A picture map is worth a thousand words:
Here we can see the boundaries and the designated “cities of refuge.” The question marks on some of the spots are because, archeologists aren’t exactly sure on some of them. It’s not like there are 3500 year old signs just laying around. 🪧
What’s up with the “cities of refuge”? Well – the OT was kinda like the wild Wild West. 🤠
If some lilly-livered, yella-bellied polecat killed yer brother, then you’d hunt him down and string up his pathetic hide from the nearest tree. Actually, you’d stone that no-account varmit, but you get the idea.
HEBREW BOOT HILL 🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦
Here lies Zekah, or at least his old bones… He died cuz we had to dispatch him with stones.
Here lies the body of Heshmon of Gad – an ornery ol’ cus so don’t you be sad.
Azariah was a liah now his britches is on fiah.
You didn’t wait for the sheriff to handle things. The law was legally in your hands and the penalty for murder was death. If you could establish a murder claim with at least 2 witnesses, then the next of kin would be responsible to avenge the family by finding the murderer and executing him. ⚰️
However- there were also cases of accidental man-slaughter. If a man accidentally killed someone, he’d hightail it outa Dodge and git hisself to a City of Refuge. A city of refuge was like being on “base” in a game of tag. You were safe as long as you stayed inside the city limits.
Let’s talk about…
The Hebrew word for the Avenger is ga’al (gaw-all). And it doesn’t mean hero or tough guy or even super hombre. 🦸🏻♂️
It actually means “next of kin.” 🤔
The next-of-kin had certain expectations in the ancient near-East. We probably all remember that story from Genesis where Judah’s son Er married Tamar. And Er was so wicked that God just struck him dead. His brother Onan was the next of kin. It was his responsibility to marry his brother’s widow, provide for her and to have a child with her who would inherit his brother’s property. Onan didn’t want to do that and he was also struck dead by the Almighty.
That’s the earliest example of a person asked to perform the role of ga’al. This whole rite is the axel upon which the story of the book of Ruth turns. Ruth is a widow. Boaz is her dead husband’s next of kin; the ga’al. He marries Ruth 💍 and buys back 💰 all the property that had belonged to her husband. They have a son together – Obed. Obed will inherit the property of Ruth’s deceased husband. Ga’al is also translated as “kinsman redeemer.” To redeem is to “recover ownership by paying a specified sum.” 💰💰💰
Ga’al is frequently used of Yahweh. When you see the word “Redeemer” – that’s ga’al.
Now that you know these ideas connected to the Avenger, the Kinsman Redeemer – read this:
“…The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion. He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds. His fury will fall on his foes. He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth. In the west, people will respect the name of the Lord; in the east, they will glorify him. For he will come like a raging flood tide driven by the breath of the Lord. “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 59:15-20 NLT
(Kinda makes ya wanna shout, eh?) 🎉
Did you get a vibe of a hero strapping on his weapons to go serve some justice? Cuz I sure did. It’s like Tony Stark putting on his Iron Man suit to go rescue somebody. 🦾
This text covers both aspects of ga’al. Yahweh is both the Avenger of Blood, serving justice to the wicked AND the Kinsman Redeemer recovering ownership of repentant humanity and the property lost in the death of Adam (the first husband).
Here’s another one with this same idea of Yahweh as the Kinsman Redeemer. As you read, note the language of a widow (like Ruth) in need of a kinsman to raise up children for her.
“Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,” says the Lord. “Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities. “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth.” Isaiah 54:1-5 NLT
Isaiah was on to something with this. You could justifiably swap out “Redeemer” and put in “Avenger” without straining the text.
Move over Captain America. The Creator is the REAL First Avenger. 🛡️🗡️
And He performs the role of the next of kin on a grand scale; redeeming all who come to Him to be joined in union with Him. Christ is the second Adam – the bridegroom who marries the widow of the first Adam.
There’s just one catch. In order to be the next of kin, you have to be… well… kin. Related.
This is why the Word of the LORD had to become human in the person of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.”
Hebrews 2:17 NLT
Jesus Christ – the Divine Word of God is our next of kin. I’m literally related to the man on the throne of the Universe. That’s wild.
🤯
He’s also the High Priest. Remember the bit in this section about the man-slayer who runs to the city of refuge? He had to stay there until the death of the High Priest. Once the High Priest died, the guilty person could return back home and his property would be restored and the avenger of blood would no longer be allowed to get revenge.
Jesus, our High Priest, died (and then rose again of course). ✝️ The guilty need no longer live on the run hiding out in a city of refuge. Jesus’ death restores life and brings the repentant home again. We are no longer held liable for those sins and there is no vengeance awaiting us.
Jesus is not just any Avenger. He’s the Avenger of Blood. 🩸 Satan, the Murderer-from-the-beginning, introduced sin that led to death. ☠️ It wasn’t accidental manslaughter. The Wicked One had intent to kill. And, in a surprising twist, Jesus accomplished redemption by taking the guilt upon Himself and spilling His own blood. But it’s not over yet. He will return to bring justice and in the end, Satan will be thrown in the Lake of Fire. 🔥 The Avenger of Blood will see to it that justice is done.
So now, when you sing worship songs about the Lord being our “Redeemer” or you sing about being “redeemed,” hopefully you’ll remember what that actually means. It is a jam-packed, absolutely glorious word. 🙌🏼
To The Reader 