ruth's piety and reward.
Ruth ii. 11, 12. And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband : and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose ivings thou art come to trust.
THE book of Ruth contains only the domestic occurrences of one poor family : and it may well excite our wonder, that such trifling incidents should occupy the pen of inspiration, when the affairs of kingdoms and nations are overlooked. But there is nothing trifling that relates to morals : and still less, that relates to the Messiah. Were there nothing contained here but an exhibition of filial piety, it would not be recorded in vain ; because a very principal intent of the inspired volume is, to rectify, in every relation of life, the dispositions and habits
281.1 ruth's piety and reward. lOo
of mankind. But an attentive reader of this history will discover in it a fund of rich instruction. To assist you in this search, we shall set before you, I. The general circumstances of the history —
Not having time to notice every thing, we shall confine ourselves to those parts which deserve our more especial attention. The famine that was in the land of Canaan ** in the days of one of the Judges," the consequent departure of Elimelech with his wife and children into the land of Moab, the mar- riage of his two sons with Moabitish women, the death of Elimelech and of both his sons, the return of his wife Naomi to her native land, when she heard that God had restored plenty to it : these and other circumstances we pass over in silence, in order that we may enter more fully into the things which re- late to Ruth.
Ruth was the wife of Mahlon, Naomi's son : and to her this history principally relates. Two things in particular are stated concerning her, and they are distinctly specified in the words of our text ; namely,
1. Her piety —
[This was so conspicuous, that it was a matter of notoriety, and a theme of high commendation, at Bethlehem, almost as soon as she arrived there. On Naomi's adapting the resolution to return to her own country, Ruth, though a Moabitess, de- termined to accompany her : and, though Naomi stated faith- fully to her the many inconveniences that would attend it, she would suffer nothing to divert her from her purpose. She had been instructed by Naomi in the knowledge of the only true God, and had seen in her the beauty and excellence of practical religion; and she determined to participate Naomi's lot, what- ever it might be, and to give herself up a living sacrifice to Naomi's God. True it was, that in order to this she must relinquish aU her ovra relations, and abandon all hopes of ever receiving benefits from them: but she had counted the cost, and deliberately preferred an adherence to Naomi and Naomi's God, before her country, her kindred, and all that the world could give her. The terms in which she expressed her reso- lution strongly marked the finnness of her purpose ; " Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee : for whither thou goest, I will go ; and where thou lodgest, I