I just finished reading the book of Ruth last week. It’s a beautiful short story, only four chapters long, set in the dark times of the Judges, the time period in Israel’s history after Joshua had taken them to the Promised Land.
Even though the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi is short, there is a lot of things to unpack from it and learn from it. The book of Ruth is essentially about redemption and rescue from despair and emptiness to a place of hope and fullness, something that God has promised and provided for through Jesus Christ.
When you read the book of Ruth, you’re reading a story about how kinsman-redeemers were supposed to work in the Old Testament law and how this illustrates what Christ did for all of us. Kinsman-redeemers were responsible for protecting the interests of needy members of the extended family in order to make sure that each family member was supported and lifted up, rather than left alone trampled and in despair. For example, they helped to provide an heir for a brother who had died, to redeem (buy back) land that a poor relative had sold outside of the family, to redeem a relative who had been sold in slavery, and to avenge the killing of a relative.
Here, in the book of Ruth, Naomi is left without an heir since all of her sons had passed away. She had no hope for her family line to continue on and all she had left was Ruth, her daughter-in-law. Ruth wasn’t even an Israelite. However, she had sworn her faithfulness to Naomi in the name of the Lord, accepting Him as her true God.
God blessed these two women by having Ruth meet Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi’s. Boaz was a man of standing, so much that he willingly became Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer by purchasing her land and marrying Ruth. Their firstborn son, Obed, became Naomi’s descendant and her heir as per Old Testament law. (This means that Obed would gain all of Naomi’s inheritance. Obed would also go on to be King David’s grandfather.)
Through Boaz’s actions Naomi regained hope. She had lost her land and her future heritage, but thanks to the action by her kinsman-redeemer, Naomi was made whole again.
This is a beautiful picture of redemption and a perfect allusion of what Jesus Christ has done for us. He has given us hope when we had none because we were lost to sin. He has given us our property in Heaven back because we lost it when we sold it to sin. He has given us our name back when he paid the ultimate price to buy us back from slavery of sin. Sin has lost all of its claims on us because of Jesus Christ, our kinsman-redeemer.
He, like Boaz, has made us whole again. Thank you, Jesus, for lifting us up from despair and giving us hope! Thank you, Christ, for rescuing us from our emptiness and restoring us to fullness!
BoazChristfamilyJesusJudgesNaomiredeemrescueRuthwhole
Kinsman-Redeemers
August 22, 2013
Calvary
Comments Off on Kinsman-Redeemers
Matt
I just finished reading the book of Ruth last week. It’s a beautiful short story, only four chapters long, set in the dark times of the Judges, the time period in Israel’s history after Joshua had taken them to the Promised Land.
Even though the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi is short, there is a lot of things to unpack from it and learn from it. The book of Ruth is essentially about redemption and rescue from despair and emptiness to a place of hope and fullness, something that God has promised and provided for through Jesus Christ.
When you read the book of Ruth, you’re reading a story about how kinsman-redeemers were supposed to work in the Old Testament law and how this illustrates what Christ did for all of us. Kinsman-redeemers were responsible for protecting the interests of needy members of the extended family in order to make sure that each family member was supported and lifted up, rather than left alone trampled and in despair. For example, they helped to provide an heir for a brother who had died, to redeem (buy back) land that a poor relative had sold outside of the family, to redeem a relative who had been sold in slavery, and to avenge the killing of a relative.
Here, in the book of Ruth, Naomi is left without an heir since all of her sons had passed away. She had no hope for her family line to continue on and all she had left was Ruth, her daughter-in-law. Ruth wasn’t even an Israelite. However, she had sworn her faithfulness to Naomi in the name of the Lord, accepting Him as her true God.
God blessed these two women by having Ruth meet Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi’s. Boaz was a man of standing, so much that he willingly became Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer by purchasing her land and marrying Ruth. Their firstborn son, Obed, became Naomi’s descendant and her heir as per Old Testament law. (This means that Obed would gain all of Naomi’s inheritance. Obed would also go on to be King David’s grandfather.)
Through Boaz’s actions Naomi regained hope. She had lost her land and her future heritage, but thanks to the action by her kinsman-redeemer, Naomi was made whole again.
This is a beautiful picture of redemption and a perfect allusion of what Jesus Christ has done for us. He has given us hope when we had none because we were lost to sin. He has given us our property in Heaven back because we lost it when we sold it to sin. He has given us our name back when he paid the ultimate price to buy us back from slavery of sin. Sin has lost all of its claims on us because of Jesus Christ, our kinsman-redeemer.
He, like Boaz, has made us whole again. Thank you, Jesus, for lifting us up from despair and giving us hope! Thank you, Christ, for rescuing us from our emptiness and restoring us to fullness!
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