The Life of Ruth (22)

Boaz went to the gate of the city which was the place where the people went in and out; this place in Bethlehem was set in the city wall. There the elders of the people would meet day after day and hear cases which had to be handled. You might say it was a court of law where justice was done. Boaz went there because he wanted justice to be done in the presence of the elders of the city. He wanted to lay his case before them. Why did he want his case explained before the elders of the city? This was because he did not want a stolen bride. He wanted his bride in the way of righteousness.

Think of the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not want to steal His bride, but He wanted to obtain His beloved bride in a way of righteousness. We see Him during the Passion weeks going ever deeper in the way of righteousness to obtain His bride. He loves His bride more than words can express.

Boaz went to the gate driven by his love for Ruth. He went there with haste because he wanted to settle the matter as quickly as possible. He wanted to know Ruth and have her for his bride. Ruth went home with a sorrowing heart while Boaz went to the gate, with a joyful heart. He knew the way to the gate and knew what had to take place. He knew that payment had to be made at the gate. He did not stop along the way and allow himself to get sidetracked. When Ruth arrived at the home of her mother-in-law, she was at the end and had to sit still. When Boaz was at the gate, he was just beginning. While Ruth had to sit still at home, Boaz came forth as a man of might and power.

My friends, can you see that Boaz was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ also went to the gate; from all eternity in heaven he went to the gate joyfully, saying, “Holy Father, I’ll be the Sin-Bearer for My people.” Christ in the fullness of time came to this sinful earth and went to the gate when He was before the Sanhedrin. He went to the gate when He went before Pilate. He went willingly and joyfully to pay the price. There was nothing that was able to sidetrack Him because of His love for the justice of His Father. Oh, He was willing to lay down His life for a ransom for many. He loved His bride so much that He was willing to take upon Himself a human nature and to be crushed by the wrath of God and to be nailed to a cross and forsaken. Martin Luther said, “God forsaken of God.” Who can fathom it? He loves that bride today as He sits at the right hand of His Father. He is longing for the last day when He may come and see His bride, body and soul. He will then take His entire bride in His arms, lay her in the bosom of His Father, and say, “Holy Father, here are all the children whom I delivered with the price of My blood.”

Of Boaz we read that he sat down. There were chairs that were placed at the gate for anyone who had a case which he wanted to present before the elders. Boaz went to the gate willingly and sat down and waited for the near kinsman to come by. The Lord Jesus Christ went willingly to the cross to die for sinners. Did He die for you? Blessed are those people who may come to know that blessed salvation which is through Jesus Christ.

As Boaz sat at the gate, the near kinsman happened to stop by. Was that a coincidence? No, it was not because the Lord directs all things. In a natural way God directed the kinsman to walk by the gate and see Boaz. They knew each other. There was a relationship between Boaz and the near kinsman. “Ho, such a one.” It is as if he wanted to say that he should sit down because they had to attend to business.

“He took ten men of the elders.” The elders’ work was to listen to both parties as in the days of Moses. One of the greatest judgments of God in Israel was when there were no elders in the gate. You can understand that when there were no elders in the gate, when everything became watered down, and when the ordinances of God were no longer kept, that was a very great judgment. Then everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city that were at the gate. The elders’ job was to listen to both parties. This was done openly in public and with witnesses around. When we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we can say that He was dealt with in a public manner. When He was before Pilate, it was done in public and with many witnesses. They all heard and saw that the Lamb of God was silent and took all the responsibility so that the law of God would be satisfied. He accomplished that so the people of God would be delivered and set free.

Boaz made a public declaration when he said that “Naomi selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s.” He said that Naomi came again out of the country of Moab and sold a parcel of land. Boaz came right to the point by going clear to the beginning. God takes His people back to Adam before He delivers them. If you have never come to know Adam, then you must never speak so freely of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ for your soul. Why does it say that “Naomi selleth a parcel of land”? That was because Naomi was fully responsible when that parcel of land was sold; she also signed the deed when it was sold, next to her husband’s signature. It was Naomi’s responsibility as it is brought forth in verse three.

“Buy it before the inhabitants.” In former times the nearer kinsman would come and would buy the parcel of land from whoever owned it and would redeem and restore it to her who had lost it. “If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know.” Boaz is saying that he was deeply involved with these people because they have come to him and made known their needs unto him. When we think of the Greater Boaz, we see that He stands on the side of His church. He tells the devil and the Holy law of God that those people have come to Him to be delivered or else he will perish. Jesus Christ comes after the law of God to redeem His people when they have come to know the demands of that law. That law can never, never redeem them.

Rev. J. den Hoed
(Franklin Lakes, NJ)

—to be continued—

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