The One Who Has a Right to Redeem

Q: What does the Bible say about redemption?

The Bible teaches that redemption comes through Jesus Christ, our kinsman redeemer, who has the right to restore what we have lost. Scripture presents redemption as a significant theme, primarily illustrated through the role of kinsman redeemers in ancient Israel. In the book of Ruth, Boaz exemplifies this role, having the right, ability, and willingness to redeem Ruth and Naomi from their loss due to Elimelech's actions. This mirrors the work of Christ, who, by becoming flesh and blood, became related to humanity. As stated in Ruth 3, Boaz acknowledges his role as a kinsman redeemer, assuring Ruth that he will act to restore her and her mother-in-law. This is paralleled in the New Testament, where Christ is portrayed as the ultimate kinsman redeemer, restoring us to a right relationship with God through His sacrificial death.

Q: How do we know Christ is our kinsman redeemer?

Christ is our kinsman redeemer because He is fully God and fully man, able to redeem us from sin and restore us to God. The identity of Christ as our kinsman redeemer is rooted in His incarnation; Jesus Christ took on human flesh, making Him both fully God and fully man. This is essential for redemption since, as the Law requirements for a kinsman redeemer dictate, the redeemer must be a close relative able to pay the price for redemption. Hebrews 2:14-17 emphasizes that Christ had to become like us in every respect to be our merciful high priest, thus rendering Him capable of redeeming humanity. Furthermore, He willingly laid down His life to satisfy the demands of God's justice, effectively fulfilling the role assigned to a kinsman redeemer, as Boaz did for Ruth. His sovereignty and grace ensure that, through faith, we have access to this redemption.

Q: Why is the concept of the kinsman redeemer important for Christians?

The concept of a kinsman redeemer is crucial for Christians as it illustrates Christ's relationship and commitment to redeem and restore us. The kinsman redeemer serves as a vital theological concept reflecting God's plan for redemption. In ancient Israel, the role entailed responsibility, willingness, and relational closeness, showcasing a deep commitment to familial duty. In the story of Ruth, Boaz embodies these qualities, reminding us of how Christ pursues us with steadfast love. This typology enhances our understanding of salvation, illustrating that we, too, were beggars in need of restoration and that through Christ’s sacrifice, we can be redeemed. It highlights the nature of God’s love and grace, showing that He isn’t merely obligated to us but instead willingly sought us out to restore and redeem us fully. This brings profound assurance to believers, knowing that their salvation is secured not only legally but relationally in Christ.

