Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.” [Ruth] said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”
A loving rescuer
December 10
Read: A selection from Ruth 3:1–4:12
Listen:
In Israel, there were rules to protect widows, women whose husbands had died. Back then, women didn’t have jobs, so they couldn’t make money to pay for food or a house. And men were the ones to carry on the family name, so if a woman had no sons, the family would end with her.
So there was a special rule to protect a widow with no sons. The rule was that the brother of the widow’s dead husband had to marry the widow. (Back then, it was sometimes okay to have more than one wife.) That brother was called the “kinsman redeemer.” Kinsman means a relative, and redeemer means someone who rescues you. The brother would rescue the widow and her family by paying for food, giving them a place to live, and carrying on the family name.
In this story, Boaz is the kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi. Naomi’s husband and Ruth’s husband both died, and Naomi and Ruth were helpless without any sons. But they weren’t hopeless. Boaz stepped up to marry Ruth so that the family could continue.
Much later in the Bible, we read about another kinsman redeemer. That kinsman redeemer is Jesus. Everyone in the world is as helpless as Ruth and Naomi were. But the Bible says Jesus is like the groom at a wedding, and the church is his bride. Like Boaz, he steps up to marry us, to join his life with ours and rescue us.
Wonder:
What about Boaz made him willing to marry Ruth, even though he didn’t know her? Why do you think Jesus was willing to rescue us?
Pray:
Jesus, thanks for taking me and making me part of the wonderful family of God. Amen.
This devotion is part of
The Jesse Tree Story:
A Family Advent Devotional
Each devotion in this family Advent devotional invites you into the story of someone on Jesus’s family tree. These devotions will show young children how God was preparing for Jesus to be born across many generations. Each story pairs with a symbol you can hang on your own Jesse Tree.
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