The Kinsman Redeemer

We're going to look today at
the book of Ruth. Now, every Old Testament book
is a message about Christ, our Lord, and about his redemptive
work as prophet, priest, and king. In other words, in the
book of Acts, chapter 10, verse 43, it says to him, give all
the prophets witness. They all wrote of Christ. He
said, Moses wrote of me. So every Old Testament book that
you read, is a message about Christ. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. As Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the fish, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the earth. As it was in the days
of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son
of Man. So you see, every Old Testament book is a message of
Christ. He said over here in the book
of Luke chapter 24 all things must be fulfilled Which are written
in the law of Moses in the prophets in the psalms Concerning me you
see so now let's look at the little book of Ruth and I can
promise you that if you listen to this message Carefully and
prayerfully. I believe it'll open up the book
of Ruth for you. I believe it'll be a new book
I believe that God will give you some interest and insight
into this book of Ruth, if you listen to this message today.
Now, I'm going to take a text, Ruth chapter 3, verse 9. And
it says, Boaz said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy robe over
me, for thou art one that hath the right to redeem. spread thy
robe over me, for thou art one that hath the right to redeem."
Now, I'm going to give you the primary teaching of the book
of Ruth concerning Christ, our kinsman redeemer. But let's go
back and pick it up now. And you can read it later. You
just listen to me as I speak to you today. Now, there was
a man of Israel called Elimelech. He was a wealthy man in Israel.
He was a landowner. But because of the famine, he
lived in Bethlehem, Judea. But because of the famine, he
left Israel, he and his wife, Naomi, and his two sons. And they went down into a heathen
country called Moab. And after he had gotten to Moab
and spent some time there, Elimelech died and left his wife and two
sons. And the scripture tells us in
the book of Ruth that these two boys married women of Moab of
this heathen country they took them wives of the Moabite women
and These two boys didn't live very long with their wives just
a few years and then they also died so in Limelech and Naomi
and that and their two sons went left Israel because of the famine
sold out and Left Israel and went down in the Moab and there
they lived for a while and the father died a Limelech the two
boys died and left Naomi and and the two daughters-in-law
in poor circumstances. And so Naomi, poor, without support,
broken-hearted, determined to leave Moab and go back to Bethlehem,
back to Israel. So she told her daughters-in-law
to stay in their home. She said, this is your country.
This is your people. You're still young and beautiful.
Why don't you just stay here in Moab and marry men of your
own Nation your own people and leave me go I'm going back to
Israel back to my people and and you stay here and one of
the daughters daughters-in-law Did say but Ruth and this is
that famous passage in the book of Ruth and it's beautiful But
let's don't just dwell on this and miss all the teaching of
the book of Ruth That's when Ruth said to her mother-in-law
Naomi. She said entreat me not to leave this Or to return from
following after thee For where you go, I go, and where you lodge,
I will lodge. And your people shall be my people,
and your God my God. And where you die, I shall die,
and there I shall be buried." So Ruth and Naomi left Moab and
journeyed back to the land of Israel. Now this is beautiful
here, listen. They went back to Bethlehem. And when the people
of Bethlehem saw these two women coming, it had been a long time
since Elimelech and Naomi had left Bethlehem, many years. Elimelech
was dead, the two boys were dead, Naomi had been through much sorrow
and trial and heartache. She was a different woman. She
left there with plenty. She left there prosperous. They
left there as landowners, having sold out with everything. She
came back with nothing. She came back poor, broken-hearted,
distressed. She came back without a husband,
without her two sons. She came back with a dog-in-law
following her. And the people gathered around
her, the scripture says here in the Book of Ruth. And they
said, is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? Do we know what
the word Naomi means? It means pleasant. Pleasant. And she said, call me not Naomi.
That is, don't call me pleasant. Call me Mara, which means bitter. Don't call me pleasant. Call
me bitter. because the Lord hath dealt bitterly
with me." You know what the word Elimelech means? I see here a
picture of man's fall. I see a picture of Adam's departure
from God. I see a picture of the human
race in its great fall. For we were rich We had plenty. We were in the Garden of Eden.
