Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-12-21
RUTH'S CHOICE.
LESSON XII, FOURTH QUARTER,
INTERNATIONAL SERIES, DEC. 20.

Text of the Lesson, Ruth IL, 1e-23-Com-
init Verses 16-1s-GoIden Text, Ruth
Ii, 1e-Commentary by Rev. d. NJ.
stearns.
condensed from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by
permission of H. S. Hoffman, Philadelphia,
publisher.l
The book Of Ruth, with its record of her
devotion to the God Of Israel and the great
blessing He bestowed upon her, is delight
full resting place after the book Of Judges
with its record Of the many backslidings Of
Israel and consequent expressions by their
enemies. The first verse tells us that it was
in the days Of the judges that the events Of
this book TRANSFERRED, and some think as early
as the time of Gideon The story of the
book is briefly as follows; Elimelech and
Naomi Of Bethlehem-Judah left their own
home because Of famine in the land, and,
taking their two sons with them, went to re-
side in the country of Noah There Flime
! lech died; the two sons married women of
Moab, and after some years each Of the SONS
died, so that Naomi was left alone with her
two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth,
bereft of both husband and sons After
spending about ten years in the land
Of Moab ii, A. she starts with her daugh-
Is persuaded to remain among her own people
In Moab, but Ruth clings to Naomi and her
God and her people, recorded in our lesson
today. Her faithfulness is rewarded by God
giving her as a husband a mighty man Of
wealth, Of the family of Elimelech, whose
name was Boaz di, H., and unto them is born
a child whom they call Obed; he is the father
OF Jesse, the father of David Gv, 1910.
49, "And Ruth said entreat me not to
leave thee or to return from following after
thee" Elimelech signifies my God is king;n
and Bethlehem-Judah signifies ''the house Of
bread and praise;n and it seems very strange
to see these people of the true God going out
to the Moabites for the Moabites were the
enemies of Israel, Deut xiii, 3, A.. even
though there was famine in tho land. The
God who fed Israel forty years in the wilder
ness could find some way to provide for His
people even in time Of famine. Elimelech
and Naomi did not 60 into the land of Moab
to glorify God, nor to seek His honor among
that people, nor to tell of His wondrous works.
We do not read Of anything they did to honor
God among the Moabites those ten years;
and now that Naomi is returning to the land
and people of the only living and true God,
instead Of encouraging Orpah and Ruth to
forsake the Land of idols and go with her, we
find her urging them both to rer1ain in Moab,
and In the case of Orpah she Is successful
But Ruth, for some cause, Is determined to
forsake Moab aud idolatry and cleave to the
God and people Of Israel. Perhaps the life
Of Naomi was better than her testimony, and
Ruth had seen in her that which commended
the God Of Israel; or it may be that the
prophecies Of BALKAN had come to her ears
with power; or the tidings Of the death Of
and mourning for Moses in the land of Moab;
hut hate Id %, he
whole hearted turning from idols to serve the
living and true God of this Gentle woman
The clinging Of Ittai the Gittite, to David the
king, as he fled from Absalom, was some
what similar; and also the words of Elisha to
Elijah III Sam. XIV, 81; II Kings ii, 80.
May such be our words to the Lord Jesus,
and may we with purpose of heart cieave
unto the Lord" Acts xi, 23).
II The Lord do 50 " mo, and more also,
II aught but death part thee and me-" TAX
ing the words OF these two verses together
they certainly indicate on the part OF Ruth
full ident ification with Naomi at any cost;
and we are remin ed of the testimony of
Paul at Caesarea, on his last journey to Jeru-
salem: 81 am ready, not to be bound only,
but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of
the Lord Jesus Acts xxi, 49, ~ count
not my life dear unto myself, SO that
| might finish my course with joy, and
the ministry which l have received Of
the Lord Jesus" (Acts Xxx, ~.
with her." Or, as In the margin, she
strengthened herself to go; it is the same
word that is translated courageous, or OF
good courage, in Deut. XXI, 6, 7, %; Josh.
. !, g, z, y, Is, ETC., and in Ps xvii, IA; XXI
"a, we are promised that il we wait ON the
Lord He will strengthen our hearts In Luke
xix, 81, we are told that when the time wai
como for Jesus to be received up, He stead
lastly SGT His face to go to Jeru salem; and il
We would be steadfast and unmovable
n ha or ha ord INST
DO by stsadfastly fixing our eyes and our
hearts upon Him a. we soc Him in His lowly
, life at Nazareth, His rejected, slandered and
, dsspised public life, His death In our stead
| on Calvary, His resurrection, ascension anC
continued interoession for us, and His glori
ous Appearing for which We waik Thus a,
~ labor in His harvest field He will droI
many handful on purpose for us III, ICY
, 4nd We shall know him ~ our kinsman anC
, Rsdssmsr, . mighty man Of wealth
10. "Tbsy came 70 Bethlsheul" About
J atx miles south OF Jerusalem; thore Rache
7 lied and was buried when Ben jamin, young
| - OF jacobs sons, was born, OF whom Nose
!, aid, The beloved Of the Lord shall dwell
him AL the day long, and be shall dwell be
T tween His shoulders (Deut xxxiii, LIZ; anc
] ot the tribe Of Benjamin came Saul of Tar
, aus tRom. Ii, y the great apostle to the Gen
man after Gods own heart and there ais
was born Dsvid's greater son, Jesus, who II
8 ~ 70 sit on David's throne.
, 70. Tho Almighty hath dealt very bit
/. teriy with me-" As the women said, lis thi
Naomir she replied, call me not Naom
(Which signifies pleasantly but call MI
Mara (Which signifies "bittero, giving thi
Is her own reason for the new name. Nov
In this she does not talk like humble chile
OF God. but manifests a rebell.ous spiri
3 against the Lord and His dealings with her
y Some one has said truly that sheJ blames tn,
r Almighty when all He did was graciously
, to BRING her home again, making
Moab prove a Mara, lest she should die anc
be buried there.
81. II went out fun, and the Lord haiti
brought ME home again empty Now sh,
, speaks truly or her own accord she wen
out, and the Lord had to bring her home
: the sheep wandered, the shepherd sought ant
4 found. However full we may be, il we wan
Q der away from God He will permit the devi
a soon TO empty us, that we may be led II
= think Of the Fathers house and the abun
y lance there; thus it was with the prodigal o.
P Luke xv. and thus it ever viii be- with tn,
:. child OF God who wanders from the Father
v house Of bread How long it took to empty
the prodigal we are not told it took Tel
y years TO empty Naomi; II any reader