REDEEMING RUTH 5 PTR. RICHARD NILLO 4PM Afternoon Service

1. REDEEMING RUTH #5:
“GOD‟S HAND IN OUR SHREWDNESS AND
REDEMPTION”

2. RUTH 4:1-22
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. Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has
come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel
of land that belong 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.”

3. 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.” Now, this
was the custom in the former times in Israel,
concerning redeeming and exchanging. To confirm a
transaction, the one drew of his sandal and gave it to
the other, and this was the manner of attesting in
Israel.

4. “So, when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for
yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 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 by 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.”

5. “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.”

6. “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he
went into her and the Lord her gave her conception
and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi:
„Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day
without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned in
Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of life and a
nourisher of your old age. For your daughter-in-law,
who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons,
has given birth to him.‟

7. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap, and
became his nurse. And the women of the
neighborhood gave him a name, saying a son has
been born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was
the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now, these are
the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,
Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab,
Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered
Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz father Obed,
Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”

8. GOD‟S HAND IN OUR SHREWDNESS
(RUTH 4:1-12)
When you love a woman and you want to marry her,...
there will be an enormous obstacle between you and
the marrying of that woman:

9. TWO REASONS.
1. IT ALLOWS THE MAN TO SETTLE THE ISSUE IN
HIS HEART, OF HOW DEVOTED HE TRULY IS TO
THAT WOMAN.
2. IT REVEALS THE DEPTH OF HIS COMMITMENT
TO THE WOMAN.

10. The gate is sort of the center of town where business is
transacted and social relationships are made, and
sat down there.
Boaz was honorable with Ruth on the threshing floor,
didn‟t have any inappropriate physical relations.
Instead, he‟s trying to do things honorably, biblically,
legally. He goes into town, sits down at the place
where business is conducted and legal matters are
transacted, that God blessed his pursuit.

11. And legally, according to Leviticus 25, the preference
was to keep it in the family, so there would have
been a close male relative, called the redeemer,
who would be the one to look after the land, if it
went up for sale, to purchase it to keep it in the
family, but also to look after the widows and the
orphans.

12. THREE KINDS OF MEN WHEN IT COMES TO
BUSINESS HERE IN THE BOOK OF RUTH.
1. ELIMELECH
Who is a bold, courageous, confident man with a plan,
who took risks, but he was a fool. And it destroyed his
family and it led to death.
2. This OTHER MAN, unnamed,
He is a man who doesn‟t do anything wrong, he just
doesn‟t do anything. He‟s a guy who doesn‟t follow
through on his responsibilities. He doesn‟t take care of
that which is his to look after,

13. 3. BOAZ
The guy who is picking up the mess of these other
failed men, and he is trying to help these women who
are in this dire circumstance. What will the answer of
the man be? He said, “I will redeem it.”

14. All right, so here‟s what Boaz is going to do. Shrewdly
negotiate the deal. And he is not going to take
no for an answer. He wants to marry Ruth.
Boaz finds a way legally, ethically, morally, Biblically
acceptable to get rid of the other man, and so he is
going to negotiate shrewdly.

15. You can also win in business for Jesus, in a moral,
legal, ethical, Godly, Biblical way. It‟s all about the art of
the negotiation, and the subtle selling of the deal.
There‟s a lot we don‟t know, yet the story slows down,
devotes almost an entire chapter to one legal business
transaction. Why? Because that is important.

16. Boaz is at the place where he can financially, and
practically, and he is enabled to do this.

17. Now, this was the custom. Here is the legal deal,
VERSE 7.
They would take off their sandal, and this would be the
public declaration that they had agreed to the deal.
Boaz avoids that kind of thing, and he makes it legally
contractually – a binding agreement in the sight of
the law.
Boaz stands up and says, “I am going to take care of
what these other men failed to do.” In this, he is a
redeemer.

18. Here‟s what he‟s saying, “I will buy the land. I‟ll take
care of Naomi. I‟ll marry Ruth. I will honor her
deceased husband. We will have a child. The family
line will not die. I‟ll perpetuate it. I‟m Boaz. I‟ll fix
everything.”

19. One of the great distinctions and honors of being a
Christian man, is to be a redeemer.

20. But, if you are a man who has the heart of Boaz, and
you meet a woman whose deep love for the
Lord is like Ruth, but her life is not easy, and
with love you could make it easier, then by all
means, pursue her as your wife.

21. Boaz and Ruth lived in holiness and obedience and
Godliness until God brought them together. And
when he did, they were able to move toward
marriage quickly. Even though there were
obstacles, they were able to overcome them
because they had conducted themselves in such
a way that they were ready to enter into that next
season of life.

22. Boaz was near kinsman
Jesus was our glorious
eternal God who became
man to identify with us
Boaz was able able to
redeem Ruth
Jesus, alone is able to
redeem us
Boaz was willing to
redeem Ruth
Jesus was redeemed us
out of love.
Boaz paid the price of
redemption
Jesus paid the price for
redemption
Boaz also redeemed the
land
Jesus will come back to
restore the earth

23. The greatest gift that God gives is salvation through
the Lord Jesus Christ. The second greatest gift
that God gives a man is a wife – is a wife,
especially a wife like Ruth.
GOD‟S HAND IN OUR REDEMPTION
(RUTH 4:1-12)

24. Stay pure and wait patiently for your God-given life-
partner.

25. These are the thematic bookends of Ruth.
CHAPTER 1,
GOD GAVE A HARVEST
CHAPTER 4
GOD GAVE A BABY
“Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day
without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned
in Israel.” Talking about this little boy, he‟s gonna be
the redeemer, “He shall be to you a restorer of life
and a nourisher of your old age.”

26. And they say to her, “You‟re blessed now,” she‟s no
longer bitter Mara; she‟s back to blessed, sweet
Naomi. This grandbaby is gonna be a source of
great joy for her.

27. They say, Naomi, it looked like your life was destroyed,
but it‟s perfect. Your daughter-in-law, Ruth, she loves
you so much. She loves the Lord so much. She‟s a
better gift to you than seven sons; not only that, you
got your grandson. We‟ve seen the full redemption
here of these women.

28. Ruth has gone from being an idolater, to a worshiper,
from being a widow, to being a wife, from being
flat broke, busted poor, to being richly blessed.
From being all alone, to being loved and now
being a wife and mom. God is a good God. God
does good things. Ruth ran to God in faith and he
blessed her.

29. Naomi, too, has gone from being a bitter old woman, to
being a blessed grandma, and her life has taken a
dramatic turn for the better.

30. And then, in VERSE 16
“A son has been born to Naomi, so they named him
OBED,” which means worshiper, or servant of God.

31. Two things:
1. HAPPINESS
The keys to happiness are simple –
GROW UP, right? GET A JOB. GO TO REHAB. GET
MARRIED, GO TO CHURCH.
2. LEGACY
You want to put people and ideas, like your children
and the Gospel into the future if you love God.

32. “IF I OBEY, GOD WILL
LOVE ME.”
Redemption says God
does love you,
period.
Good people vs bad
people
Bad people can repent.
People care about your
birth.
It‟s not about what you do
but what Jesus has done.
Lacks joy and humility.
Long list of rules.
Leads to joy and humility.
Walk of faith and love.
RELIGION vs REDEMPTION