Session VII, Day 1

What a gorgeous weekend God blessed us with!  I hope you are starting this week rejuvenated and ready to attend to all of your responsibilities.  We left off with Boaz ready to attend to Ruth and Naomi's redemption at the end of last week.  If you will recall, Chapter 3 ended with Naomi’s words, “for the man will not rest until the matter is settled today."

ASSIGNMENT:
Read Ruth 4:1-6
Jot down the answer to the following questions in your notebook...

1. Who appears to own the land at this point?
2. What was the unnamed kinsman’s first response to Boaz’s suggestion?
3. After Boaz explained “part 2” of the deal, how did the kinsman respond?  What was his reason?
4. In your opinion, what was the difference between the motivation of Boaz and the motivation of the “first-option” kinsman?
5. A genuine kinsman-redeemer would have acted out of ___________(original Hebrew for loving kindness) rooted in covenant loyalty.

Here is some additional historical information about town gates.

4:1-2 – The town gate served as the town hall in ancient Israel, and evidently the town elders always hung around to oversee legal transactions. Archaeological Bible notes on city gates say Kings frequently held public audiences there and that is where prophets often addressed the people. In excavations of such gates, benches have been uncovered – perhaps where the elders of the town sat; and also poles that would have held up some sort of canopy – to cover a king or other nobleman as he sat at the gate.