412: Romance and Redemption

0:00Thanks for tuning in, it's an honor to be with you. As we study God's Word together, may our time uplift and encourage you. If you could use some hope, I pray you find it here today. Thank you for joining me on the podcast today, friend. In this episode, we're going back to the Old Testament to the story of Naomi Ruth and Boaz, whether this story is new or familiar. I pray it reminds you that God is always at work and has a plan to rescue you. Long before the city of Bethlehem was famous for magi and a manger,

1:04it was famous as being the birthplace of a shepherd boy named David. And long before Bethlehem was famous as being the birthplace of the king of Israel, it was famous for being the stage or the setting for the most famous story of romance and redemption in the Bible. About 1,200 years before the birth of Christ, two figures appeared on the dry horizon of the Judean desert. Both were widows. One was all together young. Renkel's crevice, the face of the older one, induced powder the cheeks of them both.

2:06They walked so closely intertwined that an onlooker would have a difficult time determining where one stopped and the other start, which was fine with them because really all they had was each other. Ruth and Naomi had both buried their husbands in what little fortunes they had behind them in the sands of Moab. Naomi, the older of the two widows, had migrated from Bethlehem to Moab some 10 years earlier. She did so because of famine struck the small region of Bethlehem so she and her husband uprooted and they sold the family farm and they moved to the foreign land of Moab, actually the enemy territory of Moab. There they found farm to till and they found wives for their two sons.

3:09But then tragedy struck. Her husband died and so did each of her two sons, leaving her with two daughters-in-law neither of whom had a husband and turning their family into a tree of widows. So she decided that she would return to Bethlehem. Both of the daughter-in-laws decided they would return with her. The first one was Orpa and the second Ruth. Well as it turned out, Ruth was more committed than Orpa was and so Ruth accompanied Naomi and they returned to Bethlehem, penniless, pitiful. In a day in which the wife was cared for by the husband or her sons, these two women had neither which meant they really had no future except to

4:14land upon the kindness of the villagers of Bethlehem. What a pitiful sight they must have appeared to be as they entered the city of Bethlehem. But then a bachelor entered the story. A bachelor by the name of Boaz. What a great name. Boaz. Wouldn't you love to have a boyfriend named Boaz? Oh my man, Boaz. Boaz. It just sounds like a good man. Boaz. Boaz. We picture him always as an older man long in the tooth and beyond his prime, but maybe we don't have to. What if we just imagine him as a candidate for the TV show, the bachelor? I mean a hunk of a guy with biceps that ripple and hex that hop and teeth that sparkle and eyes that twinkle and hair that's wavy. What a man this Boaz was.

5:28The most eligible bachelor in Bethlehem. His education was ivy. His jet was private. His farm was profitable. His house was paid for and he had absolutely no intention of giving up the carefree life of a bachelor for the life of marriage until he met Ruth. What an enchantress she was. He had had many immigrants on his property collecting the grain that had been overlooked by the harvesters which was the custom of the day. Ruth was not the first immigrant to find her way upon his property, but she was the first immigrant to find her way into his heart. She was the first

6:32to turn his heartbeat into a kettle drum solo and his knees into jello. Oh, Ruth, with those almond-shaped eyes, eyes the color of milk chocolate. She just had that across the border flare to her. Just a little tinge of an accent, little mystery. What a girl she was. Ruth, do you know Ruth? Boaz did. And as quick as you can turn a page in the Bible, he learned her name. He heard her story and he learned her Facebook status. And he immediately began to make provision for her. He instructed the foreman to keep the other man away to take her to a special place on the farm

7:36for finding grain. Gave her some fresh water to drink. He even invited her to his table for a meal. So he treated her with, well, you might say he treated her with grace. At least that's what she said. Upon his kindness, she said to him, oh, sir, such grace, such kindness. I don't deserve it. You've touched my heart. You've treated me like one of your own. I don't even belong here. Grace, that's that great Hebrew word has said, loving kindness, not grace in this case like salvation of the soul, but grace in the sense of kindness of the heart. Boaz, the affluent, took note of Ruth, the pauper. And he sent her home with 50 pounds of grain and a smile she couldn't get off of her face.

