change--conversion. She renounces Chemosh and turns in faith and hope to
the God of Israel, and this is the striking feature of her choice. Dimly
seen, the grace and righteousness of the Most High touched her soul,
commanded her reverence, drew her to follow one who was His servant and
could recount the wonderful story of His people. Surely it is a supreme
event in any life when this vision of the Best allures the mind and
engages the will, even though knowledge of God be as yet very imperfect.
And the reliance of Ruth upon the little she felt and knew of God, her
clear resolution to seek rest under His wings appear in striking
contrast with the reluctance, the unconcern, the hard unfaith of many
to-day. How is it that they to whom the Word speaks and the life is
revealed, whose portion is at every moment enriched by that Word and
that life are so blind to the grace that encompasses and deaf to the
love that entreats? Again and again we see them on the banks of some
Jordan, with the land of God clear in view, with the promise of devotion
trembling on their lips; but they turn back to Moab and Chemosh, to
paganism, unrest and despair.
Ruth's life properly began when at Naomi's side she passed through the
waters, the very waters of baptism to her. There, with the purple
mountains of Moab and the precipices of the Dead Sea shore behind, she
sent her last look to Orpah and the past, and saw before her the steep
narrow ascent through the Judaean hills. With rising faith, with growing
love she moved to the fulfilment of womanhood in realizing the soul's
highest power and privilege. The upward path was hard to weary feet and
all was not to be easy for Ruth in the Bethlehem of which she had
dreamed; but fully committed and pledged to the new life she went
forward. How much is missed when the choice to serve God is not
unreservedly made, and there is not that full consecration of which
Ruth's decision may be a type.
Of this loss we see examples on every side. To remain in the low ground
by the river, still within reach of some paganism that fascinates even
after profession and baptism--this is the end of religious feeling with
many. Where the narrow way of discipleship leads they will not
adventure; it is too bare, confining and severe. They will not believe
that freedom for the human soul is found by that path alone; they
refuse to be bound and therefore never discover the inheritance of
God's children to which they are called. When He who alone can guide,
quicken, redeem is accepted solemnly and finally as the Lord of life,
then at last the weak and entangled spirit knows the beginning of
liberty and strength. Sad is the reckoning in our time of those who
refuse to pledge themselves to the Saviour Whose claim they do feel to
be divine and urgent. Not yet may the preacher cease to speak of
conversion as the necessity in every life. Rather because it is easy to
be in touch with Christianity at some point, because gospel influences
are widely diffused, and church connection can be lightly held, the
personal pledge to Christ must be insisted upon in the pulpit and kept
in view as the end to which all the work of the church is directed.
* * * * *
Life has many partings, and we have all had our experience of some which
without fault on either side separate those well fitted to serve and
bless each other. Over matters of faith, questions of political order
and even social morality separations will occur. There may be no lack of
faithfulness on either side when at a certain point widely divergent
views of duty are taken by two who have been friends. One standing only
a little apart from the other sees the same light reflected from a
different facet of the crystal, streaming out in a different direction.
As it would be altogether a mistake to say that Orpah took the way of
worldly selfishness, Ruth only going in the way of duty, so it is
entirely a mistake to accuse those who part with us on some question of
faith or conduct and think of them as finally estranged. A little more
knowledge and we would see with them or they with us. Some day they and
we shall reach the truth and agree in our conclusions. Separations there
must be for a time, for as the character leans to love or justice, the
mind to reasoning or emotion, there is a difference in the vision of the
good for which a man should strive. And if it comes to this that the
paths chosen by those who were once dear friends divide them to the end
of earthly days, they should retain the recollection not so much of the
single point that separated, as of the many on which there was
agreement. Even though they have to fight on opposite sides it should be
as those who were brothers once and shall be brothers again. Indeed, are
they not brothers still, if they fight for the same Master?
Yet one difference between men reaches to the roots of life. The company
of those who keep the straight way and press on towards the light have
the most sorrowful recollection of some partings. They have had to leave
comrades and brethren behind who despised the quest of holiness and
immortality and had nothing but mockery for the Friend and Saviour of
man. The shadows of estrangement falling between those who are of
Christ's company are nothing compared with the dense cloud which divides
them from men pledged to what is earthly and ignoble; and so the
reproach of sectarian division coming from irreligious persons needs not
trouble those who have as Christians an eternal brotherhood.
There are divisions sharp and dreadful, not always at some river which
clearly separates land from land. They may be made in the street where
parting seems temporary and casual. They may be made in the very house
of God. While some members of a family are responding with joy to a
divine appeal, one may be resolutely turning from it to a base
idolatry. Of three who went together to a place of prayer two may from
that hour keep company in the heavenward journey, while the third moves
every day towards the shadow of self-chosen reprobation. Christ has
spoken of tremendous separations which men make by their acceptance or
rejection of Him. "These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into life eternal."
