Christ Our Redeemer, and Boaz

13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. 14The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel. 15He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16Naomi took the child, and laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to it. 17The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, 20and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon, 21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, 22and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

We have now looked closely at Ruth’s life. A Moabite woman, who could never have entered the assembly of God, became one of his people, met Boaz, and was married with the blessing of the people of God. She bore Obed, and through him the family lived on. Her own resolve of faith played its part, but it was possible because God was beside her, helping her without fail. As a foreign woman she must have wrestled with much inner conflict, yet she came boldly to Israel and lived among his people in obedience to his word. She obeyed because she believed her mother-in-law rightly understood God’s will, and in the end her life was changed.

To Naomi, Ruth was a daughter-in-law better than seven sons, because she breathed the hope of living back into a mother-in-law who had lost everything and was lost in despair. By placing Obed in Naomi’s arms, she wholly fulfilled her calling as a restorer of life and as one who would sustain her in old age. How beautiful it is that through Ruth’s self-giving so many could serve God and live blessed lives! If someone receives new life because you gave of yourself, it is not merely one person’s sacrifice; you have fulfilled your calling as one of heaven’s people, carrying God’s promise forward.

John 3:16

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

God tells us that he so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. God loves the world by atoning for the sin of humankind on the cross, and by opening the tomb, conquering death, and rising again.

Jesus bore the cross to atone for the sins of humankind. The Bible says that he was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. Being God the Son from the beginning, Jesus had nothing to do with sin. Yet this holy God gave himself over to death to make sinners into God’s people. No descendant of Adam can be free of sin. This whole world is darkness and death, and that is why God the Son, who is light and life, came to this earth to accomplish redemption.

Our Redeemer is Jesus Christ. As he himself said, he is the way, the truth, and the life; there is no other redeemer but Jesus Christ. These days not only other religions but even pastors who have not rightly understood God’s word preach that the way of salvation can be found anywhere. They say that every religion has its own path to truth and its own way of salvation, and that we should therefore acknowledge one another’s religions as valid and live in harmony.

But God never says any such thing in Scripture. He has told us plainly that Jesus Christ alone is the way of truth, and that the road to heaven opens only when we receive the Lord. It was Jesus who came from heaven, and it is Jesus alone who will rescue sinners from death and lead them into heaven. May you turn a deaf ear to what the world says, listen only to the word of God, and hold fast to your faith.

John 17:3

3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

John tells us that to know and believe in the true God and in Jesus Christ whom he sent is itself to have received eternal life already. What he conveys is that believing in Jesus, who came to this earth in the flesh, is coming to grasp the deep love with which God set out to save humankind. If all it takes to gain eternal life is to believe as the word says, then salvation could not be easier or simpler. But no one can truly believe in Jesus without laying aside their own righteousness and admitting they are a sinner, and for those who belong to the world, that can hardly be an easy road.

Jesus fully accomplished the work God had given him to do. When he bore the cross in place of all humanity’s sin, a ray of light broke into a world of darkness. A way was opened for the saints, rescued out of death, to enter the beauty of heaven.

John 17:6

6I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.

We can know God now because Jesus has led us into the light. This is how we have come to meet the God who dwells in glory.

To say that he “redeemed” us means that he restored, saved, or brought something back to where it belonged. We who were in death have, through faith in Christ, been restored from children of sin to children of God. It is because of God’s wonderful grace that we, who lived as Satan’s slaves, have been set free and can now hold the hope of heaven. Like Naomi, we too had left God and were dead; but we met Christ, received new life, and became fruit of salvation that everyone envies.

Ruth 4:14

14The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel.

When Naomi took Obed in her arms, the women of Bethlehem praised God, saying that Yahweh had not left her that day without a near kinsman. All that had happened was that one poor, vulnerable woman had met a near kinsman, Boaz her redeemer, and her house had been preserved. Yet the people of Israel were giving glory and praise not only to Naomi but to God. We had no way to receive eternal life; but when we meet our near kinsman, Christ the Redeemer, and are restored to salvation, the angels of heaven and all the saints will praise God. Just as children who do well bring honor to their parents, so our righteous lives can exalt God and give him glory.

