Jesus was our kinsman redeemer

JESUS WAS OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
What is a kinsman redeemer?
kinsman redeemeraudio
Question:"What is a kinsman redeemer?"
Answer: The kinsman-redeemeris a male relative who, according to various
laws of the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to acton behalf of a
relative who was in trouble, danger, or need. The Hebrew term (go el) for
kinsman-redeemerdesignates one who delivers or rescues (Genesis 48:16;
Exodus 6:6) or redeems property or person (Leviticus 27:9–25, 25:47–55). The
kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative is illustrated most clearlyin the
book of Ruth, where the kinsman-redeemeris Boaz.
The story of Ruth and Boazbegins when Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi,
return to Bethlehemfrom Moabwhere they had been living. Naomi’s
husband and both sons, one the husband of Ruth, had died, leaving the
women penniless and without a male protector. Upon arriving in Bethlehem,
Naomi sends Ruth to gleanin the fields of Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi to
whom they, through a series of divinely appointed circumstances, appealas
their go el. Boazacquiesces, willingly takes Ruth as his wife, and togetherthey
bear a son named Obed who became the grandfather of David, the forefather
of Jesus.
Yahweh is Israel’s Redeemer, the one who promises to defend and vindicate
them. He is both Father and Deliverer(Exodus 20:2). There are numerous

Old Testamentappeals to Godas rescuerof the weak and needy (Psalm82:4;
Daniel 6:27; Jeremiah20:13)and preserver of the sheep of Israel(Ezekiel
34:10–12,22).
In the New Testament, Christ is often regardedas an example of a kinsman-
redeemerbecause, as our brother (Hebrews 2:11), He also redeems us because
of our greatneed, one that only He cansatisfy. In Ruth 3:9, we see a beautiful
and poignant picture of the needy supplicant, unable to rescue herself,
requesting of the kinsman-redeemer that he coverher with his protection,
redeem her, and make her his wife. In the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ
bought us for Himself, out of the curse, out of our destitution; made us His
own beloved bride; and blessedus for all generations. He is the true kinsman-
redeemerof all who call on Him in faith.
The Kinsman Redeemer
Sermons Ruth 80-238 May20, 2001
A + A - RESET
There are so many ways to look at the cross, so many ways to geta
perspective on the death of Christ. I want to take what may appearto be a
somewhatdistant one, as we prepare for the Lord’s Table. Open your Bible to
the little book of Ruth. You have to go eight books into the Bible to find Ruth.
There are only two books of the Bible named for women, Ruth and Esther.
The book of Esther, we don’t know who wrote that. Could’ve been Mordecai,
someone else. The book of Ruth, we don’t know for certain, either, who wrote
it. Perhaps Samuel. He seems to fit the scene very well. But the little book of

Ruth has an important place in the history of Scripture. It is an exquisite
story.
It was written during the time of King David’s reign in Israel, which
would’ve been about 1,000 B.C. King David is mentioned in chapter 4 twice,
verses 17 and 22. It is the story of a woman calledRuth. The name Ruth
means friendship. There are many things about the story that are instructive,
but above all things, it is one of the loveliestillustrations of God’s redeeming
grace in the Scripture.
Ruth, who is the star, if you will, or the main characterof the story, was a
Moabite. And that is to say, she was of the people of a country calledMoab.
She was not an Israelite, not a Jew. She lived in Moab, which is eastof the
land of Israel, across the DeadSea in a barren desertarea. Moabwas cursed
by God and, consequently, Ruth, being a Moabitess, wasunder that curse.
Moabwas cursed by God, because Moabrejectedthe true and living God.
Moabwas an idolatrous nation, and Moabwas the perennial enemy of Israel.
That nation was constantlyhostile to the people of God and to God.
Moab was actuallyformed when Lot - you remember the brother of
Abraham - had a child (Genesis 19:37)named Moab. That child, Moab, was
born to Lot through an incestuous relationship with his oldestdaughter, the
grossestkind of human relationship. Incestbetweena father and a daughter
produced Moab. And so that nation was, in a sense, cursedfrom the very
beginning. Centuries later, the Jews sufferedopposition from one of the kings
of Moab by the name of Balak.
And were you to read Numbers 22 to 25, you would remember that Balak
wanted to curse Israel. And so he found a prophet for hire by the name of
Balaam, and he hired Balaamto pronounce some kind of supernatural curse

on Israel. Balaam, you remember, had a hard time pulling it off and finally
got a goodtalking-to from his donkey. For many years, Moaboppressed
Israelduring the period of the judges, if you read Judges chapter3, at least18
years of direct oppressionby MoabagainstIsraelduring the period of the
judges. Now, the period of the judges was before Israelhad a king - before
Saul, David, Solomon.
When Saul came along, after the Israelites had endured this oppressionat
the hands of the Moabites, Saul, the first king of Israel, dischargedone of his
first duties and that was to defeatMoab. 1 Samuel 14:47 tells about that. As a
result of Saul’s conquering, as it were, the people of Moab, when David came
to the throne, he enjoyed the resulting peacefulrelationship with the
Moabites. 1 Samuel 22 describes that. However, later, Moabreturned to
trouble Israel. We find that in 2 Kings chapter 3.
So Moab, on and off again, was troublesome to Israel. Moabwas
idolatrous, rejectedthe true God, and was generallyan enemy of Israel. And,
as I said, they had a horrible beginning, cursedfrom the very outset, because
Moabwas a child of the grossestkind of incest. Beyond that, Moabworshiped
a god by the name of Chemosh, and one of the characteristics ofworshipping
Chemoshwas child sacrifice. It was customary for those who worshiped this
god Chemoshto offer their infant children as sacrifices onan altar, burnt
offerings. First Kings chapter 11; 2 Kings chapter 3 describes that.
And it was because ofbad beginnings, it was because ofthe rejectionof the
true God, it was because ofidolatry, it was because ofchild sacrifice, because
of all of that, God pronounced a curse on Moab. Isaiahchapter 15/Isaiah
chapter 16 give us some insight into that curse. If you would look at it for just
a moment because it really sets the stage forthe story of Ruth. Isaiahchapters
15 and 16. Isaiah 15 begins the oracle concerning Moab. So here is the
pronunciation of judgment on Moabthat God gave through Isaiah, and you

have down through chapter 15 this pronouncement of judgment against
Moab.
Flow down, if you will, through the entire text to chapter 16 and verse 13,
and this kind of sums it up. This is the Word which the Lord spoke earlier
concerning Moab. But now the Lord speaks, saying - in other words, what has
just been given in chapters 15 and 16 is the earlierjudgment againstMoab,
but now the Lord has something else to say. Verse 14, “Within three years, as
a hired man would count them, the glory of Moabwill be degradedalong with
all its greatpopulation, and his remnant will be very small and impotent.”
The prophet said, “God is going to give you three more years, and that’s the
end.”
Three more years would take the life of Moabto about 715 B.C., so it’s
about 300 years after David. And what happened three years after Isaiah’s
prophecy was that the Assyrian king, by the name of Sargon, came into Moab
and absolutelydestroyed that nation, killing people, conquering the nation,
leaving only a small - as verse 14 says, only a small and impotent or feeble
remnant. Judgment of devastating proportions fell on Moab, leaving just a
small group of people remaining.
In the forty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah, again, Jeremiah the prophet
because ofMoab’s incessantrejectionof the true God and wickednessalso
was used by God to pronounce judgment. And it’s a quite fascinating
judgment. Jeremiah48, verse 11. And it says in verse 11, “Moabhas been at
ease since his youth.” And what the prophet is saying here is Moabhas had it
pretty well. Since the very beginning, Moabhas lived a fairly comfortable life.
It was only Saul who really brought a serious conquering, and then he didn’t
destroy the nation, he allowedthem to continue their life, and there was a
certain amount of prosperity and peace there.

And that had gone on since the time of Saul, who predates David, so for at
least300 years until the judgment of Sargoncame, they’d had it pretty well.
They had been - verse 11 says - undisturbed, hadn’t been emptied from vessel
to vessel. Thatis to say, when they made wine, they would put wine in a skin.
And the way you produced pure, sweetwine was to pour it in a skin, new skin,
and it would ferment, producing expansionbecause ofthe gas.
And what happens in a period of time is the dregs, the bitter goes to the
bottom, and the sweeterpartof the juice remains on the top. So after a certain
period of time, you pour out that top part, the sweetpart, into another skin,
and the process continues, and a little more dregs will appear in the bottom,
and you do it againat a later time, and finally, no dregs remain. The dregs
that do remain are what we call the dregs and were used to produce sour,
bitter vinegar. But you kept doing that and doing that and doing that until
you gota pure, sweetwine.
And that is a metaphor or a picture of going through trouble and trouble
and trouble and trouble, and trouble has the ability to drain out all the
bitterness of life, to leave you sweetenedby triumphing over trouble. They
hadn’t had trouble, and so they had never been poured from vesselto vessel.
They had never gone into exile. Therefore, they had retained sort of their
original bitter flavor, and their aroma had never become really sweetlike
wine that’s been poured from vesselto vessel. Becausethat had never
happened, they had continued in their idolatry. Nothing had ever been
challenged.
And so, “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will send to him who tip vessels, and they will tip him overand empty
his vesselsand shatter his jars. And Moab will be ashamedof Chemosh” -
that’s the god they worshiped - “as the house of Israelwas ashamedof Bethel,

their confidence.” There’s going to come a judgment, Jeremiah says, serious
judgment.
If you go overin the same chapter to verse 42, it says Moabwill be
destroyedfrom being a people because he has become arroganttoward the
Lord. “‘Terror, pit, and snare are coming upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,’
declares the Lord.” So again, Jeremiahaddresses judgment. If we had time,
we could read the twenty-fifth chapter of Ezekiel. Ezekiel25, verses 8 to 11. In
that section, the Lord says, “I’m going to execute judgments on Moab, and
they will know that I am the Lord, finally.”
And I think most interesting is Amos chapter 2, verse 1, “Forthus saith the
Lord, ‘For three transgressions ofMoaband for four, I will not revoke its
punishment because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. So I will
send fire upon Moab, and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. And Moab
will die amid tumult, with warcries and the sound of a trumpet. I will also cut
off the judge from her midst and slay all her princes with him,’ says the
Lord.” Here againis the fourth prophet that says there’s going to come a
deadly, devastating judgment on this cursedpeople.
Now let’s go back, all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Back in
Deuteronomy chapter23, we have here a summation, really, of the curse on
Moab. “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assemblyof the Lord. None
of their descendants, evento the tenth generation, shallever enter the
assemblyof the Lord.” And in this case, it wasn’tjust their idolatry, wasn’t
just their sin, wasn’t just their rejection of God, it was the fact that they’d
never helped the people of Israel. So because ofall of these things, the curse
was that none of them would ever be allowed to enter the assemblyof Israel;
that is, none of them would ever come inside the covenant.

