Okay, Ruth chapter 4. I'm taking the title for the
message and what it said in verse 10. I bought or purchased Ruth
to be my wife. You see that in verse 10? Ruth
chapter 4 verse 10. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
Ruth the Moabitess was raised in a land of idolatry, and she
was an idolater until the Lord taught her the gospel. Moreover,
Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Malon, have I purchased to
be my wife?" Now remember, Malon and Lamelech both died. And Lamelech,
his father, and he had two boys, that Chilion and Malon, and they
both died and left Naomi with a widow and both her daughter-in-law's
widows. But Boaz purchased Ruth. He didn't purchase the other
woman. What was her name? Her name was
Orphra. He didn't purchase Orphra, he
purchased Ruth. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Malon, have I purchased to be my wife. That's what caught
my attention. I bought her to be my wife, to
raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the
name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren from
the gate of his place, and you are witnesses this day." Now
you see the gospel there, don't you? The Lord Jesus Christ purchased
us with His own blood. And we know here that Boaz is
a picture of our Kingdom and Redeemer. So using that as a
title, I purchased Ruth to be my wife. Using Boaz as a personal
type of the Lord Jesus Christ, We can certainly make the case,
and rightly so, and easily so, make the case that the Lord Jesus
Christ bought us with His own blood. He chose us to be His
bride. We are the Lamb's wife. He purchased us. God bought the
church with His own blood. Christ the Lord Jesus Christ,
we read in Ephesians chapter 5, He loved the church and gave
himself for it. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. And we know
the price that was paid by our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us
from the curse of the law, the price that was paid was not silver
and gold or traditions of men, but his precious blood. His precious
blood, He bought us. We are not redeemed with corruptible
things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We are His blood-bought people. He is our near kinsman who bought
us. He chose us. He wanted to be
wedded. Think about that. He wanted to
be eternally wedded to us. Now, we come to the high point
in this book of Ruth. Everything in this closing chapter
is designed by God, the Holy Spirit, to direct our hearts,
our minds, to the King and Redeemer, the greater Boaz, the greater
David, son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his great work
of redemption for us. Remember when we studied in the
Revelation how that begins about being the revelation of Jesus
Christ and it talks about unto Him who loved us and washed us
from our sin in His own blood. To Him be all the honor and glory
both now and forever. He loved us and He washed us.
How? In His own blood. You see, it's
the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all our sin. Boaz loved Ruth and was determined
to marry her to redeem and restore the estate of Elimelech and to
raise up seed to the name of Elimelech's family of Malon,
Naomi, and Ruth. As it says there in verse 10,
I purchased to be my wife, I purchased to be my wife, Ruth, to raise
up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name
of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren. and from
the gate of his place, your witnesses." God's people are witnesses to
these things. Boaz wanted Ruth, but he knew he had to do it in
a way that was honoring to the law of God. So, the right of
the Nero kinsmen had to be dealt with, had to be satisfied. As we studied there in chapter
3, Verse 12, and now it is true that I'm thine near kin, how
be it there is a nearer kin than me, someone who was nearer kin
to Naomi and Lamelech than Boaz was. So Boaz had to do it in
a way that was honoring to the law of God, satisfying to the
law of God. So Boaz came to the gate of the
city, as it says there in verse one, called the elders of the
city together and publicly declared his intention before those 10
elders and that closer relative, that nearer kinsman. Now, clearly,
the prominent subject is redemption. He wanted to redeem Ruth. The
word redeem is used in this chapter at least nine times. that should
catch our attention, nine times. And without question, the whole
theme of the Bible is what? Redemption by the glorious sacrifice
of Christ, our King and Redeemer. I mean, from the get-go to the
end, from Genesis to the Revelation, it's all about the Redeemer who
has redeemed us with His precious blood. It's all about the surety
of the covenant. It's all about the Savior who
came to put away our sins. I remember reading a book years
and years ago, 35 years ago, maybe longer, and the title of
the book was The History of Redemption. I don't remember a whole lot
about that book, but I do remember this, and I never had forgotten
it. of redemption is the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The grand design of redemption
is not to keep some sinners out of hell. Now, that's involved
in it, but the grand design is the glory and honor of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We study it again in the Revelation.
