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Ruth Chapter
Two
Ruth 2
Chapter Contents
Ruth gleans in the field of Boaz. (1-3) The kindness of
Boaz to Ruth. (4-16) Ruth returns to her mother-in-law. (17-23)
Commentary on Ruth 2:1-3
(Read Ruth 2:1-3)
Observe Ruth's humility. When Providence had made her
poor
she cheerfully stoops to her lot. High spirits will rather starve than
stoop; not so Ruth. Nay
it is her own proposal. She speaks humbly in her
expectation of leave to glean. We may not demand kindness as a debt
but ask
and take it as a favour
though in a small matter. Ruth also was an example of
industry. She loved not to eat the bread of idleness. This is an example to
young people. Diligence promises well
both for this world and the other. We
must not be shy of any honest employment. No labour is a reproach. Sin is a
thing below us
but we must not think any thing else so
to which Providence
call us. She was an example of regard to her mother
and of trust in
Providence. God wisely orders what seem to us small events; and those that
appear altogether uncertain
still are directed to serve his own glory
and the
good of his people.
Commentary on Ruth 2:4-16
(Read Ruth 2:4-16)
The pious and kind language between Boaz and his reapers
shows that there were godly persons in Israel. Such language as this is seldom
heard in our field; too often
on the contrary
what is immoral and corrupt. A
stranger would form a very different opinion of our land
from that which Ruth
would form of Israel from the converse and conduct of Boaz and his reapers. But
true religion will teach a man to behave aright in all states and conditions;
it will form kind masters and faithful servants
and cause harmony in families.
True religion will cause mutual love and kindness among persons of different
ranks. It had these effects on Boaz and his men. When he came to them he prayed
for them. They did not
as soon as he was out of hearing curse him
as some
ill-natured servants that hate their master's eye
but they returned his
courtesy. Things are likely to go on well where there is such good-will as this
between masters and servants. They expressed their kindness to each other by
praying one for another. Boaz inquired concerning the stranger he saw
and
ordered her to be well treated. Masters must take care
not only that they do no
hurt themselves
but that they suffer not their servants and those under them
to do wrong. Ruth humbly owned herself unworthy of favours
seeing she was born
and brought up a heathen. It well becomes us all to think humbly of ourselves
esteeming others better than ourselves. And let us
in the kindness of Boaz to
Ruth
note the kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ to poor sinners.
Commentary on Ruth 2:17-23
(Read Ruth 2:17-23)
It encourages industry
that in all labour
even that of
gleaning
there is profit. Ruth was pleased with what she gained by her own
industry
and was careful to secure it. Let us thus take care that we lose not
those things which we have wrought
which we have gained for our souls' good
2 John 1:8. Parents should examine their
children
as Naomi did
not to frighten or discourage them
so as to make them
hate home
or tempt them to tell a lie; but to commend them if they have done
well
and with mildness to reprove and caution them if they have done
otherwise. It is a good question for us to ask ourselves every night
Where
have I gleaned to-day? What improvement have I made in knowledge and grace?
What have I done that will turn to a good account? When the Lord deals
bountifully with us
let us not be found in any other field
nor seeking for
happiness and satisfaction in the creature. We lose Divine favours
if we
slight them. Ruth dutifully observed her mother's directions. And when the
harvest was ended
she kept her aged mother company at home. Dinah went out to
see the daughters of the land; her vanity ended in disgrace
Genesis 34. Ruth kept at home
and helped to
maintain her mother
and went out on no other errand than to get provision for
her; her humility and industry ended in preferment.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ruth》
Ruth 2
Verse 2
[2] And
Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi
Let me now go to the field
and glean ears
of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her
Go
my daughter.
Glean —
Which was permitted to the poor
and the stranger
Deuteronomy 24:19
nor was she ashamed to
confess her poverty
nor would she eat the bread of idleness.
In whose sight —
For though it was their duty to permit this
yet she thought it might perhaps
be denied her; at least
that it became her modestly and humbly to acknowledge
their kindness herein.
Verse 3
[3] And she went
and came
and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and
her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz
who was of the
kindred of Elimelech.
Her hap — It
was a chance in reference to second causes
but ordered by God's providence.
God wisely orders small events
even those that seem altogether contingent.
Many a great affair is brought about by a little turn
fortuitous as to men
but designed by God.
Verse 4
[4] And
behold
Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said unto the reapers
The LORD be with
you. And they answered him
The LORD bless thee.
Said
… —
They expressed their piety
even in their civil conversation
and worldly
transactions; which now so many are ashamed of.
Verse 7
[7] And
she said
I pray you
let me glean and gather after the reapers among the
sheaves: so she came
and hath continued even from the morning until now
that
she tarried a little in the house.
I pray —
She did not boldly intrude herself
but modestly ask leave of us.
'Till now —
She is not retired through idleness
for she hath been diligent and constant in
her labours.
The house — In
the little house or tent
which was set up in the fields at these times
and
was necessary in those hot countries
where the labourers might retire for a
little repose or repast. Being weary with her continued labours
she comes
hither to take a little rest.
Verse 8
[8] Then said Boaz unto Ruth
Hearest thou not
my daughter? Go not to glean
in another field
neither go from hence
but abide here fast by my maidens:
Maidens —
Not by the young men
to avoid both occasion of sin
and matter of scandal.
Herein he shews his piety and prudence.
Verse 9
[9] Let
thine eyes be on the field that they do reap
and go thou after them: have I
not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art
athirst
go unto the vessels
and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Touch — So
as to offer any incivility or injury to thee.
Verse 10
[10] 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?
Fell —
This was the humblest posture of reverence
either civil when performed to men
or religious
when to God.
Take knowledge —
That is
shew any respect and kindness to me.
Verse 12
[12] The
LORD recompense thy work
and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of
Israel
under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Wings —
That is
protection and care. An allusion either to hens
which protect and
cherish their young ones under their wings; or to the wings of the Cherubim
between which God dwelt.
Verse 13
[13] Then
she said
Let me find favour in thy sight
my lord; for that thou hast
comforted me
and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid
though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
Tho' I be not — I
humbly implore the continuance of thy good opinion of me
though I do not
deserve it
being a person more mean
necessitous
and
obscure
a stranger
and one born of heathen parents
and not of the holy and honourable people of
Israel
as they are.
Verse 14
[14] And
Boaz said unto her
At mealtime come thou hither
and eat of the bread
and dip
thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her
parched corn
and she did eat
and was sufficed
and left.
She sat —
Not with or among them
but at some little distance from them
as one inferior
to them. It is no disparagement to the finest hand
to be reached forth to the
needy.
Verse 17
[17] So
she gleaned in the field until even
and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was
about an ephah of barley.
An Ephah —
About a bushel.
Verse 18
[18] And
she took it up
and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had
gleaned: and she brought forth
and gave to her that she had reserved after she
was sufficed.
Reserved — At
dinner
after she had eaten and was sufficed
or satisfied.
Verse 19
[19] And
her mother in law said unto her
Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where
wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed
her mother in law with whom she had wrought
and said
The man's name with whom
I wrought to day is Boaz.
Where hast thou gleaned to-day? — It is a good question to ask ourselves in the evening
"Where have
I gleaned to-day?" What improvements have I made in grace or knowledge?
What have I learned or done
which will turn to account?
Verse 20
[20] And
Naomi said unto her daughter in law
Blessed be he of the LORD
who hath not
left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her
The man is near of kin unto us
one of our next kinsmen.
To the dead —
That is
which he formerly shewed to those who are now dead
my husband and his
sons whilst they were living
and now continues to us.
Verse 21
[21] And
Ruth the Moabitess said
He said unto me also
Thou shalt keep fast by my young
men
until they have ended all my harvest.
Harvest —
Both barley-harvest
and wheat-harvest. She tells what kindness Boaz had shewed
her; but not
how he had commended her. Humility teaches not only not to praise
ourselves
but not to be forward in repeating the praise which others have
given us.
Verse 22
[22] And
Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law
It is good
my daughter
that thou go
out with his maidens
that they meet thee not in any other field.
Other field —
Whereby thou wilt both expose thyself to many inconveniences
which thou mayst
expect from strangers; and incur his displeasure
as if thou didst despise his
kindness.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ruth》
Ruth's Lowly Service: "Let Me Glean" (2:1-23)
INTRODUCTION
1. In our previous study
we saw how Ruth came to be the daughter-in-law to Naomi... a. The journey to Moab of Elimelech
Naomi
and their two sons b. The death of Elimelech
and marriages of the sons to Naomi and Orpah c. The deaths of the sons
and Naomi's return to Judah Ruth 2. We noticed the "noble choice" that was made by Ruth... a. To leave her home and religion of Moab b. To adopt Naomi's home and God as her own - cf. Ru 1:16-17 3. Noteworthy throughout this story is the filial devotion Ruth has toward her mother-in-law... a. We saw it in her "noble choice" b. We will see it again in her "lowly service" [The chapter begins where the previous one ended: at the time of thebarley harvest. In such a setting we read how...] I. RUTH GLEANS IN THE FIELDS OF BOAZ
A. RUTH REQUESTS TO GLEAN IN THE FIELDS... 1. We are introduced to Boaz - Ru 2:1 a. A relative of Naomi's husband
Elimelech b. A man of great wealth 2. Ruth gains permission from Naomi to let her glean - Ru 2:2 a. Hoping to find favor (kindness) from a landowner 1) The Law forbid owners from reaping the corners and gathering the gleanings of the harvest - cf. Lev 19:9-10 2) In this way God provided for strangers
the fatherless
and widows - Deu 24:19-22 b. Perhaps not all land owners respected this law 1) Especially toward "strangers" 2) We are reminded eight times in this book that Ruth was a "Moabitess" 3. Ruth "happened" to come upon the field belonging to Boaz - Ru2:3
a. Gleaning after the reapers
as the Law allowed b. She "happened" to come to the field belonging to Boaz 1) The word suggests it was by "chance"
which may how it first appeared 2) The overall context of the book reveals it was by "providence" B. BOAZ INQUIRES ABOUT THE WOMAN IN THE FIELDS... 1. We see the respect between Boaz and his workers - Ru 2:4 a. He entreats the Lord's presence upon them b. They bid the Lord's blessing upon him 2. Boaz asks his foreman about the strange woman - Ru 2:5-7 a. Who relates her Moabite background
and her relation to Naomi b. Who recounts her request to glean
and her diligent labor [With Boaz now aware of Ruth's identity
we next learn how...] II. BOAZ EXTENDS KINDNESS TO RUTH
A. HIS INITIAL KINDNESS... 1. Boaz encourages her to glean in his field alone - Ru 2:8-9 a. To stay by his young women b. To know that his young men have been commanded not to touch her c. To drink when thirsty the water drawn by the young men 2. Ruth inquires why he is so kind to her
a foreigner - Ru 2:10-12
a. Boaz has heard of her devotion to Naomi
and her "noble choice" b. Boaz prays the Lord will bless her in return for seeking His refuge 3. Ruth is comforted by his kindness - Ru 2:13 a. She hopes to continue to find favor in his sight b. For his kindness toward one who is not one of his maidservants B. HIS EXTENDED KINDNESS... 1. Shown to her at the noon mealtime - Ru 2:14 a. Inviting her to eat with the rest of the workers b. Passing roasted grain over for her to eat 2. Shown by the instructions given to his young men - Ru 2:15-16 a. To let her glean even among the sheaves without reproach b. To purposely let stalks fall from the bundles for her to glean 3. Allowing her to reap an ephah (about 30-50 pounds) of barley - Ru 2:17 a. A rather large amount for someone to glean from scraps! b. But then she had a lot of help from the "clumsy" workers! [At the end of the day
Ruth returns back to the city where...] III. NAOMI RESPONDS WITH GREAT JOY
A. RUTH SHARES HER PRODUCE WITH NAOMI... 1. Ruth shows her mother-in-law what she gleaned - Ru 2:18a 2. Ruth gives Naomi her excess grain - Ru 2:18b B. NAOMI REJOICES OVER GOD'S KINDNESS... 1. In response to Naomi's questions
Ruth tells her about Boaz - Ru 2:19 2. Naomi blesses the Lord - Ru 2:20 a. For His kindness to the living and the dead b. For Boaz is a close relative (who would have a duty to preserve the name of a dead relative) c. Note the contrast to her earlier feelings - cf. Ru 1:13
20
21
C. NAOMI COUNSELS RUTH TO CONTINUE... 1. Ruth tells of Boaz' instructions to continue gleaning among his workers - Ru 2:21 2. Naomi encourages her to stay with the women laborers in Boaz' field - Ru 2:22 3. Which Ruth does until the end of the harvest
while living with Naomi - Ru 2:23 CONCLUSION
1. In this chapter we have seen two noteworthy examples of righteous character... a. Ruth's humility and willingness to minister to the needs of her mother-in-law b. Boaz' kindness and sense of propriety in his treatment of the foreign woman in his field 2. We also saw Naomi's faith in God's care reassured... a. Even though she believed her earlier loss was due to God's discipline b. She was convinced that God had not forsaken His kindness to the living and dead In this story of "Ruth's Lowly Service
" we also see another truthdisplayed
that God gives grace to the humble: "Likewise you younger people
submit yourselves to [your] elders. Yes
all of [you] be submissive to one another
and be clothed with humility
for "God resists the proud
But gives grace to the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God
that He may exalt you in due time
casting all your care upon Him
for He cares for you." (1 Pe 5:5-7)
Are we willing to render lowly service to those around us
humblingourselves before God?