In Nehemiah, much later when the people had been in captivity, come back
from captivity, they pickedup the book of Moses -Nehemiah 13 - they turned
to Deuteronomy 23. They read aloud from the book of Moses. There was
found written in that no Ammonite or Moabite shall ever enter the assembly
of God - ever - because they didn’t meet the sons of Israelwith bread and
water. They hired Balaamagainto curse them. And so they were a cursed
people, and the curse was nobody from that country is ever going to enter the
assemblyof God. Moabites, then, are symbolic of cursedsinners, alienated
from God.
Let’s go back to Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess.This is a problem. The story
takes place, not in the time of David, it was written in the time of David, but it
takes place in the time of the judges. Probably during the judgeship of a man
named Jair, J-A-I-R, according to Judges chapter 10, before the time of Saul
and David. It’s the time of the judges. It’s the time when the curse on Moab is
in force. It was always in force until the destruction of that nation -
specifically, the curse said, to the tenth generation. Interestinglyenough, some
scholars have calculated that Ruth was a member of generationnumber
eleven.
It is also possible that the tenth generationwas just a sort of a simile for
permanently. Becausein the repetition of the curse in Nehemiah 13, the tenth
generationis not mentioned, and the curse there appears to be permanent.
Whether or not Ruth was a member of the eleventh generation, and you take
it specifically, or you take it sortof generically, meaning permanently, is sort
of unprovable either way.
But the point is I lean towardthe forever characterofthe curse rather than
simply the actual ten generations becauseit’s not repeatedin Nehemiah13.
Moabite people were, by God, shut out from the assembly of those who

worshiped Him. Shut out, as it were, from redemption because oftheir
iniquities.
Turn to Isaiah56. I’m taking a long time to getto the point, but the point’s
going to be goodwhen I get there. Isaiah 56, verse 1. Prophet writes, “Thus
says the Lord:” - this is from God - “‘Preserve justice and do righteousness,
for my salvationis about to come and my righteousnessto be revealed. How
blessedis the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it, who
keeps from profaning the Sabbath, keeps his hand from doing any evil.’ Let
not the foreignerwho has joined himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will
surely separate me from His people.’Neither let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am
a dry tree.’”
Boy, verse 3 introduces a brand new thought. “Let not the foreignerwho
has joined himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from
His people.’” Godhad said no Moabite, no Ammonite, but something’s
different here: Let not the foreignerthink that he can’t be joined to the Lord.
Verse 4, “Forthus says the Lord, ‘Eunuchs who are also cursedwho keepmy
Sabbaths and choose whatpleases me and hold fast my covenant, to them I
will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than
that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will
not be cut off.”
Now, there is an interesting double meaning. Eunuch, by definition, had
something cut off, but “I will not cut them off.” In verse 6, “Also the
foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the
name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the
Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even those I will bring to my holy
mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings
and their sacrificeswill be acceptable onmy altar; for my house will be called
a house of prayer for” - what? - “all the peoples.” Wow.

So the curse is only in place until a foreignerand a cursed person, alienated
from and separatedfrom God, turns to God, joins himself to the Lord, holds
fast the covenant, observes the Sabbath, and does what pleases God. Curse,
then, is only in place unless there’s a turning to Him.
We’ll go back to Ruth now, find ourselves in the book of Ruth in Moab. It
was “in the days” - verse 1 says of chapter 1 - “when judges governed, and
there was a famine in Israel.” So there was a certain man who lived in
Bethlehem, in Judah, went to sojourn in the land of Moabwith his wife and
two sons. Took his wife, two sons, went to Moabbecause he wanted some food.
There was a famine in Israel. The man’s name was Elimelech. Name of his
wife was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, and they were
from Bethlehem in Judah. “They entered the land of Moab, and they
remained there.”
Then, you know the story, Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died. She was left
two boys, and they took two Moabite women as wives, one named Orpah and
the other, Ruth. They lived there about ten years. So here we meet Ruth. She’s
a Moabite. She married an Israelite man who had come with his whole family
to Moab due to severe famine in Israel. He was from Bethlehem. After ten
years of marriage, the husband dies, brother dies, and the father has already
died. Verse 5, Mahlonand Chilion died, and now there aren’t any men.
There’s just three widows. The mother-in-law, Naomi, and two widowed
daughter-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth.
Now, Naomi says, “I’m going to go back to Israel and you girls should stay
here.” That’s when the story gets interesting. “She arose with her daughters-
in-law” - verse 6 - “that she might return from the land of Moab. She had
heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people and given
them food. There was food back there. She was going back. Naomi said to her

two daughter-in-laws, in verse 8, “Go, and return to your own mother’s
house.” Go back to your home, your parents will take care of you.
“May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and
with me. May the Lord grant you that you may find rest, eachin the house of
her husband” - I mean the husband’s house would then take care of the
widow. She kissedthem. “They lifted up their voices and wept.” There was
real love among these women, and they said to her, “No, but we will surely
return with you to your people.” Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why
should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may be your
husbands?” (Like, “I can’t help you - I don’t have any more sons.”)
“Return, my daughters. Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I
have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would
you therefore wait until they were grown? No, there’s no hope with me. Just
go on.” Verse 14, they lifted up their voices, weptagain. Orpah kissedher
mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And then she said, “Behold, your sister-
in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. Return after your sister-in-
law.” That’s very important. Orpah went back to her family and also her
what? Her gods.
But the implication here is that Ruth was interestedin the true and living
God, the God of her husband, her mother-in-law, and her father-in-law, and
brother-in-law. So in verse 16, “Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or
turn back from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you
lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.’”
That’s the testimony of Ruth’s conversion, isn’t it? At leasther interest in the
true God. “Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.” That is a
very familiar portion of Scripture often read at weddings. “Thus may the
Lord do to me and worse if anything but death parts you and me.”

And she went. Verse 19, “Theywent until they came to Bethlehem,” and
there they were in Bethlehem. Two widows. She choosesto go with Naomi.
After a ten-year stay in Moab, they come back in a societywhere widows were
often ignored, especiallythose who were from Moab. And these two needed
support. She was a cursed woman, Ruth, a Moabite, the enemy.
Providentially, by the way, when they got back there, it was the time of the
barley harvest, and one of the provisions of the Old Testamentlaw was that,
during the harvest, poor people could glean. What that really meant was they
could go behind the harvesters and pick up what the harvesters dropped or
what the harvestdidn’t cut, they could cut. What fell off the wagon, they
could pick up. And Ruth agreedto go gleaning in the field. The end of verse
22, “Theycame to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.”
And I think you know the story from there. Ruth goes out to glean, and she
winds up in a field that belongs to a man named Boaz. If you go down to verse
3 in chapter 2, “She departed, went and gleanedin the field after the reapers.”
She would follow the reapers and pick up what they dropped. She happened
to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz - look at this - who was of
the family of Elimelech. She had already decided she wanted to follow the true
God, and so there she was, destitute in the land, a foreigner, an enemy, cursed.
“Boazcame and said to the reapers, ‘May the Lord be with you.’ And they
said to him, ‘May the Lord bless you.’” And that’s just a little insight into the
kind of man he was, who had such a kindness and such a spiritual attitude
toward those who did his work. “Boazsaidto his servant who was in charge of
the reapers, ‘Whose young woman is this? I don’t recognize her.’ The servant
in charge of the reapers answeredand said, ‘She’s the young Moabite woman
who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.’ And she said, “Pleaselet
me gleanand gatherafter the reapers among the sheaves.”’”She really didn’t
have a right to do it, I guess, in one sense, becauseshe wasn’tan Israelite.

“She came and has remained from morning until now.” She has been
sitting in the house for a little while. She’s just waiting for permission to do
what she needs to do. “Boazsaid to Ruth, ‘Listen carefully, my daughter. Do
not go to gleanin another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but
stay here with my maids.’” You stay right here, and you work right here.
“‘Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I
have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to
the waterjars and drink from what the servants draw. You have all the
privileges of gleaning in my field.’
“And she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, ‘Why have
I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I’m a
foreigner?’Boazansweredand said to her, ‘All that you have done for your
mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me,
and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and
you came to a people that you didn’t previously know. May the Lord reward
your work, and your wagesbe full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under
whose wings you have come to seek refuge.’”
Isn’t that great? This was a spiritual decisionon her part. She came to be
under the wings of the true and living God, the Lord God of Israel. “At
mealtime, Boazsaid to her, ‘Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip
the piece of bread in the vinegar.’ So she satbeside the reapers;and he served
her roastedgrain, and she ate and was satisfiedand had some left.” Now, this
guy’s really a kind man and generous. “Whenshe rose to glean, Boaz
commanded his servants, saying, ‘Let her gleaneven among the sheaves, and
do not insult her.’” Let her go where you’re not supposed to go.
“‘Let her go right into the sheaves whenyou gatherthe sheaves andpull
out anything she wants.’” That was not part of the deal. “So she gleanedin the

field until evening.” - verse 17 - “She beat out what she had gleaned” - that
was the process ofgetting the grain out - “and it was about an ephah of
barley. And she took it and went up to the city, and her mother-in-law saw
what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had after
she was satisfied.
“Her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where did you gleanand where did you
work?’” - and, of course, she says - “‘The man’s name was Boaz.’And Naomi
said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May he be blessedto the Lord who has not
withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.’ And Naomi said to her,
‘The man is our relative.’” Wow. This is an amazing coincidence. He happens
to be a relative. “‘He is one of our closestrelatives.’”
Is that important? Oh, it’s very important because there was, in the law of
Israel, a principle called the kinsman redeemer. When someone was widowed,
it was the responsibility of an unmarried man in the family to take her as his
bride so that she was not destitute. Rather than take another womanout of a
family, that family already should take care of its own, and so the law of what
was calledlevirate marriage, kinsman marriage, was that the nearest
unmarried man would take the widow for his own bride so that she might not
be left destitute. Well, Naomi thinks this is a great possibility.
So you remember the story in chapter 3, verse 1, “Naomisaid to her, ‘My
daughter, shall I not seek securityfor you, that it may be well with you?’” I
want to work this deal out for you. This is an ancient NearEasterncustom.
Since Boazwas older by a generation, he would not ask her. That’s not what
was done. She would have to make an overture to him.
So verse 3, “‘Washyourself, anoint yourself.’” What’s that? You know,
cleanup and put on some perfume. “‘Put on your best clothes. Go down to the

threshing floor. But don’t make yourself known to the man until he’s finished
eating and drinking, his meal is over. When he lies down, you shall notice the
place where he lies. You shall go and uncover his feetand lie down.’” You say,
“Thatis strange.” Itis strange. It was an old NearEasterncustom. Boaz
would not, being older by a generation, approachher.
He showedtremendous kindness, but he would not have initiated a
proposal. But this is the way a woman could very gracefullyinitiate a proposal
to a man. And so, with no breach of her moral virtue, “In the middle of the
night, the man was startled, bent forward, and behold, a woman was lying at
his feet. He said, ‘Who are you?’ She said, ‘I’m Ruth, your maid. So please,
sir, spread your covering over you maid, for you’re a close relative.’” What’s
she’s saying is, “Marry me.”
Men, I know you would dream that this will happen, but it won’t. It is an
ancient NearEasterncustom. “Marry me.” “And he said,” - what a kind man
- “‘Mayyou blessedof the Lord, my daughter. You have shownyour last
kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether
poor or rich.’” She could’ve gone after a young man, maybe more attractive.
Maybe promising a longer life together. But she knew levirate marriage, and
she knew that this was what the people of Israeldid, and she wantedto
conform to what they did.
And he had so much integrity, he says, “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I
will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you
are a womanof excellence.”She had alreadygarnered a reputation as a
virtuous woman, and now it’s time - “It’s true,” he said, “I am a close relative;
however, there is a relative closerthan I am.” This is how much integrity he
has. He says, you know, there’s somebodywho’s a closerrelative who has the
first right of refusal on the deal. We got to find this guy.

So they do. “Remainthis night” - verse 13 - “and when the morning comes,
if he will redeem you, good.” Oh, here’s a new word. The word what?
Redeem. “If he doesn’t want to redeemyou, I’ll redeem you. Just go to sleep
until morning.” You know what the act of redemption is? Buying someone for
your own personalpossession. “Soshe lay at his feet until morning and rose
before one could recognize another” - that’s in the dark, in case you didn’t
know. “And he said, ‘Let it not be known that the woman came to the
threshing floor.’” Just go away. Don’t say anything about this.
“And he said, ‘Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.’ So she held it,
and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her.” Some translations
say six ephahs. That would be ridiculous. She couldn’t carry 200 pounds.
Probably seahs, which would be 60 to 75 pounds. He loaded her up. She went
into the city. This was like goodfaith, you know? She’s coming in, and she’s
got this blanket full of 75 pounds of grain, and her mother-in-law says, “Well,
how did it go?” It went really well. Yeah, I think it did, didn’t it?
So in chapter 4, Boazgoes into the town to find the guy who’s the nearest
relative because that’s appropriate to do that, and the first six verses of
chapter 4 tell the story that the nearestrelative won’t redeem her. He won’t
do it. The end of verse 6, he says to Boaz, “Redeemfor yourself. You may
have my right of redemption, for I can’t redeem. Now, this was the custom -
verse 7 - in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and how it was
to be done. There’s a little exchange of a sandaland so forth and so on. Verse
8, “The closestrelative said to Boaz, ‘Buy it for yourself.’ And he removed his
sandal.
“Boazsaid to the elders and all the people, ‘You are witness today that I
have bought from the hand of Naomiall that belongedto Elimelech.’” He had
purchased all the land that belonged to Elimelech, which provided all kinds of
money resource forNaomi, the widow. “All that belongedto Chilion. All that

belongedto Mahlon. I’ve bought it all. Paid for it. I have also acquired Ruth,
the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the
name of the deceasedon his inheritance, so that the name of the deceasedmay
not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place. You are
witnesses today.”
And so he purchases the Moabite woman. Look at verse 13. “So Boaztook
Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled
her to conceive, andshe gave birth to a son.” Wow. “Thenthe women said to
Naomi, ‘Blessedis the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer. May his
name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you a restorerof life and a
sustainerof your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is
better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’ And Naomi took the
child and laid him in her lap and became his nurse.
“The neighbor womengave him a name, saying, ‘A sonhas been born to
Naomi.’So they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, who was the
father of” - whom? - “David.” Wow. This cursed Moabite was the great-
grandmother of David. If you read Matthew 1, you’re going along through the
genealogy, you’ll come to verse 5, Ruth. How did a cursed Moabite getinto the
line of Messiah? Answer:Because Godprovided for her a redeemer. Boazis a
picture of our kinsman redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ, who bought us for
Himself, out of the curse, out of our destitution, made us His own beloved
bride and blesses us for all generations.
When you come to the Gospelof Luke, as we remember, in chapter 2, verse
38, there were a group of people in Israelwho were waiting for the
redemption. Rememberthat? They were waiting for the Redeemer, and they
were not disappointed. But when Jesus came, Hebrews 9:12 says, “He brought
eternal redemption.” Those who sought to know the true God - those who seek
to know the true God - are redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the

price in full to make us His purchased possession, His eternal bride, to which
He for all eternity pours out blessing. Join me in prayer.
Father, as we come to the Lord’s Table, we remember the Lord, our
Redeemer. We remember that He paid the price of our redemption on the
cross. Thatprice, not like Boazpaid. Boazpaid out of his substance;Christ
paid with His ownlife, His own blood. And He purchaseda bride, cursed,
doomed to judgment, but bought with a price. Not silver and gold but the
precious blood of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.
This is the cross where our kinsman Redeemer, one of us, in the likeness of
a man, paid the full price to redeem us from the curse and take us out of our
spiritual poverty and bankruptcy and bring us into eternal blessing. And so,
as we come to the cross, maywe meet againwith hearts filled with gratitude,
our Redeemer.
Kinsman-Redeemer
Bible / Our Library / Bible Dictionaries / Quick Reference Dictionary/
Kinsman-Redeemer
Share Tweet Save
Bible Dictionaries - Baker's EvangelicalDictionaryof Biblical Theology -
Kinsman-Redeemer
Kinsman-Redeemer
Male relative who, according to various laws found in the Pentateuch, had the
privilege or responsibility to act for a relative who was in trouble, danger, or
need of vindication.

Although the term "kinsman-redeemer" is used only seventimes in the NIV
(all in the Book of Ruth) and "avengerof blood" is used twelve times, the
Hebrew verb ga'al[l;a"G],from which both of these terms are translated, is
used over 100 times and rendered by such additional terms as "redeemer" or
"nearrelative." The Hebrew term designates a male relative who delivers or
rescues ( Gen 48:16 ; Exod 6:6 ); redeems property ( Lev27:9-25 ) or person(
Lev 25:47-55 );avenges the murder of a relative as a guiltless executioner(
Num 35:9-34 ); and receives restitutionfor wrong done to a relative who has
since died ( Num 5:8 ). The unique emphasis of the
redemption/salvation/vindication associatedwith the kinsman-redeemeris the
fact that this action is carried out by a kinsman on behalf of a near relative in
need. This idea is most clearlyillustrated in the Book ofRuth.
God is Israel's Redeemer, the one who will defend and vindicate them. The
idea that God is a kinsman to Israelcan be defended by those passagesof
Scripture that identify him as Israel's Creatorand Father( Exod 4:22-23 ;
Deut 32:6 ),Deliverer( Exod 20:2 ),ownerof the land ( Lev25:23 ), the one who
hears innocent blood crying out for vengeance ( Deut 19:10 ; 21:6-9 ), and the
King who has made his covenant with the people ( Exod 6:2-8 ). David, in his
use of the term ( Psalm 19:14 ; 103:4 ), doubtless has in mind the actions of his
great-grandfatherBoaz( Ruth 4:9-10 ).
In the psalms Godoften redeems in the sense of rescuing from danger. In Job
19:25 the term "redeemer" in context refers to God who, as friend and
kinsman of Job, through faith will ultimately defend and vindicate him. The
same idea of vindication (this time with the term translated"Defender")is
used in Proverbs 23:11.
Although the doctrine of redemption from sin is taught extensivelyin the New
Testament, it is not connectedcloselywith the Old Testamentconceptof
kinsman-redeemer. Christ can, however, be regardedas an example of a

kinsman-redeemersince he identified himself with us and redeemedus
because ofour need. Hebrews 2:11 states that "Boththe one who makes men
holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not
ashamedto call them brothers." Jesus is not only our redeemerfrom sin, but
as Hebrews 2:16-18 and 4:14-16 point out, he is a kinsman to us and
understands our struggles. Thus he is able to help us in our times of need.
Stephen J. Bramer
JESUS, OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER
By Dr. Kenneth C. Kemble
PostOffice Box 5204,
Uvalde,
Texas 78802-5204
Tabernacles,this is the time of year when many Christians remember the
birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and praise Him or His goodness towards us, in
that while we were yet sinners, He came to this earth in order that He might
redeem us, His people.

