Ruth-4:1-16-web

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:13-17

The last few verses of the book of Ruth inform us of the birth of Obed, and tell how Naomi cares for the child as Ruth and Boaz continue a normal family life in the agricultural setting of Bethlehem. Where was Ruth while the arrangements to redeem her were being made? She was waiting patiently in the house of her...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:13

We come now to the moment we have all been waiting for - the hour when Boaz takes Ruth to be his wife. All the Bible says is: "So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife." How I wish the inspired writer of the book of Ruth had included a few more details about the wedding. I would like to know what she wore. What did Naomi say...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:11-12

We continue meditating on the words of blessing given by the elders at the completion of the legal formalities entered into by Boaz: "May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah" (v. 11). To see the real significance of these words, we have to jump ahead a little and consider some of the...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:11-12

After Boaz has called upon the assembled group to witness that he accepts the full responsibility of kinsman-redeemer to Naomi which, of course, involved taking Ruth to be his wife, the elders respond by reciting the traditional blessing: "May the Lord make this woman, who has now come into your home, as fertile as...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:7-8

The ceremony through which a man passed when he was unwilling or unable to redeem something, and thus lost his legal claim, was both colorful and dramatic, and could be unpleasant. A widow, for example, who faced a hostile kinsman who did not want to fulfil his obligations under the law, would sometimes spit in his face and...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:9-10

We said yesterday that Jewish law required the participants in a redemption purchase to have the transaction validated in the presence of witnesses. We said also that in a way this pictures the salvation which our Lord secured for us on the Cross. He too transacted our redemption before the gaze of many. Could He have...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:5-6

Boaz';s plans to redeem Ruth were temporarily thwarted when the nearest kinsman gave a definite "yes" to his proposal that he should buy the land. But now the love which burned in Boaz's heart gives energy to his thinking and he comes up with a powerful argument that wins the day. In the...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:2-4

Ruth, the Gentile widow from Moab, is to become the bride of the wealthy Boaz of Bethlehem. Before the marriage can take place, however, a special meeting has to be arranged with Naomi's next of kin so that the matter of redemption can be satisfactorily settled. The meeting is held at the gate of the city, the usual place...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:1

We have referred to the term "kinsman-redeemer" several times in our meditations and we pause now to make clear what it means. The word "redeem," as you will know, means "to buy back" or "set free." It is the act by which a person's property or liberty is purchased through the payment of a special price. A kinsman- redeemer was...