`Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came

by' (Ruth 4:1).

Boaz puts before this kinsman the case of Naomi, saying:

`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 the inheritance of Naomi involved

the raising up of the name of the dead husband of Ruth, the kinsman withdrew. The law says:

`If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem

it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold' (Lev. 25:25) .

`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 (margin, next kinsman) shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife,

and perform the duty of an husband's broher (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. And if

the man like not to take his brother's wife (margin next kinsman's wife), then let his brother's wife go up to the

gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will

not perform the duty of my husband's brother (next kinsman) ... Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in

the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So

shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel,

The house of him that hath his shoe loosed' (Deut. 25:5-10).

Boaz said before the elders:

`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: Ye are witnesses this day' (Ruth 4:9,10).

Every occurrence of the word `Redeemer' in the A.V. Old Testament is a translation of goel and means, as in

Ruth, the Kinsman-Redeemer. The many passages in Isaiah where the word occurs reveal most plainly that the

Redeemer is Jehovah. He is called `The Holy One of Israel', `Creator', `King of Israel', `LORD of Hosts', `The

LORD thy God', `Him Whom man despiseth and the nation abhorreth', `The Mighty One of Jacob', `The God of the

whole earth shall He be called', `The Redeemer shall come to Zion', `Thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer

... from everlasting' (olam).

If we quote no further, we have given sufficient to cause the careful reader to think. If Jehovah, the Creator, is at

the same time Kinsman to the sons of Adam, then the remaining testimony of Isaiah is absolutely necessary to make

the revelation rational. God must become flesh and blood. Isaiah names this mighty Redeemer, Immanuel, God

with us. Not only so, he reveals in plain terms that Jehovah was to be born of a virgin, `Behold, a virgin shall

conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel'. The fulfilment of this remarkable statement is found

in Matthew 1:20-23. John, in the opening verses of his Gospel, also reveals this mighty truth. `The Word was God',

`The Word was made (became) flesh ... the only begotten of the Father'. In Galatians 4:4,5 the apostle passes from

the question of the heir and the inheritance, to Christ as the Kinsman-Redeemer of that inheritance:

`When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to

redeem ... `

Hebrews 2:14,15 speaks of this kinsman in strong terms:

`Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;

that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who

through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage'.