Leviticus 25:24-31—“‘24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. 25 If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. 26 Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27 then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28 But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession. 29 If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. 30 But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.’”
In this passage we see the concept of the “kinsman redeemer.” This principle is the theme of the book of Ruth. Elimelech and his wife Naomi moved to the land of Moab with their two sons. One of the sons married a woman from Moab, and her name was Ruth. Eventually, both Naomi’s husband and Ruth’s husband died, leaving them as widows. Long story short, Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem. Ruth 2:1—There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. Boaz saw Ruth; he saw that she was pretty easy on the eyes, and said, Ruth 2:8-10—“8 Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them…And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” He also saw how tender-hearted she was. Ruth 2:11—“It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.”
(We will talk more about Ruth's Moabite heritage in a later chapter in Numbers)
Naomi, her mother-in-law, convinces her that this Boaz fellow (whom Ruth thinks is pretty easy on the eyes as well) would make her a good husband, and that he could redeem her from her poverty. Ruth 3:2-9—“2 Now Boaz…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…7 And 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…9 And 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."
Under the Law, the next closest relative was to take the widow unto himself to wife. And Ruth and Naomi both saw Boaz as being that “kinsman redeemer.” Just one problem. Ruth 3:12-13—“12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives!” Now, these two really wanted to be together. And if that nearer relative could be persuaded to really not pursue Ruth as a wife, then Boaz and Ruth could be together.
Ruth 4:1-4—1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, "Come aside, friend, sit down here." So he came aside and sat down…3 Then 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." Now, a couple things need explaining here. First, it was not as though Naomi had actually sold the land—she was in the process of selling it. Second, the ‘redemption’ spoken of here is based in the Law, in the passage of Leviticus we are in, Leviticus 25:25—“If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.” So this nearer relative had first dibs on Naomi’s land. But for some men, there are some things that aren’t even worth taking on the burden of a wife. And that would be the case for the nearer relative.
He could have bought the land that Naomi possessed—but that would mean taking Ruth to be his wife. And he just wasn’t the marrying kind. Ruth 4:5-10—5 Then 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." 6 And 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"…9 And 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." The ‘custom’ referred to in verse 7 does not refer to the stipulation in the Law about what was done if a brother refused to take his brother’s widow (see Deuteronomy 25:7-10). Because the nearer relative did not want a package deal—Ruth and the land—he got neither. The land went to Boaz, as did Ruth as his wife.
Now, what we have here is a picture of Christ. He is our ‘kinsman redeemer.’ Hebrews 2:11-13—11 Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You." 13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me." 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Romans 8:29—For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 1st John 3:1—Behold what manner of love this is, that we should be called sons of God! Christ partook of flesh and blood, even as were born in flesh and blood. Through death He redeemed us from bondage to sin, calling us His brothers, making us—as He is—children of God.
And notice something else about this whole story. Boaz was a Jew. Ruth was a Moabite. Do you understand what that means? That means that a Jew redeemed a Gentile. In fact, Moabites were under a curse due to the fact that they paid Balaam to curse Israel (see Numbers 22-24), and they later led the Israelites to act corruptly in the wilderness (see Numbers 25; Deuteronomy 23:3-4). So a woman who was not of the people of God—and was in fact under a curse—she was now of the people of God. And how did this happen? Because she was now his wife. So let’s get this straight: a man in the lineage of David redeemed a Gentile who was under a curse, and he did so by taking her as his bride. Does that sound like something Christ did? Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. Hosea 1:2, 10—2 The LORD said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD”…“And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living God.'” Matthew 12:15-21—15 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “18 Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.” Our Lord, a Jew by birth, became a light for us Gentiles, and in His name we Gentiles trust. He redeemed us when we were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel, and were cut off from the promises of God. He redeemed us from every tongue and nation and tribe to be sons of the living God—the brethren of Christ, our kinsman who has redeemed us from bondage to sin.
But here’s the difference: Ruth had to doll herself up and make herself look all pretty for Boaz. We don’t. In fact, Christ calls us and the Father draws us to Christ when we are still dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-2). There is nothing about us that is appealing to Him who is our husband. There is nothing that makes Him look down and say, “Why, look at that one there! They are so godly and good and righteous! They certainly do deserve to be saved!” No, we are all clothed in filth; we are rank, disgusting sinners; we hate the very God who formed us and we mock Him every day of our lives—and yet, before the foundation of the world, God chose us to believe in His Son and He chose to grant us faith and repentance and He wrote our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, never to blot our names from its pages.
The regulations concerning the redeeming of land belonging to the Levites were a bit different than for the common people. Leviticus 25:32-34—“‘32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.’” And if you recall from a long time ago, you may remember reading that Levites did not own any land. So you may be reading this passage thinking, “Hey, wait a minute! I didn’t think the Levites owned any land!” The ‘cities of the Levites’ were, basically, portions of cities owned by the other tribes—portions which were doled out to the various Levitical lineages. The designation ‘cities of the Levites’ may also refer to the ‘cities of refuge’ to which an accused murderer could flee until he could be tried (see Numbers 35:10-34). And, as it says in verse 33, these houses were the only real estate the Levites possessed among their brethren. And the Levite was not bound by the “redeem it by the Year of Jubilee or lose it forever” regulation we saw earlier. As it states in verse 32, if you bought a house from a Levite 3 years before Jubilee, they could redeem it back five years later. Because that was their only possession. And you could not buy their land. Period.
Father, thank You that You have provided for us a Kinsman Redeemer, One who is nearer to us than a brother, and who in fact calls us brethren (Hebrews 2:11). He is our salvation, the One who redeemed us out of sin when we deserved death. Thank You that You have welcomed us into Your kingdom, and that with us being Your sheep, we will never be cast out, but You will always seek us (Matthew 18:12-13) and that we will always hear Your voice and follow You (John 10:27).
