In the book of Ruth, we see a woman who was widowed. penniless, a foreigner, Secretly approach a man in the cover of night. This was a bold and risky move, a potentially dangerous plan. But today on Truth for Life we'll find out how this highly respected man responded to the woman's unusual proposal. Alice Durbeg is teaching from Ruth, chapter four.
I summarize chapter four. Under three separate headings. I'll give the first of these to you now. I wrote down, first of all, the gate, the negotiation, and the sandal. Because that's really what the first eight verses are all about.
Naomi is right. Boaz has wasted no time in getting to the place he needs to get to in order to deal with this issue that has transpired on the previous evening. He has gone, we are told in verse 1, to the town gate. And I tried in my mind's eye to see him there, perhaps under the cover of the morning mist, hastening in order that he might get in position as early as he possibly could. The gate area in a place like this and in this period was spacious and purposefully so.
So much like an Italian piazza. serving as both a market place and a civic centre, There the law was administered and their business was conducted. And the reason that he went there because he was committed to doing the right thing. That's the reason that he went to the town gate. You remember in chapter 3, he had said to Ruth when she said, Spread your blanket over me, when she made this proposal of marriage to him, essentially.
He said, Well, you know, I'm so gratified by your kindness and all of the considerations of your heart, but I need to tell you, and you'll find this in the heart of chapter three, I need to tell you that there is another kinsman, Redeemer, who's actually in line before me.
So I really like the idea, but I have a problem because I must do the right thing. And because he was determined to do the right thing, he goes to take his place in the city gate in order that he might make contact with this individual and see just how he's placed.
Now, I don't know about you, but I find myself reading this and saying. Oh come on boa, she loves you. Yeah. You really like her? Don't go fiddling around to the gate.
You never know what might happen. Marry her, for goodness' sake. But that would be wrong, wouldn't it? Because the first question every day about everything is always the same question. What is the right thing to do?
And if you determine in every decision that you make to make that the first question you ask, at least you've asked the right question. at the right time. And because he is a man of such integrity, because he is concerned about the law of Israel, because he is concerned to live in purity before God, he is unable to simply allow himself to rush off on a great swell of emotion. Nor is he about to encourage this young girl to do the same.
So he says to her, we're going to have to do the right thing. Alas, how many marriages have been consummated without taking time to ask that question: what is the right thing to do? Just because you think he is the correct package, or he looks the right way on the outside, or you think she's the real deal, or whatever it is, or you got a feeling in the pit of your stomach, or you had a great surge of emotion, or whatever it was, you must always ask, What is the right thing to do? And when you're getting the answer to the right thing to do, you're going to get it by reading your Bible carefully, you're going to get it by listening to your mother and father, you're going to be getting it by paying attention to those who know you best and love you most, and then ultimately you will get it as a result of the Spirit of God bringing circumstance and guidance from Scripture and the counsel of godly friends, and that concurring with the feeling within your heart. But if the feeling in your heart takes you counter to all of those other issues, Don't do it.
Don't spend another moment even considering it.
So, what we discover is that the circumstances of Boaz and Ruth were such that they were determined to act in concurrence with the laws of redemption. Because of what it meant for them and also for what it implied in all of Israel.
Now, don't misunderstand me. That's not to say. that they were marrying each other or they were moving towards marriage. propelled simply by external circumstances. It is clear that their hearts belong to each other.
But nevertheless, they were not about to be swept away. pure emotion.
So Boaz goes to do what he needs to do, and he puts himself in the best possible place to meet this other individual. This is the thoroughfare, this is where the people come. And if he happens to find him here, then he's in an ideal spot because this is where the elders of the city deliberate over issues like this. And if he can meet him at this exact place, then he can perhaps get enough of those fellows together and he can conduct business right there and then and proceed with his day. And that's exactly what happens.
when the kinsman redeemer he had mentioned came along. He's sitting there looking, and he can't believe his eyes. Here comes Mr.
So-and-so, he says.
So Boaz summons the individual. And the remarkable thing is not only that he said that, but that the fellow sat down. And he turned aside. And he sat down. Come over here, my friend, and sit down.
So he went over and sat down. And then Boas took 10 of the elders of the town and he said, Sit here. And they did so. This guy's a pretty powerful guy. Excuse me, sir.
