Sat.’s Devo - Redemption

Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Procervs 14:26-27
The story of Ruth is a story of redemption. Ruth was a Moabite who was redeemed by Boaz, her kinsman redeemer who was a type of Jesus. The story has more meaning when you realize that Boaz was the son of Rahab the harlot in the story of the Hebrew spies that spied out the promised land in Joshua 2. She was the one who hid them and saved her whole family. She was an outcast who Salmon married and made her part of the family of Israel. Boaz had a heart for Ruth because her story was much like his mother’s.
Another interesting tip about Ruth is found in Ruth 4:12. When Boaz purchased Ruth, the elders proclaimed a blessing on them. They said, “…let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah.” Tamar’s story was the same as Ruth’s. Her husband had died and she needed a kinsman redeemer. She had to take what was hers, but she got her redeemer in Judah. Tamar, Rahab and Ruth are all three mentioned in the lineage of Mary in Matthew 1. They were the only women mentioned by name; Bathsheba was alluded to. We all need a kinsman redeemer to rescue us and make our seed righteous. We find him only in Jesus.
In John, Jesus came back to Galilee. Now the people were anxious to see him because they had seen the miracles he did in Jerusalem. God gives us a glimpse of the millennial reign in the story of the royal officer and his son. This man’s son was dying and he heard Jesus was in town so he found him and begged him to come to his house. Jesus made the statement, “unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe. Then he told the man that his son will live. The man did believe and went home. On the way he was met with one of his soldiers who told him his boy was alive. When he asked him when he got better, the man told him at the seventh hour. The seventh hour is another term for the millennium. In the millennium, all sickness will be healed. The man realized it was the exact hour Jesus told him his son would live.
All you have to do is read the first statement of our Psalm for today and realize that God is in total control of disasters and famines and storms, etc. People have such a hard time realizing the bigger picture about God. God uses everything he created to speak to his people. He uses good and bad things to get our attention. It is all for redemption. As soon as he brings disaster, he also brings the hope of restoration. God called a famine on Israel at the same time that he sent Joseph before them to be the answer out of the famine.
Lord, thank your for being our kinsman redeemer.