－－《Executable Outlines》
02 Chapter 2
Verse 1
Naomi had a kinsman.
A kind kinsman
I. God never wants
His instruments of succour unto those that trust in His mercy. Some relation
(either natural or spiritual) God will raise up to relieve His in their deepest
extremity.
II. Some rich men
may yet be religious men. Though indeed they are rare birds
yet riches and
religion are not inconsistent things.
III. It Is a brave
attainment to be rich in this world
and to re rich in good works too. So Boaz
was. Boaz did not make gold his confidence
but was rich in faith (James 2:5)
and rich to God (Luke 12:21). (C. Ness.)
Boaz a yeoman
In these early days
especially under the rule of the judges
when
hostile inroads on the chosen people were so frequently made by unfriendly
neighbours
the man who had great possessions was in a manner compelled to be
also a military leader
and so we may very justly combine the two meanings
and
speak of him as a valiant man and a wealthy; or
as Dr. Morison has paraphrased
the expression
“a strong and substantial yeoman.”(W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
The rich kinsman
All that the appointed kinsman could do for the estate and body of
his impoverished relative the Lord Jesus as our goel does for our souls and our
everlasting state. In His humanity He is our nearest kinsman. In His Deity
he
is perfectly able to supply all our wants
and to defend us from every danger
and oppression. As the promised goel
the Lord Jesus has a special relation to
Israel as a nation
and a particular personal relation to every believing soul.
He is the goel
the Kinsman Redeemer of the nation of Israel. He is the seed of
Abraham
in whom all the nations are to be blessed. God gave the land of Canaan
unto Abraham
and unto his seed for ever. It was to be their permanent
possession. But the children of Abraham have been long since cast out of their
inheritance. Their land has been taken from them
and they have been wanderers
and exiles on the heart. Yet God ordained that this land should not be sold for
ever
because it was His land. It was Immanuel’s land. And Immanuel is their
kinsman according to the flesh
who is to restore again that land to the seed
of Abraham. His feet are in that day to stand upon the Mount of Olives. But the
Lord Jesus Christ is also our goel
our Kinsman Redeemer--to fulfil the great
duties of a Restorer to us. He restores that which He took not away. He has
redeemed our lost estate. He has brought life and immortality to light
and
given us a kingdom which cannot be moved. He has redeemed our persons from
bondage and condemnation. We may go to Him just as freely and hopefully as the
impoverished Jew went to his kinsman
perfectly sure that He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This
gracious character of our blessed Saviour is brought out in many points of view
in the history of Boaz. When Naomi returned to Judah with Ruth
she found a
goel already prepared for her. He was “a mighty man of wealth
” perfectly able
to meet all their wants
and to restore them to their happy condition again. And such a
kinsman has been provided for us. We need not say
“Who shall ascend up to
heaven to bring Christ down from above?” He is already prepared to be a Saviour
for us
before we are born. We have nothing to do but to receive Him
trust in
Him
and obey Him
as our gracious
Lord. Like Boaz
He is “a mighty man of wealth.” All things in heaven and earth
are His. And if we are His
all things are ours. He can enrich His people with
every conceivable blessing. No good thing can they want while they have Him for
their friend and portion. The name of this rich kinsman of Naomi’s was Boaz
which means strength. In this name we may find a memorial of our Divine
Redeemer. Jesus is our strength and our salvation. He is the power of God unto
salvation for us. What mighty works He has done for us! What works of mercy is
He still willing to accomplish! He is our Kinsman Redeemer. We see Him in His
lowly human
suffering form
wearing our nature
and bearing the burden of our
sins. We see Him in the unsearchable riches of His grace as God over all
and
in the triumphs of His obedience as the Lord our Righteousness
possessing
unlimited wealth to be applied to our needs. We see Him of infinite might
exalted above the heavens
angels
authorities
and powers being made subject
unto Him. We see Him fully provided for us
waiting to be gracious to us
and
ready to receive the poorest and the most wretched of His kinsmen who come to
Him. (S. H. Tyng
D. D.)
Verses 2-4
Let me now go to the field
and glean.
The young to work for their parents
Ruth does not propose that Naomi should go with her to the field.
She wished her honoured mother to enjoy the rest and ease suited to her time of
life
whilst she herself was exposed to the troubles and inconveniences of her
humble occupation in the fields of strangers. Young persons should be
cheerfully willing to bear fatigues and troubles for the sake of their aged
parents
that they may enjoy such ease as the infirmities of age require. The
charities of the heart sweeten life
A young woman cheerfully labouring for
aged parents is far happier than a fashionable lady spending in idleness and
dissipation the fruits of the industry
of her ancestors. (G. Lawson.)
A dutiful daughter
1. God often raises high buildings upon weak foundations. Great
things often come from small beginnings.
2. All daughters ought to be dutiful daughters unto those mothers
whom God hath set over them; they should ask their counsel
and obey their
commands
as Ruth did here her mother-in-law
Naomi.
3. That poverty should not make any person have low thoughts of
piety; Ruth doth not grudge at God for keeping His servants no better.
4. All honest endeavours ought to be used for supplying wants
but
not by any wicked ways whatsoever. Ruth here resolves not to return to Moab
under her present wants
as Israel did under their wilderness wants to return
to Egypt; neither doth she think of such wicked ways as stealing to satisfy her
hunger. Neither yet doth Ruth resolve to take up the begging trade
as too many
lusty vagrants and vagabonds do in our time
but she rather resolves to labour with her hands.
5. That even lawful liberty ought not to be used without modesty and humility
in asking leave. A good heart inquireth
“Is it lawful
decent
and expedient?”
6. Such as find grace and favour in the sight of God shall
undoubtedly find no less in the sight of man. God will speak in the hearts of
men
for all such as wait on Him in the way of His providence
labouring with
their hands (Jeremiah 15:11; Proverbs 16:7).
7. A meek spirit gives forth mild speeches. Some persons have quick
and hot spirits
yea
even good persons. That Naomi should be thus meek in her
misery was much
for misery is a morose thing of itself
and unhinges the
spirit; yet sanctified affliction contributes much to meeken even a choleric
mind. (C. Ness.)
The gleaner
We have seen how ample were the relief and the portion provided
for Ruth.
1. The first step is to reduce her to the deepest necessity. She has
arrived with Naomi in Bethlehem. But they are there in great poverty
and with
no apparent means of relief. How this very necessity brought out a proof of the
excellence of Ruth! Love for her mother constrained her to seek a supply for
their need. And she came to the field
as a poor stranger
to gather up the scattered
heads of barley which the reapers had left in their path
and in the corners of
the field. It could have been the result only of extreme necessity. Thus God
brings the soul that He has loved and saved to an experience of utter want. He
makes every hope to fail
every means of spiritual safety to depart. The sinner
must be thus brought down to feel himself lost and perishing. And when the
Spirit has accomplished this
it is an important and blessed step toward a full
revelation of the riches of grace already prepared for him.
2. The next step is to take away all feeling of rebellious pride in
their state of
want. Ruth had great self-respect
a dignity of character that would have
honoured any condition in life. But she had no pride that rebelled against her
condition. “Let me glean after him in whose sight I shall find grace.” This is
a most happy and a most exemplary state of mind. She demanded and expected
nothing as a claim of merit or right. How important to you is such an example.
But it is thus God leads the sinful soul to its great Kinsman. His gracious
plan is to give everything freely
and to make man receive His free gifts with
grateful acknowledgment that he has deserved nothing. But how long do we
struggle against this spirit! How hard it seems contentedly to depend on mere
grace to the ungodly! This is one main obstacle in the way of our salvation.
3. The next step is one of gracious providence
to bring her
as it
were by accident
to an unexpected introduction to her rich kinsman. Ruth is wholly
ignorant of him or of the location of his fields. She is equally ignorant of
the exalted connection she is to have with him. To her the future of life is
darkness. But God
her gracious God
in whom she trusts
is light in whom is no
darkness at all. What an encouragement to us does this ignorance of hers
afford! How abounding may be God’s provided mercies for us! Ruth goes out into
the harvest-field of Judaea
separated among its various owners only by
landmarks
which could not be distinguished at a distance
not knowing to whose
field she might be led. But God had disposed and prepared her way before her.
“Her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz.” It was God’s
own plan for her
another part of which was now coming out to her view. And
when at last she finds the gracious end to which the whole is brought
she
could look back upon this
and say
“Now I know why I was made so poor
and led
to Boaz’s field to glean.” How often is the gracious providence of God thus
manifested in bringing the poor and perishing soul under the ministry of the
Word. How applicable to our purpose is this illustration! The first sight of a
Saviour is attractive and lovely to the seeking
sinful soul. The sinner comes
into the midst of his flock
and is struck with the precious blessings which
they enjoy. The Shepherd stands in their midst. Jesus is there
to awaken
instruct
sanctify
and feed His people. The hearts of all are evidently
refreshed by Him. He blesses them
in the ministry of His Word
by the teaching
of His Spirit. They praise Him with grateful homage in return. The whole scene
is awakening and attractive. Thus often the most abiding impressions of the
value of religion
of the excellence of a Saviour’s worth
and the happiness of
those who faithfully wait upon Him
are received. Men are drawn to Christ
and
made happy in trusting Him
by the enjoyment which His people evidently derive
from His service. And nothing is more important than that Christians should
ever wear an aspect and maintain an influence which will adorn the doctrine
they profess. “I see
” said Richard Cecil
contemplating his own sinful
wasted
life
in his youth
“I see two unquestionable facts. First
my mother is
greatly afflicted in circumstances
body
and mind; and yet I see that she cheerfully bears up
under it
by the support which she derives from constantly retiring to her
closet and reading her Bible. Second
that she has a secret spring of comfort
of which I know nothing; while I
who seek pleasure by every means
seldom or
never find it. If
however
there is any such secret in religion why may I not
attain it as well as my mother? I will immediately seek it from God.” He rose
from his bed instantly
and began to pray. And when the Saviour comes in thus
to bless His people
“sweetly the sacred odours spread.” Sinners are drawn and
encouraged to come to One so gracious and so compassionate. The reapers of His
harvest are animated and strengthened by His presence
and the Word of His
grace goes out with special power to the souls of those who hear. (S. H.
Tyng
D. D.)
Motive for permitting the poor to glean
One forcible motive to persuade the rich to suffer the poor to
glean may be this: Even the greatest in respect of God is but a gleaner. God
He is the master of the harvest; all gifts and graces they are His in an
infinite measure
and every godly man more or less gleans from Him. Abraham
gleaned a great glean of faith
Moses of meekness
Joshua of valour
Samson of
strength
Solomon of wealth and wisdom
St. Paul of knowledge
and the like.
Now
if we would be glad at our hearts that the Lord would give us free leave
and liberty for to glean graces out of His harvest
let us not grudge and
repine that poor people glean a little gain from our plenty. (T. Fuller
B.
D.)
Verse 3
Her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz.
Gleanings in the field of Boaz
1. I learn
first
from this subject
how trouble develops character.
2. Again
I see in my text the beauty of unfaltering friendship.
3. Again
I learn from this subject that paths which open in hardship
and darkness often come out in places of joy. And so it often is that a path
which starts very darkly ends very brightly. When you started out for heaven
oh
how dark was the hour of conviction--how Sinai thundered
and devils
tormented
and the darkness thickened! All the sins of your life pounced upon
you. After a while you went into the harvest field of God’s mercy; you began to
glean in the fields of Divine promise
and you had more sheaves than you could
carry
as the voice of God addressed you
saying
“Blessed is the man whose
transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered.” A very dark starting
in conviction; a very bright ending in the pardon
and the hope
and the
triumph of the gospel. So
very often
in our worldly business or in our
spiritual career
we start off on a very dark path. We have to ford the river
we have to climb the mountain
we have to storm the castle; but
blessed be
God! the day of rest and reward will come.
4. Again
I have to learn from my subject that events which seem to
be most insignificant may be momentous. Can you imagine anything more
unimportant than the coming of a poor woman from Moab to Judah? Can you imagine
anything more trivial than the fact that this Ruth just happened to alight--as
they say--just happened to alight on that field of Boaz? Yet all ages
all
generations
have an interest in the fact. So it is in your history and in
mine; events that you thought of no importance at all have been of very great
moment. That casual conversation
that accidental meeting--you did not think of
it again for a long while; but how it changed all the phase of your life.
5. Again
I see in my subject an illustration of the beauty of female
industry.
6. Once more; I learn from my subject the value of gleanings. It is
all the straws that make the harvest
it is the pence that make the pound
and
it is all the opportunities of doing good that make a life of usefulness if
rightly employed. Elihu Burritt learned many things while toiling in a
blacksmith’s shop. Abercrombie
the world-renowned philosopher
was a
philosopher in Scotland
and he got his philosophy
or the chief part of it
while
as a physician he was waiting for the door of the sick-room to open. (T. De
Witt Talmage.)
Great issues out of little things
It was strikingly remarked by Pascal that “if the nose of
Cleopatra had been a little longer or shorter it would have changed the history of
the world.” The cackling of geese once saved Rome. An apple failing from a tree
suggested to Sir Isaac Newton that great law by which he unlocked the mysteries
of the starry firmament and shed a new light on the whole creation of God. The
lifting of the lid of a common tea-kettle by the steam generated within it set
James Watt upon a train of thought that led to the invention of a steam-engine
which has revolutionised our whole manufacturing industry and multiplied human
intercourse a thousandfold. A reed of an unknown species
borne to the feet of
Columbus by the Atlantic wave awakened in his mind the conjecture that there
must be another continent; and this issued at length in the discovery of
America. A little bird
flying from the mouth of the cave in which Mohammed is
concealed
misleads the soldiers that are seeking his destruction; and this influences
the character of religion and the history of our race for many centuries over
the larger portion of the earth. Pharaoh’s daughter
coming down to the waters
of the Nile to bathe
finds a smiling infant in its floating cradle among the
bulrushes
and becomes God’s unconscious instrument in saving the life of one
who is to deliver a nation from cruel bondage
to ascend Sinai and speak with
God
and to conduct the million hosts of the chosen people
amid miracle and
wonder
to the borders of the promised land. Ruth’s “hap is to light on a part
of the field belonging unto Boaz”; and this eventually raises the poor stranger
to affluence
and brings her name into the golden genealogy of the Saviour of
men. (A. Thomson
D. D.)
The stranger in the harvest field
1. We see how God raises up friends for His people if they really
need them. If you are poor
perhaps you could tell how
when times were hard the
Lord has sent you a friend in your distress. Or
in some gloomy hour
when your
heart has been ready to burst with inward grief
some kind Christian friend has
called upon you
into whose ear you made bold to pour all your troubles
and
found unspeakable relief.
2. We may learn
too
from this part of Ruth’s history
what a happy
thing it is to put ourselves under the shelter of God’s care. Happy
happy
those who are thus dwelling “in the secret place of the Most High
and abiding
under the shadow of the Almighty
” who can say
“He is my refuge and my
fortress; my God
in Him will I trust.”(Bp. Oxenden.)
Verse 4
Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said unto the reapers
The Lord be
with you.
Salutation and prayer
I. That it is a
commendable thing for one to salute another when they meet.
II. That masters
are to pray that God may be with their household
family
and workmen. (R.
Bernard.)
A good master
1. The works
of God’s providence are very wonderful works. There is a “behold” put upon this
passage. Oh
the wonderful concurrence of these occurrences! Here Ruth is
ordered by Providence into Boaz’s field
and Boaz is ordered by the same
Providence to meet Ruth in his field; and all this in tendency to accomplish a
great design of their marrying together
infinitely above both their thoughts.
It would plainly astonish us to observe diligently the strange occurrences of
Divine Providence
and it is our great loss to live so little in the
observation of every passage and footstep thereof.
2. It is comely and commodious for masters to mind personally their
own concerns. Thus Boaz here did. Wise Cato could say
“That man which minds
not his vintage or harvest
the further he is from his labour
the nearer he is
to his loss”; and his eyes are every way
and everywhere.
3. Christianity is no enemy to comity and courtesy; or
civil
salutations are consistent with true sanctity in humane society.
4. Civil salutation ought to be paid again in the same coin
saluting
for saluting. (C. Ness.)
Boaz the farmer
Farming
rather than gardening in the ordinary sense of the
word
is man’s oldest occupation. It may not be esteemed the most dignified
one
nor may those engaged in it be generally found either the most enlightened
or refined of men; still
instituted by Divine authority
and pursued by man in
his primeval innocence
with the ordinances of marriage and the Sabbath-day
it
is a vestige of Eden. Besides
it is probable
if not certain
that it is the
one employment in which man had God for his teacher. The heathens themselves
represent the gods as having taught him how to cultivate corn; and in this
as
in many of their other legends
they have preserved a valuable fragment of
ancient truth. There is that indeed in the nature of wheat
barley
and the
other cereals
which goes almost to demonstrate that God specially created them
for man’s use
and originally committed them to his care. These plants are
unique in two respects--first
unlike others
the fruits or roots of which we
use for food
they are found wild nowhere on the face of the whole earth; and
secondly
unlike others also
they cannot prolong their existence independent
of man
without his care and culture. When mines are empty
and furnaces stand
quenched and cold
and deep silence reigns in the caverns where the axe of the
pitman sounded
the husbandman shall still plough the soil. His
the first
man’s
shall probably be the last man’s employment. The occupation which Boaz
followed rises still higher in importance when we look at the multitudes it
employs. Great as we are in commerce and manufactures--clothing nations with
our fabrics
covering every sea with ships
and carrying the produce of our
arts to every shore--the cultivation of the soil employs a larger number of
hands than any other trade. Now these interests turn to a great extent on the
manner in which those who follow Boaz’s occupation discharge their duties: and
it is therefore a matter of thankfulness that in him the book which instructs
both kings and beggars
peers and peasants
how to live
sets before us a model
farmer.
I. His diligence
in business. Boaz was not one whom necessity compelled to labour. He was rich;
and is indeed called “a mighty man of wealth.” Yet he made that no reason for
wasting his life in ease and idleness. Nor
though he employed overseers
did
he consider it right to commit his business entirely into their hands. In the
first place
such irresponsibility is not good for servants. It places them in
circumstances of temptation to act dishonestly. Neither is it
in the second
place
for the master’s interests. “The eye of the master maketh a fat horse
”
says an English proverb. “The farmer ploughs best with his feet
” says a Scotch
one--his success turning on the attention he personally gives to the
superintendence of his servants and the different interests of his farm.
II. His
courteousness. “Be ye courteous” is a duty which Paul--himself a fine example
of it--enjoins on Christians (Acts 26:12). His was courtesy to a
superior; but a still finer ornament of manners
and of religion also
is
courtesy to inferiors. And what a fine example of that is Boaz! It is with no
cold looks
nor distant air
nor rough speech
nor haughty bearing
making his
reapers painfully sensible of their inferiority--that they are servants and he
their master--Boaz enters the harvest field. More beautiful than the morning
with its dews sparkling like diamonds on the grass
and its golden beams
tipping the surrounding hills of Bethlehem
these morning salutations between
master and servants! Loving him
they esteemed his interests their own. His
conduct corresponded with his speech. Observe the eye of compassion he cast on
Ruth. He paid as much honour to the virtues and feelings of this poor gleaner
as if she had been the finest lady in the land. Behold true courteousness! This
grace is a great set-off to piety. As such it should be assiduously cultivated by
all who desire to “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.”
III. His piety. “The
Lord be with you”--his address to the reapers on entering the harvest
field--has the ring of sterling metal. What contrast Boaz offers to farmers we
have known
by whose lips God’s name was frequently profaned
but never
honoured--their servants
like their dogs and horses
being often cursed
but
never once blessed! “Like master
like man.” Boaz almost never opens his mouth
but pearls drop out. His speech breathes forth pious utterances. All his
conversation is seasoned with grace; and
though the result of a Divine change
of heart
how natural his religion seems!--not like a gala-dress assumed for
the occasion--not like gum-flowers worn for ornament
but such as spring living
from the sward--not like an artificial perfume that imparts a passing odour to
a thing that is dead
but the odours exhaled by roses or lilies bathed in the
dews of heaven. Nor was it only in the language of piety that his piety
expressed itself. It did not evaporate in words. We have heard him speak; see
how he acts! One night sleeping by a heap of corn
alone as he supposed
he
wakes to find a woman lying at his feet. It is Ruth. Instructed by Naomi
she
takes this strange Jewish fashion to seek her rights and commit her fortunes
into his hands.
IV. His care for
the moral and religious interests of his servants. Boaz in his own life set
them an example of piety which could hardly fail to produce a favourable
impression on their minds. Some are content to get work out of their servants;
they take no interest in their souls--no more than if
like the cattle they
tend
they had no souls at all. Unlike these
Boaz spoke to his servants as a
God-fearing man. One who felt himself responsible to God and to their parents
also
he charged himself with the care of their morals. This appears in the
warnings and kind instructions he gave both to them and to Ruth. (T.
Guthrie
D. D.)
Relations between employers and employed
The great operations which some in these days think fit to carry
on
more for their own glory certainly than the good of their country or
countrymen
entirely preclude anything like friendship between the chief and
the multitude of his subordinates. It is impossible that a man who has a
thousand under him should know and consider each
and there would be too much
pretence in saying
“God be with you
” on entering a yard or factory when
otherwise no feeling is shown with which the name of God can be connected.
Apart altogether from questions as to wealth and its use
every employer has a
responsibility for maintaining the healthy human activity of his people
and
nowhere is the immorality of the present system of huge concerns so evident as
in the extinction of personal goodwill. The work man
of course
may adjust
himself to the state of matters
but it will too often be by discrediting what
he knows he cannot have and keeping up a critical resentful habit of mind
against those who seem to treat him as a machine. He may often be wrong in his
judgment of an employer. There may be less hardness of temper on the other side
than there is on his own. But the conditions being what they are
one may say
he is certain to be a severe critic. We have unquestionably lost much and are
in danger of losing more
not in a financial sense
which matters little
but
in the infinitely more important affairs of social sweetness and Christian
civilisation. (R. A. Watson
M. A.)
On the relations that subsist amongst the different classes of
society in general
and in particular the intercourse between employers and
operatives
How lovely is the picture of this Hebrew harvest field! It has
often been remarked that the Bible
in its histories
doctrines
and precepts
is suited to all nations and all times. Though written by Jews
it is written
for the world; though addressed chiefly to Israel
it is framed to suit
mankind. To a monarchy in one age
and a republic in another
it gives forth
its saving lessons without partiality and without embarrassment. The
patriarchal institutes that prevailed in the time of Boaz were very different
from the political constitutions of modern Europe. The subjection of the
servant to his master which prevailed in those days was very different from the
freedom and equal rights of all classes in our own land. Human happiness and
misery do not turn on the form which the organisation of society may assume. It
is a baptism by the Spirit that will sweeten and hallow the relations of life
whatever the external form may be into which they have been cast. In view of
the condition and tendencies of society
what is the duty of a Christian
patriot? He is not to whine idly for the return of the good old days
when
society consisted only of two classes
kind masters and happy serfs; neither is
he madly to plant himself in the breach
with the view of stemming and turning
the advancing tide. Let believing men
whatever may be their views of the
optimism in political organisation
fix it as an axiom in their minds that for
the highest good of the species much more depends on the spirit which animates
persons than on the forms which institutes may assume. Let all who hope in God
and love their brethren act on this principle
and act together on it. Consider
now
more particularly
the two features that characterised the intercourse
between Boaz and his reapers. These are kindliness and godliness; there is love
of men
and there is reverence of God.
I. Kindliness is
greatly to be desired in the intercourse of employers and employed in our day.
The master and the men must meet often for the transaction of business that is
of common concern. If the meetings be devoid of kindness
they are unpleasant
and injurious. How much we suffer from harsh
supercilious pride on the one
hand
and dogged
discontented pride on the other! Here is a noble field for
the philanthropist to labour on. He who shall increase the kindliness
between operatives and their employers will be a benefactor of his race. All
does not lie with the masters
but the initiative is with them. They have more
in their power. We shall lose all the benefit of our vast machinery
it will be
blighted by a curse
if we use living men as a part of it--if we make no
distinction between the most wonderful work of God and these dead
mindless
workers which our own hands have set up. Human brains have been weighed in the
same balance with the dross that feeds the furnace! You take the girth of a
man’s soul
as you do of a wrought-iron piston
with the view of ascertaining
the amount of propulsion that may be expected out of it. Both
and both alike
you put under the steam
and work them till they be worn. This is the ailment
of society. Man is not a brother to man. The labourer should not fret against
the employer as such. He is part of the organisation of Providence. We don’t
want this wheel that racks you taken out of the way. We want it oiled with holy
human sympathy. But how shall we get such kindliness poured out upon the too
too sharp spirits of men
when the classes meet in a bristling array of mutual
suspicion and defiance? We must go to seek it in the source of all good. The
sympathy of which we have been speaking is the second commandment; in order to
reach it we must climb up to the first. We must begin at the beginning (Ecclesiastes 12:13). We are thus brought
to the other leading characteristic of the intercourse depicted in the text.
II. Its godliness.
Look to the subject-matter of that kind mutual salutation
and you will find
that master and men lived in the fear of God
and were not ashamed to own their
religion in each other’s presence. The secret lies here. There would be more of
human kindness amongst us if there were more of genuine faith in God. It is
here that our defect lies. In great measure God is banished from history
from
politics
from merchandise
from manufactures. God is not willing to be
banished from any of His works. In Him we live and move and have our being. We
do not propose that at your desks or your counters you should set aside your
ledgers and commence a debate on systems of theology. Everything in its own
time and place. There is such a thing as doing common business in a Christian
spirit
walking about on earth like one who is going home to heaven. We are
very low as to the existence of godliness in the heart; and we are still lower
as to the manifestation of it in the ordinary intercourse of society. Very
little of it is possessed; and even that little is not brought into exercise.
We are persuaded that few masters are to be found at present who would not be
ashamed to acknowledge a sinner’s hope in a precious Saviour in presence of
their workmen; and comparatively few mechanics
who
if such an acknowledgment
were made
would not openly sneer or secretly impute it to hypocrisy. The two
classes distrust each other. Even the religion that they have they hide in each
other’s presence. Alas
the only salve is by a tacit compact kept far away from
the sores of society! The motions of the community are jarring and painful
because they are not softened by Divine grace. It is a short-sighted policy to
shut up religion in churches and prayer-meetings
or even in households.
