"1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11 Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
Ruth 4:1-12
One can almost sense the near kinsman's swift mental calculation as Boaz speaks to him of Naomi position, and as swift a decision when he realises that with the prize of the field there goes the responsibility of Ruth. This is an only too accurate reflection of the attitude of many who are prepared in theory for God's will only so long as it does not inconvenience them or seriously interfere with their own selfish interests. One re- calls the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28ff. one said, I go, and he went not; the other refused to do, then in the end went. It was rather like this with the kinsman: first of all he said, I will redeem it; but when he saw what it involved, he had second thoughts. Jesus also said something about the danger of putting one's hand to the plough and then turning back (Luke 9:62), and of starting to build a tower and being unable to finish it (Luke 14:28). This man did not at first count the cost of what he was called upon to do; but when he finally did, he backed out. Are there not Christians who do this today? They are called to do something that costs, something that involves a cross, and they are un- willing - unwilling to face that cost which is the price of truly effectual service.
But there is a price to be paid for not paying the price, and it may be seen in what this near kinsman of Naomi's lost. He is called 'such an one' in 1. He does not even have a name: he is anonymous. His name is not even mentioned in Holy Writ: No glory shines from his memory. His inheritance is to have gone down in history as a man with- out a name, a man of no significance to God. We may be insignificant people, of little import in the world's eyes, but if we do the will of God, we shall not be forgotten by Him, and shall in no wise lose our reward. 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know', said the evil spirits (Acts 19:15), 'but who are ye?' There is a lot in a name, viewed from this stand- point!