Kinsman Redeemer

Revelation 5

Man was created in God’s image, and in the beginning, man was not stained by sin. However, it was not long before sin marred the image of God in man. The Bible tells us:

Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Even the ancestors of our Lord Jesus Christ were tainted by sin. To pay for the sins of mankind, Jesus had to be a man. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. 

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin [is] death, but the gift of God [is] eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have all earned these wages. In addition to being a man, Jesus had to be sinless, or His death would only pay for His sin.

Jesus had to be the Son of man to pay for man’s sin. However, it was also necessary that he be born without the guilt of Adam’s sin. God’s solution was the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was from the woman’s seed and yet free from Adam’s sin.

One of the women in Jesus’ lineage was a woman named Ruth. She was from Moab and had married an Israelite named Mahlon. Mahlon’s father was Elimelech, and his mother’s name was Naomi; both were Israelites.

If we turn to the first chapter of the book of Ruth, we see there the story of how Ruth the Moabite became a part of Jesus’ family tree.

Ruth 1:1-2 (NKJV) ¹Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. ²The name of the man [was] Elimelech, the name of his wife [was] Naomi, and the names of his two sons [were] Mahlon and Chilion — Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.

“In the days when the judges ruled” refers to the time in Israel before the nation had kings. Men like Samson and Gideon lived during this time, and the man who anointed Saul and David as kings was the last of these judges. 

The day of the judges was characterized by the “cycle of the judges.” This cycle describes the pattern of Israel’s relationship with God. They would stray from God, God judged them by turning them over to their enemies, then they would cry out to God for deliverance, and finally, God raised up a deliver who turned their hearts back to God. This cycle happened repeatedly.

Elimelech and Naomi lived during this time. Elimelech and Naomi moved their family to Moab during a time of judgment, when there was a famine in Israel. While they were in Moab, their sons married Moabite women. The name of Mahlon’s wife was Ruth. 

Naomi’s husband and sons died, leaving Naomi and her daughters-in-law widows. Eventually, Naomi heard that things back home in Bethlehem had improved. So, she moved back to her home in Israel. One of the daughters-in-law went back to her people, but Ruth moved with Naomi.

 

The people of Naomi’s hometown, Bethlehem, welcomed Naomi back with great joy, but Naomi was defeated and depressed. Her name, “Naomi,” means “pleasant,” but Naomi no longer believed she enjoyed anything pleasant. So, she said the following.

Ruth 1:20-21 (NKJV) ²⁰But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹“I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 

Naomi changed her name to Mara. Mara means bitter.

Naomi’s story is a picture of the human race. Our lives are bitter because we have left our creator and God, and the further we stray from God, the more bitter our life becomes.

When Naomi’s family moved to Moab, they left the inheritance God gave them as Israelites. God gave the land of Canaan to Israel and divided the land among Israel’s families. Naomi’s family inherited land in Israel, but they left their inheritance when they left. However, the good news is that their inheritance was waiting for them when they returned, but it had to be bought back or “redeemed.” 

The difficulty for Naomi was that the land passed through the males of the family. Since Naomi’s husband and sons died, the inheritance was in danger of passing to a different family. 

The Lord had a solution for this; the tradition of the “kinsman redeemer.” Kinsman means relative. Male relatives of the family could “redeem” the inheritance. Naomi had no way to reclaim the family inheritance without her sons or her husband.

The story of Boaz and Ruth is a story of redemption because Boaz was a close relative of Naomi’s husband’s family. 

When Ruth went out to glean wheat for her and Naomi to eat, Boaz noticed her and was attracted and impressed. He quietly inquired more about this young lady. Ruth chapter 3 verses one through nine tell us. 

Ruth 3:1-9 (NKJV) ¹Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? ²“Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, [is he] not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³“Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your [best] garment and go down to the threshing floor; [but] do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴“Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.” ⁵And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.” ⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. ⁷And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. ⁸Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. ⁹And he said, “Who [are] you?” So she answered, “I [am] Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”

Notice here that Ruth says, “for you are a close relative.” She was telling Boaz that he was qualified to be her kinsman redeemer. 

Boaz was a close relative of Naomi’s family; however, another relative was closer. So, the more immediate relative had the first right of refusal. Ruth chapter four, verses three through ten give the account of what happened.

Ruth 4:3-10 (NKJV) ³Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which [belonged] to our brother Elimelech. ⁴“And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy [it] back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem [it,] redeem [it;] but if you will not redeem [it, then] tell me, that I may know; for [there is] no one but you to redeem [it,] and I [am] next after you.” And he said, “I will redeem [it.]” ⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy [it] from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.” ⁶And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem [it] for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem [it.]” ⁷Now this [was the custom] in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave [it] to the other, and this [was] a confirmation in Israel. ⁸Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy [it] for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. ⁹And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You [are] witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that [was] Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰“Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You [are] witnesses this day.”

This last line is why the family redeemer did not want to endanger his own inheritance. The son would carry on another family’s name and so this would prove to be a costly transaction.

Let me explain a little bit more about the property. The title deed to the land was written on a scroll. On one side, the boundaries and definition of the property were written. On the other side, any liens, mortgages, or debts against the property were listed. 

Now let’s jump to Revelation chapter five.

Revelation 5:6-10 (NKJV) ⁶And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. ⁸Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, ¹⁰And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Where it says “you were slaughtered and your blood has ransomed people for God,” this points to Jesus as our family redeemer. He is our “kinsman” because He took on flesh and became a man. The scroll is the title deed to earth. It has writing on both sides because on one side, it has our inheritance, our place in the kingdom of God, our right as children of God to rule the earth, and our right to live forever in the presence of God. On the other side, it has a list of what it will take to redeem us, the charges against us, the debts we owe, and the price of our sins. 

No one was found worthy to open the scroll until our Kinsman Redeemer came forward. He was born of a woman, a virgin, so he is our relative, but he was not born of the seed of a man, so He did not have Adam’s sin.

Now, look at the words of Revelation 5:9-10.

Revelation 5:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, ¹⁰And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

 When we enter into our inheritance, we will sing this song to Jesus because He is our Kinsman Redeemer.

Ruth shows us the hope we have in God. For mankind without Jesus, everything is lost and has become bitter. But Jesus has paid our debt and reclaimed our inheritance for us. It is a free gift. 

Like Elimelech and Naomi, we have gone to Moab (the wrong place) looking for hope, redemption, and life. But we find there is no help where we are looking.

Please stop looking for hope in Moab; look to God for hope. When you have messed up, made the wrong decisions, remember Jesus is your redeemer.

Look at Ruth 3:9 once more with me. 

Ruth 3:9 (NKJV) ⁹And he said, “Who [are] you?” So she answered, “I [am] Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”

Ruth asked Boaz for His help. Have you asked Jesus for His help? Jesus promises He will not refuse anyone who asks. Have you asked? It’s free, and it’s easy, and it’s complete. All you need to do is ask.