Sit down.
Okay. And hey, the 10 of you over here, sit down.
Okay, fine, we'll be right there. Not a problem. An indication, incidentally, probably of the significance of Boaz in terms of his position in the culture, but also in terms of the quality of his character. It's interesting, isn't it, that this strategic character has no name in the record. Clearly our boys knew his name.
And yet he doesn't give him a name. And there's no name here. In fact, he refers to him as Mr.
So-and-so or In i in cottony terms, what's night? Hey, what's name? Which is what's his name? Or, how's your features? Hey, come here, Mike.
Sit down here. Yeah, who's name? Sit down.
Why they don't give his name? I can only think of two reasons. One, they didn't give a name, the writer doesn't give a name, because he doesn't want the embarrassment to follow to his heirs. when they realized that this man who had an opportunity to enter into the circumstances of these people decided not to do it. Or perhaps that there is a sense of judgment in it, in that this man deciding that he wants to preserve his name.
And as a result of his desire to preserve his name, to preserve his inheritance, and to preserve his family, he's unprepared to do anything for Ruth. And so the writer says, Well, you were so concerned to preserve your name. I'm not even going to give you your name. And so the biblical record doesn't have his name. He's just Mr.
So-and-so. Just a little reminder in passing for those of us who are trying to make a name for ourselves. Forget it. Let someone else make a name for you. Let someone else praise you.
Don't you worry about your name.
Now, the negotiations which follow are there, you can see them, they're straightforward. Ten of the elders acting as witnesses. It was a standard practice. And I could spend a long time now complicating this issue. I don't want to do that.
I want to run the risk of simplifying it to the point where you said, I'm going to have to go and get a commentary. I'm sure it's much more interesting than the way in which he described it. And I've told you before that the law made provision for the widow who was childless. It was her late husband's brother's duty to marry her as a widow. The law also provided for the care of an individual who was forced as a result of widowhood to sell the property which had uh fallen to her as a result of marriage.
And the next of kin of the original owner had first dibs at buying that property. And the object in both instances was the preservation of the family and the family name, as you see in verse 5 and again in verse 10.
So the marriage responsibility was seen as a duty. And the process of the purchase of the property was to be regarded as an opportunity.
Now we may want to think of them the other way around, but that's the way in which it is presented. And so it is. And here Boaz confronts this individual in that way. The property that was held by Naomi went both in equity and in law with the hand of Ruth. It was a package deal, you couldn't get the one without the other.
And so Boaz, very properly, and yet I think you will agree, very skillfully, sets before this kinsman Redeemer, first of all, the privilege that is represented in the redemption of the land. That's where he starts, isn't it interesting? Naomi, who has come back from Moab, verse 3, is selling a piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should bring it to your attention so that you might have the opportunity of redeeming it. And as you're reading the story for the first time, you're reading it.
And of course, you're already on the side of Boaz. I hope you're saying, Come on, Boaz, you know, you gotta get this girl. And you're reading along. And he says, and go ahead. And you're saying to yourself, he's not gonna redeem it.
He can't possibly redeem it. And all of a sudden, in verse 4, you hear the man saying, I will redeem it. Oh. No, no, Boaz, I told you not to do that. I said, don't do that.
I said, just go ahead and marry a wedding. Don't do this, Boaz. The Le says, wait a minute, I'm not finished yet. Hear me out, I'm not done with the deal.
So he says to the guy, now listen, before we start. Chucking sandals around here. Before we start swapping sandals and whatnot, there is another part of this story that I need to mention to you. Because on the day you buy the land from Naomi and Ruth the Moabites, whom he hasn't mentioned to this point, you acquire the dead man's widow. Other guy says, wait a minute a minute, no, no, no.
I'm in for the land, but I'm not in for the widow. And if the land and the widow go together, if it's a package deal, then I'm out. The boy says, Well I guess you're out. And the reason that he was out, you see, is because I might endanger my own estate. You see, in the first instance, If he just was buying the land, if he was redeeming the land, Then it gave him the opportunity of an accruing asset.