I want you to open your Bibles
this morning to the book of Ruth, that little book in the Old Testament
which bears the name of Ruth. Now while you're finding this
little book of Ruth, I'll announce my subject tonight. Last Sunday
night I began a message from the 17th chapter of John. I got
through the first nine verses. And we stopped there, and many
people said, we wish you'd finish the message next Sunday. So this is next Sunday. And the
Lord willing, I'll finish that message, or rather I'll speak
on the rest of the chapter tonight in the evening service. The title
of my message this morning is, One Who Has the Right to Redeem. one who has the right to redeem.
Let me tell you a true story. I read this in the writings of
Charles Spurgeon many years ago. This is a true story. There was
a prominent church in a Welch village back in the 19th century
without a pastor. And they were bringing in different
preachers to preach for them, hoping that God would indicate
to them whom should be their pastor. And a young man came
to preach for them one Sunday morning from the seminary. He was an educated young man
and a capable young man. And he preached. And after the
service was over, the people came by to shake hands with him,
and one after another they were making comments on his message,
which was a well-delivered, well-prepared, well-delivered message, well-illustrated. And many people were impressed.
But there was one man in the congregation in particular that
this young man wanted to impress. He knew this old gentleman. He
was well known, the old man was. He'd been an elder there for
many years. And so the young man looked over and saw the old
elder in line. The people were coming by down
front shaking hands with him. He spotted this old elder. And
he couldn't wait for the old man to get face to face with
him because he felt like he'd done a pretty good job. So finally
the old man stood in front of him and their hands met in class,
but the old man never said a word. And he started to walk away,
and the young man held on to his hand. He sort of pulled him
back, and he said, what did you think of my sermon? And the old
gentleman looked at him and said, it was a very poor sermon. and started to walk away again,
the young man brought him back and he said, sir, he said, I
respect you a great deal. And he said, I worked hard on
that message. I prepared it well. I studied.
I just thought I had a good message. And you say it was a poor sermon.
Was it not prepared? Was it not presented right? Was
it not illustrated? What was wrong with it? Oh, he
said, my dear friend, he said, you worked on that one. That
was well prepared. And he said, you presented your
thoughts well. He said, you've got a good delivery. You're a good speaker, excellent
speaker, and your illustrations are just fantastic. But he said
it was still a poor sermon, a very poor sermon. And the old man said, I don't
understand that. He said, if it was well prepared
and well presented and well illustrated, how could it be a poor sermon?
And the old man said, son, The Lord Jesus Christ was not
exalted in that sermon. And any sermon in which Christ
Jesus is not the theme, and he's not exalted, that is a poor sermon. But the young man said, I took
my text from the Old Testament, the writings of Solomon and the
Proverbs. Christ was not in that text.
Oh, the old man said, I beg your pardon. I beg your pardons, sir."
He said, Christ is in every text in the Word of God, be it Old
Testament or New Testament. In every text, in God's Word,
there is a road that leads to Christ and Calvary, Christ and
him crucified. Your job as a preacher is to
find that road and get on it and take people to Christ. For
in Acts 10.43 the scripture says, To him give all the prophets
witness. God in sundry times and in diverse
manners spake to our fathers by the prophets. Who were the
prophets? Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Well, what was their subject?
Their subject was Christ. They said, We have Moses. Christ
said, Moses wrote of me. They said, we have Abraham. He
said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.
To him give all the prophets witness. He turned to the Pharisees,
our master did, and said, you search the scriptures, Old Testament,
for in them you think you have life, but they are they which
testify of me. And he opened the scriptures
and began at Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. And he taught
them the things concerning himself. About all the average person
knows about the book of Ruth, only four chapters. In this Bible
I have here, two, four, five pages. And about all the average person
knows about the book of Ruth is found in chapter 1, verse
16. Chapter 1, verse 16. extent of
the knowledge of the average person in the book of Ruth. Where Ruth said to Naomi, you
remember? And it's a beautiful speech.
Oh, I love it. I love it. Ruth 1.16, And Ruth
said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or return from following
after thee. For whither thou goest I will
go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God, and where you die will I die, and
there I'll be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if aught but death part thee and me." Isn't that beautiful? But you know, if that's all we