Remember, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive what?
Oh, honor, glory, blessing, and power, both now and forever.
And as Paul said, God forbid, actually, glory, save, save,
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's take a look
at verse 1 and 2. Then went up Boaz to the gate,
a public place, and he sat down there. And behold, the kinsman,
that is, the nearer kinsman of whom Boaz spake, came by, unto
whom he said, Hello, ho, such a one, turn aside, sit down here,
I've got something to talk about. And he turned aside and he sat
down. And he took 10 men of the elders
of the city and said, sit you down here. And they sat down.
So here's this meeting, Boaz, the nearer kinsmen, and these
10 men. And they're going to have a business transaction.
Boaz went to the gate of the city where the public meetings
were held and he sat down. Now why did he do this? He was
interceding for Ruth, wasn't he? He was interceding for Ruth. He interceded on behalf of Ruth
and to represent Ruth and Naomi. Now this can also be a picture
of our Lord Jesus Christ interceding for us. When he finished the
work of redemption for us, what did he do? He sat down. He sat down on the right hand
of God where he now ever lived to intercede for us right now.
One God, one mediator between God and man, and that is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He ever lived to intercede for
us. We know the Lord Jesus Christ is the able, willing, kinsman,
redeemer, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Everything
Boaz did at the gate of the city was for Ruth and Naomi. Even more so, everything that
Christ has done as a surety, shepherd, and savior was for
his covenant people, his definite covenant people. He is our advocate,
he is our intercessor, he is our savior, surety, and he's
our mediator, and he acts on our behalf for us, representing
us as our great high priest unto the Father. What a representative
we have. Boaz was determined to take Ruth
home with him as his bride. Failure was not an option. I
like what Naomi said in the last verse of chapter three, sit still
my daughter until thou know how the matter will fall for the
man will not be in rest. Until he had finished the thing
this day, Boaz was anxious to finish the work of redemption. Failure was not an option, and
so too with our great savior and redeemer. Failure to redeem
his people from their sin was not an option. Matter of fact,
it was utterly impossible. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot
fail, we said. Oftentimes, quoting that verse
from Matthew chapter 1, called his name Jesus, he shall save
his people from their sins. He shall, not maybe, not could
be. He shall, and he did. He did. Now, who does this closer
relative represent? Well, I think it represents the
law of God, the holy law of God. But the law cannot redeem, as
this kinsman said, I cannot redeem unless I mar my own inheritance. The law of God cannot redeem
us. By the deeds of the law, no flesh
shall be justified in God's sight. The law of God can only reveal
sin, but it cannot put away sin. The law only can condemn us and
convict us and curse us, but it cannot save us. Thank God He redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, our substitute.
The law can convict us of our sin, but it cannot convert us.
and change us, and make us willing in the day of God's power to
love the Lord Jesus Christ. He's got to make us a new creature
in Christ Jesus. He's got to make us a son of
God by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what is pictured here,
and we'll see that in verse 13. Boaz took Ruth, and she was his
wife, and he went, and he went in unto her. and they conceived
the Son. And that's what happens in a
new birth. There's a new birth and regeneration. Christ in you
is a hope of glory. Is a hope of glory. I studied
this all day today. And I didn't see that on verse
13 until I went home and was thinking over the message later
this afternoon. And that thought just came to
me. The Lord gave this thought to
me. Boaz went He went in unto her and there was a child born. That's what happened in regeneration. Christ in you. That which is
born of the Spirit is Spirit. Is Spirit. So the law of God
cannot make us new creatures in Christ, can it? But He does
by His Spirit, by His Word. I've given this illustration
before over the years, talking about the law of God, how it
exposes sin. And I use this lightbulb illustration. A lightbulb, if you go in a dark
room, and you turn on the lightbulb, and then you take, pound the
floor a little bit, or shake the curtains a little bit, and
you see, what do you see? You see all those particles of
dust that are stirred up. You can't see them when the light's
off. You turn the light on, and there they are. Can the light
remove those particles of dust? No. It exposes them. And that's what the law of God
does. It's a light that exposes our
sin against God, but it cannot remove it. It cannot remove our
sin. What removes our sin? Well, the
blood of Christ. Boaz went about redeeming Ruth
in a very public way before these many witnesses, these 10 witnesses. As Paul said to Agrippa or Felix
or one of those kings, this thing wasn't done in a corner. It was
publicly done. When Boaz purchased Ruth, everyone
in Bethlehem knew it. Look at verse 11. And all the
people that were in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. We are witnesses, Boaz, Bot,
Ruth, and Lamelech, all his inheritance. And we are witnesses. The Lord
make the woman that is coming to the house like fruitful, like
Rachel, fruitful like Leah, which too did build the whole house
of Israel, those 12 sons of Jacob. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ
conducted his ministry in an open public way. It wasn't done
in a corner, was it? There were many witnesses to
the great blood redemption the Lord Jesus Christ made for his
people. John writes about it this way
in his epistle, that which is seen, that which we have seen
and heard, declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship
with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. The apostles were
true eyewitnesses to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. The angels of God must
have been overwhelmed when the Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken
of God when He was made sin for us. Remember the Lord cried,
My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? Because He was made
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made in the righteousness
of God in Him. Remember at His death when the
Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. The sun was blotted out for three
hours. The earth did quake. The rocks
rent. The graves were open. The veil
in the temple was torn from top to bottom. It was publicly demonstrated
what the Lord Jesus Christ was doing, showing in the Veil of
the temple being torn, showing that the law being satisfied
and sin being put away, now sinners can freely come to God through
the blood atonement of Christ. Remember who, in the law and
under the law, the high priest only once a year went under that
veil with the blood, putting it on the mercy seat? Now God,
in Christ, crucified, tears that veil down, opens it up, and says,
Sinner, come to Christ. Come to Christ. The way is open.
The way is open. We studied in Hebrews chapter
4, I quote it all the time, saying that we have a great high priest
that has passed into heaven, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Let us hold fast our profession. And then he said, come unto me.
Come unto me all you who labor and heavy laden. I'll give you
rest. Wherefore, he said, come boldly to the throne of grace
that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time
of need. We're going to study in Hebrews
chapter 10 where it says, Because of Christ crucified in the shedding
of his blood and establishing righteousness for us, we have
boldness to enter the holier through the blood of Jesus Christ.
We can come now, seeing we have a great high praise. We come
to the throne of grace. And then three days later, what
happened? The Lord Jesus Christ walked out of the grave and lived
among men. The resurrected, bodily resurrected,
glorified Lord Jesus Christ, He lived among men 40 days, and
then He ascended to glory bodily. It says there in verse 8, And
I looked at this verse a lot, and I got some help on it. Verse
8 in Ruth chapter 4, Then the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it
for thee. And the Lord did buy it, didn't
he? He bought us. So he drew off his shoe. And
that's what they did in that day. When there was agreement
made, we today, what would we do? We'd have a handshake, wouldn't
we? It's a deal. And we'd stick out
our hand and we'd shake, shake on it, shake on it. Well, this
day, they drew off the shoe. Boaz took off his shoe at the
token of the transaction being complete. So the Lord Jesus Christ,
and here's what I can take away from that. The Lord Jesus Christ
took off his grave clothes and ascended on high when he finished
the transaction. when he finished our salvation,
when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right
hand of the throne of God. At his resurrection, the angel
said to the women, why do you seek to live among the dead?
He's not here. He's risen. He's risen. Risen
from the dead. Now look at verse three and four
for just a moment. And he said unto the kinsmen,
Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, Selleth
a parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech's. And I thought
to advertise thee by it before the inhabitants and before the
elders of my people. If thou will redeem it, then
redeem it. But if thou will not redeem it,
then tell me that I may know. For there's none to redeem it
beside thee and me. And after thee. and there's none
to redeem it, and I'm after thee, but thee, beside thee, and I'm
after thee. And he said, at first he said,
well, I will. And then Boaz said, what day
you buy the field at the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also
of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Redeem thou
my right to thyself, for I cannot." He gave everything up into the
hands of Boaz and he said, you redeem it, I cannot. Now the
matter of redeeming Ruth was not only public but it had to
be legal. It had to be according to the
law of God. Boaz knew he could only redeem Ruth and the state
of Elimelech, the inheritance of Elimelech according to the
written law of God. The law of God could not be overlooked. It had to be satisfied, right? Notice there were ten men that
were called to witness the action of redeeming Ruth. And I think
these ten men represent the summary of the law of God in the Ten
Commandments. The same is true concerning the
redemption of God's people, his elect. It had to be legal in
order to be valid. That is, the law of God could
not be overlooked. The law of God had to be satisfied. The law of God had a claim on
us. The law of God said the guilty must die. The law of God had
to be satisfied. As I've often said over the years,
in every precept and every penalty, all the words of the prophet
had to be satisfied. Satisfied. And our Lord Jesus
Christ, as our substitute and surety, as our king and redeemer,
both honored the law of God and all the writings of the prophets,
for he died for our sins according to the scriptures, didn't he? He fulfilled all righteousness
the law required of us, and he did so in his life, every precept
of that law. Now, there's more than just 10.
Some of the old writers said there was 800 precepts of that
law. The Lord Jesus Christ magnified. He didn't meet the minimum standard.
He magnified the law of God in every thought, word, and deed. And He did that for us. He fulfilled
the law of God. fulfilled all that the prophets
had spoken of him. He died for our sin according
to the scripture. He fulfilled all the righteousness,
the law God required. Every precept was honored. Remember
we studied in Matthew chapter five, the Lord said, I didn't
come to destroy the law. I came to honor it. He said,
I didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets, but I came
to honor it. And we know that he did. He made
the law of God. He said in Isaiah 42, the Lord
is well pleased for his righteousness sake, he will magnify the law
of God and honor it. And he did. And he did. He did
that for us. The Lord Jesus Christ honored
not only every precept of the law, but also the penalty of
that law. The penalty of that law was what?
The guilty must die. And that's why the Lord Jesus
Christ died for us. He became the guilty one, taking
our sin to himself, and satisfied not only the precept of that
law, but the penalty of it. And he set us free in doing so.
He said, all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law
of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning me. And he
fulfilled all things, didn't he, for us. Christ redeemed us. in a very righteous and just
legal way, the only way God could be just and the justifier of
the ungodly, the only way God could be a just God and Savior.
That's the heartbeat of the gospel, how God can be just and justify
the ungodly, how God can be a just God and a Savior, how God can
save sinners like us and not violate His holy law. and that
can only be done through Christ and him crucified. For Christ
is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The failure of the closer relative
to redeem Ruth demonstrates to us the inability of the law of
God to save us. As we've already seen, the closer
relative, more than anything else, represents the law of God.
The law of God is holy, it's just, It's good, but it cannot
put away sin. It cannot impute righteousness
without marring, distorting its own righteous character. The holy law of God identifies
sin, exposes sin, condemns sin, but it cannot put away sin or
establish righteousness. I'm repeating myself, and I'm
doing it on purpose. I've said the same thing to you
for almost 30 years. Because we don't change the truth,
we just keep repeating it, repeating it, repeating it. If you seek
salvation by the deeds of the law, you will forever mar and
ruin and destroy any real lasting hope of being justified. If you
seek to be redeemed by the deeds of the law, you'll be condemned
before God. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. The Lord Jesus Christ has made us sons of God and we're
accepted only in the beloved. He's made us sons of God. We
are adopted into his family. We're accepted in the beloved.
We're made heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're justified freely by his grace. We are made new creatures
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse eight and nine.
Boaz gladly and willingly bought Ruth, redeemed Ruth and all the
estate of Elimelech, verse 8 and 9. Therefore, the kinsmen said
to Boaz, buy it for thee. So he drew off the shoe. And
Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you're witnesses
this day that I bought all that was in Elimelech's, and all that
was John's and Mylon's, the hand of Naomi, moreover Ruth the Moabitess. The wife of Malon have I purchased
to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. Our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ, bought us, and the price of redemption was what? His own
blood. He redeemed us with His own blood. To you who are redeemed, to you
who believe, the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. What do you think
that Ruth thought of Boaz? Ruth was a nobody. I mean, she
was from the land of idolatry, and Boaz set his affection on
her, chose her, not to be just a mere servant, but my wife. What do you think Ruth thought
of Boaz? I bet she was in love with Boaz. She thought very highly of Boaz. Our redemption by Christ was
a great act of his sovereign love to us. a great act of sovereign
grace unto us. Boaz was not ashamed of Ruth,
a strange poor widow from Moab. She could not redeem herself,
but the mighty man of wealth did. Boaz stooped down in mercy
to buy Ruth. Remember what we read about Boaz
in chapter 2, verse 1, and Naomi had a kinsman of her husband,
a mighty man of wealth. The family of Elimelech, and
his name was Boaz. And Boaz is a picture of our
great, mighty Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who stooped down,
being made under the law, being made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem us with his own blood. That's an amazing story,
is it not? What a picture of the Lord's
mercy to us poor sinners, to us poor needy sinners. David
said, I'm poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. The
Lord stooped down, taking humanity to Himself apart from sin, and
then He was made sin for us and died under the curse of the law
to redeem us. What a Redeemer we have. Our
redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ is also particular and
definite. Boaz didn't attempt to redeem
all that had lost their inheritance in Israel, did he? It was for
a particular definite family, the family of Elimelech. His
heart was set on one family, his family. He redeemed one family
and the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed One church. His church. His bride. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ
did not die to make an attempt to redeem all mankind. particular, definite, special,
effectual, particular, only to purchase his bride, his church,
known as his elect, his chosen. The idea that's promoted in religious
circles today of universal love and universal redemption is not
taught in the word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, he said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. For the sheep, for the transgressions
of my people was he stricken. I've already quoted Acts chapter
20 where Paul reminded the elders at Ephesus to feed the church
of God which he purchased with his own blood. His own blood. Redemption of Ruth by Boaz produced
a special son. Look at verse 13. So Boaz took
Ruth and she was his wife. And when he went in unto her,
the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. It was a
special son. His name is called Obed. His name means the servant of
the Lord. And the women, verse 14, said
unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord. And David said, Blessed be the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. They didn't give
Ruth any credit. They didn't give Naomi any credit,
but they said, Blessed be the Lord. He's given us a son which
hath not left thee this day without a kinsman. And notice the marginal
reference on that word kinsman, Redeemer. He's not left us without
a Redeemer. We have a Redeemer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and He's given us the new birth in regeneration,
in regenerating grace. He's made us new creatures in
Christ. As it says in verse 15, and He shall be unto thee a restorer
of thy life. Isn't that what Christ has done?
We were dead in sin and he quickened us together. By grace are you
saved. Raised us up together. Made us
sit together in heaven. He's in Christ. In Adam all died,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. He's the restorer
of our life and the nourisher of our life. We feed upon the
bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. For the daughter-in-law
which loveth thee is better, better to thee than seven sons
hath borne him." Of course, whenever I see that word, loveth, and
better, I immediately think of the Lord Jesus Christ, how He
commended His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. And of course, that word, better,
what does that remind you of? It reminds me of our study in
the book of Hebrews. Everything about Christ is better.
He's better. He's the best. The better priest,
the better sacrifice, the better surety. Verse 16, and Naomi took
the child and laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it. What do you think Naomi thought
about that child? Oh man, she was one happy grandma,
wasn't she? She became nursing to it. And
the women, her neighbors, gave it a name saying, this is the
son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed.
Now, look that name up. And it means one who is a servant. Even Obed here was the great
grandfather of David. Obed was a servant. unto the
Lord our God. And He's the Father of Jesse,
the Father of David. No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ
is called My Servant. Remember Isaiah 42 verse 1, where
God said, Behold My Servant, Mine Elect, in whom My soul delights,
in whom I am well pleased. He's a servant unto our God and
unto our Father. And He is our Savior. As a result
of redemption of Ruth, the Son of God was born and brought into
this world. And because the Lord Jesus Christ
died for His covenant people, He will bring all them into His
heavenly glory. He prayed that. He said, all
that the Father giveth to me, they will come to me. And those
that come to me, I'll never cast them out. I'll raise them up,
everyone at the last day. The Lord prayed in John 17, Father,
I will that all you've given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory. Boaz, we know that he was a mighty
man of wealth. He was a strong redeemer, wasn't
he? He's a picture of Christ. Christ
is greater and stronger than Boaz, we have the greater Boaz,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And his name, I like what it
says in verse 14, his name may be famous. He has a famous name, doesn't
he? We're still talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ.