Trusting The Blindfold
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Naomi’s Hope
Naomi’s Hope
We finished off chapter 3 with Boaz giving Ruth 6 measures of Barley for her to take back to her mother.
When she returns home, she told Naomi all that had happened regarding Boaz and Naomi says to her… “wait my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest until the matter is settled.”
Naomi has a hope, one that may be unfounded at this point but it is a hope that Boaz will be honorable and redeem her and Ruth. That hope is a lifeline for them.
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
I think that God created hope as a way for us to anticipate. If we can hope in something, we are anticipating that it is going to happen. It creates an expectation, or a greater desire to see that thing come to fruition.
There was an old man sitting around the dinner table with some guests of his, and he was telling them about a town he knew of that was going to be flooded because of a new dam that was being built. There was no hope for a future in the town so a couple months before the flooding was to happen, all the renovations, yard maintenance, and house keeping just stopped. what’s the point in making a house and yard look good when it is going to cease to exist in a couple months. the houses and neighborhoods began to look more and more run down until it looked like a ghost town.
He said if there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.
Hope in what may come is powerful, it gives us something to grasp, to look foreward to, something that is better than the now. It’s something to be excited about.
Naomi has a hope, one that may be unfounded at this point but it is a hope that Boaz will be honorable and redeem her and Ruth. That hope is a lifeline for them.
The idea that Boaz would redeem Ruth and Naomi leads me to the topic of the Kinsman Redeemer. The word Kinsman usually refers to a blood relative based on Israel’s tribal nature.
In the case of an untimely death of a husband without a son, the law of levirate marriage becomes operative—that is, the husband’s brother was obligated to raise up a male descendant for his deceased brother, sometimes the obligation was to marry his widow and thus perpetuate the deceased’s name and inheritance. The living brother was the dead brother’s goʾel—his redeemer.
Thus the term Kinsman Redeemer.
So here we are in chapter 4 and Boaz has set up a meeting with the Kinsman redeemer of Naomi and the city elders present as witnesses. The meeting starts and Boaz jumps right to the point. He tells the Kinsman redeemer that Naomi’s land is needing someone to redeem it but if he doesn’t, then Boaz will take the responsibility.
Imagine yourself as the kinsman redeemer. You already have holdings and land for yourself but Naomi’s land could add a lot of profit to your income. The extra land could make you wealthy and increase your status in the city. Basically free money, not a bad transaction...
The wheels are turning, pros, cons, cost of extra land..... why not it will make me more money than it costs
So you say I’ll redeem it.
But now Boaz introduces the catch… he says “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...”
Shoot!… the land has some responsibility attached to it I wasn’t expecting… that’s not super appealing and it could also jeopardize my own inheritance…
So the redeemer says that he cannot redeem it “for himself lest he impair his own inheritance” and tells Boaz that he should take the right of redemption.
Here is the moment of truth. Up until this point Boaz has been nothing but honorable, showing concern for Ruth and Naomi’s well being. Will he follow through with his good intentions??
You know those friends that are constantly telling you that you should get together?
“Hey! Lets get together and catch up! It’s been a while!”
But they do it in passing or at the tail end of a larger community gathering and nothing ever comes of it.... I’m definitely guilty of this
Right now for Ruth and Naomi is that make it or break it moment where you either say, “let’s do it! when are you free?” or the response that is bound to fail… “that sounds great, lets figure out a time that works some time soon”
Verse 7 of tells us that the custom in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, was to draw off one sandal and give it to the other to confirm a transaction.
once the redeemer tells Boaz to redeem it himself he immediately takes off his sandal. Boaz steps in with no hesitation.
Here’s Boaz, who just volunteered to take a step in a direction which could impair his inheritance, exactly what the kinsman redeemer turned this down for. He’s just thrown it all on the table, he’s gone all in so to speak.
When God is leading you to a decision that is going to involve some sacrifice, don’t hesitate to act on it. Sure, make sure you pray about it and make sure it’s from God, but trust Him. Know that He has the best in mind for us and he’s not about to let something like an impaired inheritance stand in the way of that.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
***Don’t let the fear of what may or may not happen hinder what is being done for God. Give the decision to Him and run with the results***
Throughout all this talk of inheritance and transactions and what not… we need to understand that in the context of the time period, the family line or the inheritance was of utmost importance.
If you pay attention to a lot of biblical narratives, there are genealogies everywhere. The first chapter of Matthew is mostly dedicated to the Genealogy of Jesus.
Most of us probably get to the genealogies and read the first little bit then move on...
“Abraham was the father of Isaac and Isaac the father of Jacob and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers and Judah the father of perez by tamar and perez… this is too much, where does the gospel pick up.... ahh.. here it is, “now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.”