know about the book of Ruth, we come away from our study of
the book of Ruth with high thoughts of Ruth and no thoughts of Christ. The one who wrote the book of
Ruth was writing about Christ, exalting, magnifying Christ.
And Ruth is to be honored. Oh, how I respect her, and how
I thank God for her, and how I praise God for this testimony,
and would God that every believer could say so emphatically. Nothing
will move me. from the people of God, from
the gospel of God, from the kingdom of God, I'll live there, walk
there, and die there. But this book's about Christ.
Now let me tell you about the book. If we sat here and read
the whole thing, we wouldn't have the time. But if you look at chapter Verse
1, it says, It came to pass in the days when the judges ruled
that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem,
Judah, went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife
and two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech,
and the name of his wife was Naomi. Elimelech means, My God
is King, Naomi means Pleasant. And the name of their two sons,
Malan and Chilian, Epithites, of Bethlehem, Judah, and they
came to the country of Moab and lived there. Now let me tell
you the story. Here is a man by the name of Elimelech. He
was living in Bethlehem. That city rings a bell, doesn't
it? Bethlehem, Judah, among Israel. And he was a wealthy man, a prominent
wealthy man who owned quite a bit of land, had people working for
him, had a wife and two sons. And hard times came. They had
a recession. They had a little famine. You
know what he did? A limolex sold out. Just sold
everything he had. Packed up. Got the money for
it. All his belongings. Packed it
up, his wife and two sons. And of all things, he went to
a pagan, heathen, idolatrous country called Moab. What a mistaken
judgment. What foolishness! To leave Ishmael,
to leave the people of God, to leave the country that God was
blessing, and go to a heathen, idolatrous, pagan nation called
Moab. That's what he did. He took his
wife and sons with him, people in Bethlehem, told them goodbyes. They headed with their caravan
out of sight. Well, they didn't live long in
Moab until Elimelech died. left his wife Naomi a widow.
And she had those two sons, and those two sons married, and they
married these heathen girls. And this is something you might
think of when you contemplate and consider leaving where the
gospel is preached, and leaving where the truth of God is proclaimed,
and people worship the living God, going to a a place, a heathen,
idolatrous place, the effect it'll have on your children.
People they'll marry, the lives they'll live, and that's what
these boys did. They didn't go back home and get two girls,
you know, that knew God. They married these pagan, heathen
women. It wasn't long until both those
boys died. See, the judgment of God was
upon this home. because of what Elimelech had
done. And both boys died. That left Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. And they were poor. She had no
husband. The girls had no husband. They
had no means of support. They had no help. They were in
a foreign country. All their savings were gone. Everything was gone. And Naomi
heard that back in Bethlehem, God was blessing. that the people
are prospering. And so that's when she got these
two girls together, Orpha and Ruth, these two daughters-in-law,
and she said, I'm going home. I'm going back to Bethlehem.
God's blessing that and I'm going back home. You girls stay here
and go back. He says here, go back to your
gods. Go back and marry me into this
country. I'm going home. And so Orpha
kissed her mother-in-law and went back. But that's when Ruth
said, don't make me leave you. I want to follow after you. Where you go, I go. And where
you lodge, I'll lodge. And your people will be my people.
Now, verse 15 of Ruth 1, look, and she said, behold, your sister-in-law
has gone back to her people and to her gods. You return after
your sister-in-law. And she would not. So they came
to Bethlehem. They returned to Bethlehem. All
right, let's look now at verse 19. And let me show you some
things here now that the average person doesn't know about the
book of Ruth. It's the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth
1, verse 19. So the two went until they came
to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they
would come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about
them, and they said, is this Naomi? We don't recognize you. Are you
the one that left here? Is this Naomi? Now get the picture
here. And what I see, first of all,
I see ruin by the fall. I see our own condition as a
result. of our sailing out in Adam and
leaving God. When Naomi left Bethlehem with
her husband and two sons, she was evidently a fairly young
woman and beautiful and well-dressed and wealthy. They had everything. They had just sold a huge piece
of property, farmland, everything. Here they had everything. They
were a happy family and they left. Now years pass, and here
comes a woman and a girl, an old woman and a young woman,
walking. How far they had walked, I don't know. I didn't find out
how far it was from Moab to Bethlehem. But that's how far they had journeyed.
Stringy hair, the black hair was now gray, dirty fingernails,
