[speaker001:] We've been thinking... over past weeks of... the little account that we have in the old testament of the life of Ruth. We've seen how... she comes into the family first of all, gets er... into contact with God's people. Strange way, almost a devious in some senses. See in the... even out of failure, out of sin God works out his purposes. Which is a good thing because that's what he's done in our lives. That's what he's done in the life of the human race. Out of failure he's worked out his purpose. Adam sins. Seems the whole thing is gone, what is God gonna do? Destroy the lot! Cast it away from him. But God doesn't do that... he... brings about a programme of redemption and restoration. And one hymn writer puts it, he says... Eden's painful memories tell of blessings lost... twas there that fell the beauteous crown I wore, but calvary's glorious victory, a richer crown has won for me. And this is what God has done. He hasn't redeemed and restored back to... what we were, but he's gone way, way beyond that, in making us his children and bringing us into a very special... relationship with himself. And so we've seen how... Ruth becomes involved with God's people. And she makes way back with her mother-in-law Naomi, to Bethlehem. We've seen how God provides for her, and brings again, brings her into contact... with Boaz. We're coming this morning, to to the climax of th, of this whole little narrative that we have, there in that book of Ruth. The harvest has been gathered in. There's much rejoicing in Bethlehem! It's been a bumper harvest. And among all the workers there's gonna be that sense of a, a job well done. Everything is safe and secure now. There's enough food and to spare for the coming year. A satisfaction that as a community they've worked together to bring this about. You see, it wasn't everybody doing their own thing. But there they were working together as a community, there in the great communal fields, where everybody had their own... plot, but working together. And Ruth and Naomi who have returned. They're able to share in the joys, they consider the great things that's happened to them. And on the night of the final reaping, there's a great harvest supper, after which the men would stay guard around the great heaps of grain which were ready to winnowed early the following morning. And for, Ruth it's gonna be a momentous night. It's gonna be the night, it's gonna be, yet another turning point in her life. She's, because she's gonna meet personally, come into contact in a far greater wa sense... with a man who is going to redeem her. You see, under the old law... when a married man without a family... his brother was to take on the widow and raise up a family in the name and in the memory of his brother. And that was the responsibility of the first born. You remember, er, that incident in the life of Jesus when, they came to try and catch Jesus out and they use this very illustration, they said somebody's died...
[Albert Gunter:] and he's got no family, and his brother, he married his sister-in-law, and he died, no children! And then somebody else married her! And so it went on down till all the brothers in the family had married this lady and there was still no children, and then the er, they were posing the trick question to Jesus, well what's gonna happen in the resurrection? So you see it was, it was something the then as a nation, it wasn't just a, a bygone law that had been given and wasn't used, it was something that was carried out... on a fa, on a regular basis. And this brother who married... his late brother's wife... he would also take over all that belonged to her, because, you know, all that, it was his dead brother's, he would take it all over, it would become his... the land, the business... the property, the mortgage, the debts... they would all become... the brother who now marries... the th th the widow. And his aim in doing that would be to be res, fully restore all that had been his brother's, for his brother's family. It was called the right to redeem. Now, if it was impossible for any reason for the next of kin, the oldest brother to do it, then it would go down to the second or... on down the line, whoever was the nearest... to become the kinsman redeemer. We saw, was it last week, at our harvest festivals, we looked at the harvest time there, how God had led Ruth into contact, and into the field of Boaz, a man of great wealth! A man who also honoured God, but more important than that... he was a near kinsman of Ruth, or ra or rather Naomi rather, and there also of Ruth because of Ruth's late husband. And, whilst we don't get the sense in,i as we read it in our English version, if you were reading it, evidently, in a Hebrew version, the ch, second chapter, you would find that there are four different words used in the Hebrew language to describe the relationship that Boaz had with Ruth. There was, first of all, in verse one, it's just talks, I say, in, in our bi, in our English bible depending which translation you've got, it most likely uses the word kinsman throughout. But in verse one, the word used there simply means a relative. Boaz was a relative of her husband, a man of great wealth. Now there's the introduction. He is just a relative. But as you go on into verse three, and it talks about this relationship