OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER

RUTH 3

“I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative”

(Ruth 3:9).

Jesus told His disciples that He was going to give His life as a ransom for many. We normally associate ransom with kidnapping. But there is a different motif associated with the ransom concept that runs deep in biblical history. It is an idea that is often overlooked in our day, and it has to do with the payment of a debt.

We learn something of this kind of debt in Exodus 21, which speaks of the indentured servant. Jews were not allowed to enslave other Jews, but there were provisions for indentured servitude, based on the economy of the day. If a person incurred a debt that he could not pay, he hired himself out to the person to whom he owed the obligation. He paid off his debt with his own labor. Theoretically, every seventh year that servant was released whether he had paid off his debt or not.

If, however, he became married while an indentured servant, he could not take his wife or his children with him when he was released. That is because he had not paid for them. According to Hebrew custom, a man had to pay a dowry to a girl’s father. If a man is in debt, then he doesn’t have the ability to pay for the bride. And so when a master gives his servant a wife, that servant must eventually pay for his wife (a bride-price) either by his own means when he gains his freedom or by continuing his servitude.

However, another way a debt could be paid was by a kinsman redeemer (Lev. 25). He was a relative who could pay the bride-price. According to Old Testament law, if you became indebted, it wasn’t up to the government to pay your debts; it was left to the family to do so.

The language taken from these transactions is applied to the work of Jesus’ atonement. He is our kinsman redeemer. By paying the price of our restoration, He purchases our liberty, restores our inheritance, and buys us out of our indentured servitude. This payment is the ransom that frees us from our debt.

More significantly, Jesus Christ pays the bride-price. Throughout the Scriptures, the church is described as the bride of Christ. We have been given to the Son by the Father, and He pays for us with His life. Such is our glorious Redeemer!

CORAM DEO

Ezekiel 7–9

Hebrews 10:24–39

WEEKEND

Ezekiel 10–15

Hebrews 11

Take some time today to read the book of Ruth. Notice how the themes of debt and kinsman redeemer are woven through the story. How is Boaz a Christ-like figure? What does he do for Ruth and Naomi? For practical application, think about what you can do to help family members, even yourself, get out of debt.

For further study: Ex. 21:1–11 • Lev. 25

WEEKEND