Ruth - Chapter 4

while we're exploring the Little Book of Ruth and we are in chapter four of a fourth chapter book Book of Ruth in the days the judges ruled it's a contrast to the book of Judges is a grim a period of failure but there's one middle bright spot a special bright spot book of Ruth and it's the ultimate love story even in colleges they soft and study this is just an elegant piece of literature just at the literary level but of course it's also extremely profound at the prophetic level and also at the personal level we start touching on that now that we've gone through most of the book here and of course it's the one book of the Old Testament that really in its unique way focuses on the church and the role of the kinsman redeemer is here exemplified we're going to focus on that especially in this review and we regarded as an essential prerequisite if you're going to study the book of Revelation you will not understand chapter 5 of Revelation unless you really understand this book and of course it's one of the reasons it's such a benefit to all of us is that it embraces some of the critical ancient laws of Israel evolved gleaning we've countered that in chapter 2 the law of the lever right marriage we developed that in chapter 3 and this time we're going to focus on the law of redemption in chapter 4 these three laws now the first chapter was Love's resolved and that's this incredible commitment of ruth the moabite us to her Jewish mother-in-law leaving her people and her entire background to cling to her mother-in-law at both of them being widows and loves response in chapter 2 is where she's gleaning and and it's a really a study of the fact that there's nothing accidental in in life certainly not in the scripture that she happens on a field to glean that is Boaz's and that leads to chapter 3 where she puts the question to him if he will step up and do it says he's a kinsman he can redeem the land to her mother-in-law Naomi and also take a Gentile bride and he puts that to him in the last chapter and we're going to see now the reward of this it was as resolved in Chapter one the response in Chapter two the request in Chapter three and the reward in Chapter four I mentioned it that way because you notice that pastors that go to seminary always feel that they improve the truth of things but making it alliterative since these all start and are that presumably underscores it somewhere and I'm being facetious of course but anyway the redemption of both the land and the bride here loves requests last time loves reward this time so we are in chapter four verse one now just to refresh your memory now Boaz when she confronted him asking him to do the kinsman smart he said he'd love to and he will get this resolved in the next day if at all possible and but there is a nearer kinsman in the way so that's the cloud that's the plot problem a plot is a problem in its solution in any story and the plot problem here is who is this nearer kinsman how do we get him out of the way so anyway chapter four verse one then went Boaz up to the gate that's an unusual term we'll explore that a little bit and sat him down there and behold the kinsman of whom boy spake came by hunt to whom he said Oh such a one turn the side sit down here and he turned aside and set down now there's a lot more going on here the whole concept of a gate you need to understand the concept of a gate in the ancient cultures the gate is where the town council really met that's where transactions and legal business were generally carried out was at the gate you see that in Deuteronomy 15 and elsewhere it was similar to what you and I would call City Hall in a sense that's where the elders within the ancient tribal traditions the city was protected and the people that came and went would go through the gate because it was typically a walled village the gate was the access people in authority over the city would check credentials at the gate if there was a matter of issue one would meet the elders at the gate of the city Boaz is obviously a wealthy landowner and it's very possible he was the mayor of the city that's just a conjecture but he people seem to respond to him in a very responsive way so when he asked this guy to sit down he does so without question boys apparently as someone who is used to being obeyed now just to give you a little more background Abraham purchased the Barrett price for Sarah at the city gate in Genesis 23 Absalom won conference by offering to settle their disputes in their favor at the city gate in second Samuel 15 gates would sit at the city gate for legal business the city gate was the place for judging the manslayer he may recall the whole law of the cities of refuge at the city gate if you could prove that you were there was an accidental death and that you could get asylum there and criminal acts so all kinds would judge the city gate and Deuteronomy 21 22 it's also the place for social in the court and of course and it was considered tragic when the elders ceased from the city gate and the lamentations 5 anyway so boys went up to the gate and sat him down there and behold the kinsman of whom he came by of whom he said hold such a one now it's a strange term it occurs twice in the scripture it's an idiom used in the place of a proper name sort of like mr. anonymous one or mister so-and-so you find it twice elsewhere in the Bible if you will it's a strange way because it sort of deliberately leaves him unnamed it doesn't identify him more specifically which suits our purposes fine here he's a kinsman as the point he's the guy that apparently is a closer kinsman Doolittle inland like then Boaz was and we don't know exactly why possibly the other man was a brother of Elimelech Naomi's husband which