7. My Redeemer

Names of God Meditations No.7: My Redeemer

Job 19:25 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”

Oldest reference? As with all of these descriptive-title names of God they have their origins in the Old Testament and are then brought into New Testament usage. Job’s amazing declaration in our starter verse would appear to be the oldest appearance of the concept, as many scholars think it is the oldest book in the Bible. As he faced death he came out with this incredible statement, incredible in that he had nothing previously to base it upon. The historical contexts for the word is seen in the Exodus and the Law of Moses that followed on there.

Moses again: In Moses’ song of triumph after the Passover, it declares, “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.” (Ex 15:13) Later, again in the context of the Exodus the psalmist wrote, “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer,”  (Psa 78:35) both verses speaking of how God had brought them out of Egypt by the death of a lamb.

In the Law: The concept of redemption arises in the Law of Moses in respect of servants (Ex 21:8) although the ‘redemption’ referred to appears to be without money, so it simply means being set free, and also generally in respect of slavery or servitude (Lev 25). It also applied to selling certain property (Lev 25:30,31).

Guardian-Redeemer: However, perhaps the strongest and clearest use of the concept arises in the short book of Ruth where it appears NINE times, such as, “I am a guardian-redeemer of our family,” (Ruth 3:12), words spoken by Boaz as the head of their family. The concept meant the guardian-redeemer was to provide an heir for a deceased brother or close relative This meant that the guardian-redeemer might marry the widow, ensuring the continuation of the family line (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). He was ‘redeeming’ her by his own life, giving himself to ensure an honourable future for her.

And Isaiah: When Israel were in trouble, Isaiah brought a word that was supposed to be encouragement that even though they were currently in a bad position, the Lord would redeem them: “Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isa 41:14). A little later, prophesying about the Exile that would happen some way into the future, he declared, “This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride”. (Isa 43:14). So in all these cases the concept of ‘deliverance’ is expanded upon, in that redemption always involved a person, the redeemer.

Christ & Redemption: Thus when we come to the New Testament and Christ’s work on the Cross, we find both Paul and Peter applying this concept to Christ: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us;” (Gal 3:13), and, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  (1 Pet 1:18,19).

Old Example: Preachers have long used the example of the old fashioned pawnbroker where a person could come and hand over an item in return for money (a loan) and could then later come back and ‘redeem’ the article by paying back the money with interest. In every case there are a number of commonalities or features in what was happening.

Features: First in the biblical examples there are always people (or property) that have been sold into servitude – Israel into slavery in Egypt, servants into service, Israel into slavery in Babylon. The apostle Paul is adamant in his teaching that before we came to Christ, we were slaves to Sin: “the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (Rom 6:6) and later, “though you used to be slaves to sin…” (v.17) and, “When you were slaves to sin…” (v.20). In chapter 7 of Romans Paul spells out how he wanted to be good but Sin within him stopped him so eventually he comes out with that almost desperate cry, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body?” (7:24)

Second, there is always a deliverer or redeemer. Then comes his answer for Paul, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v.25) and in chapter 8 he explains how that works.

And so: The truth is that without Christ, I can be a wreck. I needed him to save me over fifty years back, and I have needed him to save me every day since. Things go wrong when I do my own thing without reference to him and when I ignore his word, and that’s apart from the stuff the enemy will try to dump on me that we considered earlier when we thought about the Lord being my fortress. No, I need a saviour today and every day I have on this planet – and you do too!