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Ruth 4:1-4

 Attending weddings has to be one of the most joyful things we can do.

Celebrating with a couple. Getting dressed up. Celebrating love. Spending time with family and friends. Having a boogie and a buffet!
But even more enjoyable than the wedding day is getting to share in the marriage.
Reflecting on that couple’s unique story of how they met and fell in love… even how they overcame odds to be together…

 

The story of Ruth and Boaz has reached tipping point.
Whether they will marry (and live happily ever after) or not depends on the decision of a third person… the nearer relative… the closest ‘kinsman redeemer’.
Boaz and Ruth aren’t in control over the outcome.


[Read Ruth 4:1-4]


Straight after the ‘threshing floor’ scene of the night before, we see that Boaz is on a mission…

What does this tell us about Boaz and his character?


Read Deuteronomy 21:19, 22:15, 25:7, and Proverbs 31:23, 31.
Along with what we read in Ruth 4, what do we learn about “the town gate” and it’s importance and significance to Ruth and Boaz’s story?

 

In Ruth 4:1 we read that Boaz reaches the town square “just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along”.
This could be seen as a coincidence… but it’s not.
How have we already seen this sort of thing happening in this story already in Ruth 2:3-4?

 

This nearer ‘kinsman-redeemer’ has two separate duties.
What are they?

 

 

 

Mosaic Law doesn’t command that the levirate marriage be carried out together with the property redemption. So, why does Boaz ‘lump’ these two together?


In his conversation with the nearer ‘kinsman-redeemer’, Boaz tactically raises the matter of land redemption first.
Why?

 

Boaz is determined to keep God’s law (Ruth 4:4) even if it’s potentially disadvantageous for him.
How would you have acted in his place?
Would you obey God’s laws even though obedience would disadvantage you?
Why or why not?

 

Did Boaz expect the nearer relative to assume the responsibility to redeem the land?
Why or why not?

 

How does this ‘kinsman-redeemer’ respond?

What might Boaz be feeling when the man agrees to buy back the land for Naomi?


What does this mean for Boaz?

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