According to Leviticus 25:47-49, if a man lost everything that he had through
some greatmisfortune and had to sellhimself as a slave, he could redeem
himself-but if he didn’t have the price necessaryto redeem himself, he could
only be redeemed by a near kinsman. This was calledthe kinsman-
redemption, and it dealt with the redemption of persons and inheritance.
As a people, we have found ourselves in the same predicament spokenof in
this passagein Leviticus- except our situation is worse, becausethe stakes are
much higher! Ours is one of eternal consequence!We are a fallen people, and
have been sold as slaves under sin (Romans 7:14; 3:23; Isaiah53:6)!
According to God’s Law, we may redeem ourselveswe just have to have the
price necessaryto do it. The problem is, that price is sinless perfection, and
any attempt that you or I might make to pay this price would come back
marked insufficient funds! That means the only way out of our bondage , and
the only hope for the regenerationofour souls and the restorationof our lost
inheritance, is for one of our kinsmen to redeem us.
But in the kinsman-redemption, all of the following requirements had to be
met in order for redemption to be secured:
First, the redeemer must be a near kinsman (related by flesh and blood). This
could really be anyone-a father, an uncle, a brother, a cousin. But God knew
that none of the above had the price required. We have all sinned-none of us
are without blemish-so He “kinned” himself to us, by donning flesh and blood.
He was born of the virgin Mary, who was an Israelite of the tribe of Judah.
Thus, our Godbecame one of us, our own flesh and blood-and in doing so, He
made Himself eligible to become our kinsman-redeemer!That’s the whole
reasonfor the manger! He made Himself our kinsman. He met the
requirement!

Secondly, the kinsman-redeemermust have the price required . That price, as
has been stated, is sinless perfection. Our Lord Jesus Christis the only one in
all of history who was absolutely flawless in regardto God’s Law. He was
tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He met the
requirement!
Thirdly, the kinsman-redeemer must be willing to pay the price required.
Having the price required was not enough. That price-that sinless life-had to
be given willingly for the redemption. But was Christ willing to lay down His
own sinless life in order to redeemus lowly, pitiful sinners?
As stated earlier, the stakeswere high. It was much more than paying off all
our debts.
It was more like sitting in the electric chair in our stead, but even that
example is mild! God stepped into flesh and blood to kin Himself to us, and
He had the price required . . . now He had to be willing to pay that price. But
was He willing?
To His everlasting praise, He was indeed willing to pay the price (Ruth 4:4-10;
Matthew 26:39,42;Hebrews 12:2)! Hallelujah! He met the requirement!
Lastly, all of the above requirements having been met, He must now actually
pay the price of redemption. Our Lord did this on the cross!As the song says,
“He paid a debt He did not owe, I oweda debt I could not pay!” He has
exchangedHis sinlessnessfor our sinfulness, and has paid the price for our
redemption in FULL (Isaiah53:5; Romans 3:24-6, 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1
Peter1:18- 21)! Bless His Holy Name!He met the requirement! He met all of

the requirements! Our Lord Jesus Christ, our near kinsman, has redeemed
us!
“Forscarcelyfor a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good
man some would evendare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
The principle of the kinsman-redeemeris the main theme of the Old
Testamentbook of Ruth. Just as Boazredeemed Ruth, our Lord Jesus Christ
has redeemedus! But more than that-as if that weren’t enough-just as Boaz
took Ruth to wife, our Lord Jesus Christhas takenus to be His Bride!
Hallelujah! The redemption has been obtained, and we have been betrothed to
our kinsman-redeemer!Glory to Godand the Lamb forever!
So, whether you remember Christ’s birth at the fall feasts or in December, or
both, make that time of remembrance a celebrationof rejoicing in your
salvation!Because He could have never gone to the cross if He hadn’t first
gone to the manger and kinned Himself with us!
“Blessedbe the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his
people, and hath raisedup an horn of salvationfor us in the house of his
servant David”.
AMEN.
The Kinsman Redeemer

The kinsman redeemeris an important, but little-understood conceptin
scripture. It is actually connectedto a very important question in Revelation5
that should be of greatinterest to us. This is page one of a series of three pages
on this topic.
I have heard it said that the two most important questions in the book of
Revelationare:
"... Who is worthy to open the book ...? (Rev 5:2)
and
"... who shall be able to stand? (Rev 6:17)
That the first of these questions is important in the setting of Revelation5 is
testified to by the greatinterest and emotion with which John regarded the
matter.
"And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was
found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." (Rev
5:3-4)
But, you ask, how is the book in Revelation5 connectedto the conceptof the
kinsman redeemer? Well, let's first get some backgroundfrom scripture on
what the kinsman redeemeris all about.
Jeremiah
During a time of national crisis, a messagecame to Jeremiah:

"The word that came to Jeremiahfrom the LORD in the tenth year of
Zedekiahking of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
For then the king of Babylon's army besiegedJerusalem:and Jeremiahthe
prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of
Judah's house." (Jer32:1-2)
This "the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah" was 588/587 BC and it was in
the midst of the final siege ofJerusalemby Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon. Jeremiahhad earlierpredicted that the Babylonians would invade
Israel. However, Jeremiahand his words of prophecy were rejected;this is
partly why he is calledthe weeping prophet. Jeremiah was in prison for
making his predictions while they were actually coming true - talk about
rejection!While this was going on, he receivedthis messagefrom God:
"... Behold, Hanameel the sonof Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee,
saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is
thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle's soncame to me in the court of the
prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I
pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the
right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself.
Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD." (Jer 32:6-8)
Remember the circumstances - the whole land just been invaded. Great
calamity has fallen upon the people. Their rights and freedom are being
restricted. Many were being carriedaway as captives to a foreign country.
Jeremiahhimself had predicted that the Babylonian captivity would last for
70 years. Why would anyone in a situation like that think about buying land?
We would think it more appropriate to liquidate assets andbe ready to move
if there was opportunity. So why this directive from God for Jeremiah to buy
land - occupiedland?
Here is more detail of what Jeremiahwas to do:

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;Take these evidences, this
evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is
open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;Houses and fields and
vineyards shall be possessedagainin this land." (Jer32:14-15)
Why in an earthen vessel? "Thatthey may continue many days" - perhaps
that they might last till after the 70 years. This seemingly inappropriate action
of buying the land was, in fact, to back up God's promise that the captivity
would end and things would return to normal.
"Forthus saith the LORD;Like as I have brought all this greatevil upon this
people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And
fields shall be bought in this land, whereofye say, It is desolate without man
or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for
money, and subscribe evidences, and sealthem, and take witnesses in the land
of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah,
and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the
cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD."
(Jer 32:42-44)
Jeremiah's purchase of land would be evidence of his own faith in God's
messagegiventhrough him. Even though Jeremiahwas in Jerusalemat the
time, the Lord also mentioned the territory of Benjamin because that is where
the particular land in question was located. But what is this about Jeremiah
having the right of redemption to buy the land? We need to understand
something about ownership of land in Israel.
How IsraelDealt With Land
"And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the
children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I

give you, then shall the land keepa sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou
shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in
the fruit thereof;But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the
land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy
vineyard." (Lev 25:1-4)
"And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seventimes seven
years;and the space ofthe sevensabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty
and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on
the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the
trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year,
and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof:
it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his
possession, andye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that
fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which growethof
itself in it, nor gatherthe grapes in it of thy vine undressed. Forit is the jubile;
it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eatthe increase thereofout of the field. In
the yearof this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. (Lev 25:8-
13)
This was God's appointed means of keeping land within a family to help avoid
poverty or excess riches. Here are more details:
"If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold awaysome of his possession, and
if any of his kin come to redeemit, then shall he redeem that which his
brother sold. And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to
redeem it; Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the
overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his
possession. Butif he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold
shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile:
and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. And if
a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a
whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. And if it be not
redeemedwithin the space ofa full year, then the house that is in the walled

city shall be establishedfor ever to him that bought it throughout his
generations:it shall not go out in the jubile." (Lev 25:25-30)
So if a family had to sell land, the price would be dependent upon how many
years the purchasercould expectto gain a return from the use of the land
until it returned to the owner in the year of Jubilee. Essentially, it was a lease
arrangement.
Jeremiah's Purchase
"And I bought the field of Hanameelmy uncle's son, that was in Anathoth,
and weighedhim the money, even seventeenshekels ofsilver. And I
subscribed the evidence, and sealedit, and took witnesses,and weighedhim
the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that
which was sealedaccording to the law and custom, and that which was open:
And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruchthe son of Neriah, the
son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the
presence ofthe witnesses thatsubscribed the book of the purchase, before all
the Jews thatsat in the court of the prison." (Jer 32:9-12)
In Jeremiah's case, he bought the land, the documentation was signed,
witnessed, sealedand securelystored. After the 70 years captivity the scroll
(the purchase deed) would provide evidence of who was the rightful owner of
the land and it could be restoredto Jeremiah or his estate. Note that
Jeremiah's ministry started when he was a young man (Jer 1:6-7) and lasted
about 40 years to about the time of the fall of Jerusalemto the Babylonians
(about 626 BC to 586 BC). Then he was takento Egypt (Jer 43:6) and
probably died there.
Is it possible that the situation John was looking at also had to do with
ownership/possessionofland? John would have been familiar with land
transactions in Jewishculture and the conceptof the kinsman redeemer. I

