinners, enemies of God, and belonging to the domain of darkness. We were without hope. We could not save ourselves. But in Christ, we are His bride the church, we are God’s sons and daughters, we have eternal hope, we have been forgiven, we have Jesus’ righteousness as our own, and so much more. In fact, Paul writes that in Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3, emphasis added).

When I began this journey through Ruth, I had planned to write only on Ruth 1, and I certainly wasn’t thinking how the account of Ruth was a Christmas prelude. But throughout the book of Ruth, we have been shown a reflection of the character, person, and work of Jesus. The book may end with David, but it has really been setting the stage for a virgin birth in Bethlehem of the long-awaited Messiah, Redeemer, Jesus.

Reflection

1. In the book of Ruth, we have witnessed the amazing works God did because one widowed woman was obedient to return to Israel. God was working for Naomi and Ruth’s good and ultimately for the good of all humanity even when Naomi and Ruth could see only the desert journey before them or finding their next meal. What past event in your life can you now see how God was working for your good and His glory? How does this past blessing encourage you in a current hardship?

2. How does what you have learned throughout the book of Ruth prepare you for Christmas (even if it is months away) and meditating on Jesus who took on flesh to suffer and die in order to redeem you?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ru 4:1–17.