“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth… yet in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold…” Job 19:25-27 ESV
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV
One of my favorite examples of redemption comes to us from the story of Ruth. Living just before 1000 B.C., she was a young Moabitess widow—a foreigner who returned to the land of her late husband’s family and tried to make a fresh start there. She was not assured any sort of warm welcome, however. The Moabites were not on friendly terms with Israel; she was a widow, unattached and poor. These realities seemed to count against her in every sense of social standing, tallying against whatever worth she felt she might hold within the community.
One day, Ruth was gleaning a random field’s leftover wheat for sustenance, when that field was revealed as “not quite so random.” Not only was its owner a good man, Boaz, who immediately showed kindness and mercy to this young widow… but he was also found to be a near relative of her late husband’s family. This made him one of the few who could legally step into her life as “a kinsman redeemer.” If willing, a redeemer could pay off standing debts, restore the inheritance her husband would have wished for her, and bring Ruth into a home, a family, and a name of good standing… a redeemer would be the bearer of protection, provision, peace, and promise.
Boaz did just this. At his own sacrificial expense, he went through the steps to redeem her. He married Ruth, and God brought much joy to their lives in the years that would follow… the first of God’s many blessings: the birth of their baby son, Obed.
We often find ourselves in need of a new beginning, desperate for a new season with its hope of a renewed measure of grace. Needs of the soul are not a void that “just anyone” could fill. Only God could know how to truly restore us… taking us under the covering of His righteousness when our own is so faulty, wiping away the debts our sin has accrued, bringing us back into a right standing of fellowship with Him, and giving us a home in the shelter of His heart and a name provided by His merciful adoption.
In Malachi 4:2, we find the last page of God’s words written before that ensuing period of palpable silence in the Word. “The Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings.” Then, a single page is turned, and, with it, four hundred years have passed, but the very next story: the birth of our Redeemer, Jesus.
Even in those darkest days, God’s people held to this hope of a Redeemer, again and again. They kept close the promise that He would deliver and rescue, that He would restore and vindicate, that their Redeemer would come. Then, after their waiting seemed almost in vain, He came. God mercifully sent a baby, Who—as unlikely as He seemed—was holding the fate of all humanity in His frail, infant hands—He, the promised Redeemer.
Ruth’s same supplication rang true, a thousand years after she spoke: “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” (Ruth 3:9) Little did she know her words to Boaz became the heartcry of an entire nation desperate for redemption in Jesus… this baby Savior Who, beautifully enough, was also Ruth’s own great, great, great… grandson—descended from Obed, her own child of promise, the bearer of hope-filled days to come.
So, even today, we turn to this God and ask, “Spread Your wings over Your servant, for You are a Redeemer.” As we trust Him and turn to Him, this Jesus will be the One to cover us, shelter us, bring us into His family, and give us His own righteous standing before God. We bear His grace, and we bear His name, for our Redeemer has come.
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“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (excerpt)
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled.”
…Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King.”
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“Remember these things… I formed you; you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:21-22
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18-19a
-Amy Rutherford, 2023-
