Kinsman Redeemer

ℝ𝕖𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. What a beautiful word.  A word that brings life in a dark place, hope for even the most hopeless.  When I speak the word out loud it brings so much joy to my heart.  The knowledge that the Father will go to any lengths to redeem His children is too wonderful to comprehend.  One of my favorite tales in the Old Testament is the beautiful love story pictured in the book of Ruth.  A fabulous story of redemption that is set like a diamond, in the wicked and distressing times of the Judges.

Ruth, a Moabite, who had just lost her husband took a vow to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to her homeland.  In Israel there were laws that provided for the widow and the orphan, unlike any other country.  There, in Bethlehem, Ruth meets Boaz, a distant relation of Naomi and a wonderful story of match making, redemption, and love begins. 

In Hebrew law, if a foreigner married an Israelite, you instantly became part of the family of God!  But if your husband died and you had no son you were now out in the cold, no longer a member of God’s family.  This was why a widow would marry a brother or a close relative of her husband.  He was her kinsman redeemer bringing her back into the family of God.  If you were approached by that widow and she asked you to marry her, it was a huge disgrace to say ‘No.’  So disgraceful in fact that you would lose your standing in the community, perhaps even your business and livelihood. 

But the man who said yes, that wonderful kinsman redeemer, would agree to marry the widow and agree to pay off all off the debts of his bride to be before he even knew what they were!  Oh, how that brings tears to my eyes.  𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.

𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿, 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂.  𝗛𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁𝘀, 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲.   𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲?  𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲!  Because of your redemption you are welcomed into the family with jubilation.  Home, safe, part of God’s family.  Boaz moved heaven and earth to marry Ruth, showering her with kindness, gifts, generosity, and love just as your Savior does for you.  Boaz was Ruth’s kinsman redeemer ensuring that she was part of the family of the Great I Am and as a result Ruth is recorded as being an ancestor of the greatest Redeemer of all.  𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.   𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿!