The Law CANNOT Redeem
The end of Ruth is filled with strange twists and turns. It seems Boaz and Ruth are headed to wedded bliss when he stops short. Boaz knows the law. He knows there's a nearer relative who has the Levarite right to redeem Naomi by producing an offspring for her with Ruth. This law was set in place with Moses so ensure that a man's name and inheritance would not be cut off from Israel. Deuteronomy 25:5–6 (ESV) “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. Just when things are looking really good for Ruth and Boaz, he makes the sudden announcement to her that there is a nearer redeemer and according to the law this other man must be ...