made him an uncle of Ruth's first husband if you will that's why he he's in the lineup here if you will and Boas took 10 men of the elders of the city and said sit you down here and they sat down so there again you see boys is organizing things here that's why some commentators presume that he may have been mayor or some such thing and 10 men that you'll notice in Jewish things that that was what's called a minyan 10 men were required by Jewish law if you're going to before Jewish synagogue service could be conducted that was the minimum number to make it legal a minyan is 10 people so that seems to have a deep addition injury in the Jewish culture they said under the kids Minh he goes on to explain the whole situation Naomi that has come again out of the country of Moab selleth a parcel of land which was our brother elimi lacks sea the land needs to be redeemed naomi is the point he's calling attention of this guy to that he needs a kinsman redeemer to step up and redeem the land for her now that she's back in town she left under destitute circumstances when there was a famine ten years earlier but she's back in that land isn't out thus available the kinsman redeemer the NGO L is the Hebrew term for kinsman redeemer it would get me involved for requirements to keep in mind first it had to be a near kinsman next of kin in effect had he had to be able to perform if he couldn't perform you know he had to be able to provide whatever that meant and he also had to be willing it was his choice he didn't have to he could choose that's what we're gonna see operative here something else is implied by all of this he must assume all the obligations involved these four conditions need to be kept in our mind as we go forward in this narrative for a number of reasons not only to understand the story of course but also to apply it properly in a spiritual term that we'll explore as we go here so boys continues he says I thought to it to advertise these saying buy it before the inhabitants and before the elders of my people if thou wilt redeem it redeem it but if thou will not redeem it then tell me that I may know for there is none to redeem it beside thee and I am after thee that's that's the situation then we have the big cloud on our horizon here and he says he said I'll redeem it okay I will redeem it that's what this guy says and this is when I presume that boy's heart drop to suck he was hoping he'd passed Boaz is in love with this gal and he's ready to step in but there is an obstacle here and one of the ways I usually tried to get this across as I visualized us suppose we were casting this for a movie we would a a real hero type for Boaz a charlton heston in the older days a Harrison Ford in more modern terms that we all probably could think of candidates that could fit the role of our Boaz here now the narrow kinsman we sort of figure well that would be what Edward Norton or Danny DeVito or you know someone that's you know maybe I'll use him I'll pick on him as my prototype here that said Boaz uh-huh what Dave out bias the field of the hand in the owe me thou must buy it also of ruth the moabite us the wife of the dead to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance now it's interesting that he uses what would be in that culture a very derogatory term not just Ruth it's ruth the moabite us now he doesn't see boys doesn't pull his punches here he's trying to paint this as scary as he can for this guy this guy probably doesn't know who Ruth is he doesn't want him to get he see who the reason he mentions Moabite us because in Deuteronomy 23 3 and a man died or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord that's in the Torah that's against the law there exceptions and this is going to be one of them but still that's sort of a cloud that's that that's an unattractive attribute from the point of view of this nearer kinsman the law of redemption all of this is all excerpted out of Leviticus 25 if you will what does it say there sorry about verse 23 it says the land shall not be sold for ever for the land is mine and God speaking for ye are strangers and sojourners with me and in all the land of your possession he shall grant a redemption for the land when they sell a piece of property it's not a fee simple as we're used to that title passes forever to whoever bought it no no here this is what you and I would characterize as a lease what you sold is the use of that land for a period of time and it always had to provide for it being redeemed back into the family so if I brother be waxing poor and hath sold away some of his possessions and if any of his kin come to redeem it then shall he redeem that which his brother so sort of a pre-emptive right in the sense of good things if a man have none to redeem it and himself as I and himself be able to redeem it then let him count the years of the sale thereof and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it that he may return unto his possession in other words he get that he gets refunded the part that the you know he hadn't used yet so it's a it's a it's like a rent if you will but if he will not be able to restore it to him then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that bought it until the year of the Jubilee and in the Jubilee it shall go out and he shall return onto his possessions they all have one of the characteristics of the Jubilee year all debts were forgiven all slaves were free and the land returned to its original owners there's no evidence that they actually obeyed it but that's what the law provided the Jubilee year it's the time of the restitution of all things and Peter makes reference to that in his second speech in Acts chapter three using that phrase the law at that time of restitution at the time