Jehovah Go’el, My Kinsman Redeemer

Jesus became our kin. He became human. He became like us so He could save us, no matter what it cost Him.

You will know at last that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. (Isaiah 60:16b)

The Bible has a lot of special stories in it, and one of the most fascinating aspects of the Bible is how it elevates women in society wherever it goes.

Anyone who says the Bible limits women and devalues them as people has bought into a legalistic interpretation of Scripture. Women played a vital role throughout all of the Bible’s recorded history, not just in the New Testament either.

The Bible has two whole books written about women, Esther and Ruth. Both are extraordinary stories about ordinary women who chose to do what God said was right and were blessed because of it.

Ruth is potentially one of the most romantic stories ever told as well, in case you care about such things. But Ruth also features the application of Jewish law that only gets a few mentions in other books—the idea of a Kinsman Redeemer.

Ruth is short. Only four chapters. I highly recommend that you go read it. Because of the situation Ruth was in, she needed a Kinsman Redeemer to save her family. Her husband died without giving her an heir to his name; Boaz was the nearest relative to her husband and could save her family by marrying Ruth and carrying on the family name.

The Kinsman Redeemer was called a go’el. A close family relative who had the right, the authority, and the power to save a family name from disappearing.

So, when Isaiah calls God by the name, Jehovah Go’el, that is him saying God is our Kinsman Redeemer. God sent Jesus to become human, to learn what it means to be human, to live as a human and experience everything that humans experience. And then, Jesus became the sacrifice to pay the price for our sins.

God the Father couldn’t do it directly. God the Father is Spirit, not flesh like a human. God as the Holy Spirit is the same. But Jesus is God in Flesh.

He had to become our close family member—human like us—in order to save us. That makes Him Jehovah Go’el, our savior, our kinsman redeemer.

In the story of Ruth, Boaz had to surrender his firstborn so that the child would bear the name of Ruth’s deceased husband. In our story, Jesus had to surrender His life to pay for our eternal lives.

Jesus became our kin. He became human. He became like us so He could save us, no matter what it cost Him.

Questions for Reflection

• Why do you think Jesus had to become human in order to be qualified to save us from our sins?

• How does it make you feel to realize that if you know Jesus, you have become part of Jesus’ family?

• What does it feel like to you to have Jesus as your kin?

Weekly Memory Verse

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