stooped shoulders, lines and wrinkles in her face. stumbling
along in the dust and dirt. They're poor, probably ragged
clothes. And that's when these women of
the town gathered around her and they said, Is this Naomi? Is this the one that left here?
Are you Naomi? Now listen to verse 20. And she
said, Call me not Naomi. That word means pleasant. Call
me Mara. That word's bitter. See, the pleasant is now bitter. The rich is now poor. The full
is now empty. The sweet is now sorrowful. She said, the Almighty hath dealt
very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord
hath brought me home again empty. Why then? would you call me pleasant,
seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty
hath afflicted me." You see, this is what happened to us.
Man, the scripture said God created man in his image, in his likeness. Adam must have been a genius. He must have been a most handsome,
beautiful, powerful, just all the adjectives
you want to use, what this man was. And then he
sinned, he sold out, he sinned against God, he believed the
lie and turned his back on God and was thrown out of the garden.
And now if you want to see what's happened, God created man upright
and holy and man sought many inventions. Look at us. You know, when they saw Naomi,
there was something about her, not much, but something in those
eyes or somewhere that they recognized this was Naomi. It was a shell
of Naomi. It was what was left of Naomi.
It was a bitter Naomi. And that's the way it is. You
go to the hospitals and the rest homes and the graveyards and
the places and seeing You know, you look at little babies and
they're so cute and cuddly and pink-skinned and healthy and
all that, but I tell you, when this life lived on to its end,
back to the dust, you look at that and say, is this what God
made? Is this the image of God? Is this... And you watch our
world with its hatred and its wars and its evil I saw last
week a movie on this man Simon something, the man that the Jew
that negotiated the finding of Adolf Eichmann back after World
War II and brought him to justice. I forget the name of the man,
but it's Simon something anyway. I saw the treatment that these
Jews received in these prison camps shown on the screen, and
it's horrible. Mankind is rotten. Just rotten. God looked down from heaven and
said, every imagination of man's heart is evil. And this is what
I see as these women gather about Naomi. They look at her and say,
is this Naomi? And I look at the flesh of mankind
and say, is this what God made? Well, she said, don't call me
pleasant. Call me bitter. And that's what it is. It's a
bitter thing. It's the result of a fall, it's the result of
leaving God, it's the result of going into paganism. That's
what's happening. All right, let's see the second
thing that I see in this thing, Ruth. Chapter 1, look at verse
22, And Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law
with her, which returned out of the country of Moab, and they
came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. I guess like wheat or oats or
any other grain. It's a grain that's used for
making bread. Especially the poor people use
it. They mix it with other things
and make bread. It's not the best kind of crop,
but it serves the purpose. And they came, it was a barley
harvest. And all these fields were ripe to harvest and the
grain was waving, you know. And Naomi and Ruth, they had
no land. They had no support. They were
poor, they had no help, they had nothing. And so chapter 2
verse 1 said Naomi had a kinsman. Boy, that's a word now you want
to watch all the way through this book. A mighty man of wealth,
he was of the family of Elimelech, his name was Boaz. And so Ruth the Moabite said
to Naomi, verse 2, let me now go to the field and glean ears
of corn, after him and whose sight I shall find grace. And
Naomi said to her, go my daughter. Now here's what she's doing.
It was customary in those days, during the harvest, to let the
beggars and the poor people, the poorest of poor, follow the
reapers. The reapers went with their scythes,
cutting down the barley, oats, wheat, or whatever was in season.
They cut it down and they brought it together and tied it and stacked
it and took it to the threshing mill. And there were grains or
tops of the plants that fell. And what they'd do is they'd
let the poor people come along with their sacks and pick up.
There'd be lots of people in the field following these reapers.
These reapers go across the field cutting the barley or whatever
it was. And these poor people back there in their rags and
poverty and need and want, picking up little pieces, putting it
in a sack to take home. And the law was that you leave
them Leave them alone, let them do that. Well, this is what Ruth
thinks of this. Just a beggar. She says, let
me go out to the field. If I can find somebody to let
me in their field, some rich landowner, let me follow his
reapers and get us something to eat. So it says in verse 3,
and she went and she came and gleaned in the field after the
reapers and her half, it happened, to lie on the part of the field
belonging to Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. This
was no accident. She went out to the field, and
she went straight to a field that belonged to a kinsman of
