And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ Naomi also said to her, ‘The man is a close relative of ours, one of our (kinsman) redeemers.” Ruth 2:20
I know many of you are reading through the Bible and most of you may have already pasted through Ruth. Along the way I am sure you have run into issues and teachings that seemed strange to you…so strange that you weren’t sure how this fit in the redemptive plan laid out in Scripture from beginning to end. Well, within Ruth we find this “law” concerning the kinsman-redeemer that may or may not have left you scratching your head.
According to Jewish law, property should remain within a family if possible. If a Jewish person lost his or her share of the land through debt or by some other means, a near relative (if there was one) was supposed to buy the property back. This person, because of his or her close relationship to the one who had lost the property, was a “kinsman,” and if he was willing and able to purchase the property and restore it to the family, he became a “kinsman-redeemer.” In some cases in which there was no male heir to inherit the property after the owner’s death, the duty of the kinsman extended to marrying the widow in order to raise up heirs.
A kinsman-redeemer had to fulfill three qualifications:
1. He had to be a close relative.
2. He had to be willing to take on this responsibility (nobody could be compelled to do this work).
3. He had to be able to pay the ransom price; that is, he had to have sufficient means at his disposal.
These three conditions were fulfilled in the case of Jesus Christ, and they are best illustrated in the story of Ruth and her redeemer Boaz. Naomi realized that God was arranging circumstances so that Boaz could perform the duties of a kinsman-redeemer for her, in regard to her inheritance, and for Ruth, in regard to raising up an heir. When Ruth called him her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz was delighted, for it meant that Ruth was interested in him and had not, as he said, “gone after young men, whether poor or rich” (3:10). As it turned out, there was another relative who was interested in the land but was unable to fulfill the obligation to Ruth, so Boaz willingly bought the land and married Ruth.
In redeeming us, Jesus did exactly what this beautiful story illustrates:
(1) He became our kinsman by the incarnation, being born in the town of Bethlehem,
(2) He was willing to be our Redeemer, because of his love for us, and
(3) He was able to redeem us because he alone could provide an adequate redemption price by dying.
The redemption of Ruth may not have cost Boaz a great deal, at most only money, but our redemption cost Jesus Christ his life. He willingly laid down His life to pay the price owed for all the sins of all His people from beginning to the end of time. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!
God bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