Religion is intended for the world. The world has need of it. There cannot in
the nature of things be a proper intercourse between human beings if the fear
of God and the faith of the gospel do not pervade it. How can you treat a man
aright when you have in view only the lowest part of his nature--the briefest
period of his destiny? If all that your mind takes in regarding him be his work
and his wages--the profit and loss in money of retaining or dismissing
him--your treatment of him cannot possibly be right. It is only when you learn
to take in the whole man that your conception can be accurate and your conduct
wise. Conclusion:
1. Those who have no chief end for their souls
and no chief aim of
their lives beyond things seen and temporal
bring no godliness to bear on the
business of society. You cannot apply to a brother what you have not
experienced yourself. One thing is needful. If you are not working for God
you
are idle; if you have not gained your soul
you have lost all.
2. Those who are born from above bring too little godliness to bear
on the common interests of life. (W. Arnot.)
Friendly co-operation between masters and men
Why do not employers take employes into their confidence? I know a
gentleman very well who has over a thousand hands in his employ. I said to him
some years ago
when there was great trouble in the labour market
“How are you
getting on with your men?” “Oh
” he said
“I have no trouble.” “Why
” I said
“haven’t you had any strikes?” “Oh
no
” he said
“I never had any trouble.”
“What plan do you pursue?” He said
“I will tell you. All my men know every
year just how matters stand. Every little while I call them together and say
‘Now
boys
last year I made so much; this year I make less; so you see I can’t
pay you as much as I did last year. Now I want to know what you think I ought
to have as a percentage out of this establishment
and what wages I ought to
give you. You know I put all my energy in this business and risked everything
put all my fortune in it and risked everything. What do you really think I
ought to have
and you ought to have?’ By the time we come out of that
consultation we are unanimous; there never has been an exception. When we
prosper
we all prosper together; when we suffer
we all suffer together; and
my men would die for me.” Now
let all employers be frank with their employes.
Take them into your confidence. Let them know just how matters stand. There is
an immense amount of common sense in the world. It is safe always to appeal to
it. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Religion in the harvest field
1. It is remarkable that those who stand prominently forward in the
lineage of our Lord according to the flesh represent the varied callings and
positions of the human race; as if He who was not ashamed to call us brethren
had woven into the tapestry of His human scenes threads borrowed from every
skein of life
that He might be
as it were
girt with the garment of our
humanity
and consequently be able entirely to sympathise with us.
2. But whilst on the one hand our blessed Lord received into Himself
according to the flesh streams from every source of human life
He manifested
again in His life and works the scenes from which they flowed. So that there is
no employment in life but what the labourer
be he monarch
priest
or peasant
may find a practical brotherhood in Christ
and derive lessons of instruction
and comfort in the hours of toil from Him who was “King of kings
” “our great
High Priest
” and “had not where to lay His head.”
3. The leading lesson which Boaz teaches us is the sanctity of every
earthly occupation when pursued by the servant of God. The real greatness of
any man’s work consists in its being done according to the standard and limits
of religion; and the absence of consciousness or religious expression is no
sign of the unreality of real religious principle.
4. In the country
a large portion of whose population is
agricultural
the conduct and character of the farmer or the landed proprietor
is of no small consequence. He can improve or deteriorate the race of the
labourer
he can elevate or depress multitudes of those around him
by the way in
which he acts; and we are bound to believe that to a great degree God blesses
the crops and the harvest according to the character of those connected with
them.
5. The position of Boaz is one which silences all possible
objections. He was no inferior farmer who could afford to be religious because
he had not the opportunity of speculation
“for he was a mighty man of wealth.”
He was not ashamed to recognise God
while
alas! how many amongst us of a
similar class have not the courage to acknowledge to those they employ that
they recognise God as the source and author of all that they possess. The
example of the master will be followed by the man; if he puts religion forward
in the front of his intercourse with his labourers
he will set the fashion to
the field
the farmyard
and the cottager’s home. The foreman will own God
and
the reaper will “catch the trick” of reverence. It would seem as if some men
imagined that some chance hand opened the womb of the teeming earth. It is to
such men that God says
“They did not know that I gave the corn; therefore will
I return and take away My corn
I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees” (Hosea 2:9). But in the stately and almost
sublime interview between Boaz and his reapers we find a practical suggestion
also--why should not farmers not only recognise God and religion
but do
something to realise the connection between God and themselves?
6. Another striking feature in the conduct of Boaz is the care that
he takes of the purity of unmarried women when at work in his fields; for Boaz said unto Ruth
“Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? Go not to
glean in another field
but abide here fast by my maidens.” It would almost
seem as if the young men and young women worked in different fields. How
lamentable is the “contrast of a picture like this with that displayed by the
estates of our farmers in seedtime
hay harvest and corn harvest. Imagine the
long tale of shameful and miserable life that many a woman wrecked early on the
quicksand of impurity has to tell upon her death-bed
and too often connects it
all with the first hint given in the field in which God’s merciful hand was
most singularly manifested in scattering His bounties.
7. But there is one more point full of instruction in the conduct of
Boaz--his consideration of the gleaners. Some farmers close their gates
altogether against the gleaner
and many are strict in their injunctions that
but little shall be left for the poor. Yet surely the prayers of the poor
when
genuine and honest
bring a blessing upon all around them
and what is given to
them is but a loan to God. (E. Monro
M. A. )
Business to be sanctified by religion
Our forefathers symbolised a beautiful truth when in our old
market towns they erected a market cross. As if to teach the buyers and sellers
to order their actions and to sanctify their gains by the remembrance of a
crucified Saviour. In the orders which God gave for the encampment of Israel
during their pilgrimage to Canaan it was provided that every part of the camp
looked towards the tabernacle. And thus God taught them ever to remember that
He was in their midst
and that before Him they must walk day by day. (Aubrey
C. Price
B. A.)
Piety with courtesy
Piety not only stands with humanity and civil courtesy
but also
exacteth and requireth it (Matthew 12:1-50.; 1 Peter 3:8; Luke 10:5). God hath
His ethics
and
commandeth good manners as well as good conscience. Affability and courtesy is
the way to win others; men’s minds are taken with it
as passengers’ eyes are
with fair flowers in the springtide; whereas a harsh
sullen
sour
churlish
conversation is very distasteful to all
galleth the best (witness David
1 Samuel 25:1-44.)
and openeth bad
men’s mouths to speak evil of religion. (J. Trapp.)
Verses 5-7
Then said Boaz unto his servant
. . . Whose damsel is
this?
And the servant . . . said
It is the Moabitish damsel.
The welcome reception
We can imagine
many ways in which Boaz and Ruth might have been made acquainted with each
other. But surely none which would have been better adapted to awaken the
deepest and tenderest mutual interest in the mind of each. She appears in all
the loveliness of virtuous modesty
humbly toiling for a mother’s support and
comfort
though unused to labour. He appears before her clothed with dignity
and benevolence. We are now to witness their first mutual introduction
and the
welcome reception which he gives to her. First we have the rich kinsman’s
notice of her
addressed to his head servant. Extensive as are the concerns of
Boaz
the poor stranger whom the Lord hath led there is not forgotten. Happy
indeed is such prosperity as this! The heart is not lifted up
the spirit is
not made selfish and arrogant. There is a tender care for the poor maintained
amidst the enjoyments and luxuries of wealth. Thus the Saviour comes to visit His
earthly field
and calls the servants whom He has set over it to account for
their charge. His ministers watch for souls as they who must give an account.
Not the poorest stranger is unnoticed or forgotten by Him. Jesus may be
considered as asking His ministers continually
of one and another in their
flock
“Who is that?” What a dying reflection was that of the eminent
Archbishop Williams in the reign of Charles I.: “I have passed through many
places of honour and trust
both in Church and State
more than any of my order
in England
this seventy years before. But were I assured that by my preaching
I had converted but one soul unto God
I should take therein more spiritual joy
and comfort than in all the honours and offices which have been bestowed upon me.”
This question of Boaz brings us to the reply which the servant makes. He is not
inquired of in vain. He has made himself acquainted with the whole history of
Ruth. And in giving his account he uses great skill and kindness in setting
forth the advantageous circumstances of her case. He tells of her origin; of
her return
her emigration from Moab to Israel; of her need--her poverty
compelled her to beg permission to glean; of her gentle humility; of her
perseverance. His account is marked by the evidence of the utmost kindness and
compassion. When we think of this as an illustration of the account we may give
of some daughters of the Lord Almighty who are committed to our charge
how
appropriate seems the whole story. To create and maintain a familiar and
intimate acquaintance with the members of the flock committed to him is a most
important instrument of usefulness to a faithful pastor. The whole influence
and value of his ministry will be greatly dependent on this knowledge of his
people. Suppose I could say of all the youthful females in the field around me
as each one severally appeared for my account
“This also was a daughter of
Moab
but she has come back.” How applicable to them would become Paul’s
account of the Corinthian Christians
“Such were you
but ye have been washed
ye have been justified
ye have been sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God.” She has come back. The answer of the servant of
Boaz leads us to Boaz’s own address to the lonely stranger. How kindly and
freely he welcomes her to his ample provisions! And lest she should not
understand the openness of his invitation
he calls her attention particularly
to this fact of her entire welcome to every provision there. The Saviour’s
grace is thus open and free. Whosoever will may take of the water of life
freely. Here are abundant supplies of all that you can desire or ask; and all
given without recompense or hope of return from you. He urges her to remain in
the field to which the gracious providence of God had sent her: “Go not to
glean in another field.” Our gracious Kinsman feels equally jealous of any
partnership or competition in His work of grace for you. He lets you know that
if you attempt to be
saved in any other way Christ shall profit you nothing. There is salvation in
none other. There is no field in which you can gather happiness
and
rest
and abiding peace
but the field of Christ. Well may we apply to you
Boaz’s address
“Go not from hence. Abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine
eyes be on the field that they do reap
and go thou after them.” Nothing is
more important for your religious character than appropriate religious society.
The examples and influence of faithful people of God are a precious help to you
in your Christian course. Be the companion always of those who fear God
and
turn away your feet from the paths of evil men. The landmarks among these
various fields
which separate them from the field which the Lord hath blessed
may not be always perfectly distinct and apparent to you. Try no experiment how
far you may go towards these strange fields and return in safety. Dwell in the
heart of the land
and make the fact always sure
that you are with the Lord
and His chosen flock. Here you have every promise of protection and supply.
Your gracious Kinsman has charged His ministers to help and guide you
not to
hurt or hinder you. Ruth’s humble and grateful answer to her unknown kinsman
may conclude our present thoughts. “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?” What deep humility!
What consciousness of need! What confession of her own unworthiness! What
affectionate gratitude for the kindness he has displayed! It is just so that
the loving-kindness of the Lord humbles the pardoned sinner to the dust. (S.
H. Tyng
D. D.)
Hath continued even from
the morning until now.
Ruth’s industry prompted by love
Ruth had spent no more time under covert than was absolutely
necessary for enabling her to return to her labours. “It is vain to rise up
early and sit up late
to eat the bread of sorrows.” We ought to consult our
health in carrying on our labours
and not to make them a burden too heavy for
us to bear. When covetous desires of gain induce men to overwork their powers
they sacrifice their health to Mammon
whom they have chosen for their God. But
Ruth was labouring for her mother as well as herself. Her love to Naomi would
give her spirits and strength to endure the heat of the climate. (G. Lawson.)
Verse 8-9
Then said Boaz unto Ruth
Hearest thou not
my daughter?
Go not to glean in another field.
Loving-kindness
1. There may be an hearing without an heeding.
2. Loving-kindness to necessitous persons ought not to be shown in
word and tongue only
but also in deed and truth (1 John 3:1). Boaz’s kindness was
real
as well as verbal. Mouth-mercy and lip-love is good
cheap
and aboundeth
everywhere in our age. God is kinder to those that glean in His gospel-fields
than ever Boaz was to Ruth; He will not put us off with mouth-mercy only
but
will make Himself known by His name Jehovah as well as by His name of God
Almighty.
3. God’s gleaners should have their proper and peculiar gospel-fields
to glean in. They should not go to glean in the fields of strangers (John 10:5; John 10:8). They have their senses
exercised to discern good and evil (Hebrews 5:14). They have a spirit of
discerning (1 Corinthians 12:10) whereby they do
discern the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). This makes them
hate every false way (Psalms 119:104). (C. Ness.)
Let thine eyes be on the
field that they do reap.
Harvest lessons
(for the Young):
I. The manifestation
of what is hidden in human life. In the early spring the buried seed-corn was
completely hidden. You could get no answer to such questions as
What sort? How
much? Is it germinating or rotting? The reply would be
Wait. Harvest will
reveal. So in human character. Thoughts
and wishes
and life-bias are often
concealed. The good
through failure
seems bad; the bad
through hypocrisy
good. There shall be an unveiling. Contact with Christ brings out
in
conversion and in judgment
many surprises in human character. “There is
nothing hid that shall not be known.”
II. The increase of
what is small in human life. What contrast between the seeds and the sheaf.
What growth
“some sixty-fold
some an hundred-fold.” So with the greatest
thing in human history
Christianity. The babe
becoming the sovereign of the
race. So with good and evil in human lives. The thought growing to wish
wish
to resolve
resolve to deed
deed to habit
habit to influence that is
immeasurable. “Who hath despised the day of small things?”
III. The retribution
for what is done in human life. In the destiny of tares and wheat
Christ
teaches souls to read their retribution. It is the outcome of the life. Hell
and heaven are the perfect outgrowth
the harvest of character. The good shall
ripen to glory
the evil to shame. “Whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also
reap: he that soweth to the
flesh
” etc.
