Ruth 2:1-23
Date: August 13th, 2023
Speaker: Samuel Crites
Scripture: Ruth 2:1-23
Exegetical Outline
Main Idea of Text: Ruth meets Boaz, a potential kinsman redeemer, who takes notice of her, is kind to her, and allows her to work in his fields for the entire harvest period.
2:1-17 – Ruth has a very successful day in the fields of Boaz, because he took notice of her and was kind to her.
2:1-3: Naomi gives Ruth permission to glean in the field of Boaz, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, where she does to work.
2:4-7: Boaz enquires about Ruth as he sees her gleaning after his men in the field.
2:8-14: Boaz speaks to Ruth; he gives her special permission to glean, praises Ruth for how she has treated Naomi, and feeds her like his own servant.
2:15-17: When Ruth returns to work, Boaz gives special instructions to his young men to allow Ruth to glean among the bundles and receive grain from even what the servants gathered.
2:18-23 – Naomi is very pleased with Ruth’s success and commands her to stay in Boaz’s fields for the entire harvest, because he is a kinsman redeemer for them.
Homiletical Outline
Main Idea of Sermon: Boaz is an example of the preferred kinsman redeemer.
What is a kinsman redeemer?
Land rights, 7 Year Sabbath, and the Year of Jubilee
Kinsman Redeemer
What makes Boaz the preferred kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi?
He takes notice of our helplessness.
He graciously provides for our needs.
He is worthy of their hope.
Introduction:
How many of you have ever felt like God doesn’t hear you, that he doesn’t know your needs and really couldn’t care less about the troubles of your life? Maybe, even, this is a new thing for you. There was a time when you really felt close to the Lord and you felt like he cared about you, but recently it has just seemed like he has checked out. You lay in your bed at night and feel like you pray to the ceiling.
I can promise you that Naomi felt this way. Last week, we saw the discipline of the Lord turn Naomi back to himself. She returned to Bethlehem with Ruth and as we open chapter 2, I can imagine her lying awake in her bed with Ruth quietly sleeping next to her wondering, “What are we going to do? Lord, you led us here, but now what?” All she can see in her life are bad options. She needs help. Let’s read our sermon text this week and see how God is not far off. He is intimately aware their needs and is already working on their behalf to provide for them. Let’s read Ruth 2 beginning with verse 1:
Ruth 2:1-23
2 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”
8 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. 9 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.” 10 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?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
The main idea of our sermon is this: Boaz is an example of the preferred kinsman redeemer. Our sermon will have two primary sections.
In the first part of our sermon, we are going to answer the question: what is a kinsman redeemer? We will set Ruth aside for a moment and consider how God set up land rights, the fifty-year cycle of septennial sabbaths, the Year of Jubilee, and the process of redemption. This is all essential information that is prerequisite to understanding what is taking place in the rest of the book of Ruth. We will see that every Israelite has an apportionment of land that was given to them by God. Elimelech sold his land before he left Bethlehem, and Naomi and Ruth are seeking a kinsman that will be able to redeem their land so that they do not have to wait until the Year of Jubilee until their land will be returned to them. Until they find their redeemer, their plan is to glean in the field, which is their right as Israelites. All of this is a beautiful example of the Lord’s providential care for his people, because he gave them the law to provide for them.
In the second part of the sermon, we will return to the narrative in our sermon text to answer the question: what makes Boaz the preferred kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi? There are multiple candidates that could serve as Naomi and Ruth’s kinsman redeemer. By looking at Boaz, we can see the characteristics that make him the ideal kinsman redeemer for them.
First, he takes notice of their helplessness. Naomi and Ruth are in a dire position at the beginning of our sermon text. They are in Bethlehem, during the barley harvest, with no field to support themselves. They have no food and no way to provide for their needs other than sending Ruth out to glean in the fields of others. Boaz sees Ruth’s need. He enquires about her to his young man and takes an interest in her when she has nothing to offer him.
Second, he graciously provides for their needs. When Boaz saw Ruth, he didn’t just see a poor Moabite woman working in his field. He saw a young woman that loved her mother-in-law, the widow of his close relative. She loved Naomi so much, that she left her own family and the worship of false gods to worship the one true and living God to be joined to his people forever. Boaz admires this about Ruth. She is industrious, she loves deeply, she is bold, and knows the true God, so he pronounces a blessing over her, and he gives special instruction concerning her so that she can be abundantly provided for.
Finally, he is worthy of their hope. After the first day of gleaning, Ruth comes home with approximately 50 pounds of barley. That is a staggering amount for one day’s worth of work. It is clear that Ruth has attracted the gracious attention of someone. When Naomi finds out that it is Boaz, she is excited because he is one of their redeemers. He is a close enough relative to purchase their land back and restore Naomi to Elimelech’s inheritance. His reputation gives Naomi confidence that he is worthy of their hope. So, Naomi and Ruth develop a plan to stay close to Boaz during the harvest, because Ruth will be protected and there is a chance that he will agree to redeem them.
As we consider Boaz as Ruth and Naomi’s preferred kinsman redeemer, it is an opportunity for us to consider our kinsman redeemer. We also are in great need of redemption. In God’s providence, Boaz can teach us what we should hope for in the one that would redeem us. Let’s consider how Boaz is an example of the preferred kinsman redeemer.
What is a kinsman redeemer?
In this first part of the sermon, we are going to leave the book of Ruth and learn details about the law that are going to illuminate all that takes place in the rest of Ruth’s story. Some of this might seem dusty, but if you stick with me, we will see how God was concerned about Ruth and Naomi’s needs before Israel even possessed the land of Canaan. Turn with me to Leviticus 25, we are going to learn about how the land rights were to be administered according to the law.
As you are turning there, let me remind you how the people got the land. God told Moses in Numbers 33 that he had given the people of Israel all of the land of Canaan. They were to drive the existing inhabitants out of the land because God had prepared it for them. They were going to live in cities they did not build and eat from vineyards they did not plant. It was his gift to them.
When they took possession of the land, they were to distribute the land to the tribes by lot. If you were a bigger tribe, you got a bigger inheritance, and if you were a smaller tribe, you got a smaller inheritance. The only tribe that did not get an inheritance was the tribe of Levi. They were instead given cities surrounded by farms sprinkled throughout all the tribes as their inheritance so they could minister to all Israel as priests.
So every member of every tribe was given an allotment of land within their tribe’s territory that was their land as a gift from the Lord. All the land belonged to him, but he gave it to the people to use as their family’s right.
Which leads us to Leviticus 25. We are going to see three things about how Israel was supposed to administer the land that God graciously provided for them. First, we will see they were to give the land a Sabbath rest every seven years. Second, we are going to see that they were to celebrate the Year of Jubilee on the 50th year, which was the year after the seventh Sabbath year. Finally, we are going to see that God provided them a means of redemption. If they lost their rights to the land, God gave them a mechanism to be redeemed and restored by a kinsman that was willing and able.
First, the land was supposed to be given a Sabbath rest, just like the people enjoyed. Look at the first four verses of Leviticus 25. They were not allowed to sow the land every year. On the seventh year, the land was supposed to get a break. You can see the graciousness of God to his people because we know now that if you farm a single field too often, you can leach all the nutrients out of the soil causing famine and desolation in the land. The septennial Sabbath was God’s way of protecting them.
It also an opportunity for the people to exercise their faith in God’s provision. During this Sabbath year, the people were supposed to depend on the uncultivated fruit of the land. Meaning, they were not allowed to plant or eat from their farms, but they could forage the uncultivated fruit of the land. The remarkable thing is that God promised that this would be enough for them, their children and servants, and all their livestock. If they would just trust him, he promised to provide for the needs of the people and when they returned to their farms, they would be ready to refreshed and ready for cultivation.
The second thing we learn is that it was not only the seventh year that was special. The people of Israel were supposed to count seven septennial Sabbaths, or 49 years. On the year after the seventh Sabbath, so the 50 year, that year was called the Year of Jubilee. The Year of Jubilee was a declaration of freedom. All debts were forgiven and if an Israelite had sold themselves into indentured servitude, they were set free. The clock was rolled back, and everyone was given back the land that was originally allotted to them by the Lord when Joshua cast lots.
Now, many of you might find this interesting, but you might be wondering what this has to do with Ruth. Well look at Leviticus 25, beginning in verse 23:
Leviticus 25:23-28
23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.
25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
The third thing that we learn in Leviticus 25 is that God planned for the redemption of the land. He knew that his people would get into situations where they would have to sell their land and that in an agrarian society, the land is the wealth. Consider what would happen if there wasn’t a means to redeem the land. Inevitably, what would happen is that land would become concentrated in the hands of the very few. The poor would basically become slaves to wealthier land holders. To prevent this, God provided a means of redemption.
If you keep reading, this principle does not merely apply to land. It also applies to houses and slaves, but our interest, so far as Ruth is concerned, is the redemption of land. Hopefully, you can begin to see how this relates. At some point in the past, Elimelech, or perhaps his father, sold their land inheritance. The book doesn’t tell us the details of the sale, but we know it took place because Boaz is going to redeem the land at the end of the story. So Naomi and Ruth need a redeemer, and a redeemer cannot be just anyone. The redeemer must be a kinsman because the whole purpose of redemption is to keep the land in the family, to preserve it for the inheritance and enjoyment of the generations that will come. So, it was the duty of the closest kinsman possible to redeem the land of their brother if they were willing and able.
Before we go back to the book of Ruth, let’s just take a moment and appreciate the kindness and providence of God. He understood the frailty of his people and created a system that would provide for generations upon generations of his children. The sad thing is the people didn’t follow God’s plan. Yes, we see redemption taking place in the book of Ruth, but the Second Chronicles ends in 2 Chronicles 36, beginning in verse 20:
2 Chronicles 36:20-21
20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were removed from the land by the Assyrians and the Babylonians respectively for 70 years for one particular reason, they never followed the word of the Lord to give the land a rest. For 70 cycles of septennial Sabbaths, or 490 years, they never let the land have a rest.
Which makes the story of Ruth that much more remarkable. It speaks to the piety and faithfulness of Boaz and all the people in Bethlehem that they were attempting to live by what the Lord had commanded them in spite of the fact that majority of Israelites were not.
As we close this first point, let me attempt to be as precise as possible in answering the question we began with: what is a kinsman redeemer? We see three characteristics of a kinsman redeemer in Leviticus 25. First, he is a kinsman. Meaning he must be a blood relative. Second, he is a close. Priority is given to the closest kinsmen, meaning redemption is the responsibility of the family. Third, the kinsman must be a redeemer, meaning he must be both willing and able to pay the cost to restore the one in need of redemption. His willingness comes from the understanding the land belongs to God, that all that the redeemer possesses he has from his Father in Heaven, and that he too has been redeemed. He was a slave in Egypt and God paid the price to deliver him in the Exodus and has endured the rebellions of the wilderness to bring him to a place where he can be prosperous in the land that God has given him. He must be able, meaning he must have the means to redeem. If he is also poor, he may be willing, but not able to pay the price to redeem his brother. So, if you needed a kinsman redeemer, he would have to be the closest relative that was willing and able to pay the high cost to restore the inheritance that you forfeited in the past.
Why is Boaz a good kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi?
Which brings us to the second part of our sermon: why is Boaz the preferred kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi? He is not the ideal candidate, because there is one closer, but he is the preferred candidate. I want you to see three reasons that Boaz is the preferred kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi, and by observing these characteristics, we will begin to see what we should appreciate in our kinsman redeemer. Let’s reread verses 1-7 in Ruth chapter 2:
Ruth 2:1-7
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”
The first thing that we notice about Boaz as a potential kinsmen redeemer is that he notices Ruth’s helplessness.
Boaz is a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech. This is how we are introduced to him at the beginning of the Chapter. We are going to see over the next three weeks what that really means, but notice what we can learn about him in these initial verses. He is an industrious man that is productive, intimately involved in his business dealings. He has younger men working for him, and we meet him as he is checking in on them to make sure that the harvest is going well. Now, there are many hints throughout the story as to how old Boaz is. It is my impression that he is an older man and a bachelor. We are not told these things explicitly, but we are given hints. I think his prosperity and the respect he has in the community is one of these hints. It takes time to develop a good reputation in a small community, and it is something that is easily lost. So his prosperity and reputation hint at the idea that he might be an older gentleman.
As he is getting updated by his head harvester, he notices Ruth and enquires after her. The young man tells Boaz that Ruth is the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Here we learn a second thing about Boaz. He is perceptive. Most men would probably not be interested in the peasants that were gleaning in their fields after their men that harvested their stalks, but Boaz notices Ruth and takes an interest in this new person working in his field.
When he finds out that she is the daughter-in-law of Naomi, he comes to a full understanding of her great need. Boaz knows who Naomi is. We are told that he is a close relative of Elimelech. We don’t know how close, but he is the second closest relative in the line of redemption. So that must make him pretty close. He is aware of their needs because this is a small town, and this is big news. We are going to see in the next couple verses that his awareness leads to compassion. The reason that he makes special provision for Ruth is because Naomi is family, and he has a familial duty to help her in her time of need.
All of this is an illustration of a good kinsman redeemer. The first step of redemption is compassion, a deep feeling of sympathy and sadness at the misfortune of another. We can’t see into his heart, but we can see from his actions that he felt a deep compassion for Ruth and Naomi, and what godly family member wouldn’t? No one wants to see one of their family members fall on difficult times or experience the discipline of the Lord. Boaz is moved by their desperate need.
Consider Ruth and Naomi’s options, they can glean the individual grains that are dropped in the field by the harvesters, they can sell themselves into indentured servitude until the next year of Jubilee, or they can hope to be redeemed by a kinsman. They do not have a lot of options, and there is no scenario where they have the means to redeem themselves.
This is where everyone is prior to putting their faith in Christ. We are helpless. Adam, our ancestor, has lost the birthright that we were given by God. Paul teaches us this in Romans 5. Listen to what he says about our relationship to the first Adam beginning in verse 12:
Romans 5:12-14
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
In Adam, we do not inherit the garden world that God intended. We lost what was rightfully ours because in Adam all of us turn away from God. Which means our situation is desperate. We can do nothing to change our predicament because we are also guilty of the same kinds of sin. The only thing that we can inherit from Adam is the condemnation of death.
So everyone in this room, whether you are a follower of Jesus or not, should be able to connect with the helplessness of Naomi and Ruth. We have sold ourselves into the slavery of sin and our only hope is redemption that comes from another. We desperately need someone to take notice of our helplessness.
Which brings us to our second point: Boaz is a good kinsman redeemer because he graciously provides for Ruth and Naomi’s needs. Let’s continue reading our sermon text beginning in verse 8:
Ruth 2:8-16
8 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. 9 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.” 10 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?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
As we already saw in our previous point, Boaz is moved toward Ruth and Naomi out of compassion. He understands their needs and decides to be kind to them. Let’s list all the ways that Boaz is kind and gracious to Ruth and by extension Naomi.
First, we see in verse 8 that he wants Ruth to stay with his young women. It is not safe for her in the fields. She is by herself, surrounded by strange men, and she could easily be taken advantage of. The first way Boaz cares for her is by associating her with his people that are trustworthy and telling the young men not to touch her so that she will be safe as she gleans.
The second way Boaz provides for Ruth is that he gives her food and water as if she was one of his own servants. Gleaning is hard work. She is not reaping with a sickle. She is walking through the field picking up individual grains of barley that fall off the stock as the harvesters do their work. It is slow, back breaking labor. So Boaz provides for her immediate needs by allowing her access to food and water in the field.
The third way that Boaz provides for Ruth is giving special instructions to the harvesters that they are to let her glean in special ways so that she can increase the amount of grain she gets during the day. Gleaners were the poorest of the poor that only had the right to what fell on the ground in the field. This was God’s way of providing for them. But Boaz goes beyond. He tells the young men to let her glean where they gather the sheaves. So once they bundle them and they take the bundles away, he allows her to glean the grain that fell from the bundles. He also tells them to leave behind some actual stalks for her to have. This is charity above and beyond what is required by the law. Boaz has to let anyone Israelite follow behind his harvesters and glean the grain that falls in the field, but he does not have to leave behind what falls from the bundles or certainly none of the actual harvest. This means that Ruth takes home an entire ephah, or about 50 pounds worth of grain for one day’s work. This is above and beyond anything that Naomi or Ruth could have possibly hoped for in an entire season of gleaning, much less a single day.
Lastly, Boaz is gracious and kind to Ruth because he reminds her that the Lord is her refuge, not Boaz. It would have been very easy for Boaz to take all the credit for the kindness he shows to Ruth, but look at Ruth and Boaz’s interaction in verse 10. As Ruth falls down in from of Boaz to basically worship him, notice the reason he gives to Ruth for the kindness he shows her. The kindness Boaz shows to Ruth is a response to the kindness that Ruth has already shown to his relative, Naomi, and is the grace of the Lord working through Boaz to bless Ruth for trusting in God to provide for her. She has turned to YHWH, the God of Israel, for shelter and he has been faithful to spread his wings over her through the kindness of Boaz. Boaz is merely the conduit of the Lord’s provision to the great need of Ruth and Naomi.
Church, that is us! We are the needy Gentile that is being given the grace of God through others. When you come to the people of God, you should expect for God to meet your needs. But the amazing thing is always how he meets them. He will meet your needs through your brothers and sisters in the Church. That is what a spiritual gift is, a special dispensation of God’s grace that flows through another member in order to meet your needs, to remind you that God sees your neediness and he has chosen to be gracious and kind to you.
Not only should you expect your needs to be met, but you should also expect to meet other people’s needs. Boaz had the unique opportunity to meet Ruth and Naomi’s needs on the Lord’s behalf, and you will too. If you have your eyes open and are aware of the needs of others, like Boaz was, you will see opportunities to encourage the faith of your brothers and sisters in the Church. This is God’s grace working through to bless the other members of the Church.
