Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-10-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON III FOURTH QUARTER. INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES. OCT. 20.

~ ENTHUSIASTICALLY - - -
Stearns.
IA .'And they lifted Up their voice and
wept again, and Orrai kissed her mother
in-law, but Ruth elavc unto her. The
fact that the Holy Spirit has mentioned
the name OF Ruth IN tic opening verses OF
the New Testament tAath. i, 81 should
lead US 10 praycefal study Of the book
and thoughtful consideration Of her, who,
though . gentle, Is LCnorod with a place
in the ancestry OF Christ The flight OF
Elimelech and his family TO Noah because
Of the famine Ia Israel would secm from
Deut xiii, 3, 10 ks.ve been u wrong move
ON his part and a lacis of faith in God. but
yet ovorralcd by God for the working out
Of His purposes. As VIC see Naomi return
ing without either husband or sons {verscs
5, 81 after her ton yc.lls' sojourn in Moab
ii looks still clearer that they did not we'll
to go to Moab, 1t makes US think of Abra-
hams going to Egypt because of famine,
his trouble there and the absence OF an al
tar unto the Lord until he returned to
Bethel tGcn. xii, 10, TO <iii, A..
10. "And she SKI. -5ehold thy sister
in-law is gone back unto her people and
unto her gods Rett..- chou after thy sis
living God, tho God of Israel, while the
Moabites werc idolaters. and TO sec her
trying to turn her daughters back
to their idols Is truly pltifui sight The
same thing is seen today whom Christians
enter into fellowship with the world either
for pleasure or profit, and thus virtually
urge the worlds people 10 stay by their
idols because there is nothing satisfying
Al. I 81 hos sfa.< .1s,ss
upon the Lord and dishonor TO His holy
namel Sec Jer. xxxiy, Is, 10, and Ezek
xiii, s. and let us aim to honor His wor-
thy dame (Jas ii, Z; Pet. Ii, %.
TO- And Ruth said, Entreat me not to
leave thee or TO return from following aft
or thee, for whittier thou goest l win go
and where thou lodgest will lodge; thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my
God" May we not hope that Naomi had
lived godly life oven in Moab. and that
it was God in her who led Ruth to take
this noble standl Then we could put this
construction upon her words to Orpah and
Ruth, II am going back to Israel's land
and to Israel's God, but have nothing TO
offer you except His promises, and II these
seem sufficient then you had better stay
with your friends aud their idols
II. Where thou diest will l die and
there will be buried; tho Lord do so to
me and more also. if aught but death part
thee and me-" Noble woman, by the
grace of God. Such Glowing to tho Lord
is sure to be rewarded Compare the same
purpose of heart in Ittai the Gittite as no
clave to David III sam. XIV, 2i), with pur-
pose of heart let us clcave unto the Lord
(Acts xi, a3l For the eyes of the Lord run
10 and fro throughout the whole earth to
shew Himself strong ON behalf Of those
whose hearts are perfect or whole toward
Him Oh Chron. xvi %.
Is. stWhen she saw that sho was stead.
lastly minded to go with her, then she
left speaking unto her" The command
to us is TO "Be steadfast, unmovable. I"
The secret of being thus established is
found in III Chron. Xxx, 20. To look around
US will bring only dismay lisa. xii, 10, T..
W, but TO "considcr Him who endured
such contradiction of sinners against Him
self will keep us from being weary or faint
In our minds tHeb. xii, -. We think of Him
when the time was come that He should
be received up, how He steadfastly set His
face to go to Jerusalem luke TX, OIL;
also Of stephen, full Of the Holy Spirit, ~
he looked up steadfastly unto heaven and
saw the glory of God and the Son Of Man
standing on the right hand of God
10. so they two went until they came
to Bethlehem" We may imagine that
they had much talk along tho way con-
cerning tbs God Of Israel and His wonder.
full dealings with the nation. They were
journeying to the house of bread and praise
(Bethlehein-Judah), and they might well
talk of Him who alone Is worthy to be
praised, and who had fed Israel with bread
from heaven for 40 long years in the wild
or ness Wo think Of tho words concerning
Elijah and Elisha, "Thcy two went on, "
"Thcy two stood, " "Thcy two went over
(II Kings ii, 6, Z, 81, and we remember the
Lord oft repeated word, ~ am with you, ("
so that we two, He and i, may daily go
ON together.
90. And she said unto them, Call me
not Naomi, call me Mara She felt that
mara (bitter) expressed the Lords deal
ings with her better than Naomi (ploas,
anti, but she does not seem to have con,
sidered that all the bitterness was proba-
bly, due to the wandering away from God
of herself and her husband. We are apt to
think hardly of God when we ourselves
are the cause of the trouble. She uses the
name Almighty" not knowing, perhaps
that the ''All Sufficient One" was seeking
60 lead her to know Him as such by His
dealings with her.
2l. II went out full, and the Lord hath
brought me home again empty" The
name Almighty" is found more often In
the book Of Job than in all the rest of the
Bible taken together, and 1t is there that
we see full man thoroughly emptied in
order that he may know the "All Suffi-
Gent One tho Almighty. Then we sec
him filed as never before. Until we are
willing to be emptied Of all that is OF us
we cannot know the fuilness of God Christ
Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form
Of servant, wherefore God hath highly
exalted Him (Phil. Ii, 7-91. Contrast Mao,
MRS complaint with 1 Sam. iii, 10, and
Job /, 81.
90. "And they came TO Bethlehem In tho
beginning Of barley harvest" Then fol-
lows the story of 1.-THE mighty man Of
wealth." the kinsman redeemed, in whose
fields Ruth went to CLEAN, and from whom
she received much kindness, who after
ward became her husband and tho father
of Obed, of whom came Jesse, the father
of David (chapter Nv, 81, 22). Henry Moor
house, In his book on Ruth, entities tho
four chapters Ruth deciding, Ruth CLEAN,
ing, Ruth resting, Ruth rewarded. Among
the refreshing things OF chapter Il notice
the greetings OF Boaz and his reapers
Verse ~, the beautiful words Of Boaz 10
Ruth (yerses IL, i2), the handfuls let fall
of purpose Verse 49, and Naomi's greet
ing when she brought home her gieanings
that first day. Let chapter Iii, Is, suggest
Ps. cxxxviii, s, and let us glean diligently
in the field OF our kiasman Redeemor, the
Mighty Man OF Wealth 1.-THE field is the
world), for we shall find many handouts
dropped on purpose, and In the morning
we shall be married 10 the owner Of the
field All viii then be ours and we shall
reign with Him forever. Then we shall
see the reward Of forsaking father and
mother and friends for His sake MARX <,
20, 30). and we shall be exceeding glad.