George Elliott Jones (1889-1952) was born July 12, 1889, in Morrilton, Arkansas, but spent most of his boyhood in Plumerville, Arkansas, and graduated from high school in that town. In 1914 he graduated from Quachita Baptist College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He was ordained to the ministry in 1912. He pastored various churches in Arkansas and Missouri. He was engaged in over 400 revival meetings and Bible schools in 16 different states. For two years he was Bible teacher for young preachers in Missouri and for four years he served in the same capacity in Arkansas. He was the author of 29 books and booklets. For 12 years he was writer of Sunday School lessons for Associational Baptists. For over 30 years he contributed articles for various Baptist papers. Information for the Biography taken from "THE TRUTH versus NON-MILLLENNIAL TRADITION" author G. E. Jones.

A Story Of

HOW CHRIST PURCHASED HIS BRIDE

by Eld. G.E. Jones*

- DEDICATION -

This work is affectionately dedicated to the memory of Betty Ann Jones, our little daughter, who passed away January 12, 1936, at the age of six years. --- The Author

1st Printing, 1936, Morrilton, Arkansas; 2nd Printing, 1975, Caldwell, Arkansas; 3rd Printing, 1977, Bald Knob, Arkansas by Rev. James Wilcox

The book of Ruth, though consisting of but four brief chapters, brings to us one of the sweetest stories in the word of God. At our first reading of the story it may seem nothing but an ancient romance in which a heathen girl who had left her native land to follow the mother of her dead husband to another land, meets with and marries a rich old bachelor. But, as we study this simple story in the light of New Testament truth, we find it to be a veritable mine of hidden truth.

The events of the book happened during the reign of the judges in the land of Israel. This is set forth in the opening verse of the first chapter. The time of the book itself covered a period of something like ten years or a little more. We find in the fourth verse of the opening chapter that the family of Naomi spent about ten years in the land of Moab. We find in the twenty-second verse of the first chapter that Naomi and Ruth reached the land of Judah in the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth labored in the fields of Boaz until the end of the wheat harvest. Ruth 1:1-4, 22; 2:23. Soon after this Ruth is married to Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi's dead husband.

The Famine

The book opens with the statement that there was a famine in the land in the days when the judges ruled. This famine resulted in the family of Elimelech and Naomi leaving the country of Beth-lehem-judah and going down into the country of Moab to sojourn. This man and his wife were from the town of Bethlehem which later became famous as the birth place of both David and our Saviour. This old couple with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, went into Moab to seek a refuge from the famine that had befallen their native land.

Such famines had happened before in the history of this people. They were always a time of testing for the people of God. There was a famine in the time of Abraham which caused him to leave the land of promise and go down into Egypt. This step was far more reaching in its consequences than it might seem at first. The casual reader sees where this step caused Abram to take a false position concerning his wife to save himself from the king of Egypt. As we read the story of Abram further we find in his household Hager, an Egyptian hand-maid. I think we are safe in concluding that Hager was picked up during the sojourn of Abram and his wife in Egypt. Bible readers are familiar with the story of Abraham taking this young Egyptian woman as one of his wives later on, and of the birth of Ishmael to this union and the trouble this young woman and her son brought into Abraham's family. Even until this day the Arabians, the descendants of Ishmael, are at strife with the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham through Sarah. Thus we see the far reaching consequences of a lapse of faith and a mis-step made during that time.

There was another famine in the promised land during the days of Isaac, and Isaac was only saved from going down into Egypt by the appearance of the Lord unto him and admonishing him to dwell in the land of Canaan.

Every Bible student is familiar with the famine in the days of Joseph and the descent of the whole family of Jacob into the land of Egypt to escape the same. This famine resulted in the whole house of Israel becoming bondmen in the land of the Pharoahs.

Amos, the prophet, tells of another famine, which is not a famine of bread, but of hearing of the words of God. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." Amos 8:11. This is a spiritual famine, one of preaching and proclaiming of the word of the Lord. When such is the case, as Abram left Canaan to sojourn in Egypt, and the family of Elimelech went to live in Moab, so the Lord's people leave the services of God and partake of the things of the world.

We are in the midst of such a famine today. There are plenty of church buildings, and plenty of formal worship and service, but very little of the preaching of the Word of God, and too little manifestation of the Lord's presence and power. Denominational programs, drives, church parties, social functions, ball games, and other forms of amusement have crowded out the preaching of the Word of God, grieved the Holy Spirit, and brought on a spiritual famine. As the result of all this, the churches, largely speaking, are without spiritual power, and in many places the Lord has taken away the candlestick. There are hungry souls who are wandering from sea to sea, and running to and fro (Amos 8:12) seeking the Word of God and finding it not. They go to churches of brick and stone and expensive and attractive pews seeking for bread, and are given a stone, asking for an egg and are given a scorpion. As I write these words there is a Mr. Kagawa, a Japanese speaker in this country who is being invited to speak in various churches and before different religious bodies which are supposed to be Christian. This Mr. Kagawa is an avowed modernist. He does not believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection of our Lord or His second coming. He says that Jesus had sins of His own that needed to be forgiven. Yet this Mr. Kagawa is being heralded as the greatest living Christian and is appearing on the platforms of prominent religious bodies as their chief speaker. I have before me as I write a clipping from the Arkansas Gazette in which some students from Hendrix college, an institution erected for the special purpose of educating Methodist preachers, are defending Kagawa and his lectures. They make light of the fact that he does not believe in the miraculous birth and resurrection of our Lord. To these students such doctrines are trivial matters. Surely there is a famine in the land.

