WRITINGS
Ruth the Moabitess, or Blessing and Rest
"Shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well
with thee?" (Ruth 3:1).
Naomi and
Ruth
My object in writing this paper is, not to interpret the
book of Ruth in its typical bearing on the ways of God with the remnant and
nation of Israel in days to come; but principally, to help the young believer
to distinguish between blessing of soul and the true ground of solid rest, as
this distinction is illustrated in the touching history of Ruth.
I
would, however, first notice some solemn instruction in the history of
backsliding Naomi. I say backsliding, for when there was a famine, instead of
abiding in the land of the Lord, she and her husband, and two sons, went to
sojourn in the land of Moab; and, what was still worse, they continued there.
It is very sad, in times of trial, when the children of God, instead
of abiding with Him, go down to the world. But it is still worse when they
continue there. And what did she find away from the land of Jehovah. Naomi
(which means "pleasant") was her name, but bitterness did she find away from
her God. Away from His presence, death blights her every hope. First, her
husband, then her two sons died, and she was left. And full well does the
backslider know it is a bitter thing to wander from the Lord.
Though
she had left the Lord, He had not left her; like the prodigal, who heard there
was bread enough in his father's house, so the report reached Naomi, "how that
the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread" (Ruth 1:6). And, like the
prodigal, "She went forth out of the place where she was". Wondrous indeed is
the grace of our God, who never forsakes the wanderer, but draws and restores
with cords of love.
Her daughters-in-law arise to come with her to the
land of Judah. But dwelling in Moab had done its sad work in her desolate
heart. Instead of leading them to Judah's God, she said as it were: Go, return
to your land and your gods (cf. Ruth 1:15). She wished them to find rest in the
house of that husband on which God had written death.
And such is the
influence of every believer, either walking in communion with God and thus
pointing souls to Christ; or, away from His presence, leading others to a world
of sin and death. The Lord, however, had touched the heart of Ruth, and she
could not go back. And now Naomi, having lost all, returned to Bethlehem, and
Ruth with her. "The city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi (meaning pleasant), but
Mara (meaning bitter), for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly
with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty" (Ruth
1:19,20).
Should these lines meet the eye of a backslider, may I not
ask, Is not this your picture-true as life? You went out full, and now how
empty - how desolate - what a life of bitterness. You remember the days when
your name was "pleasant", but what a change! The world tempted and promised,
but what have you got? But do not say the Lord is against you.
No, the
Lord was not against Naomi, though she thought so. He hedged up her path; but
it was to bring her "to Bethlehem, in the beginning of barley harvest" (Ruth
1:22). She went out in the days of famine, and she returned in the beginning of
barley harvest. How little did the prodigal expect the ring, and the robe, and
the fatted calf!
Blessed be the God of all grace, it is always so.
However far the child may have wandered - however deep the sorrow and
bitterness in departing; it is always the beginning of the days of barley
harvest when he returns. Desolate wanderer! The Lord restores you to the home
of His love! What blessing awaits you!
And what blessing awaited the
bitter Naomi. Not only was it the beginning of barley harvest, but Boaz, the
lord of the harvest, was the near kinsman of desponding Naomi.
Ruth meets Boaz
A stranger goes forth to glean
in the field. It is Ruth, the Moabitess. How like a sinner who first goes forth
to hear the word of life - to glean a few ears of blessing. As a Moabitess, in
herself she was an alien from the commonwealth of Israel; without God, and
without hope. But something had drawn her from the house of death to the field
of Boaz. It is so with the sinner, whose heart the Spirit of God has touched.
Lost and guilty in himself; a stranger to God and peace; yet he is drawn to the
place where the servants of Christ are reaping the field.
And Boaz was
there, and said unto his servant that was set over the reapers, "Whose damsel
is this?" The servant told him it was Ruth, and what she had done "from morning
until now" (Ruth 2:5,7). So he knew where she had come from, and who she was.
And full well does the Holy Ghost, who is set over the servants of Christ, know
who every sinner is, and where from, that is brought to Christ.
And
now Ruth hears the voice of Boaz: "Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to
glean in another field; neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my
maidens" (Ruth 2:8). What tender words! He did not drive her from his field as
a worthless Moabitess. Oh, no! His words speak such a welcome to her stranger,
desolate heart. Precious picture of Him who would not break the bruised reed,
nor quench the smoking flax.