8:47Well, when Naomi, you remember who Naomi was, the elder of the two widows, when she saw both the smile and the grain, and she heard the story. Here's what Naomi did. I know that name, Boaz. Boaz, Boaz, I know. Could it be? Is that the same Boaz that used to show up at the Family Reunions at Freckleface, Tornado of a Kid? You're kidding me, that boy at Son of Rahab. No, you mean he's... Come over here, Ruth. We're going to talk. And Ruth pulled her chair up next to Naomi. And Naomi began to hatch a plan. You see, Naomi knew that this was harvest season and that all farmers would spend the night on the threshing floor as was the custom of the day during harvest season.

9:48They would have a big dinner and all the guys would sleep on the threshing floor, not just because they like to spend the night on the threshing floor, but to protect the harvest from anyone else. And so, knowing this, here's what she said. You might want to read along. You might think I'm making this up. Ruth, chapter three, verses three and four. Naomi said to Ruth, wash and perfume yourself and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you were there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.

10:49Well, you excuse me, I've got to wipe the steam off of my glasses. How did this story get into the Bible? I mean, Boaz, full and sleepy, Ruth perfumed and bathed and wearing her best clothes. Midnight advanced by the Moabite girl. On the threshing floor, uncover his feet and lie down, I'm wondering if this isn't the Bronze Age version of Desperate House one. What is Naomi thinking? Well, she's probably not thinking what we are. Is she thinking for one thing? It's time for Ruth to get on with her life. A little bit of cultural background is helpful here. That phrase put on your best clothes.

11:52It's not found very often in the Bible, but when it does appear, it refers to a certain garment that a person would put on after a period of mourning. This is used to refer to the clothing that King David put on after the son that had been born out of the relationship, the adulterous relationship with him and Besheba died. He put on his best clothes after a period of mourning. So, apparently, there was a certain garment that one would put on after a period of mourning that would symbolize and signify I'm ready to reenter society. You see, if indeed Ruth was wearing the black clothes or the dark clothes of mourning, then Boaz being the respectable man that he was was never going to approach a widow who was in a time of mourning, right? So, Naomi says, you know what, Ruth? Maybe it's time to move on.

12:55Maybe it's time to send the signal. Put on your best clothes. But what about this threshing floor stuff? Well, what Naomi is thinking about there is a beautiful picture in the Bible called the Law of the Kinsman Redeemer. Have you ever heard about this? The Law of the Kinsman Redeemer. Ancient Israel made special provision to care for the widows, the childless widows of the culture. In a culture in which a woman was entirely dependent upon the provision of her husband or the sustenance of her sons, they made special provisions should a woman have neither. Now, what's interesting is when you look at the ancient law, if a man died, his land was passed not to his widow but to his sons. And if there were no sons, the land went to

13:55the next of kin to a brother or a cousin. Isn't that interesting? And that would leave the woman in a very precarious and vulnerable situation. Now, why would that law exist? Why would the land be passed not to the wife but to a brother or to a next of kin? Well, the reason is because ancient Israel was very concerned about what we can call land legacy, keeping the land in the clan, keeping the land in the family. When the children of Israel inherited the promised land, as you know, each family was given a plot of land. And it was the design of the law of Moses to keep that land in the family to care for the children and the descendants. So if a man were to die and he had no sons, if the land went to her, well, it would just be a matter of time, rightly, so that some men would want to marry her. And then he would have the land and the land would leave the family, correct? So in order to keep the land in the clan, in the family, the land didn't go to the wife. Well,

14:59where did that leave the wife? Well, left her very exposed, very vulnerable. And so the law of the Kinsman Redeemer came to be. And this was the custom in which the next of kin would take care of the widow. If there was a brother of the deceased, he would not only take care of her, but he would marry her. I like to stop when I say that and watch all of you ladies think about your brother in law for just a second. Not a very happy thought, is it? You take that up with Moses though. But if there was no brother, then the next of kin would step in. It could be a cousin. It could be a second cousin. It could be a bow-ass. And that next of kin was step in, but please remember this. The next of kin was not obliged, if they were not a brother, if he was not a brother,

16:00to marry the widow at that point. But he would just take care of her. He would just make sure that she was taken care of her. So this is what Naomi has in mind. She's thinking, you know, bow-ass has been awfully kind to Ruth. And bow-ass is, it turns out, is one of our kin. Maybe he'll be kind again. And so back to the threshing floor, drama. She, speaking of Ruth, went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do when bow-ass had finished eating and drinking and wasn't good spirits. He went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached him quietly and uncovered his feet and lay down. In the middle of the night something startled the man. I suppose so. And he turned and discovered a

