Becoming a Man Like Boaz: Lessons in Godliness and Virtue

In this heartfelt sermon, Reagan reflects on the inspiring qualities of Boaz from the Book of Ruth. He shares a personal story about a meaningful encounter with a former camper named Nick, who remembered a key lesson from camp about becoming a man like Boaz to marry a woman like Ruth. Reagan emphasizes Boaz's godliness, respect, and integrity, urging both men and women to aspire to these virtues. Through detailed scripture readings and thoughtful analysis, he illustrates how Boaz's character is a reflection of Jesus Christ and offers practical guidance for living a godly life. Join Reagan as he encourages everyone to align their desires with God's will and become individuals of excellence.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:45 Unexpected Encounter at Dry Creek Camp
02:59 Changing the Sermon Topic: Boaz and Ruth
04:23 Boaz: A Man of Godliness
12:09 Ruth's Virtue and Boaz's Worthiness
21:01 Boaz's Respect and Provision for Ruth
28:07 Boaz as a Protector and Redeemer
33:18 Boaz Reflects Jesus Christ
41:54 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Oh, good evening. So good to see everybody back here with us this afternoon. Appreciate the presence of all, especially those who may be visiting with us tonight. We're so very grateful for your presence. Stephanie and I, and in fact a few others are about to head to Camp Tennessee, which starts a week from today.

And it's neat that, that we've gotten to meet so many kids from that area of the country. Kids are kids wherever they are, and, and godly Christian kids are, are that way, wherever they are. And it's always fun to see 'em again a few years later, you know, after they've grown up a little bit and you see, where life has led them, and especially when those interactions are unexpected.

Now, I've not told anybody about this interaction, not even Stephanie yet, but yesterday I went and picked up my girls from Dry Creek Camp as several of you did as well. And I saw a kid from Tennessee Camp who was there named Nick, and Nick graduated a few years ago. He was shocked to see me as you often are seeing somebody outta context or at least the context where you're used to them.

And he said, what are you doing here? And I told him my girls went to Dry Creek Camp and I was there to pick them up. And it was almost like the thought of me having children didn't even compute. Like this is the counselor guy at camp, right? Not somebody who's a father as well. And a second question after saying, what are you doing here was, what's the Bible theme at Camp Tennessee going to be this year?

That did my heart. Good. Of course, that that's what he's asking about of all things since I'm in charge of that and work to put that together with a few others. And so I told him about what it is that we're gonna be doing this year and he said, quote, I love the emphasis on the Bible we always had at Camp Nessy.

I mean, I'm swooning at this point, right? The emphasis on the Bible. Yeah, that's exactly what we want to have. And he's saying all of the right things. And he goes on to say, I remember my senior year we studied the book of Ruth, and you taught a class where you said something like this that stuck with me.

If you want to marry a girl like Ruth, you have to become a man like Boaz. And he said, that blew my mind. And I've been trying to be like Boaz ever since. And I think maybe I found my roof. I mean, I mean, I, I just, I was walking on cloud nine after that interaction. It's like all this work and all this effort and everything you've been putting in is actually making an impact with some people.

And so, I just wanted to share that with you and if that doesn't encourage. You to keep giving your best in teaching and preaching. I don't know what would, it was just what I needed right in that moment. And so I had planned for a couple of weeks now to preach this evening on two Samuel 22 and Psalm 18.

And so if you want to get out your Bibles, don't turn to those places. Because that corresponds with our congregational reading for this week. And I am gonna preach on that, but I'm not gonna preach on that tonight. I'm gonna, I'm gonna come back to that in a few weeks. But after that conversation, I decided to change what it was I was gonna preach on tonight.

Instead, I want to talk to you for a few minutes this evening about what a man like Boaz looks like. And maybe you're like, Nick that I was talking to, maybe you're looking for your Ruth. Maybe you're just the opposite. Maybe you're a young lady here this evening and you're looking for your Boaz. Maybe you are already married and you wanna strive to be the kind of husband or wife that God has called you to be.

