Redeeming Love

The Bible is a masterpiece.

66 books with over 40 different authors written on three separate continents over nearly 2,000 years and all of it pointing to one central hero, Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, he is foretold.

In the Gospels, he is revealed.

In the Epistles, he is explained.

In Revelation, he is revealed.

anticipated.

And the Bible is, from beginning to very end, the story of Jesus and his great redemption of humanity.

And even in the old tales in the Old Testament, before anyone knew the name of Jesus, he's right there.

He's just out of sight.

Remember in Luke chapter 24, on the road to Emmaus, as Jesus led a little Bible study there, we read in verse 17, in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.

And so according to Jesus, everything in the Old Testament is actually about him.

That these Old Testament tales are pointing beyond themselves, anticipating, foreshadowing, revealing.

They are signposts along the road to a greater and truer reality that is found in Jesus.

And every story whispers his name.

And this is true of the book of Ruth, the book we're studying.

This tender story of sorrow and grief and loss that is turned to joy and fullness and life.

It is a foreshadowing of the redeeming love of Jesus.

And this becomes abundantly clear in the passage we're going to look at today as Boaz redeems Ruth and Naomi.

It's a beautiful scene.

In many ways, it's the moment we've all been waiting for.

It is, as the French would say, the denouement of the story.

Now, you'll recall last week that Ruth had boldly asked Boaz for redemption, not just for marriage, but for redemption.

She asked him to be a goel, a redeemer.

This Hebrew word refers to a practice in the ancient Near East, and also it's still practiced today in some Asian and African countries.