of the second coming so many of us who study prophetic patterns are fascinated by that the problem is we can't find historical confirmations the Jubilee was actually observed an order accountant there are some issues behind the scenes there but a real limit is 25 picks it up again verse 47 says then if I'm Sojourner or straight and by the way if it's a walled city there's some special rules I won't get it all out here and if a sojourner stranger wax rich by V and thy brother that dwelt by him blacks pour and sell himself unto the stranger or Sojourner by thee or to the stock of the strangers family after that he is sold he may be redeemed again one of his brethren may redeem him neither his uncle or his uncle son may redeem him or any that is my of kin unto him of his family may redeem him or if he be able he may redeem himself he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of Jubilee and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him if there be yet many years behind according unto it to them he shall give again the price of his Redemption out of the money that he was spot for now if it remained but a few years unto the jeer of Jubilee than shall count with him and according unto his ears shall he give him again the price of his Redemption so these are all the McKenna's a yearly hired servant shall he be with him and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight and if he be not redeemed in these years then he shall go out in the year of the Jubilee both he and his children with him and unto me that children is our servants they are servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt I am the Lord your God so that's the law of redemption Israel belongs to God when Joshua entered in the land that was granted to the 12 tribes and the land was intended to stay under the ownership of that particular tribe you could sell your land but that's really what we would consider a lease you sold the rights to use it for a while it's basically what it boils down to and in the year of Jubilee it'll return to the original owners and when you so join the title deed would also include the rules for its Redemption the title deed would be rolled up the rules by which would be unrolled was Luke written on the outside its the rough side of the parchment not normally used for writing but it was for it was a title deed and the law required a procedure that if you're a next of kin should show up there was some procedure where he could purchase back the unused ears that was called redeeming the land you with me so far okay now there's an interesting issue that shows up in Jeremiah 32 it's just an incident and in and of itself it seems puzzling until you understand why it's there Jeremiah knew they're about to go into captivity for 70 years he wouldn't survive the captivity he's old by older by then Jeremiah was instructed to buy land right before going into captivity and after it kept what would happen after captivity Jeremiah's descendants will come back and claim the land the title deed would be a scroll on the back of which would detail the procedure for Redemption the whole concept here is important to understand when you encounter the seven sealed book in the book of Revelation chapter 5 which is written within and on the backside and sealed with seven seals so let's just take a look at Jeremiah 32 just to have this behind us here Jeremiah said the word Lord came unto me saying see God told him specifically during this very strange transaction behold henna meal the son of Shaolin thine uncle so commodities saying by the my field that is an any thought for the right of redemption is thine to buy it so henna meal my knuckles son came to me in the court of the prison see Jeremiah's in dungeon here and and according to the word of the Lord and said unto me by my field I pray thee that is naina thought which is in the country of Benjamin for the right of inheritance is 9 and the redemption is 9 by it for thyself then I knew that this was the word of the Lord so you've been tipped off he knew that somehow God had a purpose this makes no sense he's in a dungeon he's gonna die why should he buy some land pretty stupid no God told him to so he Jeremiah complies so I bought the field from Hannah me Oh Hannah me on my uncle's son that was in and I thought and weighed him the money some 17 shekels of silver and I subscribed the evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money and the balances and so I took the evidence of the purchase both that which was sealed according to the law and the custom and that which was open so the scroll was partly sealed so you could only unroll a certain portion because it was a title deed see I gave the evidence of the purchase unto baruch the son of Neriah the son of messiah and the site in the site of hannah meal my uncle's son and the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase before all the jews that sat in the court of the prison and I charged Brooke before I'm saying thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel take these evidences this evidence of the purchase both which is sealed and this evidence which is open and put them in an earthen vessel that they may continue many days this transaction has several roles one of which is to encourage the people that they will return this had no meaning if they never returned from captivity the fact that they in part of the message years they will return his descendants will have used for this land that's sort of the message it comes through here now the reason we're so interested in this isn't just to understand what happened there in the in Ruth chapter 4 which we'll get into we want to understand our kinsman redeemer just as there's a kinsman redeemer there there's