CONTENTS The book of Ruth opens in this Chapter with the relation of a certain family leaving Bethlehem in consequence of a famine, and sojourning in the country of Moab. The distressing events which followed: the death of the husband and his two sons; and the return of the widow, with one of her d... [ Continue Reading ]
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. (2) And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his t... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. What miseries spring out of original transgression! When Elimelech left Bethlehem-judah, he left it only for a little while, according to his intenti... [ Continue Reading ]
And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. How reviving is the thought to the people of God, amidst the devastations and ravages of death, that Jesus ever liveth: and as he ever liveth, so he ever loveth his people. And doth he not say, in... [ Continue Reading ]
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. Reader! may we not, without violence to the history, conceive this to be no unapt representation of the re... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. Here we may learn that resolutions formed in grace lead to practice. Had Naomi simply sent forth a wish to return to Bethlehem, when she heard t... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. There is somewhat very interesting in this account of the parting of Naomi and her daughters-in-law. Even on the score of natural feelings it is not with... [ Continue Reading ]
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. There is something captivating, even to natural affections, in the first view of religion. Nature, as in the case of these two Moabitish daughters, could not but feel a desire to be among God's people. But alas! though nature... [ Continue Reading ]
Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. They who attend only to the mere letter of the history will discover nothing more in it than the affe... [ Continue Reading ]
And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. What a striking evidence is here, in these two character's, of the wonderful difference between nature and grace. While both Orpah and Ruth felt the tender affections, and were melted at Naom... [ Continue Reading ]
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. This verse throws a light upon the real design Naomi had in view in all her discourse, when seemingly persuading her daughters-in-law to go back. For when she talked of the... [ Continue Reading ]
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. In what sweet and engaging language hath the Holy Ghost been pleased to convey to the church, the pious and unalterable resolution of this poor Moabite. No doubt Naomi... [ Continue Reading ]
When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. An oath for confirmation (saith an Apostle) is to them an end of all strife. Ruth had solemnly protested the firmness of her resolution of accompanying Naomi; and this the other accepted, as a thing now set... [ Continue Reading ]
So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? Such is the surprise whenever a sinner is brought home to Jesus! It excites the wonder and astonishment of man, in beholding th... [ Continue Reading ]
I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? Such language is suitable to a sinner. It is the highest evidence of grace, when the soul is led to see the hand of God in our aff... [ Continue Reading ]
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. All souls, both Jew and Gentile, when brought home to the Lord, will always find it a harvest-day whenever they return.... [ Continue Reading ]