again, er, it says he, she came to a field belonging to Boaz who was of the er family of Elimilech. It means he was one of the family. So you've got relatives that are... there are, there are distant relative, they're still related to you, you wouldn't call them one of your family because th the relationship is so distant. But Boaz was not just a relation by marriage, but he was erm one of Elimelech's family. Further on down towards the end of the chapter, in verse twenty... it says there, that this man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives. And the word used there means, a very near kinsman. See the progression? A relative, one of the family, a very near kinsman. And also, in that we, in that verse... the first use of the word relative is that very near kinsman, and the second use, right at the end, one of our closest relatives, it's the word that is used there that means the one who has the right to redeem. So Ruth, she's been led to one who was able to restore to her all that Elimelech had lost... when he left Bethlehem. Everything that had been lost... he was able to restore it to Ruth. The thing was though, that... that claim could only be made by her. She would get nothing until she registers her claim. Now Ruth of course, she's a, she's a Moabite she's not a Jewess. She doesn't know all the Jewish laws, and she knows nothing about this when she comes to Bethlehem. But, she's counselled and advised by her mother-in-law, Naomi. And Naomi tells her what to do and the procedure to follow. She was a good Jewish mother, was Naomi. And you can imagine her, can't you... telling Ruth just what to do, and how to go about doing it? The inheritance, her son's and her husband's inheritance... it's gone! It's lost! And here she's telling Ruth, now what you've gotta do, she's she's got him, she's got her introduced to Boaz and she tells him it's a strange custom, one that's perhaps even stranger in our eyes today... but there er... after the party, the great harvest supper she's,the the they lie down in the barn together, they all just, they're tired it's, it's, the party's gone on into the wee hours of the morning, and there they just, they don't bother going home, they lie down there in the barn together all of them... and she says to Ruth what you must do according to the custom is, you go and you lie at the feet of Boaz... and wait, just wait, and wait for him to respond to you. And there she lies down discreetly at his feet,se... not knowing what's gonna happen. And in the middle of the night Boaz wakes up and he turns and he startled to find this woman, lying at his feet... and he says, who are you? And Ruth, she'd been primed well what to say... she doesn't say a lot, but she says [LAUGHTER] the right [] things. She says, I am Ruth, your very near relative. But what on earth is Boaz gonna do? So what! That could have been his response. What is his response gonna be? And so, she waits eagerly to hear, is she gonna be rebuffed or is she gonna be accepted? Her whole future depends on the next few moments! But then, Boaz who it, said he was honourable man, he replies, very positively... he says may you be blessed by the Lord. I know you're a good woman, so don't be afraid, and I will do for you, and I will do all for you that you ask. Said, I'll redeem you. You see, that's what she, she goes you're a near relative, you're a kinsman, you're a kinsman redeemer, you can... bring... the restoration of our property. And he says, I'll do it for you, but there's a problem. But leave it with me. And the problem was very simple, there was a nearer kinsman. There was somebody else higher up the line than Boaz and he must first be given the opportunity to redeem Ruth. But if he's not gonna be willing, then... Boaz it's his responsibility. And hurrying along on this account that we have here, Ruth, the next morning, she's given a gift by Boaz... a a a, a gift of er, to to seal what has been said. A pledge that he would certainly not rest until he had fulfilled his responsibility. And Ruth, then quietly returns to Naomi there at first light, excitedly telling her of all that has been happening.... And the next morning... when they get up... Ruth makes his way into the town, and he goes to where all the, the men sit and they talk, the city gate, and there he he searches out the nearer relative of Ruth's.... And he gives him the option, he offers to him the the right to redeem. He said it's yours, and he spells out what it is. You know, on the surface... it's not necessarily a good bargain. It's not necessarily a good deal. He's gonna be involved in a lot of expenses. Redemption was not a cheap process. It wasn't just something you did lightly, you had to weigh it all up and consider the cost of it. And so whilst Ruth and Naomi are resting and waiting back home Boaz is acting, and he sought out this man, he's determined now to see that Ruth and Naomi receive all that is there's by right. And so quickly he makes his way to the gate of the city as we've said, and he... gets this man... he sits down with the te with the te, with the ten elders who would be witnesses... and the kinsman arrives. And it says in th, in, as you read through the record, as soon as he saw him he shouted with a shout that must have surprised the passers by, because, he hollered out to