R3-3: Without This Information You’ll NEVER Understand The Story Of Ruth On A Deep Level

We’ve been talking about how the Kinsmen Redeemer was required to step in and buy back land for his clan if it was in danger of being lost to an outsider.

But today let’s shift our focus to Levirate Marriage…

This was the other obligation a Kinsmen Redeemer was expected to fulfill…

And was an institution that was actually codified into the Law of Moses.

The whole idea was that if an Israelite man died without a son, he died without someone to inherit his property.

Therefore, it was the duty of the deceased man’s brother to marry his widowed sister-in-law and produce a son with her.

However, the kicker is the son born from this arrangement would NOT be considered the son of the brother…

Instead he would be considered the son of his deceased brother…

So in this way the dead brother’s name and family line would be preserved…

AND the son born from this Levirate Marriage would become the official heir to the land that belonged to his deceased uncle.

Okay, so here’s the thing and pay close attention.

From BOTH a Scriptural and legal perspective, Levirate Marriage was NOT an obligation a GO-EL or Kinsman Redeemer had to fulfill.

In other words, there’s no Torah basis that commands a Kinsman Redeemer to step in and marry a widowed woman who never had a son.

BUT, and this is a big “but”…

During the time of Ruth we see these two institutions had somehow merged and become a Hebrew tradition.

That’s right folks.

Technically speaking, the Torah only requires a brother-in-law to marry the sonless widow of his dead brother in order to produce a heir…

NOT the Kinsman Redeemer.

However, at some point in time, it became a custom to include Levirate Marriage as one of the duties a Kinsman Redeemer should also take on.

So if a man died who had no brothers…

Or if he had a brother but that brother refused to fulfill his Levirate Marriage obligations…

Then the traditions of the time required the Kinsman redeemer to step in and perform Levirate Marriage IN ADDITION to his obligation of redeeming the land of the deceased so that the property would remain within the family and clan.

This was viewed as a pretty strong and inviolable custom during Ruth’s time EVEN IF it wasn’t Scriptural. 

Are you getting all this?

Go back and read everything again if you have to.

Okay so assuming you understand everything I’ve explained so far, let’s apply all of this to Naomi’s situation.

Naomi’s deceased husband possessed territory in the Beit-Lechem region.

However, both of his sons died…

On top of that, the wives of those sons (now widows) never had any sons…

Therefore, there was nobody left to legally inherit the land except Elimelech’s wife Naomi.

But Naomi was now a poverty-stricken elderly lady and was way too old to work the land.

So she had no choice but to sell her property in order to survive.

Can you see the dire situation Naomi found herself in?

Her only hope was Boaz.

Why?

Since Boaz was related to Elimelech, he was the designated GO-EL or Kinsman Redeemer in this situation.

So Naomi could only pray that Boaz would accept his Kinsman Redeemer obligations according to the traditions of the time.

This would translate to Boaz marrying her daughter-in-law Ruth.

If that happened, a whole host of problems would be solved in one fell swoop.

FIRST, Naomi would be able to live out her final years in comfort and security.

SECOND, Ruth would give birth to a son with Boaz who would carry on Machlon’s family line (Machlon was Ruth’s deceased husband).

THIRD, Ruth’s son would also become the much needed heir for Elimelech’s property in Bethlehem and thus prevent the clan or family line from dying out.

So multiple birds would be killed with one stone if Boaz agreed to marry Ruth.

Now I know all of this is completely lost on anyone who grew up in a Western culture.

But if you really want to understand what’s going on in Ruth Chapter 3 and why Naomi gave Ruth such strange instructions, this info is essential.

Everything I’ve explained was well understood and accepted without question by the ancient Israelites…

And everyone in society knew their roles and what was expected of them.

So with this knowledge in hand…

Knowledge I can guarantee practically no gentile pastor, preacher or teacher anywhere on planet earth possesses (unless he or she has a PHD in ancient Hebrew studies or something and even then I’m doubtful they’d possess this level of understanding)…

Next time we shall begin diving into the text of Ruth Chapter 3!