Redeemed,' ransomed of the Lord.' Israel had in its past history one great act, under the imagery of which all future deliverances were prophesied. The events of the Exodus were the great storehouse from which prophets drew the clothing of their brightest hopes; and that is a lesson for us of how to use the history of God's past deliverances. They believed that each transitory act was a revelation of an unchanging purpose and an unexhausted power, and that it would be repeated over and over again. Experience supplied the material out of which Hope wove its fairest webs, but Faith drove the shuttle. Here the names which describe the pilgrims come from the old story. They are slaves, purchased or otherwise set free from captivity by a divine act. The epithets are transferred to the New Testament, and become the standing designation for those who have been delivered by Christ.
That designation, ransomed of the Lord,' opens out into the great evangelical thoughts which are the very life-blood of vital Christianity.
Emancipation from bondage is the first thing that we all need. He that committeth sin is the slave of sin.' An iron yoke presses on every neck.
The needed emancipation can only be obtained by a ransom price. The question of to whom the ransom is paid is not in the horizon of prophet or apostle or of Jesus Himself, in using this metaphor. What is strongly in their minds is that a great surrender must be greatly made by the Emancipator.
Jesus conceived of Himself as giving His life a ransom for the many.'
The emancipation must be a divine act. It surpasses any created power.
There can be no happy pilgrims unless they are first set free.
