The plan was made, and Ruth
fulfilled her part. She was to go to Boaz in the middle of the night,
uncover his feet when he lay down, and ask him to fulfill the role of
the kinsman redeemer by marrying her. She fulfilled her part of the
plan, and after Boaz recovered from being startled from finding a
woman at his feet, he was not only willing but felt honored that Ruth
asked him such a request. However, there was one obstacle in the way
which needed to be removed before Boaz could fulfill his duty. He
mentions it to Ruth in chapter three and verse twelve where we read:
And now it is true that
I am your near kinsman: however there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Boaz
affirms Ruth's conclusion that he is the kinsman redeemer by saying,
“And now it is true that I am your near kinsman”, but
according to Boaz' protection and provision for Ruth in the beginning
of their encounters with one another, we might think that is only a
convenient way for Boaz to get what he desired in the first place. It
appears that Boaz has already been thinking about this possibility
because he knew there was an obstacle impeding his opportunity.
We read,
“however, there is a kinsman nearer than I.” It is not
like Boaz was told after the fact about this other kinsman. He knew
of him. If we think about this for a moment we might be able to hear
the thoughts of Boaz previous to this encounter. It may have been
something like this, “Now, this gal really appeals to me, and I
would like to be with her. I wonder if there is any way? I wonder if
she would even be interested? Why would she want an older guy like
me? There are lots of younger men out there. She probably would be
interested in them, however, even if she were interested, this other
guy (he probably knew his name) is a closer kinsman redeemer than I
am. It's probably never going to happen, so I shouldn't worry about
it, but I really like Ruth. I really do. Oh well, I'll just have to
see what the Lord decides about this one...” We don't know what
Boaz' thought were, but we do see from our scriptures that he had a
ready answer for her when the opportunity availed itself to him.
Boaz
knew himself to be the true kinsman, however he knew there was one
closer than he. As we ponder this today, is there anyone who is
closer to us than Jesus? Is there any obstacle or relationship that
impedes our being “married” to Him? Are there other loves that
need to be removed before we can have a true intimate bond with Jesus
Christ? Jesus said, “He that loves father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me.” (Mark
10:37) Perhaps there are “nearer kinsman” who interfere with our
closeness the Jesus, if so, we must evaluate our relationships with
them and allow the Lord Jesus to deal with them according to His
perfect plan. Jesus is our kinsman redeemer. Would He conclude if He
evaluated our lives that “there is a kinsman nearer than
I?”
Next
time we will find out Boaz' plan to deal with this obstacle, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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