Ruth 4:1

Ruth 4:1 says, Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.  Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, waiting to see if his kinsman would come by, and he did.  Boaz asked him to come and talk with him.  The gate of the city was where court was held.  Verse two adds, And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.  Boaz had ten of the elders of the city there with him to do things legally.  Even if we are attempting to get something we want as Christians, we must do it honesty and above board.  Verse three continues, And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:  Boaz told his kinsman that Naomi had a parcel of land to sell that belonged to Elimelech before he left.  There were specific redemption laws in Israel, and Matthew Henry says that Elimelech might have mortgaged the land before he left during the famine, and now Naomi wanted one of her kinsmen to redeem it for her.  He also said that the other possibility was that Naomi wanted to sell her rights to the property so she would have money to live on.  I believe we can say that God has the right of redemption for every person, but it is up to us whether or not we allow Him to use it.  Verse four states, And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.  Boaz told his kinsman that he wanted to come before the elders and see if the man would redeem the property, and Boaz told him if he didn't that he was the next in line to be able to redeem it.  He was doing nothing behind the man's back, but was dealing honestly and openly with the situation.  We must do the same with people today, even if means that we may not get what we want.   The man said he would redeem the property.  Verse five adds, Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.  Boaz then told his kinsman that when he redeemed the land from Naomi, he was also redeeming it from Ruth, a woman of Moab, who was the widow of one of Naomi's sons, and that he would need to marry her to produce an heir.  Matthew Henry points out that the marriage law at least at first only applied to the brothers of the man who had died but may have been changed at some time.  Still, this was basically being done based on the law of redemption.  Verse six continues, And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.  The kinsman then said he couldn't redeem it himself because he might mar his inheritance.  Matthew Henry says that the man may have already been married and had children and didn't want another heir with a claim to his inheritance, but for whatever reason, he would not or could not claim the inheritance if it meant marrying Ruth as well.  He told Boaz to redeem the property himself.  God offers us redemption today if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, but he does not force us to accept it, just as this man was not forced to redeem the land.  God will continue to offer redemption to others, even if we turn it down.  Verse seven says, Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.  We are told that in Israel that the manner of confirming a deal was for a person confirming it to take off his shoe and give it to the one with whom he was confirming it.  This may have been a better way than all the lawyers who would likely be involved today.  Verse eight adds. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.  The kinsman confirmed the deal with Boaz by handing him his shoe to confirm the deal.  Verse nine continues, And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.  Boaz told the elders and all the people around that they would be witnesses to the fact that he had bought all that was Elimelech's and his two sons, Chilion and Mahlon, inheritance, from Naomi.  We are never told what the price was.  We can rest assured that when we accept redemption through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord that the price has been paid by Him through the His death on the cross.  Verse ten concludes, Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.  Boaz said he had also purchased Ruth to be his wife to raise up an inheritance, or a child, to carry on the name of Mahlon.  We don't have any such inheritance laws today, but we do know that Christ died so that we can have an eternal inheritance with Him if we accept salvation that He alone makes available.