Some few years ago in the columns of questions and answers as carried by the Arkansas Gazette as well as other papers the following question was asked Mr. Cadman, the head of the American Federation of Churches: "We have in our home a boy who is sixteen years old: This boy is in a state of turmoil about the spiritual things of life and more especially about his soul's relationship with God. What would be the best way to guide this boy safely through this experience?" The preacher's answer was as follows: "Tell this boy it is not God's will for him to be unduly concerned about the unseen things of the Spirit. Have him form healthy companionships, play life's games and read Tom Brown's 'School Days'," and another book or two of similar nature was mentioned. Not one thing was said about repentance and faith. Not a thing was said about Jesus Christ or reading the Word of God. How many pulpits are there today that are offering about the same kind of spiritual food to hungry souls? Only a few are preaching in the power of the Spirit of God the doctrines of depravity, repentance, faith, the New Birth, the resurrection, and the glorious pre-millennial coming of our Lord. Instead of the doctrine of the New Birth and the Gospel of our Lord's death for our sins and His resurrection, they are advocating what they call a social gospel. The two Hendrix College boys referred to above, say that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a social gospel. I emphatically deny that statement. It is a gospel for guilty sinners who are rebels in the sight of God and on their way to hell. Jesus said he came to seek and save that which was lost. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21 . This social gospel is the devil's substitute for the doctrine of the substitutionary death of Christ. When men like Mr. Kagawa and a host of other wolves in sheep's clothing deny the virgin birth and resurrection of Christ, all they have left to preach is the devil's substitute of a social gospel. Surely there is a famine in the land. Fifty years ago there was scarcely a pulpit in the South that would give a man a hearing who denied the resurrection of Christ. Alas how different it is today? Surely we are in the midst of a spiritual famine. How many preachers today are able to read the signs of the times? How many are able to tell us where we are drifting? To them the upheaval among the nations, the wide spreading wave of lawlessness means nothing except perhaps hard times. There is a famine in the land. These preachers have been cut out on the pattern of their schools and have been taught to push the denominational programs rather than preach the word of God. They are so busy attending social clubs, and carrying on other non-scriptural organizations that they do not have the time to search the word of God and feed the starving souls of men the word of life. Last year I visited a college friend of mine, a dear soul, and at heart a fine man and sound on the fundamental principles of the word of God, but the poor fellow had allowed himself to be so burdened down trying to keep up with all the social functions that a modern city church expects a preacher to keep up with that he scarcely had time for anything else. It is not the business of God's men to make after dinner speeches at Rotary clubs, be judges in baby contests, and a hundred other things that are of the world. It is time that those who are really men of God are throwing off the yoke of bondage and telling the world we will no longer make bricks for Pharoah. We have enough to do to study the word of God and giving the same to the famishing souls of men. Kiawnis and Rotary clubs may give us a little more prestige with men of the world but that is not giving the bread of life to dying men and women. Men need salvation from sin more than they need temporal food. Jesus said, "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." John 6:27.

Elimelech and Naomi

As a result of the famine in the land of Judah Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons went into the country of Moab to sojourn. They could not stand the pinch of poverty. They reasoned that they had a better chance to prosper in a material way in Moab than in the land of Judah. They were willing to sacrifice the fellowship of their own people for the sake of material gain, so they left the land where the true God was worshipped and went to live in an idolatrous country. How many today have forsaken the people of God and have taken up with the world for sake of gain, or have joined hands with formal and false religious systems for the sake of social prestige? Many cannot bear the stigma of being classed with the poor of this world, rich in faith, whom God hath chosen as heirs of His kingdom. James 2:5. Like Lot they have pitched their tent toward Sodom; or like Elimelech they have gone into Moab to sojourn.

Though Elimelech and his family only went into Moab to sojourn they continued there ten years. Had it not been for the chastening hand of God this very likely would have been the permanent dwelling place of this family and their generations. Doubtless they thought when they went into Moab they would only remain there for a short time. When things were better they would return to the land of their people and the service of their God. But it was easier to go down into Moab than to depart from it. The things of that country had taken fast hold on their lives and it was not so easy to break away. So it is easy to drift from the service of God and the fellowship of His people, but it is a difficult thing to get back. Today there are many who once were regular attendants at the services of the Lord, but where are they now? The new friendships and ties get a stronger hold on us than we think possible. Then again it is hard to come back and confess our mistakes and blunders. We go into Moab to sojourn, but continue there; and were it not for the grace of God it would be our permanent abiding place.

The Chastening Rod

The chastening rod of the Lord now begins to fall upon the family of Elimelech and Naomi. Elimelech, the husband and father, dies. God will not allow his people to live in disobedience to him and waste their lives in the services of the things that are material. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Heb. 12:6. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Rev. 3:19.

Elimelech went into Moab to seek his material welfare and found a grave there. When he left the land of Israel he did not see that grave that awaited him in that place. When we grow careless and indifferent to the truth and service of our Lord we do not see the misfortune that awaits us out yonder. We see only the hope of gain and the lure and attraction of better prospects ahead. Let us beware! Out yonder is a casket, an open grave, and a broken place in the family circle.

Elimelech never saw his native land again. He went to sojourn in Moab, but he died there. Sometimes God's people may get so far from His services as to cause Him to take them out of this world. Paul in discussing the disorders at the Lord's table in the church at Corinth told them that such had happened to some of them. "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (Are dead). 1Cor. 11:30. Some would teach the doctrine of apostasy from these things. They can only see but one thing involved and that is the salvation of the soul. The doctrine of salvation by works has them blinded to everything else. Our salvation is based upon the merits of Christ, not our own. Our rewards in the world to come, our present enjoyment of our Christian experience, and perhaps our physical life depends upon our staying close to our Lord. Moses disobeyed God and died in the wilderness. He did not lose his soul, but his physical life, for his act of disobedience. See Deut. 4:21-22. God may chasten His people but will not suffer them to be lost. "When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." 1Cor. 11:32.

Sowing and Reaping

The reaping time is sure to follow the sowing time. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7. We next notice that the two sons of Naomi take them wives of the daughters of Moab. This was a strict violation of the law of Moses. It was contrary to the principle that runs throughout the word of God. Abraham would not let his servant take a wife for his son from the daughters of the Canaanites. Paul taught that a Christian woman whose husband was dead was free to marry again, but only in the Lord. See 1Cor. 7:39. How few of the children of God consider this principle when choosing their life's companions. Many have had their lives made miserable and their usefulness in the Lord's work ruined because they have ignored this teaching.