one yeah the kinsman had to be a kinsman had to be a man couldn't be an angel doing this had to be I had to be able had to be willing both be true he has to be able to of course but he had a choice he didn't have to he chose to and he had to assume all the obligations of the entire situation that's an often overlooked point of this here so we get the revelation chapter 5 verse 1 when we get there we are in the throne room of heaven by time you get to chapter 5 chapter 4 you're in the throne room of heaven and all kinds of things are going on and you get chapter 5 verse 1 he says hi John speaking I saw the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals you understand how the seals work you roll up the seal roll it each seal locks you unroll it a little further another seal when you unrefined to get through all seven the whole thing's open in front of you that's the picture okay and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals the seals thereof no man in heaven or on earth neither under the earth was able to open the book and neither look thereon now you and I when we read that doesn't mean much to we're puzzled no man in heaven on earth neither under the earth was able to open the book you and I don't get the picture but John does because the next verse says he sobbed convulsively now with much in your King James English I want much because no man was found worthy to open and read the book neither to look thereon I want you to notice here it took a man in heaven a man it had to be a kinsman see why the kinsman part is so important an angel couldn't do this he had to be a kinsman of Adam who was the guy that blew it back there in Genesis 3 okay this is what's being undone here now John is sobbing convulsively then one of the elders it's very one ting always the elders explain to him what's going on I think that's interesting and one of the elders saith unto me we'd not behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof and John says I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts or living creatures and in the midst of the elders not a lion stood a lamb as it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth Wow the Lion of the tribe of Judah that's what he expects to see and he turns and he looks he sees and and when that's the root of David he turns looks he sees the lamb as it had been slain this ofcourse is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and the lamb is a passover term let's not forget that John the Baptist when he first introduces Christ to the public in in the early chapters of John twice he says behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world that's a Passover title that's a very Jewish thing it makes no sense unless you understand that he is indeed our Passover everything every every Passover season we as Christians should pause and it's tragic that we always label that season by its pagan name Easter the real name of its papasa it's a Passover he came that that's this lamb that was slain he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne Wow he must have access who's that who's sitting on the throne God the Father but he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat upon the throne that tells you a great deal right there and when he had taken the book the four living creatures in the four twenty four and twenty elders they're very important to understand by the way fell down before the lamb having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the saints and they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth praise God they are singing this song they are speaking first person singular pearl us thou art worthy so for thou has redeemed who us to us us we 25 manuscripts have that that way one manuscript a spurious one has it in the third person and there are some Bibles had a footnote that some manuscripts make it has redeemed them and they shall redeem them that's an error one out of 25 manuscripts happens to have an error and it's tragic that many people get confused on this clearly from the abundance of the evidence what they're saying they the 24 elders are identifying those as representatives of the redeemed and could undo him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and to his father and to him be glory and Dominion for ever and ever amen very important that you not get confused as to who the 24 elders are there are many good scholars with different opinions and various aspects of the book of Revelation that's one that's too critical you need to do your own homework satisfy yourself that you understand who those 24 elders really represent who have made us kings and priests there are only three people in the Bible Leonard labelled as a king and a priest together Melchizedek which in Genesis 14 and probably disappeared oblivion except the Psalm 110 and several other places in the scripture make a point of the fact in fact Hebrews chapter 5 and 6 hammered at home that Melchizedek was kings of priests and Jesus Christ is a king and a priest after that pattern after that Melchizedek order and the third party is us has made us kings and priests the redeemed when you read the epistles particularly visions colossians peter letter that's very paramount in their thinking and John continues and I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and of the living creatures and the elders Beast is unfortunate that's not that's a different term than is used with the beast in Revelation 13:1 is Owen and the different word that's really living creatures what should it be translated the living creature and their cherubim if you will and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands sounds like it was a member of Congress and anyway saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that