Jesus in Ruth
June 30, 2022
Because He Loved Us
The romance of Ruth and Boaz is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible.
It’s a real romance—complete with an honorable warrior who fights for the hand of a beautiful woman from Moab who has humbled herself to care for her poverty-stricken mother-in-law. Boaz moves heaven and earth to get the right to marry Ruth—and in their story we see a picture of Jesus’ love for us and the provision He makes as our Kinsman–Redeemer.
That kinsman–redeemer (in Hebrew, goel) is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is our Kinsman–Redeemer who pays a price so that the one who is redeemed may get off scot free. The only biblical example of a kinsman–redeemer is Boaz. It reveals the love side of redemption. Boaz doesn't have to act in that capacity; there was another who was actually a nearer relative to Ruth than Boaz, but he didn’t care about her. But Boaz loved her. I think he looked like a dying calf in a thunderstorm. That made all the difference.
Now God didn't have to redeem us. We were lost sinners. If He did not redeem us, He could still be a just and holy God. But He loved us. You see, salvation by redemption is a love story.
And now we have it told here in simple language illustrated by this little foreign girl from Moab and Boaz in the land of Israel.