I direct your attention this
morning for our text to the opening verse in the second chapter of
the book of Ruth. Ruth chapter 2 and verse 1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and
his name was Boaz. Ruth 2 verse 1, and Naomi had
a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family
of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. There are of course in
this book three principal characters. There's Naomi, there's Ruth,
and there's Boaz. And last, Lord's Day we were
looking at Naomi in particular and how she was brought to feel
something of the bitterness and the emptiness of sin when we
considered those words that confession that she makes before the Bethlehemites
returning now into Judah there in verse 20 of chapter 1 she
said unto them call me not Naomi Call me Mara, for the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the
Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi,
seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty
hath afflicted me?" Oh, she was brought to acknowledge something
of the foolishness of her wives with Elimelech. She had left
Bethlehem in the time of famine and gone to sojourn in the country
of Moab together with their two sons. There is a mystery of course,
there's a sense in which these things must be as we're told
concerning the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ there in John
4 how he must need to go through
Samaria. That was the journey he was making,
but there was also another reason why he must go to the well at
Syka, because there he would meet that Samaritan woman in
whom God was performing a gracious work, a work of salvation, and
so too here. We have to recognize the mystery
of God's ways. Limelech with his wife and his
sons must therefore go to Moab in order that Ruth might be brought
back. She would be brought to experience
the grace of God. She was brought to come and to
trust in the name of the Lord and even Boaz recognizes something
of that blessed truth does he not in those words that we have
at the end of the 12th verse here in chapter 2 he says to
her there the Lord recompense I work a full reward be given
thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come
to trust and yet As she comes back, she does seem to have some
sense of God's dealings, and she feels something of the bitterness
of those dealings. And as we said last time, in
many ways she is misjudging God's dealings with her. She feels
bitterness in her soul, so she doesn't want to be called Naomi
anymore. Naomi meaning pleasantness. No, she wants to be called Mara,
the bitter one. because of God's dealings. And
not only that, she also felt that God had so gone against
her. The Lord hath testified against
me, she says. The Almighty hath afflicted me. She'd gone out, as she thought,
full with her husband and her son. She comes back empty. She'd
lost them. All of them, the three of them,
had died there in the country of the Moabites. Oh, but how
she was so misjudging God. She'd not come back empty. Was
there not this Moabitish damsel who was clinging and cleaving
to her? and would not let her go even
when Naomi makes that suggestion previously in this chapter Ruth
was so different to Orpah Orpah kissed her mother-in-law we're
told at verse 14 but then she departed but Ruth Clive on to
her. Oh isn't this indicative that
she's one of those who is truly a child of Israel. Oh it was there at Peniel that
Jacob became Israel when he was clinging to the angel of the
Lord and would not let him go. This woman then Ruth is one really who is such
a blessing to her mother-in-law and she is brought to see that
surely at the end of the chapter when Ruth is the wife of Boaz,
the child is born and how the The women there in Bethlehem
speak to her of this daughter being one who is better than
seven sons. Better than seven sons. She didn't
come back empty. She misjudges God and the ways
of God. So we were looking last time
somewhat at the character of Naomi and the way in which she
speaks back in chapter 1 verses 19 rather verses 20 and 21. And previous to that, I'd sought
to say something with regards to Ruth herself, and that wonderful
confession of her faith that she makes. What words are those
that she speaks in those previous verses? Verse 16, entreat me not to leave
thee, or to return from following after thee, for whither thou
goest I will go, where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I
die, there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also if ought but death part thee and me. Oh, what faith! we see in that
wonderful confession that she makes as she speaks to her mother-in-law. Well, we've said something with
regards to these two principal characters, these two women,
but I want us this morning to say, I want this morning to say
something with regards to Boaz, who is introduced to us here
at the beginning of the second chapter. And what are we told? where we're told that he is a
kinsman. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband,
a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech, and his
name was Boaz. And Boaz, here, is set before
us throughout this book as one who is a typical character. He
is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word that we have here, kinsman,
refers really to the kinsman-redeemer. It's that character that is spoken
of in the law, in the book of Leviticus, there in Leviticus
25 and verse 25, the duties of the kinsman-redeemer. And interestingly,
it's the same word that we also find in the book of Job, there
in Job 19, When Job utters those remarkable words, I know that
my Redeemer liveth. I know that my kinsman, my kinsman
Redeemer, liveth and he shall stand in the latter day upon
the earth. The kinsman Redeemer. This is