Or maybe you just desire for someone that you love to find a spouse. Like this to find a spouse who is going to be there for them in every sort of spiritual way that they ought to be and, and whatever the case might be this evening. I think if we look at these qualities, we'll be better off for having studied a great man like Boaz, a man that's worth remembering a man that's worth aspiring to.

And a man worth looking for at least a man like him. Boaz lived in a time when good men, and for that matter good women were somewhat hard to find. It was during the time of the judges, and we just finished studying about that not too long ago in our Sunday morning class. Maybe that time was not unlike our time.

Great men and women are sometimes hard to find. Boaz was a worthy man in the midst of that sinful world with everything else that was going on in the world at that time. Even among God's people, we find Boaz is this example of what a Godly man is supposed to be. And all of us should be aspiring to be the same kind of person.

So consider five qualities this evening of a man like Boaz, and number one, a man like Boaz, Boaz. In the book of Ruth leads with godliness, he leads with godliness. So now take out your Bible and turn to the book of Ruth. Ruth Chapter two is where we'll begin this evening. Ruth chapter two, beginning in verse one.

Now we're dropping into the middle of the story somewhat. Ruth was the widowed Moabite daughter-in-law of an Israelite woman from Bethlehem named Naomi. And Naomi and her family had gone to Moab. Her son said married women there while there, her husband and her sons died, and now she's returning to Bethlehem and only Ruth comes back with her.

In fact, Ruth insists that she's gonna do that. She makes those famous statements where you die, I will die. Your people shall be my people. Your God will be my God. Nothing's gonna separate me from you. I'm gonna go with you wherever you go. It's a great statement of faith and it's a great statement of loyalty.

And so now she has returned to Israel with her mother-in-law and is seeking work in whatever way she can to find food for them. And the text tells us at the end of chapter one, when they came to Bethlehem, it was the beginning of the barley harvest. So in that context, let's begin reading Ruth chapter two, beginning in verse one.

Would you read with me? There was a relative Na of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth. Maybe your translation says, A man of excellence or a man of virtue of the family of Aek. Now, AEK was Naomi's husband who had passed away His name, this re close relative was named Boaz. So verse two, Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, please.

Let me go to the field and glean heads of grain after him, and whose sight I may find favor, and she said to her, go, my daughter. Then she left and went and gleaned in the field after the Reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Alec. Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the Reapers the Lord, Yahweh be with you.

And they answered the Lord Yahweh. Bless you. Then Boaz said to his son, who is in charge of the Reapers, whose young woman is this? So the servant who was in charge of the Reapers answered and said, it is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. I always thought that was kind of funny.

That was like, this is the young Texan woman who came from the country of Texas. I mean, we got that the first time. It's like he's emphasizing where this woman is, who she is, where she's from, verse seven, and she said, please let me glean and gather after the Reapers among the sheaths. So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little while in the house.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, well, listen, my daughter, will you not, do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field, which they reap and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.

So she fell on her face, got down to the ground and said to him, why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner? And Boaz answered and said to her. It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband and how you have not left your father and your how you have left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did did not know before.

The Lord repay your work and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel under whose wings you have come for refuge. Boaz in these verses was a man who had God on his mind. He talked about God. Did you see how many times he mentioned God's name? How many times he mentioned the Lord in the course of conversation, and he didn't just think about God.

You know, at the tabernacle when he is offering sacrifices, here he is in the field amongst his day-to-day work with his servants who are working on his behalf. He reminds his men from the very start who he is and what's he's about. He greets them and says, the Lord, Yahweh be with you, and they know the right response in return.

The Lord Yahweh, bless you, the Lord was the first thing on the lips of Boaz as he's introduced in this story, and I don't think that's the writers trying to give us a false impression. I just think the Lord was on his lips probably most of the time. This is who Boaz was. Here he is in the field and he reminds his men of what is most important as soon as he greets them.

