BY THE AUTHOR OF “THE STORY OF GIDEON.”
IN the Bible there are two short books, each of which is called by the name of a woman. They are both in the Old Testament. One is the Book of Ruth, the other is the Book of Esther. One is the history of Ruth the Moabitess: the other is the history of Esther the Jewess. We are now going to read about Ruth, to study that book, and to notice and admire the gracious way in which God cared for her, how He led her, and how He taught her.
In the Book of Ruth, three women are spoken of—three women who were widows, one old one and two young ones. Their names were Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah. Naomi was the wife of a man named Elimelech. They had two sons, whose names were Mahlon and Chilion. Elimelech and his wife Naomi were living at Bethlehem: there was a famine in the land, which means that there was very little food for people to eat: so he made up his mind to leave Bethlehem, and go to live in the country of Moab. This famine took place in the time when the judges ruled. Elimelech did not intend to go there alone, but took his wife and his two sons with him, so they all four went, and when they got to the country of Moab, they settled down there.
They had left Bethlehem because food was not easy to obtain, but in a short time troubles of another kind came on. The husband and father died, and Naomi was “left” and her two sons. Most likely they went away from the land of famine because they were afraid to be starved to death: but in Moab God called Elimelech away, and, although there might have been plenty to eat there, he had to die. Then the two sons married: Chilion took a wife whose name was Orpah, and Mahlon married Ruth. They lived there about ten years, when the two young men died, and the three women then were widows—Naomi, the mother, and the two younger ones. Naomi had to part with het three loved ones; first, her husband, and then hex two sons. Do we not feel pity for her as we think of her grief, and think, too, how lonely she must have been? She must have thought of the time when she was young, and her boys were little, when they were a happy family at Bethlehem.
Naomi had been told that there was no longer a famine in Bethlehem, for “the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread”: and she wished to go back to the land of Judah. It seems as if the three women set off together, and then that Naomi advised Orpah and Ruth to return to the homes of their own mothers, and leave her to go on her way alone.
Naomi was not at all displeased with her daughters-in-law. She spoke lovingly to them and said that she hoped that the Lord would deal kindly with them, as they had behaved kindly to their dead husbands and to her. Then she kissed them, and they all lifted up their voices and wept. And the young women said unto her “Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.” But Naomi still tried to persuade them to leave her, and go back to their homes in Moab. And they “lifted up their voices and wept again.” Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth slave unto her. And Naomi said to Ruth, “Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and to her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law.” It is not easy to find out exactly why Naomi tried to get Ruth to go away from her, but Ruth’s answer, Ruth’s affection, and Ruth’s faith are very sweet and touching. She said, “Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”
Then when Naomi saw that Ruth’s mind was quite made up, and that she was firmly resolved to go with her, Naomi left off speaking, and the two women went on together till they reached Bethlehem. Orpah had gone back to worship false gods, but Ruth had given up the false for the true, and now went on with Naomi to bow down to the one true God, the Maker of heaven and earth, and to worship Him, and Him alone. [We hope to give other papers on the Book of Ruth, and shall ask our young friends to answer various questions thereupon. We shall give prizes to those who do so most correctly.]