Though this proverb is easy to read, I ponder what it means and how to apply it to life. The verse is about barter between two unnamed parties. Two types of people are being bartered. The wicked and unfaithful are being used as a ransom for the righteous and upright. This implies that the righteous and upright were taken captive. Now the thief wants to get rid of them in exchange for something they want. The rightful owner of the righteous wants them back because he loves and greatly values them. The negotiation commenced and a trade was made.
The question remains. Who are the two unnamed negotiating parties? Would the Lord God and Satan barter for people as C.S. Lewis’s characters the Lion and the Witch did? Is that what is recorded by the prophet Isaiah? “For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.” (Isaiah 43:3-4)
Atonement money as ransom is part of the law given through Moses. Exodus 30:12 states, “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.” The Lord God wrote through David, “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him– the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough– that he should live on forever and not see decay.” (Psalm 49:7-9)
So God promised through the prophet Jeremiah, “For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.” (Jeremiah 31:11) And Hosea the prophet, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?” (Hosea 13:14)
What Holy One was used as a ransom? God sent his Son as a ransom for many. Jesus proclaimed, “… the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45) Apostle Paul made it clear, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5) Jesus did not barter with Satan. Jesus mediated between God and men; The Father and the fallen. “… Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)
I am forever grateful to Jesus who bartered on my behalf, giving himself for my redemption.
