Clarifies Revelation Chapter Five
The book of Ruth provides the necessary background to understand the role and application of the kinsman redeemer. In this book we learned how a kinsman redeemer fulfills the role as a surrogate husband per the law of levirate marriage and how property can be redeemed. While these two elements of a kinsman redeemer do not represent the full extent of their responsibility, it helps readers understand Revelation chapter five.
The book of Revelation has three major divisions; 1) chapter one focuses on what John had seen, mainly an introduction; 2) chapters two and three are about the current day, our present time; and 3) the remaining chapters beginning with chapter four are about the future (still yet future for us). In chapter four John finds himself in God’s throne room in heaven and what he is seeing rightfully overwhelms him. Then he “saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” Scrolls that were written on both sides were typically title deeds or other legal documents. The writing on the back (facing outward) often stated qualifications of the person that would be allowed to open the scroll and the conditions or situation when it could be opened. Returning to the text of Revelation chapter five, we might ask what was the scroll that God was holding in front of John? Likely it was a “title deed,” in context it would be the “title-deed of life” for all of humanity. John then writes, “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” (Verse 2) The scroll could only be opened by someone who met all of the qualifications and conditions written on the scroll. But no one stepped forward to claim they were worthy. “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” (Verses 3-4) John understood the serious nature of this problem, if no one was qualified to open the scroll, then mankind remained forever condemned to hell. Since the laws regarding a kinsman redeemer required the redeemer to be of the bloodline of the family, the redeemer for humanity had to be human, and no human was qualified. But there was One who did meet (and exceed) all qualifications, John continues, “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Verse 5) Then Jesus appears, He is the only One that qualifies, being human and God, to offer redemption. Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer.
Do you remember in chapter two when Ruth was introduced to Boaz by an unnamed servant? If Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer then the unnamed servant is a model for the Holy Spirit, as He never seeks glory or recognition for Himself but only for God the Father and the Son, Jesus.
The Genealogy of Jesus
There are three genealogies of Jesus provided in the four New Testament gospels. Matthew’s account presents the lineage of Jesus from Abraham through David, attesting to His legal standing as being both a Jew and in the royal line of Judah, the Son of David. Since the gospel according to Mark focuses on Jesus being a servant, no genealogy can be found as the pedigree of a servant would be considered unimportant. The second genealogy listing is in Luke’s account which emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, it goes all the way back to the first human, Adam. That genealogy varies from Matthew’s account after David and is likely the lineage of Mary, Jesus’ mother. The third genealogy is somewhat less obvious. The first 18 verses of John’s gospel account clearly state that Jesus is eternal, as his gospel expounds on the fact that Jesus is indeed God. (see John 1:1-18)
Both Matthew’s genealogy and Luke’s genealogy include the royal line of King David. Even though Joseph was not Jesus’ father by bloodline, Joseph’s family was in the line of David through Solomon. We see that Mary, Jesus’ mother, was in the bloodline of David through David’s son Nathan (see 2 Samuel 5:14; 1 Chronicles 3:5; 14:4). Due to a virgin birth, this completely avoids the “blood curse of Jechoniah” (see Jeremiah 22:24-30). The book of Ruth establishes the lineage from Perez to David and the city of David as being Bethlehem, the city where Jesus was born. God promised David that the Messiah would come from his lineage (see 2 Samuel 7:12-17) and told the prophet Micah that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (see Micah 5:2). The book of Ruth is an important “stepping stone” that leads to Jesus.