Our Advent series has taken us swiftly through this little volume, and we're nearing the end, so that a tiny bit of review is in order. Naomi has returned to Bethlehem with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, now converted to the God of Israel and His people, and yet they are both widowed. and destitute so that Ruth sees it as her duty to glean for grain and somehow eke out a living and support her mother-in-law. When she meets and experiences the kindness of Boaz, a man of God who has means, who just happens to be a relative of Elimelech, Naomi's deceased husband, and thus in a position legally to help out. Some time passes, maybe not the length of time I indicated last week, maybe just a few months when it's the end of summer and time to sift and sort out the barley and wheat that has been harvested. Naomi, with Ruth's contact with Boaz, having worked his fields, drawing to a close, with a sense of urgency, unleashes a plan of action, directing Ruth to visit Boaz in the middle of the night, secretly at the threshing floor. It's self-symbolic in scripture of judgment, of decision, when destinies are determined. A bold and unorthodox step Risky and subject to all kinds of misconstrual, but Ruth goes as both of these women are stepping out in faith, trusting in the Lord. And though startled, Boaz is open-hearted to Ruth and receptive to her putting herself out there and making her plea. He grants assurances in a very tangible way and commits to bringing about the redemption of Ruth and Naomi, which would involve him marrying Ruth. with there being hints and overtones of a romance blossoming here, though undergirded by biblical covenant love. However, there's a catch, namely that there's another man who is a closer relative and next in line to be this family's redeemer, which Boaz, full of integrity, It doesn't hide, wanting everything to be above board. So that's where we are with still plenty of heightened tension, with still something very critical to be resolved. which will serve to teach us much about the Christ of Christmas and His salvation when all is said and done. Let's find out what happens next then as we give our strict and undivided attention to it, to the reading of God's holy, life-giving word, inspired, infallible, and inerrant, again, Ruth chapter 4, verses 1 through 12. Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the Redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, Turn aside, friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. So they sat down. Then he said to the Redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead and his inheritance. Then the Redeemer said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it." Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging. To confirm a transaction, the one drew off the sandal and gave it to the other. And this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the Redeemer said to Boaz, buy it for yourself, he drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Belimelech and all that belonged to Kilion and to Melon. Also, Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of Malon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead and his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day. Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman. Amen. With the one who has ears to hear, hear. the Holy Spirit is saying. Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you're in abject need, you don't want to be at the mercy of some aloof stranger. But instead, someone who knows you, who has a vested interest in your welfare, who identifies with you, who isn't going to take advantage of you. Well, the provision of God's law for the poor from the time of Moses would factor such things into the equation. Last time we began to dig into this business of the kinsman-redeemer, goel in Hebrew, whereby if you were widowed and impoverished following the death of your husband, you could possibly receive help from someone near and dear to you a brother or some other close relative of your husband. His job as outlined in places like Leviticus chapter 25 and back in Deuteronomy chapter 25 would be to maintain property and progeny. He would ensure your economic well-being and keep the property in the family in the name of the one no longer living. He would also be expected, if at all possible, to marry the widow and raise up progeny, descendants, heirs, if there were none, as of yet, with this being known as leveret marriage, with the Latin term levere meaning husband's brother. And in the setting of Ruth, Boaz would fit the bill. He would step up and fulfill the role of kinsman redeemer in his generation. But still, he wouldn't be the ultimate kinsman-redeemer of God's people, though in the hands of the Lord he would contribute and do his part, forming a link in the chain as his genealogy would eventually lead to this one, to the coming of Jesus. And Jesus too would be qualified in His own right. As the New Testament letter to the Hebrews spells out, Christ would be our kinsman redeemer. Eligible by virtue of the incarnation, which is what Christmas is all about. His miraculous virginal conception wrought by the Holy Spirit, followed by His birth. He would have to be not only God, but God in the flesh, the God-man, you see. Fully and truly human, as well as fully and truly divine. Blood related to people like us, a fellow man. The agent of redemption would have to be a member of our own human family who could represent us, being in his case perfect and without sin. And not only that, but one whose divinity could and would make his accomplishments infinitely powerful in their efficacy. Limitless, too, in their value and worth. So make no mistake. He would be kin to us. Our brother, our elder brother. Bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. And as such, he would be able to make atonement for the likes of us. Ruth points us his way such that you could even call it the gospel according to Ruth. As we're given a vignette, a