I N D E X
ALL OF ONE
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attain unto the Unity of the Faith, where the centre is `The Son of God' (Eph. 4:12,13), and to express this oneness
by holding the Head, which is Christ, and remembering that `the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted
by that which every joint supplieth' (Eph. 4:15,16).
In other callings and dispensations, this Unity is manifested in other ways and by other symbols. For example:
`And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and
there shall be one fold (flock), and one Shepherd' (John 10:16).
or again, in connexion with restored Israel:
`Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his
companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of
Israel his companions ... and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand ...
And I will make them one nation in the land ... and one King shall be King to them all' (Ezek. 37:16-22).
One Lord, One Shepherd, One King, for the Church and the gathered nations, `All of one' is indeed a basic and
all-covering truth.
Beneath all this oneness lies a deep and most significant work of Redemption, without which this `oneness'
would be a dream, a cypher, `a limbeck only'. We therefore draw attention to a most wonderful and basic aspect of
redemption comprised under the title:
THE KINSMAN-REDEEMER
It is not possible to consider the teaching of Scripture with regard to Redemption, without also taking into
account the teaching of the same Word as to the Redeemer. Redemption is not an abstract thing, it is the work of a
Personal Redeemer. That Redeemer is set forth in clear, unmistakable characters, and when we have grasped the
essential conditions that had to be fulfilled before one could become a Redeemer, we shall at the same time grasp
more fully the scope of Redemption itself.
In the A.V. Old Testament there is but one word translated Redeemer, that word being goel. The book which
most vividly portrays the Scriptural features of the Redeemer is the book of Ruth.  A certain man left
Bethlehem-Judah, by reason of famine, and went into Moab, taking with him his wife Naomi and two sons, Mahlon
and Chilion. There Elimelech dies, and the two sons marry. They also die, and Naomi, hearing that the Lord had
visited His people with bread, arises to return to Bethlehem. The two daughters-in-law go with her, but one, Orpah,
turns back, Ruth alone accompanying Naomi back to Bethlehem, arriving at the beginning of barley harvest, and
therefore at the time of the Passover.
A kinsman of Naomi's husband, a man of wealth, named Boaz, owned fields of corn, and into this man's field
Ruth goes to glean. Boaz deals very kindly with her on account of her faithful conduct toward Naomi. When Ruth
returned with the result of her day's gleaning and told Naomi of the attitude of Boaz, Naomi praised the Lord, and
said, `The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen' (Ruth 2:20). The A.V. margin reads `One that hath
right to redeem'. Acting upon Naomi's instructions Ruth lies at the feet of Boaz on the threshing floor, and at
midnight upon being discovered Ruth answers, `I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy wing (or skirt,
A.V.) over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman' (3:9). Again the A.V. margin reads, `One that hath right to
redeem'. Boaz now reveals a fact that made a pause in the accomplishment of Naomi's purpose.
`It is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in
the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he
will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth' (Ruth
3:12,13).
lt is evident from what has been already quoted that pity, love, power, or any other attribute associated in our
minds with Redemption cannot be put into operation until kinship is established.
The fourth chapter of Ruth shows us Boaz obtaining the right of redemption, and putting it into operation: