Ruth: Christ as Our Redeemer

When's the last time you cracked open the book of Ruth? Honestly, I think last week [in the deer stand] may have been my first time ever, at least devotionally. Nevertheless, let us take a look this morning at the book of Ruth, and find how it points to Christ as Our Redeemer.

Before we begin our discussion, let us take a moment to point out how all of the Bible points to Christ. This idea may perhaps seem foreign to some of us, but it ought not to. Jesus is the center of biblical interpretation, as testified by these verses (and many more):

John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me [Jesus]."

Luke 24:27 "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

Thus, when we approach scripture, we never have to ask ourselves what the main point is, because later biblical revelation tells us that the main point of all scripture is Christ.*

In the book of Ruth, we find a man by the name of Boaz who (depending on your translation) is referred to as the "closest relative," "kinsman," or "redeemer." The idea carried forth by these words is that he was capable of redeeming the line of Naomi after her husband and sons had died. Under levitical law, a close relative of a man who died before his wife had any sons was able to redeem his dead relative's line by marrying his relative's wife and lying with her (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10). In the story of Ruth, this is what we see Boaz doing. Although Naomi had no hope of having her family line continue, Boaz was willing to be loyal to his family and redeem the family by marrying Ruth and producing offspring with her.

In this story, we see Boaz as a Christ-figure who was a redeemer. Just as Boaz was Naomi's relative who redeemed her, so was Christ our brother who redeemed us. Just as Boaz was Ruth's only hope of redemption, so Christ was our only hope of redemption. Just as Boaz dealt with Ruth kindly although she was not one of her servants (Ruth 2:13), so Christ dealt with us kindly though we were sinners.

So, from this story we get a great picture of what it looks like for Christ to be our redeemer. To redeem is to bring hope where there is no hope, to provide a solution when there is no solution, and to re-deem (or deem again) those who are deemed a hopeless fate. This is what Boaz did for Christ, and it is what in a much greater sense what Christ did for us. How can you worship the Lord in the light of his redemption today?

*This direct statement was said in one of the hundreds of books I've read for college, and I have absolutely no clue which one. The point is that the statement is not mine. / This way of looking at scripture is referred to as Christological or Christotelic interpretation, and it surely ought to be the way we look at the entirety of the Bible. If you're looking for a good example of it, listen to any sermon by Tim Keller (https://gospelinlife.com/free-sermon-resource/)