So Lord, may you graciously help
me, I return your prayerful attention to the book of Ruth chapter 3
and verse 9. The book of Ruth and chapter
3 and verse 9. And he said, that is Boaz, who
art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth.
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. Ruth chapter 3 and verse 9. We have in this book of Ruth
a working example of how The laws given to Moses and the children
of Israel of how they were to be worked out were worked out
in practice. And this book of Ruth shows how
the laws to do with redeeming and a near kinsman and how his
position was to redeem those that were in trouble was beautifully
worked out. And indeed we see that in the
Old Testament there were these so many types in the Old Testament
which were pictures of the great work of our great Redeemer, even
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who came to redeem his people
from the awful effects of sin and to take them to himself,
to be his bride. So firstly, I want to just look
at some of the original laws that really the Book of Ruth
is dealing with. And when we come to think of
redemption, there was three things really that you might be redeemed
from if you were an Israelite. And if we look in Leviticus chapter
25 and verse 25, we read this, if thy brother be waxen poor
and have sold away some of his possessions, and if any of his
kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother
sold. So here we have the situation
where somebody's become poor, They've not been able to, they've
had to sell their possessions because of their poverty. And
there was this right given that somebody who was near of kin,
a close family member, could come and buy that back on their
behalf. And so really they would be restored. And the whole book of Ruth is
a beautiful illustration of restoration. How that things had gone badly
wrong and yet they were restored to a wonderful conclusion. So the first thing we dealt with
then is the possessions being lost. and how they were brought
back, and that was by redemption. But in that same chapter in Leviticus
25 and verse 47 we read, And if a sojourner or a stranger
wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by thee wax poor,
and selleth himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee,
or to the stock of the stranger's family, after that he is sold,
he may be redeemed again. One of his brethren may redeem
him. So there was this provision that
if you were sold into slavery, again due to poverty, There was
this ability of somebody to come and buy you back from slavery. So we have the loss of your goods,
but also a loss of yourself into slavery. And the third sort of
redemption that is spoken of in the law given to Moses is
in Deuteronomy 25, and this is also very applicable to the situation
of Ruth. Deuteronomy 25 and verse 5. If
brethren dwell together and one of them die and have no child,
the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go
in unto her and take her to him to wife and perform the duty
of a husband's brother unto her. And it seems that if you look
at the account of Ruth, It seemed to extend to a near family member,
even not quite as close as a brother, as in the situation with Ruth.
Both her husband and her husband's brother had both died, so that
it was not possible for her husband's brother to marry her, as both
had died. So these were some of the laws
that were given to Israel, and they were laws Because some people
think that in the Old Testament that the Lord God was a different
God than he was in the New Testament. But you see Moses, when he said
to the Lord, show me thy glory. The Lord responded in this way
and showed him his glory. The Lord passed by before him
and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth. And so
it goes on. This was an indication of what
God is like. He is merciful. And these laws
of redemption were all about restoration of that which had
been lost, that which had been ruined. And you see, we need
this. We, by nature, are sold into sin. We are in slavery to
Satan. And here's the bondage that that
brings. We need to be delivered from that slavery. We need a
Redeemer to come and lift us out of that slavery. We've lost
our inheritance, you see, with the fall. But the Lord is able
to come and redeem us and to give us an inheritance, incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away. And he's able to restore
that name that has been lost by the fall and therefore given
us a name which will be preserved in heaven as the people of God. So there was these three types
of redemption that were involved in Israel. And in Ruth, we have
really a working example of how these laws were put into practice.
You children would know that at school. You often learn some
theory about a certain subject. And then there is an example,
perhaps, of how that theory is put into practice in real life.