What's this? This show is that Boaz is the kind of man who rises above the sinfulness of his culture. He wasn't like everyone else, and it shows in the fruits of his hands in a time of great famine. Which reflected the spiritual famine of the land during the time of the judges. Here is a man who is successful and isn't it likely that he, like Abraham and Joseph and Job and others before him was successful because he found favor in the sight of the Lord because of his righteousness, because of his faithfulness.

Young people. If you wanna be like Boaz, may I say bluntly, you have to rise above the sinfulness of your culture that you cannot conform yourself to what everybody else is doing and what everybody else is doing frankly, isn't good enough for the one who is striving to serve God. And I would add to that just being a little bit better than everybody else is not good enough for the one striving to be the servant of God.

Instead, we should come back to the objective standard of God's word and say, what does God require of me? And I'm gonna strive to do that no matter how much of an outsider that might make me, no matter how weirdly others might look at me, no matter what others might say to me, because I am choosing to follow God instead of following the world.

That's who Boaz was and he was successful even in this life because of it. I want you to turn now to the third chapter to Ruth chapter three.

There's something that I want us to see there in Ruth chapter three verses 10 and 11. Now, this is later in the story, but there's a description that we find here. So Boaz says to Ruth, blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter. For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.

Now, spoiler alert, Ruth and Boaz get together at the end. That's a joke. Yeah. Well, most of us already knew that from the story, right? And so this is when that's taken place. She's coming to Boaz and she wants him to redeem her and become her husband. And now he says, verse 11, my daughter, do not fear. I will do you all that you request.

For all the people of my town know that you are. Listen, a virtuous woman, a worthy woman. Now that, that word, that phrase probably sounds familiar to us. It's the same phrase that's found in Proverbs 31 and verse 10 of this virtuous wife who can find a worthy woman who can find and, and there we see the writer of Proverbs describes this woman and who she is.

Well, that is the same word that was used to Boaz back there in chapter two in verse one. The new King James says, A man of great wealth. It's the same word in Hebrew, A virtuous or excellent man. He is a worthy man and she is a worthy woman. Ruth and Boaz are a match for each other, and isn't that the same quality that we should be looking for in a mate and who we should be striving to be as a mate, that we are in the eyes of God, a person of excellence.

A person who is virtuous in God's perspective. Somebody that embodies the kind of qualities that are found in Ruth and Boaz and the Proverbs 31 woman. When when, when I taught this material, we taught this material at camp a few years ago when back when Nick was a senior that he was talking about, I think it was three years ago maybe.

There was a big discussion. I, I talked to junior and senior boys that week, and there's a big discussion. Do you think Ruth was beautiful? And so here's what I want you to do. If you think Ruth was beautiful, I mean physically beautiful. Thumbs up if you think Ruth, you know, we don't know. Or maybe not thumbs down.

Do you think Ruth was beautiful? Thumbs up or thumbs down? Okay. Not all thumbs up. We got some thumbs down, but, but I'd say more thumbs up than thumbs down. Maybe, maybe that's implied in chapter three and verse 10 when it says, you know, you could have gone after men who were young or old, and we know that that Boaz is wealthy and so it's kind of implied too, wealthy or poor.

She could have gone after whomever she wished. Maybe that implies some physical beauty. But at the same time, the text goes out of its way to never specifically mention anything about her physical appearance, either positively or negatively. And even if she was beautiful, I kind of think probably she was, that is not, was not her most striking or important feature.

She is known for her virtue, her work ethic. Her selfless love. That's how she is known by other people. And notice the kind of man that Ruth attracts, a man who is known for his virtue, work ethic, and selfless love in Boaz. Now, the reality is she needed a man in this time and in this culture. She was in a dire situation, just her as a widow and her mother-in-law, who was also a widow.

They had no one to take care of them. And it seems as though she could have had a man, young or rich in her desperation, but she wasn't settling just for somebody who was male. She wasn't settling just for someone who would marry her. She wanted and needed and waited for a man like Boaz. And so I asked the young men, are you a man like this?

Well, that's unfair, isn't it? Boaz was an older guy. Are you becoming a man like this? Is this the kind of man that you want to be? And on the other side of that, men and women, in our heart of hearts, what are the most important qualities that you're looking for in a mate? I want you to think about that for just a second.