Doubtless it was a grief of mind to Naomi to have her sons marry Moabitish women, but when we drift toward the world and away from God we may expect our children to go further, and become rooted and planted in the things of the world. Recently I heard a preacher say that he had always found that the children of unfaithful church members were always the hardest to reach with the gospel. There is but one safe place for us and family, and that is in devoted service to our Lord.

Further Chastening

We next read that Mahlon and Chilion died in the land of Moab, and "the woman was left of her two sons and her husband." If one stroke is not enough to bring us back into line God knows how to lay on the lash harder. Naomi now realized that she and her husband had made a mistake in coming into this country. She could now see that it was not the place where the Lord would have her to be, and her heart turned back to her people and the country of her Lord. She had enough of the chastening of the Lord, and in her sorrow she longed for the comfort which only the people and the service of her Lord could give.

Perhaps some reader of these lines may have gone through the same experiences as Naomi. Once you were faithful in your services to God, but you, like Naomi, forsook these things for the sake of gain. You have lost the joy of your own salvation and the sweetness of God's presence. God's chastening hand has been upon you. You have been made to suffer for your neglect. Perhaps you have lost your health, your property, or part or all of your family. You have learned the emptiness of the world and its promises. Are you not hungry for the worship of God and the fellowship of His people? Have you not learned by experience that only in faithful service to the Lord is happiness and peace to be found? But if you have been chastened take heart. It is because the Lord loves you and you are his own. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.---If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." Heb. 12:6-8.

The Revival in Judah

There may be seasons of spiritual famine, and times when the cause of our God seems ready to die, but our Lord is equal to any emergency. After the drouth comes the seasons of rain. After the cold of winter comes the warm days of spring and new life.

Naomi now hears that God had visited His people in Judah in giving them bread. No matter how dark the day. God is still behind the clouds. The land may be over run with false prophets and under the tyrannical control of an Ahab or Jezebel, but somewhere God has in reserve an Elijah who has the boldness to defy the powers that be, and call the people back to the worship of the God of Israel.

When Naomi heard of better times in her country she made up her mind to return to her native land. So it is with many a backslidden child of God. There are many out of touch with the service of God who have felt the chastening hand of God. Nothing has gone right with them. Their crops have failed. Their stock has sickened and died. Their families have been ill, or their children have become involved in trouble that has turned their lives into bitterness until they are ready to say with Naomi, "I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty." Ruth 1:21. But let a revival come in the land; let the Spirit of God be upon the people, and these Naomis are ready to shake themselves loose from the things of this world and return to God's people and the services of God's house. May the Lord of glory visit us again in giving us spiritual bread! Let us pray for showers of blessings to descend that will quicken His churches into new life and call the wandering, backslidden, brokenhearted Naomis back home again.

The Influence of a Worthy Step

David prayed "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." (Ps. 51:12-13).

When Naomi decided to leave the land of Moab and return to Judah her example caused Ruth, her daughter-in-law, to turn her back on Moab and cast her lot with Naomi and her people. But for this, Ruth would never have seen the land of Judah, nor have met with Boaz; nor have become the ancestress of David, and hence of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is in the service of our master. When some wandering backslidden child of God shakes loose from the things that have held him back, and in humility and repentance returns to the place of service, some person is influenced by his example to come to Christ. Is there some wandering, stricken, unhappy Naomi who is reading these words? It may be that there is near you some potential Ruth, whom you may, by your example, influence to come to Christ, if you will only cut loose from Moab. As Ruth rose to heights of fame and honor in the annals of sacred writ, so these may rise to sublime heights in the service of our Lord.

The Province of God

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified." Rom. 8:28-30.

How wonderful is the providence of God. How marvelous His dealings with those whom He has chosen for His own. He is able to work through weal and woe: through our failures as well as our successes; through our backslidings as well as our acts of devotion and obedience; to glorify His name and bring to Himself those whom He has chosen. How precious to think that after He has chastised us for our wanderings and brought us back empty as He did Naomi, He is able to restore the years the canker worm has eaten and make our last days more blessed and glorious than the first! Though Naomi returned to Judah empty and her soul filled with bitterness, yet she lived to see her daughter-in-law married to Boaz the kinsman redeemer and a child born who proved to be the grandfather of David. So His race is sufficient to restore us and enrich our lives beyond our fondest dreams.

Not only is the grace of God exemplified in blessing the last days of Naomi, but His wisdom and grace is displayed in working through her to bring Ruth to Himself. Though Elimelech and Naomi were in fault in going down into Moab, and they brought upon themselves much suffering and sorrow, yet God through His foreknowledge and providence was able to make use of the wanderings of these disobedient children of His to call Ruth out of the land of Moab, into the land of Israel and covenant relationship with Himself. Ruth was one of His chosen vessels and destined to become famous in Israel.

I do not wish to go at length into the doctrines of foreknowledge and election, but they are found in this simple story. As God had from the beginning chosen the Thessalonician brethren unto salvation (2Thes. 2:13), so had He chosen Ruth, and so has He chosen all His children. See Eph. 1:14; Rom. 9:23-24. We may not understand all about this doctrine, but it is most certainly taught in the word of God. It is not ours to explain, so much as it is ours to believe. God does not require that we be able to understand and explain all that He has spoken, but to believe it because He has said so. When God has spoken, as He most certainly has on this great subject, it is not ours to cavil but to accept and believe what is written in His word. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Scriptures. He is also their interpreter. He knows best of all what He means by the words He has given. He will not teach those who seek to argue with Him. We must accept what He has spoken even though according to our finite reasonings we cannot understand and explain the same. Herein lies one of the main reasons of so much misunderstanding and confusion about the word of God. There are too many who are not willing to accept what they cannot fathom by their own reasoning powers. They try to measure the infinite by the finite. They try to understand all the deep mysteries of God's dealings by the limited power of their own reasonings instead of accepting by simple faith what God has spoken. When we are willing to accept a thing because God has spoken it and place ourselves at the feet of Him who alone is able to give us spiritual understanding (1John 5:20) then we are in position to learn of these things. Having done this we are in the right attitude to be led by the Spirit of God into the glories of these most comforting doctrines.

