Ruth and Onesimus: stories of redemption

Everyone knows the story of Ruth. It's the beautiful story of a Moabite who goes to Israel with the widow Naomi, who, to escape the famine in Israel, had moved with her husband and sons to Moab. Unfortunately, Naomi's husband and sons had died in Moab, leaving Naomi with her sons' Moabite wives.

Naomi went back to Israel, encouraging her daughters-in-law to go back to Moab. However, Ruth, one of Naomi's daughters-in-law, refused to leave her, so they both journeyed to Israel.

When they got there, Ruth decided to glean (pick up leftover stalks of grain and barley) in the fields. She chose a field that belonged to Boaz, a relative of Naomi's. Boaz was very kind to Ruth and she eventually asked him to redeem her and Naomi by marrying her. After talking to another relative who was first in line to redeem the women, Boaz agreed and he and Ruth had a son named Obed who became King David's grandfather.

Today, I am going to start out talking about Boaz's promise of redemption to Ruth:

“Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he [the other relative] wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you.

But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it. Lie here until morning.”

Ruth 3:13

First of all, what is redemption? The dictionary says that to redeem is to “regain, free, or rescue by paying a price.” Applying that to Ruth's story, two more questions pop up:

-From what was Boaz redeeming Ruth and Naomi?

-How was he supposed to redeem them?

From what was Boaz redeeming Ruth and Naomi? Well, back then, a woman was not allowed to get a job or own land – that was her husband's (or if her husband was dead, her son's) responsibility. So, if a woman was a widow and childless, like Ruth and Naomi were, she really had no chance to get money. By marrying Ruth, Boaz was saving both Ruth and Naomi from that poverty.

And how was Boaz supposed to redeem Ruth and Naomi? Israelite law talked about ways to help widows. One way was gleaning – and another was guardian-redeemers. A guardian-redeemer was a close male relative who could help a relative in trouble. By marrying Ruth, Boaz (Ruth and Naomi's guardian-redeemer) was saving them from their poverty.

This is not the only example of one person regaining, freeing, or rescuing another by paying a price. Take Onesimus, for example (his story is found in the book of Philemon).

If he [Onesimus] has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back.

Philemon 18-19b

Onesimus was a runaway slave who had gone to the apostle Paul for help. During his stay with Paul, Onesimus became a Christian. When Onesimus returned to Philemon, his master, Paul sent a letter to Philemon telling him to charge any debt Onesimus had to the apostle. Paul promised to pay it all. Once again, we see one person (Paul) redeeming another (Onesimus).

Let's ask the questions we asked about Ruth's story about Onesimus's.

From what was Paul redeeming Onesimus? Since Onesimus was a slave, he did not have much money. Onesimus probably stole money from Philemon. Onesimus had to pay Philemon back, but he had no money. Therefore, Paul redeemed Onesimus from debt.

How was Paul supposed to redeem Onesimus? The only way to get rid of a debt is by paying it, so Paul offered to pay Onesimus' debt.

Can you think of any other instances of redemption? I can, and it's the most important one. Which one? Well, it starts with a baby named Jesus.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

As this verse explains, Jesus (the Word), the Son of God, became human. He was born and grew up and had a job, just like any normal human being. But He was not a normal human being. He was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18). At His baptism, the Holy Spirit appeared and God spoke (Mark 1:9-11). He taught with authority (Mark 1:22). He began to perform miracles (Mark 1:34). He forgave people's sins (Luke 5:20). And He died and rose again (Mark 16:6).

So, where's the redemption part? Well, we are sinners: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We owe God a debt for our sins – an unpayable debt. So instead of paying our debt, we will spend eternity in hell, as opposed to eternity in heaven with God: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “The gift of God is eternal life” – how was God supposed to give us eternal life if there was still a debt to be payed? Jesus!

When Jesus died, He did what no one else could do: He paid the unpayable debt. Because He is God, Jesus never sinned. That was what the debt called for: a perfect person. Jesus was that perfect person who died to pay our debt!

But that's not all – when Jesus rose from the dead, He conquered death! Because of Jesus' resurrection, after we die, we will live eternally with God in heaven.

Jesus redeemed us from our unpayable debt by dying and rising again.

If you're not a Christian – if you do not have that wonderful gift which is forgiveness and eternal life in Christ – all you have to do is pray. Tell God that you believe that Jesus died for you. Confess your sins, repenting of them. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Then accept God's wonderful gift of redemption.

I ask you to pray now, thanking God for His redemption through Christ. Remember that, as Psalm 24:5 says, Christians “will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.”