Ruth 3:15-4:2215Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. 16And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. 17And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law. 18Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day. 1Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. 2And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. 3And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: 4And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. 5Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. 6And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. 7Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel. 8Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. 9And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. 10Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. 11And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: 12And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. 13So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. 14And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. 15And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. 16And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. 17And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. (Ruth 3:15‑4:22).
Before Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Boaz gave her six measures of barley to carry home. Now seven in the Scriptures is the perfect number and six is just short of it. It would remind us, in a typical way, of how we have been blessed so abundantly in Christ, but one thing still awaits us—the very thing that awaited Ruth. She had been abundantly blessed by Boaz, but she was soon to become his bride, and then her blessings would be complete. And so we are now espoused to Christ, and the marriage day is coming for us. The coming of the Lord will be the blessed moment when we (the Church) will be called home to be His bride (Matt. 25:66And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (Matthew 25:6)). May we be found rejoicing in our portion now, and sharing it with others of the family of faith too, like Ruth, while we await “the marriage of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:77Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)).
Naomi told Ruth not to be impatient, but to wait for Boaz; for she said he would not rest until he had finished what he had begun. How good to know that Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom, is more earnestly waiting to have us, His bride, than we are to be there. “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:66Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (Philippians 1:6).
In the morning Boaz went down to the gate of the city and sat down, waiting for the nearest kinsman to Naomi to come by. When he came along he asked him to stop and sit down, which the kinsman did. Boaz then took ten men of the city and asked them to sit down also. Undoubtedly this figures to us the ten commandments, for the law had to come first, like the nearest kinsmen who had the first right of redemption.
Boaz then asked this kinsman if he would redeem the land of Elimelech who had died, and the kinsman said he would. He then told him that, along with the land, he would also have to redeem Ruth the Moabitess, and take her to be his wife. The kinsman then said he could not do that, for he would mar his own inheritance by marrying such a stranger and an outcast as she. How clearly we can see the law typified in all this. The children of Israel, like the nearest kinsman, said they could keep God’s holy law when it was given at Mount Sinai, but they could not, and they only earned its curse. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good,” Romans 7:1212Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. (Romans 7:12); but we are the poor outcasts, like Ruth, and the law could not do anything for us. It could not redeem us.
But here Boaz stepped in and said he would redeem Elimelech’s inheritance, and take Ruth to be his wife. What a beautiful picture of the blessed Lord Jesus, who stepped in when we were ruined and undone, cursed by the law, and redeemed us to Himself. The first kinsman then took off his shoe, giving up forever any right to the inheritance, and it was given to Boaz. All right, all power, belongs to Christ now, our mighty Redeemer, and just as Ruth was associated with Boaz in his newly purchased possession, so we, the Church, will be associated with Christ in His place of headship in a coming day. He will then, like Boaz here, publicly own us as His bride.
Israel too, as a nation, having lost all claim to blessing on the ground of their own faithfulness, are thus pictured as strangers, for they, on the ground of pure, sovereign grace, will be brought into earthly blessing—we, the Church, into heavenly blessing.
ML 03/28/1954