was to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing Wow and you can make a whole study of those seven elements they escalate and they build up to that crescendo power riches wisdom strength honor and glory and blessing those are not synonyms they're all subtly different I invite you to dig into that sometime your redemption is sealed all through the scripture and we won't try to unravel out all here but the passage are there for those of you who want to double back on that and get into the details that's exciting so back to Ruth back to this near kinsman this is the kinsman said I cannot redeem it for myself last time are my own inheritance redeem thou write to thyself for I cannot redeem it so he's disappointed we're thrilled because we're with Boaz on this one Boaz is pulse is just quickened he's feeling great about it because you have to be willing able to redeem the land but he this one is okay with the land but he's unable to redeem the bride and there's some reasons for that so the nearer kinsman passes this is the plot solution here why I did that well here's some possibilities he would have had to invest his own money to redeem the land of course however having to marry Ruth and Bruce's son through her meant that the son would legally be the son of mufflon and the one to inherit the property so he's paying for it but it's not his offspring that gets it so that's kind of a bad deal from his point of view the kids with us end up losing both the property and the investment because it would develop to devolve to roots line here moreover not only would the son inherit the property the kinsman redeemer he would also inherit part of the kinsman the own property and since he would lose his investment the redeemed property and part of his own land the kinsman would be depriving his own heirs by stepping into this deal now metaphorically say okay we understand that that's the practice of it but if Boaz is the kinsman redeemer great and Ruth is the Gentile bride metaphorically who does the near kinsman represent and different scholars have different opinions but the most common presumption here is that metaphor he represents the Mosaic law to begin with he's nameless the law could not redeem us it was impossible for the law to redeem us that's made very clear in the New Testament therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified the sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin Romans 3:20 the first half a dozen chapters of Romans is critical background here the law was never given to be a redeemer the law was given to reveal man's true condition or the need for a redeemer Paul calls administration of condemnation administration of death I remember Walter Martin used to pre weird a very formal Church one time and Walter was pointing out that the law is like a mirror you know you don't it's to show you your need and you don't shave with the mirror were shaved by grace and he pulled that silly pun and you could tell the audience didn't quite follow it it was even that he was at a very denominational setting and Walter's humor was sometimes a little on the fringe side but anyway so Paul calls it at the law administration of condemnation in 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 9 in fact the administration of death and that same passage the law was never a savior the law actually condemned us rather than saved us it just demonstrates our need for a savior so this whole issue of striving you know people say well I'm I I live by the Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount oh really well I'm as good as the next guy they don't buy the biblical point of view that's strike one I'm as good as the next guy well I'm trying the best I can that's strike two I'm trying to live by the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments strike three have you kept them no now you try to confront them with the advice of Yoda you know there was a Star Wars everybody seen the Star Wars you remember Yoda Yodas counsel was you do or you do not there is no try and that's really the way the law fits it's like a chain you break one of those links and you're lost the good way of visualize is a guy hanging over a cliff by a chain with ten links in it you break one of those links in the chain no longer impact right you can't be saved by the law anyway getting back to Ruth here in verse seven now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning the redeeming and concerning changing for to confirm all things a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor and this was a testimony in Israel and bucked off his shoe the shoe was to the giver a test testimony of deferral he's passing on the opportunity to Boaz this shoe as a marriage license because that cleared the way for him to not only redeem the land but to redeem to purchase a bride this is often confused with a very similar procedure in even earlier times this is that was a Schwitzer where the gal who was passed by by this would take his shoe and spit in his face and that's a schlitt set that's based on Deuteronomy 25 verses 5 to 10 that actually that practice seems to have passed away what's really operating here is a very similar but a slightly different focused procedure because the whole idea of this shoe there for the kinsman said to Baal is buy it for thee and he drew off his shoe this custom arose from the fact that fixed property was taken possession of by treading on the soil as Abraham did in Genesis 13 and as Joshua was told to do in Joshua chapter 1 when you got a piece of property you established your claim by walking on it so the shoes were associated with possession of the land and that's what's going on here and so taking off the shoe in handy