Gleanings from the Book of Ruth.
The Book of Ruth is supposed to have been written in the reign of her great-grandson, perhaps by his own pen. It is a beautifully interesting story. As a fragment of history, it is connected with the birth of David and of David's Lord. As a record of God's providence, it shows how "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
The two chief personages in this Book, the hero and heroine of the narrative, are Boaz, the near kinsman of Naomi, "the mighty man of wealth" in Bethlehem, and Ruth, the Moabitess, the stranger and foreigner, who left her own people and her father's false gods, and came to put her trust beneath the shadow of Jehovah's wings.
We will look at the hero first, because, though the Book is called by Ruth's name, all her honour was derived from her connection with Israel, the chosen nation, to which Boaz naturally belonged, and because, as we think of his riches, his faithfulness, and his kindness, we cannot help exclaiming, "Surely a Greater than Boaz is here!" He was the near kinsman of Naomi's husband, and the same Hebrew word is called "redeemer" (Job xix. 25). And how often we speak of Jesus as "the Redeemer," who "gave Himself a Ransom for many." The ancient "goel," or "near kinsman," had many important rights and responsibilities. Abraham was nearly related to Lot, and when the latter was taken prisoner, his uncle took all his servants with him and went to the rescue, because he was his near kinsman, and he redeemed him by conquest, through the help of God, in whom he trusted (Gen. xiv.).
If a man of Israel died, leaving no children to take his property, his "near kinsman," if unmarried, was expected to marry the widow, and the children that they might have afterwards were to be called by the name and take the lands of the first husband.
If a Hebrew became poor, and sold his land—or, still worse, sold himself for a slave—his kinsman was expected to redeem him and his possessions if he could (Lev. xxv. 25, 47-49).
Thus Boaz, as Naomi's kinsman, redeemed her inheritance, and married the childless widow of her son Chilion, the woman who was no longer to be called a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-subject of Israel's God and King.
So Jesus—who redeemed His Church, His bride, His people, and secured to them the rich inheritance they had lost by sin—was, and is, the Near Kinsman of His beloved ones. They were, and always will be, "a people near unto Him" (Psa. cxlviii. 14). His own kindred He called them when He came to redeem them (Matt. xii. 50). His Father loved them, and He loved them also, and the kindness of God the Saviour was shown when He came down from heaven for their sakes. "Kindness!" Sweet word! It means the act of a kinsman, and God's kindness is "loving-kindness," the sweetest description we can possibly have of the tender pity and grace of the Lord.
But the kindness shown by Boaz was only a dim shadow of the love of the "Great Redeemer from above." He did not make much sacrifice apparently when he purchased Naomi's inheritance and made Ruth his wife, but "ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."
And more, far more, than this—He suffered scorn, and shame, and death itself—the bitterest of deaths. He gave Himself—He laid down the life that was so dear to Himself, so precious to His Father—that He might redeem, buy them back to God by His blood. He endured their punishment, He paid their debts, and then, since Satan had made them his slaves, like Abraham, Jesus fought for His kindred, only He fought alone. He conquered the strong one, and set the captives free, and Satan still must yield up his prey at Christ's command. The Redeemer ever proves Himself "mighty to save" those for whom He died.