2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The Holy Spirit leads me to continue writing about the traits of a kinsman-redeemer. You’ll remember that the first three are: 1) He must be a blood relative; 2) He must be able to pay the price of redemption; 3) He must have the desire to redeem. Today, we’ll look at the fourth trait: 4) He must be willing to redeem his kinsman. The story of Ruth, a Moabitess who converted to faith in the One and Only True God and showed such loyalty to her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi (after Naomi’s Jewish husband, Elimelech, died by refusing to go home to Moab) is a beautiful example of the principles of redemption put in practice. Ruth’s own husband, Mahlon (Naomi’s son), had also died, which originally prompted Naomi to tell Ruth to return to Moab with her also-widowed sister-in-law, Orpah.
As the law of redemption is stated in LV 25: 25, “If an Israelite becomes poor and is forced to sell his land, his closet relative is to buy it back.” This is understood that when a Israelite woman is widowed, her husband’s brother is to marry her to have a child with her and keep the land in the family. If there is no brother to do this, or the brother is unwilling to marry her, then the closest relative of her husband can become her kinsman-redeemer. Elimelech’s closest relative didn’t want to marry Ruth, but Boaz, who was also related to him, fell in love with Ruth and agreed to do so. RU 3: 9, [Ruth speaking to Boaz], “’It’s Ruth, sir,’ she answered. ‘Because you are a close relative, you are responsible for taking care of me. So, please marry me.’” Later, Boaz met at the town gate with its leaders. Elimelech’s nearest relative also was at this meeting. Boaz explained to him that Naomi, who had just returned from Moab with Ruth, wanted to sell her field that belonged to Elimelech. The relative said he would buy it, but Boaz explained that he was also buying Ruth, so that the field would stay in the dead man’s family. RU 4: 6, “The man answered, ‘In that case I will give up my right to buy the field, because it would mean that my own children would not inherit it. You buy it; I would rather not.’” The matter was settled when the seller took off his sandal and gave it to the buyer, Boaz in this case. That is how the exchange of property or any kind of sale was settled in ancient Israel.
Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ was raised in the Jewish culture. We can be sure that He understood the concept of a kinsman-redeemer. That would become a key role in His spiritual commission given Him by God at the pre-Creation council in heaven [COL 1: 19-20; 1 PET 1: 20-21]. There are certain citations which give us insight into Christ’s willingness to be our Kinsman-Redeemer, and to pay the costly price of redeeming us from slavery to sin. LK 22: 42, [Christ’s words to God during His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His arrest], “’Father,’ He said, ‘if You will, take this cup of suffering away from Me. Not My will, however, but Your will be done.’” Matthew’s account of this significant moment in Christ’s life in MT 26: 36-44 bears this out. Paul, who I believe to be the author of the book of Hebrews, writes about this in HE 5: 7-10, “In His life on earth Jesus made His prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, Who could save him from death. Because He was humble and devoted, God heard Him. But even through He was God’s Son, He learned through Hs sufferings to be obedient. When He was made perfect, He became a Source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, and God declared Him to be High Priest, as the Successor of Mechizedek.” Christ, Who is omniscient, knew ahead of time what would happen to Him and why. Otherwise He could not have spoken of it to His disciples beforehand as He did. Despite battling the flesh in Gethsemane, Christ had the spiritual strength to put the Father’s will first before that of His flesh and to obey the Father.
We must examine how our own willingness to obey God compares to that of Christ, the Paradigm God has given us. I know that there are plenty of times when we must do something that might be painful or uncomfortable for us, because it is the right thing to do. That certainly applies to cancer patients who courageously submit to chemotherapy, because that is the only way they have a chance to get well. The same thing applies to a coach who finds himself having to break up a fight on the playing field or a parent who must discipline a child when it is necessary. We must look at the spiritual challenges that we face and make moral decisions about how to handle them. That well-worn question arises, “What would Jesus do?” Along with that question is a viable forerunner to it, “How can you ask what Jesus would do, if you don’t know what He did?” We can truly consider ourselves blessed that Christ was willing to give His life on the cross and to become our Kinsman-Redeemer.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your compassion for us is something we should never take for granted. We must acknowledge the great sacrifice of Your Son on the cross for us and Your gift of the Holy Spirit with deepest gratitude. There are so many examples of it both in the Scriptures and in our daily lives. PS 9: 10 is one. “Those who know You, Lord, will trust You; You do not abandon anyone who comes to You.” We have been taught and believe that You are eager for us to seek You out and to have the chance to bless us. What greater blessing can there be than that You have not only forgiven sin for which we are repentant, but You also forget it? Another example of Your compassion comes in PS 18: 28-29, “O Lord, You give me light; You dispel my darkness. You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses.” Sometimes our enemies are of the human kind, but all of us must mount a defense against Satan and his followers who live to do evil, albeit for a time which You limit. O Lord, as PS 19: 14b says, “You are my Refuge and my Redeemer.” You sent Your Son to be our Good Shepherd, Who hears our voices and was willing to give His physical life for us [JN 10: 14-15]. The ways You show Your compassion for us are too numerous to count. We stand before You as undeserving sinners to confess our sin, to present ourselves to You as willing to be led by Your Spirit, and to be Your friends and servants for eternity. Just as You were willing to send us a Kinsman-Redeemer, we are willing to be Your children in whom You can be pleased. We humbly offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, there is more to say about Christ’s willingness to be our Kinsman-Redeemer and what that means to us. That will be our subject of discussion. In the meanwhile, revel in the blessings that knowing and believing in His word gives us. Know that our loving Abba wants nothing more than to see us redeemed from slavery to sin and safely with Him for eternity in heaven. He is willing to be patient and work with us in this life-giving covenant relationship that is made possible by Christ’s blood shed for us. His desire is to sanctify each of us, so we can make that supernatural journey to be at his right side with Christ to rule with His Son as joint-heirs to the Kingdom. That kind of compassion in the face of our imperfection is heaven sent and a great blessing to the lives of the faith. God loves each and every one of us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn