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Outlines on the Book of Ruth
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Introduction: The nearer kinsman admitted that he could not redeem Ruth and the inheritance. Upon his admittance of failure, Boaz, in the presence of the elders and the people, then bought the inheritance and Ruth.

B. This shoe loosing ceremony still rings forth with a clear message:

1. Every one of us is like this unnamed kinsman. No matter how willing we may be, we are totally powerless to redeem our loved ones. There is only one redeemer for the eternal spirit of man, and only one who can change the body and give an eternal inheritance and he is the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth is that every one of us in a spiritual sense has a bare foot. We do not have the power of redemption for ourselves, let alone anyone else.

2. The shoe loosing of the, unnamed kinsman symbolized that he would not walk anymore upon the redeemed inheritance. Ruth 4:7 says it was a means of confirming redemption and the changing of hands of property in Israel. He relinquished all claim to the redeemed property. Because of his failure to enter into a proper and right relationship with Ruth, he had no claim nor right to the inheritance. How well this shows us that it is only through our right relationship to our redeemer, Jesus Christ, that we have any blessings or inheritance of a spiritual nature for all "spiritual blessings" are "in Christ," Eph. 1:3. Only because we have been made children of God are we the heirs of an inheritance, Romans 8:16-17.

II. BOAZ FINALIZED THE TRANSACTION THAT MADE RUTH HIS WIFE, AND THE PEOPLE PRAYED FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE MARRIAGE: RUTH 4:11-12

A. The wedding of Ruth to Boaz was a very simple ceremony:

1. In Verse 10 Boaz said before these elders, "Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife ... ye are witnesses this day," and "all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, we are witnesses," Verse 11. Then Verse 13 says, "So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife."

2. The word "So" of Verse 13 means "in this manner." That means that there, before the elders of Bethlehem, in a simple civil ceremony, Boaz made Ruth his wife.

3. An unusual thing about this wedding is the fact that Ruth, the bride, was not even present when the marriage was consummated. Ruth was back at home with Naomi. Ruth 3:18 says Naomi said to Ruth, "Sit still my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day." Boaz was to do it all.

a. That is so strikingly unlike marriages today, especially in the United States. In modern marriages, the bride is the center of attraction, and the bridegroom is only incidental to the whole proceeding. The showers are all for the bride. The bride wears the beautiful dress, and newspapers and friends talk about the bride. The wedding march is "Here Comes the Bride." Yet, in the marriage of Ruth to Boaz, the bride was absent, and all the attention was upon the bridegroom, Boaz.

b. What a beautiful illustration this is of the fact that not we, but our Lord, should receive all the praise and glory for anything we are. Like Boaz, who took care of every detail while Ruth was not even present, our Lord went to the cross and completely took care of every detail necessary to our complete redemption, before we were even here. We do not deserve center stage for what we are; he does. That's why Jude could say, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen," Jude 24-25.

B. The wedding of Ruth to Boaz was followed by a prayer from the people:

1. They first prayed, "The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem," Ruth 4:11:

a. Prayer to God on behalf of a marriage is an excellent way to begin it; and these prayed that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah. These were the two wives of Jacob, who fathered the twelve tribes of Israel. Of the twelve sons of Jacob, who were numbered in the twelve tribes (Levi not numbered), Rachel bare two: Joseph, Gen. 30:24 and Benjamim, Gen. 35:18. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, both of whom received full portions among the tribes of Israel, Gen. 48:14, 22. Leah bore five sons who were numbered among the tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Judah Gen. 29:32-35, Issachar, and Zebulun, Gen. 30:18, 20. She also bare Levi, who though he was not numbered, became the priestly tribe, Gen. 29:34. Thus, from these two came eight of the twelve tribes of Israel plus the tribes of the priests. the four remaining sons of Jacob were born to the handmaids of Rachel and Leah.

b. The point of the elders of Israel mentioning Rachel and Leah is that if God could build a whole nation out of the twelves sons born to these women and their handmaids, then God could use Ruth, a Moabitess, in building a great house because of what the kinsman redeemer had done for her.

c. The lesson for us is that because of our kinsman redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Lord can work in us, Phil 2:13, to accomplish great things, Phil 4:13

d. They also prayed that Boaz would do "worthily in Ephratah, ard be famous in Bethlehem." The Lord granted this wish, and both Boaz and Bethlehem became famous. Bethlehem became the city of David and was the place where the Messiah was born, Luke 2-,4-7. Even Ephratah, the area around Bethlehem became famous. Micah 5:2 predicted, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting." And, as far as Boaz being famous, no other person in the Old Testament is a clearer picture of the kinsman redeemer, Christ, than he. Today, Bible scholars still recognize him as a famous man.

