Deu 25:5-6 | KingComments | STEP | In these verses an arrangement is made to protect the inheritance, that it may not fall into other hands. It describes the situation of two brothers who live in the same inheritance, of whom one is married and the other yet unmarried. If the married brother dies without a descendant, the other brother must take the widow as his wife. This is called “the duty of a husband’s brother” ( ). The son who is then conceived shall assume the name of the first husband and is his heir. This use, now enacted as law, has been known for some time ( ). With Boaz’s marriage to Ruth it is about a family member further away, because there is no brother ( ). There, too, the land has already passed into other hands. Boaz must become both the redeemer and the one who performs the duty of a husband’s brother. God has now enacted this existing, unwritten law and also brought it to the human level. This allows the brother to evade the duty of a husband’s brother. He can do this because he simply does not want it or because he puts his own interests at risk. The pulling off the sandal, is a symbolic indication. To put the sandal or shoe upon a given thing, speaks of taking possession of it, appropriating it and making it your own ( ; ). Pulling off the shoe speaks of the opposite and means abandoning a given thing. That is what the man does in the case of Ruth ( ). He does so because he ruins his own inheritance by marrying Ruth. He thinks more of his own interests. He then renounces the woman and the land. Here the woman pulls the sandal off his foot. Such an instance, results in a name of insult for the man. In the book of Ruth is a redeemer who is nearer. This first redeemer is a type of law. The law is given as the first obligation to man in order to receive life through it. The law says: “Do this and you will live’ ( ). But this first redeemer cannot redeem. People who enforce the law are like thieves and robbers. The Pharisees and scribes think only of their own interest and not of the people. They impose heavy loads. Then comes the Redeemer Who can do it and does it, the Lord Jesus. He does not think of Himself. He is not afraid to lose His own inheritance. He wants to be ”cut off and have nothing” ( ). The Lord Jesus is the true Boaz, which means ‘in him is strength’. Ruth is a picture of the remnant of Israel and Naomi of the Israel that has lost everything. How aptly Ruth, who is a Moabitess, shows the disenfranchisement of the remnant and that everything that is obtained is only on the basis of grace. The meaning for us is what we have to do for the other. It shows that we have to step aside for the other. Are we prepared to prioritize the interests of the brother, or do we look like the first redeemer? It may take some time or effort, but how important is it to us that the other person keeps his inheritance? The Sadducees refer in one of their discussions with the Lord Jesus to the duty of a husband’s brother to “prove” the implausibility of the resurrection ( ). The Sadducees are the liberals of that time. They only believe in what they can reason. Therefore they do not believe in the resurrection, nor in angels and spirits ( ). They propose to the Lord the case invented by them of seven brothers who marry the same woman in succession. They explain from their corrupt thinking how the situation develops in their fabricated example. Yet still, the Lord makes an effort to enlighten their darkened minds. He refers to the Scripture that speaks of God as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob ( ). The Lord quotes this Scripture to show that in the days of Moses the patriarchs live in another world, although they then have not yet been raised from the dead. The fact that their spirits are in the other world guarantees that they will share the fulfillment of the promises with resurrected bodies. When God says this to Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have long since passed away. But God has given them His promises. Will He not then be able to make them come true? Certainly, He will make them come true. He will do that in the resurrection. How very different is the faith of Abraham from that of the Sadducees. He has believed that God is able to raise even the dead ( ).

‏ Deuteronomy 25:5-6

The Duty of a Husband’s Brother

In these verses an arrangement is made to protect the inheritance, that it may not fall into other hands. It describes the situation of two brothers who live in the same inheritance, of whom one is married and the other yet unmarried. If the married brother dies without a descendant, the other brother must take the widow as his wife. This is called “the duty of a husband’s brother” (Deu 25:5 ; 7). The son who is then conceived shall assume the name of the first husband and is his heir. This use, now enacted as law, has been known for some time (Gen 38:8).

With Boaz’s marriage to Ruth it is about a family member further away, because there is no brother (Rth 4:1-8). There, too, the land has already passed into other hands. Boaz must become both the redeemer and the one who performs the duty of a husband’s brother. God has now enacted this existing, unwritten law and also brought it to the human level. This allows the brother to evade the duty of a husband’s brother. He can do this because he simply does not want it or because he puts his own interests at risk.

The pulling off the sandal, is a symbolic indication. To put the sandal or shoe upon a given thing, speaks of taking possession of it, appropriating it and making it your own (Jos 1:3; Psa 60:10 ; Psa 108:10). Pulling off the shoe speaks of the opposite and means abandoning a given thing. That is what the man does in the case of Ruth (Rth 4:7). He does so because he ruins his own inheritance by marrying Ruth. He thinks more of his own interests. He then renounces the woman and the land. Here the woman pulls the sandal off his foot. Such an instance, results in a name of insult for the man.

In the book of Ruth is a redeemer who is nearer. This first redeemer is a type of law. The law is given as the first obligation to man in order to receive life through it. The law says: “Do this and you will live’ (Lev 18:5). But this first redeemer cannot redeem. People who enforce the law are like thieves and robbers. The Pharisees and scribes think only of their own interest and not of the people. They impose heavy loads.

Then comes the Redeemer Who can do it and does it, the Lord Jesus. He does not think of Himself. He is not afraid to lose His own inheritance. He wants to be ”cut off and have nothing” (Dan 9:26b). The Lord Jesus is the true Boaz, which means ‘in him is strength’. Ruth is a picture of the remnant of Israel and Naomi of the Israel that has lost everything. How aptly Ruth, who is a Moabitess, shows the disenfranchisement of the remnant and that everything that is obtained is only on the basis of grace.

The meaning for us is what we have to do for the other. It shows that we have to step aside for the other. Are we prepared to prioritize the interests of the brother, or do we look like the first redeemer? It may take some time or effort, but how important is it to us that the other person keeps his inheritance?

The Sadducees refer in one of their discussions with the Lord Jesus to the duty of a husband’s brother to “prove” the implausibility of the resurrection (Mt 22:23-33). The Sadducees are the liberals of that time. They only believe in what they can reason. Therefore they do not believe in the resurrection, nor in angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). They propose to the Lord the case invented by them of seven brothers who marry the same woman in succession. They explain from their corrupt thinking how the situation develops in their fabricated example.

Yet still, the Lord makes an effort to enlighten their darkened minds. He refers to the Scripture that speaks of God as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob (Exo 3:6 ; 15-16). The Lord quotes this Scripture to show that in the days of Moses the patriarchs live in another world, although they then have not yet been raised from the dead. The fact that their spirits are in the other world guarantees that they will share the fulfillment of the promises with resurrected bodies.

When God says this to Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have long since passed away. But God has given them His promises. Will He not then be able to make them come true? Certainly, He will make them come true. He will do that in the resurrection. How very different is the faith of Abraham from that of the Sadducees. He has believed that God is able to raise even the dead (Heb 11:18).