Naomi wandered far, but God brought her back to himself by His grace. It will bring settled peace to the soul to know that God holds the reins of our lives in His hands, and though He may permit us for awhile, like Naomi, to wander from His ways, yet He never lets us go beyond His control. He will make all things work together for our good. He may permit Satan to sift us as He did the apostle Peter (Luke 22:31-32), but He will also pray for us that our faith fail not, and we shall come out of this experience subdued and chastened and better prepared for His service than before.

It is also glorious to know that God knows how and will find His own, even though it is through the wanderings and bitter experiences of some of His backslidden children that He finds the one He has chosen. He will save and keep His own. He found Ruth, and wherever there is a heart hungering for Him and His truth, and is willing to accept the same or will be willing to receive Him, He will find a way to ultimately reach that soul and life. Ruth was one of His sheep, given to Him by the Father. John 10:28-29. All the Father gave Him will come to Him, John 6:37. He shall save His People from their sins Matt. 1:21. Wherever they are He shall find them. "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." John 10:16. Does this sound like fatalism? Nay, it is the very opposite. There is nothing about this that teaches that God decreed the damnation of any person irrespective of their wills.

God not only chooses His people but He also chooses the means by which He reaches them and brings them to Himself. He chose Ruth as one of His own. His foreknowledge enabled Him to choose Naomi as His instrument by which He brought Ruth to Himself.

Before leaving this fertile field I wish to add another thought. No incident in the life of a child of God is accidental and without meaning. Everything that God permits to come is a part of the divine pattern for our lives. Even our failures, our backslidings and broken vows, He has taken up and woven into the great fabric of our lives. It may all seem meaningless and haphazard to us, but it is not to Him. He is able to pick up the broken threads in our lives, mend the broken places, and make them all the more beautiful because of the same. We see only the present things in our lives; the tangled threads, the marred places, and the difficult trials. He sees the finished product. It was so with Naomi. She could see her failure, her shortcomings, and her loss and say "Call me not Naomi (Pleasant) but call me Mara," which means bitterness. But as you and I see the finished product, and read the wonderful story how glad we are that this backslidden Naomi did go down into Moab. But for that we would not have had the beautiful story of Ruth; and the story is all the more beautiful because of Naomi's failure. It is not our purpose to justify Naomi or any child of God in wrong doing, but we rejoice to know that God in His wisdom foresaw it all, and in His divine plan He made provision for all our shortcomings. While it is true that we are not to sin that grace might abound, yet it was sin that gave God an opportunity to display His marvelous grace. "Where sin did abound grace did much more abound."

How wonderfully God wrought in the life of Naomi! What a marvelous display of grace it was to pick up the broken fragments of her life and mold them into a vessel of honor! When she returned from Moab she doubtless thought that life had nothing more in store for her but sorrow. Bereft of her husband and two sons she thought she had lost all. But when Ruth proved to be so faithful and devoted and was married to Boaz and a son was born to the union she could look back over the way God had led and say, "Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!" "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Rom. 8:28.

Ruth

We shall next study this most interesting character, from whom the book received its title.

Ruth was a Moabitish damsel. She was born and reared in the land of Moab, a heathen land. She was an alien from Israel and a stranger to their people. So we were one time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. See Eph. 2:12 and Ruth 2:10.

There had been enmity between the country of Moab and Israel. See Numbers chap. 22. Here we have a picture of man in his natural state, at enmity with God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7.

This heathen young woman, however came under the influence of Naomi, a worshipper of the true God. Despite the fact that Naomi was away from her native land, the place where her God was worshipped and served, yet there was something about her demeanor that was different from that of the people of Moab. There was something about her life and devotion that won the heart of this young woman. It may have been her fortitude during her bereavement, when she was bereft of her husband and two sons, that made such a deep impression on Ruth. She must have seen that there was a comfort in the faith of Naomi that was not to be found in the religions of Moab. Nowhere is there such a contrast between the believer's hope and the things the world holds to as at the open grave. Here the hope and joys of the unbeliever have an end. All is swallowed up in the grave. But the believer in Christ can look up through his tears and find comfort in the hope of a reunion in the by and by. Ingersol might say "Life is a narrow vale between two barren peaks of eternity. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud and the only answer is the wailing echo of our cry." What a gloomy prospect! What poor comfort for breaking hearts! In contrast to this the believer can say with David "In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me." Ps. 86:7. He can say with Job, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Job 19:25-26.

Whatever it was that caused her to cling to Naomi when the old woman decided to go back to Judah, there was no influence or persuasion that could keep Ruth from going with her. Naomi herself tried to persuade her to go back as she had no more sons to give her for husband, but Ruth replied in those words that have become famous. "Entreat me not to leave thee, nor 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 shall be, my God; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." Ruth 1:16-17. When Naomi saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left off speaking to her. Ruth 1:18. Notice the word stedfastly. Stedfastness was one of the chief characteristics of this noble young woman. She kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley and wheat harvest. See Ruth 2:23. This reminds us of the words of the apostle Paul. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1Cor. 15:58. Ruth was stedfast and unmovable in her choice and her noble purpose. She abounded in good works and her labor was not in vain. Reader, is your mind fixed? Are you stedfast in your decision for Christ, or are you like Orpah, wavering and ready to turn back?

