“And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 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. 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. And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered, and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: 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. 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: 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. 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? And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 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. Then she said, Let me find favor 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. 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. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not; And let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. 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. And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother in law with whom she had wrought and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought today is Boaz. 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. 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. 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. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law” (Ruth 2).
This second chapter of Ruth is intimately connected with the first chapter, which tells us briefly that a man named Elimelech, with his wife Naomi, and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, under pressure of circumstances, left the land of Judah—left Bethlehem (the house of bread), and went down to Moab (the land of idolatry); turned their back on God and went into the world. A little while and Elimelech dies in Moab; a little longer and Mahlon is sick and dies, and then Chilion pines and dies likewise. Her husband and her two sons are taken away and Naomi is left alone. She wakes up to find her husband gone, both her sons gone, and she is left, the abject picture of desolation and sorrow.
Then she learns that the Lord has visited His people with bread, she hears of the grace of the Lord, and she sets out to return to Judah. Orpah and Ruth, her two daughters in law, say they will leave the land of idolatry and death and go up with her to Canaan. Canaan typifies heaven, and every sinner says he would like to go to heaven. They both make the start, and then you get Naomi, in effect, saying, “If you go with me, your worldly prospects will be ruined, go back to the world.”
Though they both say they will go with her, yet Orpah, true to her name, when she hears what Naomi says, turns back, frightened at the prospect. Orpah means “a fawn,” and a fawn is a timid, easily frightened creature. How many Orpahs there are now! How many who turn back frightened, afraid of the roughness of the road; terrified at the difficulties! Orpah turns back to the world—to Moab, “unto her people and her gods,” i.e., to her relations and her religion—and what kind of religion was it? Empty forms. A dull, Christless religion, with nothing in it for the heart. She is the type of a worldly professor. She goes back, and this brings Ruth to the front.
“Do not ask me to go back,” she says, “I will go on.” But the way is rough. “Never mind, I will go.” But you will lose everything. “It is no matter, I will go on, I must go on. I have had enough of Moab. I lost my husband in Moab, the one I loved best I lost; the world has only been a scene of sorrow, desolation, and death to me. Is there not a place of light, and joy, and incorruptibility that you can tell me of, and that I may reach? Thy people shall be my people; I will go with you.” And now comes the spring of it all, “Thy God shall be my God.”
Can you say that, beloved friend? Can you say, “I want Christ?” Oh, blessed soul! if you can say, “I want Christ,” soon you will wake up to the truth that Christ wants you. Precious, precious truth, Christ wants you! He has come into the world and sought you; you have not to seek Him. He has sought you; He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.
Well, Ruth goes on and gets to Bethlehem-Judah —blessed place! May you get to God’s house of bread—the feet of Jesus; may you reach the “house of bread” this day; the place where you shall find rest on the bosom of Jesus! God grant you to meet Jesus even this day! Would you not like to meet Jesus just now? Would you not like to know Jesus? Would you not like to have Jesus? Would you not like to be able to say, “This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend?” Would to God that this day I could introduce you, to Christ! What joy would fill my heart! It is the evangelist’s part, as an instrument, to introduce the sinner to the Savior. You want Jesus? The evangelist comes and tells you Jesus wants you. You want to be made happy? Jesus wants to make you happy. You want eternal life? Jesus wants to give you eternal life. You want your sins forgiven? Jesus wants to forgive you. You want rest? Jesus wants to give you rest. Oh, would you not like to rest on the very bosom of Jesus henceforth? You say, “Yes, I would. I am anxious.” Blessed sight! Do you talk to me of pictures? I say the two most lovely pictures under the sun are a company of saints happy in Christ, and a company of sinners wanting Christ.
Ah, you who want Christ—you are the very one Christ wants! He wants to save you. He wants to have you. He wants to take you with Him to everlasting glory. Will you let Him? Will you let Him save. you today? Will you yield yourself to Him now? Do you say, “I want Christ?” Well, listen, then. I am going to talk to you about a Friend.
Boaz is a lovely type of Christ as a kinsman. He was able to do the part of the near kinsman in His death and resurrection. He has bought the field.
