Redemption

"If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold...And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it...And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile...But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile...And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself." (Leviticus 25: 25, 29 - 31; 47-49)

To "redeem" means to "repurchase" or to "buy back" a lost former possession that has been disponed away by sale, forced or otherwise, or lost by bankruptcy, or foreclosure, or by some other way.

Redemption is today most commonly seen at work in the "pawn shop" business, where a person, due to financial distress, sells or "hocks" a possession. When the person thus "hocks" his possession, he receives a "pawn ticket," a document that describes the item sold and the amount it will take to "redeem" it, together with a specified time period in which the possession (now dispossessed) must be "redeemed" or be forever lost without possibility of redemption, repossession, or restoration.

According to the real estate and indentured servant (slavery) laws that Lord God gave to the ancient Israelites, in the Old Testament, most possessions could be "redeemed" or reacquired (restored). Very little was forever lost.

If an Israelite sold himself into slavery, to pay a debt, he could be "redeemed" at any time; either by himself, if he is able, or by one acting on his behalf.

The one acting on his behalf, to "buy back" his person from slavery (or a lost possession), must meet two qualifications. First, he must be willing and able to redeem it. Second, he must be a family member, or "near kinsman," who would be redeeming it on behalf of his "brother." We see this all at work in two key passages in the Old Testament; one in Jeremiah chapter 32 and one in Ruth chapter 4.

"And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison...And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. (Jeremiah 32: 6, 7; 9-14)

"And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance." (Ruth 4: 3-5)

In the instance of "redemption" of real estate, in the case of Jeremiah and Hanameel, we see the qualifications met. A "near kinsman," one who had "the right of redemption," and who was willing and able (financially), did in fact "redeem" the "lost property," the "forfeited inheritance."

The same thing happened in the case of Ruth where a "near kinsman," Boaz, "redeemed" the lost property of his brother and deceased husband of Ruth. Boaz met all the qualifications of a "redeemer" in Israel, being a blood relative and willing and able to both "redeem" the lost property of his deceased brother, and fulfill one of the laws of Lord God, but he was also willing and able to take to wife Ruth, and fulfill another law of Lord God, and "raise up seed" on behalf of his deceased brother who died childless. The Hebrew term for a "redeemer" in Israel was "Goel." Boaz and Jeremiah were Goels. So too is Lord God himself through our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments." (Exodus 6: 6)

"As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 47: 4)

"For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he." (Jeremiah 31: 11)

Thus, the first grand redemption of Lord God was carried out in the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, from the "hand of him who was stronger." The time was coming for the Israelites to "repossess their possessions." (Jeremiah 32: 15)

But, a greater redemption was promised, from the hand of a greater enslaver, from a greater enemy.

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." (Hosea 13: 14)

Thus, believers in the coming of the Hebrew Messiah, in Israel, were looking for Lord God to fulfill his word in regard to such a grand redemption. When Jesus came into the world there were people looking for the divine "Goel" of Israel.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people" (Luke 1: 68).

"...all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." (Luke 2: 38).

Jesus is the Redeemer. This is the message of the gospel.

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (I Peter 1: 18, 19).

"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." (Hebrews 9: 12)

"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3: 24).

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1: 7; Colossians 1: 14).

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3: 13).

"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 14)

Redemption is not only a matter of the past, but is also a matter for the future. Christians have not fully experienced actual redemption. That will not happen till the second coming of Jesus and the "day of redemption," when the bodies will be immortalized as the soul.

"...waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8: 23).

"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1: 14)

Friend, are you "redeemed by the blood" of Jesus, the Lamb of God?