window on his person and work, his being The kinsman redeemer would pull off a kinsman redemption. Covenant Presbyterian Church, this is the sum total message of God's word to us this morning because Jesus came at Christmas to perform a kinsman redemption, eclipsing anything foreshadowed by Boaz. We can take our sin to him. Knowing through our Savior true freedom from its guilt, bondage, and one day its very presence. Let's see how the way is paved and the manner in which these things are depicted as we zoom in and notice four interrelated things that a kinsman redemption entails, according to this scene in particular. First, a willing redemption. A willing redemption. Brothers and sisters, this is illustrated starting in chapter 4, verse 1, as the next day, maybe just a couple of hours since the events of chapter 3 have transpired, Boaz takes his position at the Bethlehem city gate where business would be transacted. And sure enough, this other closer relative and competing redeemer candidate would show up. Behold, the text says, he came by. Again, it's the Lord at work. The perfect timing of the providential hand of our Father above. Boaz, spotting him, flags him down. Turn aside, friend. Sit down here. Which the man does. Now, these are of the same clan. They know each other. Nevertheless, interestingly, Boaz addresses him friend. This rival guy's name is omitted. The original language could be so rendered as to suggest that he is referred to as something like Mr. So-and-so, which can't be considered an accident in this book in which all the names of people and places are drenched with significance. Boaz, whose name means pillar of strength, may have been in a small pond, but he would not only be a big fish in those parts, he would go on to become famous the world over as a biblical hero. Here we are, after all, honoring him. He would stand out as a willing redeemer, but this other figure would not. He would be, and remain for posterity, the man without a name." Ironically, with a bit of poetic justice, this is how it is if you're out of tune with the heart of the God we know in Christ, and you're just in it for yourself, which is what is soon implied about Mr. So-and-so. After Boaz gathers a sufficient number of legal witnesses, according to verse 2, he presents the situation to this other potential redeemer. As we can check out in verses 3 and 4, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, I will redeem it. He sounds downright enthusiastic in English and all the more so in Hebrew. Boaz though, shrewd and Not unskilled as a negotiator then uncovers a certain catch. Verse 5, not leaving it in the fine print. The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance. So, so-and-so would apparently need to be brought up to speed on his extended family. Initially it would sound to him as though he would be buying more property for himself, perhaps seeing it as a prime piece of real estate with Naomi being older and beyond the age of marriage and childbearing and thus presumably a non-factor. So that this man could do his duty and at the same time add to his portfolio and material wealth. But upon hearing that this would be a package deal involving marrying the younger Ruth, who would also happen to be a foreigner, maybe just maybe making her less than attractive in his eyes. And on top of that, having then to produce and father children through her to be a Alimilex heirs, to keep everything in Alimilex family instead of transferring it to his own, meaning that there would be nothing for this man to gain financially. Mr. So-and-so remarkably changes his mind. according to verse 6, waiving his rights of redemption, lest, he says, he impair his own inheritance. You see, he could do this, emphatically refusing, and still satisfy the letter of the law, which didn't technically obligate him in any absolute sense. But Boaz is willing to aim for the actual spirit of the law, which is all about generous, self-giving love. This is all agreeable to him, no matter how high the stakes are raised. He is not merely able, but willing. He anticipates Christ, who is not only able to redeem, but willing. It would be His choice, something He would undertake to do gladly, such that He would stand then and still stands now, over and against all pretenders, outbidding them, as Dr. Philip Riken puts it. We see this as we make the connection between the major scene and the crossroads Jesus would come to on the eve of His crucifixion. Remember the Garden of Gethsemane, what we find in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22, where we discover just how aware our Savior would be as a mature adult of all the strings attached to His mission. In and of themselves, His hellish anguish and sufferings about to reach their peak in His degrading death would be repugnant to His holy, innocent, unstained soul. He would stagger, sweating drops of blood. But in view of His love for God and His people, He would go through with it, delighting to do A father's will. He would pray, but if this cup should not pass from my lips, then not mine, but your will be done. He would not flinch, but would follow through on the work of a kinsman redemption willingly. First, a willing redemption. Second, a costly redemption. A costly redemption. Beloved, this comes more prominently into the foreground in verses 7 through 10. To confirm and seal the deal officially, Mr. So-and-so takes off his sandal and hands it to Boaz, in keeping with the custom of their time and place, with a less literate population, less dependent then on getting things and writing. But this would have the force of a receipt or signature, as he would speak to Boaz the words, buy it for yourself. Then Boaz would announce to those on hand that they can now officially attest to it all, that they are like what we moderns would call a notary public. I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Killian and to Melon. Elimelech's sons. Also, Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Malon, I have bought to be my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead and his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. This would require Boaz to pony up, as he would not only take on all of these responsibilities, but not profit from it a bit. Monetarily, that is. He would sacrificially deny himself on this crass level. Again, though, we are thus sent towards Christ and His work. The reality who outdoes every signpost. In His kinsman redemption, He would pay an incomparable ransom. Whereas Boaz paid with the currency common to his own day, Jesus would pay with his own lifeblood. Boaz paid with his own estate, but Jesus would sacrifice his own body. Boaz would take the name of the dead man, while Jesus would take on death itself. Dietrich Bonhoeffer didn't get everything right, but he would hit the nail on the head when writing that God's grace is not cheap. It's a costly, precious thing, compelling our discipleship if we have been redeemed. If we belong to Jesus, to the Christ of Christmas. If we reduce and make light of it, we will forget our identity and calling. We will not be separated from our sin. We will not live differently. We will call into question the legitimacy of any claim to be genuinely Christian. You are not your own. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20. For you were bought with a price, so glorify God. First, a willing redemption. Second, a costly redemption. Third, an affectionate redemption. and affectionate redemption. Beloved, this emerges not so much from what these verses explicitly say but from what they suggest as we reflect a little. I've tried to resist the urge to go beyond what is written and I've stated that Ruth doesn't really fit into the romantic comedy genre where love is romance and no more. where it's about emotion and sensuality and thrills, where conflicts and any challenges to bliss conveniently, predictably are made to fade away with relative ease. It's totally unrealistic. While biblical, Christian love is hard and sometimes in many respects is unrewarding, testing your loyalty. It's concerned with mirroring God's love above all. That's what we're called to, to emulate something of what is fleshed out here. The Hebrew word concept which rises to the surface of Ruth is hesed. Still having established all that, I don't want to totally dismiss the element of romance, which we do detect here. Because, it must be confessed, redemption is a romance. The supreme romance which beats every other romance. It's clear by now that Boaz is taken when it comes to Ruth. He admires her, he is drawn to her. Culturally, he would be seen as giving up so much here, but you and I get the impression that he would say, no, down deep it's all gain for me. That's how my heart perceives it, to be all gain. So he won't just comply with the bare minimum of her request a chapter ago, that he meet the need of the hour and be a redeemer for herself. and Naomi and their family, we know that a marriage is coming and that intimacy will follow as evidenced by the rest of chapter 4 and it's lifting up of the blessing to be had in married sexuality, in childbirth and in child rearing. There is real affection. It would lead Boaz to cement his future with Ruth here, and it would characterize their relationship going forward. It would at least be one major thing animating and moving him here. Again, this shines all the more brilliantly in Jesus. In providing redemption, He doesn't just... He doesn't simply write a check, making the payment. only to walk away, as if it's a commercial operation and nothing more. No, he romances his bride, the church, which is how God and his people are characterized by Isaiah chapter 62 verse 5, for instance. His loving affection leads her to himself. And His loving affection and hers in reciprocation is at the heart of their union and communion for time and for eternity. He is what all the great myths and stories aspire to. Only He is the real deal, having entered history. at Christmas. He keeps the promise of Genesis chapter 3, slaying the snake, and for his prize, he gets the girl. Though as in any other marriage, it means husband and wife share their assets and liabilities. We can observe it playing out with Boaz and Ruth. It played out when I got married, when my wife and I combined to increase our liabilities and debts. Of course, in the case of Christ and His beloved, she's got all the liabilities, which He takes on, paying off her spiritual, moral debts. And He's got all the assets, His righteousness, which becomes her righteousness. Jesus would fulfill all righteousness, as He would declare to John the baptizer, at his baptism in Matthew chapter 3, he would fulfill the laws he would teach. In Matthew chapter 5, not unlike the way Boaz refuses to satisfy his longing to bless Ruth and company without also meticulously seeing to the demands of God's law, which meant he couldn't just bypass or circumvent Mr. So-and-so and giving him first dibs on being the Redeemer. But back to Christ, do you get it? Do you understand and appreciate how dearly, passionately He desires and loves the church? Delighting in going to the cross for the joy set before Him in order to have her as the opening of Hebrews chapter 12 sets forth. The church is His wife, corporately speaking. And yet there is individual application. You can't know God and His kinsman redemption in Jesus, in fact, without knowing something of His spousal love. Even if, humanly speaking, you haven't been there and done that. Even if you are single and are not and maybe never have been married. Your life too is to be suffused with romance, with the ardent affection of the divine lover of your soul. And as a result, you too are to be productive, certainly in terms of the spiritual fruit of laboring in and for the Lord. First, a willing redemption. Second, a costly redemption. Third, an affectionate redemption. Fourth, a hopeful redemption. A hopeful redemption. Brothers, sisters, we turn to what is articulated in verses 11 and 12, which will help prepare us for tonight. Because the elders and witnesses at the gate reply to Boaz, and because they more than affirm His own words. We are witnesses, they say. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman. the Christ of Christmas would enter the world as part of this family's lineage. And while these people couldn't have known anything along such lines, they are exercising faith and looking at this coming union and praying for it to be fruitful in ways that will serve the Lord's kingdom purposes. It would be the dark days of the judges. They would look back and recognize the Lord's intervention through the children Jacob would father, through Rachel and Leah, and even through their cunning use of their handmaidens. The heads of the 12 tribes of Israel would be born. God would be multiplying His people, keeping His oath to Abraham. And He would, in a very specific way, build up His people through one of these sons, Judah, who along with Joseph would be instrumental in their survival when everything seemed jeopardized and to be in turmoil. And his own turning point would arguably begin in Genesis chapter 38, which tells the tale of how he would fail to provide leveret marriage for his daughter-in-law, Tamar, also an alien, a Canaanite woman, after she would fail to bear children through one son of Judah and another wouldn't even give her the opportunity such that in his anger the Lord would strike him dead. Meaning two sons of Jacob at that point would be killed off. Judah would reason that she must be bad luck and that even if he gave her his next son, he'd likely die too. So what does she do? She tricks him. Pretending to be a prostitute, she sleeps with him and he impregnates her. A sordid affair, but one it seems in which she somehow exercised faith desiring to contribute seed to the covenant community through whom the ancient promise of God would be fulfilled. So that even Judah acknowledges her to be more righteous than he. This would all serve to form Judah's character and help him to have compassion on his bereaved father when he would start losing sons. When Joseph would be missing and thought dead. And then when Benjamin's life would be threatened. Judah would offer himself as surety, taking responsibility for Benjamin's safety. offering himself as a substitute for Benjamin in Egypt before the prime minister, who would turn out to be Joseph himself. Well, it would be through Judah's line that Israel's king, a king like this, but only better, a king unlike those of the nations of this world, a king who rules by first of all serving, would come. Biblical prophecies would increasingly refer to this. Narrowing things down even more, it would all come about through the line of Judah's one son by Tamar, Perez, which means breakthrough or burst forth. And he is cited here on this occasion. The leaders of Boaz's community seem to be looking for something similar to manifest itself for leadership to maybe, just maybe arise through the offspring to be had through this marriage. This may have been standard fare when a wedding was upcoming, when children were anticipated, a way of by faith appropriating the royal messianic promise. If so, and even if not, Little could they fully know how the answer to Israel and Judah's problems would come, as not only would Ruth and Naomi be provided for and redeemed in an immediate way, but playing the long game, the Lord would see to it that through their son and grandson and great-grandson, King David would come. for whom the entirety of the land would be defended, preserved, and protected. And His descendants would in turn lead to the coming of Jesus, the King of Kings. and Lord of Lords according to Revelation chapter 17 and 19, and His kinsmen redemption, which guarantees God's people a heavenly inheritance, the greater promised land in Canaan, when all things are made new at Jesus' return, His second coming. Of course, we have the advantage of living on this side of Christmas as we look back and see how all these things have so marvelously unfolded to such an extent already, as the enduring substance of it all has been kicked off, as we are given a foretaste of what is coming, such that we find our rest as we put all trust and hope in Christ. giving our triune God all the glory as we take our sin to Him. This is what you need to do if you're here today and you don't know this God and His salvation. You have to reckon with your sin, that you fall short, mourning over how you have rebelled against your Holy Creator, turning your back on Him. And then, take your sin to Jesus. Calling out to Him. The One who makes a way back home for you. He will not turn you aside. He will liberate you. First, a willing redemption. Second, a costly redemption. Third, an affectionate redemption. Fourth, a hopeful redemption. Dear brothers and sisters, You add it all up and you just have to celebrate. As with me, it doesn't mean that your present sorrows are to be denied or minimized, including all the monkey wrenches that this past year has thrown at us and our society and really the whole globe. But even if the happiest of happy endings is not yet, it does mean that you can and must Rejoice. Rejoicing in the here and now, in the midst of such things. Though it might have to be done through your tears. That's where Ruth chapter 4 is going with more of it on the horizon as we look to its grand finale this evening. Jesus is alive. Risen from the dead, victorious. and exalted and having dominion, so that we can echo Job chapter 19 and say with him, I know that my Redeemer lives. So we can't help but rehearse these things and sing of His mighty deeds, worshiping and adoring Him as part and parcel of our testimony to our contemporaries, our fellow sinners, our neighbors, with the festivities, of course, not to be rigidly limited to December, but with the glad praises and shouts to ring out and the Word of Christ to be proclaimed and spread at all times and in every place, too. Amen. Let's pray.