"Come unto me" says Jesus, "all ye that
labour, and are heavy-laden; and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). How
blessed a fact this is; that, however vile and guilty, and however weak the
desire after Him implanted in the heart by Him who draws to Jesus, in the
presence of Jesus the sinner finds what Ruth found in the presence of Boaz - a
perfect welcome. As Ruth heard the voice of Boaz, so says Jesus, "My sheep hear
my voice; and I know them; and they follow me" (Joh. 10:27).
Finding grace
"Go not to glean in another
field" says Boaz, "but abide here" (Ruth 2:8). And, oh! my young believer,
abide with Jesus. Go not to seek pleasure in another field. Be not enticed to
the ball, or the concert, to the worlds parties, or its false pleasures.
Are you drawn to Jesus? Cleave to Him with purpose of heart.
I
remember a young person in Wiltshire, whose heart the Lord had touched, was
persuaded to go to one more ball. She went. She danced. And she was taken from
that dance, and laid on her dying bed. Her so-called friends excluded every
person who might speak to her saddened heart of the love of Jesus. But they
could not exclude Jesus. His is a love that changes not. It was learnt from the
nurse, that before she departed she had peace with God. "Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ?" (Rom. 8:35).
Let, then, the thought of His
love keep you from gleaning in another field. This tender warning is the more
needed in our day, as so many seem to be with Christ one day, and with the
world the next.
And Boaz said, "And when thou art athirst, go unto the
vessels and drink" (Ruth 2:9). How like the words of Jesus! "If any man thirst,
let him come unto Me and drink" (John. 7:37). The prophet also said, "Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters" (Isa. 55:1). And in the last words
of Jesus in the book of Revelation, again, we hear, "I will give to him that is
athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely" (Rev. 21:6). "And let him
that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life
freely" (Rev. 22:17).
Precious grace! "Then she fell on her face and
bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine
eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" (Ruth
2:10). Yes, it was grace that bowed Ruth to the dust. And is it not the grace
of God that leads you to repentance? She said, Why have I, a poor Moabitess,
found grace in your eyes?
And can my reader say, "Why was I made to
hear Thy voice, And enter whilst there's room?" Oh, why have I, so unworthy,
such an outcast - why have I found such grace? It is all grace, perfect love to
the guilty sinner - love that came and died for me, the Just for the unjust!
Yes, when the grace of Boaz was known, that grace changed the mind and
won the heart of Ruth; and no repentance is true, but that which is produced by
the knowledge of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. When the poor sinner is
brought really to know Him, that self is bowed to the dust - the mind is for
ever changed - the heart is for ever won. "We love him because he first loved
us" (1 John 4:19). What so mighty and irresistible as the love of God?
And now Boaz comforts the desolate heart of Ruth. "Thou hast comforted me, thou
hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thy
handmaidens" (Ruth 2:13). My reader may say, I am far from being like one of
the Lord's people; but can you say you have found a comfort in the Lord's
presence that nothing else could give you? Though your heart was sad and
desolate, did you not find comfort at such a meeting, or when you came to glean
at such or such a preaching? When you felt as if you would sink in despair, did
you not find comfort in your own room, when none heard you but the God of all
grace? You may be afraid to say you are a Christian. But are you a gleaner? Has
God put a thirst for Himself in your heart? Have you found comfort in Him, when
none could help? Then take courage. He that has begun a good work in you will
carry it on until the day of Christ.
And Boaz said, "At meal time come
thou hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar" (Ruth
2:14a). Oh hungry soul, how free is the bread of life! "Take, eat, this is my
body" (Matt. 26:26). What a feast is the table of the Lord. How tenderly did
Boaz reach her the parched corn. "And she did eat, and was sufficed, and left"
(Ruth 2:14b).
When the King sits at His own table, how satisfied the
soul that feeds on Him. What unspeakable delight when the soul thus feasts for
the first time with Him. I shall never forget the joy and awe I felt when I saw
for the first time the table of the Lord, where there was none to preside, but
Jesus Himself. Wondrously sweet is the communion of souls who thus own Him.
But still Ruth was only a gleaner. And Boaz said, "Let fall some of
the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and
rebuke her not" (Ruth 2:15,16). Oh! how like the ways of our God. Timid
gleaner, have you never found handfuls of blessing, dropped on purpose for you?
How suited such a word was to you. What a handful you picked up in such a
promise. Perhaps you did not know how God had ordered all this on purpose for
you.