Two things come out in Christ the Savior: He is the full revelation of God, and He is a perfect Man too. There is a Man who can deliver you from the lake of fire, a Man who can bring you in righteousness to God, “a mighty man of wealth,” and His name, His peerless name is JESUS. He was rich. He had everything. He was the eternal Son, the very delight of God, and in the grace of His heart He passed angels by, came into this world, and, oh, marvel of marvels, He who was God became a man that He might rescue you. The first man, in his pride, tried to become as God, and he became a sinner; but listen! He who was God became a man, in the grace and love of His heart, in order that He might die and deliver you from the power of sin and Satan, and bring you in righteousness to God. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, might be rich.” Oh, would you not like to have Christ? You say, “I am so poor.” Yes, but He is rich, this mighty Man of wealth! Tell me, now, would you not like to be possessed of Him? Would you not like that there should be a link between your soul and this mighty Man of wealth? All that God is He showed in His life, as man on earth. All that the first man is, was fully met by His cross, when He took upon Him, as a Substitute, all the sin and guilt, then, by dying, swept it all away, rose again, and went to heaven as man. He came down as God, He went up as man (God too, always, of course). He perfectly manifested God to man down here, and now He perfectly manifested man to God up there.
“How wondrous the glories that meet
In Jesus, and from His face shine!
His love is eternal and sweet,
‘Tis human, ‘tis also divine!
His glory—not only God’s Son
In manhood He had His full part—
And the union of both join’d in one
Forms the fountain of love in His heart.”
Oh, would you not like to know this Jesus?
Well, Ruth goes forth now to glean, “and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz,” a very important item that. What does it mean, do you ask? It means this, it was not sublet, thank God. It belonged to Boaz, it was a place where Boaz got his rights, where he was everything. It is the place where Christ’s claims are fully acknowledged. There was a chief reaper too, which I doubt not prefigures the One who carries on the work down here now, the Holy Spirit. But the field belonged to Boaz, and Ruth is among his reapers now. Oh, it is a grand thing to be among Christ’s reapers. It is not sowing time now, it is reaping, and there is a day coming when He who sowed and they who reap shall rejoice together. His service is the sweetest joy under the sun; there is only one thing sweeter than His service, and that is Christ Himself. Do you ask, Is it hard work to serve Christ? I know of no joy like it, save the enjoyment of the Person of the Master.
And now, mark the intimacy between the master and the servants. “And Boaz said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you, and they answered him, The Lord bless thee.” It is beautiful; there is perfect communion between the Lord and the reapers, and it is most blessed to see the way He comes in and out among them.
“Whose damsel is this?” he now says. He had his eye on the stranger, he marked the stranger and asked about her, and the servant can tell him all about her. He had found out all about her. The Lord puts the servant oftentimes in full knowledge of what is going on in a soul, just in order to meet the need of the soul, by His word, through the servant. Here, however, we have a beautiful picture of the way the Lord Himself deals with a soul now. Look at the tenderness of the Lord; do not judge of the tenderness of the Master by the roughness oftentimes of the servant. “Hearest thou not, my daughter?” Listen how tenderly He speaks, the moment you enter the field where He is, the moment you become a gleaner in His field, this is what He says, “My daughter.”
But, you say, this is an Old Testament scene. Then listen to one from the New Testament. There was a poor woman, when the Master was on earth, sick and weary, and she hears of Jesus, and she wants to get to Him, for she says, “If I may but touch His clothes, I shall be whole.” The crowd throng and press Him. She follows with the multitude, trying to get near Him. The crowd sways and moves, but she presses forward, reaches the Person of Jesus, touches the hem of His garment, and, lo! she is healed. The woman would have gone away at once, I think, but Jesus stood still and said, “Who touched my clothes?” If she had gone away, though she was healed, the devil would have suggested, Ah, yes, you are healed now, but you will be just as bad again tomorrow. This the Lord knew, so He arrests her footsteps, as she had arrested His, and before she departs, most sweetly confirms her. When she heard of Jesus she came, and when she came she touched, and when she touched she was healed; and then, being healed by His power, He confirms her faith by His word, and sends her away with words which she could never forget, and which I trust may fall as sweetly on your ear and heart, dear reader: “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” Her past was—“thy faith hath made thee whole”; her present—“go in peace”; her future —“be whole of thy plague.” He assures her not only is she whole, but she is to be so ever after. Is not that a grand confirmation service?
