it is necessarily true that the earnest is `until' the day of redemption, the

idea in Ephesians 1:12-14 is that it is given `with a view to' or `unto' that

day.  However we translate eis, the idea of a goal must never be absent.

Predestination is said to be `unto the adoption', in the same way the earnest is

unto the redemption of the inheritance.  What is meant by the expression `the

redemption of the purchased possession'?  Redemption in its initial stage is

blessedly past.  `In Whom we have redemption through His blood' (1:7).  This

initial redemption is set forth in the type of the Passover Lamb.  Here

deliverance from bondage is the uppermost thought.  Redemption however is also

unto something.  He Who led Israel out of Egypt, led them ultimately into the

land of Promise.  The figure that stands out prominently in the Old Testament as

the great type of this second aspect of redemption is `The Kinsman-Redeemer',

and the book that sets this great type forth most blessedly is the book of Ruth.

Before therefore we deal with the actual term `the redemption of the purchased

possession', let us become acquainted with the general teaching of the Book of

Ruth.  The Book of Ruth fulfils several purposes.

It reveals that even during the dark days of the Judges, there were

some who lived their simple lives in the fear of the Lord.

The example of utter faithfulness presented by the story of Ruth the

Moabitess, stands out in bold relief against the dark background of

the times, and gives encouragement to us in our own day of darkness

and apostacy.

The book supplies an important link in the genealogy of Christ as

the Son of David.

The introduction into that genealogy of a Moabitess illuminates the

character of the God of all grace, prefiguring the acceptance of the

Gentile, and indicating something of the gracious work of the

But perhaps more important than all is the light this book throws

upon that most important typical figure, the Kinsman-Redeemer.

In the first chapter of Ephesians, we find a twofold presentation of

Redemption from Bondage.-- `In Whom we have redemption through His

blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace'

Redemption of a Possession.-- `Which is the earnest of our

inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession' (1:14).

In the first passage the word aphesis (`forgiveness') is used, meaning

`setting free from bondage' (see Luke 4:18).  In the second passage, sin and

bondage are not in view. The figure is an `earnest' now, in view of a

`possession' then; and as the possession had been forfeited, redemption is

essential.  It is this second aspect of redemption that finds so beautiful an

illustration in the Book of Ruth, and makes its study so profitable.

The central and longest portions of the book revolve round the figure of

Boaz as the Kinsman-Redeemer (gaal).  The word gaal and its derivatives, which

are variously translated `redeem', `right', `right to redeem' and `kinsman',

occur no less than twenty times in these central chapters.

The simplest analysis of the book seems to be as follows.  The first

chapter puts us in possession of the circumstances that involved the forfeiture