Those of you who are unmarried, if you, if you were looking for somebody to marry, what would be the most important qualities that you would look for? If this is a Bible class, this would be the time. You'd make a list and we'd put it up on the board. That's what we did at camp. We're not gonna go through that process, but I want you to be honest with yourself.

What qualities popped into your mind and. Are you just saying the things that are in your mind to yourself because we're at church or is that, is that what you're really looking for? Is that what's really important to you? A good way to test ourselves is by asking what am I using to attract someone to date?

And generally, whatever you use to attract someone is the kind of person that you'll attract. Mark your spot there in Ruth and turn to the New Testament to one Peter, one, Peter chapter three, if you would. One Peter chapter three.

It's a long way from Ruth to one Peter, but turn all the way over there in the back of your Bible one Peter chapter three. Begin reading with me in verse three. Do not let your adornment be merely outward arranging the hair wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel rather. Let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God adorned themselves, adorned themselves with this kind of modesty and gentleness and meekness and quiet spirit.

And the point is, who these women were on the inside, who their character was, was much more precious. Than their outward appearance. So what is precious about you and the eyes of the person you're dating or wanting to date? Is it your body that is precious to them? Your personality, your sense of humor? Or is it your spirit, your character?

And are those same things? What is precious in the eyes of God? The kind of person you attract is going to be attracted to what it is you used to attract them. And so young men, if you want a godly woman to be interested in you, you're gonna have to have something more to offer her than than big muscles, right?

Can you offer her a heart that loves God? And so, as Nick remembered, if you want to marry a girl like Ruth, you have to become a man like Boaz. You need to study your Bible so that you can talk to her about spiritual things. She's gonna want to talk about spiritual things. You need to pray to God because she is going to expect someone who will lead her in prayer.

You need to worship with zeal and enthusiasm like a real man, because that's the kind of man that she will be attracted to. And you do those things, not because you are trying to attract her, not because you're putting on attracting her, is just the byproduct of her seeing what is already in your heart.

So what are we looking for in our spouses? What are our desires? Outward beauty, intelligence, grace, humor, charm, compatibility. All of those are important and powerful qualities, but they're all secondary to what is most important as. Proverbs 31 ends in verse 30. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing.

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised, and that's God's desire if he were to pick a spouse for me. And does my desire for a spouse match his, does yours Well, that's the main thing that I want to see with Boaz, that he was this kind of worthy man who leads with godliness. That's the kind of woman that he attracted.

But it's interesting, we see some specifics with Boaz that help us, help us to see that. So this is our main point. Let me show you some things specifically that Boaz does that shows he's the kind of man that leads with godliness. Boaz in the book of Ruth treats Ruth with dignity, honor and respect. You think back there to Ruth chapter two.

Turn back there, Ruth chapter two. In verses eight through 11 that we read a moment ago. Remember how his servant says, Hey, she is the young Moabite woman who came from the country of Moab. She's referred to in verse two as Ruth the Moabite us. And fact, that's the way she's referred to everybody else, even though she's converted to Judaism, even though she's a ProSite now, she still Ruths the Moabite.

But not to Boaz. He doesn't look down on her. And perhaps that's because his mother was Rahab. The Harlett, A woman who is a strange and formerly sinful woman among a strange people. And what Boaz does here is so different from so many men then and now. Boaz empathized instead of objectified, instead of objectifying her, he empathized with her.

He put himself in her shoes and then treated her the way he would wish to be treated if he were in that same situation, which is very, may I say Christ-like of him. He doesn't regard her as an object for his, for impure enjoyment. Instead, how does he address her? He doesn't call her Ruth de Moabite. In those verses that we read there in chapter three, how does he refer to her?

Well, in chapter two and chapter three, he refers to her as my daughter twice in chapter three and once in chapter two, how much better would the world be? Men treated women with the same kind of respect that they would have for their own daughters. That they would want others to have for their daughters.