to know there was a symbol of the transfer of the right of ownership the near kinsman is take giving a shoe as a testimony that he's he's passing the possession of that to his his associate here so it's a little different than we often infer from some of these other traditions but you want to study shoes I think this is one of those places where if you have time on your hands and you're interested in getting into a study take shoes throughout the entire Bible you'll notice when Moses is confronted at the burning bush he's instructed take off your shoes you're on hallowed ground that's kind of interesting and that's also referenced in the book of Acts chapter 7 by the way Stephen makes reference to that very thing when Joshua years later is confronted the foot before it before the before who the the the angel that we believe was Jesus Christ acting there in Joshua chapter 5 he's told take off your shoes you're hallowed ground same words that Joshua would remember that Moses from the the burning bush incident we also notice a very interesting thing that the shoes they wore during the wilderness wanderings for 40 years didn't wear out little remark made in Deuteronomy 29 5 and then of course John the Baptist signifies the the seniority if you will if I can put it that way of Jesus Christ when he says his shoe latches I'm unworthy to unloose so the shoes seem to be all part of a firm understanding a little pun their understanding okay I'm sorry we'll move on okay verse 9 and Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was eliminates and all that was Killians and mountains of the hand of Naomi this is the redemption he confronts the near kinsman who is he's willing to redeem the property yet not one take root as a bride so he yields a shoe to defer the obligation Bowa steps up purchases the land for Naomi and purchases Ruth as a bride that's the term he will use and the term that Jesus uses a bus you and I are a purchased possession he paid for us with his blood on that cross so verse 10 moreover ruth the moabite is the wife of mahon have i purchased to be my wife there's that term again to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gain of his place ye are witnesses this day that's why he had the 10 people there at they gate he purchased it and it's the same term that's used in acts 20 referring to this whole issue here I purchased to be my life and all the people that were in the gate then the elders said we our witnesses Lord make the woman that has come into thine house like Rachel and like Leia which ii did build the house of israel and do thou worthily in Ephrata and be famous in bethlehem now this book this little four chapter book is the reason that emma that bethlehem is on our Christmas cards this is the reason that it became the City of David this is the reason that Jesus was born there but there's another little subtlety that I'm gonna famous in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 though there'll be a little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall come forth to deliver the house of bread Bethlehem means House of bread the bread of life actually right but a grand Christmas time we see the shepherds in the field that are visited by the angels at Christmas we always celebrate that when there are Christmas carols it's my belief I can't prove it conclusively it's my belief that those shepherds were tending the flocks in the fields that originally belonged to Boaz and Ruth it would make sense for a lot of reasons so that's kind of cool I think now there's more to this than we've talked about so far you and I are victims of what I'll call the Greek or western model of prophecy prophecy is a prediction and a fulfillment prediction of fulfillment and that's the way we tend to look at it the Hebrew mind looks at things a little differently there their mind looks for patterns prophecy is pattern that's what we get the term of types or metaphors and so forth authorizing virtue of being Hosea 12:10 and some others so Boaz here obviously is a type or a metaphor if you will of a kinsman redeemer in general now this story really did happen don't misunderstand my emphasis here this is an actual event that really happened in history in a real place but there's also overlaying on this a symbolic meaning Boaz here's the role of a Goyle the kinsman redeemer Jesus Christ is our kinsman redeemer now it may seem unusual that Boas would take two wife a Moabite us because that was prohibited in the Torah one reason he might be comfortable doing that you have to remember who his mother was Boaz his mother was Rahab the amorite the one from Jericho you all know the story but you may not collect it out there okay and for a complete story you can go and take a look at our Joshua commentary just read the book of Joshua get into it so by Boaz his act of redemption he takes a Gentile bride and who is that a type of the church right on and he redeems the land to Naomi that makes Naomi in a sense of speaking here a type of Israel if you will boys it be a type of Christ in a sense of what we might call an anticipatory analog sometimes called a macro code if you will this does not mean that he was or is Christ in a literal sense don't get carried away here there's a similar situation with Melchizedek in Genesis 14 because he's a foreshadowing of the priesthood the order of the order of Melchizedek some people think we'll team of the Kazak was an Old Testament pearance of Christ that's going that's getting a little fanciful but he certainly is a type in a sense in some in certain ways but this anyway this his role here is give us a perspective about what a kinsman redeemer is that's what we're trying to understand here well Boaz is a kinsman redeemer type of Christ and