one then who is said before us as a remarkable type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's the theme that I want
to take up for a little while this morning as we come to examine
this particular text. Boaz, a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There are two things that we
to recognize here in the name that is given to this particular
individual. In it we see something of the
strength of the Lord Jesus Christ and also something of the wealth
of the Lord Jesus Christ. we're told at the end of the
verse, his name was Boaz. So again, as so often in scripture,
we're reminded of the great significance of the names that are given to
individuals. We've observed this so many times
previously, of course. When we're first introduced to
the ministry of Elijah and he's called to minister
there principally in the northern kingdom of Israel in the days
when there was great idolatry when they were going after the
gods of the heathens there was Baal worship and suddenly this
man is introduced he suddenly appears on the scene we're told
nothing concerning his birth or his forebears We simply read
of Elijah the Tishbite and the very name Elijah declares the
Lord is God, Jehovah is God. How significant is the name that
is given to that one then who in many ways is representative
of all the prophets. There in the Mount of Transfiguration
we see him together with Moses. speaking with the Lord Jesus
Christ, and those favored disciples beholding the scene, and they're
speaking of what? They're speaking of Christ and
his death, his decease that he's going to accomplish at Jerusalem. Moses representing law, Elijah
representing the prophets, and all meeting in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But his name, such a significant
name, Elijah, the Lord Jehovah is God and of course we must
say in the New Testament when we come to the birth of the Lord
Jesus and the instruction that's given to Joseph his supposed
father they shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. Jesus or Joshua which reminds
us again that salvation is of the Lord. Well, this man, we're
told his name was Boaz. And as we've said already, even
here in the context, from what Naomi says previously, where
she wants her name changed, she wants her name to suit her experience. She doesn't want to be called
Naomi. She wants to be called Mara because she feels her life
is such a bitter lie. Although, as we've said, she's
never referred to as anything but Naomi. Her life was not as
bitter as she thought, as we've already again intimated this
morning. But coming to this name, of the man who is the kinsman
and the kinsman redeemer. His name was Boaz. Now, the only other time when
this name is recorded in scripture is in that passage that we read
earlier. It was one of those pillars that
was set in the porch of the house of the Lord that was to be named
Boaz. There in the reading, we finished
our reading there in 1 Kings chapter 7 with the reference
to those two pillars. One was to be called Jacob, the
other was to be called Boaz. Those were the names given to
the pillars by King Solomon. and you may have observed as
you were following the reading if you have a margin that we're
given to understand the meaning of those names. Jekin means he
shall establish and Boaz means in it is strength. In it is strength. And so the very name, you see,
suggests to us strength and it reminds us of what? It reminds
us of the strength of the Lord. What was Boaz? He was a mighty
man, it says. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband,
a mighty man. He was a man of some significance. And as he is a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ, so remember, he's that man who is also an ancestor
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the great-grandfather
of David. as we're told right at the end of the book. This
is how the book ends. Sammon begat Boaz, Boaz begat
Obed, Obed begat Jesse, Jesse begat David. So it's all leading
up, it's all leading up to those final words of the book and it
finishes with David. David of course of whom Christ
comes in the line of King David. This Boaz then is an ancestor
of the Lord Jesus Christ and is a remarkable type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Isn't the Lord Jesus Christ that
one who is said before us in Scripture as the Almighty? Why is the image of the invisible
God. Where is it that God ultimately
reveals himself to us? It's in the person and work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that omnipotence,
power, belongs unto God. Oh, he is the mighty one. He
is that God who can create all things out of nothing. He is
that One who can create merely by His voice, by His fears. God
says. God says, let there be light,
and there is light. You know the language that we
have there in the opening chapter of Scripture, where God is revealing
Himself in His works of creation, His great works. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one who comes to reveal something of God to us. And what
do we read in prophecy concerning Him? That Messianic 89th Psalm,
God says, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. Oh, the Lord
Jesus Christ is that one who is mighty. One of the names that's
given to the Lord Jesus Christ is that He is the strength of
Israel. And what the Lord undertakes,
He also accomplishes. In the outworking of the great
covenant of grace, there is a work that He willingly undertakes. That great work of redemption,
that great work of salvation. And what does He do? He doesn't
come just to make salvation something that is a possibility for all
men. He doesn't just come to make
men salvable. He comes actually to save. To save as many as the Father
had committed into His hands in that eternal covenant. Or what He undertakes. He perfectly
