This whole book is so beautiful. You are almost tempted to read the whole thing. But, for the sake of time, I think we will just read a few selected portions.
And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her god: return thou after thy sister-in-law.
And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee:
For whither thou goest, I will go;
And where thou lodgest, I 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 aught but death part thee and me.
And when she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking unto her.
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 the women said, Is this Naomi?
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens.
Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found favor in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner?
And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy 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, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.
Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken kindly unto thy handmaid, though I be not as one of thy handmaidens.
And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thy handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.
And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou sayest; for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a worthy woman.
And now it is true that I am a near kinsman; howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning.
So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left thee this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel.
And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him.
And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The book of Ruth, as we find in the Scripture, stands between the book of Judges and 1 Samuel.
This is not only because the story of Ruth occurred during the time of the judges. We do not know exactly when the whole story happened. Probably it happened during the days of the judges, because you remember that during that time the children of Israel were impoverished by the Midianites. The Midianites destroyed all their produce and made their life very poor and very miserable. Probably because of that, there was a famine in the land, and this family finally fled to the land of Moab.
But I do believe there is a deeper reason why the book of Ruth stands between the book of Judges and 1 Samuel.
You know, during the time of the judges, as given in that book, stretching over three hundred years, the children of Israel were actually wandering in the promised land. They never arrived at the full possession of their possession and inheritance. They were often oppressed by their enemies. They were often delivered by God, by His raising up judges to them.
And yet the children of Israel never came to a place where they became a nation strong enough to subdue all their enemies and to enter into their full possession.
The comment of the Holy Spirit over the whole period was, “There was no king in Israel; and every one did that which was right in his own eyes.”
In other words, you find during those hundreds of years there were times of revival, and yet these revivals came and faded away. Never were the children of Israel brought into the full purpose of God.
God began to react against such a situation. In reacting against the weakness under the order of judges, God was going to do a work of recovery.
In other words, God was not satisfied just by giving His people revivals. God wanted to recover them to His original design; that is to say, to bring them into the full possession of their possession. And that could only happen under God’s king.
So God was going to give them the king of His own heart. God was going to do the work of recovery, to recover them to the full purpose of God.
Now, in order to do that, you find He began His work with Ruth. Ruth was the first step in God’s divine work of recovery. We will see later why. Ruth represents the first principle of divine recovery.
And then, from Ruth, you find God began to work step by step until His king was brought forth. We know that under King David, for the first time the whole nation was united as one, all the enemies were subdued, and they were able to possess their possessions in fullness.
That is the reason why the book of Ruth is so important.
Now, of course, when we read the book of Ruth, we are really attracted by the beauty of the story. It is such a beautiful story. It is the story of redemption, no doubt about that. It shows us the whole picture of the redemption of our Lord Jesus.
And yet, we must remember: it is not just a story of redemption. It is a story related to the recovery work of God. Redemption does not stand alone. Redemption is unto a purpose, and that purpose is recovery.
So, if we can look at the story with that viewpoint, I believe we come into a better perspective.
Now, this story can really be divided into four parts:
Now, the story began with a family: a man by the name of Elimelech. He was from Bethlehem Judah, and his wife’s name was Naomi. They had two sons.
When famine struck the land, this man, Elimelech, brought his whole family to the land of Moab to escape the famine and to seek food in the land of Moab.
You know, it is really interesting. Why? Because Bethlehem means “the house of bread,” and here you find there was famine in the house of bread. There was famine in the promised land. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. It was a land upon which God’s eyes always looked. It was a land blessed by the Lord. How could famine come in the promised land, and especially in Bethlehem, the house of bread?
And this man, Elimelech—his very name means, “My God is King.” If God was king to Elimelech, do you think Elimelech could go to the land of Moab?
He took that action on his own. If God was really his king, he should have stayed in that house. He should have understood it was the discipline of the Lord.
And when a land, when a person, is under the discipline of the Lord, instead of fleeing God’s discipline, he should bow under the discipline of the Lord and stay there—stay under God until God will restore him.
But here you will find Elimelech. In name, God was his king; but in actuality, he went his own way.
And, you know, Naomi means “pleasantness.” If God was king, certainly there would be pleasantness. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy.” That would be the natural result. But because Elimelech went his own way, therefore Naomi became Mara.
So here you find a man brought his family out of the will of God. He escaped the discipline of the Lord and tried to seek food in the land of Moab.
Moab represents the pride of man. The arrogance of Moab was proverbial. He tried to find food in the land of pride, in the flesh.
Now, is it not a picture? Whenever we try to rebel against the discipline of the Lord, whenever we try to escape the discipline, we always try to find food and satisfaction in the realm of the flesh.
But the result was that God’s disciplining hand followed him into the land of Moab. Elimelech passed away, and the two sons died, and three widows were left behind.
The two sons, of course, married Moabitish women. Again, you find it was against God’s will. But because they sailed into the land of Moab, naturally their sons married Moabitish women.
Three widows were left behind. It was really tragic. They remained in the land of Moab ten years.
You know, if this happened during the time of Gideon, then you know from the book of Judges that actually the Midianites oppressed the children of Israel only seven years. After seven years, God delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Midianites, and Gideon became the judge. Under his judgeship, the land was blessed by the Lord; there was food.
But after ten years, Naomi heard in the fields of Moab that there was food in the land of Israel, and so she decided to return.
And, you know, it was a very touching story. When she started to return, she returned with her two daughters-in-law.
You know, usually we say mother-in-law and daughter-in-law usually have some problems. But here you find this mother-in-law and her two daughters-in-law were in such good relationships. It was unusual—unusual.
Even though Naomi wanted her daughters-in-law to return and not to go with her, because there was no hope for these two young widows, she tried to persuade them to return to their own land and marry among their own people. There was absolutely no hope for them if they should follow her into the land of Israel.
And Orpah returned, but Ruth did not.
And you notice what Ruth said:
Entreat me not to leave thee,
And to return from following after thee:
For whither thou goest, I will go;
And where thou lodgest, I 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 aught but death part thee and me.
There was such love between Naomi and Ruth. Ruth loved her mother-in-law and respected her mother-in-law to such a degree that she was willing to cut loose from all her relationships with her native land, with her own people, and even with her gods.
She was willing to go with Naomi to a strange land, to accept a strange people as her people, and, as it were, a strange God as her God. What made Ruth do this?
Certainly, Elimelech and his family rebelled against God. They departed from the original place, went down into the land of Moab, and God disciplined them very severely. All the men died; only the women were left behind.
Now, when you see such things happen, what will be your reaction? Suppose you do not know God and you saw something happen to a family like that. What would be your reaction?
Certainly, there would be no attraction to that family. You would criticize. You would judge. You would despise, because it was something despicable.
And yet, in spite of it, you find Ruth had such respect and love for her mother-in-law. How did it come about?
Certainly, it did not come about because Elimelech and his family rebelled against God. There was no attraction to that. Certainly, it was not because the discipline of the Lord was upon the family and the men died. No attraction.
But there was something in Naomi that attracted Ruth. As a Gentile, as one who did not know God, Ruth noticed something in the life of Naomi that was impossible with other people.
When other people are in such a situation, certainly they will put the blame on other people, or even blame God and murmur against God. The rebellious spirit will be increased.
But here you find Naomi, even though she was smitten and afflicted, bowed under the mighty hand of God. Her yieldingness, her humility under the mighty hand of God, her repentance, her contrite and broken spirit—there was beauty there that you cannot find anywhere else.
And I believe that was the kind of spirit that drew Ruth to Naomi. Ruth saw something in Naomi that was uncommon, something that did not come from the earth, something that came from heaven; and that drew Ruth to her.
Ruth did not know God. She did not know the people of Israel. Naomi was her only contact. And yet Naomi had such a testimony to this heathen.
Isn’t this strange? We may think that if a person is very strong, if a person is going on strong with the Lord, then certainly his testimony will be strong and he will be able to draw many to Christ.
Now, if a person is under God’s discipline, what testimony does he have? Who will be attracted?
But strange to say, there is still something there that is most unusual and can draw people to Christ.
Oh, how we hope that our testimony will be strong. Oh, we hope that we do not fail God. How we hope that we may go on strong with the Lord, so that our testimony will be so strong and draw all men to Christ. This is our hope.