think the book John is speaking of in Revelationmay be just such a scroll - it
involves seals and witnessesand, if that is true, would containevidence of who
has land rights to the whole earth - that would make it important not just to
John but to us as well. If no one can open the scroll, no one would know who is
the rightful owner of the land, this earth. That would be of concernto John.
The next page, the story of Ruth and Boazwill add another dimension to this
comparisonbetweenthe kinsman redeemerand the book of Revelation5.
Ruth and Boaz
The story of Ruth and Boaz, Naomiand her husband Elimelech and their sons
Mahlon and Chilion has much to teachabout the important theme of the
kinsman-redeemer.
Below is the family tree to show the relationship betweenthe people in this
story.
Family tree in Ruth
This page is page 2 a continuation of a study on the kinsman redeemer(back
to page 1) theme in scripture especiallyas it relates to the book being opened
in Revelation6.
The story starts with Elimelech moving with his wife Naomiand two sons
Mahlon and Chilion to Moabin a time of famine in Israel. While there,
Elimelech died and the sons married Moabite women. Then the two sons died

leaving Naomiwith her two daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah. Naomi,
learning that the drought in Israelhad ended, decided to return to her
homeland. While Orpah electedto stay in her own country, Ruth made a
different decision:
"And Ruth said [to Naomi], Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest,
I will lodge:thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:" (Ruth 1:16)
This is a goodverse showing that anyone can be joined to Israel. After they
returned to Israel, probably just about penniless, Naomiwanted to find a
husband for her daughter Ruth and did what she could to arrange something.
"And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the
family of Elimelech;and his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said
unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and gleanears of corn after him in
whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter" (Ruth
2:1-2)
The story reveals that there was some interestbetweenRuth and Boaz. The
question of the rights to land previously owned by Elimelech also came up.
Again, the customof the kinsmen redeemer having the right to redeem land
enters into the story.
"Then went Boazup to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the
kinsman of whom Boazspake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one!
turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten
men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they satdown.
And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come againout of the country of
Moab, selleth a parcelof land, which was our brother Elimelech's:And I
thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the
elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not

redeem it, then tell me, that I may know:for there is none to redeem it beside
thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it." (Ruth 4:1-4)
The closestrelative (as in Jeremiah)had first opportunity to buy the land and,
at first, was happy to do so as he could gain a profit from the use of the land
but, in this case, there was another factorinvolved:
"Then saidBoaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou
must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess,the wife of the dead, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem it for myself, lestI mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right
to thyself; for I cannot redeem it (Ruth 4:5-6)
With this land, came a widow who had rights that needed to be fulfilled and
the next of kin didn't want to marry her.
"Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and
concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe,
and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the
kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. And Boaz
said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I
have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's,
of the hand of Naomi. MoreoverRuth the Moabitess,the wife of Mahlon, have
I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his
inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren,
and from the gate of his place:ye are witnesses this day. And all the people
that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make
the womanthat is come into thine house like Racheland like Leah, which two
did build the house of Israel:and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be
famous in Bethlehem: (Ruth 4:7-11)
So Ruth and Boazwere married with Boazfulfilling the role of the kinsman
redeemerboth in the matter of the land and in perpetuating the family line of
Mahlon. Of course, this is a type of what Jesus would do both with the land

(this earth) and the bride (the descendents ofAdam). We could make the
comparisonlike this:
Type
Antitype
The kinsman/redeemer Boaz Jesus
redeemed Elimelech's land the earth
from the previous buyer Satan
and redeemed Ruth the church
to perpetuate the family of Mahlon Adam
In connectionwith this 3-part study on the kinsman-redeemer, we first looked
at the conceptof the kinsman-redeemer (part 1) in connectionwith the story
of Jeremiah and then at the story of Ruth and Boazon this page (part 2). On
the next page we will look in more detail at Jesus Christ as Redeemer(part 3)
as the fulfillment of what the previous stories pointed to.
Jesus Christ RedeemerofHis Bride,
and His Earth
Jesus Christ as Redeemeris normally thought of as redeeming those who are
saved, those who have acceptedHim as their Saviour. But He is also
redeeming the land - the whole earth - to restore it to its original owner.

This page is part 3 of a 3-part study on the topic of the kinsman redeemer
(back to part 1) and how it is relatedto Revelationchapter 5.
Why would there even be a question about ownership of or rights to this
world? There is scriptural evidence that Satanis laying claim to this earth.
Jesus Himself seems to have recognizedthat:
"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast
out." (John 12:31)
Jesus came as the nearestkinsman - the kinsman redeemerto redeem this
land (the world) that had been sold into slavery. Jesus redeemedthe land; He
paid the price while it was yet in possessionofthe enemy.
The opening of the scrollthat begins in Revelation6 reveals the evidence
including the testimony of witnessesto support His claim as next of kin to be
able to redeem this earth and restore it to Adam and his family who were
originally given dominion over it. Then the saved, whose names are in the
book as co-inheritors with him will take possessionoftheir inheritance.
"Blessedare the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt 5:5)
While the examples brought up (Jeremiahand Boaz)illustrate how the
kinsman-redeemerfunctioned, the wording in the Biblical accountbrings up
some questions about who was actuallyselling the land.
The kinsman-redeemerwas to buy the land to return it to the original family.
A land owner could sellhis land to anyone willing to buy it and the role of the
next of kin was to buy it back so that it was restoredto the family - the
original owneror his descendents. Let's look againat eachsituation.

Jeremiah
If Hanameel just wanted to sellhis land (because ofthe Babylonian invasion
he might have wantedto liquidate his assets), he could have sold it to anyone
but quite likely, in light of the circumstances,it would be very hard to find a
buyer. If Jeremiah was functioning as the kinsman-redeemerit would make
sense that he was buying it back from someone else who had previously
acquired it from Hanameel.
Buy Sell Land
Hanameel said:
"... Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine
to buy it. ..." (Jer 32:8)
He didn't say "buy it from me" because, atthe time, it was still under lease to
the leasee. Yet, he could say "buy my field" because he was the original
owner.
Note that there would be a year of Jubilee within that 70 years of captivity - so
it would have reverted to Hanameelor his estate anyway. Hanameel may not
have understood or appreciatedthe predicted return after 70 years or he felt
the responsibility to have the land back in the family. In any event, it seems
God may have directed him to approach Jeremiah about redeeming it and
primarily this transactionwas for a lessonand encouragementto Israel. If
Jeremiahwas redeeming it, restoring it to his family who had the original
ownership of the land, then it would still be his or his families after the 70
years.

Ruth
Three verses in the story of Ruth suggestthat the purchase is being made
from Naomi the wife of Elimelech who ownedthe land before the family left
for Moab.
"And he saidunto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country
of Moab, selleth a parcelof land, which was our brother Elimelech's:" (Ruth
4:3)
"Then saidBoaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou
must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess,the wife of the dead, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance." (Ruth 4:5)
"And Boazsaid unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnessesthis
day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and
Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi." (Ruth 4:9)
Yet if, at that point in the story, the land was in the possessionofNaomi she
could sell it to whomever would buy it and would not require a kinsman-
redeemerto do so. If it had previously been sold - perhaps before the family
moved to Moab- then she, not being able to buy it back again, would require
a kinsman-redeemerto purchase it on her behalf. There are some translations
that indicate this is the case:
"And he saith to the redeemer, 'A portion of the field which is to our brother,
to Elimelech, hath Naomi sold, who hath come back from the fields of Moab;"
(Ruth 4:3, Young's Literal Translation)

"Then he said to the near kinsman, Naomi, who has come back from the
country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother
Elimelech." (Ruth 4:3, New King James Version)
Those versions put Naomi's sale of the land in the past. It makes sense,
considering the circumstances,that Elimelechwould have sold the land before
moving to Moab. Perhaps the phrase in Ruth 4:5 "buyest the field of the hand
of Naomi" is a way of saying that Boazwas buying the field (from whoever
had possession/use ofit at that time) that was, ultimately, the land of Naomi,
by inheritance, before she moved to Moab.
Verse 9 refers to the land as "that was Chilion's and Mahlon's" and they
never possessedthe land - they only had rights of inheritance to it. Verse 5
even says "buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess"who had never even seenthe
land while it was in the possessionof Elimelechand Naomi. So it is quite
possible that to buy the field "of the hand of Naomi" is a way of saying "buy it
from the one who has rights of inheritance."
With the Land Came a Bride
In the case ofRuth, there was another matter in addition to the land
ownership. Not only did the land need to be redeemedbut Ruth, the wife of
the one (Mahlon) with rights of inheritance to the land, neededto be
redeemedafter the manner of levirate marriage as specifiedin Deuteronomy:
"If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife
of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger:her husband's brother
shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an
husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she
beareth shall succeedin the name of his brother which is dead, that his name
be not put out of Israel." (Deut 25:5-6)