accomplishes because He is Almighty. He cannot be frustrated in His
desire. I have spoken it. He says I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. And now we see that the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplishes that great work. This One who is the
Mighty One. Why? He accomplishes it by becoming
the kinsmen of those whom He is to save. Oh, we're told there
in Hebrews 2 for as much, then as the children will partake
as of flesh and blood, He likewise took part of the sign. Oh, how this Mighty One humbles
Himself! Verily, we're told, He took not
upon Him the nature of angels, but He took upon Him the seeds
of Abraham. And there in that 16th verse
in Hebrews chapter 2, the alternative reading in the margin is a significant
one. Verily it says, He taketh not
hold of angels, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham. Even in the Incarnation, He is
that One who comes to take hold of His people. All the Lord Jesus Christ, even
as He humbles Himself, taking upon Him feeble, frail
flesh and blood, even in all of that, He demonstrates His
strength. That is the mystery, is it not? That is the paradox, we might
say. He demonstrates his strength in weakness. How does he accomplish
this great work of redemption? He does it by suffering and by
dying. The wonder of it. Crucified through
weakness, we are taught. Though he was crucified through
weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. He comes and he
gives himself as that great sacrifice for the sins of his people and
he experiences a real death, there's a separation of his human
soul from his human body. He commends his spirit into the
hands of God and he dies. and his body is taken and it's
laid in the tomb, but death cannot hold him. After three days he
rises again from the dead. He vanquishes sin and Satan. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ and
the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, even in the cross. Paul to the
Colossians speaks of how he has spoiled principalities and powers
making a show of them open. That's what he did by his death
upon the cross. How the devil, you see, in a
sense, is ever overreaching himself. When Judas betrays the Lord Jesus
Christ into the hands of the Jewish authorities and they take
him Of course, they cannot simply just lay their hands upon him,
as we see there in the Garden of Gethsemane, when they come
to arrest him, they fall backward, they cannot lay a finger upon
him, he must commit himself into their hands. Or they could never take him.
But the Lord, He goes with them, they take him then to the Roman
governor, and how he is humiliated by the soldiers who who whip
him and scourge him and force the crown of thorns about his
head and spit upon him and then poor weak-minded pilot he recognizes
that the man is innocent and yet he condemns him to death
that the demands of the Jews crucify him, crucify him they
cry and the devil is in all of these things stirring up the
multitudes and yet it's all in the great purpose of God he's
delivered according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God says Peter in his preaching and you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain him. They were culpable. They
were guilty of his death. But it's all the purpose of God
and it's Christ executing that work that the Father has given
him to do. He's the mighty man. He's the
one who is strong. and he defeats Satan even in
dying and then of course he triumphs so gloriously over death and
the grave. O death where is thy sting? O
grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. O Christ is that one then who
is strong and mighty But what does He say through
the Prophet Hosea? I will ransom them, He says,
from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. He is all together, you see.
overcome sin, satan, death and the grave. This is the comfort
of those who all their lifetimes are subject to bondage because
of the fear of death. Over there you see in the garden
of Eden the great adversary of souls, the great enemy of God. The devil thought he had triumphed
when man took of that forbidden fruit. There was the fall, there
was sin, there was death. But now Christ has come. And
he is that one who is truly a Boaz, a strong one, a mighty man. And so the apostle can exhort
those believers there in the church at Ephesus, be strong
in the law. and in the power of his might
or that that word might be brought to us to be strong in the Lord
strong in the power of his might we have no strength of ourselves
how Paul is brought to that there at the end of 2nd Corinthians
how he's made to feel that he is all weakness how he's brought
to recognize that he's really nothing he's a zero, he's a cipher
He must look to the Lord for everything. Oh Christ is that
one then whom we see here strong, mighty, powerful, able to say
and as He is strong so He also has authority. He is one that
has authority. We see that here in the chapter when Ruth goes and gleans in
his field remember we read the chapter a couple of weeks ago when she returns to Naomi and
she's returning with a great little increase from
her gleanings because he so favored her. Verse 20, Naomi says unto
Ruth, Blessed be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness
to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The
man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. And you might observe again in
the margin, it says there at the end of that verse, literally
it means in the Hebrew, one that hath the right to redeem. A nearkinsman,
one that hath the right, one that has the authority to be
a redeemer. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one who is the Almighty, and the strong one has authority.
