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` Naomi has a son . . .'
The Book of Ruth needs no introduction and is probably known by many outside Christian circles - part of the `Christianised' people who were brought up in an earlier God-fearing age. The love of Ruth for Naomi is well known, but spiritual eyes will see God's revelation that lies within this Book. In earlier studies we have been concerned with the path of the Church as it nears the end of its long journey from betrothal to consummation, but in this Credo we would turn our thoughts towards the other Covenanted people of God (the nation of Israel) who are clearly linked on a parallel journey with the Church. First we need to look at the central message of the Book of Ruth and, as always, the place to start is the beginning. We therefore read in chapter 1:
" In the days when the Judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. "
The Book of Ruth is set within the period of the great apostacy of the nation of Israel, following their entry into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. But this had been the second generation of Israelites, for we saw in the study on the Book of Judges that:
" When all that generation (the generation under the leadership of Joshua)
had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose who did not
know the LORD and the work He had done for Israel. " (Judges 2:10)
The principal players in the Book of Ruth were just ordinary people conducting their affairs as quietly as possible under very difficult circumstances, for we have read in the opening verses that there was a famine in the land. During that particular apostacy `a man of Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab'. This man's name was Elimelech, and his wife's name was Naomi. Through the distress that came upon the land of Israel at the time of that apostacy, Elimelech moved out of the land and therefore out of God's blessing - and he came to grief! He died there, and not only did his wife Naomi have to face the problem of widowhood, but her two sons married Moabite women. They also died! A spiritual lesson can be gleaned from this story, for no matter how difficult it may seem at the time, provided we know we are in the place God wants us to be, and provided our hearts are right before Him, we need to `stand still and see the deliverance of the LORD'. To move out of our place of blessing, no matter how difficult the circumstances, will only lead to spiritual distress, with even the possibility of physical death!
In submissiveness to her husband Naomi had gone to Moab, but now, in distress at her loss, she prepares to return to the Land of Blessing. She attempts to persuade her daughters-in-law to go back to their own families in Moab. Orpah, the widow of the son named Kilion, agreed to do so, but Ruth, the widow of Mahlon, would not leave Naomi, and the Book of Ruth records the most beautiful words ever to be penned by anyone: (Ruth 1:16-17)
" But Ruth said, `Entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go I will go, and wherever you stay I will stay. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Wherever you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me'."
The land of Moab lies to the east of the Dead (or Salt) Sea in present-day Jordan, and it was in this land that Moab (the son born to Lot's eldest daughter, following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah) settled and formed a nation. Ben-Ammi (or Ammon) was the son born to Lot's other daughter, and he settled in and founded the land of Ammon to the north of Moab. We read this account in Genesis 19:30-38: Lot's daughters, afraid of being alone after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, made their father Lot drunk, then they lay with him and conceived their two sons, Moab and Ammon. Lot, of course, was the nephew of Abraham, and we mention these points only that you may have a historical timescale of the people and events of the early Books of the Bible. The people of Moab and Ammon were idolators who worshipped heathen gods, and therefore the people of God had no business to settle in those heathen lands. Little wonder that Elimelech and his two sons came to such a dismal end! This is surely a solemn spiritual lesson for us all to thoughtfully consider! However we must return to the main story - this brief diversion was only taken to help us to understand the Scriptures more easily and to fill in the Biblical background. The Book of Ruth can be read through in twenty minutes or so, but we can dwell too long on the emotional aspects of the story and so miss the prophetic revelation that lies within this small Book of Ruth.
