The lesson this morning will
be taken from Ruth chapter 4 and verses 1 through 8. And it's
a continuation of last week's study and the subject of these
verses has to do with finding the right Redeemer or the separation
of the Redeemers. There are two closely related
set forth here in the book of Ruth. Boaz said, I will do all
that is required of me as a redeemer, but there's one that's closer
than me. And we have to deal with him
first. And so he tells Ruth to quietly sit. And Naomi told her the same thing,
to quietly sit and see how the matter will follow. Let's read
these verses together. Ruth chapter 4, beginning with
verse 1. Then went Boaz up to the gate,
and set him down there. And behold, the kinsmen of whom
Boaz spake came by. Unto whom he said, Ho, such one,
turn aside and sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. And he, that is Boaz, took ten
men of the elders of the city and said, Set ye down here. And they sat down. There was
business to take care of and this is where the business was
taken care of at the gate of the city. And he said unto the
kinsman, 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, saying, buy it before the inhabitants and
before the elders of my people. If thou will redeem it, redeem
it. But if thou will not redeem it,
Tell me that I may know, for there is none to redeem it beside
thee, and I am after thee. And so this nearer kinsman said,
I will redeem it. But there's a problem. Here's
the problem. Then said Boaz, what day thou
buyest the field of 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. I cannot redeem it for myself,
lest I mar my own inheritance. Redeem thou my right to thyself,
for I cannot redeem it. Now, this was the manner in former
time of Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, that
is, a transaction that takes place. For to confirm all things,
a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, and
this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto
Boaz, buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. Now the last words of Boaz to
Ruth were concerning a kinsman nearer than he. And before Boaz
could redeem his beloved, a righteous and honest satisfaction must
be reached between these two kinsmen. He can't go around it. There's no way around it. There are no loopholes in the
law. Lawyers like loopholes. There are no loopholes in the
law of God. You have to deal with things
exactly as they are. And that's our lesson this morning,
finding the right Redeemer. Thousands in our day are hoping in redemption by a
Redeemer they can't redeem. In Deuteronomy 25, verses 4 through
12, There is a law concerning a kinsman redeemer. You can also
find a similar law in Leviticus 25. In Leviticus, the law has to
do with a poor, somebody has come into poverty and they have
to sell their possession. And then when the husband dies,
the property can be restored. And that's what Boaz is approaching
his brother with. There's a parcel of land here
that belongs, and it has to be redeemed. In Deuteronomy 25,
it has to do with a dead husband and the duty of the brother to
redeem the widow. So the law of the
kinsman-redeemer, what's this law all about? Why is this law
even good? Why is there statute in the law
of God? What's it all about? Well, the
law of the kinsman-redeemer is about the preservation of the
lineage of the promised redeemer. It does concern the living, it
does concern the widow, but what it's all about is the preservation
of the lineage of the promised redeemer. There's a redeemer
coming, and he has a lineage. It's given to us in Matthew and
given to us in Luke. There's a lineage, and this lineage
is important. At the end of the book of Ruth,
a short genealogy is given to show this very fact. We overlook
these things sometimes when we read the scriptures. It says,
Phares begat Hesron, and Hesron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amimadab,
and Amimadab begat Nashon, and Nashon begat Salmon, and Salmon
begat Boaz. Now Boaz comes into the picture.
And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat
David. And we know David. This lineage
is the lineage of Christ. So that's why this law was instituted. The law of the kinsmen-redeemers
is about the preservation of the lineage of the promised redeemer.
And in point of fact, The Holy Scripture is one long, wonderful
treatise about the promised seed. If you go back to the book of
Genesis, you just find the seed over and over and over and over,
all the way through the Old Testament. He's talking about this promised
seed. He'll be the seed of Jesse, the
seed of David. It's the seed, the seed, the
seed, on and on it goes. An understanding that all things
were made by Him. We learn that over in Colossians
chapter 1. All things were made by Him,
and the Scripture said they were made for Him. And understanding
that all things were made by Him and for Him, and Him being
the seed, and the seed being of utmost importance in the salvation
of sinners, the seed was set forth concerning propagation
and the future of every living thing in creation. Now if you
go back and read Genesis chapter 1, see if I can tell you the
truth. There's no life propagated apart
from the seed. When he talks about the herb
and the fruit yielding trees, he said it'll produce after its
kind according to the seed that's in it. It's the seed. Does he take care of the tree?
God could create trees anew all the time if he wanted to. But
he didn't purpose to do that because these trees and herb-yielding seed and the fishes in the sea
and every living thing, the fowl in the air, every living thing
is reproduced through seed. What's he showing us? The necessity
of the seed. That's what he's showing us.
It's necessary. The seed is set forth in creation
to help us understand the necessity of the coming Redeemer. And after
the fall and reconciliation of Adam and Eve, God gave to them
the first gospel promise, called the Proto-Evangelium, when you
read these old commentators. It's in Genesis chapter 3 and
verse 15, and it's the woman's seed. That's the very first promise. God said, I put enmity between
thee, talking to Satan, and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed. And it'll bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. And from that time until the
Lord came into this world, the promised seed of the Redeemer
became paramount in the Scriptures. The seed took preeminence in
the faith and hope of all them that believed. And there's many references to
the seed, but I'm not going to bore you with a long drawn out
thing about the seed. I'm just going to show you one
scripture here in the New Testament that will tell you plainly what
I'm talking about. It's in Galatians chapter 3 and
verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, and unto seeds
as of many, but as unto thy seed, which is Christ. That's the seed. That's the seed. So what does
all this have to do with the kinsman-redeemer? Well, the kinsman-redeemer
statute was written into law for the preservation of the natural
lineage of Christ. Now, let's go one more step.
This natural lineage of Christ is in itself and of itself addresses
the spiritual lineage of Christ. And all that is born of Him. He is the firstborn among many
brethren. You see what I'm saying? In 1 Peter 1.23, he said, being
born again, not of corruptible sin, but incorruptible by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And then in
verse 25, he tells us, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. This is the seed that propagates
all that's born of Christ, the gospel of Christ. And apart from
the seed, the promised seed, there can be no hope of children,
in respect to God and His promised inheritance. This is how the
children will be produced. So then, when a woman in Israel
was married to a man and he died before the birth of her firstborn
son, this becomes important. The firstborn. I'm talking about
Christ. He's the firstborn of many brethren.
He's the firstborn of all creation. And this firstborn that being
typified here is talking about Christ. So before the birth of
her firstborn, her husband dies, then the brother of the woman's
dead husband is to take his widow to wife, pay all of her debts. And the firstborn of that union
will bear the name and the guarantee of the inheritance of the dead
and the living. In the law of the kinsman redeemer,
there's not only the preservation of the seed set forth, but also
the punishment and shame of the kinsman who refuses to carry
out what the Lord commanded as the means to produce it. And there's a glaring example
of this, if you care to give it some study this afternoon,
over in Genesis chapter 38. it's made reference to here in
the book of Ruth more than once. Onan, Judah's son. You remember what he said, all
the promise of Christ, the scepter should not depart from Judah
until Shiloh comes. And Onan, Judah's son, went unto
his dead brother's widow, whose name was Tamar. but spilled his
seed on the ground. He wouldn't put his seed within
her because what would be produced in her would not bear his name
but his brother's name. Now, without going into a long-drawn-out
thing, let me just say that that's what's behind unbelievers when
they won't receive the free grace of God. But what's going to be
produced in them is entirely owing to Christ and not themselves. You see what I'm saying? He spilled his seed on the ground
knowing that the seed produced in her would not be his. It wouldn't
bear his name. And God killed him for it. Now
Judah had one more son. And he's just a little tyke.
Tamar's a grown woman. And he said, if you wait until
his name was Sheba, until Sheba gets avenged, I'll give him to
you as your husband. He'll be your redeemer. But over
time, he started thinking about it. He's already lost two sons
in this marriage. And he's not willing to risk
the death of Sheba. And so he ignores his promise
to Tamar. Now I've already told you what
all this represents. So Tamar dressed up as a harlot. And she knew where he was going.
He was going up to shear his sheep. And she went over there
and sat down beside the road as a harlot. And Judah turned
in and slept with his harlot. And she was pregnant. And he
couldn't pay her what she demanded, so he left certain proofs, his
bracelet, his stash, different things. So when she become noticeably
pregnant, they're going to take her and burn her because she's
in direct violation of the law. They're going to burn her. They're going to make a public
example out of her. I'm pregnant, and they wanted
to know who was involved. And she said, I'll tell you who's
involved. He is. And here's his bracelet, and
here's his staff. And then Judah confessed. And he said, she has been more
righteous than me in this matter. She has obeyed the law and magnified
the law more so than me in this matter. because she had respect
to the seed. She understood what that seed
meant. Okay, so now we have, and her
son's name was Fayreds. You remember I read you the genealogy
a while ago and it began with Fayreds. Ruth was a Moabitess. Alright, so under the law, If the kinsman
refused to marry the widow, he was brought before the elders,
made to confess his denial, and after his confession, the rejected
widow would come and remove his shoe. They'd hold him, and the
widow would take off his shoe and spit in his face. an act of public humiliation,
and cause his name to be scorned and be an embarrassment for the
rest of his days. In this rejection, the nature
and attitude of children of disobedience, I explained that to you a few
minutes ago, is revealed. It's manifested in Israel as
a nation who suffer that shame even unto this day. And it's
manifested in the children of disobedience, as is stated over
in John 3, 36. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. That shame
and public humiliation of rejecting the Son of God hangs on him. Now listen to me for a minute.
Understanding that Boaz is a type of Christ our Redeemer, And his
brother is a type of the law. He represents the law. And that's
what I've been reading to you and talking to you about, the
law, the law. Here's what the law demands,
the law says. His brother being a type of the
law, I want us to consider the differences between the law and
the redemption that's about to take place with Bowie. In the law, the kinsman that
refuses to marry his brother's widow is shamed and disgraced. In the story of Ruth, the kinsman
does not refuse to marry her, but declares his inability to
marry her because it would mar his own inheritance. In Deuteronomy
25, the widow takes the shoe from the kinsman who rejected
her. In the story of Ruth, the kinsman voluntarily removes his
own shoe and hands it to the Redeemer. In the law, the shoe is removed
before the widow. In the story of Ruth, the shoe
is removed before Boaz. In Deuteronomy, the widow deals
with the kinsman directly, who's at odds with her and at odds
with the law. In the story of Ruth, the whole
transaction's conducted without the widow being involved at all.
She wasn't even there. So what does all this teach us?
It teaches us, first of all, that the kinsman here is symbolic
of redemption by the law, which can never be. He cannot redeem. He cannot. Why? Because of the
sinner. The law cannot redeem a sinner,
lest it mar its own character. You see what I'm saying? And
this is beautifully pictured here in the Book of Ruth. In Isaiah 42, 21, talking about
the coming Redeemer, he said, the Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness' sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. Boaz is going to confront the
kinsmen. And total satisfaction is going
to be publicly declared in this confrontation. The law by design
was not given to redeem or buy back anything. The purpose of
the law is to reveal guilt. And this is clearly set forth
in the ceremonial actions of the offended widow. And then secondly, And this is
what's so beautifully pictured in this book. There is no intimacy
with the law. Huh? Oh, my soul. None. The law cannot
embrace the sinner, but holds her at a distance. He'd demand it, but he cannot
embrace her. Veneer Kinsman had the right
to redeem, but showed no interest in the sinners. His rejection of the right to
redeem is based completely on his just and holy character.