You will have noticed something strange as you looked at Ruth’s genealogy. Boaz clearly married Ruth as the near kinsman who would keep Naomi’s family alive, and he had a son who continued the line of Elimelech.

Yet the text records that Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron became the father of Ram, Ram became the father of Amminadab, Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon became the father of Salmon, Salmon became the father of Boaz, Boaz became the father of Obed, Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David. Perez was the son of Judah, born to Tamar. Whereas every other genealogy begins with the descendants of Adam or Abraham, Ruth unfolds the generations of Perez, Tamar’s son.

From all we have considered so far about the near kinsman, Obed, the son Ruth bore, ought by every rule to be the son of Mahlon, the firstborn. Yet here Boaz appears not in the genealogy of Elimelech but in that of Perez, and it is through his son Obed that the house of Judah continues. This means that God used Ruth’s faith to restore not only Naomi’s family but also the family of Boaz, who obeyed his word.

Boaz was of the house of Judah.

Genesis 49:10

10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

Among Jacob’s prophecies is the word that the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and that to him will be the obedience of the peoples. It tells us that the Redeemer of humankind would come from the house of Judah.

When Boaz stood as the redeemer of Ruth’s own kin, he was a foreshadowing of Christ, who came to redeem all humanity. All the men of the family had died, so its line could not go on, and Boaz gave himself up to carry it on. In the same way, humanity lies in death and cannot gain new life by itself, and so Christ became the Redeemer and gave it life. Boaz sacrificed himself to help Ruth, but in the end God returned the fruit of it to him as the blessing of continuing Boaz’s own house. Just so, Jesus gave himself to bring sinners to life, but that life belongs in the end to Christ, and to God.

The parable of the vine is recorded in John 15.

Look at the parable of the vine that Jesus told, and you will see why the genealogy of Boaz, who kept Naomi’s name alive, is recorded in the Bible, and how Obed, held in Naomi’s arms, could become the grandfather of David.

Jesus said that he is the vine and his Father is the farmer. The Father takes away every branch that bears no fruit, and the branch that does bear fruit he protects so that it may bear more. The point is this: those who do not truly believe in Jesus receive grace without knowing how precious it is and spill it on the ground. God therefore pours abundant grace on those who live by faith, so that the faithful may bear still more fruit.

John 15:4

4Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

This is the relationship between the Redeemer and those who have received Jesus. The branch is firmly joined to the vine, and the fruit each branch bears belongs to that branch and at the same time to the vine. And though it is the vine’s, all the fruit in the field is also the farmer’s. So the farmer does not consult the vine; he himself keeps the sound branches and cuts away the withered ones. The vine does all it can to help its branches bear much fruit, so that the farmer will not cut them off, but drawing up nourishment is the branch’s own part. If a healthy branch takes in nourishment well and bears much fruit, the farmer will value it and protect it. In the same way, the saints too are branches attached to the vine that is Christ. But if a branch bears no fruit, God, the farmer, will cut it off. That judgment rests wholly with the farmer.

With Boaz’s help Ruth bore Obed, and Naomi gained fruit. Because Obed was born through a near kinsman, that fruit would of course continue Naomi’s family. With one fruit, Obed, God did two things.

When grapes hung on the branch, the farmer saw them both as the branch’s fruit and as fruit growing on the vine. In God’s eyes, the fruit called Obed was Naomi’s and at the same time Boaz’s. More than that, God not only kept alive the families of Naomi and Boaz but used all these events as a channel through which the Savior could come.

All the work God so tirelessly does through human lives, using them as his channel, is for the sake of salvation. Matthew records the genealogy in such detail, naming Perez born to Tamar, Boaz born to Rahab, and Obed born to Ruth, because it bears directly on the birth of Jesus Christ the Redeemer. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and everyone else had bodies of flesh, and so they had no choice but to live out their lives here on earth. Yet God uses the history woven out of all those times, events, and people. So while one generation goes and another comes, God, with whom a thousand years are as one day, is working out salvation across all the generations.

Through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God made a nation, and he never let go of the line of faith through which the Savior would come. Guiding the lives of dozens of generations, he prepared the way for one purpose alone: the birth of Jesus the Redeemer. How great was the labor God poured into it! No one can stop God’s love for the saving of souls, because the promise he made when he sent God the Son to this earth, to give life through the blood of his Son, is still being carried on today.

When you give thanks for the circumstances you have been given and quietly fulfill your calling, God will commend you for your faithfulness and boast of your name as he did of Job. Boaz, who gave up everything he had, received the astonishing blessing of a place in the genealogy of Christ; in the same way, the names and the faithfulness of the saints will receive a blessing just as wondrous: being written in the book of life and the book of remembrance.

The verse we should look at closely is Ruth 4:21.

Ruth 4:21

21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed,

Matthew 1:5

5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.

Salmon married Rahab the prostitute, and she bore him Boaz. Rahab, who had hidden the two spies when the Israelites crossed the Jordan and spied out Jericho, became the mother of Boaz.

When the people of Israel, having come out of Egypt, were about to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, Joshua sent two spies to Jericho. They lodged at Rahab’s house beside the city gate, and the king of Jericho came to know of it. Soldiers of Jericho came to seize the spies, but through Rahab’s wisdom they were able to return safely to the people of Israel. Rahab already knew of God, who had done many signs and wonders. She asked the spies to deal kindly with her household when they attacked Jericho, and begged them to spare her parents and all her brothers and sisters. She knew well in whose hands her life lay.

The spies promised that when Israel attacked Jericho, they would spare everyone in the house if a scarlet cord was hung in the window. Now, if she was to survive with her family, Rahab had to remember two things: she had to hang the scarlet cord, and she had to stay inside that house. That scarlet cord was her lifeline. If, after making the promise, she had been so busy with everyday affairs that she forgot to hang it, she would have been put to death like the rest of Jericho. Whether she would heed the spies’ words and act on them was now her choice.

Jesus has given us a promise of salvation: you can be saved only by relying on the scarlet cord, that is, the blood of Jesus Christ. He has said that only those who remain in Christ, where that blood flows, will be saved; and that if anyone breaks the promise and goes out of Christ, they cannot be saved, and he will not answer for their death. That is because keeping that promise falls to those who have heard the word. Each of us lives a different kind of life, yet God is at work through the lives of his people who strive to keep the promise.

When we look into the Redeemer’s genealogy, we find in it not only Israelites, the chosen people, but also Gentiles who could not enter the assembly of God. This shows that the history of redemption is not passed down through human merit or bloodline. It is God’s grace alone—the grace of God, who first made the covenant and gives his utmost to fulfill his promise—that has caused his people to be saved.

Like Naomi and Ruth, we must give thanks and rejoice even in affliction. If we know that God will protect us, we must wait for him with patience. Those who have faith know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope. Because they know it, they are never ashamed of their suffering.

God has given salvation to whoever believes in Jesus. Ruth could become Boaz’s wife because she was a worthy woman, and so too the saints who have lived by righteous acts will share in the wedding feast with Christ on the last day. Our salvation is entirely the grace and the love of God.

When fruit hangs on a branch of the vine, it may seem that the branch receives the glory; but it is the vine, which feeds the branch, that is put to the more honored use. Just as the vine helps its branches bear much fruit, Christ is doing all he can, standing as a hedge against this harsh world, so that his people may bear more fruit and bring joy to God the farmer.

Ruth bore Obed through Boaz, but Obed continued the house of Boaz; he became the father of Jesse, and the line passed on to his grandson David. All these life stories, scattered here and there, were there for the birth of Jesus, who would come as the root of David.

Here I bring to a close the story of Naomi and Ruth, who strove to live as the people of God. Faith comes by hearing, as Scripture says; so we who have heard God’s word and met him must now live lives of obedience, as Naomi and Ruth did. Look at the lives of our forefathers in faith: when they obeyed, problems too heavy for them to bear were all resolved, and families on the verge of collapse were restored. When you truly meet God, the Master of all things, he will fill your empty vessel.

May you become a Naomi and a Ruth. Let us be children of faith whom God always remembers, resting in his blessing. Ruth’s footprints remain clear along the road of faith she walked, and each one overflows with love, gratitude, and faithfulness toward God. As you see them, I earnestly hope you will walk that road with her. Christ, who waits at the end of it, will open his arms and embrace you, and the Holy Spirit will always help you, so that no difficulty overtakes you on the way.