THE GATE OF BETHLEHEM
N. T. Meek
Ruth 1: 1, 22; 4: 1, 2, 10–12; 2 Samuel 23: 13–17
These passages refer to the gate of Bethlehem. It can be shown that in Scripture the gate refers, to the place of discrimination and judgment, where matters affecting city welfare are dealt with. Nowadays men have transferred this function to town halls and committee rooms, often meeting in secret session. But the city gate was evidently a public place and justice could be seen to be done; it could be looked at and inspected and would stand, as we say, the light of day. In a day to come the holy city will be seen, with its twelve gates and the administration of Christ, and its benign influence will spread universally. What an administration it will be! You, dear fellow believer, will have a part in that administration and your influence then will be co-relative to your influence now. Hence it is important that you and I should know something about the gate by experience now and that we should not evade our responsibility in that regard.
I fear that we may sometimes opt out of our responsibility. That is what Elimelech did; he opted for the relative ease of life in the country of Moab. There would be no assembly sorrows to carry there, but there would be no assembly joys either. I ask myself, do I carry my share of responsibility in my place? If I miss a meeting do I decline responsibility for what transpired in it? If I am unavoidably absent—I hope it is never the other way—do I enquire as to what went on? In the ordering of things, such as the arrangements of family life, some persons may often have to miss being present. Do you then, dear sister, enquire what the reading was like? And do you, dear brother, tell her, even if she forgets to enquire? One thing that becomes evident as this book proceeds is that Naomi always wanted to know, when Ruth returned home, how she had got on. On one occasion Ruth brought home six measures of barley (Ruth 3: 17). I wonder if I could do that—take home such a large impression of Christ. Boaz had measured that to her; it was what could be contained in her cloak. How she had grown since leaving Moab!
Bethlehem does not set out the public glory that will be seen in the holy city. It was small and apparently had only one gate, at least I think it is always spoken of in the singular. Many localities are like that; they are small, and it is not until you enter them that you realise what vital things are proceeding there. But though it was small it had a gate, and that gate was in function. That itself was a remarkable thing, considering the general current of the time, when every man did what was right in his own eyes. In those days an observant traveller passing through the land would have been able to sum up the general situation that obtained. It is not too difficult to observe the general situation in christendom today. But suppose that traveller had happened to come across Bethlehem; he would have found what was remarkably different, so different that he would have wondered. He would not have known what obtained there unless he saw for himself. He might, of course, hear by report, but reports can be untrue, as we very well know. He would need to go there himself to find out the truth; there were right relations obtaining there; there was barley, there was wheat, and there was the functioning of the gate.
Do you think such a place can be found today? God will have things millennially, of course; we would all subscribe to that. But do you not think he would give a testimony somewhere (and those who seek will find) to the same principles operating now that will obtain then?
Think of Solomon’s reign—it somewhat typifies the millennial reign of Christ. One outstanding feature was those two pillars which stood out in front of the house. One of them was called Boaz. Yes, you say, of course Christ will be outstanding then. But in Bethlehem Boaz is outstanding now! Is He not to be found, actively moving and completing His matters? Because Bethlehem is small, is He not to be found there? Does He not go forth from there, Micah 5: 2? Great things, beloved, can be found in smallness.
I suppose the commandments had been written on the gate of Bethlehem, as envisaged in Deuteronomy 6: 9. When Elimelech and Naomi had gone out to Moab they would have had their backs turned to those commandments. Alas, there have been many like that! Elimelech got into a false position; someone else was king to him in spite of his name (‘Whose God is king’). He represents mere profession. I may profess to be governed by God, yet my movements show otherwise. That element is in all of us; may we face it and learn to judge it.
Naomi represents another element, one which accepts and feels deeply the consequences of departure from God; may that remain with us! Ruth signifies yet another element, that of affections formed and developed by the Spirit; may these increase with us! If we are honest we will find, I think, all these elements within us. Which will become dominant? Eventually Elimelech dies; how sorrowful! He died out of fellowship. We have sorrowfully witnessed that this has happened in our own day and it is peculiarly poignant to think of a brother or a sister for whom you had great regard not being recovered to the testimony before death. But Naomi, now clear of the element which Elimelech represents, sets her face towards Bethlehem. In doing this she showed clearly that she sought her country (Hebrews 11: 14).
There is room, I believe, for this experience to be known again. When she got to Bethlehem the brethren remembered her, “all the city was moved” (Ruth 1: 19). Has this not been recently known, dear brethren? She would have found that the same good commandments still remained on the gate. Nothing would have been scratched out or painted over, nor any modifying comments added, such as ‘This one not now workable in a broken day’. No, she would find nothing of God given up, and the barley harvest in immediate prospect, with the wheat to follow.
But coming back involves responsibility, too. If Bethlehem conditions are to be preserved it will involve my developing a right power of discernment and judgment, in principle supporting the gate. Perhaps in this lies the secret of maintaining good conditions, that everyone carries local responsibility and is vitally in what proceeds. Boaz says, “all the gate of my people knows” (Ruth 3: 11). We may feel that we do not reach this yet in our localities, but let us set ourselves for it. At the end of the book such conditions eventuate in a worshipper. Your undivided affection and loyalty for Christ will sustain you, and your measure will grow.
In chapter 3 Ruth risked her reputation with others; the overriding consideration was that, typically, she must have to do with Christ for herself. Do not be put off, dear brother or sister, by what others may say; you move to Christ for yourself. If He says you are virtuous, that is everything, and it is a great thing to be delivered from the opinions of others. One is not saying that conditions in Bethlehem were perfect. In fact, Scripture rather suggests that one brother there was perhaps a little self-centred, a thing not unknown to most of us. Do you say, ‘I am looking for the perfect company’? Suppose you found it; do you think it would still remain perfect after you came? What is important is that, whilst things were not perfect in Bethlehem, divine principles were not only subscribed to but were also being applied, and the passage describing the enactment of the redemption of Ruth is one of the most beautiful in the whole of Scripture.
Now in 2 Samuel 23 we have another setting. Others have pointed out that in 1 Chronicles 11 the mighty men are listed at the beginning of David’s reign, but in Samuel they appear at the end. Will there be such at the end of our dispensation? The passage read speaks of a peculiar kind of mightiness. Sometimes we think that mightiness is seen in the power to sway persons, maybe even to slay them! But this section describes a different kind of mightiness, one which lies in satisfying the longings of Christ. Those longings stand related to what is in the gate, and if you want to satisfy them you must get there. Do you see what this means? You must break through. Maybe your lethargy holds you; maybe you are more tainted with Moab than you think. The Lord Jesus asked you to remember Him in the way that He ordered and His longings, I say again, are related to the gate, to a system of ordered administration and judgment, and one which makes wholesome demands upon you. You cannot properly take part in His service unless you support the principles of right judgment. There were possibly other wells in the vicinity, but you must get to the one that is in the gate. It is so specified twice over, it is that particular well. There were few here that did it; will you be among them? The Lord, typically, takes this water—it is the result of a spiritual exploit—and presents it to God. It is very beautiful, and it is thus that the service of God is properly carried on.
May these passages, dear brethren, become meaningful to us. They were written for us and I venture to suggest that they show that the carrying out of local responsibility provides a good groundwork for the service of God to develop in reality. May the Lord help us, for His name’s sake.
Substance of an address at Barnet
25 January 1975