It says in the bulletin that the scripture reading this evening is taken from Ruth 4, and that is true, but I do want to also, before I read Ruth chapter 4, read a significant passage in Deuteronomy 25, beginning at verse 5 through 10. That's on page 166 in the Pew Bibles. Deuteronomy 25 verses five through 10. You can't understand, as we'll see this evening, what takes place in Ruth chapter four when Boaz, a man after God's own heart, a stalwart covenant man, plays the role of kinsman redeemer toward Elimelech's widowed mother-in-law and widow Ruth. called the Law of Leveret Marriage, for those of you who like to know these things. And we read about that law in Deuteronomy 25 at verse 5. And that will be our first reading. Listen to this word the Lord speaks to us. If brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, The wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go into her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, my husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me. Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, I do not wish to take her, Then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his feet, his foot, and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, so shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house. And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, the house of him who had his sandal pulled off. That's our first reading. Now, Ruth chapter four, the primary reading. Ruth chapter four, that's on page 224 in the Pew Bibles. Again, let us listen, and as we listen carefully, I trust, remember the provision in God's law for the nearest kinsman, brother-in-law, toward his brother's widowed wife without a son. Ruth chapter 4, let us listen to God's word. 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 10 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 by 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, that is Boaz, 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 in 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 his 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 Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Malan. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Malan, I have bought to be my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead in 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 this 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. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, Naomi, blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned in Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.' Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed, which means servant. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered Nashon. Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered David. So far our reading of God's word. May God add his blessing. to the reading of His Word. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we jump right into the book of Ruth together this evening. In fact, we start at the end rather than at the beginning. and it's quite possible that you're a little confused unless you're rather familiar with the provision in the holy law of God for the obligation of a family member to rescue a widowed woman in Israel from the distressing circumstance of losing the name of her husband and his and her family together with their inheritance among God's people and in the Lord should they fail to be redeemed by the provision of a kinsman redeemer. Now, you know, of course, there's somewhere obvious that we can begin tonight, and that is redemption. The story of the book of Ruth, the whole story given us in the Word of God, Your story and my story is a story of what? Redemption. We talked and sang already this evening about Christ, our Redeemer. Well, in the biblical sense of the term Redeemer, it's not just a broad, generic way of saying He saves us. A Redeemer is someone who pays a price. and not a little bitty price, but a great price to purchase the release of a prisoner, to secure the inheritance of one who would otherwise be dispossessed, and to ensure that your name and place among God's people is never lost. You are on the registry because you have a Redeemer. And brothers and sisters, the whole of the Old Testament, as Calvin so nicely put it, is nothing but, and that's not a small thing when I say nothing but, nothing but a preparation for the coming of the Christ who is your and my Redeemer. And so we're reading tonight part of the story of the coming to us of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now for you young people and Sunday school students, I don't know whether you noticed those generations, that genealogy, very uninteresting to most of us at the end of the book of Ruth. Where else do you find those verses in the Bible? There's the Bible trivia test. In chapter 1, the first words out of the evangelist Matthew's mouth as it pertains to the coming of the Lord Jesus, whose name means he will save his people from their sins, those verses are in chapter 1 of Matthew, because Boaz is a great, great, great, however many greats, grandfather of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the flesh, and Ruth, imagine that, a Moabitess, from a people with whom God's people were to have nothing to do because of their sinful history, his great, great, great, however many greats, grandmother, according to the flesh, is none other than Ruth. This is the story of the coming in preparation for, at the end of a long season of preparation, the kinsman redeemer. Now to sort that all out we need to look at three things. And before we look at those three things we have to talk a little bit about this provision in God's law pertaining to the obligation of a near kinsman to redeem a wife, or a mother in Israel in danger of losing her name place and her inheritance among the people of God. I have three points. It basically follows the tale as it's told us in chapter four. Redemption refused, there's a fellow we're gonna meet who has no name, he's a nobody, not to be remembered among God's people. who refused to play the role of a kinsman-redeemer, who was a nearer kinsman than Boaz. That's the first thing. The second thing is we read of how Boaz, who was a man of stature in Israel, wealthy, but a godly man who knew the covenant-keeping God and of his kindness toward his people and exhibits that kind of kindness in his willingness to accept the responsibility of taking Ruth as his wife and playing the part of a kinsman redeemer. And then lastly, we'll see how that is confirmed. In the joyful celebration of the women of the town of Bethlehem, note well the house of bread Remember, there was and there is a Redeemer who was born in Bethlehem. Now, a little bit about this provision in the holy law of God. We sometimes think of the law of God as a lot of dos and don'ts. Do this, don't do that. It's negative. We know, of course, that no one can be saved by doing what the law requires, but one of the things about the law is God shows himself in his law. He tells us through his law what kind of God he is. So it's not accidental that God had provided in his law for a means to redeem. Now there are a variety of forms of redemption. You can secure the restoration of land that was lost in the year of Jubilee. You can secure the release of a person who has become a slave in Israel in the restoration of their inheritance. There are a variety of forms of redemption, but most significantly, what happens in the case of a widow in Israel of whatever tribe married to whomever was her husband, in terms of her husband's name on the registry and his descendants after him retaining their inheritance in the Lord among the people of God if she is widowed with no son. Now that's precisely the circumstance that we find in the book of Ruth that brought us to chapter four. The story starts out by telling us, ironically, in Bethlehem, there was a man of the tribe of Judah from Ephrathah, Elimelech, whose name means, my God is king. So what's he doing going to Moab from the house of bread in a season of famine with his two sons and his wife, Naomi? Not a good idea. It's disobedient. Israel is to have nothing to do with Moabites. You can read about that in Genesis 19 and elsewhere. Well, does it go well for them in Moab? Well, the two sons take for themselves wives. We only find out which son was married to Ruth in the fourth chapter. But in any case, it doesn't go well for them in Moab. As a matter of fact, Elimelech dies as well as his and Naomi's two sons. All they have are two Moabite women, Orpah, not Oprah, Orpah and Ruth. And you know the story. She hears report, the Lord has shown favor in Bethlehem, there's bread upon the table, time to return home. And it's a story of conversion. That's the word that's used repeatedly in chapter one. A return to the Lord and to his people from a wayward path in a far country. And so upon their return, Naomi, whose name means Plentiful, beautiful, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. On her way back, she says, entreats her two daughter-in-laws, she knows there'll not be a catch for a young man in Israel. Of all people, you're dating a Moabite. We have nothing to do with Moabites in Israel. She begs them to go back, amazingly, to their country and to their gods. Or Padas. Ruth says, no. Now this wasn't intended to be a wedding text, but what does she say? Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. Where you lodge, I will lodge. And when Naomi comes back to the village, the little town of Bethlehem, the women of the town see a haggard looking, downcast, a widow by the name of Naomi, and they say, could this possibly be Naomi, for whom the lions has fallen in pleasant places? Maybe she didn't look like she had prospered in Moab. What does Naomi say? Don't call me Naomi, pleasantness. Call me rather Mara. which means bitter. I went away full. I've come back empty-handed. And the first chapter of the book ends in a state of irresolution, and the remainder of the book is gonna prove Naomi wrong. With the Lord's people, it never goes from fullness to emptiness. You know very, very well that with us in Christ, it goes from emptiness to fullness. The lines fall for us in pleasant places. Now, in the two intervening chapters that I'll leapfrog over, it just so happens The happenstance happened, it says in chapter 2. Lo and behold, Ruth goes out into the field as a widow on behalf of her mother-in-law to thrash the grain on the fringe of the field and provide for her. And guess who owns the field? The happenstance happens, as the author of the book of Ruth. He wants you to know God is orchestrating down to the tiniest detail. There are no accidents. Everything is within the tapestry of his wonder-working power and grace in realizing his purposes. Because guess what? When Naomi comes back satisfied from the threshing grain and tells her mother-in-law Naomi what happened, Naomi said, a bell rings in her head, Boaz, he's a kinsman, a near relative of ours. And then she cooks up this scheme, we read about that in chapter three, a very odd proposal, a little bit on the edge. You can go in the cover of darkness dressed in the finest clothes with a little perfume and lay at Boaz's feet while he lies naked in the threshing floor. And he wakes up in the middle of the night and says, well, who is this? And he says, it's Naomi. It's Ruth, rather. And what does Boaz do? Doesn't take advantage. He plays the part of a stellar, law-abiding, son of the covenant. He protects Ruth, provides for her richly, tells her at the end of chapter three, I'm prepared to play the role of kinsman redeemer, Ruth, but there's someone, a near relative. And there we find ourselves at the beginning of chapter four. Boaz recognizes that there is someone who is closer in line than himself who needs to purchase the property of Elimelech, Naomi's deceased husband, together with her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess, in order for her, both of the hers, Naomi and her daughter-in-law, the name of their husband and father-in-law and the inheritance that is theirs among God's people to be preserved. So he gathers 10 elders, you need 10 elders to be witnesses to the transaction. And when the near kinsmen, we're not really given any details as to how close the relationship was, we just know the first Redeemer kinsmen candidate was closer in line, near relative than Boaz. And this cheeky fellow, He initially acts like, well, I'd be happy to take on the acquiring of the land of Elimelech, purchasing it from his widow, Naomi. I'm ready to do that. Ah, but says Boaz, you know, of course, that the law of God provides for the acquiring, in this case, of through Ruth, his daughter-in-law, who has no child, no son, together