Thus does this beautiful history picture forth, step by step, the
gracious ways of our God, with many a timid soul. The first budding forth of
desire after God, in the going forth to glean - the finding a little blessing
amongst the stubble - then the voice of the Shepherd - thirst and the freeness
of the water of life - repentance - the full moral bowing down and judgment of
self in the presence of divine grace - communings with the Lord - the bread of
life - the Lord Himself - the soul filled with blessing, on purpose from the
Lord - the gleaning from the word, the beating and the eating. What a picture,
I say, of the drawings of divine love.
Finding rest
And yet Ruth had not found rest.
"Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek
rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?" (Ruth 3:1). This brings us to a
deeply important and practical part of our subject. Many a dear child of God
does not get a step beyond this. You may have been drawn to Christ - have found
Him precious - had sweet communion with Him - thirsty, you have drank of the
water of life - and hungry, you have eaten of the bread of life.
You
may have enjoyed all the comfort and blessing described above; and yet not have
the knowledge and enjoyment of the true ground of solid rest in God. You are
happy when enjoying blessing; but when trial and temptation come, you doubt
whether you are really a child of God. "Shall I not seek rest for thee, that it
may be well with thee?" God now enable me to write, and you to see, the true
ground of rest.
The scene now is entirely changed. It is now no longer
the gleaning and the beating. The Martha character ends and the Mary place
begins. Ruth is not in the field, but at the feet of Boaz, like Mary at the
feet of Christ. She no longer gleans ears of barley. Boaz himself is her
kinsman; and if she got one measure, by her gleaning and beating, she now
receives six, and is sent away. But six is not the perfect number, and still
she has not rest. However filled my reader's soul may be with blessing, mere
blessing is not the ground of rest.
Then said Naomi, "Sit still, my
daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall; for the man will not be in
rest, until he have finished the thing this day" (Ruth 3:18). It is of the
first importance to note this, that as Boaz thus undertook for Ruth, and could
not himself be in rest until he had finished the work he thus undertook, even
so our adorable Substitute (I speak of all believers) undertook for us, yea, so
took our place, that He could not be in rest Himself until He finished the work
that gives us rest in the presence of God for ever.
"It is true" said
Boaz, "that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I"
(Ruth 3:12). "Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there, and,
behold, the kinsman, of whom Boaz spake, came by, unto whom he said, Ho, such a
one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down" (Ruth 4:1).
He also took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit ye down here, and
they sat down" (Ruth 4:2).
And lest there should be any after
misgivings or complainings, he tells the other kinsman the whole case of Ruth,
and gives him the first and the fullest opportunity of redeeming Ruth and her
lands. The other kinsman can manage well with the land, but cannot possibly
either redeem Ruth, or "raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance".
"And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem for myself, lest I mar my own
inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem" (Ruth 4:6).
Now there was in olden times a very curious custom in Israel,
"concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man
plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour; and this was a testimony in
Israel" (Ruth 4:7). This was the end of all controversy; the very end of all
claim by the other kinsman. "Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for
thee, so he drew off the shoe" (Ruth 4:8). Thus the ten men of the city were
witnesses, that the claims of the other kinsman were ended. He could not
redeem. He could not raise up the name of the dead. He could not give rest to
poor desolate Ruth.
And who is it, and what is it, that has had the
first and the fullest opportunity of saving and redeeming the poor, lost,
guilty sinner? It is the law. The other kinsman could do very well with the
land. And most excellent and necessary is the law, for God's moral government
in the world. But can the law, which utterly condemns the sinner, can it redeem
the sinner? Impossible! it can only curse him (Gal. 3:10). Can it raise from
the dead? Never! that would be to mar its own inheritance, for it is the
inheritance of the law to kill; but not to make alive. For hundreds of years it
had the fullest opportunity of saving men, but could it do so? No.
As
the ten elders bore witness that the other kinsman could not redeem, so the ten
commandments bear witness, that, on the principle of law-keeping, no man can be
saved. If my reader were perfectly righteous, and continued so, in all things
that are written in the book of the law to do them, then could it give you
life? But is this the case? Does not each of the ten condemn you? Have you not
sinned in thought, word, and deed? You may hope to be righteous some day, by
keeping the law. But is it not written, "If righteousness come by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain?" (Gal. 2:21). How can you then find rest and life in
that which is the ministration of death? (2 Cor. 3:7).
And if the
plucking of the shoe, proved the ability and claims of the other kinsman to be
ended, how much more when Jesus took the writing of law, and nailed it to His
cross? Does He not prove both the utter end of all question of the law's
ability to save, and the utter end of its claim on the sinner also? Oh why,
then, would you cling to the other kinsman? Why go back to the law, which can
never redeem the guilty sinner?
