Series: Ruthless
Message: Redefining the Status Quo
Preacher: Jessyka Albert
Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 37:27-34.
Read: Ruth 4 - As you read in the NIV translation, what did you discover new about God’s character?
Reflect: When we come to the last chapter in Ruth we now see Boaz taking action. Up until this point, Ruth has made all the major leaps and bounds. Boaz calls a meeting at the town gate with the aforementioned kinsman who was more closely related to Ruth than he. You will notice that Boaz does everything right. He calls ten of the elders to bear witness to this meeting and fully explains the situation.
Boaz tells this man that if he will not redeem the land Naomi has to sell, he will. Immediately the closer kinsman agrees to redeem it. But Boaz has something up his sleeve. There’s a qualifier for this land: in order to acquire the land, the redeemer must also take Ruth as a wife to keep the name of Elimilech alive.
At this point he man has to decline. By taking Ruth as a wife, he endangers his own name and estate. Verse 7 gives us insight to the ritual of that time: “ Now 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. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.”
The elders confirm their witness to this event and bless Ruth asking that the Lord make her like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. They continue to prophetically speak by saying, “Through the offspring the Lord give you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” (Ruth 4:12).
Recalibrate:
Respond: Pray for confidence.
Research: Read the stories of Rachel and Leah.