2020.01.15 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ruth 4:1-12

Read Ruth 4:1-12

Questions from the Scripture text: Where did Boaz go (Ruth 4:1)? Who came by? Whom did Boaz ask to sit down (Ruth 4:1-2)? What did he say that Naomi had done (Ruth 4:3)? What did he invite the closer redeemer to do in Ruth 4:4? How did the closer relative answer? What piece of information did Boaz add in Ruth 4:5? Now, what was the closer relative’s response (Ruth 4:6)? What sign might one give that he was giving up his right to something (Ruth 4:7)? What does he do in Ruth 4:8? What does Boaz say to the elders in Ruth 4:9-10? How do the elders respond in Ruth 4:11? What blessing do they pronounce in Ruth 4:11-12?

In this passage, there are two prospective redeemers. One of them is unwilling that his own inheritance would be thinned out by sharing, and unwilling to take as wife a widow of undesirable lineage. The other is eager that his brother’s inheritance would not be lost to him, and more than willing to marry the virtuous woman—even if she is a widow, and even if she is a Moabite.

There are happy parallels between Boaz and Christ—Who has taken a bride of ultimate unworthiness, that we might be joint inheritors with Him!

Perhaps the more central point of this passage is that the Lord is sovereignly orchestrating what occurs here, precisely with a view toward the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world. A great and godly man like Boaz is inexplicably unmarried to this point. The precise fellow with whom Boaz needed to negotiate just happens to come through the gate (Ruth 4:1). God’s good law about perpetuating the name of the dead is the hinge upon which the negotiation swings (Ruth 4:5-6). And the line of Judah, through Perez, is specifically on the mind of the elders, as they pronounce blessing upon Boaz (Ruth 4:12).

The same Lord who ruled and overruled, in every providence, in order to bring Christ into the world for us still rules and overrules. If you are a believer in Christ, He now rules and overrules in every providence to apply Christ to you, and to obtain for you what Christ has earned!

What are some difficult circumstances that you are going through right now, or that you anticipate going through soon? What is Christ doing in those circumstances? Why is He?

Suggested Songs: ARP46 “God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”