Ruth Chapter 4:1-10

Are you in the middle of this station and beyond so they can cross the bridge from death to life? Please visit crossthebridge.com today to give and get your copy of Living Life by the book. Now here's David Michi with his teaching, Redeemed. The last few weeks we've been in the book of Ruth. There's four chapters in the book of Ruth. So from a space standpoint, that's a small book in the Hebrew Scriptures, but boy without it we would have a lot missing from our New Testament in the concept of the Kinsman Redeemer and also with the genealogies which we'll be looking at tonight.

So if you're joining us for the first week, just a quick summary on the first three chapters. Naomi went with her husband and her two sons to the land of Moab because there was a famine in the land. Went to Moab, they took wives for their sons. And in the land of Moab, Naomi's husband died and the husbands of Ruth and Orpah also died. And so they came back to the land of Israel. Now Ruth comes back into the land as somebody from Moab or a Moabite who they were not allowed to enter into any kind of service for the Lord in the temple. So there was a lot of stigma to be in a Moabite.

The Moabites came to be from the relations that Lot had with his daughter that we see in the book of Genesis. So there was that stigma. So there was a lot to overcome. And then when they come back, Ruth begins to go and glean in the field, which we talked about was God's system of not welfare but workfare, where she went through the harvest and was able to get some of the grain that was leftover. And God granted her favor with a man of stature and prominence named Boaz. And then we saw in the last chapter that Ruth asked Boaz to be her kinsman redeemer, her goel, which would allow Boaz to become her husband and also to redeem the land that had been lost as they entered poverty and left Israel. Obviously the land that had been allocated or inherited by them was lost through that. And so there was the redemption of the land and there was the redemption of the marriage and the reclamation or the reclaiming of the inheritance.

So that kind of brings us up to speed here. And then we ought to pick up with chapter 3 verse 18, just for context's sake, when Naomi is speaking to Ruth and talking about the plan of Boaz to mention to this relative that is closer to Ruth, therefore it's his first priority to redeem and he has to actually decline before Boaz comes up to bat, if you will. And here's her advice to Ruth. Verse 18, then she said, sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out. For the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.

Chapter 4 verse 1. Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, come aside, friend, sit down here. So he came aside and sat down. And he took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, sit down here.

So they sat down. Remember the context of what's going on in that concept of redemption. Deuteronomy chapter 25 verses 5 through 10 says, if brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family. Her husband's brother shall go into her, take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. And verse 7, but if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders and say, my husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel. He will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of the city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, I do not want to take her, then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove the sandal from his foot, spit in his face and answer and say, so shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house and his name shall be called in Israel, the house of him who had his sandal removed. So obviously if you didn't step up to the plate, there was a disdain that you weren't fulfilling your commitment to family, that there was an obligation there. So that's kind of the context of what's going on here.

And Boaz is going through the process of doing the right thing. So verse 3, then he said to the close relative, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold a piece of land which belonged to our brother, Elimelech. Now we don't know if Boaz was the brother of Elimelech or this unnamed person was the brother of Elimelech. It might have just been, you know, verbiage even as we refer to one another as brother.

Could have been brothers, kind of doubtful. It could be that the unnamed person was closer in age to Elimelech or perhaps the oldest brother who would have to be gone to first, verse 4. And I thought to inform you saying, buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know. For there is no one but you to redeem it and I am next after you. And he said, I will redeem it. Now Boaz again has given him the opportunity to redeem the land.

Now he's only talking about the land right now. In verse 5 he'll talk about Ruth, but he's presenting him the opportunity. I think when you look at chapter 2 and chapter 3, you see that Boaz, I believe, had feelings for Ruth. And yet I appreciate Boaz because he was willing to put his feelings to the side and do what was right. And that's important for us to do because here Boaz is going to do the honorable thing – it doesn't matter his feelings, he's not acting on his feelings. And obviously I believe that's important to us as believers.

Why? Because we can't act on our feelings as well. Our feelings will misguide us.

Many of us remember growing up and maybe you had feelings towards somebody that was, you know, of the opposite sex. You thought, well thank you Lord, you know, this is the one, this is the one you've picked for life. And you were just sure that was the person that the Lord had picked.

Well it ended up that that wasn't who the Lord had picked, that your feelings or your emotions had misled you. And it's important because the Bible tells us that we do not walk by sight. We walk by faith.

And we don't walk by feelings either. See because sometimes faith and feelings will be at odds. And I know we like to pretend that we will always feel like doing something but the reality is sometimes we will not feel like doing something. We will not feel like doing the right things. Sometimes it's very difficult to serve the Lord. Sometimes it's very difficult to do the right thing.

And yet it doesn't mean if we don't feel like it that it's okay. I guarantee you that as Jesus went to the cross, part of His humanity did not feel like completing the task. But what did He do? He completed the task.