IV. The passing
away of opportunity in human life. Each season gives its own chances.
V. The providence
of God over the whole of human life. He cares for human life
and through
frosts and summer heats
storms and midnights
matures the Christly soul. “All
things work together for good.”(Urijah R. Thomas.)
Have I not charged the
young men.--
Masters and servants
1. Here we see that servile natures are most prone and proclive to
wrong poor strangers. Indeed
generous spirits disdain to make those the
subjects of their cruelty which rather should be the objects of their pity; but
it complies with a servile disposition to tyrannise over such poor people as
cannot resist them. Like petty brooks pent within a narrow channel
on every
dash of rain they are ready to overflow
and wax angry at the apprehension of
the smallest distaste.
2. From these words observe
that it is the part of a good master not
only to do no harm himself
but also to take order that his servants do none (Genesis 12:20; Genesis 26:11).
3. In these words Boaz doth intimate that if he gave a charge to the
contrary none of his servants durst presume once to molest her. If he
a mere
earthly master
could procure such obedience to his commands
surely if the
Lord of heaven enjoins us anything
we ought to do it without any doubt or delay. (T. Fuller
B. D.)
Verse 10
Then she fell on her face
and bowed herself to the ground.
The lowly attitude of a grateful heart
I. what deep and
touching humility is expressed here.
II. what
affectionate gratitude is here.
III. what
confessions of unworthiness are here.
IV. what
consciousness of need is here. (W. Baxendale.)
Ruth’s humility and gratitude
What had Boaz done for Ruth that she falls down on her knees and
thanks him for his favours in language expressive of such warm gratitude? He
had assured her of his protection. He had invited her to gather the gleanings of his corn
and to
drink of his water. And what thanks do we give to Him who invites us to come
and buy wine and milk from Him without money and without price? Ruth thought
herself greatly honoured by the attentions of Boaz. She was a stranger and
foreigner
an alien to the commonwealth of Israel
and did not reckon herself
entitled to any kindness from the people of the Lord. The humble are always
disposed to be thankful
and therefore they are always happy. When men are
swelled with such a sense of their own merit that they think themselves entitled
to everything
they will never be pleased. But you can scarcely displease the
humble man
because he thinks anything better than he deserves. He enjoys peace
in his own bosom
because his expectations are seldom disappointed. He acquires
the goodwill of all around him
because he is thankful for the smallest
favours
and not dissatisfied when he meets with none. (G. Lawson.)
Verse 11
It hath fully been shewed me
all that thou hast done unto thy
mother-in-law.
The praise of virtue
I. that virtue
shall not want trumpeters to sound out her praises to the full (Psalms 37:6).
II. that well-doing
procureth favour to the poor
though strangers
at the hands of the virtuous;
for this was the cause of Boaz’s love to Ruth
as here he acknowledgeth; and
this is true godliness
to love others for their goodness. (R. Bernard.)
The gracious approbation
Ruth begins now to reap the abundant harvest which is growing for
her in the Divine purposes of mercy--a harvest of which Boaz’s fields are only
a part
and of which indeed all that Boaz possessed was but a feeble
illustration. She had been faithful in that which appeared to be the least
and
now she was to be rewarded with that which seemed to be much. We have first to
remark upon the gracious approbation which Boaz bestows upon her whole history
though he knew not her personally. It is thus you may often think yourself
unknown
and unobserved in your efforts to do right in your different relations
of life
when there are many eyes upon you
watching your character
and many
ears may be listening to what the Lord has enabled you thus to do for Him. Give
yourself no concern about this. God
your guardian and protector
will see that
you have all the reputation and recompense which is good for you. Ruth supposed
herself concealed in the field of Boaz. But he declares to her that her
faithfulness to Naomi had been fully related to him
and he knew her well. Thus
the Saviour recounts to His people
and for them
the acts of their life which
have manifested their love to Him. Nothing that you do is worthy the Saviour’s
notice. But nothing that you really do for Him will be unnoticed by Him. You
will never be rewarded for your works. But you will be judged by your works.
They are the proofs of your faith
as the fruits on the tree are the evidences
of its character and its worth. Certainly there is nothing on earth so blessed and
so precious as the approbation of our Divine Master
speaking in our own
hearts
of the service we have feebly but sincerely tried to render to Him. But
Boaz not only expresses approbation
he also speaks of recompense to Ruth. She
shall not be unrewarded. Naomi may not be able to do anything for her. But
Naomi has other paymasters in the Lord’s employ beside herself. Our acts of
benevolence and love for Christ’s sake can never go without their result of
blessing even in this life. The merciful man doeth good to his own soul. We
comfort the needy and the sorrowing
and we are thus preparing comforters for
ourselves in the persons of others whom the Lord will raise up to minister to
our wants. We aid the children of the poor
and we are laying up a heritage for
our children in the kindness of others whom we know not. But apart from this
result of recompense
there is also our own happiness in the work itself. “It
is more blessed
” that is
it is happier
a happier state and habit of mind
a
happier condition of feeling and thought
“to give than to receive.” Whatever
we do in kindness to others for Christ’s sake He returns to us in our own
secret personal enjoyments. He ministers to us a peace and blessedness in the
work which is our inward possession
and which comes to us without any
reference to outward results. But Boaz prays for more than recompense: “A full
reward be given thee
” etc. For full rewards in any course of human life we
must look beyond the present state of being. The Saviour says of the objects of
beneficent action
“They cannot recompense thee
but thou shalt be recompensed
in the resurrection of the just.” Whatever results come now from any of the
acts of life
they are extremely partial. The final results are yet to be
revealed. The abundant harvest is to be gathered hereafter. But it will be
surely gathered. The Saviour shall Himself minister to those who have been
faithful to Him here
an abundant recompense
a full reward. But while the
Saviour thus animates and encourages His disciples with the blessed hope before
them
see how the answer of Ruth to Boaz illustrates their self-renouncing
mind. The more generously a noble mind is dealt with
the more humble and
unassuming does it become. This is eminently the case with the children of God
when their Divine Redeemer comforts and blesses them. Never do they feel so
perfectly unworthy as when He pours the special ministration of the oil of
gladness into their souls. But all this only increases their sense of their own
unworthiness of such mercy. And their cry and prayer is
that they may still
find favour in His sight--that He would look upon them with eyes of mercy
and
think of them according to His own grace and not according to their merits.
Boaz’s gracious provisions for the lonely stranger crown and close this instructive interview. Was
any conduct of man ever more delicate
dignified
or beautiful? But it is only
a feeble illustration of the riches of a Saviour’s grace. (S. H. Tyng
D. D.)
Verse 12
The Lord recompense thy work
and a full reward be given thee.
Ruth’s reward; or
cheer for converts
I. what has the
young convert done? We illustrate the subject by the instance of Ruth.
1. Many young converts deserve encouragement because they have left
all their old associates. Ruth
no doubt
had many friends in her native country
but she
tore herself away to cling to Naomi and her God.
2. Next
Ruth
having left her old companions
had come amongst
strangers. She knew Naomi
but in the whole town of Bethlehem she knew no one else. She felt herself to be
alone
though under the wings of Israel’s God. Boaz very properly felt that she
should not think that courtesy and kindness had died out of Israel; and he made
a point
though he was by far her superior in station
to go to her and speak a
word of encouragement to her. Come
let us pluck up courage
and encourage
every Ruth when she is timid among strangers. Let us help her to feel at home
in Immanuel’s land.
3. The new convert is like Ruth in another respect: he is very lowly
in his own eyes. Ruth had little self-esteem
and therefore she won the esteem
of others. She felt herself to be a very inconsiderable person
to whom any
kindness was a great favour; and so do young converts
if they are real and
true.
4. Once more
the young convert is like Ruth because he has come to
trust under the wings of Jehovah
the God of Israel. This is what our young
converts have done: they have come
not to trust themselves
but to trust in
Jesus. They have come to find a righteousness in Christ--aye
to find
everything in Him.
II. what is the
full reward of those who come to trust under the wings of God? I would
answer that a full reward will come to us in that day when we lay down these
bodies of flesh
that they may sleep in Jesus
while our unclothed spirits are
absent from the body but present with the Lord. But there is a present reward
and to that Boaz referred. There is in this world a present recompense for the
godly
notwithstanding the fact that many are the afflictions of the righteous.
Even in losing the present life for Christ’s sake we are saving it
and
self-denial and taking up the cross are but forms of blessedness. Do you ask
me
“How shall we be rewarded for trusting in the Lord?”
1. I answer
first
by the deep peace of conscience which He will
grant you. Can any reward be better than this? That
however
is only the
beginning of the believer’s reward.
2. He that has come to trust in God shall be “quiet from fear of
evil.” What a blessing that must be! “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings;
his heart is fixed
trusting in the Lord.”
3. More than this: the man who trusts in God rests in Him with
respect to all the supplies he now needs
or shall ever need.
4. Another part of the believer’s great gain lies in the
consciousness that all things are working together for his good. Nothing is
after all
able to injure us. Neither pains of body
nor sufferings of mind
nor losses in business
nor cruel blows of death
can work us real ill. Is not
this a reward for which a man may well forego the flatteries of sin?
5. Then
let me tell you
they that trust in God and follow Him have
another full reward
and that is
the bliss of doing good. Can any happiness
excel this?
6. Many other items make up the full of the reward; but perhaps the
chief of all is communion with God.
III. what figure
sets forth this full reward? I do not think that Boaz knew the full meaning of
what he said. He could not foresee all that was appointed of the Lord. In the
light of Ruth’s history we will read the good man’s blessing. This poor
stranger
Ruth
in coming to put her trust in the God of Israel
was giving up
everything; yes
but she was also gaining everything. Ah! when you come to trust
in Christ
you find in the Lord Jesus Christ one who is next of kin to you
who
redeems your heritage
and unites you to Himself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
God’s reward
A military gentleman once said to an excellent old minister in the
North of Scotland
who was becoming infirm
“Why
if I had power over the
pension list
I would have you put on half-pay for your long and faithful
services.” He replied
“Ah
my friend
your master may put you off with
half-pay
but my Master will not serve me so meanly--He will give me full-pay.
Through grace I expect a full reward.”
Under whose wings thou art
come to trust.
The wings of God
1. They were swift wings under which Ruth had come to trust. There is
nothing in all the handiwork of God more curious than a bird’s wing. You have
been surprised sometimes to see how far a bird can fly with one stroke of the
wings; and
when it has food in prospect
or when it is affrighted
the
pulsations of the bird’s wings are unimaginable for velocity. The English lords
used to pride themselves on the speed of their falcons. These birds
when
trained
had in them the dart of the lightning. How swift were the
carrier-pigeons in the time of Anthony and at the siege of Jerusalem! Wonderful
speed! A carrier-pigeon was thrown up at Rouen and came down at Ghent--ninety
miles off in one hour. The carrier-pigeons were the telegraphs of the olden
time. Swallows have been shot in our latitude having the undigested rice of
Georgia swamps in their crops
showing that they had come four hundred miles in
six hours. It has been estimated that
in the ten years of a swallow’s life
it
flies far enough to have gone round the world eighty-nine times
so great is
its velocity. And so the wings of the Almighty
spoken of in the text
are
swift wings. They are swift when they drop upon the foe
and swift when they
come to help God’s friends.
2. The wings under which Ruth had come to trust were very broad
wings. There have been eagles shot on the Rocky Mountains with wings that were
seven feet from tip to tip. When the king of the air sits on the crag the wings
are spread over all the eaglets in the eyrie
and when the eagle starts from
the rock the shadow is like the spreading of a storm cloud. So the wings of God
are broad wings. They cover up all our wants
all our sorrows
all our
sufferings. He puts one wing over our cradle
and He puts the other over our
grave. Yes
it is not a desert in which we are placed; it is a nest. Sometimes
it is a very hard nest
like that of the eagle
spread on the rock
with ragged
moss and rough sticks
but still it is a nest; and
although it may be very
hard under us
over us are the wings of the Almighty.
3. The wings under which Ruth came to trust were strong wings.
The strength of a bird’s wing--of a sea-fowl’s wing
for example--you
might guess from the fact that sometimes for five
six
or seven days it seems
to fly without resting. There have been condors in the Andes that could
overcome an ox or a stag. There have been eagles that have picked up children
and swung them to the top of the cliffs. The flap of an eagle’s wing has death
in it. There are birds whose wings are packed with strength to fly
to lift
to
destroy. So the wings of God are strong wings. Mighty to save. Mighty to
destroy.
4. The wings under which Ruth had come to trust were gentle wings.
There is nothing softer than a feather. You have noticed when a bird returns
from flight how gently it stoops over the nest. The young birds are not afraid
of having their lives trampled out by the mother-bird; the old whip-poor-will
drops into its nest of leaves
the oriole into its casket of bark
the
humming-bird into its hammock of moss
gentle as the light. And so
says the
psalmist
He shall cover thee with His wing. Oh
the gentleness of God! But
even that figure does not fully set it forth; for I have sometimes looked into
the bird’s nest and seen a dead bird
its life having been trampled out by the
mother-bird. But no one that ever came under the feathers of the Almighty was
trodden on. Blessed nest! warm nest! Why will men stay out in the cold to be
shot of temptation and to be chilled by the blast
when there is this Divine
shelter? (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Jehovah’s wings
Some have imagined the reference to be to a hen
beneath whose
wings her little birds flee for shelter and warmth
according to one memorable
and touching comparison used by our Lord (Luke 13:34). It has been suggested by
others that the allusion is to the mercyseat in the holy of holies in the
ancient tabernacle
over which the wings of the cherubim stretched from the one
extremity to the other
and above which the Divine glory shone with benignant
radiance. Nothing could be more sublimely descriptive of dedication to the
service of the true God--committing oneself to Him for providential protection
and salvation
and seeking the loving fellowship of His Church--than “coming to
trust beneath Jehovah’s wings.” (A. Thomson
D. D.)
Verse 13
Let me find favour in thy sight
my lord; for that thou hast
comforted me.