Jesus referredto this practice as well:
"Saying, Master, Moseswrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a
wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and
raise up seedunto his brother." (Luke 20:28)
So, in the case ofRuth, not only was there the matter of the land but there was
an obligation on the part of the near kinsmen to marry the widow so that she
could be provided for.
In the situation John is thinking of, he understood that both the land and the
bride were in need of redemption. This bride, of course, included himself.
John would have been familiar with both the stories of Jeremiahand Ruth
and, understanding that the book included details of who was the eligible
kinsmen-redeemer, was anxious to have the contents revealedso that the
situation with the land (the whole earth) and the bride (the Christian church)
could be resolved.
What he witnessedshowedthat when the seals are finally removed, Jesus will
be declaredas the kinsmen redeemer. So John was weeping not about future
events which hadn't yet been revealedto him but about the status of the land -
this earth - and who would inherit it. He would have been greatly relieved at
the pronouncement:
"... Weepnot: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Rootof David, hath
prevailed to open the book, and to loose the sevenseals thereof." (Rev5:5)
Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, will finally be able to redeem the land for those
who have rights of inheritance and redeem the bride who will finally be able
to enjoy this land and make it their home forever. Praise God!
https://www.jesus-resurrection.info/jesus-christ-redeemer.html

The Kinsman-Redeemer
Expositions of Holy Scripture — Alexander Maclaren
'Their Redeemeris strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly
plead their cause.' -- JER. l.34.
Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very
peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearestliving blood relation to a
man had certainobligations and offices to discharge, under certain
contingencies, inrespectof which he receiveda specialname; which is
sometimes translatedin the Old Testament'Redeemer,'and sometimes
'Avenger' of blood. What the etymologicalsignificationofthe word may be is,
perhaps, somewhatdoubtful. It is taken by some authorities to come from a
word meaning 'to setfree.' But a considerationofthe offices which the law
prescribed for the 'Goel'is of more value for understanding the peculiar force
of the metaphor in such a text as this, than any examination of the original
meaning of the word. Jehovahis representedas having takenupon Himself
the functions of the next-of-kin, and is the Kinsman-Redeemerof His people.
The same thought recurs frequently in the Old Testament, especiallyin the
secondhalf of the prophecies of Isaiah, and it were much to be desired that
the RevisedVersionhad adopted some means of showing an English reader
the instances, since the expressionsuggestsa very interesting and pathetic
view of God's relationto His people.
I. Let me state briefly the qualifications and offices of the kinsman- redeemer,
'the Goel.'

The qualifications may be all summed up in one -- that he must be the nearest
blood relation of the person whose Goelhe was. He might be brother, or less
nearly related, but this was essential, that of all living men, he was the most
closelyconnected. Thatqualification has to be kept well in mind when
thinking of the transference ofthe office to God in His relation to Israel, and
through Israelto us.
Such being his qualification, what were his duties? Mainly three. The first was
connectedwith property, and is thus stated in the words of the law, 'If thy
brother be waxen poor, and sell some of his possession, then shall his kinsman
that is next unto him come, and shall redeem that which his brother hath sold'
(Lev. xxv.25, R. V.). The Mosaic law was very jealous of large estates.The
prophet pronounced a curse upon those who joined 'land to land, and field to
field... that they may be alone in the midst of the earth.' One greatpurpose
steadily kept in view in all the Mosaic land-laws was the prevention of the
alienation of the land from its original holders, and of its accumulation in a
few hands. The idea underlying the law was that of the tribal or family
ownership -- or rather occupancy, forGod was the ownerand Israelbut a
tenant -- and not individual possession. Thatthought carries us back to a
socialstate long since passedaway, but of which traces are still left even
among ourselves. It was carriedout thoroughly in the law of Moses, however
imperfectly in actual practice. The singular institution of the yearof Jubilee
operated, among other effects, to check the acquisition of large estates. It
provided that land which had been alienated was to revert to its original
occupants, and so, in substance, prohibited purchase and permitted only the
lease ofland for a maximum term of fifty years. We do not know how far its
enactments were a dead letter, but their spirit and intention were obviously to
secure the land of the tribe to the tribe for ever, to keepthe territory of each
distinct, to discourage the creationof a landowning class, with its consequent
landless class, to prevent the extremes of poverty and wealth, and to
perpetuate a diffused, and nearly uniform, modest wellbeing amongsta
pastoraland agricultural community, and to keepall in mind that the land
was 'not to be sold for ever, for it is Mine,' saith the Lord.

The obligationon the next-of-kin to buy back alienated property was quite as
much imposed on him for the sake ofthe family as of the individual.
The secondof his duties was to buy back a member of his family fallen into
slavery. 'If a strangeror sojourner with thee be waxenrich, and thy brother
be waxen poor beside him, and sellhimself unto the stranger... afterthat he is
sold, he may be redeemed; one of his brethren may redeem him.' The price
was to vary according to the time which had to elapse before the year of
Jubilee, when all slaves were necessarilysetfree. So Hebrew slavery was
entirely unlike the thing calledby the same name in other countries, and by
virtue of this power of purchase at any time, which was vested in the nearest
relative, taken along with the compulsory manumission of all 'slaves'every
fiftieth year, came to be substantially a voluntary engagementfora fixed time,
which might be ended evenbefore that time had expired, if compensationfor
the unexpired term was made to the master.
It is to be observedthat this provision applied only to the case ofa Hebrew
who had sold himself. No other personcould sella man into slavery. And it
applied only to the case ofa Hebrew who had sold himself to a foreigner. No
Jew was allowedto hold a Jew as a slave. 'If thy brother be waxenpoor with
thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him to serve as a
bondservant: as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee.'
(Lev. xxv.39, R. V.).
The lastof the offices of the kinsman-redeemerwas that of avenging the blood
of a murdered relative. If a man were strickento death, it became a solemn
obligation to exactlife for life, and the blood-feud incumbent on all the family
was especiallybinding on the next-of-kin. The obligation shocks a modern
mind, accustomedto relegate allpunishment to the action of law which no
criminal thinks of resisting. But customs and laws are unfairly estimated

when the state of things which they regulatedis forgotten or confusedwith
that of today. The law of blood-feud among the Hebrews was all in the
direction of restricting the wild justice of revenge, and of entrusting it to
certain chosenpersons out of the kindred of the murdered man. The savage
vendetta was too deeply engrained in the national habits to be done awaywith
altogether. All that was for the time possible was to check and systematise it,
and this was done by the institution in question, which did not so much put
the swordinto the hand of the next-of-kin as strike it out of the hand of all the
rest of the clan.
These, then, were the main parts of the duty of the Goel, the kinsman-
redeemer-- buying back the alienatedland, purchasing the freedom of the
man who had voluntarily sold himself as a slave, and avenging the slaying of a
kinsman.
II. Notice the grand mysterious transference of this office to Jehovah.
This singular institution was gradually discernedto be chargedwith lofty
meaning and to be capable of being turned into a dim shadowing of something
greaterthan itself. You will find that God begins to be spokenof in the later
portions of Scripture as the Kinsman-Redeemer. I reckoneighteeninstances,
of which thirteen are in the secondhalf of Isaiah. The reference is, no doubt,
mainly to the great deliverance from captivity in Egypt and Babylon, but the
thought sweeps a much wider circle and goes much deeper down than these
historicalfacts. There was in it some dim feeling that though Godwas
separatedfrom them by all the distance betweenfinitude and infinitude, yet
they were nearerto Him than to any one else;that the nearestliving relation
whom these poor persecutedJews hadwas the Lord of Hosts, beneath whose
wings they might come to trust. Therefore does the prophet kindle into
rapture and triumphant confidence as he thinks that the Lord of Hosts,
mighty, unspeakable, high above our thoughts, our words, or our praise, is

Israel's Kinsman, and, therefore, their Redeemer. How profound a
consciousnessthatman was made in the image of God, and that, in spite of all
the gulf betweenfinite and infinite, and the yet deepergulf betweensinful
man and righteous God, He was closerto a poor struggling soul than even the
dearestwere, must have been at all events dawning on the prophet who dared
to think of the Holy One in the Heavens as Israel's Kinsman. No doubt, he was
dwelling mostly on historicaloutward deliverances wroughtfor the nation,
and his idea of Israel's kinship to God applied to the people, not to
individuals, and meant chiefly that the nation had been chosenfor God's. But
still the thought must have been felt to be greatand wonderful, and some faint
apprehension of the yet deeper sense in which it is true that God is the next-of-
kin to every soul and ready to be its Redeemer, would no doubt begin to be
felt.
The deepening of the idea from a reference to external and national
deliverances, and the large, dim hopes which clusteredround it, may be
illustrated by one or two significantinstances. Take, forexample, that
mysterious and very beautiful utterance in the Book ofJob, where the man, in
the very depth of his despair, and just because there is not a human being that
has any drop of pity for him, turns from earth, and striking confidence out of
his very despair, like fire from flint, sees there his Kinsman-Redeemer. 'I
know that my Redeemerliveth.' Men may mock him, friends may turn
againsthim, the wife of his bosom may tempt him, comforters may pour
vitriol instead of oil into his wounds, yet he, sitting on his dunghill there,
poverty-strickenand desolate, knows thatGod is of kin to him, and will do the
kinsman's part by him. The very metaphor implies that the divine
intervention which he expects is to take place after his death. It was a dead
man whose blood the Goelavenged. Thus the view which sees in the
subsequent words a hope, howeverdim and undefined, of an experience of a
divine manifestation on his behalf beyond the grave is the only one which
gives its full force to the central idea of the passage,as wellas to the obscure
individual expressions. Moststrikingly, then, he goes onto say, carrying out
the allusion, 'and that he shall stand at the last upon the dust.' Little did it
boot the murdered man, lying there stark, with the knife in his bosom, that

