Redeemed

Ruth 4:9,10a  (ESV)  Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife,

Rev 5:9 (ESV)  And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Okay.  You’ve read these two passages and are wondering how in the world do these two verses come together.  Let’s look and see.

The  Book of Ruth is a story of a gentile woman who, through God’s hand, is brought to Bethlehem so she might enter into the line of both David the king and Jesus our King.

In the final chapter of the story, Boaz (the son of Rahab, by the way) has, through legal maneuvering, won the right to buy the land originally owned by Ruth’s father in-law then, after he died, by her husband.  Then her husband died leaving her as a widow and destitute.  Boaz was what is called a Kinsman Redeemer.  He had the right to redeem the family property and the bride that came with it.

Boaz went through a lot of trouble to gain the hand of Ruth. When he was finished he had gained the right to marry her. She was all in favor of the deal as well, just in case you thought this wasn’t on the up and up.

“How does all this relate to Revelation chapter five?” you might ask.  When Boaz took Ruth as his wife, there was a scroll that needed to be opened and new information recorded in it. It was was a family scroll similar to Family Bibles many people keep to record family weddings and deaths.  The scroll was sealed after each entry and needed to have the seal broken in order for the new entry to be made.

When Ruth was redeemed, the scroll was fetched, the seal was broken, the new entry was recorded.

In Revelation, we see the Lamb, Jesus taking the scroll and opening the seal.  In that scroll, he enters our names as His bride.  This is the official record of our marriage to Jesus.  Just as in the scroll in Ruth included the marriage information, Revelation also lists legal grounds of our redemption and the benefits of the bride:

“for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Why is this important?

We as the bride of Christ are sealed forever by the Holy Spirit to remain His bride.

Eph 1:13 (ESV)  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The two verses at the beginning refer to the same legal practice.  It’s official.  We are betrothed to the Lamb.  We are His.

Rom. 8:38, 39  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have been redeemed!