HAPPILY EVER AFTER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down.

Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so. Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line."

"I will redeem it," he said.

Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property." At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."

(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.)

So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.

Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"

Then the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."

Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

Ruth 4

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever had a night that seemed to last forever as you faced an uncertain event the following day?

I know I have and maybe you do too…so we should be able to fully relate to what Naomi and Ruth must have endured as they waited for morning and Boaz’s encounter with the other kinsman-redeemer…the one who had first rights to buy the land owned by Elimelech and his two sons, and in turn, the hand of the widowed Ruth. If there was any good news, Naomi and Ruth knew one way or another that they would be claimed by a kinsman-redeemer. The suspense was found in whether or not that man would be Boaz.

Well as promised, we read where the aforementioned Boaz “went up to the town gate and sat there” the next morning, waiting for the “kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned” to come along and when he did, Boaz called for him saying:

"Come over here, my friend, and sit down."

As the man sat down where Boaz had told him to, “Boaz took ten of the elders of the town” and asked them to sit there as well. They would serve as witnesses for the matter that was about to be discussed. With everyone in place, Boaz explained the situation as follows:

"Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line."

It’s interesting here that Boaz only mentioned the land here…land that the other kinsman-redeemer was obviously interested in because he told Boaz and the elders:

“I will redeem it."

But then, we see Boaz play the “Ruth card” adding this:

“On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."

This changed the dynamics of the deal exponentially because it wasn’t just simply a land transaction. The kinsman-redeemer would be required to marry the widowed wife of Naomi’s son, Mahlon, and this changed the decision of the other kinsman-redeemer who says this to Boaz and the gathered elders:

“…I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it….Buy it yourself.”

And with that, he “removed his sandal” which the scriptures explain was a sign of a “legalized transaction”…one showing that “the redemption and transfer of property (had) become final”. The deal was then completed and we read where Boaz makes sure everyone knows it by making the following announcement to “the elders and all the people”:

"Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"

In response, we read where the “elders and all those at the gate” proclaimed:

"We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."

And so it was.

Boaz became the kinsman-redeemer for Naomi and Ruth, taking the latter as his wife. After their marriage, we read where “the Lord enabled her to conceive” and she gave birth to a son who they named Obed, which means servant or worshipper. This son, Obed, would end up being the father of Jesse who would become David’s dad, afterwards being selected by God to become the King of Israel. Further, this would later place Obed in the genealogy of Jesus where we find Boaz and Ruth mentioned as well (Matthew 1:5).

What a blessing God bestowed on Boaz and Ruth!

He also richly blessed Naomi…a point recognized by the town women who said:

“Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."

For her part in this wonderful ending, Naomi took Obed in her lap and “cared for him” like any other proud grandmother would.

You know, we can sum up this story’s ending by using an age-old cliché for we find everyone - Naomi, Ruth and Boaz – living “happily ever after”. My friends, this is what happens when redemption becomes a reality for a person’s life is changed forever. The sure salvation found through belief in Jesus leaves one “happily ever after” because we have the sure guarantee of Heaven. One is rescued from the everlasting torment and damnation of Hell, gaining infinite peace and joy in knowing that death has lost its proverbial sting (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). In other words, through faith in Christ, every single Christian believer is victorious.

Jesus Himself said this:

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

Indeed, in and through Him, all Jesus followers get just that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.