He has authority. Therefore doth my father love
me, he says, because I lay down my life that I might take it
again. No man taketh it from me. I have power, literally I
have authority to lay it down. And I have power, I have authority
to take it again. He says, this commandment have
I received of my father. all that was the command that
he had in the covenant in that eternal covenant of redemption
between the persons of the Godhead that great purpose of salvation
he was given power, he was given authority he came not to do his
own will but the will of Him who had sent him he came to finish
his father's work and he accomplishes all that
work and he still has authority for He says all power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you all the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one who speaks even now with power he is that one who
is reigning in his kingdom, his mediatorial kingdom all power
in heaven and in earth head over all things to the church which
is his body the fullness of him that filleth all in all and this
is the message that is to be proclaimed in the gospel, is
it not? He puts forth his power now,
by and through the proclamation of his gospel. He has authority,
and he executes that authority when he brings that salvation
as an actuality into the experience of those who are dead in trespasses
and in sins. Oh, he is the strong man armed.
Oh, remember how we read of that strong man, the Lord speaks of
him in the course of his ministry, in the Gospel, there in the 11th chapter of Luke, verse 21, he says, when a strong
man armed, keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when
a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he
taketh from him all his armour, wherein he trusted, and divideth
his spoils." The strong man armed, keeping his palace, isn't that
Satan himself? He goes on to speak of the unclean
spirit, the sinner man, But then there is one stronger, stronger
than the strong man armed, who overcomes that strong man and
avoids his spoils. Who is the one who is stronger? It's the Lord Jesus Christ, that
one who is mighty to save, able to save. Able to save to the
uttermost, it says. All that come unto God by Him. or let us be those then who would
recognize his power and his authority, his ability to save. And how we see so much of the
gospel here in the way in which Boaz deals with Ruth, how he
is that one who makes every provision for her, how he so kindly and
so graciously ministers to her, feeds her even, Well we've said
something about these things over the recent weeks. Remember what we're told there
in verse 14 when he says to her at mealtime come thou hither
eat of the bread dipped by morsel in the vinegar and she sat beside
the reapers and he reached her parched corn and she did eat
and was sufficed and left And when she was risen up to glean,
Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among
the sheaves, reproach her not, and let fall some of the handfuls
of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them,
and rebuke her not. Oh, how he is so kind, and so
compassionate towards her, permitting her to even go amongst the sheaves,
and the Reapers told to deliberately drop handfuls on purpose that
she might glean these also. He makes every provision for
her. So kind, so gracious to her. And she recognizes that. All
she recognizes is kindness. As she speaks to him, At verse
13, let me find favor in thy sight, my Lord, for that thou
hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto
thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaids. For she beseeches him then that
he will show kindness to her. The Lord Jesus Christ, is he
not that one who comes so graciously in the Gospel? And what does
the Lord say when we come to glean in his fields, as it were?
He says, eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O Beloved. All the fullness of that grace
of God that He set before us here in the world. And who is
the one who speaks these things? He's the strength of Israel.
All the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent. He is not
a man that he should repent. Or do we believe these things
as we come under the sound of His Word? We want to hear His
voice. We want Him to be that One who
comes and speaks to us with such authority where the Word of the
King is. There is power. The Lord Jesus
is that One who is Boaz. In Him is strength. In Him is
that ability to save to the Ottomans. and He will accomplish all His
good will and pleasure. But then, besides the strength
of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Boaz, do we not also see there's
something of the wealth, something of the wealth of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's,
a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his
name was Boaz. Now, when we think of Boaz, of
course, he was evidently a man of some substance, temporarily. He has his fields, and he has his reapers, and he
has the young men who are watching over and keeping the reapers
safe and making every provision for them. Now, when we think
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we know that when he was here upon
the earth, he was not a man of wealth and of substance. We see it even in his birth. There's no room in the inn. We wonder really, was he ever
born in a stable? Maybe he was in the open field.