Well, the book of Ruth. is a practical outworking of
this laws that God had given regarding redemption and how
they beautifully manifest themselves in Ruth and Naomi. Well, if we
look just briefly at chapter one of the book of Ruth, we have
there a situation which is very sad. We have in Naomi basically sums up chapter
one really in these words, I went out full and the Lord hath brought
me home again empty. I believe contrary to what God
had told her to do in the laws of God, went away from Israel
in a time of famine. Instead of seeking to be preserved
in Israel under the famine and seeking God that he would lift
the famine and restore the house of bread that Bethlehem was meant
to be called. They went away from Bethlehem
and clearly Naomi feels very reproved for this as she returns. The Almighty hath dealt bitterly
with me. There was this returning from
the land of Moab. I went out full. and the Lord
hath brought me home again empty. There was this great sadness,
this great need. She had come back with Ruth,
who was also a widow, so there was these two widows returning
from Moab, Naomi and Ruth, and they came back really to great
poverty, great nothingness. I came home again empty. We could think of the prodigal
son in the New Testament. There we have that. that one
who went out and wasted his father's substance, but he had to come
again, back to his father empty. But the book of Ruth, you see,
takes us through this account of how Ruth and Naomi did not
remain empty. They did not remain in poverty,
there was a restoration, there was a blessing given to them. And this is the beauty, you see,
of the work of redemption that sinners ruined in the fall. Naomi confessing that she had
made a mistake, that she had gone contrary to God into Moab
and had really been bitterly or severely chastened, you could
say, really, for her going wrongly away, and she'd lost now her
husband and her two sons. And yet, you see, there was to
be mercy. And you might say, well, how
would ever Ruth would see anything in Naomi's religion if God just
takes away her husband and her two sons? But it's clear, you
see, in the word of God that Naomi, you see, she was in a
state of repenting. And we sung that in our first
hymn. It is so vital to have repentance. And Naomi had repentance. She was not angry with God, but
she was bitter against herself of what she'd done. She was repentant. And Ruth had come to see. that
you see if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. And as we repent, there is forgiveness
with God. And is not that such a vital
message for all of us here this morning? Forgiveness. The word
God is not the God of the good people, the God of people who
have no sin, of people who never break God's commands. No, he
said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And you see, Naomi was an outworking
of that. She was a sinner that had come
to repentance. And Ruth had seen that. Ruth
was a sinner. She had been worshipping these
idol gods all her life up to that time. But she'd come to
trust in the God of Israel, who was a God merciful and gracious,
so different than the gods of Moab. There was no mercy. But
you see, this is one of his beautiful attributes, that he is a God
that delights in mercy. And though he deals, as it were,
severely at times, yet you see, it is all to bring his people
to this expected end. So therefore we have a chapter
one of Ruth with really this returning of Naomi and Ruth.
And in chapter two we have this Ruth, you see, going into the
fields to glean. So in chapter one there is no
mention made whatsoever of Boaz. Boaz is not mentioned. Naomi
does not say to Ruth that I have a rich and wealthy family member
called Boaz. That's never mentioned. The first
mention we have of Boaz is in chapter 2, verse 1. And Naomi
had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth, of the
family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. It's the first time we read of
it. And I think if you look carefully in the account, it's really told
us as part of our story and reading it to us. If you look at what
happened in Chapter 2 with Ruth gleaning in the fields, when
she heard that the name of the man who owned the field was called
Boaz, it does not ring any bells with Ruth. She doesn't say, oh,
that's the one that Naomi told me about. No, it's just Boaz. She doesn't know who he is. He's
just a man called Boaz. She'd never been told about this
man before. And it's interesting also to
notice that, well, you can't actually notice it directly from
just looking at our translation of the word of God here, because
this word kinsman in the English translation in chapter 2 verse
1 is not actually the same word that is being translated as kinsman
later on. The point being that this first
translation of kinsman is from a word which really just means
a family member. So basically we're told that
Boaz was a family member of Naomi's. or husband's liminex, but no
more. Whereas later on you see, and
the first time we read it properly as a redeemer is in chapter 2. And verse 20, when Naomi said
unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord who hath not
left of his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said
unto her, The man is near of kin unto us. That's still just
a family member. And then goes on to say, One
of our next. kinsman and that second word
kinsman in that verse 20 means redeemer and it's translated
many times in Isaiah is it is so full of this after chapter
40 so many times it talks about the redeemer and it's the same
word you see but it's the first time it appears I think we see
here you see that Boaz was a family member he was known somewhat
to Naomi but she never spoke of him to Ruth and yet that one
who was a family member. I think verse 20 of chapter 2
is a turning point in the book of Ruth. It's a turning point
because, as it were, for the first time Naomi puts two things
together. She has this man that she knows,
Boaz, is a close, is a family member. But this is the very
man that Ruth has been gleaning in the field of. And she suddenly,
as it were, puts these two things together. Well, there's this
mighty man of wealth, and he's a near kinsman. And is this what
the Lord is going to do in terms of redeeming? I must just go
over these three points of kinsmanship. What was the qualifications of
being a kinsman redeemer? What was the qualifications?
