I Am Ruth, and You Will Spread Your Cover Over Your Maidservant, for You Are a Redeemer

There was a law in Israel that when a man ended up in poverty and had to sell his property, his redeemer, his nearest kinsman, had to come and redeem what his brother had sold, so that he could come into his own possession again. Lev. 25:25.

Even though she was a Moabitess, Ruth laid claim to Israel’s right of redemption. That was faith, the faith by which one can do all things. She was sure of her case when she said, “You will spread your cover over your maidservant, for you are a redeemer.” In effect, she said: I am Ruth, a poor Gentile woman, grafted into a poor family of the children of Israel, who nevertheless claims the right of citizenship of Israel. She had said to Naomi: Your God shall be my God, and your people shall be my people. That was the foundation on which God’s laws became her laws, and the right of redemption referred to in those laws became her right of redemption. God does not go back on a single Word that He has said.

Our own cover is both too short and too narrow. But there is room for all of us under Christ’s cover. His righteousness hides us. He is our Redeemer. He has secured for us our possession in Israel. Blessed is the soul who seeks to be under His cover and His redemption.

We have been chosen in Christ from before the worlds were created, and we have our possession in Him from time immemorial. But we have become poor because of our long absence in the land of Moab. We need a Redeemer who can redeem our possession and return it to us. Our Redeemer is Christ Jesus. He has purchased us and our possession with His precious blood.