her father-in-law, Elimelech, a wealthy man by the name of
Boaz. Now let me tell you a little
story here. It says that if a man sold his
property, this was the law in Jerusalem, in Israel, a man sold
his property, it couldn't be sold forever. But if he had a
kinsman, somebody related to him, who was very wealthy, who
was able, who was willing to buy it back, that he could buy
it back for this family and restore them their property, called a
kinsman redeemer. Well now here, this girl, by
God's providence, came out to the field of Boaz, this kindred
of her father-in-law, eliminate. Boaz, wealthy, powerful, influential,
she didn't know him, but she went out to the field, she started
picking up grains of barley, and here came Boaz, riding, I
believe, on his white horse, dressed in his finest clothes
with his hat on, you know, And verse 4, look at it, chapter
2, verse 4, And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said
to the reapers, He was a godly man, a good man, he said, The
Lord be with you. And they answered him, said,
The Lord bless you. Then said Boaz to his servants
that were set over the reapers, Boaz spotted Ruth, all those
folks out there, and he spotted Ruth. And he said, Who's that? Who is that? And the servant
that was sent over the reapers, Anton said, it's the Moabitish
damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. And
she said, I pray thee, let me glean and gather after the reapers
among the sheaves. So she came and had continued
from the morning until now as she tarried a little in the house.
And Boaz went to Ruth, and he said, Ruth, Here is thou not,
my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from thence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let
thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after
them. Have I not charged the young
men? They shall not touch thee. And when you are thirsty, go
to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have
drawn.' And she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
and said, Why have I found grace in thine eyes? that thou shouldest
take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger." She didn't
know Boaz. She didn't know this man. Had
no feeling for him, no interest in him. She'd never heard of
him. But he loved her. He set his
eye on her, affection on her. Let me tell you, that's sovereign
love. That's the sovereign grace of
God. He loved us before we loved him. He set his affection on
us before we knew him. Our Lord took care of us. And
you know what he said over here in verse 15 of chapter 2? He said, And when she had risen
up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean
among the sheaths, and reproach her not. And let fall also the
handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may
glean them, and rebuke her not. This man says to his reapers,
Throw some down on purpose. Don't just make her pick up the
leavings, but you just take some good violin, throw it down for
handfuls on purpose. The Lord God, here's Boaz, loves
Ruth such as affection on her. She doesn't know him. She has
no regard or interest, regard for or interest in him, but he
loves her and he's taking care of her. And I see that God has
taken care of us, he's loved us, beggars, he's provided for
us, he's cared for us all through our lives, even when we were
in paganism, idolatry, false religion. He's protected us,
hedged us about, fed us and clothed us and cared for us. Here's Boaz
caring for Ruth, though he has no relationship with her at all,
nor she with him, but he loved her. All right, let's look at
chapter 2, verse 17. Let's see what happens here.
And so in verse 17, so she gleaned in the field until evening, and
beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephod of
barley. She took it up, she got a whole
lot of barley, and went into the city, and her mother-in-law
saw what she had gleaned, and she brought it forth and gave
it to her that she had reserved after she had was sufficed, and
her mother-in-law said, Where did you glean today? Wouldn't
you have been surprised? Here, instead of bringing in
a little sack of barley, she brought in a whole bag of barley. And she said, Where did you glean?
Blessed is he that did take knowledge of thee, that person that was
kind to thee. And she showed her mother-in-law
with whom she had wrought. And she said, The man's name
with whom I wrought today is Bohan. Oh, I tell you, that's a magic
name in that household. Boaz. Boaz. Naomi had never mentioned Boaz
to her. But Ruth said, I gleaned in the
field which belonged to Boaz. And oh, I tell you, Naomi's heart
leaped with joy. Listen, and Naomi said to her
daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord. who hath not left
off his kindness to the living and to the dead, Naomi said to
her, That man is near kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen."
What do you have in the margin of your Bible there? One that
hath the right to redeem. Isn't that what it says? is one who has the right to redeem. He's got the right, the ability,
the power to restore us all that we lost, all that we sold, all
that we've lost in a limolex. He's, that man's got the power
and God has given him the right to buy back all that we left. Now, that's a picture of Christ.
That's Christ Jesus. He's our kinsman redeemer. You