I think that's what Paul was implying in one Timothy chapter five. If you turn there for just a moment, well, maybe imp implication is the wrong word. He just comes out and says it right. He is not implying anything. He's saying it. This is the way we're supposed to treat one another. One Timothy chapter five, beginning in verse one.

Do not, he says to Timothy, who is still a youth, a young man? That means 40 or younger at this point. Okay. It really means less than 40. I just, I, I don't know why I said that. 39 and younger, maybe I do know why I said that. Nevermind Chapter five and verse one. Do not oke an older man Timothy, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers.

Older women as what mothers, younger women as sisters. With all purity. We think of one another in this kind of way. There is going to be purity in the way we treat one another. If she's not your wife. This is the way we should be looking at and treating other women now. It's weird thinking about your mother in these terms, probably so young.

Man. Let me, let me put it to you this way. I, I want you to hear this. Okay. How would you want your little sister to be treated by a boy? I think most of us, you know, our, our hope was that our younger sister would get married someday. As weird as that was to us, we hoped for that, right? How would we want her to be treated by a young man?

Well, that's how you should treat a young lady, and that's the way Boaz is gonna treat her with this kind of respect and dignity. Honor, we also see that Boaz in the Book of Ruth provides for Ruth. Isn't that exactly what he does there in chapter two verses 12 through 18? As we read a moment ago, we see a couple of things here.

If we continue in our text, go back to Ruth's chapter two, Ruth's chapter two. Let's start reading there in verse 13. Now he said, Hey, you stick with my women. You drink from the water jugs that our men provided. I've told nobody to touch you. You're gonna be safe and provided for here. And notice in verse 13, then she said, let me find favor in your sight.

My Lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your maid servant. Though I am not like one of your maid servants. I'm different. I know it. Because I am from Moab, a foreigner, as she said earlier now, Boaz said to her at mealtime, come here and eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.

So she sat beside the Reapers and he passed parts grain to her and she ate and was notice she was satisfied and kept some back. It's kind of like. The old lady that goes to the buffet and she's got her purse and she just sticks some food in there. She, she kept some back. That's what she's, that's what she's doing here.

And she ate and was satisfied and kept some back. Then she rose up to glean and Boaz commanded his young men saying, let her glean even among the sheaves and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundle fall purposely for her leave it that she may glean and do not rebuke her. So she gleaned in the field until evening.

Beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an IFA of barley, and she took it up and went into the city and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. Now notice, first of all, twice it says that she was satisfied.

Now we take that for granted because that's generally what we do. We eat until we're satisfied, until we're as full as we want to be. Naomi and Ruth were in a situation where they didn't know where their next meal was coming from. Leviticus chapter 19 verses nine and 10, tells us that landowners were required by God to leave the edge of their field and not go back for the gleanings that fall.

This was God's way of seeing. That people who were in need were provided for from the edges of the field. But Boaz goes beyond that. He wants to provide for Ruth in her need. And it reminds me of first Timothy chapter five in verse eight, but if anyone does not provide for relatives and especially for members of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

But that's not exactly the situation Boaz was in. Yes, Ruth was a close relative, but not one of his households. Yet he is quick to provide for her needs. And as men, we need to provide for the needs of our families as well. And sometimes, yes, there might be times where our wives work outside the home, as Ruth is doing here, as the Proverbs 31 woman does in that chapter or situations dictate that the husband stays home with the kids.

But we need to do everything in our power to provide for our family's needs, whatever the family needs from us. That's what we should be looking to provide, and then have the attitude where we're looking to provide for the needs of others, even beyond that, because that's a man like Boaz does. Number four.

Boaz in the Book of Ruth provides and protects Ruth's safety, purity, and reputation. Notice what Ruth said in chapter two in verse 21, Ruth the Moab. She's relaying all of this back to Naomi and Naomi's excited because he's a close relative. Ruth the Moabite said in verse 21. He also said to me, you shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.

