Imagine if you lost your home because you couldn’t keep up with the mortgage payments.
After the foreclosure, you and your family were in tears and packing your things up because you had to leave your home of many, many years.
But then imagine just a few days before your eviction, you receive a letter saying someone came in and paid off your house in full for you.
‘What in the world happened?!’…you wonder.
Well, it turns out you had a well-to do relative who took pity on you…
And then out of his generosity and grace decided to step in take care of the financial obligations you were unable to fulfill.
Why am I sharing this made-up scenario?
Because this situation I just described was yet another duty that the GO’EL or Kinsman Redeemer was obligated to take care of.
In other words, if there was a relative who was being forced to sell his land…
Or give up his freedom and become a bondservant to pay off a debt…
The next of kin was obligated to step in and redeem that person or his property.
And not only that…
The kinsman also had what’s known in legal terms as the “Right of first refusal”.
Don’t be confused by the word “refusal” in that phrase.
It simply means the Kinsman Redeemer had the right to buy the foreclosed property BEFORE it was put on the market and sold to the general public.
In fact, this right stood even if the land in question had already been sold to another clan member or God forbid a gentile.
Take a look at these verses from Jeremiah Chapter 32:
“Jeremiah said, ‘The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’
‘Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’
‘I knew that this was the word of the Lord; so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales.”-Jeremiah 32:6-10
Notice it says…“because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it”.
That part is referring to the “Right of First Refusal” clause as we understand it in modern legal terms.
In ancient times, this was pretty much how the system worked until Israel was sent into exile into Babylonia.
When that happened the era of the Rabbis was born and the whole system was revamped…
Which makes sense because the Hebrews weren’t in the land anymore at that time.
So there’s an interesting takeaway I’m getting from this.
When we think about God intervening in our lives, I think we have a tendency to view Him as someone who only helps us with serious or big “spiritual” matters.
But as we can see, He’s even looking out for us in those everyday practical things as well…
Such as NOT being able to make a mortgage payment on a house.
So be of good cheer!
God knows you have to pay the rent next month…
He’s aware you need to go the dentist to get a check up and get your teeth cleaned….
He knows you’re expecting that Google Adsense payment to come in so you can pay your electricity bill…
And so on and so forth.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap
or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them.
Are you not much more
valuable than they?
Can any one of you by
worrying add a single
hour to your life?”
-Matthew 6:26-27
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