Photo credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/rugged-cross
"To understand Jesus, you need to understand the story that leads up to Him."
First century Israel was a patriarchal tribal culture. The patriarch was responsible for the economic well-being of his family, he enforced laws, and had a responsibility to care for his own who became marginalized through poverty, death and war.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 " 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing."
In Israel's tribal system, an individual would identify their place in society through the lens of their patriarch's household first, then their clan/lineage, then their tribe, and finally their nation.
Let's define some words before we move forward:
Redemption- "To redeem" (Hebrew gā' al) had nothing to do with theology, but with the laws and social customs of the ancient tribal society.
Father's house (hold)- (Hebrew bêt' āb) this included the patriarch, his wife(s), unwed children, married sons with their wives and children (as many as 3 generations/30 people). They shared their resources and their fate. The patriarch bore legal and economic responsibility, decided who lived and died, who was sold into indentured servitude, and who was retained into the family unit.
Patrilineal- The term has to do with tracing ancestral descent (and therefore tribal affiliation and inheritance) through the male line. When women are named, something unusual is here and we should ask why. There was a reason the first-born would receive a double portion and it was because he would take up the mantle as the next patriarch and be responsible for the tribe and their survival. The primary goal of the economy was ensuring the survival of the family unit.
Patrilocal- The living space of the family unit which was built around the oldest living male. This "compound" was where the nuclear families were housed in individual units which were clustered together within a larger walled enclosure and this living space was also known as the bêt'āb. Living together as a tribe allowed for unity where they found capacity to prosper under harsh conditions, surrounded by pagan nations.
Photo credit: https://womeninthebible.net/bible-archaeology/ancient_houses/
John 14:1-3 "In My Father's house there are many dwelling places...I go to prepare a place for you... where I am, there you may be also."
Jesus is the firstborn of His Father's household, and is going back to heaven to prepare a place for us to dwell together. (intimate/personal)
So how do these insights into Israelite culture help us to understand the term redemption?
The first story we will look at is the one of Ruth and Boaz. This is probably one of my personal favorites because of how beautifully it points to Christ our Redeemer. I suggest reading it here for complete context as will will only touch on certain ideas.
Let's dive in.
Naomi loses all of the men in her life and therefore she has to go back to Bethlehem with the hope that a family member will take her in.
Ruth 1:11-13 "But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”" (emphasis mine)
Naomi is talking about patrilinealism here and the Levirate law of Deuteronomy 25:5-10. She has no way to provide for her daughters (in-law) and she no longer has any sons. She needs a bêt āb.
Ruth 1:16-17 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (foreshadowing here, emphasis mine)
Ruth announces her tribal solidarity to Naomi. Ruth has chosen Naomi as her kin.
The women travel to Bethlehem and Ruth starts to glean the leftovers of the fields of Boaz.
Ruth 2 "Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.”
Ruth finds great favor with Boaz and is given special privileges to glean, eat and be filled.
Ruth 2:20b Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”
We all know what happens next- quite risqué- in the plot.
Ruth uses this moment late in the night to ask Boaz to "redeem" her. Not only does Boaz generously agree to do all that she asks concerning her safety and reputation, he also sends her home with a wealth of grain for Naomi. Boaz:
* buys back the patrimony of her deceased husband (Leviticus 25)
* Takes Ruth and Naomi into his household and fathers a child in the Mahlon name, thereby
* giving Elimelech an heir to whom the family inheritance will pass (Deut. 25)
Ruth 4:1-6 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.3 Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you[a] will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth[b] the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
This section of the story reveals that a closer relative wouldn't do this for the women "because I would jeopardize my own inheritance." This exchange makes it obvious that what Boaz was asked to do was costly. His generous actions put his own resources on the line. But in his integrity Boaz chose to embrace the responsibility of a patriarch and become Ruth's kinsman redeemer (gō' ēl).
In summation, we learn that the tribal law of redemption had to do with the patriarch rescuing a family member who, due to crippling life circumstances, had been lost to the kinship circle to protect their legal rights. The law demanded that the patriarch protect the individual's legal rights and resolve their debts. The reconciliation of family ties costs the redeemer. And it is the oldest, closest male relative to whom one looks for help and hope.
(Some other examples we can read about in the Old Testament: Lot and Abraham, Gomer and Hosea)
Yahweh is presenting Himself through history as the patriarch of the clan who has announced His intent to redeem his lost family. Not only has He agreed to pay whatever ransom is required, but He has sent the most cherished member of His household to accomplish this intent- His firstborn Son. And not only is the Son coming to seek and save the lost, but He is coming to share His inheritance with those who have, like the prodigal son, squandered everything we have been given.
