Ver. 4.-Marriage. The notes of time found in this narrative are meagre. It is not easy to decide to what the "ten years" here mentioned refer. After the death of Elimelech, the two sons were spared to be the occupation and the solace o-f the widow's life. Naomi saw them grow up to manhood. Then the young men" took them wives of the women of Moab." I. MARRIAGE IS LAWFUL BETWEEN PERSONS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. There was nothing in the law of Moses to prevent these young men from acting as they did, although the children of Israel were not allowed to intermarry with the Canaanites. Later in Jewish history Nehemiah interpreted the law as forbidding marriage with the children of Moab. But he seems to have acted with unjust severity. These Moabitish women were virtuous, kind, devoted ; conformed to the religion of their husbands, and one of them found a solid satisfaction in the worship of Jehovah. The conduct of the young men seems to have been natural and blameless. II. MARRIAGE SHOULD ONLY BE ENTERED UPON AFTER SERIOUS AND PR.\YERFUL DELIBERATION, AND WI'rH A CONVICTION O!I' ITS ACCEPTABLENESS TO Goo. Sensible and Christian people should discountennnce the practice of treating marriage with levity. Consideration should be given to time, to circumstances, and, above c\ll, to 8 THE BOOK OF RUTH. [en. 1. 1-5.
character. Confidence and esteem must be, with affection the basis of wedded h_ap;pin~ss ; and ~h~se canno! exist in their completenes~ where there is dis- 1nm1lanty of ~om-iction and aim-where one :party is living to the world, and the other ~ould live unto the Lord. Error here mvolves misery, and perhaps disaster and rum. Lessons :-1. Let elders incuJcate jus~ v/ews of the marriage relationship upon the yo~ng. ?· Let t~e young_ avoid comm1ttm~ themselves to a contract of marria~e until a fair experience of life has been acquired. 3. Let Christians marry "only m the Lord. "-T.
Ver. 5.-Double de.<iolat,',on. In the happiness of her children N11omi would renve the happy years of her own ea;:-ly married life. But the bright sky was soon clouded over by the shadow of death. Perhaps inheritino- their father's constitution her sons died in early manhood. She became a childl~ss widow. Three widow~ were in one house, each bearing in her silent heart her own burden of grief. I. So~l& ARE CALLED UPON TO ENDURE REPEATED BEREAVEMENTS. Households there are which have been visited again and again by the angel of death. Youthful lives are snapt asunder; youthful hearts are left desolate. Some are called upon to endure prolonged age, whilst children and friends, the joy of their hearts, are taken from them. Here and there is one who can exclaim, ".All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." II. FOR SUCH Goo BAS PROMISES OF GRACE AND PURPOSES OF MERCY. 1. The assurances of the Divine remembrance and kindness. "The mount:lins shall depart," &c. 2. The sympathy of the Divine High Priest. The miracle of the raising of the widow's son atNain is an illustration. 3. Grace of submission shall be imparted. " The Lord gave, and the Lord bath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." 4. Intentions of Divine wisdom shall be accomplished. Thus shall the heart be weaned from earth ; thus shall Christian character be matured; thus shall saints be prepared for glory. How can the vicissitudes of life be home by those who are strangers to Christian principles, to Christian consolations, to Christian hopes? May ours be the happy lot of the Christian, from whom (as from all the children of men) the future is hidden ; but who knows himself to be the object of a Father's love and a Saviour's care, and to whose heart comes day by day a voice from heaven, saying, "I will never leave thee I I will never forsake thee I "-T.
Ver. 1.-" In the days when the judges ruled." This is the age in which the story happened which constitutes Rnth's history, beautiful as an epic, and touching as a pathetic drama of home life. The judges. Whether the earlier or later we know not. Whether in the days of Deborah or tha days of Gideon. Probably, however, the latter, as history tells then of a famine through the invasion of the Midianites. The judges. Religion means law, order, mutual respect, and, with all diversity of circumstance, equality in the eyes of the law. .A nation that perverts justioe has undermined the foundations of the commonwealth. l. ALL JUDGES ABE REPRESENTATIVES AND INTERPRETERS 011' THE LAW. They are not creators of it; they are not allowed to govern others according to their own wil_l, but they are to be fair and wise interpreters of the national jurisprudence. ~aw 1s a beautiful thing if it is founded on the Divine sanctions ; it means protection for the weak, safety for the industrious. . II. THE BEST ADMlNIBTRATlON CANNOT MEET THE WANT CAUSED BY WARS, Famme came I The Midianites came up and "destroyed the increase of the earth." "And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites." Here are the old border wars. Nature was as beautiful as ever, and the flowers of Palestine as fragrant, and the corn as golden ; but the enamelled cup of the flower was soon filled with ~he blood of slaughter, and the beautiful sheaves were pillaged to supply the overrunmng enemies of Israel. Such is the heart of man. In every age out of that come forth wars; and although modem legislation is enabled to fill the empty granary from other shores, yet in the main it still remains true, war means, in the end, not only bloodshed and agony, but want. III. ALL EARTHLY RULERSHIP 18 THE SYMDOL OF' A HIGHER GOVERNMENT. As the cm. 1. 1-5.] THE BOOK OF RUTH. 9