Well, firstly, you had to be near a family member. You had to be of close kin or
close family to the person that you were to redeem. That was
the first qualification. The second qualification is you
had to have power to redeem. It was no point you saying, well,
I've come into debt, and I've run up all this amazing debt,
and then I've got this close family member who also is in
extreme poverty himself. Well, he can't help me, can he?
He can't help me come out of my financial difficulties if
he himself is in financial difficulties. He had to have the power to redeem.
And we read, you see, when we're introduced to Boaz in chapter
2, verse 1, a mighty man of wealth. You see, Boaz had ability. He was, as it were, a family
member, but he had ability. But there needed to be a third
qualification if you were to be a kinsman redeemer. And that
third qualification was you had to be willing. The kinsman had
to be willing to take on this great work of redemption. And you see, if we think of these
things spiritually, these things, three things spiritually, there
was a necessity for that one to be a family member. Well,
you think of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He came, you see,
not, we read that he came and made himself, in Hebrews he said,
He didn't make himself in the form of angels, but took upon
him the seed of Abraham. He became flesh of our flesh.
He became bone of our bone. In His incarnation, we read in
Philippians, He was made like unto men. There was a likeness,
you see, in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He took our flesh
upon Him. He was made, as it were, a close
relative. But if He just, as it were, was
made like unto men, yet without sin, you see, you might say,
well, there isn't that closeness that we read. that we need. But I want to just point out
in Romans 3 we read that there was something closer than just
being in the incarnation. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, the likeness of sinful flesh, not
just made like unto men, but made in the likeness of sinful
flesh. You see, that's Calvary, isn't
it? He made himself to be, and he
was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we should be made
the righteousness of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, that kinsman
redeemer, he was one who was close to us. But then we think
of the necessity of a redeemer. He had to be one who had the ability. And you think
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. Rich, we read, and yet for your
sakes he became poor. He had riches. He was a mighty
man of wealth. He was, though he made himself
of no reputation, he was a great redeemer. And he, of course,
purchased by his blood that acceptable sacrifice so that he could be
that redeemer. But the third point was he had
to be willing. And we think of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. He needed to be willing. Here am I, send me. He loved
his church and gave himself for it, we read. He was willing,
he loved to do this great work of redemption. He was not only
close to us in family relationship, he became flesh of our flesh
and bone of our bone. He was not only able to save
for his mighty power, but he was also willing to do this great
work of redemption. So we have in this book of Ruth
then this great theme going through the book of this one Boaz that
is going to transform these two widows in their poverty and bring
them to the end of the book where they are richly blessed. Ruth
being married to Boaz, Naomi nursing the baby that is born
that proves to be in the line of David and in the line then
of great David's greatest son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is the redeemer of his church. So this book of redemption is
very precious as it shows us this great theme of salvation
And we read in Chapter 2, and of course our pastor took this
last Sunday evening, looking at Chapter 2 and Ruth gleaning
in the fields of Bethlehem, finding those handfuls of purpose, enabled
to glean in the fields. And what a blessed time that
was for Ruth. And what encouragement she found.