I can't do it. Can't do it. God tells us, now
listen to me, the law is holy and just and good. There's nothing
wrong with the law. So what's to prevent this near
kinsman? The sinner. He can't deal with
the sinner. If the law were to embrace a
sinner, the law would have to compromise its own character. And it can't do that, because
the law has within it the character of God. Thirdly, if we choose
satisfaction by the law, we're left to ourselves, and this never
has a good end. The widow comes before the elders,
and she deals with this man herself. In Deuteronomy 25, the man is
shamed, and the widow publicly ridicules him, but at the end,
there is no redeemer. There is no redemption, there's
no restitution, and there's no restoration. In the redemption accomplished
by Boaz, the law is honored and satisfied, and Boaz alone bears
whatever shame is involved in taking the sinner to be his bride. All right. Fourthly, I want us
to look at the significance of the shoe. This has been bothering
me for weeks. Here's the shoe being used in
public humiliation. Here's the shoe being voluntarily
handed to the redeemer. So what's up with the shoes? The removing of the shoes takes
some study and some time to understand. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter
6, I want you to listen to this now because this is important.
I hunted for weeks and suddenly it came to me, the scripture
came to me. Ephesians chapter 6, to take unto us the whole
armor of God. that we might be able to withstand
an evil day, and having done all, to stand. So Paul says,
stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
having on the breastplate of righteousness, now listen, and
your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. What's this shoe
all about? It's about the gospel. Huh? You try to make some sense out
of that shoe in any other What? You can't do it. But this fits
it perfectly. If I see the shoe, symbolic of
the gospel seed and the law willing to remove the shoe and hand it
to the Redeemer, I see what Paul writes over in Romans 3.21. He
said, but now the righteousness of God without the law, is manifested
being witnessed by the law and witnessed by the prophets,
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all that believe. The law having a shadow of good
things to come, not the very image of those things, can never
with those sacrifices which it offered year by year, continually
make the comers there unto perfect. There was a nearer kinsman than
Boaz, and he in symbol and type was called to redeem, but could
not, but rather give what he held intact to the true redeemer,
Boaz. Is that not what the law did
to Christ? Isn't that what justification
is all about? The act of the kinsman redeemer
is reenacted every time the gospel is preached. And those who reject
it will bear the shame of their rejection. But those who believe
it will sit still and wait on the redeemer. They'll see how
the matter falls. Now if you're here and you think
what I'm saying is made up, let me show you what the people said
about it. They said here in the book of Ruth, After this marriage
took place, after this transaction, after the law said, here's the
shoe, here's the gospel, I've had it in type. But I'm going
to hand it to you. And he gives it to him. And then,
after this marriage takes place, here's all the people sitting
around looking at this transaction, understanding what had just taken
place. And they said, let thy house
be like the house of Pharaoh's. whom Tamar bare unto Judah of
the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. Now wait a minute, he gave the
young woman the seed? No, that ain't what it says.
Of the seed which this young woman shall give unto thee. This
is God's seed. This is God's seed. Tamar was
promised the third son of Judah, Shelah, but having lost two sons,
he wasn't willing to do this. And she become pregnant, and
she bore favorites. And Judah acknowledged them and
said, she'd been more righteous than I because I gave her not
Shelah, my son. She had respect to the seed.
All right, three things are established at the gate by these two kinsmen. Everything I've been saying this
morning, it boils down to these three things. The inability of
the law to redeem. The honor of the law left intact. Whatever his name was, we're
not given his name, but whatever the name of Boaz's brother was,
whatever his name was, it was still intact when he left the
gate. just as the law is. We've done no damage. Christ
has done no damage to the law. The honor of the law is left
intact and the willingness and sufficiency of the Redeemer to
redeem is revealed. In Galatians 3.21, Paul said,
if there had been a law given, which could have given life,
Verily, righteousness should have been by the law, but the
scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise of
the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we
might be justified by faith. May the Lord be our teacher.
Teach us something about our kinsmen.