Ruth is a type of the church she's a Gentile who's taken to wife of the kinsman redeemer that's why we call her the Bride of Christ in in in the broad metaphorical sense Naomi would be of course a type of Israel she's returned to the land that active Redemption returns his row back to the land so the types remember the girl he had to be a kinsman that's in Hebrews 2 this is Jesus Christ he had to be willing Romans 3 Hebrews 12 he's certainly obviously was willing he had to be able he ever liveth to make intercession for us and so forth and he had to assume all our obligations not just some of them all of them so our kinsmen you know it's interesting Christ like Boaz is not free to move on your behalf until you claim him as your kinsman redeemer boys could love Ruth all he wanted to it was her and need to you know put herself in that position Christ died for you on the cross went through hell for you and even today he stands at the door of your heart and knocks what did he say revelation 3:20 behold I stand at the door and knock If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me but you got open the door just as Boaz had to I just like Ruth had to ask him to put his skirt over her put his authority over her you and I have to do the same thing in fact you got to open that door sa yes I don't understand it all but I do recognize I need you and I request you to redeem me daddy will you anxious to you won't crash the door down it's your move you've got to deal with that now as you go this far there's some more reflexive observations we might make if you accept the idea that Boaz is idiot metaphorically the kinsman redeemer and Ruth is in there and Naomi is in the role of Israel Andrews is in the role of the church in order to bring Ruth to Naomi and he only had to be exiled from her land how interesting the Diaspora Wow and you're going to make a whole study of that interesting prerequisite what the law could not do grace did under the law boss couldn't marry Ruth if that was what he's bound to but grace can override that it's interesting that Ruth does not replace Naomi it's astonishing to realize how much theology is confused through some traditional histories here the church does not replace Israel they have distinctive roles and missions don't get confused by that it's interesting that Ruth learns of Boaz's ways through Naomi how does Bruce know what to do she's taught by Naomi how do we understand the whole role of Jesus Christ going to the cross paying for her that's all a completion of a model that was laid down for thousands of years in the Jewish offerings all the details they're spent not a bone broken all the over 100 vacations that Jesus fulfilled on that cross how do we know that from understanding the Jewish context here the church learns of Christ's ways through the Jewishness of the past it's interesting that Naomi though doesn't meet though as except for Ruth at least in the story that's kind of interesting how did Jews discover the redeemer by Ruth's witness really think about that and no matter how much Boaz loved Ruth he had to await her move chapter three was essential prerequisite he couldn't just force it it's interesting that Boas not Ruth confronts the near kinsman if you study the law and the law of redemption it was the eligible Widow that would put the bite on the guy to do the thing no bow eye steps in and acts as her advocate he's the one that had the meeting he's the one that confronted the near beyond her bath in effect how interesting Hebrews 7:25 he Christ ever lives to make intercession for you and me he's our defense counsel praise God some final remarks the Book of Ruth incident is always read at the feast of Shevat or Feast of Pentecost that's 50 days after the feast of firstfruits and the first feast of fresh fruits is the morning after Shabbat after Passover and it's interesting that the Book of Ruth even though it's in Jewish communities who have no grasp or no focus on the Messiah per se end up reading this book at exactly that time and the feast of Shabbat is a very the more you study there's three feasts in the first month that are all the feasts of it Moses are both predictive as well as historical the first three in the month of Nisan are all predictive of the first coming of Christ they all very clearly link there they'd only predict it but they're fulfilled on the very day they're observed interesting Lena the last three feasts of the year the latter the three feasts that are in the seventh month Tishri the fall feasts are predicted of his second coming but there's this one weird one between these two groups of three right in the middle so to speak called cheveux it's the only Feast of Moses that uses leavened bread so his unleavened bread except there it gives us a Gentile flavor and so it's interesting it's recognized by most scholars that it's predictive of Acts chapter 2 the birth of the church that's interesting The Book of Ruth on the Jewish detergent liturgy is read at that time and as I pointed out to try to point out here you can't really understand revelation 5 until you really understand the Book of Ruth and you and I are also beneficiaries of another love story that was written in blood on the wooden cross erected in Judea is almost 2,000 years ago but this this we're just halfway through the chapter by the way where in verse 12 there's some other verses that we'll take a quick look at and we'll study in the next session just about the time this is all going well they're celebrating his incredible victory here he's the Redeemer of Ruth and all that comes verse 12 a strange worse it reads like a toast at a celebration let thy house be like the house of Peres whom Tamar barren to Judah of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman well that sounds pretty good until you read the story of Tamar and Judah in Genesis 38 and it's a it's a sordid stay as a story that embarrasses many fathers reading the Bible to their children what on earth's going on there why is that chapter you get to chapter 37 they introduced Joseph and from 37 to 50 is this incredible saga of the story of Joseph which is again one of these great great dramas in the Bible but right after 37 there's this weird sordid little chapter tucked in there that has many surprises for you will it's so important we'll get into that next time find out what's really going on here now see Peres was born as a result of a lever right marriage also that's one reason it's here he was the son of Judah from from whom Boas descended so he's in Boaz his family tree Boas is of the Clannad as a clam that had settled in Bethlehem okay we'll get into more that next time the House of Paris so bad boys took Ruth and she was his wife and when he went in at her the Lord gave her conception and she bare a son now her social progression and it's kind of interesting in the in chapter 2 the Hebrew term referring to her was not real which is a foreigner when you get to chapter 2 third verse 13 he's then she's a ship ah which is a beneath a lower servant when you get to chapter 3 she's a nama the maid service that's up a notch and in the fourth chapter she's the wife so he's found from a foreigner to a very low level servant to a maid servant to what she progresses systematically from chapter through the chapter four I'm indebted to Arnold fuckton BOM who really unravels the subtleties of some of the Hebrew here on our behalf he spends a lot of his time dismissing errors of the Talmudic there's a lot of rabbinical tradition about Book of Ruth they're just well frankly wrong and he you know reveals those but then sweeps them away because they're wrong and so but there's a number of things he points out that are very useful that was one of them and the women set out to Naomi blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman that his name may be famous in Israel and he shall be unto thee a store of my life and a nourisher of thine old age for thy daughter in law which loveth thee which is better to thee than seven sons hath borne him and they only took the child and laid it in her bosom and became a nurse unto it the term is not what you thought a wet nurse just a nanny really but that's okay and the woman and the women her neighbors the woman her neighbors gave it a name saying there was a son born to Naomi and they called his name Obed for he is the father of Jesse the father of David now the word here a nurse is a minute which is a verb that means to be firm that read the notes a guardian or nanny in a technical it does not imply a wet nurse necessarily the small point but just so you don't misunderstand the English ambiguity here okay now these are the generations of feriss ferriss now then we're going to go through the little family to the little genealogy here these are the generations of Paris Paris begot hezron hezron begot ROM ROM begot minute AB now hezron is he was emigrated born in Egypt back in Genesis 46 to give you time here and he was the head of the Hezbollah clan of course in numbers 26 and he begot Ryan ROM ROM has mentioned the 1st chronicles 2 9 so this genealogies in the Old Testament and he begat a minute AB who was the father-in-law of Aaron who married his sister Elisheva in Exodus 6 so a minute AB begotten a son and that shouldn't be got and he was the Prince of the tribe of Judah at the time of Moses and nashing begat solomon a psalm was the one that married Rahab okay you have to dig that out of the text but you can and so he participated in the conquest of the land and settled in Bethlehem so Solomon apparently picked Bethlehem and because he did that's why I'm David is associate with Bethlehem and so forth so someone begot Boaz and Boaz forgot Obed oh but we got Jesse and Jesse begot David so that wraps it up so in chapter 4 part a was to summarize the goal that was the first 11 verses which we focused on Part B I'm going to relegate to next time because there are some genealogical surprises tucked away in the text we're going to go through Genesis 38 more carefully because it has it's a double-edged sword there's a story with it and there's also some encoding hidden under the text that we'll go through we'll talk about the 10th generation and we'll introduce you to the possibility of equidistant letter sequences and what do they all mean so we'll explore that a little bit next time so in your next section I want you to read in addition to rereading chapter 4 of course is to read Genesis 38 just read the whole chapter it's a rather dramatic story but then the question I want you to mull over this is yeah this is probably beyond the final how could Samuel this gets later on in the book of not in the Book of Ruth not in the time of the judges the time the judge in the first book of Samuel we have the introduction of the king right King Saul how could Samuel who's in the roided a prophet and priest if you will anoint saw from the tribe of Benjamin where did Saul come from tribe of Benjamin how could Samuel anoint a Benjamite as king when he knew the Torah he knew that the Israel's King was to be of the tribe of Judah was so specified back there in Genesis 49 how could a faithful priest prophet like Samuel anoint a Benjamite as king when the scripture required David as a king that's your question to be ready to answer in our next session let's United stand for closing word of Prayer

Channel: Bible Study

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Length: 49min 46sec (2986 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 18 2020