God gave us the whole world. He said, it's yours, Adam. Reign
over it, subdue it, conquer it, replenish it. It's yours. Adam
was a king. Adam was a priest. Adam was a
prophet. Adam had all these blessings, and he fell. But Elimelech, you
know what the name means? The name Elimelech means, my
God is king. And here's Elimelech, my God
is king. Here's Naomi, pleasant. And they
left Israel. They left Bethlehem. That's the
home of David. That's really the birthplace
of Christ our Lord. They left Bethlehem, they sold
out, they left, and she came back not pleasant, she came back
in bitterness. Yes, the king is now the sober. The prince is now the pauper. The pleasant is now the bitter.
The full is now the empty. The blessed is now the cursed.
So Naomi and Ruth are here in Bethlehem, and they're without
means of support. They have nothing. They're very
poor. And they come to Bethlehem right at the beginning of the
harvest season. And Naomi says to Ruth, being
very poor and without support, having nothing, the inheritance
was gone, they'd sold everything, they came back as beggars. That's
what they really were, beggars. And you're going to see that
in a moment. And so Naomi told Ruth, we've got to have something
to eat. And Ruth said, well, I'll go out in the fields. Now,
this was permitted in Old Testament days. When the reapers went through
the wheat fields and the fields of grain, they left pieces of
grain all over the field. And the beggars and the poor
could come along behind the reapers Moses provided that they're not
clean the field Absolutely and spotlessly clean but leave some
just when they left some wheat just leave it there and the poor
people the beggars would come in and Scavengers and pick it
up and put it in their little bags, you know and take it home.
That's all they had to live on so Ruth went out to the field
and Began to glean what the harvesters the reapers had left just little
pieces of of wheat here and there and the scripture says she happened
to upon the field of a man called Boaz. She happened, by God's
mercy, by God's grace, we know that, it was no accident, but
it was to her. She happened on the field of
a man called Boaz, and he came riding out to his field, and
he saw this young woman. She was very beautiful, and he
was impressed with her. At once he found favor in his
eyes. He called some of the reapers
over some of the harvesters and he said you see that young lady
over there Picking up pieces of wheat if you're leaving leave
her some hands full on purpose Leave her some handful on purpose
and that's where that comes from you'll find that in the book
of Ruth 2 verse 16 and so they left a whole lot and when Ruth
came home and That evening, she just had plenty of grain. She
had a large sack full of grain. Just plenty of grain. Just very
unusual. Usually the people who were scavengers
and picked up the remains just brought home a few handfuls.
But she had a sack full of grain. And Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said, where did you glean today? And Ruth said, I gleaned in the
field of a man called Boaz. And watch this now. And Naomi
said, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Praise God. She said, God hath not left off
his kindness. Listen, here's the key to the
book of Ruth. This man Boaz is a near kinsman. He's our kin,
folks. He's related to us. He's our
near kinsman, and he has the right to redeem us. He has the
right to buy back what we've lost. He has the right to buy
back our inheritance. Now, if you want to study something
that's interesting, you read the book of Leviticus, chapter
25. Leviticus 25. And you'll find that God made
a provision that a family could not totally lose their land,
the family of Israel, if they were very poor. And waxen poor,
the scripture said, and had to sell their land. When a certain
number of years passed, that land could be bought back and
given to them by a kinsman redeemer or a near kinsman. They may be
flat broke. They may not have a shirt on
their back. They may not have a rag to their name. They may
not have a cent to their name. But if a near kinsman will do
it, and they generally did, they could buy back all that the man
sold. It's called a year of jubilee.
And it was given back to them. Now Elimelech had sold his property
in Israel, in Bethlehem. Naomi had nothing. She was broke. She had nothing. She was poor.
And her daughter-in-law Ruth had nothing. But when Ruth came
in with that sack full of grain, and Naomi said, where did you
glean today? And she said, in the field of a man called Boaz.
