One upon a time, Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be saved. The End.
There it is in a very small nutshell. If we choose to take only the story of salvation, we loose all of the richness that the rest of the Word has to offer. We loose all of the gems throughout scripture that paint the picture of who Jesus is, what he fulfilled, and who we are in Him. It's like standing before a tapestry, but instead of standing back where you can see the entirety of its beauty, you're standing so close you can hardly make out anything but a tiny portion. There is so much greatness in the Word that we miss out on because we simply do not take the time to discover it. We wait for a preacher to spoon feed us instead of picking up our own utensils and digging in for ourselves.
The Bible is its own library. You will find action and adventure, history, legal and reference, parables, poetry and prose, even horror, all in one giant non-fiction book. There is even romance, which will we talk about in this post as well as a few others down the road. I don't know about you, but I love a good romance.
The backstory: We begin with a Jewish couple, Elimelech and Naomi. Due to a famine in the land, they emigrated to the land of Moab with their two sons. Their sons married two women from Moab, Ruth and Orpah. Fast forward ten years, all three women are now widows and Naomi decides to travel home to Bethlehem. Her daughter-in-law Ruth, who is dedicated to Naomi chooses to go with her. Despite Naomi's attempts to get her to return to her family. Ruth tells her, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." (Ruth 1:16-17)
Upon their arrival, it is the time of the harvest and Ruth went out to glean in the fields of Boaz, who was a wealthy kinsman of her late husband, and according to Hebrew law, could fulfill the role of kinsman redeemer for her. As he steps into this role, he marries her and their son Obed would be the grandfather of David. They are direct ancestors of Jesus himself.
We have boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy and girl live out in their time, what Christ has done for us. So let's break it down.
What was the kinsman? The kinsman was the closest male blood relative to become the protector.
What was the redeemer? The deliverance or freedom of some evil by payment of a price.
Jesus is THE redeemer. He has delivered us from the curse of sin and death by paying the price on the cross. But how is he our kinsman redeemer? Johnathan Cahn lays out a beautiful picture of this in The Book of Mysteries. He says that Naomi represents the nation of Israel. Her husband Elimelech's name means My God is King. So, Israel joined in a covenant of marriage to God, her King. Ruth represents the Gentiles, or the church, who becomes Naomi's adopted daughter. Through Naomi came Ruth's redemption, and Naomi's blessing comes through Ruth. Meaning, those who are blessed with salvation are blessed through and are joined to Israel. Through Christ's gift of redemption, we are adopted into the family of God and we partake of the blessings of God. Ruth, the great-grandmother, several times removed WAS NOT JEWISH! She was adopted and married into the line of Christ. He foreshadowed the adoption of the gentiles into the family of God with his own physical bloodline.
Our Kinsman Redeemer, our bridegroom has lifted us up out of our time of trouble and danger. He has saved us from the evils that look to befall us, and has loved us with a perfect love and longs to join with us in His happily ever after. The choice again is ours, do we reach out and take that outstretched hand and allow Him to pull us into his bosom and offer His shelter and protection, or do we choose to remain destitute in the dark and cold. Do we end this story with heartache or with a marriage celebration? Which ever after is yours?
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