What Most of us don’t realize, is that when we skip the genealogies we are skipping a very important aspect of biblical narrative that God put there for a reason. These Genealogies are God’s master plan in retrospect… Remember this because we’re going to come back to it.
Let’s get back to our hero...
Boaz has just completed a transaction with his sandal… It’s the ancient interact debit, just hold it out and tap...
So
The Elders of the city and others have witnessed the transaction and now proceed to bless boaz. they say...
: We are witnesses, may the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah...
Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
They blessed his house, his family line or inheritance. We’ll find out shortly that God did indeed bless Boaz’ family line.
We can learn from Boaz with our own lives. Not only does it feel good to accomplish the things that God sets before us, but He lets us know that He is proud of us for it.
Those decisions that we make for God and not for ourselves, that won’t necessarily make our lives easier, maybe even add work… Those are decisions that God is proud of us for.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
*** Blessings come to those who love God and choose to follow in His footsteps. ***
When I look back at the path that God has laid out for me, That I have blindly walked, all the while attempting to see where He was leading me. The trail that is left for me to look on is pretty wild. It’s not a nicely manicured asphalt path winding through meticulously maintained gardens with intricate fountains with lights guiding the way.
It’s a rugged mountain trail with snow covered peaks and untouched valleys with lakes and streams that are home to an abundance of wildlife.
It’s a beautiful picture, maybe even awe-inspiring… but the path to get to those serene wilderness getaway spots is one with many difficulties and it is exhausting.
When I was in youth here at mountain park, I had no idea that I would one day attempt to fill the shoes of my awesome youth pastor.
When I was graduating from high-school I thought that I was going to get my BA in Kinesiology and then go to med school and work as a doctor in an ER somewhere, perhaps specialize in neurology.
Then God led me to Summit, something I was not expecting at all. Then to various ministry opportunities. Then because of a short-lived relationship, I was told of an Interim Lead pastor in Abbotsford who was looking for a youth guy, and the church just happened to be the one that I attended youth at years ago.
I was lead to this place having no idea that I was being led here. I was blindfolded. In the process I was accomplishing tasks and little milestones for God. But again, I didn’t realize it until it was either happening or most often until it was already done.
Earlier I referred to Boaz as the hero of our story. As much as it seemed like I was trying to be funny, he really does deserve some sort of title like that.
By taking that step of faith and choosing to redeem Ruth and Naomi, regardless of the ramifications of that decision to his own well being… Boaz was continuing the family line that would lead to King David and in turn Jesus.
Boaz wouldn’t have had any idea that one day, there would be a one of the greatest Kings of Israel who would be a direct descendant of himself. And even more, the messiah that would one day come would also be of direct descent from Boaz.
All this takes place long after Boaz is gone, but it happened and Boaz was blindfolded the whole time. He would be up in heaven looking down on his family line marveling at how God was able to bless him with such inheritance.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
That hope that Naomi had, for God to bring a redeemer to her and Ruth was not only about Boaz, But also Jesus. She hoped for one redeemer but got two. Boaz as their redeemer brought about the coming of another redeemer who is Jesus Christ. Only Jesus was Kinsman Redeemer for all of humanity from the beginning to now and then to the end.
Whatever you are walking through… wherever your journey is taking you… Place your hope in God.
***We Trust that God is going to move in ways that we could never imagine.***
Boaz was being led blindly but he chose to follow anyway
Is there something that you are hoping for??
Is there a big life step or decision that you feel God is leading you into?
Don’t be afraid of the outcome or stressed about the process, Get excited about where God might be leading you!
When I was camping with some of our grads this last weekend, I was on the beach enjoying the sun while a little ways down the shoreline there was a little boy and his grandmother with those fishing nets you can get from the dollar store. They were trying to catch little minnows that were swimming in the shallows.
There were tons of them, these little fish swimming around, and they’d come right up around you
They were at it for a little while and then the young boy sort of lost interest and started playing in the sand.
A few minutes later I hear the grandmother call over to him and say that she got one!
At that moment the boy jumped up from what he was looking at in the sand and ran over to take a look.
It was that on his tippie toes craning his neck kind of look into the fish net his grandmother was holding.
The moment he saw that tiny fish he jumps up and down yelling mommy mommy! grandma caught a fish! she got one! come look!!!!!
The excitement that he was expressing was as if he had just won the lottery of a lifetime. It made me thing about the things we hope for, like Naomi hoping for a redeemer, this boy was hoping for a minnow.
Find something to put your hope in this week, something that you can get excited about before it happens.
Let’s get as excited that little boy about the things we don’t yet see but know God is going to do.