And Naomi immediately said, praise God. He can redeem us. He's one
of the only ones who can redeem us. He is a near king. He can
buy back all that we lost. And this is the key to this book.
Redeem us. A near kinsman who has the right. Everybody couldn't do it. But
that near kinsman has the right to redeem us. And this is used
over and over again. Read the book of Ruth. It's used
over and over. It's not just a love story. It's
not just the story of the faithfulness of a daughter-in-law. It's the
story of the redemption of Jesus Christ. It's used over and over
again. One who has the right to redeem.
So, Naomi told Ruth, she said, now tonight, the rulers and the
landowners are staying down at the threshing floor. You go down
there, and you uncover the feet of Boaz. This was a custom, I
don't fully understand, but I'll just give it to you like the
scripture says it. You uncover the feet of Boaz, and you lie
down at his feet. And that's what Ruth did. And
Naomi said, he'll tell you what to do. So Ruth uncovered the
feet of this man Boaz, and she lay down at his feet, and after
a while he awakened. Boaz awoke and found her there,
and he said, he said to her, who art thou? That's where our
text comes in. Who art thou? And she said, I'm
Ruth. I'm Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread
thy robe over me, for thou art a near kinsman who has the power,
the right to redeem. Boaz looked at her and he said
there is a kinsman nearer than I who has first claim on you
and Tomorrow I'll go down to the gate where the men do business
and I'll talk with him and if he'll redeem you Then he'll have
to redeem you but if he won't I will and I catch this He said
there's another kinsman. You don't know about I do know
about he's got a claim on you And he has first choice to redeem
you and to marry you. And if he won't redeem you, I
will. And I'll make you my wife." So
Boaz the next day went down to the gate where the men gathered
to transact business. And he saw this other kinsman
coming toward him. And he said, sit down, I want
to talk to you. Now he said, you know about Elimelech,
our brother. You know about his widow, Naomi.
You know about Ruth. highly esteemed among women.
And that's what it says, contrary to the movie that was shown not
long ago on TV, Naomi was not despised by the people of Bethlehem.
She was not despised by the women of Bethlehem. She was loved,
esteemed, and respected by the women of Bethlehem. And that's
what Boaz said. And he said, now you know who
she is. Yes, I know about the loss. I know about the sale of
the property. Well, he said, now you are a nearer kinsman
than I am. You have first choice to redeem
Naomi and her inheritance. Will you do it? He said I will
do it. I will do it. That's what the other man said
Boaz said now remember this when you redeem Naomi and her property
you must marry Ruth and The man shook his head. He said I can't
do that He said I can't do that lest I mar my own inheritance. I'm sorry I cannot marry Ruth
and so Boaz says well, I will And they sealed the bargain there,
and they sealed the deal. He said, I will redeem her, and
I will marry her. So Boaz the scripture says, married
Ruth. He redeemed her. He bought back
what Naomi lost. He purchased their inheritance,
and gave it back to them, and married Ruth. And she conceived
in Baratow, who was in the line of Christ our Lord. In fact,
it was Obed, the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.
That's right, Ruth the Moabitess. was the grandmother of King David. Now, what do you see here? Well,
first of all, I see the picture of Christ redeeming us. We've
lost our inheritance. We lost it in Adam. We lost it
in the garden. We lost it in the fall. We're
stripped. We don't have anything. We're
broke. We're bankrupt. We're beggars. We've lost everything. But our
Lord saw us out there in our condition, just as Boaz riding
through the field, he saw Ruth, and he loved her. Ruth didn't
love him. Ruth didn't know him. Ruth had
to ask who he is. Who is this man? She didn't know,
but Boaz saw her and was attracted to her and loved her. And our
Lord Jesus Christ saw us in our ruined, lost, and fallen condition,
and he loved us. He loved us, he said, with an
everlasting love. He loved us with an infinite
love. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved
us and gave himself for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ saw her,
just as Boaz saw Ruth in the field, and loved her, and she
found favor in his sight, and she found grace in his sight.