There is one more thing that makes Boaz the preferred kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi: he is a man that is worthy of their hope. Let’s quickly read the final verses of our sermon text beginning in verse 17:
Ruth 2:17-23
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
When Naomi hears of Ruth’s success in the field of Boaz, she is ecstatic. In God’s providence, Ruth has stumbled onto a kinsman that is a genuine candidate to serve as Ruth and Naomi’s kinsman redeemer. As we discussed earlier, a kinsman redeemer must be willing and able. At the end of Chapter 2, it is clear that Boaz is able. Remember how the chapter opened. The narrator told us that Boaz is a worthy man. That word, gibbor translated here as worthy, doesn’t just speak about his character. It also speaks of his strength. In other passages it is translated as mighty, capable, powerful. It is the same word that Isaiah uses to speak of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:5
Isaiah 9:5
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The Messiah will be, El gibbor, the Mighty God. It is his strength that makes him able to carry the weight of governments on his shoulders.
The same image should be in our minds as we think about Boaz. He is a potential redeemer that is capable of redeeming. He has the demonstrated character and the financial means to make redemption a reality.
All of this is known to Naomi. The excitement at the end of Chapter 2 is such a contrast to the despair at the end of Chapter 1. For the first time in the story, Naomi has hope, because she has a high level of confidence that Boaz is the kind of man that can truly help them. She knows that the one word that accurately describes Boaz is that he is worthy.
Brother and sister, think about your own public reputation. What is the one word that other people that know you from a distance would use to describe you? What is your reputation among the broader society? Proverbs 22:1 says:
Proverbs 22:1
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
That does not mean that you should cultivate such a reputation for your own selfish gains, but you should work to be thought well of by outsiders because the man that is well respected by his peers reflects well on his Savior. When you are the type of man or woman that sacrifices for others, that does the things that you say you are going to do, that leaves things better than when you found them, you say something about the God that you serve.
Let me take a moment to speak especially to the young men in the room. Brothers, for the last 40 years, the consistent message of our society is that masculinity is something to be despised. Men that provide and protect and have good moral character are a danger to society. Let me just tell you, that is a lie straight from the pits of hell. Satan is winning the war against the young men in our country. We are going to talk more about this next week, but we need more men like Boaz, and those kinds of men are forged in the Church. Look at the things that we have learned from Boaz this week and the things that we are going to learn in the coming weeks and be like him. Work hard. Cultivate the things that God puts into your hands. Care for the women and children in your life as gentle stewards of God’s kindness to you. Have convictions that are based on God’s word and stand firm. Learn from older, Godly men. Don’t give up. That is exactly what the enemy wants you to do.
Boaz was a worthy man, and everyone knew it. And it is his reputation that allows him to carry out the will of God in redeeming Ruth and Naomi. Naomi had every right to be excited about the prospect of having Boaz as their kinsman redeemer, because Boaz was a man worthy of carrying Naomi’s hopes and dreams.
So Naomi and Ruth begin to plan. They decide that Ruth will stay close to Boaz because he will protect her. She will have plenty of opportunity to continue her gleaning work in safety as part of Boaz’s harvesting crew. This week we have seen that he is able to redeem, next week we will see how he is willing.
Conclusion
As we draw our sermon to a close, consider your own great need for a kinsman redeemer. In our sermon today we saw that God was aware of the situation that Ruth and Naomi were going to be in hundreds of years beforehand and that he made provisions to take care of them. He gave Israel the law so the weak, the infirm, the unwise and foolish could be provided for through the redemption of the land that he gave them.
God is aware of your needs. Some of our members are dealing with family members that are making horrible decisions, decisions that call into question whether or not they are truly followers of Jesus. Other members are struggling through chronic pain that just seems like it will never go away. Still others of us are fighting secret sins in our lives that we are simply uncertain if we will ever find victory. God is not unaware of your needs. In the same way that he provided a redeemer for Ruth and Naomi, he will redeem you as well. There is not a moment of your sufferings and struggles that he is not unaware of and that he is not turning toward your good.
And for those in the room that are not followers of Jesus, your needs are greater still. You are far from God. Your sin has created a separation from him that you will never be able to fix. You are like Ruth and Naomi because you cannot possibly redeem yourself. Your debts are too great. Know this. God has made provision for you as well. He sent his Son to pay the penalty for your sin by dying on a cross. Three days after he died, he rose from the dead, conquering sin and death. Through Christ, you can be redeemed. If you put your trust in his finished work on the cross, the sacrifice of Jesus can count against your sin, it can satisfy the wrath of God against you. You can go from being God’s enemy to being his child, redeemed and restored to your rightful inheritance. If you would like to discuss that more, please find me after the service. I would love to help you understand what it means to follow Jesus.
Let’s pray.