YEAR 2, WEEK 29, Day 1, Monday, 14 July 2025

https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Ruth+4

Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 14 July 2025:

Ruth 4:1–2 — Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

Boaz goes to the city gate—the public square of legal transactions in ancient Israel—to resolve the matter of redemption. His actions are deliberate and full of integrity. He does not manipulate behind the scenes or act rashly. Boaz involves witnesses, follows lawful process, and deals openly. This is a picture of righteousness lived out in the public square. The believer’s faith is not just private; it must be credible and honorable before men.

• Matthew 5:16 — “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Ruth 4:3–6 — Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi… is selling the parcel of land… So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it…”’ Then the redeemer said, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field… you also acquire Ruth… to perpetuate the name of the dead.” Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance.”

Initially, the nearer kinsman is eager—until he learns that redemption comes with responsibility. It isn’t just about acquiring land; it’s about preserving someone else’s name, legacy, and family. This changes everything. The cost is too great for him, so he steps aside. This moment reminds us of the true cost of redemption—one that only a Redeemer like Jesus was willing to bear.

• Philippians 2:6–7 — [Christ], though he was in the form of God… made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant….
• Hebrews 12:2 — …for the joy that was set before him endured the cross….

Ruth 4:7–10 — Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech… and Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead….”

Boaz officially and publicly becomes Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer. He doesn’t simply claim her privately or in secrecy — he restores her publicly and restores honor to the family name. The people bear witness to this covenantal act. This is a shadow of what Christ has done for us. He redeemed us not in secret but through a public cross, a pierced body, a risen Savior. Jesus bore our shame and gave us His name. Our faith is a very personal matter proclaimed and lived out in a very public way.

• Isaiah 43:1 — “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
• Ephesians 1:5 — He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.
• Mark 8:38 – “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Ruth 4:10 – Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.

“Naomi was going to sell Elimelech’s property, presumably to raise funds to care for herself, and the right of first refusal to purchase fell to the potential redeemer whom Boaz identified to Ruth. Initially, the unnamed redeemer was eager to get the land, but when he found out that it required marrying Ruth and siring an heir for Elimelech and Naomi, he refused because he did not want to impair his existing inheritance (vv. 1–6). The man knew that his own family’s property could be transferred to the son he would have with Ruth in the event that his existing heir died. His clan would therefore die out, for the son with Ruth would not be reckoned as the son of the unnamed redeemer but as the son of Naomi and Elimelech. He was more concerned with perpetuating his own name and the name of his family than with fulfilling his redemptive duty. But there is irony here. The name of the closer redeemer is not perpetuated, for the text of Ruth never identifies him. He sought to have his name remembered, but he was forgotten, yet the name remembered was that of Boaz, who cared more for the name of Elimelech than for his own name and did not worry about being forgotten (vv. 7–22).

Boaz redeemed Elimelech’s line by marrying Ruth and pledging to raise up an heir for Elimelech. And the people at the gate were so overwhelmed by his selflessness that they asked God to make Boaz and Ruth like the patriarchs and matriarchs of Israel (vv. 7–12).

Boaz is a preeminent example of selflessness, willing to risk the loss of his own name so that he could make sure that the name and line of his relative Elimelech would not pass away. This kind of selflessness in which we put others ahead of ourselves is a character trait toward which all believers must strive. Let us seek ways to be selfless this day, asking the Lord to help us put others first.” (Ligonier Ministries)

• Matthew 16:25 — For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
• Isaiah 56:4-5 — For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Ruth 4:11–12 — Then all the people… said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah….”

The people recognize the significance of Ruth’s inclusion into the covenant community. A Moabite widow becomes the mother of a royal line. Ruth is no longer an outsider. This moment prefigures the inclusion of Gentiles into the promises of God, not as strangers, but as full participants in the family of faith.

• Ephesians 2:19 — So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Ruth 4:13–15 — So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife… and she bore a son…. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord… He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age….”

God not only restored Ruth’s life but redeemed Naomi’s bitterness with joy. The one who once said, “Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20), is now holding a child of promise. The baby is not only Ruth’s blessing, but a balm to Naomi’s grief. This is the nature of God’s redemption—He not only saves, He restores and renews.

• Joel 2:25 — “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten….”
• Psalm 30:5 — “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Ruth 4:16–17 — Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse…. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The book closes with the birth of Obed, a baby who will grow to become the grandfather of King David. This seemingly small domestic story—of a widowed Moabite, a faithful man, and a grieving mother-in-law—turns out to be part of God’s cosmic plan of redemption. Ruth’s faithfulness in private becomes part of God’s public salvation story. Small acts of faith are used by God in miraculous, unimaginable ways —

• Matthew 1:5–6 — …and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
• Revelation 5:5 — Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered….
• Matthew 17:20 — He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
• Zechariah 4:10 — For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.”

Ruth 4:17 – “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Christ the King came through Ruth’s line. A Gentile woman who once stood outside the covenant becomes an ancestor of the Messiah. God used the humblest of people and foreigners to raise the lineage of Jesus. Naomi and Ruth certainly could never imagine that God would use them in such an important way just as we cannot possibly imagine how God is using us for eternal purposes. What can do with just one faithful person? What can God do with your faithfulness?

• 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 — For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 14 July 2025: Practice faithful integrity like Boaz. Show covenantal love like Ruth. Trust God’s providence like Naomi. Today, remember that redemption is costly but beautiful. Jesus is our true Redeemer — He did not shrink back from the cross but embraced it to give you His name and inheritance. Now live as one who belongs to the household of God. Don’t underestimate the impact of faithful, unseen obedience — God may be writing a bigger story than you can imagine. Take one action today to act with redeeming love: speak truthfully, restore someone’s dignity, offer help to the overlooked, or lead with faith even when others retreat. Be a picture of Christ’s redemption in someone’s life.

Pray: “Lord, thank You for being my Redeemer—for paying the price and restoring my name, my hope, and my place in Your family. Help me to reflect Your redeeming love in how I treat others. Like Boaz, make me faithful. Like Ruth, make me loyal. Like Naomi, teach me to rejoice again in Your mercy. Use my life, even the hidden pieces, to tell Your greater story. In Jesus’ name, amen.”