Good from encouraging words
Is there not a useful suggestion in all this to persons in places
of authority and influence? There is sometimes a grievous fault in withholding
praise from others. At the fountain-head of some of our greatest rivers a
slight touch of the hand or foot would be sufficient to determine the course in
which they should ever afterwards flow. And
in like manner
a kind word spoken
to another at a moment when the heart is ready to faint may be the means of
dispelling the chill of despondency
of stimulating the efforts of an honest
industry
of confirming good resolutions
and of helping to fix the future
destiny of a brother. Some persons are far too much afraid of the effect of a
little generous and well-timed praise. They would keep all their flowers in an
ice-house. Letting in a little sunshine upon them at times would not be amiss.
Let masters and parents and teachers try the experiment of what an encouraging
word or look can sometimes do. Let it be distinctly seen by those whom they can
influence that they are on the side of whatever is virtuous in effort
noble in
aim
and heavenward in aspiration. (A. Thomson
D. D.)
Verse 14
At mealtime come thou hither.
The common meal
1. It should indicate the Divine hand in providing it.
2. It should minister to the calm contentment of our hearts.
3. It should indicate a self-respect before men.
4. It should prepare for the next duties in life. (E. Price.)
Mealtime in the cornfields
I. that god’s
reapers have their mealtimes. The reapers in Jesus’ fields shall not only
receive a blessed reward at the last
but they shall have plenteous comforts by
the way.
1. God has ordained certain mealtimes for His reapers; and He has
appointed that one of these shall be when they come together to listen to the
Word preached. When the Lord blesses the provisions of His house
no matter how
many thousands there may be
all His poor shall be filled with bread.
2. Often
too
our gracious Lord appoints us mealtimes in our private
readings and meditations. Here it is that His “paths drop fatness.” No wonder
that men grow so slowly
when they meditate so little. We must take the
truth
and turn it over and over again in the inward parts of our spirit
and
so shall we extract suitable nourishment therefrom.
3. Let us not forget that there is one specially ordained mealtime
which ought to occur at least once in the week--I mean the Supper of the Lord.
There you have literally
as well as spiritually
a meal.
4. Besides these regular mealtimes
there are others which God gives
us
at seasons when
perhaps
we little expect them. You have been walking the
street
and suddenly you have felt a holy flowing out of your soul toward God;
or in the middle of business your heart has been melted with love and made to
dance for joy
even as the brooks
which have been bound with winter’s ice
leap to feel the touch of spring. You have been groaning
dull
and earthbound;
but the sweet love of Jesus has enwrapped your heart when you scarce thought of
it. Seasons
too
we have had on our sick-beds.
5. Let me observe that
while these mealtimes come
we know not
exactly when
there are certain seasons when we may expect them. The Eastern
reapers generally sit down under the shelter of a tree
or a booth
to take
refreshment during the heat of the day. And certain I am
that when trouble
affliction
persecution
and bereavement become the most painful to us
it is then that the
Lord hands out to us the sweetest comforts. Again
these mealtimes frequently
occur before a trial. Sweet cordials prepare for stern conflicts. Times of
refreshing also occur after trouble or arduous service. Christ was tempted of
the devil
and afterwards angels came and ministered unto Him. After
conflict
content; after battle
banquet. When thou hast waited on thy Lord
then thou shalt sit down
and thy Master will gird Himself and wait upon thee.
II. to these meals
the gleaner is affectionately invited. That is to say
the poor trembling
stranger who has not strength enough to reap
who has no right to be in the
field except the right of charity--the poor
trembling sinner
conscious of his
own demerit
and feeling but little hope and little joy
is invited to the
feast of love.
1. In the text the gleaner is invited to come: “At mealtime come thou
hither.” We trust none of you will be kept away from the place of holy feasting
by any shame on account of your dress
or your personal character
or your
poverty; nay
nor even on account of your physical infirmities.
2. Moreover
she was bidden not only to come
but to eat. Whatever
there is sweet and comfortable in the Word of God
ye that are of a broken and
contrite spirit are invited to partake of it. You are saying in your heart
“Oh
that I could eat the children’s bread!” You may eat it. You say
“I have
no right.” But the Lord gives you the invitation! Come without any other right
than the right of His invitation.
3. Note further
that she was not only invited to eat the bread
but
to dip her morsel in the vinegar. The Lord’s reapers have sauce with their
bread; they have not merely doctrines
but the holy unction which is the
essence of doctrines; they have not merely truths
but a hallowed delight
accompanies the truths.
III. boaz reaches
her the parched corn. None but the Lord of the harvest can hand out the
choicest refreshments of spiritual minds. How does He do this?
1. By His gracious Spirit He first of all inspires your faith.
2. Having done this
the Saviour does more; He sheds abroad the love
of God in your heart.
3. But Jesus does more than this: He reaches the parched corn with
His own hand
when He gives us close communion with Himself.
4. Yet once more let me add
the Lord Jesus is pleased to reach the
parched corn
in the best sense
when the Spirit gives us the infallible
witness within that we are “born of God.” Philip de Morny
who lived in the
time of Prince Henry of Navarre
was wont to say that the Holy Spirit had made
his own salvation to him as clear a point as a problem demonstrated in Euclid.
The sun in the heavens is not more clear to the eye than his present salvation
to an assured believer; such a man could as soon doubt his own existence as
suspect his possession of eternal life.
IV. After Boaz had
reached the parched corn
we are told that “she did eat
and was sufficed
and
left.” So shall it be with every Ruth. Sooner or later every penitent shall
become a believer
every mourner a singer.
1. “She did eat
and was sufficed.” Your head shall be satisfied with
the precious truth which Christ reveals; your heart shall be content with
Jesus
as the altogether lovely object of affection; your hope shall be filled
for whom have you in heaven but Christ? Your desire shall be satiated
for what
can even your desire hunger for more than “to know Christ
and to be found in
Him”? You shall find Jesus charm your conscience
till it is at perfect peace; He
shall content your judgment
till you know the certainty of His teachings; He
shall supply your memory with recollections of what He did
and gratify your
imagination with the prospects of what He is yet to do.
2. “She was sufficed
and left.” Some of us have had deep draughts of
love; we have thought that we could take in all of Christ
but when we have
done our best
we have had to leave a vast remainder. There are certain sweet
things in the Word of God which you and I have not enjoyed yet
and which we
cannot enjoy yet; and these we are obliged to leave for a while
till we are
better prepared to receive them. Did not our Lord say
“I have yet many things
to say unto you
but ye cannot bear them now”? There is a special knowledge to
which we have not attained
a place of intimate fellowship with Christ which we
have not yet occupied. There is yet a beyond
and there will be for ever.
3. A verse or two further on we are told what Ruth did with her
leavings. It is very wrong
I believe
at feasts to carry anything home with
you; but she was not under any such regulation
for that which was left she
took home and gave to Naomi. So it shall be even with you
poor tremblers
who
think you have no right to a morsel for yourselves; you shall be allowed to eat
and when you are quite sufficed
you shall have courage to bear away a portion
to others who are hungering at home. When you hear a sermon you think
“My poor
mother cannot get out to-day; how I wish she could have been here
for that
sentence would have comforted her. If I forget everything else
I will tell her
that.” Cultivate an unselfish spirit. Seek to love as you have been loved. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 15-16
Let her glean even among the sheaves.
Spiritual gleaning
I. The God of the
whole earth is a great husbandman. This is true in natural things. As a matter
of fact all farm operations are carried on by His power and prudence. In
spiritual matters God is a great Husbandman; and there
too
all His works are
done for His children
that they may be fed upon the finest of the wheat.
Permit me to speak of the wide gospel-fields which our heavenly Father farms
for the good of His children. Every field which our heavenly Father tills
yields a plentiful harvest
for there are no failures or famines with Him.
1. One part of His farm is called doctrine field. What full sheaves
of finest wheat are to be found there! Gospel doctrine is always safe doctrine.
You may feast upon it till you are full
and no harm will come of it. Be afraid
of no revealed truth.
2. The great Husbandman has another field called promise field; of
that I shall not need to speak
for I hope you often enter and glean from it.
The whole field is your own
every ear of it; you may draw out from the sheaves
themselves
and the more you take the more you may.
3. Then there is ordinance field; a great deal of good wheat grows in
this field. In all the estate no field is to be found to rival this centre and
crown of all the domain: this is the King’s acre. Gospel gleaner
abide in that
field; glean in it on the first day of every week
and expect to see your Lord
there; for it is written
“He was known of them in the breaking of bread.”
4. Fellowship and communion with Christ. This is the field for the
Lord’s choicest ones to glean in.
II. a humble
gleaner.
1. The believer is a favoured gleaner
for he may take home a whole
sheaf
if he likes: he may bear away all that he can possibly carry
for all
things are freely given him of the Lord. Alas
our faith is so little that we
rather glean than reap; we are straitened in ourselves
not in our God. May you
all outgrow the metaphor
and come home
bringing your sheaves with you.
2. Again
we may remark that the gleaner
in her business has to
endure much toil and fatigue. I know a friend who walks five miles every Sunday
to hear the gospel
and has the same distance to return. Another thinks little
of a ten miles’ journey; and these are wise
for to hear the pure Word of God
no labour is extravagant.
3. We remark
next
that every ear the gleaner gets she has to stoop
for. We will go down on our knees in prayer
and stoop by self-humiliation and
confession of ignorance
and so gather with the hand of faith the daily bread
of our hungering souls.
4. Note
in the next place
that what a gleaner gets she wins ear by
ear; occasionally she picks up a handful at once
but as a rule it is straw by
straw. Now
where there are handfuls to be got at once
there is the place to
go and glean; but
if you cannot meet with such abundance
be glad to gather ear by ear
That is a
sorry ministry which yields nothing. Go and glean where the Lord has opened the
gate for you. Why the text alone is worth the journey; do not miss it.
5. Note
next
that what the gleaner picks up she keeps in her hand;
she does not drop the corn as fast as she gathers it. Be attentive
but be
retentive too. Gather the grain and tie it up in bundles for carrying away with
you
and mind you do not lose it on the road home. Do not lose by trifling talk
that which may make you rich to all eternity.
6. Then
again
the gleaner takes the wheat home and threshes it. It
is a wise thing to thresh a sermon whoever may have been the preacher
for it
is certain that there is a portion of straw and chaff about it. Many thresh the
preacher by finding needless fault; but that is not half so good as threshing
the sermon to get out of it the pure truth.
7. And then
in the last place
the good woman
after threshing the
corn
no doubt winnowed it. Ruth did all this in the field; but you can
scarcely do so. You must do some of the work at home. Separate between the
precious and the vile
and let the worthless material go where it may; you have
no use for it
and the sooner you are rid of it the better. Judge with care;
reject false teaching with decision
and retain true doctrine with earnestness
so shall you practise the enriching art of heavenly gleaning.
III. a gracious
permission given: “Let her glean among the sheaves
and reproach her not.” We
have no right to any heavenly blessings of ourselves; our portion is due to
free and sovereign grace. I tell you the reasons that moved Boaz’s heart to let
Ruth go among the sheaves. The master motive was because he loved her. He would
have her go there because he had conceived an affection for her
which he
afterwards displayed in grander ways. So the Lord lets His people come and
glean among the sheaves
because He loves them. There was another reason why
Boaz allows Ruth to glean among the sheaves; it was because he was her
relative. This is why our Lord gives us choice favours at times
and takes us
into His banqueting house in so gracious a manner. He is our next of kin
bone
of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. Oh
child of God
never be afraid to
glean! Have faith in God
and take the promises home to yourself. Jesus will
rejoice to see you making free with His good things. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The benevolence of Boaz
This benevolence of Boaz seems to me to have two lessons in it: one
practical how we should do our benevolence; and one theological--how God does
His benevolence. You will see
in the first place
that Boaz does not give her
the wheat. Generous as he is
she earns what she gets. He does not send her
back home and send the young men with sheaves after her; he lets her work for
what she receives. To give something for nothing is always a dangerous piece of
business. Sometimes we must do it
it is true
but it is not the ideal kind of
benevolence. If you desire to do something for the poor that will endure
let
them do something to earn that which they receive from you. And yet while Boaz
thus allows her to earn what she
receives
so that she is no pauper
no beggar
has no
self-respect taken away from her
he does it largely and with a great
generous
mood
not in a niggardly way. But
most of all
he gives her secretly. Boaz
anticipated Christ. A great many years before Christ had said
“Let not your
right hand know what your left hand does
” Boaz practised that maxim. He hid
his benevolence from this woman
and Boaz enjoyed the benevolence all the more
because she did not understand it. In our benevolence let us maintain the
self-respect of those we aid; let us not make paupers of them; and strive how
we can do the most good with the least possible display. That is not the
ordinary rule
but it is a good one. But this story of the benevolence of Boaz
is also a parable. It indicates the way in which God does His good works among
men. Did you ever think how true it is that God also maintains our self-respect
when He gives to us--how very little He gives unless we do something to get the
gift? When we pray for bread for our need
He does not give us the bread; He
gives us a piece of land
and a plough
and a hoe
and we must sweat for the
bread. When we pray for clothing
He does not send the clothing; He gives us
that out of which we can by our own industry make the clothing. It is certainly
true in the material realm. It is true in the intellectual realm. The world is
full of wisdom
full of the resources out of which wisdom is gathered; but we
must gather it; we cannot get our wisdom ready-made. It is not handed to us.
