“And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.” Ruth 3:10-11
God’s law defined the responsibilities of the kinsman redeemer and that included that they marry a childless widow and that the children born would carry the dead husband’s name.
Deuteronomy 25:5-6 “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.”
Here we see Boaz was a type of Jesus. For Jesus to redeem mankind He had to be a blood relative, so Jesus had to be born in the likeness of man. This was accomplished by the incarnation, and through His death on the cross, He purchased our redemption.
Philippians 2:7 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and made in the likeness of men.”
The requirements of a Kinsman-Redeemer:
- They must have the right to redeem
- They needed the ability to redeem, able to pay the price.
- They needed to be willing to redeem.
Jesus fulfilled all these requirements. As our relative, He had the right to redeem. Because He had lived His whole life without sin, He could pay the price. And He was willing to go to the cross to redeem us.
Naomi and Ruth placed great confidence in Boaz. His support of them thus far had shown that He was a man of integrity and would be willing to do what was required.
Jesus will never fail us. His sacrifice on Calvary paid for our redemption. The precious blood still avails to forgive our sins and make us pure and holy in His sight.
Prayer: Jesus we are so thankful that you came to earth and that you went to the cross to redeem us and rose from the dead so that we could have eternal life.
Devotion by Anne Johnston