The only thing that could be a detriment to that would be if Naomi somehow or another were to marry and have an heir, because then the heir would fall heir to the land, and so it would be of no advantage to him. There was no possibility of that, but now when he hears about Ruthomobites, then he realizes, wait a minute. If I do this, I will not only be out for the purchase price of the land, I also get a wife that I'm not particularly interested in having. And furthermore, when all is said and done, this will dilute my own empire and will create the possibility that what I'm holding in trust for my own children will be diminished as a result of me entering into this legal transaction. And so he says, quite honestly, you just go ahead and redeem it yourself, verse 6.
I cannot do it. And then The kinsman redeemer in verse eight. Removed. His sandal. A symbolic gesture.
We're given in a little aside there. In earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. That's kinda nice, isn't it? You know, maybe have your social security number on the bottom of your sandal, something like that, but the transaction was sealed in a legal way. There's purpose in that, isn't there?
In order that not only would they hear with their ears the commitment that was made by both parties. But also that they would even see the transaction unfolding before them, so that in that kind of community they would be able to say, aha, no, no, no, no, I remember very clearly. No, no, no. It was Mr.
So-and-so who took his sandal off and gave it to Boaz. It wasn't Boaz that gave his sandal to Mr.
So-and-so. And I remember hearing what he said. He said: if that's the case, I will not redeem it. You go ahead and buy it yourself. And all the way through the Bible, actually, we have these wonderful symbols to reinforce things.
We have it when we come around the Lord's table, do we not? As we're nourished by bread and sustained by drink, so we're nourished. in the gathering around the Lord's table. In baptism. We have a graphic reminder.
Here and now, I rescind my rights to myself and I follow Christ. We can say it, but we depict it. In marriage, the same is true. We could simply say things, but we don't simply say things. We say, and I now declare you husband and wife on the basis of the fact of the giving and receiving of a ring and by the joining of your hands.
For as much as X and Y have declared the same before this congregation. And have witnessed to that fact. By the giving and receiving of a ring, and by the joining of their hands, I now declare them husband and wife.
So you have in this simple gesture A demonstration by Boas of his commitment, of his love, and of his personal. Sacrifice. Under my second, the second heading read: the announcement, the confirmation, and the prayers. Then in verse 9, Bo is announced. He announced And in verses 9 and 10, you have the final words of Boaz in the story of Ruth.
After this he says nothing. This is his final statement. The bystanders at the town gate had clearly given their attention to this little drama. It had unfolded before them in the morning hour.
Some of them were a little late for their work. The people said, Where were you this morning? He said, Oh, you won't believe what happened. Mr.
So-and-so gave his sandal to Boaz. And uh it was unbelievable, apparently he's marrying Ruth the Morbitess. Oh, wow, I wish I'd been there. I'm sorry I missed that.
Well, get on with your work now. Yes, he was very clear. His words were solemn, they were precise, they were strikingly detailed. He stood up and he made it absolutely clear about the property. It belonged to Elimelech to Killion and Melan the sons.
The transaction was clear. He assumed both the privilege and the duty. And he made very, very clear the identity of the girl that he's marrying. Her name is Ruth the Moabites. And frankly, between you and me, someone may have observed he paid dearly for her.
But of course, he was happy to pay dearly for her because a wife of noble character who can find she is worth far more than rubies. Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders. of the land. Clearly, there were personal benefits to be enjoyed by both of them, but notice how Boaz explains his purpose in marrying Ruth. Verse 10.
In order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Are you here getting married, Boaz? Oh, yeah, I am. Why is that?
Well, I don't want the name of Elimelech to disappear from the town records. Pardon? That's why you're getting married? No, that's not the only reason I'm getting married, but that's one of the reasons I'm getting married. It is?
That seems like a very selfless reason to get married, boss.
Well, I suppose you could say it is. I mean, most people that get married, boys, are only getting married because they're just so consumed with the possibility of getting what they can get from this individual upon whom they've set their affections. And here you are standing in the public square saying that the reason that you're marrying this lovely girl from Moab is so that the name of Elimelech will not disappear from the family records. That's amazing to me, boys. That's striking.
That's unusual. That's different. That makes me think, boys, that there may be something even more significant to this marriage than you yourself know. And the person says they don't even realize what they're saying. For the baby Obed.
is the grandfather Of David. And Ruth Is the great-grandmother of David. And how does it happen that this marriage takes place? Because of a surge of emotion. Because of Boas's glands.
