Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-12-22
RUTH'S CHOICE.
LESSON XII, FOURTH QUARTER,
INTERNATIONAL SERIES, DEC. %.

o.
Stcarns.
CONDENSED from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by
permission Of H. s. Hoffman, Philadelphia.
publisher.
The book Of Ruth, with its record OF her
devotion to the God Of Israel and tho great
blessing He bestowed upon her, Is delight
full resting place after the book Of Judges
with its record Of the many backslidings or
Israel and consequent expressions by their
enemies The FIRST verse tells US that 10 wss
In the days OF the judges that the events Of
this book transpircd, and some think as early
as the time Of Gideon. Tho story OF the
book IL briefly as follows: Elimciech and
Naomi Of Bethlehem Judah loft their own
home because Of famine In the land, and,
taking their two sons with them, went to re-
side in the country Of Moab. There Elime-
lcch died; the two sons married women Of
Moab, and after some years each Of the SOILS
died, so that Naomi was left alone with her
two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth,
bereft Of both husband and soma After
spending about ten years In the land
of Moab q, a she starts with her daugh-
tiers TO return to her own land; Orpah
Is persuaded to remain among her own people
in Moab. but Ruth clings to Naomi and her
God and her people, as recorded in our lesson
today. Her faithfulness Ia rewarded by God
giving her as q husband q mighty man Of
wealth, OF the family Of Elimelech, whose
name was Boag iii, II, and unto them is born
q child whom they call Obed; he IL the father
Of Jesse. the father Of David Nv, 1917.
10. "And Ruth said, entreat me not to
leave thee or 70 return from following after
thee" Elimelech signifies my God 10 king"
and Bethlehem-Judah signifies ''the house Of
bread and praise" and il 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, 8, ~. even
though there was a famine In the 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 go 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 tho 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. wo
find her urging them both to remain in Moab,
and In the case Of Orpah she is successful
| But Ruth, for some cause, is determined to
| forsase Moab aud idolatry and cleave to the
God and people of Israel. Perhaps tho 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 Balaam had como to her ears
with power; or the tidings OF the death of
and mourning for Moses in the land Of Moab;
but whatever it was, we praise God for the
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 fed from Absalom, was some
what similar; and also the words OF Elisha to
| Elijah III Sam. XIV, 81; III Kings ii, 20.
May such be our words to the Lord Jesus,
aud may we with purpose OF heart cieave
| unto tho Lord" (Acts II, 3D.
IL. "The Lord do so to me, and more also,
| IL 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 Identification with Naomi at any cost:
| and we are reminded OF tho testimony Of
Paul at Cesarea, on his last journey to Jeru-
salem: II am ready, not to be bound only,
| but also to die at Jerusalem for the name OF
the Lord Jesus" (Acts xxi. 49, 81 count
not my life dear unto myself, 90 that
tho ministry which l have received of
the Lord Jesus" tActs Xxx, 24).
| Is "She was steadfastly minded to 20
with her." Or, as in tho margin, she
strengthened herself to go; 1t is tho same
word that is translated courageous, or OF
| eood courage in Deut xxi, 8, z, %; Josh.
l. u, z, o, Is, ETC., and in Ps. xvii, IL; XXI,
| 81 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 tins was
como for Jesus to DO received up, He stead
Easily set His face to go TO Jerusalem; and il
we would be steadfast and unmovable,
Astounding in the work of the Lord it must
be by steadfastly fixing our eyes and our
| hearts upon Him as we see Him In His lowIy
| life at Nazareth, His rejected, sandered and
despised public life, his death in our stead
on Calvary, His resurrection, ascension and
continued interceSSion for us, and His glori-
Gus appearing for which we wait. Thus as
we labor in His harvest field He will drop
many handful on purpose for us Oil, 16),
and we shall know him as our kinsman and
| Redeelner, mighty man of wealth.
ID. They came to Bethlehem About
six miles south of Jerusalem; there Rachel
died and was buried when Benjamin, young
| est of Jacobs sons, was born OF whom Moses
said, "The beloved OF the Lord shall dwell
in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover
| him all the day long, and he shall dwell be-
tween His shoulders (Deut xxxiii, 10; and
| of the tribe OF Benjamin came Saul Of Tar
| sus lRom. ri, u the great apostle TO the Gen
| tiles AT Bethlehem was born David, the
man after Gods own heart; and there also
was born Davids greater son, Jesus who is
yet to sit on David's throne.
20 ''rhe Almighty hath dealt very Bit
terly with men As the women said, sis this
(which signifies pleasantly but call me
Nara (which signifies "bitter'1, giving this
as her own reason for the new name Now
in this she does not talk like humble child
OF God, but manifests rebellious spirit
against the Lord and His dealings with her.
Some one has said truly that she5 blames the
Almighty when all He did was graciously
to bring her home again, making
Moab prove Mara, lest she should die and
DO buried there.
2L II went out full and the Lord hath
brought me home again empty Now she
speaks truly. OF her own accord she went
out, and the Lord had to bring her home;
the sheep wandered, the shepherd sought and
found. However full we may be, il we wan
der away from God He will permit the devil
soon TO empty us, that we may be led TO
think of the Fathers house and the abun-
dance there; thus it was with the prodigal of
Luke XIV, and thus it ever viii be with the
child of God who wanders from the Fathers
house of bread. How long it took to empty