Redefining Family

In our sermon series on Ruth, we have seen a complex and textured story of a family that has experienced the unthinkable. Naomi and Ruth have been forced to redefine their ideals of family in order to survive.

We’d like family to be simple and buttoned up. There’s always what God intended and then there’s what He works with. Death, disagreements, divorce, affairs, adoption, foster care, weird uncles, move-in parents, move-in adult children. Sin and brokenness have forced us to redefine family. We see in the book of Ruth that plans don’t go as planned.

The main theme of this book is redemption from unlikely places.

Last week, Angel taught us that Ruth is working for a man named Boaz that’s wealthy. He’s attracted to her but can’t marry her. The rules of engagement are such that the next of kin has first rights. We found out there is a next of kin besides Boaz and this is where we pick up today.

Ruth 4:1–4

Cultural Context

The Jewish people had redemption built into their culture. There was a Year of Jubilee every 50 years when things were given back. If you had fallen on hard times and had to sell your land or home, it would be returned during the Year of Jubilee.

Redeeming also involved purchasing a family member’s land to preserve a relative’s name.

Redeeming was a duty to preserve a family’s name.

Redemption simply means bringing something back to its original purpose or owner.

Redemption was a concession for a reset.

Don’t you wish you could have a reset when life got katywampus?

Deuteronomy 25:5–6: “If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law.

“The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.”

Boaz wants to redeem the land and marry Ruth, but the marital rights belong to the next of kin, whose name is never given to us. So Boaz goes to sit at the city gate, a public place where legal proceedings would take place. He sees the next of kin and gathers ten elders to join him as witnesses. He lays out the proposition to the kinsman-redeemer, and it all sounds good and convenient until Boaz says, “Of course, you also have to marry Ruth—not Naomi, but Ruth.”

Ruth 4:5–6

The kinsman-redeemer refuses his right because it “might endanger my own estate.” The heir who would be born would not be his. This speaks a great and difficult truth to me.

Redemption isn’t always convenient.

Reference Deuteronomy 25:7–10. If a brother refused to marry his dead brother’s widow, she would shame him by removing his sandal, taking away his right to redeem the land.

To redeem was to make the wrong right—to take an unfortunate situation that wasn’t planned and fix it. There are unfortunate things that have happened to us that we didn’t plan. When we started out, divorce wasn’t in the cards. A miscarriage wasn’t my hope. Foster care wasn’t a consideration. Adoption wasn’t my first choice. Our spouse dying wasn’t the plan. All of a sudden, we find ourselves displaced from family in a new place. We find ourselves forced to redefine what family is. Sometimes the person I’m closest to isn’t even related to me by blood.

Our perfect picture gets derailed by a mishap.

Ruth and Naomi’s lives were derailed by misfortune.

What makes it more complicated is that Ruth is NOT part of their tribe. She is outside the promise and bloodline of Abraham. We can already see that family is being redefined. 

Redeemer can also mean avenger. When life treats us badly, we want to avenge the wrong. But God says, “Vengeance is Mine.” He is our avenger! Things can go from bad to worse when we try to be our own redeemer.

Redemption isn’t always convenient; it may mess up your plans.

We don’t always get to pick who’s in our family. This next of kin didn’t want to accept Ruth as his wife because she might bear a son that would inherit the very land he was buying. He said, “it might endanger my own estate.” If Ruth has a son the land would go to him.

When the next of kin won’t redeem Naomi, he removes his sandal to signify that he is forfeiting his right to claim the land. Your sandals represented your legal claim to property.

Reference Deuteronomy 11:24–25.

Let’s move on…

Ruth 4:9–10

A son had to be born to redeem the land… I said, a Son had to be born to redeem the land! Boaz is going to give Ruth a son—not to carry on his name, but to carry on the father’s name.

The men speak a blessing over Boaz and Ruth.

Ruth 4:11–12

Perez was born into a messed-up family. Perez was a twin who was supposed to be born second but came out first, and the midwife named him Perez, which means “breaking out.”

Perez was really an unexpected mistake who became an ancestor of King David and Jesus. You may feel like your life is misplaced and doesn’t line up with everyone else’s perfect family. But God has a way of redefining family!

God is redefining what it means to be part of the family.

Naomi Is Redeemed!

Boaz marries Ruth, and they have a son. But notice what the women of the city said to Naomi.

Ruth 4:14–15

You thought family looked like having lots of sons, but He gave you a daughter-in-law who was better than seven sons. Life may have thrown your thought train off track, but we’re redefining family through redemption!

God wants you to be part of the family today.