Ruth's Choice

Life and destiny is determined by the choices we make. We are not saved by our works, but we have to choose between Christ and the world and the choice we make will determine whether or not we are saved. The Lord puts before us life and death. We can choose Christ and live or our own way and die. Moses had to choose between the glories and splendor of the Egyptian throne and casting his lot with a nation of slaves. He chose to turn his back on Egypt and the pleasures of sin which were for just a season, and cast his lot with Israel and gained everlasting fame and glory. Joshua called upon Israel to choose whom they would serve. Ruth also had to make a choice. She made the right choice and was richly rewarded in due time. Reader, have you made your choice? You cannot have both Christ and the world. Ruth could not remain in Moab and become a citizen of Israel and share in the covenant blessings of Israel. Neither can you hold on to sin and the world and win Christ. You cannot gain a reward without self sacrifice. The way to the crown leads by the cross. If you would be His disciple you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him.

Ruth also had to make her choice quickly. She did not have a decade in which to make up her mind as to what she was going to do. Naomi was going back to the land of Judah and if Ruth went with her she must decide quickly what she was going to do. Too many never get anywhere because they procrastinate. They mean to decide for Christ but not today. A little later on will do just as well, they think. But tomorrow the strength of the resolution has grown weaker and their hearts have become harder. When the plague of frogs had been sent on Egypt, Pharoah called for Moses and asked him to entreat the Lord for him and his people and he would let Israel go and worship God. Moses asked "When shall I entreat for thee?" Pharoah said "Tomorrow." When the morrow had come the king's heart was hardened. So it is with many. They put off until tomorrow to make their decision. When tomorrow has come they are hardened and the resolution is gone.

I am persuaded to believe that there are comparatively few days in the lives of men when they can accept Christ. Not that salvation is confined to the days of youth or any particular age, but men must be saved while the Spirit of God is drawing. There are seasons of grace as there are seasons for planting and reaping. We must plant in season or it will do no good at all to plant. There was in the days of Christ a pool called Bethesda. At a certain season an angel came down and stirred the waters of that pool. Whosoever first stepped into the waters after they were stirred was healed of whatsoever infirmity he might have. But it would do no good to step into the pool after the waters were quieted down. The afflicted one must step in while the waters were stirred. So there are times when the Holy Spirit troubles the souls of men and they are made to feel and realize their lost condition. This is the season of grace. This is the time for men to accept the offered terms of mercy and be saved. If men will not come then, they cannot come at all. Jesus said "No man can come unto me except my Father which sent me draw him."

Ruth made the choice while it was day. She seized the golden opportunity and stepped out on the promises of God. "Yet a little while the light is with you, walk while ye have the light, lest the darkness come upon you. While ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may become the children of light." John 12:35-36.

Now let us notice what was involved in this choice that Ruth made. First, she had to choose between the land of Moab and the land of Israel. Second, she had to choose between the gods of Moab and the God of Israel. Third, she had to choose between her people and the people of Naomi.

In choosing between the land of Moab and the land of Israel she was choosing between that which she had seen and that which she had not seen. "Our afflictions, which are but for the moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen." 2Cor. 4:17-18. To the natural man it looks like foolishness to give up that which is seen for that which is not seen. He sees no gain in giving up the present for the future. That is because he is too short sighted. Not long since I visited an old bachelor who was past 70 years of age. He was afflicted and Helpless and dependant upon others for his support. He said he could now see where he had made a mistake. Instead of spending his money on himself and having a big time when he was young and making plenty of money he should have married and raised a family. Now, in his old age he would have some one to love and care for him, instead of being thrown upon the mercies of the world. In the days of youth and strength he did not foresee this affliction and infirmity. So it is with the sinner. The god of this world hides the future from him. He cannot see the days of want, decrepitude and weakness awaiting him. The call of the future is drowned by the call of the pleasures of the present moment.

Again, the value of spiritual things is hidden to the lost man. The god of this world has blinded his eyes to the glorious gospel of Christ. II Cor. 4:3-4. He does not understand the things of the Spirit. I Cor. 2:14. Only the working of a supernatural power can shake him loose from the present and cause him to choose the unseen things of God.

Though the unsaved man might not realize it, yet there was a vast difference between the things of Moab and the things of Israel. Israel was in covenant relationship with God. They had the promises of God and Moab did not. There was a great future in store for Israel. God had promised to bless the seed of Abraham and make of them a great nation. That covenant made with Abraham still stands and Israel shall yet be established in the promised land according to the covenant made with Abraham. Moreover the Christ was to come of the stock of Israel. Any true virtuous woman of this nation might become the mother of the promised Redeemer, or be in the line leading to Christ. This is exactly the distinction that came to Ruth. She was the great-grandmother of David, and Christ was of the seed of David. Had she chosen to remain in Moab she would never have had this honor. She would have had a few years of pleasure with her people and have gone down to a nameless, if not a Christless grave. The flesh urged her to stay in Moab, but faith reached out after the glories of the unseen future and she stepped out on the promises of God and was blessed in so doing.

Before passing I wish to add another thought here. Since Jesus Christ was of the lineage of Ruth he was a descendant of the Gentiles as well as of Israel. This makes Him the kinsman redeemer of the Gentile people as well as of Israel.

Ruth also had to choose between the gods of Moab and the God of Israel. We read where Orpah turned back to her people and her gods. So Moab had its gods and its religions. But the God of Israel was the true God, while the gods of Moab were only idols. Naomi's God had the power of life and death. The gods of Moab were mere dumb idols without power to save and comfort. They could not summon the sleeping dust from the grave. The God of Israel was Lord of the universe and able to call again His people from the grave. Ruth must have been convinced of this for she said to Naomi "Thy God shall be my God." What a wonderful statement! Only grace could enable her to make such a confession. It meant that Ruth and her people had been wrong in worshipping and serving their idols and that Naomi and her people were right in serving Jehovah. What condescension! How many have the boldness and the grace to say "I have been wrong and you have been right, I am convinced that you have the truth, so I give up my error." To make such a statement means the crucifiction of one's pride and prejudices. None could do that apart from the grace of God. Here is the rub. How many have been mentally convinced of their error, but because of pride they would not concede that they were wrong? They have seen the framework of their faulty structure crumbled to the ground, and yet they have clung to their error. Why will men do this when their rewards or it maybe their salvation depends upon giving up their error? The trouble is with the heart. The roots of pride and self glory are fastened too deeply in their hearts, so they continue to hold to a deceptive doctrine when mentally they have been convinced of their wrong. Reader, is this the case with you? I t is a dangerous thing to resist the truth. It is spiritual suicide to come in contact with the truth and be convinced of the same and then not receive a love of it. Those who receive not a love of the truth that they might be saved are to be delivered over to strong delusion. II Thess. 2:10-11.

