And Naomi said to her daughter in law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”
– Ruth 2:20
Oh, I wish I had time to go in depth into this whole story here in the book of Ruth and what all of Ruth 2:20 means, but the keyword at the end of that particular verse is “redeemer.” It’s a picture of how God had provided for his people in the situation of someone like Naomi and Ruth.
Jesus has the right, resources, and resolve to redeem us from sin and bring us into the family of God. All glory be to Christ.
So, Naomi’s husband has died, her sons have died, she has no one to provide for her family. And a picture of redemption was set up by God through which a near relative could provide for her and her family, in this case her and her daughter in law, Ruth. And that person was called a “redeemer,” they had to have the right to redeem them in the family line, they had to have the resources to redeem them, they had to have the ability to provide for them, and then they had to have the resolve to do that. They had to want to do that.
And when those things came together, then redemption could happen and someone like Naomi and her daughter in law Ruth could be provided for. And the whole picture here in Ruth 2:20, is Boaz is a redeemer. He’s a potential redeemer at this point. He’s someone who could provide for Naomi and Ruth if he chose to. And in this Old Testament picture we find rich imagery of what Jesus will come to do for us later in the Bible. Jesus is called our redeemer.
God has made a way for us to be provided for in the destitution of our sin
God has made a way for someone who is near to us, like us, human in every way. Without sin he has the right to redeem us, has the resources, he lived the life none of us could live. a life of perfect obedience to God with no sin in him. He has the ability to pay the price, the redemption price for us. To pray the price for our forgiveness of sin, for us to be brought into the family of God. He has the right, the resources, and the resolve.
In Ruth 2:20 Ruth and Naomi Needed a Redeemer, And So Do We
Jesus went to the cross to pay the redemption price for you and for me. To pay the penalty for your sin and my sin so that we could be saved from our sin and brought into the family of God in a picture of redemption. And not just you or me. But when we get to Revelation chapter five, we find out that Jesus has done this. He has died to purchase, to ransom, to redeem men and women from every tribe, every tongue, every nation in the world. The central message of the Bible is that Jesus is our redeemer. He has made a way for sinners to be saved from sin. To be brought into the family of God to enjoy him forever.
This is good news for you, it’s good news for me, and it’s good news for the world so we pray. Jesus, thank you. Your blood has washed away our sin. Your sacrifice on the cross has made the way for our redemption, all glory be to your name, our redeemer.
I just think about how ecstatic Naomi was in Ruth 2:20. When she found out Boaz was helping provide for Ruth, and he could potentially provide for them. She was overwhelmed, she was giddy. How much more so right now am I, are we in your presence, oh God, to realize that you, our God, are our redeemer? That you have made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins, to be brought into your family? Jesus, we praise you for making that possible for us, all glory to be to your name for your redemption in our lives.
Spreading The Good News of Redemption
And we pray, oh God we pray, that you would use us to spread the good news of this redemption. That others might be glad in you, that others might know that you have paid the price for their sin, that others might be brought into your family. So, God, we pray this for our friends and family members around us who we’ll interact with today and tomorrow. God please, please redeem them. Please bring them into your family, please use us to share this good news with them.
And God, we know. We know you’ve done this. Not just for us or for people like us, for people around us. You’ve done this for people around the world. God, we pray today especially for the Japanese, in Japan. God, 122 million people. And the last statistic I saw was .3% gospel-believing. Oh, God. Just a few hundred thousand believers out of 122 million, God, please change that. God, we pray for the spread of your redemption in Japan.
Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation
I think about a Japanese brother I was talking with just last night, who was telling me how encouraged he was by churches and pastors he was recently around in Japan, and by how the gospel is spreading through them. Oh God may it be so, please, we pray, bless pastors and churches in Japan right now. And God, please, cause their number to multiply for the spread of your redemption in Japan. So, God, we pray for that. We pray that you would continue to send out laborers from those churches. To send laborers from other churches around the world, for the spread of your redemption in Japan.
For your redemption to be made known there for your redemption to be made known around us so that many more people, so that every tribe, tongue, and nation oh God, might be glad in you as redeemer. We pray this. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