We assume that it was a stable, but the manger may well have
been there out in the fields. What poverty! And when he's exercising
his ministry, he is ever dependent upon others? He looks at the world of nature,
he sees that provision that God has made for his creatures, The
foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, the son of
man hath nowhere to lay his head. He is not a man of wealth with
regard to the things of this world and he willingly lives
that life of simple dependence. He lives the life of faith. He
is ever looking to his God. He is a real man. living the
life of faith, looking to God to make every provision for him,
dependent, and dependent upon the kindness of those women that
were followers, or we referred to them previously. There in Luke 8, we're told he
came to pass afterward, he went throughout every city and village
preaching, and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God,
and the twelve were with him. and certain women which had been
healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, out of
whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Cusa, Herod Stuart,
and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of
their substance. He had no substance himself,
but they so kindly ministered to him. And yet, this one, so
poor with regards to this world's goods, he had inexhaustible spiritual
wealth. That's what he had. Great spiritual
wealth. That was the good pleasure of
the Father. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell. All fullness of what? All fullness
of grace, all fullness of salvation. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Oh, let us not forget that. All
the fullness of the Godhead was there in that human nature. That's the wonder of the incarnation. That's the mystery of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Two natures in that one person. He was a real man. Oh, we've
already intimated something of that, the reality of his human
nature. He didn't take upon him the the
nature of the angels. He's made a little lower than
the angels. He takes upon Him the seed of Abraham. He's a man. He has a human body, a human
soul, but that humanity of the Lord Jesus is without any sin. There's no taint of any sin in
Him. He's preserved free from all
original sin in the the miracle of his birth, because he is conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, but he receives
his human nature from his mother. That was the promise of God,
was it not, back in Genesis 3, where we have the fall of man.
He is the seed of the woman. He derives his human nature from
Mary, but she was a sinful woman. who could rejoice in God her
Saviour but there is the mystery and the miracle because the Holy
Ghost so overshadows the womb of that woman that what is conceived
is that holy thing all that holy thing that shall be born of the
earth shall be called the Son of God the immortality of his human
nature, he could never die because there was no cause of death in
him but he who knew no sin says Paul was made sin for us all
the sin of his people imputed to him all the sin of his people
laid upon him and he dies and he dies the just for the unjust
to bring sinners to God what a mystery there is when we think
of the Lord Jesus Christ he is never anything less than true almighty
God even when he's a real man we sang it didn't we just now
in the words of the hymn how his shoulders held up heaven
and earth when Mary held up him that little baby it's just so
incomprehensible that little babe that was born to Mary and
she takes that babe and she puts that babe to her breast and he's
so dependent upon his mother for his human life and yet he
is never anything less than God but that's the truth That's the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. No less almighty at his birth
than on his throne supreme. His shoulders held up heaven
and earth when Mary held up him. Oh, this is that remarkable wealth
that is there centered in the person of Jesus of Nazareth,
in whom are hid all the treasures, all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. When Paul is describing something
of his own ministry, something of that message that he is proclaiming,
That Gospel that he is preaching to the Gentiles, what does he
say? He speaks in terms of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ. His person, His work, His blood,
His righteousness. This is the message of the Gospel. This is the wealth that is in
the Lord Jesus Christ, where sin aboundeth. Paul says, Grace
did much more abound. And it's there, you see, it's
in Him, and it's there, centered in Him, and it's all for sinners.
The same Lord over all, we're told, is rich unto all them that
call upon Him. He is rich in grace to all them
that call upon Him, if they will but call upon Him." Oh, this is the one that is set
before us here in the type that we witness in this
Manbois. In Him is strength. In Him is
wealth. And what does What does Ruth
say there in that 13th verse? She says, let me find favour
in thy sight. Let me find favour in thy sight.
What a prayer! If we can but sincerely utter
those words before the Lord Jesus Christ and make that petition
our petition that we might know this One who is so kind so gracious, so compassionate
in all his dealings with Ruth, and she feels herself to be so
unfit that he should never take any account of her. She says
here again in that 13th verse, though I be not like unto one
of thine handmaidens." She was not born a Jew. She was not born
there in Bethlehem of Judah, as Naomi was. She was a Moabitish
damsel. She was one of those of a nation
excluded from the house of the Lord for ten generations, even
forever. And yet, Boaz takes account of
her And the Lord Jesus Christ is pleased to take account of
all those sinners that would come unto God by him. O God,
grant that we might know this blessed Boaz. We're going to
sing that hymn of Gadsby's again. Jesus, my Boaz is, my strength
and portion too. His word of grace, the precious
field, where I, a gleaning, go." Oh, the Lord grants that we might
glean even today then some good thing here in His Word and some
precious thing from Him who is truly the believer's Boaz. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's,
a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech, and his
name was Boaz. Amen.