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Day 18: The Redeemer Who Speaks Peace
Scripture:
But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
Ruth 2:11-13
What kind of words do people say to you? Do they speak words encouragement? Words of hope? Or do you find that your life is filled with words that hurt and tear you down? I don’t have to tell you that the right kind of words go a long way. After all, death and life are in the power of the tongue. There is a particular kind of hurt that comes when words are used wrongly against us.
Week 3 reminds us that the Redeemer sees, and today we see that He doesn’t just see your hurt, but He speaks peace into it. Jesus knows the power words have over weary hearts, and He speaks the kind of words that steady, comfort, and restore. Are you ready today for His words to speak the peace and comfort that your heart needs?
Boaz has the opportunity today to speak words to Ruth. He has the opportunity to speak words that could crush her and remind her of how the world would see her, or he can speak words that will point her to the Lord’s redemption. Words that will edify and build her up. He began with telling Ruth the good that he has heard about her. She has done much good for her mother-in-law, and she has come to a country that was not her native land, and to a people who are not her own. She has left a life of security and certainty for a path of what seems to be insecurity and uncertainty.
Maybe you’ve known the sting of harsh words. You’ve had been hurt by words that cut, words that belittled, words that stayed with you longer than they should have. But the Redeemer who sees you also speaks peace to you. Jesus is better because His words never crush the weary. His words are perfect, lifting, healing, and restoring.
The people she comes to could be very hostile. Ruth has a lot of reasons to be afraid and to try and do things her way. But Boaz points out that she has ultimately been obeying the Lord, and He is going to reward her. He frames it as the paying of a debt, that the good Ruth has done is so great that only the Lord could possibly pay it back. And this is what Boaz prays for, that the Lord will repay Ruth for her hesed loving kindness to Naomi.
Many years earlier, a man by the name of Jacob was attempted to be cheated out of his wages by his father-in-law. His father-in-law Labin was a stingy man who was always trying to take advantage of anyone, including his own family. And it was only the Lord’s intervention that prevented him from doing this to Jacob. The question could be asked, is this the sort of God that Yahweh is? Is He a stingy deity who only gives the bare minimum to people and is always looking for a way to get the best of the video? Or is He a generous father who will fully and faithfully reward people for their labor? Boaz believes this, that God is no stingy miser but rather a good and generous father.
And like it or not, your circumstances might be telling you that God is a miserly, stingy father. And so it’s these words of truth that your heart needs to hear today, that your circumstances don’t define who Jesus is. Jesus is no miser of mercy. He is lavishing you with grace even when you don’t see it.
When you have the Lord who is good and generous, looking to repay for the good that you’ve done, there is no better place that you could be. Even when we do things for our friends, there can be many times in which we aren’t treated in the ways that we should be and in our efforts toward others are often not noticed. But this is never the case with the Lord. When the Lord goes to repay you for your labor, you will never have to worry that it won’t be enough. You will never have to be concerned that you will get shorted somehow. Your reward is never measured in scraps, it is measured in the fullness of His love.
Boaz speaks this truth to Ruth. He wants her to know that her actions have been seen, and that the Lord will faithfully repay them. But not only as the Lord repays her, but he points her to the Lord as her shelter. Like a young bird, Ruth is very vulnerable and unprotected. But the truth is, the Lord has spread His wings over her and now she lies under His protection. What better place could she be in? To have the Lord who is going to pay her debt and who will shelter her under His wings is the best refuge she can have. And the refuge that Jesus offers to you is better than anything else, because He Himself is that refuge.
The words that Boaz speaks to Ruth are words of peace. They point what could have been an anxious and struggling heart back to the assurance and faithfulness of the Lord. These words meet her in her time of trouble and give her a foundation on which to stand. In a very similar way, we have the opportunity to speak such words to others. And these are the words that we should speak to them. Our focus however, is on the way that God speaks to us.
Our Redeemer speaks words that give us a blessing, not a burden. He is not weighing us down with more demands and expectations that we will have to live up to. Rather, He speaks of His finished work for us and words that tell us of what He has done for us. Our redeemer speaks words that comfort and heal, not words that harm us. I know at times His words will hurt, as He speaks truth into those places we need to hear. But the purpose of these words is not to be vindictive but rather to be redemptive.
Maybe you’ve lived under heavy words your whole life with expectations you couldn’t meet, criticism you couldn’t shake, or burdens you couldn’t carry. But Jesus is better because His words are not chains but are freedom. He speaks rest to the exhausted and grace to the overwhelmed. His words bring us alive, not dead.
And this is where the story meets you today. You may be carrying words that wounded you, words spoken in anger, carelessness, or cruelty. You may be weighed down by lies, accusations, or expectations that feel impossible to bear. You may long for a voice that brings peace instead of pressure.
But the Redeemer who sees is the Redeemer who speaks peace. Jesus is better because His words do not crush the weary, they comfort them. His words do not shame the broken, they heal them. His words do not burden the overwhelmed, they lift them. His words do not stir chaos, they settle storms.
The Redeemer who spoke peace to Ruth speaks peace to you, personally, tenderly, faithfully. Of all the voices, Jesus’ voice is the safest place for your troubled heart.
Pastor Josh Gerber
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