will lodge : thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried : the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me^."
Here is a pattern of true piety, and particularly as contrasted with Orpah, the relict of Naomi's other son. Orpah, as well as Ruth, was much attached to her mother-in-law Naomi ; but she had not a supreme regard for the God of Israel : and therefore, when she saw what she must forego in order to accompany Naomi, she drew back, and rettu-ned to her own people and their gods. When the final decision was to be made, we are told, " They all lift up their voice and wept again : and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law ; but Ruth clave unto her^." Could Orpah have adhered to Naomi without making any sacrifices, she would have done it ; but if she must give up all her prospects in life in such a cause, she will not pay the price. She parts indeed with much regret; but still she parts; like the Rich Youth that turned his back on Christ, because he could not bring his mind to the terms which were required of him*^. O that we may learn justly to appreciate the characters of Ruth and Orpah ; and instead of drawing back, like Orpah, through the love of this world, may we follow rather the steps of pious Ruth, and " cleave unto the Lord with full purpose of heart." This is what our God requires of all ; nor will our Saviovu- on any other terms acknowledge us as his disciples'^.]
2. Her reward —
[Though she knew not at all in what way God would re- quite her, yet she went forward, committing all her concerns to him, and " putting her trust under the shadow of his wings." Nor was she long before she experienced the tender mercies of her God. On her arrival at Bethlehem, she went into a field to glean some barley for the subsistence of herself, and of Naomi, whose infirmities rendered her unfit for so laborious an employment. Immediately, beyond all expectation, she was treated with great kindness by the reapers; and speedily after- wards by Boaz also, the owner of the field ; who gave his ser- vants a strict charge concerning her, and not only recommended her to glean in company with his maidens till the end of harvest, but authorized lier to take a portion of their food, and bade the reapers to drop handfuls of corn for her, that she might reap the richer fruits of her industry. On her expressing her asto- nishment at all this unexpected kindness, she was informed by Boaz that it was a reward for the piety she had exercised towards lier afflicted mother-in-law, and towards the Lord God of Israel.
^ Ruth i. 16, 17. ^ Ruth i. 14.
•^ Matt. xix. 21, 22. ^ Luke xiv. 20, 27, 33.
281. J ruth's piety and reward. 105
Laden with an extraordinary quantity of corn, she went home at the evening to Naomi ; who, finding on inquiry that this benefactor was Boaz, a near relation of her own, encouraged her to follow the advice he had given her, and to glean in no other fields but his. Moreover, when Naomi found that this kindness of Boaz continued to the end of harvest, she began to think that God might incline the heart of Boaz to execute the ofiice which belonged to the person who was nearest of kin to one who had died childless, namely, to marry the widow, and " raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance." In the hope of this, she advised Ruth to adopt a measure, which certainly to us appears exceeding strange, and which cannot be satisfactorily accounted for, except we suppose Naomi to have been actuated by a divine impulse, or at least by a firm reliance on God, whose glory, in this matter, she principally consulted. The expedient, dangerous as it was, succeeded : and Boaz agreed, that if another person who was nearer of kin to Ruth than himself should decline the office, he would instantly take it upon himself. The very next morning Boaz made the proposal publicly to the man who had a prior right ; and then, on his declining to fulfil his duty, openly avowed his determination to fulfil it himself; and called the elders of the city to attest his redemption of her inheritance, and his espousal of her for his lawful wife. Thus wonderfully did God reward her for all her piety. Still further, tliougli she had lived several years with her husband, and had borne no child, yet now it pleased God to confer on her that which was the great desire of her soul, and to make her a mother in Israel : yea, so greatly did God honour her, that David, the greatest of all the kings of Israel, sprang from her, as the grandson of her child ; and the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Saviour of the world, was lineally descended from her.