"Ruth is trusting Boaz, who on his part acts at once. It may be that Ruth did not know that at first. If you have put in your claim and committed yourself to the Lord, you may be sure that He begins at once to take up your claim.
"Then went Boaz up to the gate."
"What has he gone up there for? He has gone there to be Ruth's advocate and to intercede for her. Just so, we have an Advocate with the Father, Who is there in order that He may intercede for us, and that He may see that we get the rights which were purchased for us at the Cross of a full Redemption and a full salvation. Ruth has rights according to the Law of Israel, though in herself she had nothing to do with Israel, being an accursed Moabitess. But by grace she had been brought into Israel, and so had definite rights in Israel. Boaz had gone to see that her rights are honoured according to the Law of Israel, by which she will get a full redemption. All that is true for you and me also. Our Boaz will go forward to undertake for us, and will see that we come into our rights of a full Redemption that has been purchased for us on the Cross.
"There are three questions to be settled by the Court:
"Was there a kinsman who had the right to redeem?
"Was there a kinsman who was able to redeem?
"Was there a kinsman who was willing to redeem?
"Boaz was the one who could pass these tests.
"And so Boaz goes up to the gate, which was the public Court of Justice, to have these questions settled publicly before all.
"The question is not settled quietly or privately, but publicly and legally according to God's righteousness and God's Law. We are redeemed, not only because of the love of God or the mercies of God, but because of the righteousness of God; and that is a stronger plea for a sinner to use than the plea of God's love. We are redeemed according to the law of God. The foundation of His Throne is righteousness, and unless we have a righteous claim and according to the law of God, our claim will not be allowed in the court of Heaven. But the Son of God has arranged it all publicly and legally for us, even as Boaz came to the gate and settled all publicly in a court of law.
"Turn to the fifth chapter of Revelation. The Son of God is claiming His right to redeem the inheritance. John was deeply concerned, 'because no man was found worthy to open the Book', but his fears are quickly removed.
"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain."
"There is a Redeemer, the Redeemer who had paid the price. He is called the Lamb who has been slain. He claims the privileges and the power of a Redeemer before all the host of Heaven. There are many angels round about His Throne, and the number of them was 'ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands'. Our Redemption has been vindicated before all the universe, all in heaven and all on earth. Before all, He has proved His right to redeem us.
"Boaz goes up to the gate and sits down. The case is then discussed. There are two laws in Israel that are referred to here, and because of which Ruth was redeemed. One was the Law of the redemption of an inheritance, Lev. xxv. 25. And the other was the Law of raising up a brother's name on his inheritance, Deut. xxv. 5. Boaz says:
"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."
"The other kinsman had been willing to redeem the land, but Boaz says it is a question not only of the land but of the Bride. Redemption involves those two great issues, that Land and the Bride. Sometimes we think that it only involves the salvation of souls, and the bringing in of the Bride of Christ. But in our personal salvation what does the land represent? Surely it refers to the reclaiming for God in holiness and righteousness of all the gifts and qualities which we inherited here on earth. In Col. i. 21, we read:
"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled . . . to present you holy,"
"and in Eph. iv. 23:
"Be renewed in the spirit of your mind."
"So His redemption affects our minds. Our hands and our occupation are also included:
"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." (Eph. iv. 28.)
"And our speech:
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Eph. iv. 29.)
"It affects our home relationships (Eph. v. 21-vi. 9). Husband and wife, parents and children, masters and servants find He changes their standards and work for each other.
"Redemption is found in the Old and New Testament to affect our cleanliness of body and clothes, our relationships in business and State, our care of the weak and for animals as well as our worship, which is bound up in it all.
"But beyond this finally, the redemption of 'the land' also involves the cleansing of the whole of creation, which is now under the power of Satan and in corruption and ruin. The world is going to be redeemed and we shall see the Lord Jesus here as King upon the earth. We see this in Romans viii. 21:
"Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
"There is a time coming when the whole creation will share in that great redemption. In the words of the Book of Ruth, the Land will be redeemed.
"But the Land question involves another, the question of the Bride. We may not understand how it is that redemption involves that, but it does. It involves that the Son of God should be united to the Bride. It involves that Ruth, who was an outcast and poverty-stricken, should be brought to Boaz, and be united to him, and share his wealth and his property, and his kingdom. Redemption means union and fellowship with Christ, and the enjoyment of His riches, just as Boaz was united to Ruth, and she enjoyed all His position and possessions.
"In Ezekiel xvi. 8, we have the same teaching
"Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee . . . yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine."
"That promise will be accomplished, for the Lord has not only undertaken to redeem us from sin and corruption, but also to take us as His Bride."
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