Bitter to blessed - Ruth's story, our story

Ruth 2-4 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

2 Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech…

4 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. ² He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ 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. ⁴ 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.” ⁵ 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.” ⁶ 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.”

⁷ 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. ⁸ So the closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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 will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” ¹¹ All the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. ¹² Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.”

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. ¹⁷ The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, ¹⁹ and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, ²⁰ and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, ²¹ and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, ²² and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.

The story of Ruth is a great story of love and dedication. It is a tremendous example of commitment and faithfulness to family. Ruth said to Naomi, her mother-in-law:  “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”  But even more than the great natural story of love, faithfulness and dedication, we see in the story of Ruth and Naomi an example of the redemption that God has given to us through Jesus Christ, our redeemer.

On the surface there is the redemption of Naomi and Ruth. Naomi had returned to her home full of despair, broken and bitter. She had lost everything, her husband and her two sons. When she arrived back home she said: “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara(Mara means bitter), for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”   In the end, because of her kinsman redeemer, Naomi is not only redeemed, she is blessed and restored. The text says: “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”

Let’s look also at the story of redemption we have in Christ. Boaz was called a kinsman redeemer. He was a relative of Naomi’s husband. Chapter 2 begins:  Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.    Jesus came to earth as a man, the Son of Man, so that He could be our relative. Romans 8:15-17 says: you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ

  In today’s text there was one man who was ahead of Boaz in the line of redemption. Look at what the text says about him:    “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.”  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.”  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.”   This other man considered what was at stake, jeopardizing his own inheritance and declined to redeem. Jesus, our redeemer: although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.(Philippians 2:6-8)  

There is no end to the redemption and restoration we have in Christ. In today’s text there is a lineage listed, tracing the descendants and the future generations of Ruth and Boaz.  Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron,  and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab,  and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, ²¹ and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed,  and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David. This account was written before the birth of Christ. We though could continue this line from David to Jesus. Our redeemer, the redeemer of all mankind can be traced back to this story of redemption. It is interesting that the family line begins with Perez. Perez was the son born to Judah by Tamar, his daughter-in-law. The lineage of Christ presents us with examples of all sorts of human failure and sin, it was after all imperfect people, all who have sinned, through which Jesus lineage is traced. Ruth herself was a Moabitess. Genesis 19:36-37 tells us the origin of the Moabites:   Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.  The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.   Jesus redeems and restores from every sin. The line of Christ is itself a picture of all that is redeemed and restored through Him.

Naomi was full of despair, life had left her bitter. Jesus the redeemer of all mankind, our kinsman redeemer is able to redeem and restore whatever has caused bitterness in life, whether our own mistakes and failures, those of our parents or grandparents or the harshness and bitterness of life. Jesus says: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)  

Heavenly Father thank You for Your word, the Bible, which gives us examples of Your redeeming love. Lord Jesus Christ, my redeemer, thank You that You willingly came, leaving Your place and position in heaven and became my redemption, the one who restores me. Thank You for the abundant life You give. No bitterness of this life is beyond the power of the cross. I am blessed, redeemed and restored in Christ.   Amen