She started to get to know Boaz, having no realisation of who
he was. just that he happened to be called Boaz. She didn't
know that she was related to him. She didn't know anything
of what he was able to do for her. But he did, she did receive
kindness from him for which she was extremely thankful. But there
was then this time when Naomi realizes that this man Boaz is
not just a near kin, not just a near family member, but he's
also in a position to be a kinsman. So, to be redeemed under this
kinsman relationship whereby you redeemed those which were... You see, there was two ways in
which Ruth and Naomi needed redemption. They were not in slavery, so
they didn't need redeeming in that way, but they were in negative
equity, you could say. There seems to be some need for
their land to be redeemed, whether it had been mortgaged or something
with their with their poverty, we don't know. But there was
a need for the land to be redeemed. The land had been given them
and the land had been partially obviously sold in some respect
so that they needed to be redeemed. But then there was this other
law that needed satisfying. If they were to continue the
family line, there needed to be children raised up in the
name of a limeleck. He had two sons. Both those sons
died childless. And Ruth was the widow of Marlon. So as we look at this, we realize
that they needed this redemption. And Naomi realized that there
was this law of redemption in Israel. And therefore she realizes
that their poverty, the barrenness of Ruth and Orpah's womb in Moab,
the death of the sons, all of those things came together to
make them suitable candidates for this law of kinsmanship to
be enacted. You see, if they had children,
if they were not in need, this idea of a kinsman redeemer would
mean utterly nothing. It wouldn't be applicable. And
you see, as we think of this spiritually, it is our need It
is the fact that we are lost and ruined in the fall. It is
the fact that we need redemption that becomes the very qualifications
that we can come to such a redeemer. You see, if Ruth had come with
many children and said to Boaz, be my redeemer, it would not
have been according to the law. It would have not made any sense.
She didn't need redemption. But Ruth and Naomi, in their
need, they came to one who could redeem. But there was also a
great need that he would redeem. And as we get to the end of Chapter
2, we have this gleaning going on, Ruth getting very well on
in the field and gathering all the grain. And we read that she
stays living with her mother-in-law all the way through the barley
harvest and the wheat harvest. So for some time, she was living
with her mother-in-law, daily going out and gleaning in the
fields of Boaz. But when we come to Chapter 3,
Naomi as a mother in Israel to Ruth, and I believe by faith,
looking toward that promised seed that would come from Ruth. You see, if we turn to Matthew,
we realize that Ruth is in the line of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. There was a necessity that this
woman, in the name of the dead, would raise up seed which would
be in the line of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. And you
see, Naomi had a view to this. And she, as a mother in Israel,
says to Ruth in chapter 3, verse 1, Then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee? that
it may be well with thee." Well, you might say, but she did have
food. She was able to glean in the
fields. She was having those handfuls
of purpose from Boaz. She was, as it were, enjoying
time with the acquaintances of Boaz. She was in Bethlehem. There was many positives in the
life of Ruth, you could say. But What I want to point out
is here, is that at the beginning of Chapter 3, Ruth was still
a widow. And there was no seed being raised
up to the name of the dead. Their land was still in negative
equity. they needed a redeemer. And having
an acquaintance, as it were, with Boaz in the fields, all
which was so vital and necessary in this growing relationship
that there was between Ruth and Boaz, all very necessary. But
there came a point at which Naomi wanted to see this law of kinsmanship
enacted for the benefit of Ruth and herself as widows. And so she says to Ruth, now
is not Boaz of our kindred with whose maidens thou wast? Behold,
he winneth barley tonight in the threshing floor. And so she
gives instructions, you see, to her daughter-in-law, Ruth,
to go and claim that which the law said could be claimed. You see, the law had been written
that there should be this way of redemption, that there was
a way for those that had a lost inheritance to regain it. There
was a way that those who by the effects of death had lost their
family name or would lose their family name, there was a way
in law that God had given for redemption of these things. And
now it was Ruth that was to go and claim that. for herself. And so we see here Ruth, a very
dutiful and obedient daughter-in-law, and goes and does as Naomi asked
her to do, to go in and basically lie at bow at his feet and ask
him to do for her everything that she needed. And that is
really the background then to our text. And he said, who art
thou? She had come in and uncovered
his feet and lain at his feet, and at midnight he woke up and
said, who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaiden. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And that word
skirt is the same word in the previous chapter, chapter two,
where it says under whose wings thou art come to trust. We also
have in Ezekiel, Ezekiel 16, we have
these very similar words spoken of Israel, how the Lord loved
Israel and had raised Israel up for their blessing. in Ezekiel 16 verse 8. Now when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. And
I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I
swear unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the
Lord God, and thou becamest mine." So this idea of spreading the
skirt was a way of saying basically, you are to be my wife. I have
purchased you. You are mine. And you see, Ruth
is asking Boaz to do this for her. And you might say, wasn't
that presumptuous? Surely, shouldn't she have waited
for Boaz to do this to her and just waited her time? Well you
see it was her, the law had given this opportunity, this way whereby
she could come and she could plead those things which had
been left on record that could be such a blessing to her. And
he said, who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid. In other words, cover me. I am in need. I am in poverty. I have lost my inheritance. I
am one who is in great need of redemption. And she comes to
this feet of Boaz and leaves her claim there. And you see
in a gospel sense this is a very beautiful very beautiful, that
this is what we are to do with the great Redeemer. We're to
come to his feet. We're to pour out all our needs. And you might say, but surely
he won't listen to sin. We come short of the glory of
God. We've done those things that are wrong. We're strangers.