Once Naomi and Ruth were in the land of Israel Naomi agreed that Ruth might go to the fields owned by Boaz to gather grain. She knew he was from the tribe of Judah and therefore a member of her own tribal household - or to put into more Scriptural language, Boaz was her kinsman, a blood relation coming from the line of Judah (one of Jacob's twelve sons who together had forged the nation of Israel). The menservants of Boaz were harvesting his fields, and he faithfully observed the Law of Moses by allowing the poor of his kinsfolk to glean the grain his harvesters left behind on the ground. This led to Ruth being noticed by Boaz, to the point that he instructed his men not to molest her and to let her also glean from the uncut corn if she so desired. Boaz had evidently heard of Ruth the young Moabitess, the widow of one of his dead relatives, and of her faithful obedience to Naomi, and he was generously doing more for her than the Law required. This led Naomi into instructing Ruth further in the matter of the Law of Moses, which you can read in Deuteronomy 25:5-6:
" If brothers are living together, and one of them dies without a son, his
widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take
her and marry her and fulfil the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first
son she bears shall carry the name of the dead brother so that his name will
not be blotted out from Israel. "
Boaz, faithful to Torah, fully understood this, but he knew that there was a kinsman even closer to Naomi than he. He therefore promised to undertake the duties of a kinsman-redeemer only if the closest kinsman refused. There is another word joined to `kinsman', that of `redeemer' - a kinsman-redeemer. The word `redeem' means `to bring back' -to recover by payment or effort something that has been lost to that person or to that person's family in order to restore it back to its original position within the family. The expression `kinsman-redeemer' therefore describes a person who is related by blood to someone, acknowledging a family committment, and buying or redeeming something or someone back in order to restore it to its rightful and personal family position. The story continues with the refusal of the closest relative to undertake the role of kinsman-redeemer, which left Boaz free to fulfil his promise: (Ruth 4:13-14)
" So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And the LORD enabled her to
conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then 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'. "
We now need to step back and look at this man Boaz and trace his family line. We know that he was from Bethlehem in the land of Judea, and that he was a faithful observer of the Law - indeed, he did more than was required of him! The last verse of the Book of Ruth tells us that Boaz was the son of Salmon, and if we look at the genealogy recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (1:5) we see that Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab - which takes us back to the Book of Joshua. In Joshua 2 we read that spies were sent by Joshua into the land of Canaan, and in particular into the city of Jericho, prior to the Israelites' invasion of that land. They were befriended by Rahab (described as a harlot or prostitute) and because of her assistance she was promised that she would be kept safe from danger when the Israelites invaded the city - provided that she bound a scarlet cord around the window from which the spies escaped. Tradition has it that one of the spies was Salmon! That may be so, or again it might be yet another tradition. Scripture merely records that Salmon was of the family line of Judah and was the father of Boaz by Rahab the Canannite woman from Jericho.
If we are to understand the message of the Book of Ruth we must now bring these various strands together and see how this Book fits into the framework of the Bible. As always, it comes down to the sovereign choice of God! God called Abraham out of Chaldea . . . from Abraham's sons He choose Isaac . . . from Isaac's two sons He choose Jacob . . . out of Jacob's twelve sons, who formed the nation of Israel, God choose Judah. Now, out of all the members of the tribe of Judah, God choose and established a family line from whom would be born the Seed of Promise spoken of in the Book of Beginnings (that which we call Genesis). The action of Boaz in taking up his responsibility as kinsman-redeemer now established the Messianic family line into which, in the fulness of time, Jesus would be born. This would bring to fulfillment the prophecy Jacob spoke in his patriarchical blessing to his sons when he was on his death-bed: (Genesis 49:8-10)
" Judah, your brothers will praise you . . . your father's sons will bow down
to you . . . The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from
between his feet, until Shiloh comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of
the nations is His. "
This is the developing understanding within Judaism: A coming Seed of Promise Who would crush the head of the serpent, but Whose heel would be bruised. (Genesis 3:15) It was through such Scriptures as these that the people of Israel looked for a Redeemer . . a Messiah . . the Seed of Promise from the family line of Judah. It had been promised them that the King's sceptre of authority would come through the line of Judah - and Shiloh had long been understood to be a name for the promised King and Redeemer. Now, in the Book of Ruth, the family line had been narrowed down and established by the actions of a kinsman-redeemer by name of Boaz, son of Salmon by Rahab! However, not only had the family line been established but it was also revealed that the Kinsman-Redeemer Who was to come to the nation of Israel would come from Bethlehem in Judea. Boaz is seen here as a vivid type or pattern of the future Kinsman-Redeemer Who one day would be born into the tribe of Judah . . a King . . a Redeemer . . the Lion of Judah . . the Messiah of the people of Israel! He too would be prepared to take up His responsibilities as a Kinsman-Redeemer to ensure that the nation of Israel would not be blotted out by death. It is also seen that by linking Boaz to Ruth - a woman outside the separated people of Israel, the LORD's chosen people - there is a clear implication that this coming Kinsman-Redeemer would take under His protection the surrounding Gentile nations. Also, by including a Canaanite prostitute in the family line of Boaz, it is revealed that the coming Kinsman-Redeemer would be `a friend of sinners' - those who would be in need of redemption.
