December 16: The Kinsman-Redeemer
♫ Music:
Day 16 - Monday, December 16
Title: The Kinsman-Redeemer
Scripture #1: Ruth 4:13–17 (NKJV)
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Scripture #2: John 3:16–17 (NKJV)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Poetry:
“The Day of Judgment”
by Isaac Watts
When the fierce north wind with his airy forces
Rears up the Baltic to a foaming fury,
And the red lightning with a storm of hail comes
Rushing amain down,
How the poor sailors stand amazed and tremble,
While the hoarse thunder, like a bloody trumpet,
Roars a loud onset to the gaping waters,
Quick to devour them!
Such shall the noise be and the wild disorder,
(If things eternal may be like these earthly)
Such the dire terror, when the great Archangel
Shakes the creation,
Tears the strong pillars of the vault of heaven,
Breaks up old marble, the repose of princes;
See the graves open, and the bones arising,
Flames all around ’em!
Hark, the shrill outcries of the guilty wretches!
Lively bright horror and amazing anguish
Stare through their eyelids, while the living worm lies
Gnawing within them.
Thoughts like old vultures prey upon their heart-strings,
And the smart twinges, when the eye beholds the
Lofty Judge frowning, and a flood of vengeance
Rolling afore him.
Hopeless immortals! how they scream and shiver,
While devils push them to the pit wide-yawning
Hideous and gloomy, to receive them headlong
Down to the center.
Stop here, my fancy: (all away ye horrid
Doleful ideas); come, arise to Jesus;
How He sits God-like! and the saints around him
Throned, yet adoring!
Oh may I sit there when he comes triumphant
Dooming the nations! then ascend to glory
While our hosannas all along the passage
Shout the Redeemer.
THE KINSMAN-REDEEMER
The story of Boaz and Ruth is a foreshadowing of the coming of Messiah as well as a beautiful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. After her husband’s death, Ruth left her homeland of Moab to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem and pledged to Naomi, “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16). God provided for Ruth through Boaz, a Kinsman-Redeemer. The painting shows how Ruth caught the eye of her husband’s relative Boaz as she gleaned among the sheaves in his fields. Boaz married Ruth, and miraculously they had a child, Obed, who became the grandfather of David and a direct ancestor of Jesus. Through Ruth, Jesus was part of the royal line of the house of Israel. The prophets foretold that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, the town of his own ancestors. (Micah 5:2).
The focus of Christmas is often on the incarnation, the beautiful miracle of God becoming a tiny baby. Our lovely creches symbolize the truth of Emmanuel, God with us. These nativity scenes sometimes obscure a deeper truth, that Jesus came to be our Kinsman-Redeemer due to the desperate situation that we are in––darkened in our understanding by sin and destined for eternal judgment as Isaac Watts so eloquently describes in “Day of Judgment.” Without Christ, we are “guilty wretches” with a “living worm…gnawing” within us and subject to demons pushing us into a “pit wide-yawning, hideous and gloomy,” and destined to be filled with “dire terror, when the great Archangel shakes the creation…” Watts’ poem proclaims our only hope of redemption through Jesus Christ, the great truth of John 3:16-17. We cannot save ourselves but can only cry out to Jesus in repentance and faith for salvation. Charles Wesley’s great hymn expresses the deepest longings of those called by God, “Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free; from our fears and sins release us. Let us find our rest in Thee.” It is only through His “all sufficient merit” that we have any hope of salvation from our wretched destiny. May we meditate this Christmas not only on the miracle of the incarnation but also the great miracle of redemption and recognize the depths from which Jesus Christ can “raise us to [His] glorious throne.”
Prayer:
Lord, during this Christmas season as we contemplate the incarnation and the coming of Emmanuel, let us also praise you that He came as our Redeemer!
Dr. Alicia M. Dewey
Professor of History
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Ruth in Boaz's Field
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
1828
Oil on canvas
59 × 70 cm.
