Ruth
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Introduction[i]
The
Book of Ruth tells us also of the days of the judges, when there was no king in
Israel; but it shews us the fair side of those days, in the operations of the grace
of God, who (blessed be His name!) never failed to work in the midst of the
evil, as also in the steady progress of events towards the fulfilment of His
promises in the Messiah, whatever may have been the simultaneous progress of
the general evil.
Ruth,
a stranger seeking shelter by faith under the wings of the God of Israel, is
received in grace, and the genealogy of David, king over Israel according to
grace, is linked with her. It is the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Himself after
the flesh.
This
book appears to me to set before us in type, the reception in grace of the
remnant of Israel in the last days, their Redeemer (the kinsman, who has the
right of redemption) having taken their cause in hand.
Eli-Melech
(which signifies God the King) being dead, Naomi (my delight, my pleasure)
becomes a widow, and eventually loses her children also. She typifies the
Jewish nation, who, having lost her God, is like a widow and has no heir. Yet
there shall be a remnant, destitute of all right to the promises (and therefore
prefigured historically by a stranger), who will be received in grace
(similarly to the Gentiles and the assembly [See Note #1]-who will faithfully and heartily identify
itself with desolate Israel; for Ruth clave to her and to her God (see Rut_1:16). God will own this remnant, which,
poor and afflicted itself, will in heart obey the commands given to the people.
Naomi,
who in her destitution is a type of the nation, acknowledges her condition: she
calls herself Mara (bitterness).
He
who was nearest of kin, who would willingly have redeemed the inheritance,
refuses to do so, if Ruth must be taken with it. The law was never able (nor
the assembly either) to re-establish Israel in their inheritance, nor to raise
up in grace the name of the dead.
Boaz
(in him is strength), upon whom the remnant had no direct claim (and who
typifies Christ risen, in whom are the sure mercies of David), undertakes to
raise up the name of the dead, and to re-establish the heritage of Israel.
Acting in grace and in kindness, and encouraging the patient humble faith of
the remnant, the meek of the earth, he shews himself faithful to fulfil the
purpose and the will of God with respect to this poor desolate family. Nothing
can be more touching and exquisite than the details given here. The character
of Ruth, this poor woman of the Gentiles, has great beauty.
"Naomi
took the child that was born to her, and laid it in her bosom"; and they
said, "There is a son born to Naomi." In fact the heir of the
promises will be born unto Israel as a nation, although the fulfilment of the
promise affects the remnant only, which, fully identifying itself with the
interests of God's people, has sought neither the rich nor the poor, but, in
faith and obedience, has kept the testimony of God amongst the people in the
path appointed by Him.
Thus,
if on one side the Book of Judges shews us the falling away of the people of
Israel, and their failure under responsibility, even when God was their helper,
on the other side this touching and precious book sets before us, as the dawn
of better things, grace acting in the midst of difficulties, securing the
fulfilment of promise, and embellishing this scene of misery and sin by lovely
and beautiful instances of faith, precious fruits of grace, whether in weakness
and devotedness, or in strength and kindness, and always in accordance with the
perfect will of God, and assuring by this touching history, as a type, the full
restoration of Israel to blessing according to promise. It is a refreshing and
lovely picture in the midst of the hard-mindedness and sorrows of Israel.
In
the succeeding books we shall see prophecy, and the history of God's dealings,
developing the body of events which tended to the fulfilment of His designs,
the first principles, the elements, of which are laid down in that which is
shewn us in this. For Ruth furnishes a kind of intermediate link between the
fall of Israel under God's immediate government, and the future fulfilment of
His purposes.
Prophecy,
which unfolds these purposes and gives moral proof of this fall, begins with
Samuel: we learn this from the apostle Peter, and that Christ is the object of
prophecy (see Act_3:24).
Eli,
the last judge and priest, departs; his family is to be cut off; the ark of the
covenant is taken by the Philistines; and Samuel, consecrated to God in a new
and extraordinary manner, comes in with the special testimony of the Lord.
Note #1:
Compare Mic_5:3, last part.