17:04woman lying at his feet. Can you envision this? Can you see Ruth waiting in the shadows until the meal was complete and the sun was down and the moon was up and the men were starting to get sleepy. And one by one they peeled away from the fire and they went and found a place to sleep. She kept her eye on bow-ass noting especially where he went unless she found herself at the feet of the wrong man. And when all of the conversation had turned into snores and slumber, Ruth made her move. There, by the light of the still popping fire, she crept between the lumps of sleeping men until she found bow-ass and she placed herself at his feet. She placed herself at his feet and then

18:15she uncovered his feet and covered herself with his garment. What in the world is she doing? Naomi never said anything about this. This symbolically was the equivalent to the offering of an engagement ring. When a man would cover a woman with his garment, basically he was inviting her in this beautiful symbol to become his wife. But wait a second, this is Ruth basically asking bow-ass to marry her. Now that is a bold move. After all, who is Ruth? But a foreigner. And who is bow-ass? But the most eligible bachelor. Who is Ruth but a destitute alien? And who is he but the local power broker? She was unknown. He was well known. She was fragile. He was forceful. She desperate. He

19:22confident. She you. He God. You've picked up on this by now that this is your story. Because everything Ruth was to bow-ass, we are to God, and everything bow-ass was to Ruth. God is to us. Can you follow the parallel for just a moment? On what basis did Ruth make her appeal to bow-ass? On what basis? She made her appeal to bow-ass based only upon his kindness and an ancient covenant. His kindness that he would spot her and that he would treat her with respect. She appealed to the kindness of his heart. Don't we do the same? When we come to God, do we not come with empty hands and dirty lives, foreigners, fragile, lost, confused? But we place ourselves upon the kindness of God.

20:31We come to him and listen, he waits for us to make the decisive move. He issues his signals of kindness every day, but he waits until we choose to voluntarily remove the robes of the old life. The cloak of sadness and death. He waits until we come and place ourselves at his where. At his feet. And we ask him to cover us. We say to him what Ruth said to bow-ass, I am your servant Ruth, she said, spread the corner of your garment over me since you are what? A kinsman, Redeemer. You see, Ruth appealed not just to the kindness of bow-ass, but to the justice to what is right. She stood upon this ancient practice, this ancient custom. She appealed to him to do what is right and that is care for her. We can do the same.

21:37We come to God and we appealed not just to his kindness, but we also appealed to the ancient promise that God Himself has made to you and to you and to me. He is our Father, He is our Maker. We are His idea. This is His plan. And so we come and we appeal to His kindness. We also appealed to the covenant. And we stand upon the fact that He is a just God. Yes, we are poor. Yes, we come from enemy territory. Yes, we come from the distant land wearing the robes of death. Yes, we come. And we cast them away. And we place ourselves at his feet. And when we place ourselves at his feet, He places His claim on us. And He begins to take care of us. We, like Ruth, make the most improbable of requests. She asked if she could become the bride of bow-ass. Listen, that's nothing

22:37compared to what we're asking. We don't want to become the bride of bow-ass. We want to become the bride of Christ. We don't want to be in the family of the most eligible bachelor. In Bethlehem, we want to be in the family of the high king of the universe. We place ourselves at His feet. And we're asking Him, just as Ruth was asking bow-ass to exceed the judicial provision. Please note, remember, bow-ass was not required to marry Ruth. So she was asking Him to go beyond. She was asking Him not for mercy but for grace. Do you know the difference? In mercy, God chooses not to give us the punishment that we deserve. But in grace, God chooses to bless

23:38us with the gifts we don't deserve. It was out of mercy that the Father of the Prodigal Son gave the Prodigal Son a second chance. But it was out of grace that the Father of the Prodigal Son gave the Son a party. It was out of mercy that Jesus turned to the thief on the cross and forgave him. But it was out of grace that He turned and gave him not just forgiveness, but He gave him heaven and said, today, you'll be with me in paradise. It was an act of mercy for bow-ass to turn to Ruth and say, I'll make sure that you have food in your belly. But it was an act of grace that caused bow-ass to turn to Ruth and exceed the laws, expectations, and say, I'm taking you home with me. And you're going to be my wife. You see, it's out of mercy that God forgives us, but it's out of grace that God redeems us.