The National Gallery
London, England
Public domain
The subject of this painting is taken from the Old Testament book of Ruth. The youthful, widowed Moabite Ruth is gleaning (gathering up corn left after the harvest) to support her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. The landowner Boaz has heard of her situation, and impressed by her devotion, has instructed his workers to leave lots of corn for her to gather. Ruth and Boaz eventually married, and King David, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were among their descendants. The picture was painted in Munich, based on drawings Schnorr von Carolsfeld had made a few years earlier in Italy. He had spent ten years in Italy, and was a leading figure in a group of German and Austrian artists named the Nazarenes, who sought to return modern painting to the purity of form and spiritual values that they saw in Renaissance art. The colors here are pure and clear and the painting is very highly finished, giving it a porcelain-like quality.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/julius-schnorr-von-carolsfeld-ruth-in-boaz-s-field
About the Artist:
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794–1872) was a German painter, chiefly of biblical subjects. As a young man he associated with the painters of the Nazarene movement, who revived the Renaissance style in religious art. He is remembered for his extensive Picture Bible, and his designs for stained glass windows in cathedrals. Schnorr von Carolsfeld was particularly influenced by his close study of fifteenth-century Italian painting, especially the works of Fra Angelico. Soon, however, he abandoned this refined simplicity, and began to look towards more elaborate High Renaissance models. Schnorr von Carolsfeld is also known for his biblical illustrations. His Picture Bible was published in 1852–60 and an English edition followed in 1861. Schnorr's biblical drawings and cartoons for frescoes formed a natural prelude to designs for church windows, and his renown in Germany secured him commissions in Great Britain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld
About the Music:
“Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”
Lyrics:
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne
“Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” was written in 1744 while Charles Wesley was meditating on Haggai 2:7. He was particularly troubled by the plight of orphans and the great class divide in Great Britain. Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon used the hymn in his meetings, making it popular in England and around the world.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/poets/charles-wesley.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley
About the Composers: Lyrics: Charles Wesley; Music: Rowland Prichard
Charles Wesley (1707–1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement and is most widely known for writing the words for over 6,500 hymns. His most famous works include "And Can It Be,” "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending.” He was a younger brother of Methodist founder John Wesley and Anglican cleric Samuel Wesley the Younger. Educated at Oxford University, where his brothers had also studied, Charles followed his father into the church in 1735. Following their evangelical conversions in 1738, the Wesley brothers traveled throughout Britain, converting followers to the Methodist revival through preaching and hymn singing. It has been said that Charles Wesley usually celebrated each anniversary of his birthday by writing a hymn of praise to God.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley
Rowland Prichard (1811–1887) was a Welsh musician. In 1844, Prichard published Cyfaill y Cantorion (The Singer's Friend), a songbook intended for children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowland_Prichard
About the Performer: Fernando Ortega
Fernando Ortega (b. 1957) is an evangelical Christian singer-songwriter and worship leader, heavily influenced by traditional hymns, as well as his family’s New Mexico heritage. He is noted both for his interpretations of many traditional hymns and songs, such as “Give Me Jesus,” “Be Thou My Vision,” and “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” Much of his current inspiration comes from the North American Anglican liturgy. It is from his heritage and classical training at the University of New Mexico that Ortega derives his sound, embracing country, classical, Celtic, Latin American, world, modern folk, and rustic hymnody. From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, he served in music ministry at a number of churches in New Mexico and Southern California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Ortega
http://www.fernandoortega.com/
About the Poetry & Poet:
English hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674–1748), known as “the Father of Hymns,” wrote over 750 songs of praise to God during his life. His works include "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” "Joy to the World,” and "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past.” Many of these still remain in use today and have been translated into numerous languages. Watts based many of his hymns on particular psalms since in the early Church of England only hymns from the Psalter were allowed.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/poets/isaac-watts.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Alicia M. Dewey
Professor of History
Biola University
Alicia Dewey received her doctorate from Southern Methodist University and has taught at Biola University since 2007. Her courses include the History of the American West; California History; American Democracy, Civil War, and Reconstruction, 1800–77; the Rise of Modern America (1877–1920); Research Methods in History; the U.S. History Survey; and U.S. History Since 1865. When she is not teaching, researching, or writing, she enjoys the outdoors and experiencing the American West through hiking, camping, canoeing, bird-watching, and landscape painting, as well as spending time with her Maltese dog, Ranger. She is a member of Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, California.