III.
_IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ._
RUTH i. 19-ii. 23.
Weary and footsore the two travellers reached Bethlehem at length, and
"all the city was moved about them." Though ten years had elapsed, many
yet remembered as if it had been yesterday the season of terrible famine
and the departure of the emigrants. Now the women lingering at the well,
when they see the strangers approaching, say as they look in the face of
the elder one, "Is this Naomi?" What a change is here! With husband and
sons, hoping for a new life across in Moab, she went away. Her return
has about it no sign of success; she comes on foot, in the company of
one who is evidently of an alien race, and the two have all the marks of
poverty. The women who recognize the widow of Elimelech are somewhat
pitiful, perhaps also a little scornful. They had not left their native
land nor doubted the promise of Jehovah. Through the famine they had
waited, and now their position contrasts very favourably with hers.
Surely Naomi is far down in the world since she has made a companion of
a woman of Moab. Her poverty is against the wayfarer, and to those who
know not the story of her life that which shows her goodness and
faithfulness appears a cause of reproach and reason of suspicion.
Is it too harsh to interpret thus the question with which Naomi is met?
We are only using a key which common experience of life supplies. Do
people give sincere and hearty sympathy to those who went away full and
return empty, who were once in good standing and repute and come back
years after to their old haunts impoverished and with strange
associates? Are we not more ready to judge unfavourably in such a case
than to exercise charity? The trick of hasty interpretation is common
because every one desires to be on good terms with himself, and nothing
is so soothing to vanity as the discovery of mistakes into which others
have fallen. "All the brethren of the poor do hate him," says one who
knew the Hebrews and human nature well; "how much more do his friends go
far from him. He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him."
Naomi finds it so when she throws herself on the compassion of her old
neighbours. They are not uninterested, they are not altogether unkind,
but they feel their superiority.
And Naomi appears to accept the judgment they have formed. Very touching
is the lament in which she takes her position as one whom God has
rebuked, whom it is no wonder, therefore, that old friends despise. She
almost makes excuse for those who look down upon her from the high
ground of their imaginary virtue and wisdom. Indeed she has the same
belief as they that poverty, the loss of land, bereavement and every
kind of affliction are marks of God's displeasure. For, what does she
say? "Call me not Naomi, Pleasant, call me Mara, Bitter, for the
Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.... The Lord hath testified
against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me." Such was the Hebrew
thought, the purpose of God in His dealings with men not being
apprehended. Under the shadow of loss and sorrow it seemed that no heat
of the Divine Presence could be felt. To have a husband and children
appeared to Naomi evidence of God's favour; to lose them was a proof
that He had turned against her. Heavy as her losses had been the
terrible thing was that they implied the displeasure of God.
It is perhaps difficult for us to realize even by an imaginative effort
this condition of soul--the sense of banishment, darkness, outlawry
which came to the Hebrew whenever he fell into distress or penury. And
yet we ourselves retain the same standard of judgment in our common
estimate of life; we still interpret things by an ignorant unbelief
which causes many worthy souls to bow in a humiliation Christians should
never feel. Do not the loneliness, the poverty, the testimony of Christ
teach us something altogether different? Can we still cherish the notion
that prosperity is an evidence of worth and that the man who can found a
family must be a favourite of the heavenly powers? Judge thus and the
providence of God is a tangle, a perplexing darkening problem which,
believe as you may, must still overwhelm. Wealth has its conditions;
money comes through some one's cleverness in work and trading, some
one's inventiveness or thrift, and these qualities are reputable. But
nothing is proved regarding the spiritual tone and nature of a life
either by wealth or by the want of it. And surely we have learned that
loss of friends and loneliness are not to be reckoned the punishment of
sin. Often enough we hear the warning that wealth and worldly position
are not to be sought for themselves, and yet, side by side with this
warning, the implication that a high place and a prosperous life are
proofs of divine blessing.
On the whole subject Christian thought is far from clear, and we have
need to go anew to the Master and inquire of Him Who had no place where
to lay His head. The Hebrew belief in the prosperity of God's servants
must fulfil itself in a larger better faith or the man of to-morrow will
have no faith at all. One who bewails the loss of wealth or friends is
doing nothing that has spiritual meaning or value. When he takes himself
to task for that despondency he begins to touch the spiritual.