But, best of all He owns relationship with her. Do you trust Him? Then He owns you. He acknowledges you the very moment you acknowledge and trust Him.
Again, there was a man sick of the palsy, in Mark 2, and they bring him where Jesus was. The house is full, but they take off the roof and let him down to the feet of Jesus, and when He saw their faith He said, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” And again, “Arise, take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.” And he went out by the door. He had come in by the roof, lying on his back on the bed. Thus, you see, whenever there is faith, the Lord owns relationship with the soul, and then sends it forth, a witness of His grace and power. There ought to be no cripples in the Lord’s camp.
“Then said Boaz to Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens; 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. Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground.” His grace breaks her down entirely. What does he do? He puts everything at her disposal, and, the moment a soul trusts Christ, He puts everything at its service. The whole range of Scripture blessing is at your disposal when you trust Him, and you have but to drink of the streams of that fountain of living waters, which His own death and resurrection have opened up for your thirsty soul.
“Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly (to the heart—margin) unto thine handmaid.” Ah, beloved, when Jesus speaks He speaks to the heart, for there is such grace in His words; such tenderness, such pity and compassion, such healing of the wounds of the soul.
But this only the more deeply bows down the soul before Him, and, while His grace is thus discovered and enjoyed, there is also discovered and judged what self is. This is repentance; a most necessary exercise of the soul, and one which ever accompanies the learning of God’s grace. In figure, Ruth passes through this exercise when she says, “Though I be not like to one of thine handmaidens.” She feels, and every newborn soul feels, “I am utterly unworthy of His grace. I do not deserve such love.” She judges herself: it is repentance, self-condemnation.
“And Boaz said unto her, At meal time come thou hither.” You see your soul is to feed, but where is it to feed? In company with Christ, while withal it feeds on Christ. “Eat of the bread,” said Boaz. “He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger,” re-echoes Jesus. What bread is it? “The living bread,” the bread that “endureth to everlasting life.” And this Bread is Christ Himself. “I AM the living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall LIVE forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world....Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood HATH ETERNAL life” (John 6:51, 54).
“Dip thy morsel in the vinegar,” too, Boaz adds.
What does that mean? Participation: the soul that knows Jesus is to have full participation with Him in everything. He shares all with us, and feeds us with the finest of the wheat. “And he reached her parched corn.” Yes, beloved, that hand that was pierced for us on the cross is the hand that feeds us now, the hand that leads us and guides us. He likes to have us by His side. In the world we shall find people get tired of us, they do not always want us; but there is never a moment when Jesus does not want us by His side; no, never.
And to Christians I would say, Be sure and get your regular meals; get them in company with Christ, feeding on “the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” There is nothing He has He does not place at your disposal the moment you trust Him; and He wants you to take it all from His own hand in full communion with Himself, so that He may see you enjoy, in His own blessed presence, those precious fruits of His work which love like His alone could make yours.
“And she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.” What a picture of a soul simply sitting down and fully receiving the grace of God! What is the first thing I do when His grace offers me Christ the living Bread? Why, I eat. What follows? I am sufficed, satisfied. The heart is full, the conscience is perfectly purged, the soul is at rest. In place of being, like the swallow, ever on the wing, or the sparrow, ever seeking wherewithal to satisfy its hunger, I am deeply content. The old ceaseless cravings and wants of the heart are perfectly, fully, eternally met by Christ and His work; and then, as a simple sequence, comes this, there is something (in our case an immensity) “left,” which we carry off for the benefit of others. Grace magnificently expands the heart, strips it of selfishness, and fills it with desires for the blessing of others. Till Christ is known, the heart is aching through its emptiness, for the world is too small to fill it, so deep are its caverns; but when Christ is learned, its deepest recesses are filled, and filled to overflowing, and there is abundance “left” for others.
