Tuesday: Boaz as Redeemer
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 10th of June 2025
Boaz falls deeply in love with Ruth and wishes to marry her, but there is a significant barrier: there is a closer relative who also has a claim on the woman and the land. If we consider Boaz to be a type of Christ, this situation may reveal an issue at stake in the great controversy. Christ loves us, but there is a “closer relative” who also has a claim: Satan.
What do the following passages reveal about Satan’s claim on humanity? (Job 1:6-11; Matthew 4:8-9; Jude 1:9; Luke 22:31).
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When Satan appeared in the heavenly council, he told God that he had been “ ‘going to and fro in the earth’ ” (Job 1:7), and when God asked him if he had noticed the righteous Job, Satan laid claim to him as one of his own, suggesting that Job’s heart did not really belong to God. That is, he really follows You only because You are good to him. Stop being good to him and see who truly has Job’s allegiance.
In Jude, we see a brief reference to a story that was well known in Israel: after Moses had been buried by God (Deuteronomy 34:6), he was later resurrected. Though we are not privy to the details, the text itself, which says that they disputed over the body of Moses, implies that Satan was making some kind of claim on it.
“For the first time Christ was about to give life to the dead. As the Prince of life and the shining ones approached the grave, Satan was alarmed for his supremacy. With his evil angels he stood to dispute an invasion of the territory that he claimed as his own. He boasted that the servant of God had become his prisoner. He declared that even Moses was not able to keep the law of God; that he had taken to himself the glory due to Jehovah—the very sin which had caused Satan’s banishment from heaven—and by transgression had come under the dominion of Satan.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 478. Obviously, Christ refuted Satan’s claim, and Moses was resurrected (see Matthew 17:3).
In Ruth 4:1-12, Boaz travels to the gate of Bethlehem—the town where Christ would enter our world as our close relative. The elders gather, and finally a sandal (a symbol of ownership) is exchanged.
The gate of a village is where cases were decided: this is a type of judgment scene. It reflects the judgment scene of Daniel 7:13-14,22,26-27. We must not miss this critical aspect of judgment: judgment is in “favor of the saints” but only because Christ paid the price for us, just as Boaz did for his bride.
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In a spiritual sense through the cardinal law of love we are everyone’s kinsman redeemer. Jesus became the ultimate kinsman redeemer. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13). The Bible places the role of a kinsman redeemer on the shoulders of every redeemed child of God. "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2). The story/parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) demonstrates a beautiful spiritual undertone beneath the kinsman redeemer. A stranger redeeming a stranger. In this story, Jesus concluded by saying:
“Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37).
The law of love is calling all those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb to go and become “kinsman redeemer” to the helpless of this world.
More often than so life has a way of throwing bitter experiences in our way like losing a loved one, health breakdown, someone betrays us, loss of a job, bankruptcy etc. Like Naomi/Mara, life can turn bitter and even make us turn on God.
But like Naomi, we may lack the idea how, God turns our bitter experiences and uses them to makes something sweet. The circumstances by themselves are sour and bitter experiences with awful taste. But God is always working through other experiences of life to make bitter better. We can’t control a lot of what life throws at us, but we can control our attitude. Hardship and pain are inevitable, but abject misery and bitterness are optional. Faith always anticipates a better final product–better than Vanilla cake.
Boaz as a redeemer is a remarkable story of redemption, of loyalty. God is rarely mentioned, but working behind the scenes to bring better out of bitter. It’s a story of ordinary–hard-living, and suffering people persevering in faith despite their hardships. It shows us that without compassionate friends, the world is a more ruthless place. It reminds us that the kindnesses that we show people today may ripple out for generations to come. Thus Boaz serves as a model for all of us.
Perhaps we should remember that the book of Ruth is about as close to a to romance as you can get in the Bible. Am I right when I think that Boaz had fallen in love with Ruth. His actions were not about fulfilling legal requirements or gaining an inheritance. He was in love with Ruth.
Perhaps I am a romantic at heart, but I view spiritual redemption as a love relationship. God loves us and wants us back. The plan of salvation is not about forensic legalism but a genuine desire of God to claim back the love of his life. I think we sometimes lose sight of the picture of love in our deep theology of salvation. We use a lot of words to explain salvation and I think that often we are just showing off our knowledge. You can impress people with your knowledge, but you love them through your actions.
Amen
What seemed like a simple, everyday act—redeeming land—became a decision of profound and eternal significance. Boaz’s kindness and faithfulness to God’s principles not only brought immediate hope and security to Naomi and Ruth, but also led to Ruth, a Moabite widow, being included in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Every time we touch the lives of others, we may be making a difference with eternal impact. So let’s brighten the corner where we are. Too often, we underestimate how far small acts of integrity, compassion, and faith can reach. Boaz wasn’t seeking recognition—he was simply doing what was right in his part of the world. Yet God used that moment as part of His greater redemptive plan.
Likewise, we are called to shine where God has placed us. Like Boaz, our everyday choices—no matter how small they seem—can shape lives and contribute to God’s eternal purposes.
Okay, so I definitely believe Boaz is a type of Christ in his love for Ruth and redeeming her. However, I feel a lot of the statements in today's lesson are textbook examples of making an account say much more than it is intended to.
Boaz could very well have been in love with Ruth; there are hints in chapters 2 and 3 of that. However, it's important to remember that it was actually Ruth through Naomi who initiated the process of redemption. Also, the lesson makes it seem like Boaz was buying Ruth from the man who had the claim on her. This could not be further from the truth. Ruth had no one to protect her and either man could have stepped in to redeem her. The other man chose not to (we can speculate on his reasons but it's hard to know for sure), but as a Jew he certainly wasn't an enemy of Boaz or Ruth. Making him a symbol of Satan is highly inappropriate. And calling the transaction at the gate an investigative judgment is also a huge stretch. The elders were not ruling in favor of anyone. They were witnesses of the transaction between the two men. They gave their blessing to the process but they were really just observers.
There are a lot of problems with making the details fit a narrative about judgment and Satan. Read the book with that paradigm and you could just as easily argue that we initiate the process of salvation (as Ruth did in chapter 3) or that Jesus negotiates with Satan for us. Both are flawed ideas.
Just like parables where not ever detail is significant, when a Bible character is a type of Jesus that does not mean every detail parallels Jesus. There may be details that do, but we really have to be careful.
if someone is not of the Lord his of the devil there is no middle ground
Recognizing our defects in character is the turning point in receiving God's blessings. What may seem like a deserving punishment can become an unimaginable gift.