He said to the reapers, he said, leave her some things to God.
Don't clean it all up. Leave her some hens full on purpose.
And so he loved us, just as our Lord Jesus Christ from back yonder
before the foundation of the world sent his love upon us,
made us objects of his love. All right, watch the second thing.
We're found at his feet. When Ruth came home with this
huge sack of grain that Boaz had provided for her, and her
mother said, her mother-in-law said, where did you glean today?
And she said, in the field of a man called Boaz. And that's
when her mother-in-law said, well, praise God. God hasn't
left off his kindness. God hasn't left off his mercy.
This man, Boaz, is a near kinsman redeemer. Now, we've got to show
we know our needs. We've got to show that we know
our place. We've got to show to him the
true humility of our hearts. Now, this is a very humble thing
for this beautiful woman to do. So she goes down to where this
man Lying on the freshening floor and she uncovered his feet and
lay down at his feet at his feet Now that's humility and that's
confession and that's taking the place of a lowly servant
and a lowly person at his feet That's what our Lord was doing
when he watched the disciple speak. He said you do the same
thing He that would be greatest among you let him be your servant.
This this is a mark of the redeemed. It's humility It's contrition. You take Mary. When our Lord
was in the home of Mary and Martha, they said Martha was off in the
kitchen. She was working, busy, serving the Lord, you know, preparing
the meal, fixing things up for him, making him comfortable,
doing things for him. And she came in and said, Lord,
don't you care? Here's Mary sitting at his feet
in the humble position, down there looking up into his face
with love and need and admiration and just Feasting upon the words
and the grace that fell from his lips and Martha came in and
said Lord Don't you care that my sister's left me to serve
and take care of the tables and wait on you and the Lord Jesus
said Martha You're cumbered about with much care and I'm afraid
that's what's wrong with our religious world We're too busy
serving the Lord and we've never been served We're too busy ministering,
and we've never been ministered to. And Christ said, I didn't
come to be ministered to. I came to minister and give my
life a ransom for ministry. And he said, you're cumbered
about with much care, but Mary has chosen the good things. She's
sitting here at my feet. That's where the harlot found
mercy, at Christ's feet. When she came, all these Pharisees
and scribes were sitting in the uppermost seat, exercising their
intelligence and their education and their arguments and their
reasoning powers and debating with the Lord. And this poor
harlot was found at his feet, bathing his feet with tears and
drying them with the hair of her head. And that's where the
one who found mercy and the only one in the whole place that found
mercy was at his feet. And this is where Ruth is. She's
at his feet. Men today are too proud to find
themselves at the feet of Christ. They're too wise, and too prudent,
and too educated, and too intelligent, and they're missing the way of
salvation. Our Lord said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth. You hid these things from the wise and the prudent,
and you revealed them to babe. You know where? The way up is
down. The way up is down. The choice gifts of God are on
the lower chair. You'll be broken. or you'll be
good. You'll be humiliated and humbled
or you'll never be exalted. The Lord Jesus Christ knows how
to abase people and he knows how to exalt people. And he who
exalts himself shall be abased and the humble shall be exalted.
This woman Ruth was told by her mother-in-law, you do what I
say, you do what I say, and you go down and lie at his feet.
And you show your need, and you show your humility, and you show
your submission. We've got nothing to be proud
of. We've got nothing. We're bankrupt. It's no time
to boast. It's no time to brag. It's no
time to talk about what we used to have. We don't have anything.
And that's the condition you and I are in. We don't have anything.
We're plum lost. We're broke. We're bankrupt.
We're hungry. We're needy creatures. We're
sick. We're empty. We're penniless. We're beggars.
We need to find ourselves at the feet of Christ. Beggars at
the back door of mercy. That's right. That's where she
all right. Let's read on All right. He said who are you? She
said I'm Ruth I'm handmade put your robe over me. Well, you
have the right to redeem me if you will if you will And there
I presented a problem He said Ruth. I want to redeem you But
he said there's one that has first claim on you There's one
who has first priority I've got to talk to him first. There's
one nearer than I. Who is that? My friend, in the
case of the sinner, it's the law of God. Now listen to me.