Verse 22. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, it is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women and that people do not meet you in any other field. It's kind of euphemistic meets you in any other field. The idea is what's implied is so that nobody takes advantage of you in another field.

You, you're not really safe going from field to field. Lots of bad things can happen, but if you stay in this field with this man and his people, you'll be safe. Later when Ruth follows Naomi's advice and goes to Boaz on the threshing floor at night. Which would've been very forward in the ancient world and even more dangerous.

What we find is that Boaz is nothing but a gentleman. Now we read verses 10 and 11. Go back to chapter three and look there in verse 18. Excuse me, verse eight, chapter three in verse eight. Now, it happened at midnight that the man was startled and turned himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet and he said, who are you?

So she answered, I am Ruth, your maids servant. Take your maids servant under your wing for you are a close relative. And so that's where he says, I will do this. Blessed are you my daughter, that you've come and done this. You're a virtuous woman. But then notice what he says in verse 12. Now, it is true that I am a close relative.

However, there is a relative closer than I stay this night. And in the morning, it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good. Let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you as the Lord lives lie down until morning, so she lay at his feet until morning.

She arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. Why does he say that? To protect her reputation. So that no one thinks that anything uncouth went on. Now it's interesting. Why would anybody think that? Because some liberal commentators even today think something uncouth went on when she came to him there in that evening, but that's not what happened.

Instead, Boaz treats her like a gentleman. Should I think about the world? And I've thought a lot about all of the terrible stories that have come out over the last three decades, really since I've been aware of it in this country, especially regarding the treatment of women by men in positions of power.

And I think we have to be careful not to blame the victims in those situations. Perhaps there was foolishness in dress or place or consumption of alcohol or leading men on, or all of that nonsense. That doesn't mean that any woman deserved any of those things that happened at the hands of those men in the eyes of some, Ruth would've had it coming to her for being where she was when she was.

But Boaz acted the way a man is supposed to act. And young men, old men, all men, whatever situation we find ourselves in with a woman, we need to, to act the way a godly man is supposed to act. Boaz acted according to God's expectations for a man with a woman who is not his wife, no matter the circumstances.

Let me say this as gently as as I can to, to my young brothers especially.

There's so much that has gone on in this country with the Me Too movement and so forth, and, and there have been times where people have been falsely accused of things that didn't really take place. You know, who never has to worry about whether or not they've assaulted a woman or whether or not there was consent in a relationship.

Those who saved themselves for marriage. Not that assault can't happen in marriage. It sometimes does, but when you have two Christians living by God's commands, it won't. It is to protect her and to protect you. That God has put this into place and has given this great gift for the marriage relationship that is reserved just for the marriage relationship when it comes to all women with whom we have interaction.

We need to be protecting these three things just as Boaz was the safety, purity, and reputation of the women with whom we have contact. And then finally, a man like Boaz. Boaz. In the Book of Ruth, he reflects another man, a greater man. Boaz reflects Jesus Christ. We think about the laws of the kinsman redeemer that's found in Leviticus 25 and in Deuteronomy 25 turned to the account in Deuteronomy 25 for just a moment.

This ultimately is what the book is about. It's about a man who redeems this woman. In Deuteronomy chapter 25, begin reading with me in verse five, Deuteronomy 25 and verse five. We'll go back to Ruth one more time and the lesson will be yours. Deuteronomy 25, beginning in verse five. If you were the closest relative, you could buy back the land of your relative if there were no men left to take that land, and you also had responsibility as the closest relative to take the wife.

Of a deceased kinsman is your wife with the firstborn son of that union continuing the line and the name of your dead relative. That's what the kinsman redeemer was all about, continuing these families and providing for these women who were in difficult situations. And so this is one of two places in the old law where we find the regulations regarding the kinsman redeemer.

Verse five of Deuteronomy 25. If brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family. Her husband's brother shall go into her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and it shall be kinsman redeemer is the way we might say that.

And it shall be that the firstborn son, which she bears, will secede to the NA succeed to the name of his dead brother. That his name may not be blotted out of Israel, but if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders to say, my husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel.

He will not perform the duty of my husband's brother, and the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, I do not want to take her, then his brother's wife shall come to him In the presence of the elders. Remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face and answer and say, so shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house, and his name shall be called in Israel, the house of him who had his sandal removed.

Now they rightly understood that this should go down the line then to the next closest and next closest, and that's exactly what we find in Ruth chapter four, beginning in verse one. Let's, let's go and read this final part of the book of Ruth. Ruth, chapter four, beginning in verse one. Now, Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by.

So Boaz said. Come aside friend, sit down here. So he came aside and sat down and he took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, sit down here. So they sat down. Then he said to the close relative, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother, our close relative Aek.

And I thought to inform you saying, buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people, if you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know for there is no one but you to redeem it and I am next after you. I'm next closest in line and he said some more land.

Sure. I will redeem it. Sounds great. Yeah. Then Boaz said, but wait. On the day you buy the field, Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth, the Moabite, the wife of the dead who perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance and the close relative said. Wait a second. I cannot redeem it for myself. Les.

I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it. Now, this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redeeming and exchanging to confirm anything that one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other. And this was a confirmation in Israel.

Therefore, the close relative said to Boaz, buy it for yourself. So he took off his sand. Boaz said to the elders and all the people you are witnesses. This day that I have bought all that was a lix and all that was Chileans and Malon from the hand of Naomi, that's her sons. Moreover, Ruth, the Moab widow of Malon, I have acquired as my wife to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.

The name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are my witnesses this day. And all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. The Lord. Make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel.

And may you prosper at a path and be famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore Judah because of the offspring, which the Lord will give you from this young woman. Be successful, have lots of kids. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when he went into her, the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son.

And the women said to Naomi, blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a close relative. And may his name be famous in Israel, which it would be, and may he be to you, a restorer of life, an a nourisher of your old age for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons.

Has born him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him. Also, the neighbor women gave him a name saying There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Yes. That David, David the king. Boaz was the man. Ruth needed.

He was the man. Naomi needed for that matter. The man in the country needed and ultimately the man God needed and used to fulfill his purposes. You feel so dirty at the end of judges, and then you come to another man, Boaz, who serves as a redeemer and rescues these women in a chivalrous way. Finally, we come to a man who believes in justice and fairness, who will defend the fatherless and plead the cause of the widow.

In contrast to the ending of the Book of Judges, the book of Ruth closes with a genealogy that came from Boaz and ends with David, and there is hope at last. This is the king that we've been longing for. God would choose a man after his own heart, David, and the parallels between David and Jesus are too numerous to mention here, but we're studying David right now, aren't we?

As most types are. David had his flaws, serious flaws, especially as it turns out in regard to women, most notably in his sin with jeba and everything that went with it. And so even at the end of the reign of David and David is held up as the standard by which all other kings are measured. We are left wanting more.

Were left unsatisfied to use the terminology from Ruth. And all of this is to say, I believe that God had a king in mind for his people all along, and that king's name is Jesus. And like Boaz, Jesus didn't have to do what he did. He didn't have to redeem us. He wasn't required, but he too redeems us from spiritual poverty and alienation and the loss of our inheritance, which is a relationship with God.

An eternal dwelling with him. And so Boaz is a man we should emulate really only because he is so much like Jesus. Jesus is the one we emulate, and Jesus is the one, the man, the kind of man that call God calls us to be. So be a man like Boaz, but only because ultimately he is a man like Jesus. Maybe maybe this hadn't made the same impact on you that it made on Nick, but.

I hope so desperately for the wonderful young men and women that we have here in this congregation that, that I love and so many of us love so much. I, I hope and pray that your focus and your desires align with what God has in mind for you, because God's desires for you are so much greater than anything that we could imagine.

But only, only if you're seeking to do his will. Above all else, we're, we're, we're rooting for you. We're here for you to encourage you in whatever way that we can. If you realize that you need the help and support of your brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever your age. We're here for you to pray with you and to to pray for you.

If you'll come now together we stand and while we sing.