Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
Kinsman Redeemer in the Old Testament
Joshua Lamb
142: Biblical Theology: Old Testament
November 29, 2014
Introduction
One of the most important words in the Bible is redemption, the act of buying back. The concept of redemption was woven into the fabric of Israel as a tribal society in the Old Testament, in which the “kinsman redeemer” had several roles as the next-of-kin in special circumstances1. This paper seeks to trace the role of kinsman redeemer as it is uncovered in the Old Testament, exploring how Christ ultimately fulfills this role for the believer, and showing the practical significance of this revelation to the life of the church.
The role of kinsman redeemer is an underlying theme throughout the entirety of the Old Testament. The need for redemption is introduced immediately after creation and Adam’s fall into sin. Various shadows and types of redemption become part of the fabric of human history as God starts to reveal how He is going to restore what was broken during the fall of Adam.
Ultimately, God’s redemption is in the person of Jesus Christ and His shed blood on the cross. This act of kinship redemption creates a family from every tribe, language, and nation on earth. The question then becomes: how does this reality impact the life of the church?
Christ’s redemption places Him as the Head and bridegroom of the family of God, it also gives believers a source of identity that flows from Him. Saints understand that they belong somewhere and that they have an identity that transcends all other categories and labels they would be tempted to place themselves in. Their true identity is that they have been bought back from sin by God, through Jesus Christ.
Murder after Exile
Early on in the pages of Scripture we see quickly the consequences of original sin. Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden is followed up almost immediately with the first death. It is no coincidence that the breaking of the first great commandment to love God, results in the breaking of the second commandment to love our neighbor. These fractures display both the need for vengeance and the original design for human love.
We were created to walk in communion with God and selfless fellowship with our neighbor. In this state, we would always lovingly look out for the interests of others around us, eagerly seeking opportunities to serve them. When God finds Cain after he has murdered his brother, God asks “Where is Abel thy brother?” and Cain responds “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). The answer is that he was indeed his brother’s keeper, but that his sinful heart led him to not only forsake that responsibility but to strive against it. His jealousy and selfishness led him to take the life of his own kin.
God then says to Cain “What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:10). Cain’s deed has now created the need for vengeance. The blood that was spilt must now be answered for. Justice must be dealt in accordance with the nature of God. This first act of human injustice reveals to us the need for a brother who will not selfishly murder, but will selflessly lay down his life. Who will answer to the blood that cries out from the ground? Who will restore what sin has made broken?
Freedom from Bondage
As the narrative of Scripture unfolds, God calls a man named Abram away from his homeland and establishes the nation of Israel. They will be His people and He will be their God. As this new nation settles in the land of Egypt they become enslaved to the Egyptians for 400 years. However, God is raising up one who will deliver His people from their bondage. A child is born who will grow up in Pharaoh’s court and will then forsake the pleasures of Egypt to identify with and deliver the people of God from bondage. God calls to this man, Moses, through a burning bush and says “Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9-10). God makes Moses into a redeemer who identifies with the kinship of Israel. He then issues the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The responsibility of kin
The giving of the Ten Commandments is the act of God granting His precepts to a people freed from bondage. In this revelation it is made clear that God is jealous for His worship and for the care of human beings made in His image. In addition to the Ten Commandments, God further reveals His will by weaving kinship laws into the fabric of tribal Israel. The precepts of God are bound to the tribal nature of Israel, the family of God. Certain obligations are now given to the kinsmen of those who have suffered loss.
The kinsman redeemer is obligated to redeem land (Leviticus 25:25-28), provide an heir (Genesis 38:8-10), avenge death (Numbers 35:16-21), and redeem the enslaved (Leviticus 25:47-55)2. These obligations point to God’s original design for humanity as a mutually supportive community that looks to God for guidance and seeks to take care of those who are displaced. Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly mentions concern for those who are typically oppressed by society such as orphans, widows, and strangers. This concern is reflected by the statement “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17).
When these groups are oppressed it is always an indicator of the wickedness that is upon the earth. When a society turns from God and continually embraces sinfulness, the poor treatment of the disadvantaged is sure to follow. This was repeatedly true in the nation of Israel and is still true to this day. The obligation of the kinsman redeemer to avenge points to the Lord, as the answer to the earlier question “Who will answer to the blood?” is revealed to be God Himself. The Lord says “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.” (Deuteronomy 32:35). The history of the creation and redemption of the people of Egypt point ultimately to the fact that God Himself is the redeemer of His people.
