“If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold” (Lev. 25:25).
Redemption, as one has said, was no afterthought with our God; it was His purpose from the beginning. By the work of redemption He prepares the richest glory for His own blessed name and the fullest joy for His creatures. When the foundations of the earth were laid, “The morning stars sang together,” it is true, “and all the sons of God shouted for joy,” but the shouts of grace, when the new creation is finished by the bringing forth of the Head Stone, will be louder still. There never was such music and dancing in the house as when the poor prodigal returned and was received as one alive from the dead. Never had such affections been awakened within him before. Never had the father’s treasures been brought forth till then. The fatted calf, the ring, and the best robe had been laid up for that moment, and the father himself never had such a full joy in his child as when he fell on his neck and kissed him. And so it is in the wondrous ways of our God. Creation brought forth the resources of His love, wisdom and power, and heaven was glad through all its order; earth smiled beneath, the fair witness of his handy-work, but redemption has drawn forth greater treasures that were hid in God. Redemption has awakened more adoring joy and praise “in the presence of the angels,” and it has given new and greater affections to the children of men.
The Hindrance
And nothing now hinders us from sharing in these joys of the Father’s house but refusal to take the character and place of returned prodigals. It was the one who trusted in himself that said, “Thou never gavest me a kid.” He had never tasted of real gladness. The reason it seemed that no feast of fat things had ever been spread for him was because he drew upon himself as though he were something. He said, “These many years do I serve thee,” in reliance on his own sufficiency. He was of those who “trusted in themselves.” In that state our joy is hindered, when in the pride and vain conceit of our own sufficiency we do not come to God as prodigals. To come as such is the decreed way for the whole family of God, and it is their only spring of joy and triumph. So it is written, “Every creature which is in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever” (Rev. 5:13).
Grace
Everything is to stand in grace. Love was of old, because God is love, and love was therefore made known in the work of creation, and that by communicating goodness and blessing. But love has found a fuller scope for expressing itself in the work of redemption, in bringing grace and showing mercy; this is its new character. (See 1 John 2:8.) Grace, the source and power of redemption, is “the glory that excelleth” (2 Cor. 3:10). The light that shone from heaven in grace and converting power around Saul of Tarsus was “above the brightness of the sun at midday.” Grace is the fullest and, indeed, the only worthy expression of the unsearchable riches of divine love. The heavens will rejoice in grace (Rev. 5:11-12), and Israel, as representing the joy of the earth, will in the end triumph in it also (Isa. 40:1; 61:10; Zeph. 3:14-15).
The Book of Ruth appears to me to have a very distinguished place, presenting as it does an illustration of the duties of the Kinsman-Redeemer (Lev. 25:25; Num. 35:19; Deut. 25:5) and the resulting joy of Israel, in the grace of God their Redeemer. The Lord their Redeemer will, through the riches of His grace, show His delight in them again, and their land shall be married.
Bible Treasury (adapted)