And this is equally true in the spiritual realm. God no more hands the bread of
life ready-made than He hands the material bread ready-made. But how generously
He gives to those who are willing to work for Him
and take that given in that
spirit which preserves the self-respect while receiving the benevolence! We cut
down the forests and find the coal-mine; we exhaust the ocean of its whales and
find gas and electricity to take their place; and now the scientific men are
discussing the problem whether they cannot find a way to utilise the seemingly
wasted sunlight. Nature has reservoired them in the coal-fields--that is
God
has reservoired them--and out of its reservoir we gather the light. But now men
are beginning to say
“Can we not reservoir this sunlight
this heat that goes
to Waste
and make it do the world’s work for us?” The world is full of God’s
gifts. He only waits for us with pick and axe and hoe
with sweat of brain and
sweat of body
to find a way to realise them. And as God sets us to work to get
His gifts
and as God fills the world full with them
so God conceals Himself
in the giving. I turn to my books of literature
and I find praises of Nature.
Nature! What is Nature but a word for God? What is Nature but the minister and
servant? What is Nature but the elements that are dropping the great sheaves of
wheat in our path
and we do not know that Boaz is hiding behind the hedge
smiling at our joy in our discovery. God conceals Himself. He ministers through
others
and takes as to Himself the thanks we give to them. (Lyman Abbott
D. D.)
Combination of strength and gentleness in Boaz
There are persons to be met with in social life who
while
possessing the more solid qualities of moral excellence
are singularly
deficient in the more graceful. They have honesty
but they have no
sensibility; they have truth
but they are strangely wanting in tenderness. You
have the marble column
but you have not the polish or the delicate tracery on
its surface; you have the rugged oak
but you miss the jasmine or the
honeysuckle creeping gracefully around it from its roots. But the conduct of
Boaz
as we stand and hear him giving those directions to his reapers
proves
the compatibility of those two forms of excellence
and how the strong and the
amiable may meet and harmonise in the same character. They do always meet in
the highest forms of moral greatness. (A. Thomson. D. D.)
The refining art of doing good
I speak of the art of doing good because it deserves a
place among the beautiful arts of earth and heaven. We speak “of the refinement
of the arts.” Men may cultivate the beautiful and be no better at heart for it all.
The beautiful has no ministry to those who reject the great Artist of the
universe. He would have saved the world long ago by the ministry of the
beautiful had it been possible. What pictures are like those He hangs before us
every day? What sunsets represented on the canvas are like the real sunsets?
When we love the great Artist out of whose mind has poured all the beauty there
is in the world
then every leaf and every flower
every sunrise and every
sunset
every vision of beauty in earth or sky or sea
has its tender
gentle
refining influence upon the adoring heart. This art of doing good refines the
heart and life even more than the study of the beautiful (C. C. McCabe
D.
D.)
Verse 17
So she gleaned in the field until even.
Persevering labour
1. Gleaners in gospel-fields should continue in their gleaning work
from morning to evening. How many are but half Sabbath folk
that can spare to
spend a morning in Sabbath service
but are for their pastimes after that! Ruth
was none of those lazy gleaners.
2. Though God be very bountiful to us
yet will He have us to use all
the means in a way of subserviency to His bounty. God will give us at the
second-hand what He would not give us at first-hand; He will give us grace and
knowledge by the use of the means
which He gives not immediately from Himself.
“God sells all for labour
” saith Hesiod. (C. Ness.)
Labour
I. no labour
is too insignificant for love. “So she gleaned.” She was of a good family
accustomed to a life of ease and plenty. That which she does now is anything
but dignified.
1. A work for the commonest powers.
2. A work for the commonest people.
3. A work whose results bear no comparison to the expenditure of labour.
4. A work in which is redone that which has been considered as done.
Men measure the worth of work by its conspicuousness. The real
worth of work lies in meeting the necessity for its existence
and the motive
which inspires it. Two lives depend upon her toil--then her work has worth; she
loves the woman for whom she toils--then her work has dignity. Her love
consecrates lowest means for highest ends.
II. no results of
labour are too insignificant for care. She “beat out that she had gleaned.”(S.
B. Rees.)
The successful gleaner
1. Ruth was a gleaner; and so should we be. The Bible is that field.
Search the Scriptures; glean there. Pick up every grain
for it contains
precious nourishment. No matter how many gleaners; there is food enough for
all.
2. Alas
how many careless ones there are
who never glean at all!
They loiter all the day of their life idle. And so
when night comes
they sink
into eternity with nothing done.
3. Others
again
begin when Ruth leaves off
at even. All the bright
and sunny portion of their lives they give to the world.
4. Ruth began gleaning in the morning. She felt that every hour must
be employed; that every moment was precious. She laboured diligently. May we
make God’s Word our daily study! (Bp. Oxenden.)
Verse 18
She took it up
and went into the city.
Careful of the fruit of labour
It is no less necessary to be careful of the fruit of our labours
than to labour with diligence. “In all labour there is profit
” says the wise
man; yet there are some that labour for the wind. They lose what they have
wrought because they suffer it
through their carelessness
to slip through
their fingers. This folly
however
is much less frequent in things relating to
the body than in those which relate to the soul. Yet some need admonition to
manage their worldly affairs with discretion; but it is far more needful to be
careful that we lose none of those things which we have wrought in the service
of God
for the benefit of our souls
but that we receive a full reward. (G.
Lawson.)
Carry home the wheat
You know it is one thing to have grace
and another thing to have
common sense. But she had both. She had got more than she wanted
and “she beat
out that she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of barley.” And she carried
away--the straw? No
she did not; but that is what we do sometimes. We attend a
meeting
and when we go away we leave the corn behind
and carry away the
straw. (H. Moorhouse.)
Verse 19
Where hast thou gleaned to-day?
Where hast thou gleaned to-day?
I. the sphere:
life’s opportunities.
1. The law of labour is the law of life. In this world but little can
be accomplished without energy and enterprise. In every department this is
true.
2. To the open and eager eye openings invite and opportunities
multiply. “Let me now go to the field.” “I have set before thee an open door.”
“The field is the world.” (Isaiah 6:8.)
3. Forms of activity
how diversified they are. There is not only the
reaper but the “gleaner” also. “All works are good
and each is best when most
it pleases Thee.” “Gather up the fragments
” and despise not “the day of small
things.”
4. Scope exists for all. “How many serve
how many more may to the
service come.” “Even I
in fields so broad
some duties may fulfil.”
5. Each “day” brings its demands. “To-day.”
II. the service: our
use or neglect of life’s opportunities.
1. Neglect possible. There is no compulsion. The parable of the
talents. The field of the slothful (Proverbs 24:1-34).
2. Success attainable. Satisfaction in healthful industry. Beneficent
results are an “ephah of barley.” “Neither man nor work unblest wilt Thou
permit to be.” “He shall doubtless come again bringing his sheaves with him.”
“Enter into the joy of thy Lord.”
3. Co-operation here desirable. “Let fall some for her.” “Reproach
her not.” Community in labour. Unselfishly thinking of others and their work
without unkindliness or rebuke. “Each worker pleases where the rest he serves
in charity.”
III. the scrutiny:
direct investigation into our use of life’s opportunities.
1. The “day
” however
varying in incident and duration
soon “goeth
away.” “The shadows of the evening are stretched out.” “The night cometh when
no man can work.”
2. After that
the tribunal and award.
(a) The fact of judgment (Matthew 25:19).
(b) Its characteristics.
How wise to let the inquiry here anticipate the inquiry hereafter.
Day by day and every day should conscience put the question
“Where hast thou
gleaned to-day?” (J. P. Allen
M. A.)
A good day’s gleaning
Let Naomi ask us this question
and let us answer
as far as we
can
out of Ruth’s experience. “Where hast thou gleaned?”
1. The first thing I am impressed with is this--if you will allow
Ruth to answer the question for us--no matter how dark may have been your past
life
no matter through what changes and hardships you may have come
you are
not justified in giving in to melancholy
much less to despair. Do not sit
still; go on with your round. Cast about
go out and forage somewhere. Do the
thing that lies next to your hand; go back to the ordinary common work-a-day
world
and you will find relief. “Where hast thou gleaned to-day?”
2. If
in answer to my question
you would say that you are nobody
that you are of no account
and that all life’s plans and purposes have come to one swift catastrophe
I rebuke you from Ruth’s history. You may be poor and obscure; so was Ruth; but a
new day had dawned. Keep up your heart; greater
if you only thought it
are
the things behind the scenes in your favour than all that seems to be against you.
3. Then
when we stand here and ask
and answer
the questions that
flew swift as a weaver’s
shuttle between Ruth and Naomi--does not this come
out? You have not been working in vain
if you will tell the truth. If you look
at things aright
and take yet another look
especially those who are down
cast
tell me if you are not bound to admit that your history is beginning to
show glints of sunshine
here and there
through its darkness and chaos.
Somehow you are getting conscious of it that there is an upper light breaking
in. Now
think of the man who came into the field
whose presence opened up a
new chapter for Ruth
and opened a wonderful chapter in God’s purposes for a
great while to come. On what small hinges do great doors hang! The world is
still God’s acre. It is not a field of riot
of chance and haphazard. It is not
true that this is a world in which only the fittest survive and the weakest go
to the wall. It is not true that the race is to the swift and the battle to the
strong. Don’t you see how the gospel comes on the scene with the face of that
man Boaz? He is always going about the field
this Boaz
this Kinsman
this
Redeemer. His eyes are on you
and He knows more about you than you are giving
Him credit for. Blessed is He who is taking knowledge of thee. “Where hast thou
gleaned to-day? and where wroughtest thou?”
4. Again
looking at this as a fireside gathering
as it were
to-day
at the end of one week
and before the new one
with its activities
is
fully upon us
does not this come out of the question and the answer--that
after all
you have had unexpected success? Ruth’s story shows us that
when we
come across good times
when we come to what is called “good luck
” we are in
danger then. Now
don’t go away and say that that is come to you because you
rose early and sat up late
because you were sharper than other people
because
your wits are keener
because you have shuffled the per cents.
so to speak
more cleverly. Put in God somewhere; give God the credit
give Him the praise
give Him the glory
for
I tell you
it is all His. (J. McNeill.)
Gleaning
There are some whose only chance of obtaining knowledge is by
gleaning. Their education has been neglected. Their opportunities of attending
a place of worship are few. Their time for reading is limited. In a word
they
are not farmers
and can never show a stack: they can only gather by gleaning.
I. To such let me
say
“glean where the corn grows and lies near at hand. You will not find the
corn by the wayside
or on the moor. You must go to the fields: it is only on
the cultivated land you can find it.” And so with the knowledge that is worth
possessing. It is not to be found everywhere. For instance
it is not from
every pulpit you hear the gospel: why go where Christ is not preached? It is
not in all company that you may glean wisdom. “He that walketh with wise men
shall be wise.” It would be well for us to bear in mind that we cannot be
friendly with the ungodly without storing up some of the talk we hear
and that
we thus store sorrow for the future. It is not every book from which we can
glean corn. Reading a bad book is to gather poison.
II. To glean
successfully we must be willing to stoop. Gleaning is stooping. The writer
heard a man behind a counter say
“The worst folks to deal with are those who
know all you are going to say.” This is true enough. A schoolboy who thinks he
knows it all is the most hopeless of pupils. The apprentice who will not be
told never learns his trade. Many a man would have risen if he could have
afforded to stoop for awhile.
III. If we would
glean a heap
we must be content with a little at a time. The woman who has
gathered the largest bundle of corn never once picked up a handful. It was
mostly in single ears: “Here a little
and there a little.” It is wonderful
what may be done by never passing by a thing that is worth preserving. To note
down
every day
each remarkable thing
would make a wonderful volume in time.
To do this thoroughly
we must know the value of each grain of truth. Don’t let
the thought that it is only a little prevent your stooping
for stacks are made
up of single straws
and London is made up of single houses
which were built a
brick at a time.
IV. No one can
glean well who is not able to persevere. Gleaning is tiring work. It means a
back-ache. We must
if we mean to succeed
be willing to go on long after we
are weary. We cannot expect to have it all our own way. If we were as willing
to spur ourselves to perseverance as we are to urge on our weary horses
we
should accomplish much more than we do. Abraham Lincoln was asked if he thought
the war would be over while he was President. “Can’t say
sir.” “But
Mr.
Lincoln
what do you mean to do?” “Peg away
sir--keep pegging away.” And
pegging away liberated millions of bondmen
and wiped the foul stain of slavery
from America’s ‘scutcheon. (T. Champness.)