Here is the central message of the Book of Ruth, and we leave behind the broad sweep of history concerning the people of Israel and narrow our field of vision down to two ordinary people living in a time of national apostacy in the Land of Promise. We bring into focus those two faithful people, Boaz and Ruth, of the established line of Judah - the family line of the Messiah Who would come as prophesied so long ago by faithful Jacob just before he died. Within the nation of Israel God had selected a `womb' called the tribe of Judah. In this `womb' there now lay a seed, a family line, established by Boaz from Bethlehem in Judea - a kinsman-redeemer who took up his responsibility and became a type (a foreshadowing) of the Kinsman-Redeemer Who would one day come as the Messiah Jesus. There is an unseen Thread holding the Books of the Bible together, and it becomes even more clearly revealed as we consider the family line of Boaz and Ruth, We read in the closing verses of the Book of Ruth that the child born to Boaz and Ruth was named Obed, `the father of Jesse, the father of David'. (4:17) This Messianic family line leads on to the birth of David, who in Scripture is revealed as a type (a foreshadowing) of the Messiah and King to come. Scripture revels this foreshadowing as King David whose rule would bring the nation of Israel to it's highest peak of glory and splendour, pointing forward to David's Greater Son, the King and Messiah Jesus Who would come as Kinsman-Redeemer to restore to the nation of Israel it's glory and splendour - the glory and splendour it had lost following the deaths of David and his son Solomon.
The Books of the Bible which follow on from Ruth now have this common Thread running through them . . an association with the kingly line which was established in the tribe of Judah . . an association with David . . with David's city of Jerusalem . . with Mount Zion, the City of the Great King. This `womb of Judah', placed within the body of the nation of Israel, now becomes the main concern of the following Books of the Bible. From this `womb of Judah' there would come the long-awaited Kinsman-Redeemer, whom the Scriptures reveal as Jesus, the Hope of the people of God. Yet from the story of Boaz and Ruth we have also seen that not only would this Kinsman-Redeemer come to redeem the nation of Israel, He would also take up the responsibility of Kinsman-Redeemer for all who are made in the image of God - Jew and Gentile alike - for all who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus, our Kinsman-Redeemer! For those who will accept Him He has come to bring His `family of relatives' back to their orginal rightful position as members of God's family.
The closing verses of the Book of Ruth clearly show the family line of the Messiah Jesus:
" Now this is the family line of Perez;
Hezron was the father of Ram,
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nashon,
Nashon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
Obed the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David. " Ruth 4:18-22
The foregoing is of course generally accepted by Bible students as the central message of the Book of Ruth. However we have taken the time and space to set out the message again in order to fix it in our minds as we seek to draw out another message which lies within the pages of Ruth - a message that is pertinent for the time that lies immediately ahead of the Church in her journey to meet her Bridegroom `in the air'! If we can understand it and keep it in our hearts, we will enter into the joy of God's heart as He draws together the last strands of human history. Let us move our thoughts back to the land Naomi was attempting to sell, about which Boaz was discussing with the elders of the town: (Ruth 4:2-4)
" Boaz took ten 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 this 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 that 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. "
This was in line with the Mosaic Law, for in the event of the death of a male family head the preservation of the name of the family line was ensured through this application of the Law. Boaz carefully pointed out to the most senior male in the family, the kinsman-redeemer, that he had the privilege (we would say, `the first call') of redeeming the land. The kinsman-redeemer agreed to do this until Boaz reminded him not only of his privilege but also of his duty to the wife of the dead man:
" The 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, who had agreed to redeem the land, baulked: (4:6)
" At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, `Then I cannot redeem it because I
might endanger my own estate. You redeem it. I cannot do it'. "
Clearly the kinsman-redeemer's privilege must also include his duty, for to redeem the land without taking the dead man's wife as his own would have countermanded the Law - the land would have been redeemed but the family name would have been cut off for ever. This left the way open for Boaz, the next in line as kinsman-redeemer, to undertake not only the privilege but the duty also: (Ruth 4:9-10)
" 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'. "
This may remain in the minds of some people an unusual but interesting social custom of a remote middle-eastern country, but now placed in the `dustbin' of history! That is, until we remind ourselves that this is the Word of God and, as such, is `God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness'. The Scripture verses we have just recorded clearly show that Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, acquired the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, but that he married Ruth not Naomi. From what we know of the Moasic Law, this is quite correct, for when Naomi's husband Elimelech died the land would have passed to her son Mahlon, Ruth's husband. But because both Mahlon and Kilion died, the family line would have passed away had it not been for the intervention of a kinsman-redeemer. Naomi, in encouraging Ruth to go to Boaz as kinsman-redeemer, was correctly advising her, for the land had passed from her husband's ownership to that of her son, yet it was still linked to her. Naomi was therefore expecting that the son who would come from the kinsman-redeemer's act of taking Ruth as his wife would sustain her in her old age. We are not intending to disect the intracasies of the Mosaic Law here, but seek only to understand what those actions mean for us who stand on `the threshold of the Messiah'. Through Boaz taking up his privilege and duty as kinsman-redeemer of the land of the dead man's relatives, he was including Naomi in that redemptive act as well as Ruth the Moabitess.
Ruth now takes on a new standing in the house of Israel. She may have been a Moabitess, outside the `elect of God', the nation of Israel, but Scripture now records: (Ruth 4:11)
" Then the elders and all those at the gate said, `We are witnesses. May the
LORD make the woman (Ruth) who is coming into your house like Rachel
and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel'. "
Ruth, through the act of Boaz the kinsman-redeemer, was now grafted into the Olive Tree, the nation of Israel, and was deemed to be as Rachel and Leah, the `mothers' of Israel. Ruth could now enjoy all the blessings that were covenanted by God to the nation of Israel. Ruth and Naomi were now forever linked in time and space by God through Boaz the kinsman-redeemer, who was, as we have seen, a foreshadowing of the Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus. Ruth immediately entered into the blessings of her relationsip with Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer, but, equally, so did Naomi. She too had a kinsman-redeemer now, for within her relationship with Ruth and Boaz lay a son, who would one day come and bring Naomi into the full blessings of the redemption that Boaz had undertaken. A son would come from that union who would support and sustain her in her old age, ensuring that she was preserved within the family line of the nation of Israel: (Ruth 4:13-17)
" So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. 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 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. "
The kinsman-redeemer for Naomi lay in the union between Boaz and Ruth - Naomi was not fully redeemed until the son was born: "And the women living there said, `Naomi has a son'." Then, and only then, did Naomi know her redemption in the land of Israel was complete!
We now need to draw these thoughts to a close. `Types' in the Old Testament are shadowy things, seen in the Spirit and extracted with difficulty because things of the Spirit are inexpressable in natural terms. Old Testament shadowings are just that - shadowy glimpses given only to those who are looking for the heart of God - and they can only be seen in the fulness of the Substance which the foreshadowing was pointing forward to. We now have the privilege of living in the Substance - His Name is Jesus - and we can look back and see, still as through a dark glass dimly, the hidden rich truths that lay in Scripture. God reveals them by His Spirit through a relationship that has come through His Son Jesus. Ruth, a Moabitess, was brought into the fulness of redemption in the nation of Israel through the action of her kinsman-redeemer. Naomi, although certain of her redemption through this action, had to wait for the birth of the son resulting from that union before she experienced her actual redemption. Our Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus, has taken both Jew and Gentile as His Bride, and we can now enjoy all the spiritual blessings that have become ours by being grafted into the Olive Tree (that is, Israel) rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant.
Israel herself, seen here as Naomi, also has that certainty as she waits for the Son to come, a Son not of her own union, but a Son who comes from the union of Ruth and Boaz, `a son whose name was Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David'. Only when the Son is placed in `Israel's lap' will she know the reality of her redemption. That reality will come for Israel once the Bride is called away by her Bridegroom and is `caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air'. From that consummation the Son will come again to redeem Israel, to bring her into the New Covenant and into a relationship with God the Father: (Hosea 2:16)
" `In that Day,' declares the LORD, `you will call Me `Ishi'
(my Husband). You will no longer call me `Baali' (my Master)'. "
Naomi's husband Elimelech was dead, and she could no longer enjoy the fulness of the life she once knew through that relationship. The land belonged to her sons, now both dead, so she had to wait for her kinsman-redeemer to come from the union of Ruth and Boaz. So too is Israel's Husband `dead' to her! She too is waiting for a Kinsman-Redeemer, the Son of God, to come again from the union of Bride and Bridegroom to sustain her and provide for her as she is brought into the New Covenant. Tired old Israel will yet again be radiant with love and longing for her Husband!
Meanwhile the Church, revelling in the freedom won for her by her Kinsman-Redeemer, has yet to see that `Naomi' is waiting for the Son of that union to bring her redemption. As the Church catches sight of His Coming, so the longing of faithful Israel will increase as she waits for the `Son to be placed in her lap'. Both Church and Israel have a need of the Son, yet that is outworked in ways unique to them both. As the Church continues to enjoy `the blessings' issuing from her betrothal, faithful Israel waits patiently, but with the sure and certain hope of His Coming. There will yet be joy in the hearts of both Israel and the Church as at last they understand. The Church, enjoying the fruit of the revelation in the Book of Ruth of her Kinsman-Redeemer, has not yet seen that Israel's redemption is also revealed in Him. There is a day coming when the Bride will fully turn to Israel as she at last understands what it has meant for Israel to see `her daughter' enjoying the blessings of the act of redemption that is hers through Jesus, yet having to wait patiently for Him to come again for her own redemption. The Bride will at last understand that it was the selfless act of Naomi, who encouraged Ruth to lie at the feet of Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, and through that selfless act Naomi had to wait a while longer for a son before her redemption came.
`Naomi' knows without any shadow of doubt that the Son she longs for will come, and come soon! Perhaps more than the Bride, Israel knows what this means, for she has enjoyed the rights of a wife - she has known the joy of a relationship with God, Who has sworn these things by Himself. Because of that relationship Israel, perhaps more than the Church, has this certainty as they both wait for His Coming. This, we are sure, will be the next glorious move of the Holy Spirit as He moves to complete God's eternal plan to redeem Israel to Himself and to bring the consummation of the marriage of His beloved Son and the Bride He has so jealously guided and guarded on her long journey over the last two thousand years!
We have looked with alarm at the sliding down into apostacy of the `Church in the West', and through looking at similar times surrounding the life and work of Samuel - raised up by God at that time to lead the nation of Israel back to God - we have seen the consequences of apostacy. But we have ended in the certain hope, the sure knowledge that Israel and the Bride, joined together on an historical journey through the act of the Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus, will be led by the Holy Sprit into a knowledge of the Son that will end in the fulness of the glorious New Covenant, given by God through the prophet Jeremiah: (Jeremiah 31:33)
" `This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that
time,' declares the LORD. `I will put My Law in their minds and write
it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people'. "
That day will come when "Naomi takes the child, lays him in her lap and cares for him. The women living there will say, `Naomi has a son'. "
That Son . . . that Kinsman-Redeemer . . . is named Jesus!
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