him... he called out excitedly to him! And so this near kinsman comes and he listens quietly to what Boaz has to say.... Ruth, a daughter of Naom, a daughter-in-law of Naomi... the wife of Elimelech has returned. Her husband Elimelechis dead... and the daughter's husband is dead. Naomi has no men in her family, her son's are all dead. There is the right to redeem her land, the property, the possessions that is hers... and you as the nearest kinsman have that right to do so. Will you take it up? Will you redeem? And you can imagine the man as he listens, and he hears what is... to put it crudely, on offer. There's advantages to be se, to be had certainly... and at first he seems willing, the extra land would be an advantage. Well it will increase my land! It'll be easier to work, it's always easier to work more land than it is just a small plot of land. It will make me a man of of greater standing in the community, I'll be more respected, folk will have more deference towards me, I'll be a bigger land owner! But you know there's always two sides to every bargain isn't there? And the, whilst the one side was good there was the other side, and when he heard that the inheritance required that he marry Ruth, oh dear! It ceased to be such a good bargain. But, no Ruth, no land. It was as simple as that. And he says well I I'm sorry after considering it carefully I cannot go through with this transaction, I relinquish my right to redeem, lest I impair my own inheritance. That's the only reason he gives. Now it could possibly be that, he was already married, and would want the children from that marriage to receive all the land that he had, rather than it being spread out with with more children that Ruth was gonna have. It may well be that he considered that it was not the right thing for him to do, after all, he was a good Jew and why should he marry a Moabite. It wasn't the right thing to do. He may simply not have had enough money to take on the extra land and the work as required for it. Whatever the reason... he has neither the spiritual character nor the material resources to redeem Ruth. And it seems that in this whole area of redemption there are three qualifications necessary for redeemer. First, the right to redeem on the ground of relationship, a stranger couldn't do it, it had to be a near kinsman. Second condition was, the willingness to redeem even to the point of sacrifice. And the third, the resources had to be there to redeem, there was a price to be paid. And we see in this little story something far, far greater than the redemption of Elimelech for Ruth and Naomi... we see here a picture of your redemption and of my redemption... and those three qualifications, how they are met. The right to redeem on the ground of relationship. I am his because he created me! I belong to him by the right of creation!... He has the right to redeem me, because he made me! He's got the right to redeem you, because he has created you, he knew you before you were formed! Then the willingness to redeem even to the point of sacrifice. And oh, sacrifice he paid! As we're gonna be... commemorating and celebrating in a few moments the sacrifice to the very point of giving his own life. We are redeemed not with silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ. That's the price of redemption. That's the price our kinsman redeemer Jesus Christ had to pay! The price of his own blood, given himself, that is the price. And then the sor resources to redeem. There was a price to be paid, as we've seen, it was the price of himself. He gave himself. Couldn't buy our redemption. There would nobody else willing to redeem us, but he was willing to redeem us by giving himself... that was the price he paid for your redemption, for my redemption. What a cost it was to him! And how Jesus Christ has fulfilled that price, that redemption cost. According to the law, going back to the... narrative, the story of Ruth and Boaz according to the law, the widow she would remove the shoe of the kinsman who refused to redeem her... and she would spit in his face... because he had rejected, he had failed to fulfil... his duty, his responsibility. In this story, however, there's no such shame... because Ruth has not been rejected. The oldest, the first born if you like, the, the nearer one may have reje, may not have accepted the right to redeem her, but Ruth is not, has not been rejected because there is another kinsman waiting. And you could almost imagine Boaz hoping against hope that... the other kinsman would turn down the offer... and so he delighted when that happened. The shoe is removed however, as a testimony to the elders and witnesses that the near kinsman has refused his right to possess all that was Elimelech's. And Boaz is now free to fulfil all the conditions and to take Ruth as his wife. All his inheritance is gonna be restored. And in front of all the gathered company at the gate of the city he makes his declaration, he says I have bought... all that belonged to Elimelech. I have belo, bought all that belonged to Mahlon. I have belonged, I have bought all that belonged to Chilion. I have bought Ruth to be my wife. He completely fulfilled all that was required of him. The law was satisfied to it's tiniest,mis, most minute detail. And in your redemption, and in my redemption Jesus