True Love Is From Our Saving Redeemer
Deep Focus: When Boaz showed godly character as he took Ruth to be his wife. He showed commitment and patience toward both Ruth and Naomi. To redeem means to obtain the release or restoration of, such as from captivity, by paying a ransom. How do we see God in the book of Ruth?
I thought I needed to be perfect.
Perfectionist thinking had been engrained in me since childhood. I allowed it to define who I was as I got older, and when I was a newly married bride the pressure of perfection consumed me. I thought that for me to show love and be loved, I needed to be perfect. Mistakes were not allowed. The story of Ruth is filled with love from people as well as a special kind of love that God shows His people. While Ruth lost a husband, I gained one. I was enslaved to my perfectionism the same way Ruth was enslaved to her widowhood.
I struggled with my enslavement until I understood the true redeeming love of God. Ruth found this same redeeming love as she accepted God and His ways for her life instead of her pagan religion she was more accustomed to.
Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, were left destitute after the passing of both their husbands. When Naomi and Ruth returned to Judah from Moab, they lived in poverty. Naomi realizes the estate of her dead husband had been redeemed by Boaz, Ruth’s employer (Ruth 2:20; 4:16). When Naomi realizes this, she sees the opportunity they had to be saved (Ruth 3:1-2). Boaz was not only a man who could provide for them, but also was a man of kindness, gentleness, and compassion.
A kinsman redeemer is one who repurchases property that has been sold due to hardship. Naomi sees Boaz as not only the man to redeem her land but also the man to redeem Ruth by purchasing her along with his kinsman’s property (Ruth 2:20; 3:9-13; 4:6-14). But Boaz introduces a problem to Ruth she had not seen coming, he was not first in line (Ruth 3:12). There was another man who had to either accept the responsibility of being Ruth’s kinsman redeemer or decline the offer and allow the next relative in line the opportunity (Deuteronomy 25:15).
Boaz’s integrity was honorable. He gave the other man the first opportunity to act as Ruth’s kinsman redeemer, regardless of how much he wanted to take on this responsibility of taking her as his wife. Boaz swears an oath to Ruth that if this other man does not want to be her redeemer, he promises he will. Boaz says, “as the Lord lives,” he would take Ruth as his wife and breaking that oath would constitute blasphemy (Ruth 3:13).
God loves us just as Boaz loved Ruth, with patience, provision, wisdom, goodness, mercy, and graciousness. That redeeming love of God, once I understood it, helped me let go of my misguided perfectionism. God’s loyal love is no ordinary love; it’s there for all of us no matter our failures and imperfections. Hesed, the Hebrew word for this kind of love, is a stubborn, costly, sacrificial, voluntary love. It is the kind of love that made it possible for God to send His son to the cross as our Redeemer. As in Boaz’s and Ruth’s lives, God’s hesed has the power to transform our thinking and actions so we may respond in faithful love. Jesus gives us the ability to respond to Him and others in love that is faithful, committed, patient, and loyal.
Boaz made the loving choice to be Ruth’s redeemer and Jesus Christ made the choice to be our saving Redeemer. Just like Ruth needed only one man to be her kinsman redeemer, God’s people needed only Jesus Christ who was willing and able to redeem us.
Reflection Moment:
How is Jesus your saving Redeemer? How have you seen Jesus’ character as He has rescued you from your difficulties?
My Personal Reflection:
I was trying to please people instead of focusing on love and obedience to God. The more I saw His character and love, I began to recognize what true love is. God gifted me with the love of my husband and family here on earth, but it is not the same sacrificial love He has for us. In our imperfection, we will all disappoint those we love without meaning to. When I realized God’s love is the only love that will never disappoint, I was able to not only let loose of my perfectionism but also begin to find ways to deepen my love of family, friends…even myself.
More Moments About The Passage:
God’s kindness and loyal love is shown through Boaz as he responded to Ruth. Boaz showed honesty, commitment, patience, and compassion. The Holy Spirit places these characteristics in us which help us to focus on God’s will and purposes in our lives. Without the characteristics of God in us, we would only focus on the pain around us. The lavish love of God does not extinguish our pain, it makes us purposeful.
Naomi and Ruth’s pain was still there. They had suffered the loss of their family, were left destitute, homeless, hungry, and desperate for help. This suffering cannot be forgotten, but it can be turned into something extraordinary. When Ruth and Naomi fully relied on God to guide them, they were able to live out the life they were designed to live. God had a plan, and He was transforming Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi so that this plan could be fulfilled.
The Lord is our Redeemer and formed us in the womb. He created all things and stretched out the earth by Himself (Isaiah 44:24). God made us in His perfect image, and His perfect character establishes His people. As we trust God’s love, we can live out God’s will in our lives.