Ruth had to choose between the gods of Moab and the God of Israel, so must we choose between the god of this world and the true God. There are many churches and many doctrines, but Christ is not glorified in all of them. He is not to be found at all in many doctrines that are preached and in many places of worship. Many doctrines that are preached in His name subvert the cross and lead men away from Christ and not to Him. Many churches, so called, are filled with formalism, sham and veneer. There is more outward show and vain glory than devotion to the truth. There may be much social attraction, but how much of the unction of the Spirit? There may be scholarship, but are hungry souls fed on the bread of life? As Ruth made the choice between the gods of Moab and the God of Israel, so must we choose between truth and error.

But, someone says, "How am I to find the truth? There are so many things preached and practiced how am I to distinguish that which is true from that which is false." Let me first ask a question. Do you from the bottom of your heart want to know the truth? Are you willing to pay the price of knowing it and possessing it? If you knew it meant financial loss, or the giving up of your cherished traditions and ideas, or the loss of social prestige would you still want the truth? Are you willing to bear the reproaches that would be your lot by making a change? If so, you can know the truth. If not, then the truth is not for you. You may as well go on your way with those who love the world and self rather than Christ. But if you wish to know how to judge, here is a sure gauge. The false religion appeals to the flesh and your selfish pride. It offers you that which you naturally desire to follow. It calls for no sacrifice. It would save your pride and let you go the easy way. On the other hand, the way of Christ calls for self denial and humility. It cuts deep at the roots of pride and sin. It calls for the crucifixion of self and selfish desires. "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Gal. 5:24. Death by crucifixion was painful and one of ignomy and shame. So when Christ calls upon us to crucify ourselves, He calls for something that is exceedingly painful to our pride and selfish desires.

Now let us make the application. Why the doctrine of baptismal salvation? It presumes to save one by such things as mere lip profession of faith and repentance and the putting of the body under water. All this can be done and the heart be as far from God as hell is from heaven. This can be done and the heart at the same time be filled with selfish pride and deception. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer. 17:9. This way does not call for mourning and weeping. Its advocates do not call upon their seekers to mourn and weep, but they rather make light of it. Their hearts have deceived them. They think they are fighting the mourner's bench, when in reality they are fighting the Bible doctrine of mourning. It is not the bench that gives offense, but the mourning; and mourning is a doctrine of Christ. "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." Matt. 5:4. No thinking person puts any virtue in a seat. Earnest seekers are simply invited to take a seat apart from that part of the congregation that is not interested. They are taught to seek the Lord with a broken and contrite heart. "The Lord is nigh them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Ps. 34:18.

Again, why do some churches practice three forms of baptism? Is it because they are all taught in the word of God? No, for there is only one baptism. See Eph. 4:5. They do it to please the people and not because such practice is sanctioned by the word of God. A church that is true will stick to the word of God even though it does give offense to people. "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Gal. 1:10.

Third, Ruth had to choose between her family and Naomi's people. We are often called upon to make this very choice. God told Abram to get out from his people and his father's house. Gen. 12:1. Jesus said, "He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that taketh not up his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Matt. 10:37-38. In contrast to this how many say "This church was good enough for my father and mother and it is good enough for me. My father and mother believed this doctrine and lived and died in this church and I will do the same." Reader, have you ever been guilty of saying or thinking such as this? Do you not know that this is an argument of the flesh, and not an appeal to the truth? Does this sound like you are hunting for the truth and you are desirous of following Christ, or does it sound like you want to please yourself and at the same time have the appearance of trying to follow Christ? Such as this savours of the world and not of the truth. Any preacher or church that relies upon such argument to win followers stamps himself or itself as being of the world. What if Ruth had said, "The religion of Moab was good enough for my father and mother, therefore it is good enough for me?" If she had done so, then we would never have had this beautiful story, nor would she have acquired the wonderful position that became hers through her choice. But Ruth was not held back by the ties of the flesh and tradition. She broke with all this and cast her lot with the people of God and was blessed in so doing.

Reader, do you desire to please God and do His will? Do you want His blessing upon your soul? Then cut loose from all traditions and fleshly ties and swing out upon God's promises and His glory shall fill your soul.

The Results of Ruth's Choice

First of all Ruth's choice meant that she ceased to be a citizen of Moab and became a citizen of the nation of Israel. So our choice of Christ means a transfer of our allegiance and citizenship. It means that we have been delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Col. 1:13.

Secondly, Ruth's choice meant that she had given up her former friends and associates. But it also meant that she gained new and better friends. So the acceptance of Christ may mean the giving up of old friends and acquaintances, but it also meant that we shall gain others which are far better. One hour of fellowship with the people of God as they are made to sit together in heavenly places is worth more than a decade of pleasure with the unbelieving world. What child of God would want to trade his new friends and associates for the old ones again?

Next, Ruth's choice brought her into covenant relationship with God. Before this she was a stranger to Israel and the covenants of promise. "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. 2:12. Now she is no more a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow citizen of Israel. So our acceptance of Christ will take us out of the place of strangers and make us "fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Eph. 2:19.