But oftentimes we have to confess that we are not that strong. We are not as perfect, as strong, as we should be. Oftentimes we have to acknowledge there is much weakness in us. We have to acknowledge that God has to discipline us again and again because of our damage.
Oh, how weak, how deficient we are. Do we ever have a testimony? Will God ever use us to draw people to Him?
Thank God, if not with a strong spirit, it can be a broken and contrite heart. Oh, if we really humble ourselves before the Lord and really give ourselves to the Lord, even if He should discipline us, bow to His hand.
There is a beauty. There is something there that really draws.
So be encouraged, brothers and sisters. In spite of all our weaknesses, if there is something of Christ in our life, He still can draw people to Him.
That was the beginning. And the drawing was so strong that Ruth was willing to leave her own family, her kindred, even her land and her gods, and be joined with Naomi.
You know, according to Mosaic law, the Moabites, even to the tenth generation, could not enter into the assembly of God. The Moabites were completely cut off from God. Even to the tenth generation, they could not enter into the assembly of God. Completely.
And yet here you find the most hopeless case becoming the most hopeful case. Now, is this not grace?
What is grace? Grace is that which comes to us, the most hopeless, the most unworthy. By all indications, we should have no part with Christ. We are outcasts—no connection, no relationship, no way.
And yet the grace of God should come upon us, total strangers like the Moabite, excluded from the commonwealth of God. Yet His grace could come to us, pick us up, and lift us up. That is God’s grace.
And, you know, the grace of God was shown to Ruth through Naomi. How often God’s grace is shown to the world through God’s own people.
They do not know God. They have no contact with God. All they know, all their contact, is us—the lost people. What a responsibility we have.
They do not see God, but they do see us. They want to see God in us. If we are able to let them see God in us, in whatever way it may be, if only they may see God in us, they will be drawn to Christ.
That is the first step in the story of redemption.
Then you go on to the second step. Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem, and all the women were surprised and said, “Is this Naomi?” Naomi said, “Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because I went out full, but I came back empty. The Lord hath afflicted me.”
So these two widows came back, and they were really poor. They could not support themselves. They came back at the time of the barley harvest.
Now, according to the book of Leviticus, you find we are told that when the children of Israel harvested their harvest, if they should leave a sheaf behind, the reaper could not go back and pick up what was left. Whatever was left must be left in the field for the strangers, for the widows, and for the poor.
See, God was so merciful. He wanted His people to be merciful too. So that is the reason why, even under the law, God told His people to be merciful to strangers, to widows, and to the poor.
So it was the law and the custom of those days that, when there was harvesting in the field, the widows, the poor, and the strangers would come and follow the reapers. They would just pick up whatever was left, and by that they could have their food.
So Ruth asked permission from Naomi: “Will you allow me to go and try to pick up, to glean, something from the field?” They were so poor. Ruth was given permission to go.
And, of course, Ruth was a total stranger. She did not know the land. She did not know anybody. She just went out, and she was led of the Lord that she came into the field of Boaz.
Now, Boaz—the very name Boaz means, “In him is strength.” He was one of the nearest kinsmen to Naomi, to Elimelech. He was a wealthy man, and he was a good man, a man full of compassion.
So, without the knowledge of Ruth, she just happened to come into the field of Boaz when there was barley harvest. She followed the reapers and picked up what was left. She was diligent from morning until evening.
And Boaz came to his field. Boaz asked his servant, “Who is this maiden?” They told him.
So he called Ruth and said, “Do not go to other fields. Stay with my maidens and glean until the harvest is over.”
He gave orders to his men to be kind and even to pull out some of the grain and drop it so that Ruth might pick it up. At lunchtime, he even asked her to come and sit by him and gave her food—not only enough for her, but enough left over for her mother-in-law. He gave her water to drink.
And he commanded the young men not to touch her. Even if she should take something from the sheaves, let her do it.
And Ruth worked in the field until the barley harvest was over and the wheat harvest was also over. So she stayed in the fields of Boaz for some time.
In the field of Boaz, certainly the fields of Boaz were much better than the fields of Moab, because there in the fields you have barley.
