RPG Adults
PROVIDENCE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31
Ruth 2:18-23
Genesis 38:1-11
“Their Redeemer is strong;
the LORD of hosts is his name…”
PROVIDENCE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2)
God’s providential provision for the safety, security and sustenance of the weakest members of society when death and misfortune struck was envisioned in part in the responsibility and duty taken up by the members of the family. This is seen in the “Kinsman-Redeemer.” This was a man, a member of the family, who was given the right to intervene on behalf of vulnerable family members in matters where there was (i) danger of losing inheritance; (ii) danger of slavery and loss of liberty; (iii) danger of losing lineage; (iv) shedding of blood and matters of vengeance; and (v) need for compensation for the deceased.
1. When there is danger of loss of inheritance (Lev 25:23-27). The Promised Land was God’s land, and as such, it belonged to God. The land was promised by God to Abraham. The Israelites were redeemed from Egypt and led to the Promised Land by God through Moses. The inhabitants of the land were removed by God through Joshua during the conquest, and the land was assigned to the families by God according to the instructions of the Lord to Moses and by lot through Joshua. Therefore, the land was not to be sold permanently. In any case that the land was sold and exchanged, provision of redemption was to be made. The Kinsman-Redeemer did not purchase the land for himself but, rather, he bought it to return it.
2. When there was danger of slavery and loss of liberty (Lev 25:47-49). The children of Israel were God’s children, His peculiar treasure. He had chosen Abraham from out of his kindred, and redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand. He gave instructions on how they were to relate to one another in the land. When any of the children of God was sold to slavery, whether it was to their brothers or foreigners, provision was made for their redemption. If he could not redeem himself from debt and slavery, then a near kinsman would pay the price for his freedom. The Kinsman-Redeemer redeemed his brother not to enslave him again or lord over him, but to set him free.
THOUGHT: (Read Philippians 2:3-8.)
PRAYER: Father, grant me concern for the welfare of others.