What the other kinsman could not do,
that Boaz did do. For he could not be in rest until he had finished the matter.
The very elders were witnesses, not only that the other could not. "But ye are
witnesses this day; Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased
to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance" (Ruth
4:10).
Oh, what a day of gladness for poor Ruth! What a perfect work
did Boaz finish for her that day - what a complete change for her - what
perfect rest! No longer the poor, sorrowing, outcast Moabitess - no more
gleaning and beating - no more coming and going - no more enjoying blessing
with Boaz one hour, and away from him desolate the next hour. The stranger
gleaner is now one with him forever. They two have become one, to part no more.
Perfect rest! Happy Ruth! The love that redeemed her would never part
with her - nothing could separate her from his love. She had nothing to bring
to him. Boaz had all to give for her. She was purchased to be his wife. Nobly
did he undertake for Ruth, and nobly did he finish the work that day. There was
joy that day in the gate of Bethlehem. All the people, and the elders in the
gate, bore witness, with great rejoicings, of the perfect redemption of Ruth,
and her marriage to the mighty man of wealth.
Is it not even so? What
the law could not do, God has done, in the sending of His beloved Son. Three
things gave Ruth perfect rest. Redemption, resurrection, and marriage - union
with Boaz. And what but these three things, in Christ, does the believer need,
to give him solid, everlasting rest?
Redemption, resurrection, and union with Christ
Let me repeat
them - nothing short of redemption, resurrection, and union with Christ, can
give the lost sinner rest.
(1) Redemption
It is the happy,
present, sure privilege of all believers to say, "We have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to [not our good deserving, but]
the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7). "Being justified freely by his grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24). "There is,
therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1).
Redemption through the death of Jesus on the cross is the foundation
of everything. Beyond this, the other kinsman has no claim whatever. The law
could not reach beyond the cross: there it was nailed. The death of Christ is
the very end of the law's utmost possible claim. It cannot go beyond death. And
Jesus undertook for us just there. He so really took our place in death, and
became a curse for us that He could not, like Boaz, be in rest Himself until He
had finished the work of redemption perfectly for us.
He did not
merely appear to undertake for us. It was a deep reality. "Made sin for us" (2
Cor. 5:21). Oh! my reader, ponder this well. Your doings or your feelings, had
nothing to do with this. If you are a believer this vast work was undertaken
for you, and finished for you, without your asking. It was the love of God.
After the kinsman had once plucked off his shoe, the case of Ruth
could never, on his behalf, have a second trial; the question was settled for
ever. It was so with the law. It was a schoolmaster unto Christ. But though man
had a fair trial until the cross under law, it could only condemn him. "Now we
know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law;
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God" (Rom. 3:19). And again, the apostle says, "We thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead" (2 Cor. 5:14).
Oh! let it be remembered,
then, that after this, the cross, man can never be put on his trial again under
the other kinsman, law. It has been once and for ever proved that he is only
lost and guilty, and the law cannot give him redemption, a new life, and rest
with God. Any attempt to get back past the cross, and put oneself on trial
again under law, is sheer madness. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us". "For as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse" (Gal. 3).
This ends the question. The blessed
cross is the end of the law, and the beginning and foundation of grace - the
grand barrier, so that they that would pass from one ground to the other
cannot. If of my works, it is no more God's grace.
(2) Resurrection
Let us now pass on to resurrection. The death of Jesus, the
propitiation for our sins, could never have given rest to the guilty sinner
without the resurrection. This is the very point insisted on, where it is
written, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your
sins" (1 Cor. 15:17).
How this marks the deep, real responsibility
Jesus undertook for us. If perfect redemption were not made by Him in the
giving up His precious life, He could not rise again. If we were still in our
sins, unredeemed before God, He must remain among the dead. If our sins are not
purged away, He cannot be raised for our justification. He cannot be in rest
Himself, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, unless He has for
ever purged our sins.
Now the question is this: Has God raised Him
from the dead for our justification or not? Is He raised upon high, and there
sat down or not? Most assuredly He is. Then this settles for ever the question
of our sins. It proves beyond all doubt that they are put away by the death of
Jesus for ever. So long as Jesus sits above, in that very body which hung on
the tree, bearing our sins, so long is He our righteousness, and God's
assurance to our souls, that our sins and iniquities, He will remember no more.
Yes, the resurrection of Jesus, gone up on high, is the answer of our
conscience before God.
And far more still. For whatever God did to
Christ in raising Him from the dead, He hath also done to us in Him our
substitute. Yea, "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved:) and hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6).
