The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-07
International SundaySchooI
 Lesson
RUfH,s WISE CHOICE
0h0MUnnl uM0R0 0n0n0lE III


FOurtn 4uarter. Lesson A. Huth bi4-<<
 December s, 1907
 RUTH'S WISE CHOICE
 EIimelech's exodus to Moab was i'll advised. It came of feeble faith and impatience. He sould not endure hard ness as a good soldier. The conse- quences were disastrous--fhree graves. three widows.I
 widowhood is a pitifui condition at best. But widowhood and poverty. and residence in a foreign land. and child lessness, and an environment of heath : enism and the consciousness that all is the consqunce of sin.-this is the climax of Naomi's woe.
 But God and angels know that the solitary exile widow is rich. Her securities are not of the kind reported on 'change. They do not fluctuate. They are not "watered." nor can they be hypothecated Naomi's wealth is in herself; her character is her capital. It presently yeilds it's rich return.
 In that confessedly trying relation ship. the mother-i law, in scenes ever shifting to the worse, bereaved. impoy, erished, estranged. Naomi exhibited such traits of resignation,. gentleness, and purity as to win theundying, disin- terested, enriching love of Ruth.
 On the border of Israel Naomi put her new-found treasure to it's last test. She threw the love of Ruth into the crucible. The gold was found without trace of alloy. The young Moabitess was willing to be expatiated. and ex-
  poverty, to be subject to the scorn of bigoted Isralites; to surrender an Ori- ental woman's fondest hope. her almost indispensable safeguard. the menushah, the safe place of a husband,-loftier love than that has never been portray ed by the poet or novelist. To have gained such love was to have acquired an incalculable fortune.
 It was Ruths love of Naomi that directed her steps No the harvest field It frightened the menial tasks of the gleaner. It nerved her to endure the rude familiarity of the harvest-nands It prompted her to glean diligently.
 It was Ruth's love of Naomi that prompted her to do that last thing which taxed her modesty to the ex- treme. She lay down at Boazs feet in order that she might reinstate Naomi in the respect of her kinsmen and coun- trymen, and secure her shelter and support. In that she was brave. but not brazen. There was no amorous herself of the only legally-institnted means of accomplishing her laudable end.
 Well may that towering column against the facade of Solofion's golden temple--symboI of strength, beauty, and uprightness--bear the name of this Bethlehemite prince, Boaz. His manly self restraint, his delicate considerate- ness. his strict adherence to legal form, mark him the valiant -hero-judge, worthy the name he bears.
 Faintly and in a figure, this sweet and olden story portrays the Redeemer and redemption. The outcast, pitiable and remediless state of the sinner; the riches of the Savior, His gentleness, compassion, and might: the necessity of casting ones self upon Him in sim plicity and loving trustfulness,- all are pictured in fascinating form. It is this evangelistic characteristic which lifts 1t cut of the sphere of an amorous fic- tion and gives this gem Of an idyl an uneimpeachable claim to its position fin the sacred canon.
 ANALYSIS AND KEY i. Book of Ruth: Gem of an Idyl.
 The stcry.