I recently shared over at my friend Liz’s blog My Messy Desk for her Word Nerd Wednesday feature, but I forgot to share it with all of you because #stomachflu. This year Liz and her guests are exploring the names of God, a subject near and dear to my own heart, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Go’el.
Go’el can be translated as “The Redeemer,” but what is a redeemer, and what role did a redeemer have in the Old Testament?
A redeemer is one who redeems. Merriam-Webster defines “redeem” as
- To buy back
- To free from what distresses or harms
- To change for the better
- To repair or restore
- To free from a lien by payment of an amount secured thereby
- To atone for
The concept of a redeemer can be found all the way back in Leviticus 25 on Mount Sinai where God is giving Moses instructions for the Isrealites. God tells Moses in the case of someone having become poor and having had to sell their land or become enslaved to have a near relative buy back the land or the person—to become the Redeemer.
Boaz- A Human Redeemer
Sometimes looking at a human example helps us better understand the divine…
To read the rest and see how Go-el applies to our lives today, click over the My Messy Desk.