24:46And Ruth becomes a picture to all of us of what God wants to do for all of us. And that is that He wants to create, to reign with Him forever, a redeemed people, a people that have been purchased, a people that have been bought by Him, brought by Him into a relationship with Him. Bow-ass's name in Hebrew means in Him there is strength. And boy did Ruth find a strong man in bow-ass. Do you know I mentioned earlier that bow-ass was the son of Rahab. I'm out of mention that so quickly that you didn't remember. So in case you didn't remember, Rahab is known in the Bible as Rahab the Harlot. So here the son of a prostitute, an outcast, season outcast. No wonder he has a place in his heart for Ruth. And he mobilizes every force at his discretion

25:53to reach out and claim her. Something happens about this time in the story. And it happens really without us knowing it. Somehow he discovers that there is another relative who is more closely related to Ruth than he is. So by law, this man has the opportunity to perform the act of the Kinsman Redeemer. So here's what he does. By the way, we don't know this man's name. It's not mentioned. So we just call him so-and-so. So bow-ass gathered the leaders of Bethlehem, the ten of them, at the city gates. It's kind of like going down to the city council. He gathered the leaders. And he explained to them the situation. He brings in Mr. So-and-so. And he tells Mr. So-and-so about this land that needs to be bought back so it can be placed back in their clan. Maybe it was sold, we're not told, but apparently it was sold to somebody who was not a part of the clan. So it's the role of the Kinsman Redeemer to bring that land back into the family.

26:58So-and-so, in front of the ten city council member says, that sounds like a good idea. I will buy that property. It sounds like a good investment. It sounds like the right thing to do. I think bow-ass knew he would say this, because once the man has agreed to buy the property, bow-ass clears his throat. That's somewhere in the Hebrew. He clears his throat. And he says, there's one more detail. On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitis, you acquire the dead man's widow. In order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, the land in other words comes with a couple of ladies. Well, the relative, so-and-so, bought at the offer for whatever reason. And we assume, don't we, that bow-ass knew he would.

27:58He knew he would. And in the end, the man passes and gets whose next in line, bow-ass. Look what bow-ass has done. He has legally positioned himself where he can now have not just the land, which I don't think he was that interested in, but he can marry Ruth. He has publicly, legally, in full sight, with no secrets, he has brought out into the open the transaction, had it blessed by the city fathers. So from now on, there will not be a question in any corner of the region as to the status of Naomi and Ruth. And now he can marry Ruth with the blessing of the law, and with the kindness of his heart, he does so. We fast forward a year, maybe two, who knows,

29:01but now we see bow-ass and Ruth. And Ruth is cradling their firstborn, Obed. Obed is going to have a son, his name Jesse. A Jesse is going to have several sons, the most famous and youngest of which is King David. King David, yes, will be the second most famous King to be born in Bethlehem. Who's the most famous? One of his descendants, yes, one of Ruth and bow-ass' descendants, yes, Ray had the Harlet's descendants, Jesus Christ. Now you know him by another name, your Kinsman Redeemer, because it's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we're

30:02living for. And long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs for glorious living, just as bow-ass made plans to rescue Ruth, so your Kinsman Redeemer has plans to rescue you. And he has every resource needed to do so. And when you place yourself at his feet and ask him to cover you, then he places his claim on your heart, and he does just that. With mercy, he takes your sin with grace, he takes you home. He's just that kind of Kinsman Redeemer. And that kind of Kinsman Redeemer can change your life forever. Next week, I'm going to talk to you about what it's like to live under the protection of a Kinsman Redeemer. But we've got to press the pause button for today before we do one final verse

31:06from the story of Ruth that's this perfect one with which to wrap up the story. Upon hearing how bow-ass blessed Ruth on the threshing floor, Naomi told her, sit back and relax, my dear daughter, that man isn't going to fool around. You mark my words. He's going to get everything wrapped up today. Can you imagine what a welcome word that was for that young widow to hear? She had born the burden of the heat. She had borne the burden of solitude, and now for Naomi to say, you know Ruth, you can sit back and relax. Because now you have a Kinsman Redeemer. Maybe you've borne the burden of your life. Maybe you felt the heat of solitude. Would you let Jesus say to you, you can sit back and relax, because I am your Kinsman Redeemer. O great God of grace, please grant us the grace to

32:09receive your grace, and then grant us the grace to live it in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining me today. If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe on Access more or wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Until next time, stay in courage.