I N D E X
ALL OF ONE
21
The office of the Kinsman-Redeemer is twofold, and that twofold character is plainly indicated in Hebrews,
chapter 2. `Flesh and blood ... destroy ... deliver'.
The very same word (goel) which we have looked at in the rendering Kinsman-Redeemer is also translated, The
Revenger, in the title `the revenger of blood' (Num. 35:19. etc.). `The day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the
year of My redeemed is come' (Isa. 63:4) shews the intimate association of the two thoughts. Christ as the
Kinsman-Redeemer came to destroy and to deliver. This is not only set forth in Hebrews, chapter 2, but in 1 John
3:5-8:
`And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin ... For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil'.
The Lord Jesus Christ bears the title `Firstborn of every creature' (Col. 1:15). This tells us that He stands
intimately related to the whole creation, and renders the deliverance of the groaning creation a possibility, for the
right of redemption is His. The same Lord is also `The Seed of the Woman', `The Last Adam', `The Second Man'
and `The Son of Man'. This renders possible the wondrous redemptive words of 1 Corinthians 15:22:
`For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive'.
Christ moreover is the Seed of Abraham, and this brings the blessings of Abraham to both Jew and Gentile (Gal. 3).
He is moreover the Son of David, and can alone redeem the forfeited Kingdom. Possibly the reader will by this time
perceive the fallacy which lies in the argument of those who speak of Christ as either Redeemer or King. Matthew
chapter 1, brings into close association `Son of David', `Son of Abraham', `Jesus, Who saves His people from their
sins' and `Immanuel, God with us'.
place
We
feel
that
the
of
redemption
in
the
purpose
of
the
ages
has
been
very
much
misunderstood,
but
its
consideration
we
must
leave
until
other
phases
of
the
subject
have
been
seen.
Sufficient
for
our
purpose
has been brought together. Christ is the true Kinsman-Redeemer, and the birth of Christ at Bethlehem was absolutely
essential to His redeeming work.
THE NEAREST OF KIN WHO FAILED
When studying the book of Ruth we are at first somewhat disappointed to find that Boaz, the mighty and
merciful deliverer of the afflicted, was not the nearest of kin:
`It is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I' (Ruth 3:12).
If Boaz be typical of Christ, of whom is the nearer kinsman typical? In Psalm 49:7,8 we read:
`No man can by any means redeem (Heb. padah) his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him (for the
redemption of their soul is so costly that it ceaseth for ever)' (Author's translation).
The word `ceaseth' is sometimes translated `forbear', `leave off', the idea being that the redemption of man is so
infinitely beyond his own powers that it must be left alone, if no redeemer is to be found except man himself,
redemption is impossible.
The nearest of kin, nearer than Boaz himself, is mankind. Man however can never be his own saviour. He
stands exposed before all as a failure. Every son of Adam bears the reproach of Deuteronomy 25:10 :
`His name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed'.
In Isaiah 59:20 we read:
`And the Redeemer (goel) shall come to Zion'.
This Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the context suggests the kinsman nearer than He, who failed:
`And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought
salvation' (Isa. 59:16).