with her mother-in-law, Naomi, no future by way of descendants among my people. So if you purchase the land, it will do neither of them any good, and it will not secure what the law of redemption requires. It's a selfless act for the benefit of a brother in the community and family of God. Oh boy, he says, if that's the case, that's more than I bargained for. It's not going to be good for my business. I was really only interested in my business and increasing my real estate holdings. You mean I got to take Ruth as my wife? I don't want to do that. And you know, the author under inspiration is very deliberate. Tells you everyone's name if it's worth remembering. But when it comes to this fellow, he hasn't a name. He's not memorialized among God's people. He's not remembered by name in Hudsonville, Michigan on this December 14, 2025, in the run up to Christmas. But he's celebrated among us. No, I'm sorry, he's not celebrated enough. Boaz is celebrated among us. This fellow disappears. He's the sort of fellow, if you remember the reading from Deuteronomy 25, the widow in question, whether it be Naomi or particularly Ruth, could have taken what? Her sandal. and gone to the man and thrown it in his face and put out a sign in front of his door. This is the house of the unsandled, the scandalous, unwilling to play role of kinsman redeemer so and so. By the way, you remember President Bush some years ago throwing sandals at him in the Middle East? It's still apparently a custom in the Middle East, a sign of contempt. They threw sandals at the toppled statue of Hussein in Iraq, you may remember. Well, so there's the refusal. What about Boaz? Boaz has nothing to gain. but a little bit to lose, it's gonna cost him something. He's gonna have to marry. I mean, this Boaz guy could have married anyone in Israel who was eligible. He's a man of means, he's a man of stature, he's the first nominee for the office of elder at the annual nominations process. This guy is, he's all it, nothing to gain. He says, I'll do it. I'll buy the land and I'll secure Ruth as my wife for the sole purpose of perpetuating the name of the dead in 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. Now is that a little bit of a picture of someone you know? A greater kinsman redeemer who didn't have a lot to gain but was willing to lose much to pay a very high price at great cost to himself. And by the way, even to become your kinsmen. The author of Hebrews says in chapter two and five, that the same son of God of whom we spoke this morning, who was not ashamed to call the likes of you and me his brothers and his sisters, to identify with our family, as our brother according to the flesh, for the purpose of ensuring that we would have a name and a place in God's family, among his people, and that we would have an inheritance, not 80 acres of land, but in a new and better country that he would provide for us together with all for whom he makes provision and who through union with him are joint heirs with Christ of what? An inheritance. You know, in our world, people are very impressed if you've got a family name that's the Rockefellers or some big hoity-toity name like that. Maybe nowadays, Elon Musk. My last name is Musk. You can come up with whatever example you wish. You're one of those billionaires, you know, that people are talking about nowadays and they're really bad people. We don't want those billionaires out there, whomever they might be, however successful they might be. Think of what people do to make a name for themselves, to have a good name, to belong to an impressive family. To have a really impressive inheritance amounts to nothing. A piddly little thing, really. Compared to being a Christian, you have the name Christ written upon your You've been baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And you are in Christ by virtue of the high price He paid for your redemption, to purchase you for Himself. Everything that belongs to Him, He shares with his own. No finders, keepers, losers, weepers. No, what's mine is mine. What's thine is thine in the kingdom of God. So, we have a kinsman redeemer in Bethlehem greater than Boaz. A great, great, great grandson of Boaz, who had a very high price, did what was needed to have your name perpetuated and secured among God's people together with the appropriate inheritance that belongs to members of the family and it cannot be lost through death, through catastrophe, through any circumstance unanticipated. And so, brothers and sisters, notice how the chapter ends. Boaz marries Ruth. She conceives, by the Lord's grace and favor, and bears a son. And the women of the village help to name the son. He's called Servant. He's going to serve God's purposes. Himself a great, great grandfather of the servant of servants. the Lord Jesus Christ. And they say something rather remarkable about Naomi, this Moabitess wife of Boaz. She's better to you, sorry boys, than seven sons. Almost an instance of hyperbole. And you can see the women of the village who had seen Naomi just a little prior, haggard, bitter, empty. They dance a jig in the city street. They celebrate this wonderful thing that the Lord has done. He's become a restorer of life and a nourisher, Naomi, of you in your old age. For this daughter-in-law of yours, Ruth, by name loves you, who is more to you than seven sons has given birth to him. Brothers and sisters, you see here a little picture of the gospel, a little foretaste, anticipation of the coming of the true kinsman redeemer, whose name is Jesus, who is our brother, and we belong to his family. And he's never going to throw us out or let us go. No one will snatch them, not one of them, out of his hand. And he will stop at nothing, at great cost to himself, to give you everything that you truly need. Truly need. Praise be our Redeemer. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven help us to see in this story a little bit of what it was for your son to assume our flesh in order in our flesh to purchase our redemption. That he was willing to assume responsibility to secure our fullness our salvation at great cost to himself, that we might belong together with him in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit to God's covenant people. Hear our prayer, make us grateful, thankful this Christmas and always for our Redeemer. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.