Ruth 4:1  Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.
2  And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
3  And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:
4  And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
5  Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
6  And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.

Boaz did not hesitate to keep his word. Again we see the nature of an honourable person; they keep their word. Boaz understood the need to get this matter dealt with. There was no Biblical command as to how quickly the next of kin needed to step in and marry the widow. Naomi was anxious about this. Boaz obviously was interested in settling this matter as well. An honourable person does not want to leave necessary business undone.
Boaz went to the city gate where business was conducted and waited for the nearer kinsman to arrive. There must have been some knowledge of the activities of this man. It did not take long for this nearer kinsman to come by. Boaz called him to come and sit down by him. The kinsman did as he was asked.
In verse 2 Boaz followed Biblical law, and called ten men of the elders of the city to come and witness the event that was about to unfold. It was important to have witnesses to make sure things were done decently and in order.
In verse 3 Boaz began to lay out the situation for this nearer kinsman. He began with the matters that were not likely to cause any problems for this man. He probably knew about Naomi’s recent ventures and Boaz was simply informing him of what was taking place there. Apparently Naomi was selling a parcel of land that she had. Boaz reminded the kinsman that this land belonged to their brother Elimelech.
Boaz did not hesitate to tell this nearer kinsman of the current situation. This is the way an honourable person operates. An honourable person does not need to be a schemer to make sure he gets something he wants. He can trust the LORD to look after things. He makes the facts known and trusts the LORD to take care of the details.
Boaz notified the near kinsman of the fact that Naomi’s land was for sale. He also let him know that if he was not able to redeem the land, then Boaz was willing to look after the matter. Boaz also notified this kinsman that he was the nearest kinsman and Boaz was the next and beside the two of them, there was none to redeem the land.
With the facts given to this point, the nearer kinsman was willing to purchase the land. He obviously had the financial means to look after this transaction. In verse 5 Boaz added a little more detail to the matter. He stated that with the purchase of that land came the responsibility to purchase the land from Ruth the Moabitess whose husband was dead and the purchaser of that land would then also need to marry Ruth to raise up a name for the dead. God protected the land from being swallowed up by some rich person who wanted to control large portions of land. The land needed to remain in the tribe and in the family of the tribe.
God’s design for land ownership is much more beneficial for all than the large corporate farms we have today. It is sad that so many farmers have sold their land to these large organizations and the homesteads are bulldozed out of the way so that the big farmer can maneuver his larger equipment around. Farming used to be more than just a money-making venture. It used to be a way of life. It is a good way of life for those who are called to be farmers. It can be hard work during certain times of the year, but it is also a good life.
This last information made it so that this other kinsman could not redeem the land. He stated that it would mar his own inheritance. We are not told what that marring involved, but there was something there that kept this man from being to follow through on the requirements of being the redeemer there. Thus he gave up his right to purchase the land and take care of the human factors as well. This opened the way for Boaz to take over and redeem the land and meet the other conditions as well.
We see here that there was not a lot of red tape to cut through to get a deal done. God’s ways are not complicated. They are set up so that there could be a truly just society where fairness ruled the day. It was not a welfare state. It was also not conducive to greedy actions. God made it so that all could have the opportunity to live and function in a productive manner.
In our area there are some larger farmers who are not satisfied with the amount of land they currently own. They want more and in recent years there has been animosity expressed because one farmer got some land that the other farmer wanted. The seller of the land chose whom he wanted to sell to and that has caused hard feelings. Both of those larger farmers have access to more money than a young person who would want to start to farm. The young person who would like to farm is being squeezed out as the big farmers continue to get bigger.
God set up a way for the nation of Israel to grow numerically on a relatively small parcel of land which He promised to Abraham. God knew what He was doing and He knew that the people of Israel could do well on that parcel of ground. They would not have a large land mass like Canada or the U.S. has but they would do well in that land if they would submit to God’s authority over them.
That was their problem then and it is still their problem today. There are many Jews who have chosen to remain outside of the land that God promised to Abraham. God is consistently moving them back to their homeland through the antisemitism that is taking place in many countries. The Jews will eventually all move back to their land, and the Muslims will not occupy any of the land that was promised to Abraham. God will look after the details of this in His timing.
As we see in our account, there were people of that time who walked in the fear of the LORD and they conducted their affairs in line with God’s will.
Boaz was not finished here yet, but God’s plan was moving forward according to His purposes. Boaz was not a passive participant here. He did his part. He took the matter up before the elders and he trusted God to work things out for His glory. Honourable people have plans and desires. However, honourable people do not allow their own plans and desires to override God’s plans. A good testimony is important. People may want to speak evil of you, but it is important to be careful that their evil speaking is not truth. Jesus was often attacked and the false teachers tried to make Him look bad. They never had a true accusation. At His trial, they could not accuse Him of any sin. They found Him guilty of speaking the truth. They did not like the truth and that condemned them. Jesus Christ went to the cross to provide the only means for anyone to be forgiven and saved. His shed blood was necessary for our salvation. It was necessary for those who condemned Him as well. We do not know if any of those people were later saved or not.
God’s laws in the Old Testament were good for the practical living of the people. However, they were also good for showing the Jews and Gentiles of the need for a kinsman to redeem us from the curse of sin. God shows us that there is only One Who can redeem us. The near kinsman had the money to purchase the land, but he could not fulfil the need to marry Ruth.
Only Jesus Christ can provide the necessary means for man to be forgiven and saved. The Bible speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb. Only those who are redeemed through the Blood of the Lamb will be at that supper. That is a supper that all would want to be at but many will not be there because they chose to reject God’s provision for salvation. Be sure you do not miss that opportunity.
Pastor Bartel