see, this person, in order to redeem the land that's been sold,
had to be related to them, had to be kin to them. Well, Christ
became flesh, related to us, bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh. He had to be able, he had to have something to pay.
It's got to be paid. In other words, whatever Limelech
sold it for, it's got to be returned to the man who bought it. Thirdly,
he's got to be willing to do it. Maybe he's not willing. Maybe
he'd say, well, y'all got yourself in that mess, live there. Got
to be willing. Got to be related. Got to be
able. Got to be willing. All right. What's going to happen? Well, chapter 3, what's going
to happen? Now this man is their kinsman,
but he doesn't, and he has the right to redeem this property
and buy it back, but he doesn't owe them anything. They sold
out, isn't that right? He doesn't owe them anything.
So here in chapter 3, Naomi, what a wise woman. I wish preachers
had as much wisdom as this dear old lady. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said to her, Shall I not seek rest for thee? I want real rest
for you, the best for you. I want the best for you, that
it may be well with thee. I want you to be happy. I want
you to be, have restored to you the things you need, happiness
in life. And now, verse 2, is not Boaz
our kindred? our kinsman, one who has the
right to redeem, with whose maidens I was. Behold, he winneth barley
to-night in the threshing-floor." Now then, why don't they just
walk down there and say to him, you've got the cash, buy it back
for us? They've always got more wisdom
than that. He doesn't owe them anything. She said, now you wash
yourself and anoint yourself and put on your raiment, and
you go down to the floor. But don't you make yourself known
to the man. Don't you bother him. Don't you
bother him. Don't you aggravate him. Don't
you at all bother him. And when he's done eating and
drinking, don't you force yourself upon him. Because he's a kinsman
redeemer. He has a right to redeem. He's
wealthy. He can put us back where we were. But don't aggravate
him. Don't push yourself on him. It
shall be when he lies down that you shall mark the place where
he lies down. You stay back in the shadows
and watch where he lies down and you go in and uncover his
feet and lay thee down and he'll tell you what to do. Think of
the humility that took. I just hear some people answering
there over there, I'm not lying down at any man's feet. Well, you see, but these are
poor folks. These are beggars. And that's
where a beggar will find himself, at the footstool, at the feet
of the king. And that's what you're told to
do. Don't go telling him what you're going to do, and what
he ought to do, and what he promised to do, and what he's got the
right to do. You just quietly, when he lies down, you go and
cover his feet, and you just curl up there at his feet, like
a dog. See, that's where Mary, the one
to whom the Lord showed such mercy, the Bible always said
Mary was at his feet, at his feet. Always, it said Mary who
sat at his feet, looked up in his face. learned of the Lord.
The harlot in the Pharisee's home, she came while everybody
else was sitting, arguing, debating with the Lord, she came and knelt
and kissed his feet, washed them with her tears and dried them
with the hair of her head. John on the Isle of Patmos saw
the Lord, he said, I fell at his feet as a dead man. The Canaanite woman, our Lord
said, it's not right to give the children's bread to dogs.
She said, I'm a dog, but I'm your dog. And dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. So she said to him, she said
to her, don't say it, you go lie down at his feet and let
him tell you what to do. There's too much talk today from
preachers and everywhere else telling people what to do. You
want to go to heaven? You want God to forgive you?
You want God to buy back the inheritance? You want God to
restore your soul? Well, just go tell God. Just
rush into the throne of grace and tell Him what you're going
to do and what He ought to do. I don't. I don't recommend that. I don't at all. I recommend what
she says do right here. Just get at His feet as a beggar.
Lie down at His feet. Be still and know that I'm God.
lie down at his feet. All right, let's see what happened.
Verse 7, Ruth 3, And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart
was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn.
And she came softly and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
And it came to pass that at midnight the man was afraid, and turned
himself, behold, a woman laid his feet. He said, Who are you? She said, I'm Ruth, your servant. Spread therefore thy skirt over
Thy handmaid for you are my kinsman redeemer. You're the one that
has a right to redeem. You're my only hope. You're my hope. Oh, he said, blessed be thou
of the Lord, my daughter. She's learned something. For
thou hast showed more kindness to the latter in the latter than
at the beginning. And as much as our fathers not,
young men, whether poor or rich, and now, my daughter, fear not,
I will do to thee all that thou requirest for all the city of
thy people, my people, that know thou the virtuous woman." He's
saying to her, you've made the restoration of Naomi and yourself