Now, what is barley? Barley in the Scripture always represents resurrection, because barley is the first grain to be harvested. So it is a type of resurrection. It was a barley sheaf that was to be presented to God as the feast of the firstfruits, which speaks of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
So here you find in the fields of Boaz there was barley harvest: resurrection, the life of the Lord. And there was, of course, wheat. Wheat speaks of life—life forevermore.
There was also water there, already drawn to quench the thirst. And there was also companionship and enjoyment there in the fields of Boaz.
So you find Ruth had not yet come to know Boaz in a very personal way, but she gleaned in the field, and even her gleanings were abundant.
If Boaz represents Christ, the field of Boaz represents the riches that are in Christ. The riches in Christ are so abundant. They are full of life, full of resurrection power, full of the water of life, full of enjoyment. What a Christ we have!
But remember, Ruth only gleaned in the fields of Boaz. She was not yet ready to harvest in the fields of Boaz. Now, if gleaning was so rich, how much more would be the harvest?
Do you remember on one occasion when our Lord Jesus was at the border, and a woman came—a Canaanite woman? She asked of the Lord to heal her daughter. She said, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
But the Lord said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.”
Of course, to the Jews, the Gentiles were dogs because they were unclean. The Gentiles ate unclean food; therefore, they were unclean, like dogs.
But when our Lord Jesus said, “I cannot give the bread of the children to the dogs,” the word He used there was not for dogs roaming the streets, but pet dogs—dogs you have in your family, almost like members of your family. The Lord actually was opening the door to her.
And how great was her faith! She said, “Yes, Lord. Even though the bread is for the children, the pet dogs certainly under the table get some crumbs.”
That is gleaning, you know. That is gleaning.
Oh, before we know the Lord, what do we know? Even before we know the Lord, we already know something of the blessings of the Lord.
Do you know that even before you know the Lord, sometimes God heard your prayers? Many can testify that before they really knew the Lord, they prayed to the unknown God, and their prayers were answered.
Many could testify that in a wonderful, unknown way they were delivered from dangers they could not explain. There was some unknown power there that rescued them out of dangers.
And many could say that even before they knew the Lord, the Lord healed them of their sickness.
We may not know the Lord, but we may glean something of the Lord, because our Lord is so merciful, full of compassion.
Now, certainly gleaning in the field of Boaz should lead us to Boaz Himself. We should not just stay with the blessings of the Lord and not seek to know the Lord Himself. Now, that would be a pity.
We should go on to the One who blesses and know Him. How much better it will be, and not just stay with the blessings of the Lord.
You know, some people just want God’s blessings, and they do not want the Blesser. What a thing! They do not know how much they have lost.
If the gleaning in the fields of Boaz is so abundant, how much more if they know Boaz?
But anyway, you find a second step in the story of redemption and grace. Through Naomi, through coming to the land of Israel and putting herself under the wings of God, Ruth happened to be in the field of Boaz. She was able to glean something for herself, and even something more left over—the riches of Christ.
And I believe, as we look back, we all can see something there. Even before we knew God, He knew us, and He had blessed us.
Not just sitting at the table—we were under the table yet—but still, you know, that is abundant. And how much more after we know Him?
And no wonder Paul says in Ephesians 1:3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing
In the heavenly places in Christ.
That is sitting at His table. That is the second step, moving closer.
Now, after the harvest was over, Naomi said, “Should I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?”
You know, there was such love between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. It was really beautiful. The daughter-in-law was so obedient and diligent, supporting herself and her mother-in-law. And the mother-in-law was not selfish at all.
This was the last day of the harvest. It was the custom of those days that the master of the field would be there, and he and his workmen would enjoy the harvest. They would have a time of feasting, eating, and drinking; and after that, they would all spend the night on the field.
So Naomi told Ruth, “Wash thyself, anoint thyself, and at night go and notice where Boaz lies. Then, after everybody goes to sleep, go and lie at his feet.”
Why? Because if he should wake up, then you say, “Cover me with thy skirt, because thou art my kinsman. Thou hast the right of redemption.”
Now, we have to go back a little bit to Leviticus 25. You know that God divided the promised land among the children of Israel to be their inheritance. But actually the land belonged to God.