We're from Moab. We're far off from God. But you
see, all those things, in one sense, were why the law that
she was pleading was valid. If she had not been in poverty,
then how could she ask him to redeem her? She didn't need redemption
then if she was not in need. But she did need redemption.
because she was in poverty. And you see, this is a picture
of how sinners come to the Lord Jesus. They come with repentance. They come pleading that they
are in need of mercy, that they are lost and ruined in the fall,
and that they need a kinsman redeemer, one who is flesh of
their flesh and bone of their bone, one who is able, you see,
with his great power to reverse all the awful effects that their
sin has brought upon them, but one also who is willing to do
it. You see, as we read through the
book of Ruth, we see in Boaz a love towards Ruth. There was
something that clearly he loved Ruth, and when she came, and
I'm sure Naomi picked this up, she was coming to one who had
a love to Ruth, and therefore this third qualification that
the redeemer had to be willing to do such a thing was so necessary. You see, because Naomi knew that he had a love
to Earth by the way he was acting. But you might say, well, I'm
satisfied with my knowledge and my relationship that I have with
this Baaz. I glean in the fields. I do come to the house of God.
I do receive some handfuls of purpose. I do have, as it were,
times of sweetness with the heavenly bless. But you see, Ruth, the
book of Ruth doesn't stop at the end of chapter two. It's
a progression. We are to be thankful for these
handfuls of purpose, these encouragements. But ultimately, it didn't give
Ruth redemption. It did not redeem her. Chapter 2 did not redeem her.
She was still a widow. She was still, as it were, in
negative equity. But you see, these things bring
us closer to God. And this is the vital thing that
we press on. And we're not satisfied with
coming a certain way, leaving Moab, leaving the world you could
say, coming to the house of God, feeding under the things of God.
All these things are very precious things and I don't want any of
you to think that I'm pouring cold water on any of them. But
what I am saying is the book of Ruth. is a book of progression. It starts off with a woman in
Moab, in idol worship. That woman then sees the preciousness
of a child of God who's been reproved by God, who's repenting
before God, and realizes they have a merciful God, unlike the
gods of Moab, and comes to trust under a merciful God, and then
comes to start to know that merciful God for themselves. not by proxy
through Naomi, but to know that God for themselves. And so that's
what we have, you see, in this beautiful account. And so this
is the claim that we have in verse 9. And she answered, I
am Ruth thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. This was her
plea. This was according to the law. And you might say, but how is
that in a Christian sense? How is that? Well, the Lord Jesus
has said, come. unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You see, we have the
law in that sense on our side. We have the gospel encouraging
us to go out unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. We have that encouragement. You
see, though she was in a a poverty-stricken state, although she had no husband,
although she had no rights in that sense, and yet she pleaded
this law of redemption. And you look at the response
she got from this barrage. And he said, blessed be thou
of the Lord, my daughter. His response was so positive,
so encouraging, for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter
end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not young men,
whether rich, poor, or rich. You see, what has she done at
the beginning? At the beginning, she'd left Moab. She'd left Moab,
and she'd come to the country of Israel. And you see, I don't
think perhaps those who New converts, perhaps, that come to know the
Lord have no idea of what of encouragement they are to older
saints who see that they have come and left the world and they've
come to delight in the things of God which they never delighted
in before. This is a great encouragement.
