This is a sweet and precious name when applied to the person of the Lord Jesus, and full of very blessed signification as relating to the church of God in him. In order to enter into a proper apprehension of its delightful meaning, it will be necessary to remark, that sometimes the same word which we translate kinsman is also translated Redeemer. Thus Ruth 4:14 "Naomi saith, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman. (Goel.)" In the margin of the Bible the same word Goel is translated Redeemer; therefore, the sense is, hath not left thee this day without a Redeemer. So again Job 19:25 "For I know that my Redeemer liveth," In the original it is the same word Goel, meaning kinsman, Redeemer. So once more, (Isaiah 44:6) the same word Goel, which is rendered kinsman in Ruth, is rendered Redeemer here."Thus saith the Lord, king of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts." Hence, therefore, from these and the like passages, it is blessed to see that one and the same person is all along spoken of under both characters, our kinsman, Redeemer. Having premised these things by way of illustration, it will be proper next to enquire, what was the special relation and duty of the kinsman in the church of God, and how was the office to be performed. To answer this enquiry it should be observed, that the right of redemption belonged to this kinsman, for thus the law enjoined: "If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold." (Leviticus 25:25) And hence we find in the case of Ruth the Moabitess, the right of redemption founded upon this law was first proposed to the kinsman that was nearest of kin, and upon his refusal Boaz claimed the privilege as the next of kin. The reader may see this stated at large very particularly Ruth 4:1-12. Now then we come to the marrow of the whole subject, as it relates to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in the redemption, of our nature. Jesus, by virtue of taking our nature, becomes the nearest of kin to our nature, and is, to all intents and purposes, our Goel, our kinsman, Redeemer. He is the brother born for adversity, and is not ashamed to call us brethren. Now as Jesus's poor brother, our whole nature was waxen poor, and had by sin and rebellion sold away some of our possession, and had both brought our souls into captivity and mortgaged our inheritance, to him alone belonged the right of redemption for both; and Jesus hath fully and completely redeemed both. Hence he hath proved himself to be our Goel in the full sense of the word, our kinsman, and our Redeemer, and our kinsman-Redeemer; and very blessed it is to know the Lord Jesus Christ in those united characters. Job found it so in an eminent degree; and so ought all the faithful. "I know (said he) that my (Goel, my kinsman) Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold for myself, and not another for me." (Job 19:25-26) Reader! if you can join the man of Uz in this precious testimony, and his creed and your creed on this great point are the same, you will enter into the beauty and blessedness of this relationship of kinsman as belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ, and enjoy the privilege of it in your heart.
See Brother.