But we must yet follow our gleaner, only, however, to learn deeper lessons of the loving heart of the Lord of the harvest. So now, when Ruth is risen up to glean, the word goes forth, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the HANDFULS OF PURPOSE for her, and leave them that she may glean them.”
How beautiful is His grace! There is plenty of food, plenty. It is Bethlehem—the house of bread—she has reached most truly. Was not that a blessed handful the Lord gave that poor woman in the gospels, “Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
“But,” you say, “I am afraid of the judgment-day.” Well, then, here is a handful for you. “He that believeth, is not condemned”; and again, “He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me HATH EVERLASTING LIFE.” Gather up that handful, beat it out, take it home, and eat it. “Hath everlasting life, and SHALL NOT COME INTO CONDEMNATION, but IS PASSED from death unto LIFE.”
What have I for the present? EVERLASTING LIFE. What have I for the future? No CONDEMNATION.” What about the past? I was in DEATH, and have THE GOSPEL FROM THE BOOK OF RUTH! “PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE.” What a complete salvation! I have thanked the Lord for that handful many and many a time, dear reader; and I trust you will gather it, too, this day, and thank Him likewise for its priceless value.
“So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.” That is, Ruth knew exactly what she had got, and she had got it in a way in which she could use it. “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting,” and many souls do the same. Ruth was not of that sort, she was a diligent gleaner, she was a wise gleaner. She did not take away any of the straw, she only took what she could make use of. What was the use of having it beaten out? She could take it away in a compact bundle and use it. And, when a soul gets hold of Christ, it knows what it has got; it is something tangible, no vague thing. A big bundle of straw may not have a single grain of wheat amongst it. Many people are what I might call straw-carriers. They are full of doubts, and fears, hopes, and feelings, and frames, and experiences, and maybe’s, and uncertainties, and ambiguities; and they have nothing distinct. They can never say, “I know.” Such, although they may be very diligent both as hearers and readers, have never “beaten out” their gleanings.
If you are of this sort, my reader, you take a plain word of warning, and do not trust any longer in uncertainties, but see to it, from God’s own Word, that Christ is yours and that you are Christ’s.
Ruth left the straw behind. What do you mean by leaving the straw? Why, leave the style of the speaker, or the eccentricity of the writer, leave everything I have said, and carry away only the golden grain of God’s precious, enduring Word, on which your soul is to feed and fatten. One word from God is worth all beside. Get your hearts full of Christ, and go and confess Him. When people have Christ in their hearts, it comes out. It is our privilege to know, without a doubt, what our God gives us. Ruth knew exactly what she had got, and she took it home.
“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,”—that is, the parched corn that Boaz gave her at meal-time. She could not eat it all. He gave her more than she could eat, and she took it home. That is, Christ so satisfies your heart that you are full yourself, and have the flowings over for souls round about. What a blessed result of meeting with Christ!
But now, one warning word before I close, should this paper be in the hands of one who has not met Him. You have a soul. Is it saved or lost? You are going to heaven or to hell. Which is it? Friend, decide. Delay no longer. Loiterer, do not linger. Oh, decide now, or you, who are loitering now, and meaning to decide some day, may find that it is too late; that you are left out in the cold, and the door shut; that the gospel trumpet is no longer giving its sweet note of entreaty, or its warning note of alarm, but the trumpet of judgment is sounding instead your eternal death-knell, for you are without Christ. You are unsaved. Oh, lingerer, do not risk it! Turn to the Lord now. Decide now. Yield your heart to Him. Is He not worthy?
“Worthy of homage and of praise,
Worthy by all to be adored,
Exhaustless theme of heavenly lays,
Thou, Thou art worthy, Jesus, Lord!”
Has He never had your heart yet?
Then let Him take it now.
May your language be,
“Take Thou my heart, and let it be
Forever closed to all but Thee;
Thy willing servant, let me wear
The seal of love forever there.”
Will you not have Him now, and go and confess Him? Own you belong to Him, and let every one know you have, and love Him. And then may He feed your soul till you see the Lord in the air—caught up to be forever with Him!