It was a great encouragement to Bethlehem, the people there.
Clearly the word had gone round. There was this Moabite girl who
had come to love the God of Israel, who had come to love their laws,
who loved this law of redemption, who loved this law that she could
glean in the fields. She loved the laws. And this
was a great sweetness, you see, to those in Israel at that time. Blessed be thou, my daughter,
for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than in the
beginning. In the beginning she'd left Moab, but now she was showing
even more, inasmuch as thou followest not young men, whether poor or
rich. You see, you could have said
that Ruth was his widow. Why didn't she just go and find
out another young man and get married and solve the problem?
But you see, she had respect unto the law of God. She had
respect unto these promises that there should be the raising up
of the seed in the name of the dead. And even though she was
from Moab, even though you think she wouldn't care less about
the customs and the rules in Israel, but she did. And she
had a concern. and she wanted to do what was
right in the sight of God. And of course, this meant that
she was happy to glean and live with her mother-in-law for the
whole of the harvest time, happy to glean, and yet enjoying those
handfuls from Boaz's workmen. But, you see, she was going to
have much more. Blessed be thou of the Lord,
my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end
than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not young men,
whether poor or rich. In other words, it seemed clear
that Boaz was somewhat older than Ruth, and so perhaps naturally
you'd think that she wouldn't be so attracted to Boaz as a
husband. But she put aside that, and she
wanted to do what was right, and what was according to the
customs and the laws of Israel at that time that God had appointed.
And now, my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. What lovely words. What satisfaction. This redeemer, she had not put
her faith in the wrong person. But there's also going to be
a trial of her faith. You see, faith though the smallest,
shall surely be tried. And now it is true And now, my
daughter, fear not. I will do unto thee all that
thou requirest. For all the city of my people doth know that thou
art a virtuous woman, one that has a concern for the laws of
Israel and for Israel's God, and not just in it, for her own
ends and for her own concerns. And now it is true that I am
thy near kinsman. Howbeit there is a kinsman. nearer than I. There was one
that was closer. And this, of course, put a question
mark, as it were, as whether Burroughs had the right to redeem. Was he truly the nearest? This was the question. Tarry
this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will
perform unto thee the part of a kinsman well, let him do the
kinsman part. But if not, If he will not do
the part of a kinsman, then will I do the part of a kinsman to
thee, as the Lord liveth. Lie down until the morning. And
when she told her mother-in-law, what her mother-in-law said was
this, sit still, my daughter, until thou see how the matter
will fall. For the man will not be in rest
until he have finished the thing this day. She was going to leave
this in the hands of Boaz. You see, sit still, my daughter,
and see how the matter will fall does not come at the beginning
of chapter three. It comes at the end. In other
words, she had done what the law had commanded her to do,
to go in and make her plea, pleading for mercy, pleading that this
Redeemer would be her Redeemer. And you see, that is our case,
isn't it, here? We sung it in that hymn. And why, my soul,
why not for thee? Hark how the gospel trumpet sounds.
Christ and free grace therein abounds. Free grace to such as
sinners be. There's a law given of redemption. And if free grace, Why not for
thee? There was a venture in. If there
is this law, and if I am poor, and if I am without a husband,
I satisfy all the criteria of being lost and ruined in the
fall. That is who Jesus came to save,
those who come with repentance, come at his feet, confessing
that they are undone, confessing that they are in need of a redeemer.
we have this Boaz, who says, fear not. The Boaz, which will
sort out all their problems. And in the next chapter, as the
Lord helps, I'll go on this evening, to look at how Boaz deals with
this near a kinsman, according to the law, satisfying the law,
making it honourable, so that he could be her bride by right. And that is our Lord Jesus Christ.
He didn't sidestep the law so that he could save his church.
He satisfied the law. Justice was satisfied so he could
be just and the justifier of the ungodly. And this is a beautiful
story of redemption. And why, my soul, why not for
thee? Well, may we venture then. And
I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman, seeking that
the Lord would spread his skirt, cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wings. May the Lord have his blessing.