The law of God. The law of God has first claim
on us because it's the law of God that we've offended. It's
the law of God that we've broken. That's what Job's talking about
when he says, how can man be clean that's born of a woman?
How can man be redeemed that drinketh iniquity like the water?
The law of God has a claim on us. The law of God and the justice
of God and the righteousness of God has a claim on us. And
so the Lord Jesus Christ, who would redeem us, comes to the
law. And he says, Lord, can you redeem that sinner? And the Lord
says, I can't redeem him. lest I mar my own righteousness,
and lest I mar my own inheritance. I can't redeem him. He's broken
the law. I've examined his character, and his character doesn't come
up. Justice has examined him, and he won't meet the requirements.
He's sinned and comes short of the glory of God. I can't redeem
him. Christ said, I can, and I will. I'm a near kinsman. I'm a brother. He was made like unto his brethren.
He was numbered with the transgressors. He was bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh. He is one of us. He said, I can
redeem him, and I will redeem him. And that's what he did.
He came down here, and he didn't purchase us with gold and silver.
He purchased us with the silver of his sweat and the gold of
his blood. We're not redeemed by corruptible
things such as silver and gold. That's what Boaz redeemed Ruth
with, was gold and silver. But Christ redeemed us with his
blood, with the precious blood of Christ. He was the near kinsman. And the law couldn't save us,
and the justice of God couldn't save us, lest they mar their
own righteousness and inheritance. Christ did. I heard a story one
time that illustrates this. There was a preacher called Dr.
A.J. Gordon, who pastored in Boston for many, many years.
I forget the name of the church. It was a long time ago. And one
day Dr. A.J. Gordon was walking down
the street there in Boston. He saw one of his little Sunday
school boys coming toward him, and the little boy had a birdcage
in his hand, an old homemade birdcage. And in that birdcage
were two little field birds. They were so frightened and scared,
afraid, and Dr. Gordon felt so sorry for them,
and he loved them, and he wanted to see them free. They didn't
belong in that cage, but the little boy had them. They were
his. So he walked up to the little fella, and he said, son, he said,
would you sell me those birds? I said, Preacher, you don't want
these old birds. They're not any good. He said they can't
sing. I know that, the Preacher said,
but I want those birds. Well, Preacher, there's plenty
more out there in the field. You can go trap yourself. No, sir,
I want those birds. Will you sell them? The little
boy said, well, I'll tell you what. I'll sell your bird cage
and all for $2. The preacher said, it's a deal. He reached
in his pocket, got out two dollars and paid for the birds and took
the cage in his hand and started off down the street. After the
little boy turned the corner, he just held that bird cage up
in the air and he unwired the little door and opened it up
and held it up. He said, now, little bird, I bust you, you're
mine. I set you free. Fly out. And
he patted the back of the cage a time or two, and those little
birds caught sight of that open door, and one right after the
other, they flew off into the beautiful blue sky. And he said
he could almost hear them sing if they could have sung. Redeemed,
redeemed, I left the proclaimant redeemed. One day our Lord Jesus
Christ saw you and me in his eternal purpose, in his eternal
wisdom and foreknowledge. And he loved us, he set his love
upon us. But we were in captivity to the law. We were enslaved
to the law. We were captives. We were in
darkness. We were in the dungeon of sin. We were bound by our
own guilt. And he said, Lord, I want those
birds. And the Lord said, Lord, they're no good. I know it. But
I want them. And I want to buy them for what
it costs. And the law and justice of God says it costs you the
gold of your blood and the silver of your sweat. He said, I'll
pay you. He came down to this earth. And that's what he did.
He came down here to redeem us. He's the near kinsman. He has
the right to redeem. And he did it. And he married
her. And there's going to be a marriage supper of the Lamb
one of these days. And all whom he redeemed are going to be with
him around that table.

The Kinsman Redeemer

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