Christ has satisfied the laws' tiniest demand. There on the cross he could say... I've done it all! It is finished! I have redeemed you! I have bought you back! I have paid the price! You are mine! And God the father is satisfied. As he looks down and he sees it all, everything has been done. There is no area, there is no tiny minute detail of the law that has failed to be met with. God has been, the father's righteousness is totally satisfied. John the Baptist when he saw Jesus... at the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus, he says behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world and on him was laid all of our sin... all of our debt. You could argue we weren't a good bargain. [LAUGHTER]... We were nothing. We were just rebels. Sinners in rebellion against God! But he fil fulfils his responsibility in the right to redeem us. And he takes us, bad bargain that we are... poor and miserable that we were, with nothing seemingly positive to offer, he takes us bag and baggage, he takes us with all our sin, with all our failure, with all our mistakes, he takes us with all that is,th th the clutters of our lives, he says you're mine now. I have redeemed you! I have bought you! You are my possession. I paid the price! My father's righteousness is satisfied. You belong to me. You are mine. And then you, going just one step further... in the marriage relationship... it's not just that he says I have taken you, and all that you have now is mine, I take your debt and I discharge it fully, your debt of holiness to God, your debt of righteousness to God, he says I take it and I pay that price in full! I discharge you, you are now free from it. It's not just a case of him taking us with all of what we had and were... and us belonging to him, but he says i in taking you to myself, he says I give myself to you. You are mine, and I am yours. All that I have is yours! I've taken all that you've... and to be honest there's not, there's not a, it's not worth a, it's not worth a light, it's you, I'm be getting rid of that straight away! We're clearing that out! I take all that you have and it's place and in it's place I give you all that I have and all that I am. That's the relationship. That's what Ruth... the relationship that Ruth enters into with Boaz... and that's the relationship that you and I have entered into with Jesus Christ... he is our kinsman redeemer... and he's rescued us... he's taken us. Like Ruth, we were strangers, we were aliens, we were outside, we had nothing to say, well I've got some right, we had no right at all but he came and he took us... and he brought us in, and he has made us, who were nothing, something. He has taken the off-scourings of this world, the apostle Paul said, those that were nothing, and he has made them into something. So what are this morning? Ruth was a foreigner, a Moabitess, a gentile! The off-scouring! Nobody would want anything to do with her! But oh, what a difference when she's marries Boaz What a difference then. Because she enters into all that Boaz has... and all that he is. You and I were nothing. We're nothing, of ourselves... we might have thought we had but it was of no value whatsoever, but he took us, he says, now you're something... because you belong to me. Now you're precious! Now you're of value! Now you're of consequence! Because you belong to me. All that I have, and all that I am is now yours, I invest it in you, it is yours. Take it! Use it! Be part of it, enjoy it! Because I give it to you freely... because you're mine... you belong to me, I've redeemed you... I've purchased you. What a transformation! And the name of Boaz becomes her name. She is no longer Ruth the Moabitess, she's Ruth, the wife of Boaz. He has given to us a new name... we've take his name... we belong to him. The country of Boaz becomes her country, she is no longer a foreigner here now... she has a right to stay because of Boaz And we are citizens of a new country, of a new kingdom. The possessions of Boaz would be hers. And Jesus says, all that I have is yours. The servants of Boaz would be hers. The relationships of Boaz they're now hers. And so for us... the relationships... that, that he has, then become our relationships. His children become our brothers and sisters. We're part of his... family. And so Ruth, the one who has gone out as a poor glean and walking behind the reapers, hoping they would treat her kindly. She is now joint heir with the owner of the fields. Something she could never have dreamt of. And you and I... in our journey in life... looking for what we [LAUGHTER] could get [], hoping to make it... we've now been made joint heirs with Jesus Christ... entering into his inheritance. Let's come round the Lord's table now and... remember who we are. He has paid the price and we belong to him. Perhaps you could sing that little song... it's in this Songs of Fellowship, it's number seventy three. Cover me. That was something that... Boaz did, there when Ruth was lying at his feet. The exp, he he showed his acceptance of her by... lifting his blanket and so, covering her, a blanket at his feet he covered her with... and in this little song was, cover me, extend the border. And that's what he's done isn't it? He's extended the border of his garment and he's covered us. Thank you. [piano introduction]