The Book of Ruth ~ Devotion Thirteen

"A Basket Full and Running Over"

We've witnessed how Boaz was kind to Ruth by allowing her to pick up grain with the others. He even secretly had the workers pull whole stalks of barley out and leave it for Ruth to pick up. At the end of the day he asked her to dinner and sent her home with her day's harvest ~ a full basket of grain.

Boaz is a foreshadowing of Jesus. Don't get me wrong. He's not the Messiah but he reflects who the Messiah is. Jesus provides more than we could ever imagine. Just like Boaz, Jesus places blessing in our paths for us to harvest. He invites us to eat with Him and be filled. When we go to Him for the filling of our needs, our baskets are always full.

Luke 6:38 (NLT) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."


This is how Jesus gives ~ "a good measure...pressed down...shaken together.. and  running over." He gives abundantly to those He loves and who come to Him as their Lord. We see that reflected in the actions of Boaz to Ruth.

Let's read our text for today and see what we can learn from it:

Ruth 2:19-20 (NLT) Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!" Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.
     "The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers."

Naomi was surprised to hear that Ruth had been working in the fields of Boaz. She knew him as her relative and called him "one of our kinsman-redeemers." What does that mean? And why does it matter that we know it? Well, let's take a look and see. (I love learning new things!)

 "Kinsman-redeemer" ("ga-el" in Hebrew) means,  "to redeem, ransom, release, deliver; to fulfill the duties of relationship." We will study more about this later, but we see the reflection of Jesus again in this passage of Scripture. The scarlet thread that runs through the Old Testament leads us to our Kinsman-Redeemer in the person of Jesus ~ God the Son.

Job 19:25 (NLT) “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.

Job did foretell of our Savior ~ our Redeemer whose name is Jesus. (It's the sweetest name I know!) Again, we pick up part of the scarlet thread that runs through the Old Testament to the New Testament.
Another word for "redeemer" is "defender." I like that word. Jesus is my Redeemer-Defender. He's my Provider and Protector.

Galatians 1:3-5 (NLT) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

Jesus rescues us from the debt we owe for our disobedience to God. In fact, He went so far as to pay the debt and the debt was our death. You see death is the penalty for disobedience to God. What "god" do you know that would forgive such a debt? Name one? Buddha ~ he's dead... Joseph Smith ~ he's dead...Mohammed...he's dead...Vishnu... he's dead? Not one allows for redemption and blessing at the same time. No other Redeemer lives.

Where else can we turn but to the One who sends us home with our baskets full to overflowing? Who rescues us from death? Who restores us to who He created us to be? There is no other name given to someone that describes our Kinsman- Redeemer. His Name is Jesus!

Psalm 68:19 (NLT) Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death.

Hold out your basket, 
lay down your life for His, 
raise up to life forever. 

Jesus is our Redeemer and Friend.