She Will Bear a Son: Rahab, Ruth and the Kinsman Redeemer

Two women stand out in Jesus’ genealogy because their stories are linked together by one man. Though Rahab and Ruth’s stories are different from each other’s, they both loved a man named Boaz. Boaz beautifully points us forward to our “Kinsman Redeemer”, a Savior who cares about outcasts and sinners.

Rahab was a Canaanite woman who worked as a prostitute in the town of Jericho. The Israelite spies came to her place of business for information and instead of turning them over to the king’s guards, she protected them. She risked her life for people she had never met who served a God she had only heard rumors about. By sacrificially protecting the spies, Rahab proved her faith in God. He protected her when the walls of Jericho fell and the city was destroyed. Only Rahab and those who had come into her house for protection were spared.

What became of Rahab, the foreign prostitute? She married a Jewish man named Salmon. Salmon was the great-great-great grandson of Perez, the son of Tamar. Salmon took a risk in marrying Rahab. She was from an enemy nation. She had a morally questionable past. She had not been raised in their culture or faith. We don’t know why Salmon chose to marry her, but we have a glimpse of her character from other places where she is mentioned in Scripture. Both the authors of Hebrews and James tell us that she was a woman of great faith, who cared more about being a friend of God than her own safety. (Heb.11:31, James 2:23-25) She was courageous. Salmon married her and together they had a son, whom they named Boaz. Boaz embodied the heart of Jesus beautifully–a heart that he saw on full display in his own mother’s story.

Boaz became a key player in another woman’s story. Ruth, the third mother mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy, came to Israel by way of Moab. Like Rahab she too was a foreigner who chose to leave behind her country, her people and the gods of her land to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. She had married into the family of Naomi, an Israelite woman who was living abroad. After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. Ruth left everything behind to follow her.

Ruth was a woman of valor. She was strong and kind, courageous and true. She was hard working and sacrificially loving to her mother-in-law, Naomi. It was these qualities that Boaz recognized in her, because he had seen them before. Boaz had a heart for the struggler, the marginalized and the foreigner because he had watched his mother’s faith. He knew the sacrifices that Ruth had made to be faithful to Naomi and to Naomi’s God, because his mother had made the same choices. Boaz was probably the only man in Israel who knew what it cost Ruth to leave everything behind to follow a God she had only heard about and witnessed from afar. When Boaz looked at Ruth, he saw a woman who had suffered and he longed to spread his wings of protection over her.

Boaz went on to become Ruth and Naomi’s “Kinsman Redeemer”--the one who bought back for them all that they had lost and gave them hope for the future. By marrying Ruth, Boaz bought back the family land that Naomi had lost and secured her future by fathering sons through Ruth that would also now belong to Naomi’s deceased son (remember the “Levirate” marriage practices we talked about last week). Boaz and Ruth’s children would give security to Naomi, by providing for her as long as she lived.

The heart of God is on full display in this story. The foreigner, outcast and prostitute become esteemed mothers. Foreigners are brought into the family of God. The widow is cared for and the barren woman gives birth. It is a beautiful story of reversals–the bitter woman at the beginning of the story is caught up in a song of praise for the redemption she has received. (Ruth 1:20-21, 4:14-17) The outsider, barren woman becomes the grandmother to David, the king of Israel.

It is also not difficult to see Jesus in this story either. He is the truer and greater Boaz, our Kinsman Redeemer. Like Boaz Jesus was a man who saw the outcast, the foreigner, the sinner, the sufferer. He welcomed prostitutes to his table and demon-possessed women as his disciples. He was not ashamed of their pasts, because he knew that the one who has been forgiven much, loves much. (Luke 7:47) He cared about the outcasts, the lepers, the ones that everyone else avoided, for “the Father is seeking such people to worship him”. (John 4:23) This is what he told a woman from Samaria with a troubled past. The Father is looking for people who are broken and hurting. People who have nothing else to lose. People who will follow him sight unseen. People who will worship him in spirit and in truth because they have found him to be merciful and kind.

Just like Boaz, our Kinsman Redeemer has spread his wings of protection over us and loved us to his own hurt. During Advent we remember what it cost Jesus to put on flesh and dwell among us. We remember what it cost him to redeem us. We throw up our hands in gratitude that he has grafted us into his family and shared with us his inheritance. We raise our voices and sing, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left us this day without a redeemer!” (Ruth 4:14)