Why? Because it was the thing He was called to do. That's important for us to remember because as we step out in faith and we begin to serve the Lord, as we step out in faith and begin to pour our lives out for the Lord, that'll be tested.

That'll be challenged. And it's a heartbreaker whenever somebody comes up and says, well, I don't feel like serving anymore or I feel stretched thin. Well, really if you think about it, I mean serving is being stretched thin. One easy definition of ministry is being inconvenienced for the sake of others. Being inconvenienced for the sake of others. So it's not just our feelings, if you will. And Boaz, even though he has these feelings towards Ruth, he's willing to step out and do the right thing here and go through the process. And this is important because sometimes when we're emotional, we tend towards bad decisions.

So if you're in a state where you're very emotional, don't make major life decisions, especially without talking to somebody and seeking counsel. You're listening to Pastor David McKee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more in just a moment. But first, there's so much waiting for you at crossthebridge.com. If you haven't visited crossthebridge.com yet, come by today and check it out. While you're there, you can sign up for Pastor David's free daily devotional. Listen to more teachings from Pastor David and read about what God's doing through your support to proclaim his word through radio, internet, and mobile technologies. Also, you can give online to help encourage more people in their faith on this radio station and beyond. And when you do, please request your copy of Pastor David's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book, as our thanks for your generosity.

Visit crossthebridge.com today. Now back to today's teaching. Verse 5, then Boaz said, on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance. So now he includes Ruth in the package. And close relatives said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it. So it would seem that this unnamed stranger is willing to redeem the land, but not willing to redeem Ruth. And again, understand, there was a certain stigma, there was a certain prejudice against somebody who was a Moabite, if you were an Israelite, because just their origin from being the offspring with Lot and his daughters and ancestral relationship, and also that they were engaged in idolatry. And also there was the verse that we covered that we spoke about that kept them from being in the service of the temple. And so whether it was any of these or, you know, what he says in verse 6 is, you know, I'm going to ruin my own inheritance. Now what he meant by that is if he took Ruth and then fathered children by Ruth, then his children from his existing marriage would have to share their inheritance with the new children from this offspring. In other words, his inheritance would be diluted as he took on these additional responsibilities. Now it's interesting that that's his concern, because we're not given his name here, and we never hear about this guy again.

And yet this guy is worried about his legacy, if you will. He falls into the list of Bible characters who are kind of a blip on the radar screen. And so many of these folks are blips because they don't act in grace and they don't act according to faith. If you want to be remembered, give grace. Give grace because, you know what, that's the people the Bible remembers. And I can look back on my own life and remember when people showed me grace, and I remember those times fondly. I remember those people fondly.

I remember those situations fondly. So I would encourage you to handle each other with grace. Now, he makes the statement at the end of verse 6, for I cannot redeem it. Legally, it's this man's opportunity and even obligation to redeem Ruth and the land. He doesn't do it.

He says I cannot do it. I cannot redeem it. Those are good words for us to remember.

You know why? Because we can't redeem ourselves. Your good works can't redeem you. Your good intentions can't redeem you. Your friends, your family can't redeem you. Nothing can redeem you except Jesus Christ.

There's only one. There's only one that's ready and willing and able to redeem you, and that's Jesus. Friend, don't trust your works. Don't trust the things you do for the Lord to gain entrance into heaven. Now, it's interesting because I think you have to come to the end of your attempts at trying to earn your entrance into heaven with good works before you really will give your life to Jesus. See, while you think there's still hope in you doing everything right in your empty promises and your vows that you make rashly, you're not really dependent upon Jesus yet. But when you realize that your own sinfulness and your own inability to keep the law, that's when you say, man, I need help. I need a Messiah. I need saving.

It's like the thing they teach you with first aid and somebody that's swimming that is going down, they tell you, do not try to rescue that person while they are still thrashing about because they will not only drown, but they will take you down with them. You have to wait until they quit trying to save themselves before they'll be open to receiving your help. It's interesting to me that while people still think they don't need saving, they won't really talk about Jesus.

While they're not really in touch with their own sinfulness, they won't talk about a Messiah. Now, what's really ironic and even bizarre is where you find these people. You find them in churches. People in churches think, well, I can juggle this thing.

I can juggle good works. Hopefully, my good will outweigh my bad and I can earn my entrance into heaven. How sad it is. I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to try to talk to somebody in that position about their need for Jesus, but they don't see it.

Why? Because they're trusting their own good works and a sad day is coming. If it's not until they stand before Jesus himself, literally and physically, that they realize how desperate they need a Savior. And if you're here tonight and you've come to that realization that you can't save yourself, that's awesome.

That's not a place of hopelessness because the moment you come to that place is the moment that hope walks into your life in the form of Jesus Christ. And you realize, ah, I need Jesus. I need his Messiahship. I need his Goel, his kinsman redemption of my life.

