ADOPTION
REDEMPTION
19
AND
`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 4:4).
When however Boaz gave this kinsman to understand that the redemption of Naomi's inheritance involved the
marrying of Ruth because of the death of her husband, the kinsman withdrew, and left the way clear for Boaz.
Redemption and the forfeited inheritance
A. -- Why was it necessary for the redeemer of the inheritance to marry Ruth?
B. -- This is vital to the scriptural conception of redemption, and you will find a full explanation in the law given in
Deuteronomy 25:5-10, which you might read.
A. -- (Reads):
`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 next kinsman (margin) shall -- take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an
husband's next kinsman unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed IN THE
NAME OF HIS BROTHER WHICH IS DEAD, that his name be not put out of Israel'.
B. -- Boaz undertakes this as you will see:
`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. Moreover Ruth 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' (Ruth 4:9,10).
Two important facts in the scriptural conception of redemption are prominent here:
(1). The kinsman-redeemer.
(2). The effect of that redemption -- the type sets forth the entry into the lost inheritance in resurrection life.
We will look a little more closely at the doctrine involved in the kinsman-redeemer.
The Deity and Humanity of the Scriptural Redeemer
A. -- I have been looking up the word `redeemer' in the Old Testament and am particularly impressed with the
Divine titles that are connected with it in Isaiah.
B. -- Perhaps it will be helpful to see how the word is used in Isaiah.
A. -- I find such titles as `The Holy One of Israel', `Creator', `King of Israel', `Lord of hosts', `The Lord thy God',
`The mighty One of Jacob', `The God of the whole earth'.
B. -- If you will remember that the word gaal means not simply redeemer, but the kinsman who has the right to
redeem, these titles become doubly important. If Jehovah, the Creator, the God of the whole earth, is to be also the
gaal or kinsman-redeemer of the sons of Adam, then God must become man. Now it is exactly what we should
expect of the Scriptures, that the prophet who gives the Divine titles such prominence and thereby creates the
problem will also supply the information that provides the answer. Isaiah brings the two sides together in the
blessed name Immanuel:
`Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel (GOD WITH US)' (Isa. 7:14).
Matthew 1:20-23 leaves us in no doubt that this is prophetic in its fulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again Isaiah
says:
`Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given -- His name shall be called -- the mighty God' (Isa. 9:6).
This Divine kinsman is seen in John 1:1 and 14:
`The Word was GOD. The Word was made (became) FLESH'.