A charity sermon
Consider the diffusion of pleasure and delight which arose from no
great nor lasting act of charity. The hearts of Naomi and Ruth did sing for joy
upon sight of a relief which would soon want another: and Boaz throbbed with
more noble ecstasies
by as much as it is more blessed to give than to receive
I. that the poor
have a right to glean upon us
and that part of our substance
by the laws of
God and nature
is their strict and proper due.
II. that the
blessing of God and the poor is an ample retribution to the rich for suffering
them to glean
and that they have as strict a right to that as the poor have to
their gleaning
and much greater refreshments springing from it.
III. that in
religious public ministrations it is far from vainglory to distinguish
ourselves by our liberality. Then the more we give the more we may be truly
said to promote the glory of God! Then the more we show the forwardness of our
mind the more we profess subjection to the laws of Christ. (R. Coleire
M.
A.)
Gleaners in God’s harvest field
What have we gleaned? What improvements in thought
character
or
heart treasure to refresh us in the present and bring a glorious reward in the
future? The world is God’s harvest field
and we are all gleaners. Some gather
great swaths and bind heavy bundles
and some gather only a little bunch of grain
here and there. The most poor and obscure may glean
and the richest and most
prosperous can do but little more than glean. Each day God throws down great
handfuls from Time’s garner. Let us take one day. Man rises from slumber in
health and strength. He goes forth; nature welcomes him
the heavens are
kindling with the dawn
the earth is teeming with beauty. He enters the bosom
of his family; from loving voices
smiles and all
he gleans. The child and
mother
from a narrow yet fruitful field
are daily learning lessons that shall
last through all their future life. Nothing is trivial. God seems to say to us
“Attend to the commonplace
not the heroic.” It is grains that fill up our
clays and aggregate the substance of our lives. ‘Where have I been to-day?
What company have I met? What have been my enjoyments? Whither have my
affections turned? Some gather mean and base things on the highway of life
while others gather all that is beautiful. In the same pond the white and the
yellow lily grow. The one from the surrounding elements draws whiteness
purity
and fragrance; and the other only yellow hues and no fragrance. What
have we gleaned from this world for the world to come from men
from books
from our families
from work
from nature
and from God? If we would have our
soul’s hunger satisfied and our spiritual life nurtured into vigour and beauty
God’s fields are open before us and we must glean. (J. Spencer Kennard.)
Confidence between kindred
It should be one of the first principles in the government
of a family that the young shall be taught to tell their parents of all their
movements
and that they shall in this way have another powerful motive always
to act in such a manner as that they shall never have anything to conceal. It
is one of the worst signs in the formation of character when a son has haunts
which he is afraid to name
companions with whom he dreads to be seen
or books
which he can only read by stealth. Such suspicious secrecy is always the sure
and distinct indication of a progress downwards. When the ingenuous son is
ready to make his father the trusted confidant of all his pursuits and plans
of all his companionships and amusements
there cannot have been any great
divergence as yet from the paths of virtue. But when the parent must needs be
duped and hoodwinked
and is thought of and treated as an inconvenient spy
the
child has lost the first element of filial obedience by the loss of filial
trust and love
and rather wants opportunity than inclination to come out as a
villain or a profligate. (A. Thomson
D. D.)
Verse 20
Blessed be he of the Lord
who hath not left off His kindness.
God’s blessing
1. In its nature it is “kindness”--the very soul of tenderness to the
God-fearing among men.
2. In its continuance. He cannot “leave off” making His children
happy.
3. In its application to both worlds--to the “living
” as the song of
a Ruth may testify; to the “dead
” as the hope of a Naomi must imply. Both are
in the covenant of the God of Israel.
4. In its expression. He knows how to prepare some lip to give it
adequate expression before the world. The old shall ever confirm the faith of
the young. (E. Price.)
Kindness to the dead
The natural human protectors are gone
but the Almighty Father has
taken their place. It is what Elimelech and Mahlon would have desired
and it
is kindness to them. Can we not imagine that those who have passed from earth
leaving poor
disconsolate ones behind to struggle with life’s difficulties
often find
in their glorified condition
ever fresh and continuous reasons for
rejoicing
because they see how the ever-watchful love of God is constantly
shown towards beloved ones whose comfort was their desire and endeavour? Mothers
and fathers have died wondering what their children’s future would be in this
rude
rough world
and with their wonder fear has mingled. Yet now from
heaven’s clear heights they behold God’s tender care surrounding them by day
and night
saving them from danger
raising up noble-souled friends to help
them
doing more on their behalf than their imagination or faith conceived
possible; and as they see all this
their souls are moved with a passion of
rapturous gratitude
and heaven rings melodious with their “new song” of
praise. Yes
the dead are wiser than we think
and probably see more than we
suppose of the lives from which they are parted only by a thin
and perhaps
from their side transparent
veil. This
at least
is certain
that when God
inspires the benevolent to shield the orphan and help the widow
He shows that
He has “not left off His kindness to the living and the dead.” (Wm. Braden.)
The man is near of kin
unto us
one of our next kinsmen.
Christ typified by the goel under the law
You can hardly need to be told how a connection
the very closest
may be traced between the Jewish and the Christian dispensations. The redeemer
under the law is most accurately a type of the Redeemer under the gospel. Now
suppose we
take in succession three cases in which the goel or redeemer was bidden to
interfere--forfeiture of inheritance
loss of liberty
and shedding of blood;
and examining each transaction under its legal description
let us strive to
show you the fidelity with which it images the redemption wrought out for us by
Christ.
I. We begin with
the forfeiture of inheritance. In Leviticus 25:1-55 directions are given
for the interference of the goel
or redeemer. We fasten
first of all
on the
fact that none but a kinsman could fill the office of goel or redeemer. Who
does not see
that in laying down and adhering to such a principle as this
the
law taught mankind impressively the lesson that He who should arise the Redeemer
of the lost world must be bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh?
“Forasmuch
” says the apostle
“as the children are partakers of flesh and
blood
He also Himself likewise took part of the same.” And shall we ever hesitate to declare
that the comforting thing to the followers of Christ is that the Goel
the
Redeemer
is in the strictest sense their kinsman? Christ was like myself in
all points
my sinfulness only excepted. Who is the Israelite that has grown
poor
and alienated from him the possession of his father
if it be not man
originally the chosen of God
rich in a birthright which gave him a glorious
world for his dwelling-place
yes
and immortality for his lifetime
but who
afterwards
by yielding to temptation
stripped himself of all his wealth
and
made himself the heir to nothing but corruption? And when we have pointed out
to you the impoverished Jew
spoiled of the possession of his fathers
unable
of himself to do anything towards regaining the inheritance
and then have
turned your attention on the kinsman redeemer paying down the ransom
bringing
back the land into the family
keeping it in his own hands until the jubilee
trumpet sounded
and then restoring it to the original owner--we think we have
furnished you with so vivid a sketch of paradise lost through human apostasy
and regained by the purchase of the Mediator
and given back on the day that
the archangel shall lift his trumpet
and shall blow a blast at which the
sheeted dead shall start
that it must on all hands be confessed that the goel
of the law was pre-eminently a type of the Redeemer of the gospel.
II. A brief notice
will suffice for the second--where there has been loss of liberty. You will
find
by referring to Leviticus 25:1-55
from which we have
already quoted
that for the discharge of debt
or the procuring of
subsistence
an Israelite might sell himself either to an Israelite or to a
stranger. If he became the servant of an Israelite
there appears to have been
no right of redemption--he must remain in his power till the year of jubilee.
But if he became the servant of a stranger
then there was a case for the
interposition of the goel in the law; for even after that he is sold he may be
redeemed again--one of his brethren may redeem him. If the master were an Israelite
the
servant was in no sense alienated from God’s people
and the exigence was not such
as to warrant the goel’s interference; but if the master were a stranger
then
the servitude became typical of man’s bondage to Satan. It might have been
said
in a degree
to have withdrawn the servant from the congregation of
Israel; and thus a case made out for the kinsman redeemer. The goel might come
forward
and the servant might be freed. You will perceive at once that
in its
typical character
this transaction is identical with that already reviewed. Is
it not the Scriptural representation of man by nature that he is the servant of
sin
led captive by Satan at his will? The Israelite could have sold himself to
a stranger; and not one farthing could he advance towards bringing back his
freedom. Must he languish
then
for ever in bondage? Must he groan for ever
beneath the load of oppression? There advances a Mighty One
who proclaims
Himself his Kinsman
a Goel made of a woman
made under the law
and bearing
the likeness of sinful flesh; and He pays down in sufferings the price of
redemption. He strikes the chain with His Cross
and it is broken into shivers;
lie bids the prisoner come forth
and he walks in “the glorious liberty of the
children of God.”
III. We proceed to
the third case of the goel’s interference
a case which differs considerably
from those already examined. It was the office of the kinsman
the goel
to
interfere
not only when there had been forfeiture of inheritance
or loss of
liberty
but also when there had been shedding of blood. If murder had been
perpetrated
the prosecution and the execution of the murderer devolved on the
nearest of kin to the murdered party. He must pursue the murderer; and if he
overtook him before he reached the city of refuge he might take summary
vengeance for the death of his relative. But if the goel were not at hand at
the time when the crime was committed
it would seem that no stranger had right
to arrest or follow the criminal. He betook himself unmolested to the nearest
city of refuge
and remained there in safety until the cause was tried before
the judges of the land. So that in this case
as well as in the others
the interference
depended on the kinsmanship; nothing else could warrant a man in undertaking
the office of the goel. And thus that distinguishing feature of a goel
which
made him throughout the type of Christ--the feature of kinsmanship to the party
requiring interference--stands out as prominently when blood was to be avenged
as when land was to be redeemed or liberty regained. But wherein
you will say
in this instance
lies the typical resemblance between the offices of the goel
and the offices of Christ? Created deathless and imperishable
was not the
human race slain by Satan when he wrought up our first parents to an act
prohibited by the words
“In the day that thou cutest thereof thou shalt surely
die”? We suppose it to have been with reference to this slaughter of mankind
that Christ said of the devil
“He was a murderer from the beginning.” It was
clearly through the instrumentality of Satan that death
whether of body or of
soul
gained footing in this creation; but if done through his instrumentality it
may justly be ascribed to his authorship; and we account it most correct
therefore
to describe Satan as the great “man-slayer.” He it is that hath shed
human blood; and all that vast mowing down of successive generations
which
keeps the sepulchres replenished with fresh harvests of death
must be referred
to that awful being who was “a murderer from the beginning.” And if we can thus
find “the man-slayer” in Satan
cannot we find “the avenger of blood” in
Christ? Who pursued the murderer? Who
century after century
unwearied and
undiverted
opposed Himself in every quarter
by every weapon
to the shedder
of blood
till at last
meeting him front to front
in one dread struggle
He
took on him a vengeance that drew the wonder of the intelligent universe
and
“through death destroyed him that had the power of death”? Who was it that
sorrowing over the wretchedness of a stricken race
“put on righteousness as a
breastplate
and clothed Himself with zeal as with a cloak
” and then
equipped
for the conflict
sprang forth to grapple with the assassin? Who but the Goel?
who but the Kinsman Redeemer? (H. Melvill
B. D.)
Verse 22
It is good
my daughter
that thou go out with his maidens.
Instruction from elders
Old persons may be expected to have collected
by reflection and
experience
more wisdom than the young
and should be ready to communicate
instruction to those that need it. Let the young have their hands prepared for the
service of the old
and the old may recompense them abundantly by the words of
their mouths. Happy would it have been for Rehoboam and for all his people had
he known what respect is due to the wise counsels of the aged. What numbers of
young persons take rash steps in the journey of life which cannot be retraced
because they rather choose to follow the impulse of their own passions than to
ask and follow the advices of those who brought them into the world. (G.
Lawson.)
The acceptance of favours
“It is good that thou go forth with his maidens
” since he invites
thee to glean in his fields. Although Naomi would not be troublesome to her
relations
nor solicit favours from them when necessity did not compel her
she
was not so high-minded as to reject a favour that was offered. Poor persons
who have seen better days
are sometimes too nice and scrupulous in receiving
obligations. It is good to be as independent in the world as our circumstances
will allow; but to be absolutely independent is impossible
and to have a
spirit above the acceptance of favours
when our circumstances render the
acceptance of them needful
is a proud resistance of our spirits to that
Providence which manages our concerns and which manages them with wisdom and
kindness when it lays our pride in the dust. (G. Lawson.)
That they meet thee not in
any other field.
Gadding to be discouraged
“Maidens
” says one shrewd old commentator
“are the fittest
company for maidens
among whom a chaste widow
such as Ruth was
may well be
recounted.” Modesty is the life-guard of chastity. Let this suggest the wider
rule that every one should have his chosen field in which to gather Christian
instruction and wisdom; and that having chosen it
he ought to keep to it. The
common shepherd whom you meet on the mountains will tell you that the wandering
sheep never thrives. And further
that we ought to choose for our cherished
companions and “inner friends” those who are gleaners in the gospel-field like
ourselves. Wander
through want of vigilance or through secret preference
into
the society of the idle
the ungodly
or the immoral
and you are on the
enemy’s ground and in the midst of serpents and snares. You are out of the
sphere of Divine protection whenever you walk into the circle of temptation
without a call of duty; and there is no Davy-lamp in those noxious mines to
prevent explosion
or to protect you from destruction. But the fellowship of
them that fear God will show you how to be good
and will make you better. Even
the lump of clay
when it was placed near the rose
according to the beautiful
Persian proverb
caught some of its fragrance (Song of Solomon 1:8). (A. Thomson
D.
D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》