Ruth's choice also made her famous in the nation of Israel and the annals of sacred writ. Had she stayed in Moab she would probably have found a nameless grave. She became the wife of Boaz and the mother of Obed, who was the grandfather of David. Thus she gained the distinction of being one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ our Lord. "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matt. 16:25. Faith caused her to be willing to lose her life, and in losing it she found it. Through self-denial she was lifted from a place of obscurity to a pinnacle of lasting fame. How many today, unlike Ruth, are losing their lives by saving them.

Last, her choice meant that she was brought under the protecting wing of the God of Israel. We find Boaz saying to her, "The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust." Ruth 2:12. What a beautiful picture of God's protecting care. As the mother hen gathers her brood under her wings in time of danger, so the Lord of heaven and earth will shield His children. One stormy night when the rain was falling in torrents and the wind was raging I went out to see about a hen in a coop with a brood of chicks. I found that hen hugging the ground as closely as possible. Hastily I threw some more weights on the cover over the coop. In the morning I found that the hen had brought her chicks safely through the storm. So God shields his own from the storms and perils of life, and when the night of tempests and fears is over, and that eternal morn shall break, we shall find that God's protecting wing shall have carried all his children safely through the storm into the sunlight of that unending day. "In the shadow of thy wings I will make my refuge until these calamities be overpast." Ps. 57:1.

Orpah

How different are the stories of Orpah and Ruth. They started life together but when the question arose of choosing between the God of Israel and the gods of Moab, the channels of their lives separated never to converge again. Yet Orpah had the same chance that Ruth had. At the first she even affirmed that she would go with her mother-in-law to the land of Israel. She went so far as to start on the way, but she never got out of the land of Moab. When she came face to face with the cost, her courage failed her. Her heart was still in Moab. The ties of the flesh were too strong for her and she turned back to her people and her gods. This is the last we hear of this young woman. She went back, perhaps to spend a few years of pleasure with her kindred and friends, and in the end to go down as an unbeliever to the grave. Far better that she had never met with Naomi and had been given a glimpse of better things. The greater will be her judgment in the day of reckoning. "It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." 2 Peter 2:21.

How many Orpahs are there today? How many who in their minds have been convinced of better things. Some perhaps have even seemed to make a start. Their hearts however have still been in the world, so they like Orpah have turned back to the things of the world, to the disappointment of the children of God and to their own loss.

Boaz

The next character with whom we meet is Boaz. He was a wealthy bachelor, a prosperous farmer of Bethlehem, and a kinsman of Elimelech the dead husband of Naomi. We find that he became the kinsman redeemer of Mahlon, the dead husband of Ruth. According to the Mosaical law, when a man had waxed poor and his land was to be sold, or had been sold for his debts, a kinsman might redeem it. See Lev. 25:47-50. Again, when a man had died leaving a widow and no child it was the duty of the kinsman redeemer to marry the widow and the first-born child was to be counted as the child of the dead man. This was to keep the name of the dead man from perishing from among his people. See Deut. 25:5-9. We find in this beautiful story that Boaz filled this double role of kinsman redeemer. He bought the land that was Elimelech's and he married Ruth, the widow of Mahlon, and a child was born to them.

In the above we have the doctrine of redemption in a type. Boaz, the Bethlehemite, was a figure of that greater one born in Bethlehem centuries later who redeemed us from all sin. Christ became our kinsman when He took upon Himself the form of man. He became our Redeemer when He paid the price of a broken law by dying for us on the cross. He will yet restore to us our forfeited inheritance when the earth shall be restored to its rightful owners. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." We are told in Eph. 1:13-14 that the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession."

Christ as Kinsman Redeemer Will yet Marry The Church

Not only is Christ to be married to the church at His second coming, but there is a union between Christ and the believer at the present time. This is clearly taught in the 7th chapter of Romans. "Know ye not brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto God." Rom. 7:1-4. When we were in the flesh we brought forth no fruit unto God. This is beautifully set forth in Ruth's relationship to her two husbands. Ruth had no child by Mahlon, her first husband. She did have a child by Boaz, her second husband. So when we were in the flesh, our old natures bore no acceptable fruit unto God. It was needful to become dead to the law by the body of Christ for us to bring forth fruit unto Him.

Ruth Labors in the Harvest Fields

"Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." John 4:35-36.

In the opening of the second chapter we find Ruth going out into the harvest fields to glean. Right here I wish to point out the order of things in this beautiful story. In Chapter one we have Ruth choosing. This choice carried her out of the land of Moab into the land of Judah. This typifies our choice of Christ which takes us out of the kingdom of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son. Col. 1:13. Salvation comes before service. Eph. 2:8-10. In chapter two we find Ruth laboring in the fields of Boaz. We are saved for service in the fields of our Lord. Ruth labors until the end of the harvest period. So are we to labor for Christ until the end of the harvest. In chapter three we find Ruth resting. Ruth 3:1. So at the end of our period of labor for Him we shall rest at the end of the way. In the fourth and last chapter we find Ruth rewarded. So will our rewards come for our services when Christ comes. "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

We do not find any record of any labor that Ruth did while in the land of Moab. That did not count in the annals of the Word of God. So all that we do while unsaved is of no value in the sight of God. Our service for Him commences when saved.

Last, I wish to call attention to the stedfastness of Ruth in her work. "She kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of the barley harvest and of the wheat harvest." Ruth 2:23.

We should pattern after her in our service for our Saviour. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Cor. 15:58.

Grace

Ruth said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace." Ruth 2:2. Here is the doctrine of grace. We are saved by grace apart from all our works. Rom. 4:5-6; 11:5-6; Eph. 2:8-9. After we are saved then we, like Ruth, labor for Him in whose sight we find grace.

Not only are we saved by grace, but grace plants in our hearts the desire to work for Him who saves us. Grace also furnishes the ability to do that work. "I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." 1Cor. 15:10. [see Phi. 2:12-13. Ed.]

It was Ruth's lot to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz. This was no accident. It was providential. The hand of the Lord was leading in the affairs that concerned the future of this noble young woman. That same providence looks over and guides in the lives of His people today and always.