the murderer should be slain by the swift justice of his kinsman-avenger, but
Job felt that, in some mysterious way, God would appear for him, after he had
been laid in the dust, and that he would somehow share in the gladness ofHis
manifestation -- for he believes that 'without his flesh' he will see God, 'whom
I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.'Large and
mysterious hopes are gathering round the metaphor, which flash some light
into the darkness of the grave, and give to the troubled soul the assurance that
when life with all its troubles is past, and flesh has seencorruption, the inmost
personalbeing of every man who commits his cause to God will behold Him
coming forth his Kinsman-Redeemer.
Another illustration of the hopes which gathered round this image is found in
the greatpsalm which prophesies of the true King of Peace, inlanguage too
wide for any poeticallicence to warrant if intended only to describe a Jewish
king (Ps. lxxii.14). The universal dominion of this greatKing is described in
terms which, though they may be partly referred to the Jewishmonarchy at
its greatestexpansion, sweepfarbeyond its bounds in exulting anticipation
that 'all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him.' The
reasonfor this world-wide dominion is not military power, as was the case
with the warriorkings of old, who bound nations togetherfor a little while in
an artificial unity with iron chains, but His dominion is universal, 'for He shall
deliver the needy when he crieth,...He shall redeem their souls from
oppressionand violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight.' Two of
the functions of the Kinsman-Redeemerare here united. He buys back slaves
from their tyrannous masters, and He avenges their shed blood. And because
His Kingdom is a kingdom of gentle pity and loving help, because He is of the
same blood with His subjects, and brings liberty to the captives, therefore it is
universal and everlasting. Forthe strongestthing in all the world is love, and
He who can staunch men's wounds, and will hear their cries and help them,
will rule them with authority which conquerors cannot wield.

This universal King, the kinsman and the sovereignof all the needy, is not
God. A human figure is rising before the prophet-psalmist's eye, whose
meekness as wellas His majesty, and whose kingdomas well as His redeeming
power, seemto pass beyond human limits. Divine offices seemto be devolved
on a man's shoulders. Dim hopes are springing which point onwards. So that
greatpsalm leads us a step further.
III. See the perfect fulfilment of this divine office by the man Christ Jesus.
Job's anticipation and the psalmist's rapturous vision are fulfilled in the
Incarnate Word, in whom God comes nearto us all and makes Himself
kindred to our flesh, that He may discharge all those blessedoffices, of
redeeming from slavery, of recovering our alienatedinheritance, and of
guarding our lives, which demand at once divine powerand human nearness.
Christ is our Kinsman. True, the divine nature and the human are nearly
allied, so that even apart from the Incarnation, men may feel that none is so
truly and closelyakinto them as their Father in Heaven is. But how much
more blessedthan even that kinship is the consanguinity of Christ, who is
doubly of kin to eachsoul of man, both because in His true manhood He is
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and because in His divinity He is
nearer to us than the closesthuman kindred can everbe. By both He comes so
near to us that we may claspHim by our faith, and rest upon Him, and have
Him for our nearestfriend, our brother. He is nearerto eachof us than our
dearestis. He loves us with the love of kindred, and can fill our hearts and
wills, and help our weakness in better, more inward ways than all sympathy
and love of human hearts can do. Betweenthe atoms of the densestof material
bodies there is an interspace of air, as is shownby the fact that everything is
compressible if you can find the force sufficient to compress it. That is to say,
in the material universe no particle touches another. And so in the spiritual
region, there is an awful film of separationbetweeneachof us and all others,
howevercloselywe may be united. We eachlive on our own little island in the
deep, 'with echoing straits betweenus thrown.' We have a solemn

consciousnessofpersonality, of responsibility unshared by any, of a separate
destiny parting us from our dearest. Arms may be twined, but they must be
unlinked some day, and eachin turn must face the awful solitude of death, as
eachhas really facedthat scarcelyless awfulsolitude of life, alone. But 'he
that is joined to the Lord is one spirit,' and our kinsman, Christ, will come so
near to us, that we shall be in Him and He in us, one spirit and one life. He is
your nearestrelation, nearer than husband, wife, parent, brother, sister, or
friend. He is nearerto you than your very selves. He is your better self. That is
His qualification for His office.
BecauseHe is man's kinsman, He buys back His enslavedbrethren. The
bondage from which 'one of His brethren' might 'redeem' the Israelite was a
voluntary bondage into which he had sold himself. And such is our slavery.
None can rob us of our freedom but ourselves. The world and the flesh and
the devil cannotput their chains on us unless our own wills hold out our hands
for the manacles.
And, alas!it is often an unsuspected slavery. 'How sayestthou, ye shall be
made free. We were never in bondage to any man,' boastedthe angry
disputants with Christ. And if they had lifted up their eyes they might have
seenfrom the Temple courts in which they stood, the citadelfull of Roman
soldiers, and perhaps the golden eaglesgleaming in the sunshine on the loftiest
battlements. Yet with that strange powerof ignoring disagreeable facts they
dared to asserttheir freedom. 'Neverin bondage to any man!' -- what about
Egypt, and Assyria, and Babylon? Had there never been an Antiochus? Was
Rome a reality? Did it lay no yoke on them? Was it all a dream?
Some of us are just as foolish, and try as desperatelyto annihilate facts by
ignoring them, and to make ourselves free by passionatelydenying that we are
slaves. But 'he that committeth sin is the slave of sin.' That sounds a paradox.
I am masterof my own actions, you may say, and never freer than when I

break the bonds of right and duty and choose to do what is contrary to them,
for no reasonon earth but because I choose. Thatis liberty, emancipation
from the burdensome restraints which your narrow preaching about law and
consciencewouldimpose. Yes, you are masters of your actions, and your
sinful actions very soonbecome masters of you. Do we not know that that is
true? You fall into, or walk into a habit, and then it gets the mastery of you,
and you cannotget rid of it. Whosoeversets his foot upon that slippery
inclined plane of wrongdoing, after he has gone a little way, gravitation is too
much for him and away he goes downthe hill. 'Whosoevercommitteth sin is
the slave of sin.' Did you ever try to kill a bad habit, a vice? Did you find it
easywork? Was it not your master? You thought that a chain no stronger
than a spider's web was round your wrist till you tried to break it; and then
you found it a chain of adamant. Many men who boastthemselves free are
'tied and bound with the cords of their sins.'
Dreaming of freedom, you have sold yourself, and that 'for nought.' Is that
not true, tragically true?
What have you made out of sin? Is the game worth the candle? Will it
continue to be so? Ye shall be redeemed without money, for Jesus Christ laid
down His life for you and me, that by His death we might receive forgiveness
and deliverance from the power of sin. And so your Kinsman, nearer to you
than all else, has bought you back. Do not refuse the offeredemancipation,
but 'if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.' Be not like the spiritless
slaves, for whose servile choice the law provided, who had rather remain bond
than go out free. Surely when Christ calls you to liberty, you will not turn
from Him to the tyrannous masters whom you have served, and, like the
Hebrew slave, let them fasten you to their door-posts with their awl through
your ear. Do you hug your chains and prefer your bondage?

Your Kinsman-Redeemer brings back your squandered inheritance, which is
God. God is the only possessionthat makes a man rich. He alone is worth
calling 'my portion.' It is only when we have God in our hearts, God in our
heads, God in our souls, God in our life -- it is only when we love Him, and
think about Him, and obey Him, and bring our characters into harmony with
Him, and so possess Him -- it is only then that we become truly rich. No other
possessioncorresponds to our capacities so as to fill up all our needs and
satisfy all our being. No other possessionpasses into our very substance and
becomes inseparable from ourselves. So the mystical fervour of the psalmist's
devotion spoke a simple prose truth when he exclaimed, 'The Lord is the
portion of mine inheritance and of my cup.'
We have squandered our inheritance. We have sinned awayfellowship with
God. We have flung away our true wealth, 'wastedour substance in riotous
living.' And here is our Elder Brother, our nearestrelative, who has always
been with the Father;but who, insteadof grudging the prodigals their fatted
calf and their hearty welcome whenthey come back, has Himself, by the
sacrifice ofHimself, won for them the inheritance, its earnestin the possession
of God's spirit here and its completion in the broad fields of 'the inheritance
of the saints in light,' the entire fruition and possessionof the divine in the life
to come. 'If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.'
Your Kinsman-Redeemer will keepyour lives under His care, and be ready to
plead your cause. 'He that touches you, touches the apple of Mine eye.''He
reproved kings for their sake, saying, Touchnot Mine anointed.' Not in vain
does the cry go up to Him, 'Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughteredsaints,' -- and if
no apparent retribution has followed, and if often His servant's blood seems to
have been shed in vain, still we know that it has often been the seedof the
Church, and that He who puts our tears into His bottle will not count our
blood less precious in His sight. So we may rest confident that our Kinsman-
Redeemerwill charge Himself with pleading our cause and intervening in our
behalf, that He will compass us about with His protection, and that we are

knit so close to Him that our woes and foes are His, and that we cannot die as
long as He lives.
So, dear brethren, be sure of this, that if only you will take Christ for your
Saviour and brother, your Helper and Friend, if only you will rest yourself
upon that complete sacrifice which He has made for the sins of the world, He
will give you liberty, and restore your lost inheritance, and your blood shall be
precious in His sight, and He will keepHis hand around you and preserve
you; and finally will bring you into His home and yours. 'In Him we have
redemption through His blood,' and He comes to every one of you now, even
through my poor lips, with His ancientword of merciful invitation: 'Behold! I
have blotted out as a cloud thy sins and as a thick cloud thy transgressions.
Turn unto Me, for I have redeemedthee.'
23 Bible Verses aboutKinsman redeemer
‹›
MostRelevantVerses
Leviticus 25:25-28
‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his
property, then his nearestkinsman is to come and buy back what his relative
has sold. Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to
find sufficient for its redemption, then he shall calculate the years since its sale
and refund the balance to the man to whom he soldit, and so return to his
property.read more.
Jeremiah32:6-9

