Gaining a Greater Inheritance: A Case Study of Boaz

"Son of a whore!”   “Hebrew?! Fat chance!  His momma was a foreigner!”     All conjecture, but I do wonder if Boaz's maternal lineage had any impact on his growing up years.  Not that it is stated in Scripture, and frankly, there were steep consequences in the Old Testament law for making curses.  But is it possible that the temptation to tease the son of a former Jerichoite for his “unfortunate” heritage may have come across someone’s mind?  And maybe, it was never a concern.  After all, Boaz’s mother probably was well-known as the woman who hid Israelite spies, and later adopted Elohim as her own God (see Joshua 2:1-24; Matthew 1:5).  Either way, by the time he reached adulthood, Rahab’s son had become a prominent, well-respected and financially successful man in the town of Bethlehem.     His world was probably like any other agriculturalist, and perhaps nothing was too out of the ordinary.  That was - until the arrival of a foreign woman who came across his land, seeking financial provision.  In time, he found out this woman was a widow, and the daughter-in-law of a family member; another widow by the name of Naomi.  This Moabite woman’s name was Ruth.     I always wondered if Boaz’s heritage - more explicitly his mother’s line - may have encouraged the compassion he showed for Ruth: why he jumped quickly to help her as a neighbor; why he didn’t judge her character based on ethnicity, until he saw the character on display; why, even when she asked for the ultimate sacrifice, he was willing if allowed.     Boaz is an Old Testament example of a redeemer.  Typically called in church tradition, a “kinsman redeemer” or the “guarenteer”, because he was willing to provide and cover the debt of his family.  Naomi’s dead husband was a relative, and he could commit to caring for her and her daughter-in-law, as long as it wasn’t another close(r) relative’s responsibility.  And Boaz was eager to do this redeeming.     Nevertheless, the redemption wasn’t without a cost.  A closer relative, who had first dibs on redeeming Naomi and her daughter-in-law, refused the course of action, because it would endanger his own family’s heritage.  “Then Boaz said, ‘On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.’  And the close relative said, ‘I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance.  You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.’ (Ruth 4:5-6).”  Boaz’ choice in redeeming the widow was that his first son would be credited to her dead husband; not to his own name.  And yet, Boaz willingly chose to redeem her; even had a hint of excitement to do it (see Ruth 3:10-13).     Boaz indeed married Ruth, and soon after, a son named Obed, was born.  Initially, Obed was called the son of Naomi (Ruth 4:17), hinting at the inheritance that should have come through her own son, who died.  And yet, in my studying of Ruth and other places of genealogies, Ruth’s dead husband isn’t the one named as the father of Obed.  Maybe there was an inheritance, but historically, Boaz was given the acknowledgment of being Obed’s father (see Ruth 4:18-22 for an immediate example).  When Matthew was substantiating Jesus’ lineage through the tribe of Judah, he not only hinted at Joseph’s father, as well as being connected with David (king from whom the Messiah would come).  He also mentioned this: “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king (Matthew 1:5, emphasis added).”  Boaz was willing to bring redemption to someone who did not deserve it, calculated the casualty of the cost; and yet, in redeeming the person, gained an inheritance that extended beyond himself.  A gift of family, through fatherhood.

    “Oh, that poor boy.  Such a sweetheart to care for her, considering how she treated him.”
    “Maybe he’s just being accountable.  Who knows if he got her pregnant before she left to visit her cousin.”
    “Perhaps.  But think of what kind of kid they’ll have?!  No matter how you look at it, it’s a scandal!
    Joseph, in claiming Jesus as his own son, was a scandal indeed.  People don’t just claim kids as their own, if their betrothed cheated on them.  Yet, he did (it helped that an angel revealed that the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and not humanly initiated; see Matthew 1:19-21).  It was actually Joseph adopting Jesus as his own son that connected Jesus to the tribe of Judah (this is why I consider Joseph as an adoptive father, rather than a step-father, to some extent.  Jesus was considered legally as Joseph’s son, carrying his inheritance.  But maybe Joseph is considered a step-father, because Jesus identified His sonship with both Joseph and God the Father…but maybe this is reading the Scripture through Western eyes.) 
    But if anything was a scandal about Jesus, the matter of His birth was the smallest portion of all.  The reality of it all was that there was a God seeking to redeem His whole creation, and He chose to do it Himself.  But, as with Boaz, redemption wasn’t without a casualty on the part of the Redeemer.  There would be pain in carrying the weight of the world’s sin - past, present, and future.  “...And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).”  While on the cross, Jesus cried out to His Heavenly Father, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me,” echoing the Messianic prophecy in Psalms 22.  And yet…
    Redemption is not redemption if there is not a return. “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship You.  For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations (Psalm 22:27-28).”  And just as with Boaz, the inheritance gained was greater than the momentary cost.  Jesus didn’t just save creation from going to hell.  He made us righteous.  “...Be reconciled to God.  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20b-21).”
    Being cleansed of our sins is a HUGE deal, but what is just as incredible is that God not only made us righteous, but in being righteous, He calls us His own children.  Where back in John 3:16, Jesus was called God’s only begotten Son, by the time Romans was written, Paul points out that the family reunion became a WHOLE LOT BIGGER.  “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba Father.’  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Romans 8:14-17, emphasis added).”  A heritage birthed out of fatherhood.
    The topic of redemption is central to the gospel.  It is the hope we stand on.  It is the crux of our faith in God, because in Christianity, we recognize the depravity of our humanity and the need for a Savior to come rescue us.  But this rescue came at an intense cost.  And yet, Jesus saw the brutal treatment He suffered for our sake as a joy, because of what would become a result (see Hebrews 12:2).  We no longer were held in bondage to our sin.  But additionally, the joy I believe Jesus found was that His inheritance was being able to call us His own…family.  As with Boaz, Jesus laid down His reputation, His right to a heritage…and yet, in His redemptive purchase, He gained an inheritance greater than any could imagine or previously thought possible.  Until it was possible.