No. Because Boaz determined to do the right thing. Seek first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. But reverse it, and you're on your own.
God says, you take care of my things. And I'll take care of your things.
So Boaz says, and this is why I've done what I've done. Today you are witnesses, and then the group said, witnesses. If he'd been concerned only for himself and his own desires, he could have snatched Ruth off as his wife and they could have run off and had their honeymoon with all of this nonsense out in the town square.
So he's a different kind of guy, isn't he? He's the kind of man you should be looking for, girls. You want me looking for some guy that knows how to fiddle the books and get the best out of his. out of his expense account. Don't be looking for the guy who can go from nothing to zero in terms of his passions in a moment.
the flush of enthusiasm But when it comes to the issues of integrity, The way in which he deals with people. the way in which he responds to his parents. The way in which he sets up his business and so on, all of these things, these are the most significant things. Because these are the things that will make and break your marriage together. The other stuff is a sideline.
A happy sideline, but a sideline. We're not creatures, we're human beings. And if ever we had any doubts about the nature of marriage, As it's laid out in Scripture, we could go just to the book of Ruth, and I think we would have enough. And I'll say a couple of comments in closing. When marriage is laid out for us in the Bible, it is not laid out in the way in which most of us think of it.
It's not in the Bible as a private alliance between two people. That can be made or unmade as they wish by their own private choice. The presence of witnesses in relationship to this and in relationship to marriage is not just some happy but irrelevant gesture. It is a vital part. It is a constituent part of what is taking place in a marriage.
Because a marriage is a social, civic ceremony as well. That is why you should not elope. Even if your father offers you money to do it. That is why for the same reason you should not be baptized in a bathtub either, up in somebody's second floor bathroom. Because the whole point of the symbolism in the ceremony is that it is public.
And in the same way, marriage takes place like that. Genesis 2. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, shall cleave unto his wife. and they shall become one flesh.
So you have leaving, cleaving, and interweaving. And as marriages crumble around us, and as confusion reigns in the minds of many, It's absolutely crucial that at every point through the structure of our church here, we're making absolutely clear what the Bible says concerning the nature of marriage. And it is to this that we will come back. on the next occasion. I'll finish my comment on marriage, and then I have one final comment by giving you a quote from.
Uh Diesel Bonhoeffer. In one of his books, he says, marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power. For it is God's holy ordinance. In your love, you see only the heaven of your happiness.
But in marriage, you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is something more. Then personal. It is a status. It is an office.
That joins you together. in the sight of God. and in the sight. of man. young people Resist every Temptation without you and within you.
to reverse the order of God's plan. First you leave. Then you cleave. Then you interweave. Interweave is my word.
Well not my word is in the dictionary, but it doesn't say that word there. But everything in you as a teenager said, let's go interweave right now. And if you're only concerned to go with your glands, and you'll reverse everything. And you'll find that you'll have dreadful difficulty reversing back out of everything. And then the whole idea of leaving.
and cleaving. in a public dimension. is actually a tawdry and sorry looking piece of merchandise. Take the advice of an older man, won't you? No matter what anybody says.
It cost Boaz to do what he did. And he is in that a wonderful picture to us. of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a kinsman. He had to be related to do what he did.
And Jesus became like us in order that he might be the priest for our sins, a faithful high priest. Oaz shared his bed with a penniless alien. making her his bride. And Jesus by redeeming us. has made us his bride.
And we the penniless aliens. are the beneficiaries. Of the fact that he did the right thing. John said to him, no, really, you should baptize me. Not me baptize you.
And Jesus said, no, let it be so now. for thus it is fitting. To fulfill all righteousness, which means what? Thus it is fitting. to do The right.
Thank you. And Christ did the right thing. And Boaz provided for this young Moabites a future and a hope. And the Lord Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. has provided for us also a future.
and a hope.
So that we look forward to the day when we will stand in glory. and we will see his face. And then we will Praise His name forever. in that holy place. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg.
As Alistair pointed out today, the first question we should be asking when we are making decisions is: what is the right thing to do? And that's what we do here at Truth for Life as we seek new ways to share the gospel, to encourage fellow believers, and to strengthen local churches.
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Now that Boaz has secured his right and privilege as Ruth's groom, tomorrow we'll take a closer look at God's countercultural design for marriage. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