I can't do it myself. It's not a place of helplessness. It's a place of hope. Verse 7, now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm anything. One man took off a sandal and gave it to the other and this was a confirmation in Israel. Therefore, the close relative said to Boaz, buy it for yourself so he took off his sandal.

So he took his sandal off and gave it to him. Now, Ruth could have taken it off, we think, from that passage in Deuteronomy. It's possible that because she was a Moabite, she couldn't have done that, but certainly it was possible that she had the right to take a sandal off of him to spit in his face and give the sandal to Boaz, but she doesn't do that.

I think even if she had the right that she wouldn't have done it, again, filled with grace, walking in the grace of God. Verse 9, and Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilean's and Malon's from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth and Moabitess, the widow of Malon, I have acquired as my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate.

You are witnesses this day. That's interesting, this whole concept of meeting at the gate. The gate was kind of a place of governmental function, if you will, in the city. To this day, you can go to the gates in Jerusalem, and these are the places that they used to have these things going on. It's kind of interesting that liberal theologians questioned this whole concept of a gate in the Hebrew Scriptures.

They thought, well, it probably came along about the time of Jesus, and they kept maintaining this position, and then near Dan, they found a gate that was about at least 3,000 years old that was indeed the seat of government functions. Now, this is interesting if you've been with us the past few weeks of the journey that's been undertaken and what's happened because here we've got poverty and famine and death leading to provision and blessing. Now, what happens so often in life, we tend to disregard faith in the equation. See, when faith enters in, everything becomes possible. You understand that? If you will, two plus two can be more than four because so often we look at our circumstances and we measure them by our abilities.

Well, I can't do that or I can't do this or that person can't do that or that person can't do this. It's almost like we are disregarding faith and the impact that it can have on our lives and the lives of people around us. The life lesson here, God can change us, our circumstances, our surroundings, and our world. We need to understand that because see, so often people look around and they look at people's lives and they think, well, I don't know if God can do a work there. But again, God can change us, our circumstances, our surroundings, and our world.

Are you in the middle of something right now that's challenging, perhaps even painful? You understand God can change that just like that? God is able to do the impossible. Not only that, but he delights on doing the impossible. As a matter of fact, sometimes you almost have to get in that position before the Lord comes through.

You ever find that out? And maybe you're sitting there going, well, theologically, I'm not sure I agree with that. No, amen. Let's go back to the children of Israel. Children of Israel have been set free from the land of Egypt, right? They get out in the desert and they've got mountains on one side.

They've got the Red Sea behind them and mountains on the other side. And in Pharaoh's army bearing down on them. I don't know if you remember the 10 commandments and Yul, Brenner, but he says, their God must be a poor military strategist because he had them trapped. Understand, God in his foreknowledge had them in a place they could not escape from.

He placed them there. And Moses turns around and he looks at the Red Sea and takes his staff and lifts it. And of course, in the 10 commandments, that's just this heroic act of faith. Maybe. I think Moses is going, yeah, he's probably at that moment going, please, Lord, do something.

Please. He's just hoping something will happen. And sure enough, something did. The Red Sea parted and a way out, an impossible way out was made through the circumstances.

Faith opened up the circumstance. Now, what if Moses had engaged in some argument or rational discussion with the Lord? Lord, I'm not going to raise this stick. Raising this stick won't do anything.

That's not going to solve anything. God, I'm not going to raise that rod. But he didn't do that. He did as the Lord instructed and God met him where he was with his need.

And that's a good lesson for us. When we find ourselves in that place where we don't see a way out, there's an interesting phrase in there. Moses says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. If you've been around for very long, you might understand or you might be able to guess what that phrase is in the Hebrew.

When you see that word salvation in your English Bible, almost every time it occurs, the Hebrew word there is Yeshua, Jesus. Moses says, stand still and see the Yeshua, the Lord. Stand still and watch what Jesus will do. And some of us, we get in those situations and you know what we do? We start to rationalize. We start to figure out how we can get out of this situation and what we got to do and what's up to us.

And boy, you know, if anything's going to get solved, I better do something. But the word of the Lord at that point is, you know what? Sit still, trust me and watch what I'll do. Watch what I'll do. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our first steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Do you ever feel beaten down or even crushed by the difficulties of life? We all do sometimes, but Jesus offers a life of hope and we want to help you embrace it. Discover how Christ empowers you to rise above life circumstances with Pastor David's four part teaching series, Living Life by the Book. This uplifting resource takes you through the Book of Ruth to reveal how the simplicity of living for Jesus can bring you joy even in the darkest times. Living Life by the Book is our thanks for your generous gift today to help more people hear God's truth on this station and beyond so they can cross the bridge from death to life. Please visit crossthebridge.com today to give and get your copy of Living Life by the Book. You know each day comes with its share of stresses, so what better way to wake up than with an encouraging word from the Lord? Visit crossthebridge.com and sign up now for David McKee's email devotionals. Each devotion includes a scripture and a message from the heart of David McKee.

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