Redemption of the Outsider
As the mysterious of redemption continue to unfold, the book of Ruth presents a key to understanding how God will redeem His people. He will redeem them not only from the nation of Israel, but from the whole earth. One will come who will redeem God’s people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
The story begins with a recently widowed Israelite named Naomi. She is currently breaking God’s law by residing in the foreign nation of Moab. News arrives that the Lord has provided food in Israel and Naomi departs from Moab with her daughter-in-law, Ruth. Naomi states that Ruth does not need to follow her, but Ruth replies that Naomi’s God will be her God also3. Ruth forsakes the false gods of Moab and begins a journey that will lead to her becoming part of the lineage of Jesus.
In Israel, Ruth begins gleaning from a field belonging to a man named Boaz. Wonderfully, God’s law has made provision for her to glean on the outskirts of this field. According to Deuteronomy “When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.” (Deuteronomy 24:19). Ruth meets all three qualifications: she is a stranger, is fatherless, and also a widow4. Although she is a foreigner outside the people of Israel, she is allowed to partake in God’s graceful provision.
As Ruth encounters Boaz in the field, she sees him greeting and having a personal connection with the people of his field, a field in which there is no lack5. Underlying the story is the presumption that Boaz is wealthy, as indicated by numerous references to a bounty of produce. As the story develops, we see that Boaz is a type of Christ in the Old Testament. He is a shadow and precursor that points to Jesus, the wealthy field owner of heaven, in whom there is also no lack.
The central aspect of the story is the redemption of Ruth by Boaz. She learns that Boaz is one of the redeemers of the family. In a daring plan she asks for her redemption, which he swears to perform6. He does not rest until the next day when it is accomplished in the sight of many witnesses7. The redemption complete, the book draws to a close with the wedding of Boaz and Ruth and the birth of a child8. This child, named Obed, becomes the grandfather of King David, himself a type of Christ.
Christ our Redeemer
Since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, the question of who will repair what was made broken still echoed throughout Scripture. The Exodus, provisions in the Levitical law, and narratives such as Ruth pointed to the need of one who would fully and finally redeem God’s people. We needed one who could finally and completely fulfill all the characteristics of a kinsman redeemer: appointed by God, near of kin, free from debt, able, willing, specific, and able to raise up seed9.
The most important characteristic was that this redeemer had to be appointed by God Himself as the agent of the redemption. Throughout the Bible, God’s chosen men such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and King David were divinely appointed by God for their task. None of them searched for it independently. They acted only upon what they received from God. The Lord ascribes the divine appointment of Jesus even in statements of self-declaration such as “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6, emphasis added).
The second characteristic was the nearness of kin. This redeemer of God had to identify with sinful man in a way that was very close. There was only one way this could be accomplished – God had to wrap Himself in flesh to identify with sinful humanity. The prophet Isaiah declares “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14). The incarnation of Christ made him into a near kinsman of those he came to save.
The redeemer also could not be indebted himself. He had to be free from debt and also able to pay for the debt of those who were in bondage. Isaiah prophesies about Christ “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11). Jesus was qualified to redeem because of His infinite wealth of righteousness, but also because he was to use that wealth to pay for the debt of all those in the past, present, and future that would be redeemed.
Fifth, this coming redeemer had to be willing. Not reluctant or performing this act out of compulsion but out of joy. That Jesus Christ was the second member of the Trinity is evidence of His willingness to condescend down to earth and become a redeemer for mankind. While some leaders in the Old Testament grumbled or complained, Jesus’ redemption on the cross was a willful act. Isaiah states “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6).
The redemption itself also had to be specific. Who is the audience of this redemption? The answer to this question is most specifically all those who are covered by the blood of Jesus. The Exodus precursor was the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the Israelites, “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” (Exodus 12:23). Likewise, Jesus has fully redeemed all those who have been covered by His blood atonement on the cross. In the same manner as the Passover sacrifice of the lamb, death passes over us.
Lastly, the purpose of redemption is to continue a family – to raise up seed and continue a lineage. God repeatedly promised to Abraham that the family of God would be through his offspring. Genesis states “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Genesis 17:7). Jesus fulfills this promise to adopt all those who He has chosen to redeem, effectively creating a family from both Jews and Gentiles.
