Word Live: A Crowd Of Witnesses
Have you ever witnessed something spectacular? A royal visit perhaps, or a sporting final? And how many times have you relived that moment?! Thank God for your happy memories.
Bible passage
Ruth 4:1–12
Boaz marries Ruth
4 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, ‘Come over here, my friend, and sit down.’ So he went over and sat down.
2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, ‘Sit here,’ and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, ‘Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.’
‘I will redeem it,’ he said.
5 Then Boaz said, ‘On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.’
6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, ‘Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.’
7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalising transactions in Israel.)
8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, ‘Buy it yourself.’ And he removed his sandal.
9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his home town. Today you are witnesses!’
11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
The action is hotting up. Along comes the ‘baddie’, the kinsman who could carry Ruth off (v 1). He was happy enough to buy the field, but not so happy when he realises it comes with a widow attached (vs 5,6). We hold our breath. But all is well!
We are drawn into this scene as we learn so much more of the customs of the time. The rights and responsibilities of families (v 6), how business was done (v 7), the importance of fertility (vs 11,12).
Boaz prepares himself well for his meeting. He must have suspected that the unnamed kinsman wouldn’t want to risk his own family’s inheritance by bringing some unknown widow into the picture. Waiting in the wings are the ten elders who will be witnesses (vs 9,10).
It wasn’t only the elders that witnessed the transaction, but a lot of very happy, willing to be involved, clued-up bystanders (vs 11,12) who would doubtless be talking about it all long after. Just how we need to be when we bear witness to Jesus in our lives.
Author
Liz Pacey
Respond
We might not be called on to witness transactions like this, but we have a duty to be trustworthy, uphold laws and promote justice. Thank God for our legal system and pray for all who serve in it.
Deeper Bible study
‘Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go’.1
Do you find this passage frustrating? I do! The women are shackled by culture and convention: Naomi is unable to act to redeem her family’s inheritance; Ruth is described as property to be acquired along with land (vs 5,10). A guardian-redeemer needs to step in to help them as required by Mosaic Law. The two prospective guardian-redeemers initially only discuss property, although their role was to act for the blessing of the needy family, not themselves. What God intended for good has become a way to acquire land and wealth. When the other man – who, interestingly, isn’t even named – realises that he will be obliged to accept new family obligations as well as land, he refuses to act. Boaz then shows his true character and intentions: he is happy to fulfil the Law. He is happy not only to redeem the land but also the women from their precarious situation and Elimelek’s family name, even at the expense of his own family line.
This passage finishes with what seems like a traditional blessing for Boaz; the elders ask the Lord to bless Boaz with children through ‘this young woman’ (vs 11,12). Boaz, however, has shown that he values Ruth as more than someone who can bear him children. He values Ruth’s godly character and has seen what a blessing Ruth is to her mother-in-law. Most importantly, he is a God-fearing man, who knows how God expects his people to behave in the light of God’s own character. Like Boaz, we need to be prepared to honour the Lord, rather than make decisions based purely on what we think is good for us. As the psalmist wrote, ‘Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.’2
Pray for yourself and your loved ones, that you may honour and obey God in your relationships and decision-making today.
Author
Katharine McPhail
