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The purchased possession.
There is more in this purchase of land than is at first sight evident, owing to the law of
inheritance and its relation to redemption. When Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, bought
the land that belonged to Elimelech and Chilion and Mahlon, he also bought Ruth, the
wife of Mahlon, to be his 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). Jeremiah also bought a piece of land in Anathoth at the command
of the Lord, and as an evidence of his faith in the restoration of his people:
"Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it
. . . . . Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this
evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put
them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in
this land" (Jer. 32: 7-15).
To the Hebrew who knew the law, those sacred burial grounds would be so many
pledges of future resurrection and restoration. "The purchased possession" would be
redeemed, the inheritance would be enjoyed, and during the intervening time of waiting
and discipline, "faith is the substance of things hoped for".
No.50.
Moses, Faith that triumphs (11: 23 - 28).
pp. 201 - 207
In the structure of Heb. 11:, the witness of Joseph and Moses are coupled. Let us
notice a lesson that arises out of the comparison of these two witnesses to overcoming
faith. Both have to do with Egypt; both have to do personally with Pharaoh, but here the
similarity ceases, and contrast begins.
In the case of Joseph, he was led steadily, step by step, through suffering and shame,
until at last he sat upon the throne of Egypt and became the saviour of his people. In the
case of Moses, he was led just as steadily to turn his back upon Egypt and its throne, and
from greatness and wealth he descended to reproach and affliction that he, too, might be,
equally and as surely, a saviour of his people. Now both these contrary actions were "by
faith". How easy it would have been for Moses to have reasoned that in Joseph he had a
precedent for accepting the honour of adoption, and of remaining attached to the throne
of Egypt! How easily he could have deceived himself by reasoning that this closeness to
the throne was a God-given responsibility that he must use for the amelioration of Israel's
sorrows! Yet how false it would have been! Moses, as surely as Joseph, knew the
promise of Gen. 15: God had declared that "in the fourth generation" Israel should
come out of the land of their affliction, and Moses knew that in his own person, that
fourth generation stood represented. This can be easily seen by reading Exod. 6: 16-20.