In Bethlehem Naomi found the half-ruined cottage still belonging to her,
and there she and Ruth took up their abode. But for a living what was to
be done? The answer came in the proposal of Ruth to go into the fields
where the barley harvest was proceeding and glean after the reapers. By
great diligence she might gather enough day by day for the bare
sustenance that contents a Syrian peasant, and afterwards some other
means of providing for herself and Naomi might be found. The work was
not dignified. She would have to appear among the waifs and wanderers of
the country, with women whose behaviour exposed them to the rude gibes
of the labourers. But whatever plan Naomi vaguely entertained was
hanging in abeyance, and the circumstances of the women were urgent. No
kinsman came forward to help them. Loath as she was to expose Ruth to
the trials of the harvest-field, Naomi had to let her go. So it was Ruth
who made the first move, Ruth the stranger who brought succour to the
Hebrew widow when her own people held aloof and she herself knew not how
to act.
Now among the farmers whose barley was falling before the sickle was the
land-owner Boaz, a kinsman of Elimelech, a man of substance and social
importance, one of those who in the midst of their fruitful fields
shine with bountiful good-humour and by their presence make their
servants work heartily. To Ruth in after days it must have seemed a
wonderful thing that her first timid expedition led her to a portion of
ground belonging to this man. From the moment he appears in the
narrative we note in him a certain largeness of character. It may be
only the easy kindness of the prosperous man, but it commends him to our
good opinion. Those who have a smooth way through the world are bound to
be especially kind and considerate in their bearing toward neighbours
and dependants, this at least they owe as an acknowledgment to the rest
of the world, and we are always pleased to find a rich man paying his
debt so far. There is a certain piety also in the greeting of Boaz to
his labourers, a customary thing no doubt and good even in that sense,
but better when it carries, as it seems to do here, a personal and
friendly message. Here is a man who will observe with strict eye
everything that goes on in the field and will be quick to challenge any
lazy reaper. But he is not remote from those who serve him, he and they
meet on common ground of humanity and faith.
The great operations which some in these days think fit to carry on,
more for their own glory certainly than the good of their country or
countrymen, entirely preclude anything like friendship between the chief
and the multitude of his subordinates. It is impossible that a man who
has a thousand under him should know and consider each, and there would
be too much pretence in saying, "God be with you," on entering a yard or
factory when otherwise no feeling is shown with which the name of God
can be connected. Apart altogether from questions as to wealth and its
use every employer has a responsibility for maintaining the healthy
human activity of his people, and nowhere is the immorality of the
present system of huge concerns so evident as in the extinction of
personal good will. The workman of course may adjust himself to the
state of matters, but it will too often be by discrediting what he knows
he cannot have and keeping up a critical resentful habit of mind against
those who seem to treat him as a machine. He may often be wrong in his
judgment of an employer. There may be less hardness of temper on the
other side than there is on his own. But, the conditions being what they
are, one may say he is certain to be a severe critic. We have
unquestionably lost much and are in danger of losing more, not in a
financial sense, which matters little, but in the infinitely more
important affairs of social sweetness and Christian civilization.
Boaz the farmer had not more in hand than he could attend to honestly,
and everything under his care was well ordered. He had a foreman over
the reapers, and from him he required an account of the stranger whom he
saw gleaning in the field. There were to be no hangers-on of loose
character where he exercised authority; and in this we justify him. We
like to see a man keeping a firm hand when we are sure that he has a
good heart and knows what he is doing. Such a one is bound within the
range of his power to have all done rightly and honourably, and Boaz
pleases us all the better that he makes close inquiry regarding the
woman who seeks the poor gains of a common gleaner.
Of course in a place like Bethlehem people knew each other, and Boaz was
probably acquainted with most whom he saw about; at once, therefore, the
new figure of the Moabite woman attracted his attention. Who is she? A
kindly heart prompts the inquiry for the farmer knows that if he
interests himself in this young woman he may be burdened with a new
dependant. "It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of
the country of Moab." She is the daughter-in-law of his old friend
Elimelech. Before the eyes of Boaz one of the romances of life, common
and tragic too, is unfolding itself. Often had Boaz and Elimelech held
counsel with each other, met at each other's houses, talked together of
their fields or of the state of the country. But Elimelech went away and
lost all and died; and two widows, the wreck of the family, had returned
to Bethlehem. It was plain that these would be new claimants on his
favour, but unlike many well-to-do persons Boaz does not wait for some
urgent appeal; he acts rather as one who is glad to do a kindness for
old friendship's sake.
Great was the surprise of the lonely gleaner when the rich man came to
her side and gave her a word of comfortable greeting. "Hearest thou not,
my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, but abide here fast by my
maidens." Nothing had been done to make Ruth feel at home in Bethlehem
until Boaz addressed her. She had perhaps seen proud and scornful looks
in the street and at the well, and had to bear them meekly, silently. In
the fields she may have looked for something of the kind and even feared
that Boaz would dismiss her. A gentle person in such circumstances is
exceedingly grateful for a very small kindness, and it was not a slight
favour that Boaz did her. But in making her acknowledgments Ruth did not
know what had prepared her way. The truth was that she had met with a
man of character who valued character, and her faithfulness commended
her. "It hath been fully showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy
mother-in-law since the death of thine husband." The best point in Boaz
is that he so quickly and fully recognises the goodness of another and
will help her because they stand upon a common ground of conscience and
duty.
