READINGS IN THE BOOK OF RUTH
READINGS IN THE BOOK OF RUTH
As we have seen, Ruth and Naomi arrived at a most opportune time. It was “in the beginning of barley harvest”.
This points to the time of Christ’s resurrection, as the wheat harvest corresponds with the resurrection of the saints; that is, viewed as risen with Him. Christ is the “firstfruits” of them that slept (see 1 Corinthians 15:20), hence the early harvest, which was barley, is used to typify His resurrection. Compare Leviticus 23. Ruth continued by the maidens of Boaz unto the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest.
Chapter 1 teaches recovery; that is, discipline had its healthful result in Naomi, and now she is back at the point of departure, fully owning that the hand of God was upon her. An important point in connection with recovery is that the Lord is presented to us in a new light to that in which he has been known to us before. A comparison of the two epistles to the Corinthians would show this. The second epistle supposes that the first has effected recovery, hence Christ is presented as the Son of God in whom all the promises of God were “Yea” and “Amen”, 2 Corinthians 1:20.
This was a new thought, and it was introduced to the end that the Corinthian saints might be established in their souls. In the first epistle the apostle had told them that “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 Corinthians 10:13), but now His faithfulness is proved by the fact that every promise is verified in Christ. In the book of Ruth a person who had not been referred to before is introduced in chapter 2. This was after Naomi’s return from Moab. Christ is the true Boaz; He is the “mighty man of wealth” and declared to be such by resurrection from the dead.
There are many ways in which God works with souls so as to lead them out of the world. One of these is seen in Ruth’s history. She got into touch with one of God’s people and was in this way led to him who is a type of Christ. Coming to Christ now, we come to Him as risen from the dead; it is, as it were, the time of the barley harvest. If we begin with the barley harvest (Christ) we shall be led on to the wheat harvest; we shall be put into connection with the saints regarded as risen with Him. The wheat harvest is the fruit of Christ’s death, for He was the “corn of wheat” that would have abode alone unless He died, but by dying, He has borne “much fruit”, John 12:24. Christ is the firstfruits from the dead, afterwards they that are His at His coming (see 1 Corinthians 15:23). When the truth is rightly apprehended the harvests are occasions of feasts (see Leviticus 23) but this is not within the scope of this book.
We may now consider what is said about Boaz. He is introduced as related to Naomi — “a kinsman of her husband’s”. This has to be specially noted. The object of the book is not to bring forward the greatness of Christ personally, but to show how He undertakes for the remnant of Israel in the latter days, and in them to establish the nation in its own land; and in a general way the book sets forth how Christ takes up the cause of any one who claims Him; being Man, He is related to men, and so all [p. 358] can claim Him. Thus Boaz is said, at the outset, to be “of the family of Elimelech”. Besides, he was “a mighty man of wealth”. Hence Naomi and Ruth come to recognise in him one who had the right and power of redemption. Verse 4 affords further light as to the character of Boaz. “And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee”. That speaks as to what kind of a man Boaz was. He says, “The Lord be with you”, and they reply in terms which indicate remarkable relations between him and his workmen; they say, “The Lord bless thee”. You feel that God had a great place there. And this is a sure guide to the believer who wishes to locate the order of things over which Christ holds sway. Viewed from the side that christians are here to be of help to souls, it is of the very greatest importance that right conditions should prevail. Young people especially are helped and led on in this way. They are affected by the care and affection shown among the Lord’s people. Ruth undoubtedly was drawn to Naomi by what was of God in the latter, and Naomi’s God should become Ruth’s God. As we see in Ruth, souls are drawn to Christ by what they see in His people. People thus come on to Christ’s field so to speak. Here they come under His influence, and He demonstrates His grace and goodness to them. Thus their confidence is gained, and a definite relationship is formed between Him and them.
Ruth’s “hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz”, Ruth 2:3. This was a great day in her history. Boaz at once takes notice of her; he inquires of the reapers, “Whose damsel is this?” Being told that she is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi, he addresses her as “daughter”. How suggestive all this is of the Lord’s treatment of those who come to Him now! Boaz further directs her not to leave his field, and he tells the reapers to “let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her”. What answers to that now is that coming into Christ’s sphere of things exercised souls are made to realise something of the limitless spiritual wealth that is there, and how bountiful the Lord is in ministering it; but at first it is given in proportion to the actual needs of the soul. Ruth was overwhelmed by the grace and kindness of her benefactor, and this also corresponds with the believer’s experience.
But light now breaks in. It is becoming evident to Ruth that Boaz is actuated by something more than compassion, and there is assurance in his address (Ruth 2:11) that he was informed of her history; how she had forsaken father and mother and country for people whom she knew not, and how she had shown kindness to Naomi, and had come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel. In like manner now does the Lord encourage our souls when we take our true place before Him in the light of His grace, reminding us of what is but the effect of His own grace in us. And how becoming is her attitude: “Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” (verse 10).
Ruth now returns to her mother-in-law into the city with what she had gleaned in the field of Boaz, and now she is enlightened as to who Boaz is. “Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen”. In this way light breaks gradually into our souls and increases until the marital relation with Christ is formed. Chapter 3 will enable us to see how the believer is led on to this.