Proverbs 23:10-11. 10Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, 11for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.
God is the God of justice. His heart has always been for the fatherless and the widow, the poor and needy, the stranger and foreigner. God’s justice is reflected in God’s law, including the law of the Kinsman Redeemer.
Leviticus 25:25. If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.
In the Old Testament, families were deeply connected to their land. Land was a sacred right. A gift from God. Every tribe, clan, and family received land in order for them to survive and even thrive. That land was meant to be theirs forever. Unlike today in America, there was no such thing as accumulating properties in order to gain wealth, or at least there wasn’t supposed to be. Sometimes a person might try to move an ancient landmark in order to steal land. They might try to take over the land of young orphans who could not defend it. Such selfishness is what causes perpetual poverty in a society, and God simply won’t allow poverty among his people, especially when it is brought about by their fellow Israelites.
That’s why God created the law of the Kinsman Redeemer. This next of kin was empowered by the law to take over the land holdings of a deceased near relative, or purchase them back if they had been sold by the deceased. The most famous example of a Redeemer in the Old Testament is Boaz. He was the close relative of Naomi that could purchase back her deceased husband’s land, marry her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, and make sure that Naomi’s land and family did not literally die out of existence.
Here in Proverbs 23, the strong Redeemer is God himself. He is the ultimate Redeemer of his people.
Isaiah 41:14. I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
God is the all-powerful protector of his people. The unseen mover behind all justice. You might think you are getting away with taking advantage of the powerless but you are not. God knows. God sees. God hears the cries of the oppressed. He is father to the fatherless and judge for the widow.
The language of verse 11 is interesting. God, the great Redeemer, is pleading the cause of the oppressed. To whom is he pleading their cause? To human judges in human courts? Or, in the Heavenly courts to God? God pleading to God?
Only in Christ can this make sense. Jesus, the Redeemer who has become our kinsman, our near relative, our brother, pleads our cause for us in the courts of Heaven. In Christ we know that whatever injustice we may suffer in this life, God is pleading to God for us. Jesus is our Redeemer that has purchased us by his blood. We are his possession. No earthly harm can diminish our eternal inheritance with him. The more we know and trust this perfect justice of God for us in Christ, the more we too can work to promote justice for the poor and the needy, the orphan and widow, the stranger and the refugee.
The redeemed can become the redeemers by the power of the Redeemer in us.
You: Are you facing any injustice or oppression? Are you letting Jesus plead your cause for you?
You in Christ: How does knowing that we will receive the inheritance of Jesus allow us to trust God through the earthly injustices that we might face?
Christ in you: Is there anyone that could use your help in overcoming something that is unjust, unfair?
Pray: Father, you are my Redeemer. Jesus, you are my Kinsman Redeemer. My “land” is secure in the New Heavens and New Earth that you are creating for me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 