Boaz heard of her fidelity to her mother-in-law, and of her choice of the land of Judah, and Ruth found grace in his eyes. When he took notice of her she bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, "Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" Ruth 2:10. So we were once strangers and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Ruth was amazed at finding such grace in the eyes of Boaz. So is His grace toward us amazing. "Amazing grace. how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me ."

She was bidden by Boaz to abide fast by his maidens and not to glean in the field of another. Ruth 2:8. Christ desires that we be found continually in His service and not in the fields of another. Not only did Boaz command her to continue in his fields, but he invited her to come and partake of his provisions at mealtime. She accepted the invitation and ate, and was sufficed. What a beautiful lesson is here. Not only are we saved by the grace of our Lord, but He bids us partake of the bounties He has in store for us. We feed upon the riches of His grace and His bounteous provision, and our souls are satisfied. Outside of this there is no satisfaction. We may feed upon the things of the world, or of our own provisions, but that will not satisfy. How often we have found it so! But we never feed upon the things He has prepared for us without finding that they satisfy the longings of our souls. Let us hear His invitation. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the water, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isa. 55:1-2.

We also find that Boaz supplied the needs of Ruth. Not only was she permitted to glean in his fields but he commanded his young men to drop some hands full for her on purpose. Here we find her needs supplied. "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19.

Ruth Finds Rest

In the beginning of the third chapter we find Naomi saying to Ruth, "My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee." Ruth 3:1. In Christ there is rest for every soul. He is the Shiloh, or great rest giver of His people. There is rest from the demands of the law. On one occasion He said to the multitudes "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give thee rest." Then there is rest from our labors at the end of Life's way. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." Rev. 14:13. Last, there is that eternal rest that is for the people of God. As Ruth entered into her rest through Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, so we obtain our rest through Christ our Redeemer.

Spiritual Boldness

In verses 2 to 10 in the third chapter we have the record of Ruth claiming of Boaz the part of kinsman redeemer. Here is spiritual boldness. The law of Moses, which Naomi without doubt had taught her, justified her in this bold request of Boaz. So the Word of God and His rich promises to the believer in Christ justifies us in relying upon and claiming those same promises. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," Hebrews 4:16.

When Ruth claimed of Boaz that he perform the part of kinsman redeemer he told her there was a nearer kinsman than he, and if this man would not do the part of a kinsman that he would do so. This nearer kinsman represents our old nature which is unable to redeem us from sin, and which is unwilling to sacrifice of the things of self for the glory of God. We find in Chapter 4 and verse 6 that this nearer kinsman refuses to redeem the inheritance lest he mar his own. Here is the selfishness of the flesh asserting itself. The name of this man is forgotten, while the name of Boaz who was willing to perform the part of kinsman redeemer became famous. In saving his life he lost it, while Boaz in losing his found it. "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matt. 16:25.

When Ruth informed Naomi of the promise of Boaz, Naomi said unto her, "Sit still my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing today." Ruth 3:18. So will Christ finish what he hath begun. "He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6.

Ruth's Marriage

In the fourth and last chapter we find a most fitting climax to this brief, but beautiful story. Here we find Ruth's labor of love is rewarded. She becomes the wife of Boaz and a child is born to this union who becomes famous in Israel. The last days of Naomi are also made blessed. Thus the Lord turns the bitterness of Naomi into rejoicing.

The next morning after Ruth had asked Boaz to perform the part of kinsman redeemer he took his seat in the gate of the city with ten witnesses. When the nearer kinsman came along he called him aside and informed him that Naomi the wife of their dead kinsman, Elimelech, was selling a piece of land. At first the nearer kinsman proposed to redeem it, but on being informed that he must also marry Ruth, the widow of Mahlon, the son of Elimelech and Naomi, he refused to redeem it lest he mar his own inheritance. According to the custom in Israel the man plucked off his shoe and gave it to Boaz as a testimony that he had relinquished his claim to Boaz. When this was done Boaz turned to the witnesses and said, "Ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of this place." Ruth 4:9-10. In these two verses we have set forth the doctrines of the resurrection of the dead and witnessing for Christ. As Boaz the kinsman of Elimelech and Mahlon raised up their names through his child Obed, so Christ will raise up His people from the dead so that their names shall not perish from the earth. We are witnesses for Christ as these ten men were witnesses for Boaz. We find that the apostles went about preaching through Jesus, the resurrection from the dead. Acts 4:1-2.

After this the marriage of Boaz and Ruth took place. Some day Christ our kinsman redeemer is coming back for His own. Then the church will become His bride. "Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph. 5:25-27. As Ruth waited for Boaz to perform what he had promised to do, so are we waiting for the coming of our Lord who shall take us unto Himself. The happiest time in a man's life from a natural standpoint is when he walks to the marriage altar and takes the hand of the woman who consents to become his for life. This is the highest earthly relationship that can be. Our Lord could find no greater illustration of the relationship that exists between Him and the church and to express to us the joy that shall be ours when we take part in that marriage in heaven. "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And He saith unto me. Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith unto me. These are the true sayings of God." Revelation 19:6-9.

The End

* George Elliott Jones (1889-1952) was born July 12, 1889, in Morrilton, Arkansas, but spent most of his boyhood in Plumerville, Arkansas, and graduated from high school in that town. In 1914 he graduated from Quachita Baptist College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He was ordained to the ministry in 1912. He pastored various churches in Arkansas and Missouri. He was engaged in over 400 revival meetings and Bible schools in 16 different states. For two years he was Bible teacher for young preachers in Missouri and for four years he served in the same capacity in Arkansas. He was the author of 29 books and booklets. For 12 years he was writer of Sunday School lessons for Associational Baptists. For over 30 years he contributed articles for various Baptist papers.

Information for the Biography taken from "THE TRUTH versus NON-MILLLENNIAL TRADITION" author G. E. Jones.

 

G. E. Jones (1889-1952)

The Shayne Moses Project

http://www.wvi.com/~moses/