to be the primary thought in your mind. gone seeking other
avenues of happiness and other avenues of benefit, but you've
come to this place of seeking restoration. See what he's saying? And he said, now what's the next
thing? It is true I am your kinsman. There's a kinsman nearer than
I. There's someone else that's got first claim on you. That's
what he's saying. And you can read that later.
I don't have the time to deal with it. But I do know this.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our kinsman and our Redeemer, but
he's got to deal with someone who has a claim on us, and that's
the law and justice. He's got to deal with that. And
so he says here, verse 13, "...tire of the night, it shall be in
the morning, if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman."
Well, let him do it. But if he'll not do the part
of a kinsman, then I'll do the part of a kinsman as the Lord
liveth, lie down unto the morning." And so she did, and she went
home. And I don't know how much time passed, but I do know that
Boaz had to deal with this other man. And what he presented to
this other man that was a nearer kinsman, he presented to him
that if he redeemed all that Naomi lost, that he'd have to
marry Ruth. And this man said, I can't do
that. I can't do that. It'll mar my inheritance. So
you do it. And so our Lord Jesus Christ
met the law and satisfied it and met justice and satisfied
it and came and took his bride. But now I want you to see, don't
you know Ruth was anxious? Everything rested on what Boaz would do.
He's gone now. She's gone back home. And Boaz
is gone, she knows not where, she knows not what he's doing,
you know she's anxious, don't you know she's walking the floor?
And verse 18 of chapter 3, Naomi gives us some more advice. Then
said she, sit still, my daughter, sit still, until you know how
the matter will fall. For this man, Boaz, is not going
to rest until he finishes this thing this day. He loves you. He wants you. And he's going
to finish this. And that's what I say about our
kinsman redeemed with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I'm not
in any big hurry to make something happen. I'm willing to wait on
God to make it happen. In your relationship with God,
I say sit still. He'll finish it. He that hath
begun a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus
Christ. He cried on Calvary's cross,
it's finished. And he'll not rest. He'll not
enter into his rest until everything's done that needs to be done for
your redemption. He's our kingdom and redeemer.
So she said, sit still. Sit still. He'll not rest until
he's finished it. And so down here in chapter 4,
verse 13, So Boaz took root, and she was his wife. And he
went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bears
a son. She's now restored, she's now
married to Boaz, as we shall be to our Lord, and she bears
a son. And the women said to Naomi,
Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without
a kinsman redeemer, that his name may be famous in Israel."
And do you know this son down in verse 17, the women, her neighbors,
gave it a name, saying there is a son born to Naomi, born
to Ruth. Naomi is the grandmother. And
they called his name Obed. He's the father of Jesse. What's
that next line? The father of David. Oh, I tell you, the grace of
God is so wonderful. Here's a, all this in God's providence. You notice, the poem says, God
moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants
his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful
saints, fresh courage, take the cloud you so much dread, are
big with mercy and will break with blessings on your head. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower." Could you imagine this little
heathen girl down in Moab? She wasn't even Israelite. She
was a pagan Gentile. And yet in the lineage and house
of Christ Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, there are only three women
mentioned, in the whole of the lineage from Adam to Christ. She's one of them. She became the great grandmother
of David, of David, by God's grace. And this story, this is,
if you just get a hold of it, it lives, It honors and glorifies
Christ, and this is, Ruth is us. We're Ruth. Our kinsmen redeem
us Christ, and we're sold out, and we're beggars, poverty stricken,
and He's the one who can redeem us. But He doesn't owe us anything,
does He? He's not obligated. Boaz wasn't
obligated to them. So you go lie at his feet. Maybe
he'll take notice of you. Maybe his love for you is real.
But you can't make him redeem you. He'll do it if he will. I'll have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. And I'll tell you, most everybody finds mercy or
find it at his feet. I know that. All right, let's
say number 206.

The One Who Has a Right to Redeem

What does the Bible say about redemption?

How do we know Christ is our kinsman redeemer?

Why is the concept of the kinsman redeemer important for Christians?

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The One Who Has a Right to Redeem

What does the Bible say about redemption?

How do we know Christ is our kinsman redeemer?

Why is the concept of the kinsman redeemer important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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