2. Their prayer at the wedding also was, "let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman," Ruth 4:12:

a. Pharez was one of twins; and though he was actually born before his brother Zarah, which would have normally given him the family birthright since he was judah's firstborn; due to a strange set of events, Zarah was actually reckoned to be the firstborn. So, Pharez lost the birthright, but he also escaped a curse that required the firstborn always be redeemed, Exodus 34:20. H. Frank Fort points out that Pharez, "as the second born, occupied the ground of redemption, thus the witnesses to Boaz' redemption of Ruth, desire the blessings for his house that the place of redemption accords." In a nutshell, the desire of these elders was that Boaz would have a house without curse and full of blessings.

b. The last four verses of the book again mention Pharez. His generations are given through David in Verses 18-22. You will notice that David is the tenth in line starting with Pharez. This is not by accident, and it proves sensationally the verbal inspiration of the scriptures. Genesis 38 records the fact that Judah, the Kingly line from Jacob, bare three sons by a Canaanitish woman named Shuah. For the oldest son he took a wife named Tamar. When this son died childless, Judah made his second son her husband. He also died being childless, and Judah refused to give his third son to Tamar. She then posed as a harlot, seduced Judah, her father-in-law, and bare him two sons, Pharez and Zarah. Thus, Pharez was the bastard son of Judah; and God's law said in Deuteronomy 23:2, "a bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. " This being true, not one of the offspring of Pharez was qualified to sit on the throne of Israel until the tenth generation after Pharez. David was a tenth generation offspring of Pharez, thus he qualified. Thus it seems that God divinely inspired this brief genealogical table to remove all shadow off King David's claim to the throne of Israel. Furthermore, the clearing of David's lineage ultimately contributed to the clear, spotless lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was a descendant of Boaz Ruth through King David, Matthew 1:1-16.

III. OUTOF THE MARRIAGE OF BOAZ AND RUTH CAME A CHILD OF A KINGLY LINEAGE:

A. Ruth 4:13 says, "So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son,....and they called his name Obed, he is the father of Jesse, the father of David:"

1. The witnesses at the wedding had prayed for Boaz and Ruth to be fruitful, and God answered that prayer by giving them a son. It is noteworthy that Verse 13 says, "The Lord gave her conception." Life and death still are in the hand of God. This is a fact that we, in our pride and involvements, often forget. As James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

2. This son that was born to Boaz and Ruth was named Obed. Obed means "servant"   and is a foreshadow of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah's servant, Isa. 41:1-2. It was a great tribute to Boaz and Ruth that they and their offspring would be numbered directly in the ancestral line of the Lord Jesus Christ.

B. In Ruth 4:14-16, the women of Bethlehem blessed Naomi and praised Ruth and the Lord:

1. It is an excellent example we see in these who praise God for this birth.

2. The source of their rejoicing now is the child. The fact that they mention "this day", which was being spoken on the day Obed was born, is testimonial proof that their reference is to Obed, not Boaz. Boaz has been the kinsman redeemer; now this child will carry on the family name. This gives hope to Naomi that her name shall continue. Naomi typifies Israel as a nation, who because of "the Seed", who is Christ, Heb. 2:16, can expect kindness and longevity of existence, Jer. 33:14-17. This son to Naomi, as Christ is to Israel, was indeed "a restorer of thy life." He gave her new hope and vitality, and Christ will give Israel a restoration of life as is so well illustrated in Ezekiel's vision of dry bones in Ezek. 37:1-11. This son would also be a nourisher in old age to Naomi. He would take care of her needs as Christ will lsrael's need, Ezek. 34:14-15.

3. Through this seed or son, Ruth thus became worth more to Naomi than seven sons. A numerous male progeny was the ambition of all married people in Israel, and thus to speak of Ruth as being worth more to Naomi than seven sons was a supreme tribute. Seven sons stood representative of a perfect family. This is why I Sam. 2:5 says, "so that the barren hath born seven." In view of this son and what he would ultimately mean to Israel in bringing forth the Messiah, truly he was better than any earthly family, however good. In view of the prophetic implications involved, no wonder Naomi loved him so, as Verse 16 shows.