The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. 

 If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property. 

Leviticus 25:23-28 

 Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. 

 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman -redeemers.” 

Ruth 2:19b-20 

–

December 12, 2025 

When God gave His laws to Moses, He made it abundantly clear that He would not abide in a society in which some grew wealthy while others grew poor. Even if hardship created the need for debt, or selling family land, this must be a temporary, time-limited situation. Every seven years, unpaid debts were dissolved, pardoned, erased. Every 7th seven years (the Jubilee year) all ledgers would restart at zero, all slaves be released, all purchased land returned to the original owners.  

Apparently, God really didn’t want a system to evolve in which some gained power and wealth over others.  

Fifty years was a long time to wait, though, so within this system was something called “the kinsman redeemer.” In a situation like Naomi’s where disaster has struck, a male relative had the duty of stepping in. He would be called upon to use his own resources and standing to buy back (redeem) whatever was necessary: pay to free a person from slavery, pay to recoup land lost or sold to debts, even marrying a widow in order to give her legal standing and a chance to have children (and therefore future security) of her own.  

All this is what people understood as redemption. This is what a redeemer would do.  

We know that Ruth’s story—and her steadfast love and faithfulness to Naomi—culminates in Boaz stepping forward to be the family’s kinsman redeemer. He will bring them back into the shelter of family, buy back the land they have lost, marry the widow, and allow Ruth (and through Ruth, Naomi) to have children and carry forward the family line.  

And friends, this is what we are waiting for in Advent. The idea of a family member buying back the struggling members, bringing them back into the shelter of family, was the definition of redeemer. From the beginning, Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and eternal kingdom has been about redemption. Jesus is the member of God’s family who will use His own resources to buy back all that the vulnerable family members have lost. Jesus will bring all of humanity and even creation back into the shelter of God’s family where we belong.  

To Israel, this is what it means for Jesus to be the redeemer.  

Have you ever heard a more beautiful story than this one? God’s blessings be upon you as we await the coming of our redeemer, Jesus. 

Questions for reflection and discussion:  

  • How does the duty of kinsman redeemer show God’s insistence on resisting the oppressor and caring for the vulnerable?  
  • How does understanding this duty help us understand who Jesus was and what He did? 
  • How do you respond to Jesus’ act of redemption? What does it mean to you that we are now bought back into the shelter of God’s family as kin?  

Church Reading Plan: 

  • Today, December 12: 2 Chronicles 13; Revelation 3 
  • Saturday, December 13: 2 Chronicles 14-15; Revelation 4 
  • Sunday, December 14: 2 Chronicles 16; Revelation 5