And Jeremiahsaid, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Behold,
Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for
yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to
buy it.”’ Then Hanamel my uncle’s soncame to me in the court of the guard
according to the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is
at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of
possessionandthe redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that
this was the word of the Lord.read more.
Leviticus 25:47-55
‘Now if the means of a strangeror of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient,
and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regardto him as to sell
himself to a strangerwho is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a
stranger’s family, then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold.
One of his brothers may redeemhim, or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may
redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or
if he prospers, he may redeemhimself.read more.
Genesis 38:8-10
Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your
duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his
brother’s wife, he wastedhis seedon the ground in order not to give offspring
to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He
took his life also.
Deuteronomy 25:5-10
“When brothers live togetherand one of them dies and has no son, the wife of
the deceasedshallnot be married outside the family to a strange man. Her
husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and
perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. It shall be that the firstborn

whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name
will not be blotted out from Israel. But if the man does not desire to take his
brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and
say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to establisha name for his brother in
Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother to
me.’read more.
Matthew 22:23-28
On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus
and questioned Him, asking, “Teacher, Mosessaid, ‘If a man dies having no
children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children
for his brother.’ Now there were sevenbrothers with us; and the first married
and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother;read more.
Mark 12:18-23
Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and
beganquestioning Him, saying, “Teacher, Moseswrote for us that if a man’s
brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should
marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. There were seven
brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.read more.
Luke 20:27-33
Now there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no
resurrection), and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moseswrote for us
that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother
should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. Now there were
sevenbrothers; and the first took a wife and died childless;read more.
Numbers 35:16-21
‘But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a
murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. If he struck him down
with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and as a result he died, he is a
murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he struck him with

a woodenobjectin the hand, by which he might die, and as a result he died, he
is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.readmore.
Numbers 5:5-8
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speakto the sons of Israel, ‘When a
man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully
againstthe Lord, and that personis guilty, then he shall confess his sins which
he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add
to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged.readmore.
Ruth 2:20
Verse Concepts
Naomi saidto her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessedof the Lord who has
not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said
to her, “The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives.”
Ruth 3:1-4
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek
security for you, that it may be well with you? Now is not Boazour kinsman,
with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor
tonight. Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best
clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known
to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.read more.
Exodus 6:6-7
Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out
from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their
bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretchedarm and with great
judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and
you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from
under the burdens of the Egyptians.

2 Samuel 7:22-24
For this reasonYou are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and
there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our
ears. And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God
went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and
to do a greatthing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your
people whom You have redeemedfor Yourself from Egypt, from nations and
their gods? ForYou have establishedfor Yourself Your people Israel as Your
own people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
Isaiah43:1-7
But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have calledyou by name; you are Mine!
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
“ForI am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
read more.

Source:https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Kinsman-Redeemer
2 Ways BoazPoints Us to Christ as Our Kinsman Redeemer
Ruth in Boaz's Field by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld;NationalGallery,
United Kingdom. Image from Wikimedia Commons .
Ruth in Boaz's Field by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld;NationalGallery,
United Kingdom. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Many theologians have acknowledgedthe typologicalrole that Boazplayed in
redemptive history. He descendedfrom the tribe of Judah, came out of
Bethlehem to bless his people, was the greatgrandfather of David, the one to
whom the promise of Messiahwas given, and was therefore in the genealogical
line of the Christ.
Boazowned a field into which he sent his laborers. He receiveda Gentile,
Ruth, when she came to the fields to glean. He ultimately became the kinsman
redeemerof both Jew and Gentile, buying the lost inheritance of Naomiand
Ruth (Ruth 4:4 and 4:8), thus gaining the right to make Ruth his bride.
In all these ways Boazis a type of Christ. Christ is the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, who comes out of Bethlehem to bless his people. He is the Son of
David, the redeemerof God’s elect. He sends his laborers into his fields to
work. He treats his own people well. He receives andwelcomes Gentiles. He
pays our debt, and therefore gains the right to make us his bride. Yet, there
are two significant elements of the work of Boaz, the typical redeemer, that
must be recognized.

1. Boazhad to honor and keepthe demands of the Mosaic law.
When Ruth comes and lays at Boaz’s feet, he does not immediately receive
her. He tells her that there is a relative closerthan himself who has a right to
redeem her. Boazis acting in accordwith the law of God as revealedin
Numbers 27:8-11 and Leviticus 25:25:
If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his
daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his
brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his
father’s brothers. And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his
inheritance to the relative closestto him in his family, and he shall possessit.
And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the
LORD commanded Moses.(Num. 27:8-11)
If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has soldsome of his possession,
and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his
brother sold. (Lev. 25:25)
In this way, Boazwas acting in accordwith the law of God. He was honoring
the demands of the law and obeying the Lord in his dealings with Ruth. He
does not—and in a very realsense cannot—redeemRuth and Naomiuntil he
obeyed the legaldemands of the Lord.
2. Boazalso had to pay the price to redeem Ruth.
In order for him to be Ruth’s redeemer, Boaz must first obey the demands of
the law, and then pay the price to redeem her. It is a beautiful picture of the
dual nature of the work of Christ. Jesus first fulfills the righteous

requirements of the law of God, and then he pays the price in his death on the
cross.
Mediavine
Our redemption was accomplishedin the active and passive obedience of the
Savior. He was, in the words of the apostle Paul, “obedientto the point of
death, even the death of the cross”(Phil. 2:8).
Together, these two aspects of the obedience of Christ form the grounds of our
justification. We are forgiven by his death, and we are counted righteous by
his perfectlife. Jesus’sacrifice is acceptedbecauseofhis sinless conformity to
the law. By his obedience and death, Christ has merited righteousness forhis
people. He is our redeemeraccording to the prescriptions of his Father, as
typified in the laws of the kinsman redeemer.
RelatedArticles:
Who Is Representing You—Adam or Jesus?
One Word That Explains Why Your Salvationin Christ Is Secure
Got PeaceRightNow? 7 Things You Needto Know About Your Justification
in Christ
Jesus Is the True and Faithful GardenerWho Cares for Your Soul

6 ReasonsWhy Adam and Eve’s Eating of the Forbidden Fruit Was a
Terrible TransgressionagainstGod
Rev. Nick Batzig is an associateeditorfor Ligonier Ministries and a pastor at
Wayside Presbyterian Church (PCA). He formerly served as the organizing
pastor of New CovenantPresbyterianChurch in Richmond Hill, Georgia.
This article is adapted from “Boaz:The Law-Keeping/Debt-Paying
Redeemer” from feedingonchrist.org.
The Ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer
FROM Stephanie Van Eyk Jun 05, 2013 Category:Articles
The narrative at the centerof the book of Ruth (Ruth 3:1-8) depicts the
scheming of Naomiand Ruth to attract the attention of Boaz, their kinsman-
redeemer. The rest of the story (and history) hinges on Boaz’s response to
their efforts. What will it be? Will he prove himself a kinsman-redeemerand
redeem these needy women? Will he portray righteousness and Christ-
likeness?
As the story unfolds, Ruth follows her mother-in-law’s advice and after
perfuming and adorning herselfwith fine clothing, she hides herselfin Boaz’s
threshing house until he has feastedand drunk. Then, once he has fallen

asleep, Ruth positions herself at Boaz’s feet and waits for him to notice her.
Startled, Boazawakensand immediately questions Ruth’s identity. Ruth
replies with her identity and directly announces her mission; she proposes
marriage to Boazby requesting that he fulfill his role as kinsman-redeemer.
The role of kinsman-redeemeris found in Leviticus 25, in the case ofan
Israelite man’s death in which he fails to leave behind a son, the brother of the
deceasedman is commanded to take his widow as wife and both redeemthe
land and provide a sonto carry on the deceasedfather’s name. This is Boaz’s
allegedposition as indicated by Naomiin Ruth 2:20 and it is this responsibility
that Ruth pleads with Boaz to fulfill. Being the godly man that he is, Boaz
graciouslyreceives Ruth’s offer, but communicates that he is not the nearest
kinsman-redeemer(Ruth 3:12). However, he promises that as soonas
morning breaks, he will look into the situation. Additionally, he supplies Ruth
with six measures of barley. Through a series of events, the door opens for
Boazto fulfill his position as kinsman-redeemer. With the greatesthesed
(compassionateloving-kindness), Boazrises to the task of becoming kinsman-
redeemer.
It is worth noting Ruth’s position in the Hebrew Bible. It is placeddirectly
succeeding Proverbs. As the book of Proverbs illustrates the wisdom of a
righteous man, it concludes with chapter31—the description of the virtuous
woman. Ironically, Boazis wisdom personified. He is a wise man, who acts
with respectand dignity even in the most tempting situation. Interestingly,
Ruth, a Moabitess,is personified as the godly woman. In fact, the very
language usedto describe the Proverbs 31 woman of characterwhose “works
praise her in the gates” (Prov. 31:31), is used regarding Ruth in 3:11, which
literally reads “all the gate of my people knows that you are a woman of
worth.” It is as if the compliers of the Hebrew Bible placed the book of Ruth
directly after Proverbs to describe the marriage betweenthe wise man and the
virtuous woman.

Jesus was our kinsman redeemer

Jesus was our kinsman redeemer

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was our kinsman redeemer

Similar to Jesus was our kinsman redeemer (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was our kinsman redeemer