How richly was now that prayer of Boaz answered to her, " The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given to thee of the Lord God of Israel ! "]
Such being the principal circumstances of the his- tory, we proceed to notice,
II. The light which it reflects on subjects of the greatest moment —
And here a flood of hght breaks in upon us. Truly the history is replete with instruction : independent of the moral duties which it inculcates, such as those of parental care and filial love, or the religious du- ties, such as affiance in God and devotion to his service, it reflects a light on.
lOG RUTH, 11. 11, 12. [281.
1. The ways of Providence —
[Little do persons think, when brought into great afflic- tion, what good may be derived from it, or what are the ultimate designs of God in it. When Naomi first came to Bethlehem, and was recognised by her old acquaintance, she said to them, " Call me not Naomi, but Mara," that is, not Pleasant, but Bitter^; but within a few weeks she was con- gratulated as the happiest of women *^: so completely was that Scripture verified in her, " He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill ; that he may set him with prmces, even with the princes of his people. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, to be a joyful mother of children s." The ways by which her exaltation was effected, appeared fortuitous ; but they were all ordered by the Lord, who foresaw the end from the beginning. It is said in the history, that " Ruth's hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz." Thus, as far as it was her act, it was casual and undesigned ; but as a link in God's chain, it was entirely ordered of the Lord. The same must be observed in reference to every other part of the history : the minutest event in it, as in that of Joseph, was under the immediate con- trol of God, who made use of the most contingent means to accomplish his own eternal purpose. Let not any then, how- ever reduced, conclude that their case is desperate, or that God has brought them into such a state for evil: for, as the bon- dage and imprisonment of Joseph were steps to his highest exaltation, so may our heaviest afflictions be the appointed means of bringing us to the most exalted good. " God's ways are in the great deep, and his footsteps are not known :" and he not unfrequently " makes the depths of the sea a way for his ransomed to pass over "^."j
2. The wonders of Redemption —
[Two things were enjoined by the law of Moses for the express purpose of shadowing forth the redemption of the world; the one was, that the nearest of kin shovild have a right to re- deem an inheritance which his relation had mortgaged'; and the other was, that the brother of a person who died childless should marry his widow, in order to raise up seed to the departed per- son, and to prevent his name from perishing in Israel"^. These prefigui-ed the Lord Jesus Christ as our kinsman, " bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh," redeeming us by his own precious blood; and uniting himself to us, that we may bring forth fruit unto God^. Now both of these things were done in the history
e Ruth i. 20. f Ruth iv. 14, 15. e Ps. cxiii. 7 — 9.
^ Isai. li, 10. ' Lev. xxv. 25. ^ Deut. xxv. 5 — 10.
1 Rom. vii. 4.
281.1 ruth's piety and reward. 107
before us : Boaz, as the kinsman of Ruth, purchased her to be his -wife ; and also redeemed her inheritance, that she, together with himself, might have the enjoyment of it. When he called the elders to be witnesses of the transaction, these were his ow^l words; "Ye ai-e witnesses this day, that / have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi : moreover, Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife™." Both the one and the other he obtained by purchase, being entitled so to do by the special ties of consanguinity: and we are expressly told, that the Lord Jesus Christ assumed our nature for that very pvu'pose, that, " being made of a woman, and under the law, he might redeem them that were under the law "." The words of the Apostle are, " Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part of the same ; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage °." How interesting then does this portion of the inspired records become, when we behold what a mystery is contained in it !]