Fields of Grace: Ruth and the Redeemer
"Then Boaz said, 'The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.' ...So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife." — Ruth 4:9–10 (ESV)
Have you ever felt like an outsider? Ruth did.
As a Moabite widow in Israel not only is she a foreigner by birth, she is a woman without a husband in a world that measured worth by both. Deuteronomy 23:3 specifically excluded Moabites from the assembly of Israel. This means she had no legal standing, no ethnic claim, no basis for belonging. She came with nothing but loyalty to a grieving mother-in-law and the resolute decision to stay.
And yet, she ends up in the genealogy of the Messiah.
The Kinsman-Redeemer
The book of Ruth is set during the time of the judges , one of the darkest seasons in Israel's history. Repeatedly, the inspired author tells us it was a time when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”
It is against this backdrop that both Ruth and Boaz shine like light in the darkness. It is not primarily a love story, and it is not primarily a story about Ruth's remarkable loyalty. Rather, it is really a story about a redeemer: what he is required to be, what he chooses to do, and what it costs him. As much as Ruth exemplifies many praiseworthy traits, the story is actually about the humble Boaz.
The goel — often translated as the “kinsman-redeemer” — was a specific role in Israelite law. Leviticus 25 established that when a family member lost their land to poverty, a close relative had the right and responsibility to buy it back.
Deuteronomy 25 extended this to widows — a relative could marry a deceased man's widow to preserve the family name and inheritance. The kinsman-redeemer had to meet three requirements: he had to be a close relative, he had to be able to pay the price, and he had to be willing.
Boaz meets all three. But as things are looking promising for Ruth, he tells her something she didn’t know: there is a closer relative with first claim (Ruth 3:12). Boaz was not legally first in line.
Still, he went to the gate — the place of public legal transaction — and arranged to take on what he was not required to take on. While the first kinsman-redeemer was eager to take the land, he was not so eager to marry Ruth. That was a price he was not willing to pay.
But Boaz was. He paid a price that was not demanded of him. He sacrificed his comfortable life and his reputation, to love an outsider and welcome her into his life and home. He committed to care for her, though he was not obligated to do so.
Christ, Our Kinsman-Redeemer
This is not a love story. This is a gospel story. Can you see Jesus?
Like Jesus:
Boaz makes his commitment to Ruth before she has done anything further to earn it (Ruth 3:13). Christ's commitment to redeem us precedes our response entirely.
Boaz goes to the gate willingly to secure the redemption publicly (Ruth 4:1). Hebrews 13:12 tells us Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify His people. Both go to the place of transaction, and both go willingly.
Boaz pays the full price to acquire Ruth and restore what Naomi had lost (Ruth 4:9–10). First Peter 1:18–19 tells us we were redeemed not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ.
In God’s providence, Boaz is not merely a picture of the Redeemer. He is in the direct bloodline that produces Him. Matthew 1 places Boaz and Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The kinsman-redeemer and the foreign gleaner become the great-great-grandparents of King David, and ancestors of the one who would be called the Son of David. God was not illustrating the gospel with their story. He was building it.
Nancy Guthrie, in her Bible study, The Son of David, captures what this means for us:
As the penniless foreigner Ruth cast herself at Boaz's feet, so we, alienated from God, unworthy and needy, cast ourselves at the feet of Jesus. As she was dependent on the kindness and mercy of Boaz, so we have no hope other than the mercy of God. We need to be brought under the covering of the one who can provide peace and security. We need a bridegroom with integrity who will take us to himself.
Ephesians 2:12–13 identifies us with Ruth. Like her, we were strangers to the covenant, foreigners to the promises, without hope. Yet, like her, we have been brought near — not by our own claim, not by our heritage, not by anything we can offer, but by the blood of Christ.
What Boaz illustrated with his life, Jesus filled out through His. He is the God who seeks out sinners and pays the price for our redemption. He sets us free from slavery to sin so that we might fellowship with God. As one who is like us—a kinsman—He has freely and willingly offered to pay the price so that we might be His bride, the church.
This is how outsiders are welcomed in. Not by our qualifications, gifts, or heritage. Not by proving your worth or keeping the law or how many people “like” or “friend” you. We need bring nothing.
What we do bring is our need. Our helplessness. Our desperation. Our trust. We bring ourselves and cast ourselves at His feet, knowing that He has already gone to the gate. He has paid the price. We are His.
And He has committed to us for all eternity.
