FAMILY REDEEMER [Book of Ruth] (paraphrase) Ruth 1 …there was a famine in the land ... went to dwell in the country of Moab … while there the sons got married … then Naomi’s husband and 2 sons died … Naomi might RETURN from the country of Moab, for the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread … She told her daughter in laws to go back to their families … Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following you … YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE MY PEOPLE, And your God, my God. (NKJV) Ruth 2 There was a RELATIVE OF NAOMI’S HUSBAND, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. … 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, UNDER WHOSE WINGS YOU HAVE COME FOR REFUGE.” … 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of [REDEEMER] our close relatives.” Ruth 3 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So, she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a [REDEEMER] close relative.” 10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. Ruth 4 9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I HAVE BOUGHT ALL that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.” … 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a [REDEEMER] close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! … 17 Also the neighbor women gave him 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. 1. This line is the same line that Jesus was born into 2. Like Ruth and Naomi, we to have been separated due to a death 3. We need a family redeemer (close relative) • We’re redeemed back into the family of God, not adopted (reconciliation) GO'EL: Next of kin, and, hence, redeemer. Any rights possessed by a man which lapsed through his inability to perform the duties attached to such rights, could be and should be resumed by the next of kin. This his go'el, or kinsman, had to redeem.