Implications for the Church
The redemption of Jesus Christ has profound implications for the life of the believer and the life of the church. His completed work on the cross places Him as the Head and bridegroom of the family of God. Three things stand out in particular: the believer’s adopted identity, the church’s spiritual family, and the future consummation.
Because of Christ’s ransom, the believer has a categorically different identity from that of an unbeliever. An unbeliever has a created identity, manufactured from both nature and nurture. This identity is self-given and may be redefined at any time according to changing circumstances such as social environment or sexual desire. In contrast, the identity of the believer is adopted10. The believer cannot create this identity, rather it is sourced from outside. It is the act of being purchased and brought in by Christ that establishes this identity. The most fundamental shift is that the believer is now not who they say they are, but who God says they are. The source of their identity is now no longer the labels they would attach to themselves, it is the Word of God.
Secondly, a purpose of redemption is to further a lineage. Christ’s redemption creates and sustains this lineage, containing both Jews and Gentiles. This is important because it informs the church that it originates in the work of Christ. Not only does the church know where it came from, it also knows why it exists – for the bridegroom. All too easily, the church can perpetuate as an institution and get lost in the purpose for which it exists. The purpose of the church is not to perpetuate ideas or to be a social club, or a place to learn concepts for self-help. The church exists for a person, the bridegroom Jesus Christ.
The church now waits together in the period between redemption and consummation, recognizing that one was made for the other. What other purpose is there for redemption than for it to be ultimately consummated? This is a source of great encouragement, for as surely as there was an action there will be a consequence. The church has a reason for tremendous hope because there is both a person and a future to hope in!
Together these implications of Christ’s redemption define and govern how believers understand themselves and the church in relation to God.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the role of kinsman redeemer in the Old Testament is fully and finally accomplished by the God who wrapped Himself in flesh as our kin and redeemed us by His atonement and death. His act is the source and creation of the church as a body of redeemed people. The church now waits together in eager anticipation at the final union between a resurrected Savior and His resurrected people.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andersen, David V. “When God adopts.” Christianity Today 37, no. 8 (July 19, 1993): 36.
Brown, Robert. In Gleanings from the book of Ruth: or, The book of Ruth opened out by comparison with other parts of Scripture, 49–71. London: S.W. Partridge, 1887.
Campbell, Iain D. In The Gospel according to Ruth: devotional studies in the book of Ruth, 72–119. Epsom: Day One, 2003.
Fortner, Donald S. In Discovering Christ in Ruth: the kinsman-redeemer, 103–105. Darlington: Evangelical Press, 1999.
Hamlin, E. John. Surely there is a future: a commentary on the book of Ruth. International theological commentary. Grand Rapid, Mich. : Edinburgh: Eerdmans ; Handsel Press Ltd, 1996.
Manser, Martin H. Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. Martin Manser, 2009.
Taylor, William M. Ruth the gleaner and Esther the queen. New York: Harper and brothers, 1891.
Thompson, J. A. Kin, Kinsman. Edited by D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J.Editors Wiseman. 3rd ed. InterVarsity Press, 1996.
1. . J. A. Thompson, Kin, Kinsman, ed by. D. R. W. Wood et al., 3rd ↩
ed. (InterVarsity Press, 1996).
2. . Martin H. Manser, *Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible ↩
and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies* (Martin Manser, 2009).
3. . Robert Brown, in *Gleanings from the book of Ruth: or, The book ↩
of Ruth opened out by comparison with other parts of Scripture*
(London: S.W. Partridge, 1887), 49–71.
4. . Iain D. Campbell, in *The Gospel according to Ruth: devotional ↩
studies in the book of Ruth* (Epsom: Day One, 2003), 72–119.
5. . Campbell. ↩
6. . E. John Hamlin, *Surely there is a future: a commentary on the ↩
book of Ruth*, International theological commentary (Grand Rapid,
Mich. : Edinburgh: Eerdmans ; Handsel Press Ltd, 1996).
7. . Brown. ↩
8. . William M. Taylor, Ruth the gleaner and Esther the queen (New ↩
York: Harper and brothers, 1891).
9. . Donald S. Fortner, in *Discovering Christ in Ruth: the ↩
kinsman-redeemer* (Darlington: Evangelical Press, 1999), 103–105.
10. . David V. Andersen, “When God adopts,” Christianity Today 37, ↩
no. 8 (July 19, 1993): 36.