So
that, just as the condition of Ruth was no longer what she was in herself as a
poor outcast Moabitess, but what she was as the honoured bride of Boaz, so, the
condition and standing of a believer before God, is no longer what he is in
himself as a guilty, condemned sinner; and most certainly not what he is, or
would be, if put on his trial again under law. No, these old things are
entirely passed away, and his condition and standing is entirely of God in
Christ, the Head of the new creation.
Ruth had nothing to bring to
Boaz. But what riches had Boaz for Ruth! The sinner has nothing to bring to
Christ. But what has not Christ for the sinner? Redemption, life, and union.
Just the three things that Boaz had for Ruth. She not only needed one to redeem
her, but death was written on her house. We not only needed redemption, but
also life, as "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom.
5:12).
We have redemption through His blood. And His resurrection is
our life. Not the old man made alive. It was not the old dead husband of Ruth
raised again to life, but a new husband. Regeneration is not the old man raised
to life again, but an entirely new life - the resurrection-life. Nor are we put
again under the old husband, the law; but "ye are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to Him that is
raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God" (Rom. 7:4).
Surely my reader must see, that when converted, we are not married
again to the law, that we should bring forth sin - that which the law always
brings out. No! "We are delivered from the law, being dead to that wherein we
were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of
the letter" (Rom. 7:6). May God give my reader understanding in these things.
If we are led of the Spirit we are not under law.
Why should Ruth
desire to go to the kinsman, who could not redeem her; and why should the
believer desire to go back to the law, which could only curse him? Beware, my
young Christian reader, for many whom you little suspect would seduce you from
Christ. Think not that I would teach that God has set aside His law. No, as the
ten elders bare witness of the perfect redemption and union of Ruth to Boaz, so
the fulfilled law bears witness. Yes, the death of Christ for His own is the
great fulfilment of the law. The law demanded the life of the sinner. Jesus
gave His life for the sinner, and the law sits in the gate, a fulfilled witness
of the righteousness of God - not passed over slightly - no, fulfilled to the
utmost.
(3) Union with Christ
I trust my reader now sees,
that happy feelings, or the consciousness of blessing, cannot form the true
ground of rest, but perfect redemption through the blood of Christ; that the
certainty of this is proved by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; and,
even more than this, that every believer is now one with Jesus; that the very
expressive figure of marriage is used to show this wondrous union.
When the Emperor married his wife from England, she ceased to be an
Englishwoman. She might still have an English nature, but her standing became
French; yea, it became what the standing of the Emperor was. Her former station
ceased, and became dead as it were. So with Ruth. She ceased to be the poor
Moabitess, and became one with the wealthy Boaz.
It is so with every
believer, the moment God the Holy Ghost leads the soul to rest in the finished
redemption of Christ; for ever afterwards, the former old standing in guilty
self is reckoned to cease - to be dead - and marriage is marriage before God.
The married woman can never again be Miss So-and-so. Is it not equally true
that the Christian, now made one with Christ, can never return to the station
and standing of what he is in himself? What he is in himself has been judged on
the cross, and now ceases for ever before God.
He, like the Empress,
may still have the old nature; but the old standing of condemnation never can
be his again. There is not such a thing; as it is written: "There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ" (Rom. 8:1).
Dear
reader, if you are a believer, however poor and unworthy in yourself, all this
is true of you. You have redemption through His blood. You have His risen life
in you. You are one with Christ. Nothing can ever separate you. He will not die
again and leave you a widow. You never can be more united to Him than you are,
and therefore your everlasting rest never can be more sure than it is.
He has undertaken for you. "Who shall lay anything to your charge? It is God
that justifieth; who shall condemn? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us". Can you not triumphantly say, "Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ?" (Rom. 8).
In conclusion, "If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4).
All is blessed certainty. Risen with Christ - sat down with Him -
perfect rest! How could Ruth ever doubt the love of Boaz? All the people and
the elders were witnesses. Was, it presumption then for her to be quite sure?
Impossible! How can you doubt, then, my fellow-believer? He loved you and gave
Himself for you. You are His and He is yours.
It is not presumption.
God is witness - the elders bear witness - ten thousand times ten thousand bear
witness - all creation shall bear witness: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain"
(Rev. 5).
Farewell, then, to doubts and fears. No more comings and
goings - no more gleanings and beatings. Farewell to the land of Moab -
farewell to a deceitful world. You are one, redeemed sinner, with yonder Christ
in glory. That home above - that scene of love - is yours for ever. There, set
your affections. There, poor desolate wanderer, is your everlasting rest.