A Marriage Made in Heaven – Part V

[This is part of the A Marriage Made In Heaven Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

The widow Ruth, a Moabite and a foreigner in Israel, has sought a kinsman-redeemer in Boaz according to the Law of Yahweh. The kinsman that Naomi, her mother-in-law, and she have chosen is Boaz. Being a righteous man, Boaz has told Ruth that although he is a kinsman, there is one closer than he. According to the law, that man should be given the primary opportunity to redeem Ruth.

Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. Then he said to the closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. So I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” –Ruth 4:1-4.

In those days, business deals were conducted at the city gates. We see Boaz going there and sitting down to wait for the closer relative that he spoke of to Ruth. Once he arrives, Boaz also calls ten elders to act as witnesses of the deal they are about to discuss. Boaz starts out explaining that the widow Naomi has returned and has to give up the land that was owned by her late husband. Boaz explains that he’s second in line so, according to the law, he wants to give the closer relative the opportunity to redeem the land. You may miss it if you’re not familiar with the law of the levirate marriage, but it’s a safe bet that Boaz knew the name of this relative. But the writer of the book of Ruth purposely leaves him unnamed. Curious isn’t it? Why? Watch what happens in the next series of verses.

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” –Ruth 4:5.

At first, Boaz makes the deal simply one of real estate and the relative jumps at the opportunity. But now Boaz adds a new term to the deal by including Ruth. By law, this relative should stick with his original answer he gave to Boaz. But watch what happens.

The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.” Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter; a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. So the closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” –Ruth 4:6-10.

Here is what happened. The unnamed relative was perfectly fine with getting the piece of land. But when he found out that Ruth was part of the deal, this complicated matters for him. First off, he was probably already married. So he probably didn’t want to have to figure out how to bring home another wife. Secondly, he probably already had sons who already had their share of his inheritance divided up. If he married Ruth and then had sons with her, dividing up the inheritance then was probably more than he wanted to deal with.

Also, you may remember in Part I we talked about the sandal. The unnamed relative is lucky that it was Boaz that approached him and not Ruth. Had Ruth been the one to approach him and he declined her, then she would have spat in his face and there would have been open shame! But then again, maybe it’s worse for him because to this day we don’t even know his name!

Every story usually has a climax. Verse 10 in chapter 4 could be seen as the climax of the story when Boaz proclaims redemption for the property and inheritance of Elimelech and Boaz’s desire to marry the woman he loves!

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” –Ruth 4:13-15.

More powerful verses! Look at what the women said to Naomi, and put it in the context of Naomi being Israel and Ruth being the Christian Church! Amazing! Remember, too, that that since having seven sons would indicate the blessing of God (1 Samuel 2:5, Job 1:2), to describe Ruth as “better…than seven sons” was truly high praise! Also, don’t forget Boaz! If Boaz is Christ then we are getting a glimpse of what takes place at the end of the age when Christ returns for His bride: the Church!

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Ruth concludes with a brief genealogy that it worth reviewing here. Keep in mind these are the generations of the house of Judah, the family tree of Jesus: