I have a Bible quiz question for you.
How many times is Yeshua referred to as our kinsman redeemer in the New Testament?
What do you think?
The answer is ZERO.
There are some verses that do refer to him as our “redemption” or “redeemer“, but nowhere in all of the New Testament will you find him being called our “kinsman redeemer“.
If this fact makes you a bit uncomfortable, then good.
Because if you still harbor ideas that the Law has been done away because it’s been nailed to the cross or that the Gospel message starts from the first chapter of the Book of Matthew, you’re going to have serious problems because nowhere in the New Testament will you find Yeshua being called a “kinsman redeemer“.
If that’s the case, then where in the world does the idea or doctrine that Yeshua is our kinsman redeemer come from?
There are a total of 33 references to a “kinsman redeemer” in the Bible and ALL OF THEM are in the TANACH (Old Testament).
About half of these references appear in the Book of Isaiah and point to a future Messiah.
Now here’s the thing.
The definition and duties of a kinsman are established and explained here in Leviticus chapter 25.
Now here’s a question I want to pose to those evangelical preachers who dogmatically teach that the Law has been done away with and has now been replaced with grace.
If the Law is the only place we can go to to understand the purposes a kinsman redeemer and this Law has been rendered obsolete, then where do you get off applying the concept of a “kinsman redeemer” to your New Testament Messiah?
Don’t get me wrong.
Of course, Yeshua is indeed our Kinsman Redeemer.
But, the ONLY WAY one can know that Yeshua is our kinsman redeemer is through what is written in the Torah.
Let’s see exactly how Yeshua is our kinsman redeemer based on his own words.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
-Luke 4:18-19
Take a good look at what Yeshua is saying here.
He’s talking about “proclaiming good news to the poor“, “setting the oppressed free“, and “proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor“.
Do all of these ideas ring a bell?
They should because Yeshua is speaking precisely about the principles of Jubilee and how he came to do the work of a GO’EL or a Kinsman Redeemer.
By the way, the expression “the favorable year of the Lord” is just a nickname for the Jubilee year.
Remember how I’ve said many times that a full 50% of the New Testament are nothing less than direct quotes lifted directly from the Old Testament.
Well, here is a perfect example.
In the verses above, Yeshua was quoting Isaiah 61:1:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn…”
-Isaiah 61:1-2
Out of the many different roles a GO-EL or a kinsman redeemer fulfills, it seems like the one gentile Christians like to focus on the most is the Kinsman Redeemer who brings release and sets the oppressed free.
Christians like to say we were in bondage to evil and sin, but “Jesus” as our Kinsman Redeemer freed us.
However, think about what the word “kinsman” really means.
And recall these words from Leviticus 25:44-46.
“Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.”
Foreigners outside of Israel could be slaves forever, even their descendants could be held as human property forever with no hope of redemption.
Let me make this very clear.
Foreigners outside of Israel have ZERO provision of redemption or salvation available to them.
If you’re a gentile, you must be grafted in to the commonwealth of Israel.
God never has and as far as I can tell from the Scriptures never will make some kind of salvation covenant with the gentiles.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Yeshua replied,
“I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep,
the people of Israel.”
-Matthew 15:24
The teachings are fully Scripture based.
I try to make them Scripture-based! Thanks for reading!
I believe In the context, Mt 15:24 would mean the opposite of what you are implying. The “lost sheep of the house of Israel” is referring to the physical descendants of the Patriarchs, who were easily identifiable at that point. Jesus is exposing the hypocrisy of the disciples who like Jonah refuse to extend the gospel message to the entire world. He honored her faith by healing her daughter and didn’t tell her to go to the temple and become an Israelite, like she would have had to do in the OT, like Ruth.
He went to His own and His own received Him not, so He went to “all who receive Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” That doesn’t do away with the civil law as you say, although the ceremonial laws have been replaced in the sacrificce of Christ, But, the nations as nations were supposed to look to the example of Israel and adopt her law (Dt 4 & Ps 2:10-12), not necessarily merge into one nation with Israel. We’re supposed to disciple the nations (nations=ethnos=cultures), not obliterate them, because God gave the nations and kings to Jesus in Psalm Two