Leviticus 25:18-34 “Rights of Redemption”

“And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.”
Leviticus 25:24 (NKJV)

Many years ago, I heard a certain pastor say something I’ve never forgotten. “My favorite name for Jesus is Redeemer.” By this, I understood that the Lord redeems the worst, most broken lives, and even redeems our bad decisions to use for His glory. In fact, from the first sin in the Garden of Eden, God’s program for man has been redemption. The Father sent His only Son into the world to redeem fallen man. He makes a way to overcome our sins and reconcile us to Himself.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the concept of redemption is found in God’s law. If you owned a family inheritance in the country, you could sell it if you were poor, but then you could always redeem it. If you could not afford to redeem it, then a family member could redeem it for you. This person would be known as the “kinsman redeemer”. Now if you could not redeem your inheritance, then it would revert to you in the year of Jubilee which occurred every fifty years. God gave the opportunity for redemption because God is gracious and merciful. He loves to give us second, third, and more chances.

It is interesting that as much as we hear about someone redeeming himself, that concept does not appear in the Bible. We were sold into sin and Satan’s power, but Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer redeemed us with His own blood. Regardless of how bad we’ve been or how distant from God we may feel, if we will acknowledge that we are sinners and confess our sins, then He will bring us back to Himself. We may still suffer the consequences of our choices in this life, but we can rest assured that we have a glorious life to come! And we will always have His presence to cheer and to guide every day of our lives until He takes us home.

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.”
Job 19:25–26 (NKJV)