Is it on such a ground you draw to others? Is your interest won by
kindly dispositions and fidelity of temper? Do you love those who are
sincere and patient in their duties, content to serve where service is
appointed by God? Are you attracted by one who cherishes a parent, say a
poor mother, in the time of feebleness and old age, doing all that is
possible to smooth her path and provide for her comfort? Or have you
little esteem for such a one, for the duties so faithfully discharged,
because you see no brilliance or beauty, and there are other persons
more clever and successful on their own account, more amusing because
they are unburdened? If so, be sure of your own ignorance, your own
undutifulness, your own want of principle and heart. Character is known
by character, and worth by worth. Those who are acquainted with you
could probably say that you care more for display than for honour, that
you think more of making a fine figure in society than of showing
generosity, forbearance integrity at home. The good appreciate goodness,
the true honour truth. One important lesson of the Book of Ruth lies
here, that the great thing for young women, and for young men also, is
to be quietly faithful in the service, however humble, to which God has
called them and the family circle in which He has set them. Not indeed
because that is the line of promotion, though Ruth found it so; every
Ruth does not obtain favour in the eyes of a wealthy Boaz. So honourable
and good a man is not to be met on every harvest held; on the contrary
she may encounter a Nabal, one who is churlish and evil in his doings.
We must take the course of this narrative as symbolic. The book has in
it the strain of a religious idyl. The Moabite who wins the regard of
this man of Judah represents those who, though naturally strangers to
the covenant of promise, receive the grace of God and enter the circle
of divine blessing--even coming to high dignity in the generations of
the chosen people. It is idyllic, we say, not an exhibition of every-day
fact; yet the course of divine justice is surely more beautiful, more
certain. To every Ruth comes the Heavenly Friend Whose are all the
pastures and fields, all the good things of life. The Christian hope is
in One Who cannot fail to mark the most private faithfulness, piety and
love hidden like violets among the grass. If there is not such a One,
the Helper and Vindicator of meek fidelity, virtue has no sanction and
well-doing no recompense.
The true Israelite Boaz accepts the daughter of an alien and unfriendly
people on account of her own character and piety. "The Lord recompense
thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord, the God of
Israel, under Whose wings thou art come to take refuge." Such is the
benediction which Boaz invokes on Ruth, receiving her cordially into the
family circle of Jehovah. Already she has ceased to be a stranger and a
foreigner to him. The boundary walls of race are overstepped, partly, no
doubt, by that sense of kinship which the Bethlehemite is quick to
acknowledge. For Naomi's sake and for Elimelech's as well as her own he
craves divine protection and reward for the daughter of Moab. Yet the
beautiful phrase he employs, full of Hebrew confidence in God, is an
acknowledgment of Ruth's act of faith and her personal right to share
with the children of Abraham the fostering love of the Almighty. The
story, then, is a plea against that exclusiveness which the Hebrews too
often indulged. On this page of the annals the truth is written out that
though Jehovah cared for Israel much He cares still more for love and
faithfulness, purity and goodness. We reach at last an instance of that
fulfilment of Israel's mission to the nations around which in our study
of the Book of Judges we looked for in vain.
Not for Israel only in the time of its narrowness was the lesson given.
We need it still. The justification and redemption of God are not
restricted to those who have certain traditions and beliefs. Even as a
Moabite woman brought up in the worship of Chemosh, with many heathen
ideas still in her mind, has her place under the wings of Jehovah as a
soul seeking righteousness, so from countries and regions of life which
Christian people may consider a kind of rude heathen Moab many in
humility and sincerity may be coming nigh to the kingdom of God. It was
so in our Lord's time, and it is so still. All along the true religion
of God has been for reconciliation and brotherhood among men, and it was
possible for many Israelites to do what Naomi did in the way of making
effectual the promise of God to Abraham that in his seed all families of
the earth should be blessed. There never was a middle wall of partition
between men except in the thought of the Hebrew. He was separated that
he might be able to convert and bless, not that he might stand aloof in
pride. The wall which he built Christ has broken down that the servants
of His gospel may go freely forth to find everywhere brethren in common
humanity and need, who are to be made brethren in Christ. The outward
representation of brotherhood in faith must follow the work of the
reconciling Spirit--cannot precede it. And when the reconciliation is
felt in the depth of human souls we shall have the all-comprehensive
church, a fair and gracious dwelling-place, wide as the race, rich with
every noble thought and hope of man and every gift of Heaven.
IV.
_THE HAZARDOUS PLAN._
RUTH iii.