Day 1140: The kinsman redeemer - Ruth 4 vs 1 – 12

1-2 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3-4 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

5-6 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.”Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

7-8 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9-10 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”

11-12 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.” Ruth 4:1-12 ESV

Boaz was a man of action. He took his seat at the city gate, a place where all important matters were settled, and presented the case for the redemption of Naomi's land. This took place in front of ten elders as witnesses. The unnamed man says he will redeem the land, but Boaz then adds that it would require marrying Ruth to perpetuate the name of the deceased. The redeemer refuses as he saw that it would be costly to himself. It's sobering to recall that Jesus Christ did not quibble at the cost involved in redeeming us! Indeed “He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source, that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.” (Hebrews 2:11)

The man then did according to the custom of those days, and removed his sandal. That was a conscious action about which there could be no misunderstanding. We read a similar scenario in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, but in that case, it was the widow herself who removed the sandal from the man refusing to marry her. And so the transaction was complete and Boaz calls on gathered assembly to be witness to it. Boaz willingly became a kinsman redeemer.

Those who witnessed the transaction prayed for God's blessing on Ruth, linking her to two of Israel's most notable women. They also linked Boaz's house to Perez, the son of Tamar. That story is not the sort of link to the Messiah one would have included if the Bible was false, for Genesis 38 tells the sad story of the birth of Perez. But they also prayed that Boaz would act worthily in Ephrathah. Indeed, Bethlehem Ephrathitah would have a big part in God's plans. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2)