The land belonged to Him, but He apportioned the land to the children of Israel. In order that their portion of land would remain in the family, God said that if anyone became very poor and had to sell his property, then his nearest kinsman had the right of redemption.
In other words, his nearest relatives had the first privilege of purchasing that land so that the land would remain in the family.
And, of course, after fifty years, at the time of Jubilee, all the land would return to the original owner—that is to say, to the original inheritance.
So anyway, you find God said, if a man became poor and had to sell his land, the nearest kinsman had the right of redemption to buy the land from the poor man. That is one law.
And there is another law in Deuteronomy 25. God said, if a man married and died without leaving a seed, then his brother should marry his wife in order to raise up seed for his brother.
These two laws were in effect during the time of Ruth.
Here you find Elimelech and his two sons had died. Naomi was going to sell the land, and she was looking for a kinsman-redeemer who had the right of redemption.
But more than that, because Elimelech died and the two sons died, and they had no children, somebody had to redeem not only the land but also marry Ruth in order to raise up children to Elimelech, so that the inheritance and the name would remain in the family.
A double redemption: not only the land, but also the person.
And Boaz had a right of redemption. So all that Ruth asked for was, “Exercise the right of redemption.”
And, of course, the story was at midnight. The man suddenly woke up, and he found someone lying at his feet. He said, “Who art thou?” And Ruth said, “Cover me with thy skirt. Thou art my nearest relative, who has the right of redemption.”
And Boaz said, “Blessed be thou of the Lord. Yes, I do have the right of redemption, but there is one closer than I. If he will exercise that right, let him do it. If not, then I will do it. I will do it.”
Now, here you find a picture. Our Lord Jesus is our kinsman.
You know, we would have no right if our Lord did not come to this earth to become a man. He, being equal with God, He being God, was our Maker, our Creator. There was no blood relationship between Him and us, and there was absolutely no claim we had upon Him.
But He who was equal with God emptied Himself and took upon Himself the likeness of a man. He was willing to come into this world to take up the likeness of a man.
In other words, He was willing to come down to be our kinsman, to be One who is close to us—not afar above all as God, but He came to be a man, as One with us and among us, in order that we might have a claim upon Him.
Now, that is mercy. That is love.
He came to be a man, and as a man He came to redeem—not only to redeem what we have lost in Adam, but even to redeem us. A double redemption.
You know, in the Garden of Eden, Adam lost not only the garden of Eden, not only everything God had given him; he even lost the image. He was created in God’s image, and he even lost that image. He himself became a lost person—not only lost everything, but he was lost too.
And yet you find, in the work of redemption of our Lord, He not only recovered all that Adam had lost, but even more: He also redeemed us and brought us into oneness with Him. And that is double redemption.
Our Lord Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer. Today we have a claim upon Him. After He had come into this world and become a man, we have a claim. We can come to Him and say, “Cover me with Thy skirt. Exercise the right of redemption.”
And thank God, He said, “I will. I will exercise that.”
But there was one closer than Boaz to Elimelech. So the next morning, Boaz sat at the gate of the city.
You know, it was the custom of those days that whenever something was to be settled, usually it was settled at the gate, because people came in and went out there. The elders would sit there, and even the judges would sit there and judge people. So that was where all the transactions would be made.
So Boaz went through the gate. He saw some elders there and asked them to sit down. Sure enough, he saw that one who was closer to Naomi than he passed by.
So he asked that man to sit down and said, “Will you exercise the right of redemption?” At first he said he would.
But then Boaz said, “You must not only redeem the land, but you must also marry Ruth in order to raise up seed.”
Oh, he said, “No, I cannot do that, because that would jeopardize my inheritance.” So he took off his sandal and handed it over to Boaz.
Now, it was the custom of those days, when a transaction was made, to take off your sandal and hand it over to the other party. In other words, “Now you have it.” So the matter was settled.
Now, who can that man be who was closer than Boaz? The Bible did not give him a name. We do not know who that relative was. But there was one, and he could not exercise the right. He had a right, but he could not exercise it, because if he did, he would jeopardize his inheritance.
Now, who was that person? We do not know. What does he represent to us today? Well, I do not know. Probably there are two different ways we can explain it.
We can explain that as the law. So far as our relationship is concerned, the law was given first, and then came grace. So it seems as if the law is closer to us than grace, timewise.
But the law will jeopardize itself if the law accepts us. Because the law cannot compromise. If the law should compromise, it loses its justice.
So the law has to give us up and say, “I cannot do anything. I cannot do anything for you. I cannot redeem you.” The law is given for the knowledge of sin. The law cannot give us life.
And the law is so rigid that it cannot change itself to suit our situation. So that might be one interpretation.
But there might be another interpretation. The one who is closer than Boaz probably represents our flesh.
Our flesh certainly is very close to us—so close. And even after we believe in the Lord Jesus, our good flesh still tries to perfect us.
You remember Romans 7: that good flesh, thinking that it is able to do the will of God, that it is able to redeem us. But it cannot. It cannot do that.
The flesh avails nothing. There is no good in us. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?” Thank God, through Jesus Christ.
So our flesh gives us up. Our good flesh cannot redeem us. The law gives us up. The law cannot redeem us. But who can? Our Lord. He is our kinsman-redeemer.
He not only can, but He is willing—most willing—to redeem our lost property and to redeem us, lost people.
You know, brothers and sisters, oftentimes we think of redemption in terms of imputation.
In other words, you find during the Dark Ages, the Bible was chained. People did not read the Bible, and even if they wanted to, they could not find it.
During the Dark Ages, people did not even know how a person could be redeemed. At that time, people thought that to be redeemed, to be saved, you had to redeem yourself. You had to do penance. You had to do good works. You had to do all kinds of things in order to redeem yourselves. There was no way.
And during the time of the Reformation, thank God, through the Reformers, we were told that we are justified by grace through faith, not by our works. It is by the grace of God.
But how are we redeemed? The theology at that time, the explanation of our redemption, was that God imputed righteousness to us.
In other words, we have no righteousness. Even what we consider as righteousness is filthy rags. That could not cover our nakedness. It was just filthy before God.
But Christ has so much righteousness, so He imputes it to us. He gives some of His righteousness to us, and when He gives some of His righteousness to us, then we are justified. We become righteous before God.
Imputation means He has so much, and He gives something to you. When you receive that, then you are justified.
Now, take the explanation given us by the Reformers. But redemption is more than imputation. Imputation is something given to you, but the giver and you are still two separate persons.
Redemption is more than that. So, about two hundred years ago, through the Brethren movement, we were told that redemption, or justification, is not by imputation but by union. I think we have a better explanation.
It is not just God giving some righteousness to us to make us righteous. It is a union.
So here you find Ruth. She not only came under the wings of the God of Israel. She not only gleaned in the fields of Boaz. But you find she was united to Boaz.
United to Boaz into what? Not just receiving some wheat or some barley, some blessing, but she was united to Boaz in all that Boaz was. They were united in one.
And here, brothers and sisters, this is the meaning of redemption. To be redeemed is not just that we receive something from Christ to make us righteous.
What if you use that up? Redemption is that we are joined to Him in one spirit. We become one.
Now think of that. Tremendous! It is tremendous.
He who is God, and yet He came to be a man in order that we may be united with Him. He united with us to be man in order that we may be united with Him into one—no longer two, but one.
And in that union, you see the full meaning of redemption. How rich we are!
And, you know, this is not the end. Because out of that union came forth David.
Boaz and Ruth begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
And not only David came out of that union, but even the One who is greater than David—the Son of David and the Lord of David—He also came out of that union.
What tremendous effect you find in history. A Moabitish woman, who had no part in God, completely outside, and yet by grace she was brought so near that she could not be nearer. She was united to Boaz, and out of her came the king, and the King of kings.
Now that is the story of redemption. It is related to recovery: to recover not just a person redeemed, not just lost property restored.
Brothers and sisters, in the redemption of the Lord, God is working out His purpose: to bring forth the King of kings as the Lord of lords. And it is through that union.
Now that is the story of Ruth. It is the beginning of God’s work of recovery. Yes, amen.
Our heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the story of Ruth. Thou dost desire to show us Thy work of redemption, how complete it is: that we who were once outcasts are now brought to such a place that we cannot come nearer.
Oh, that we are united with Christ in one. All that is His is ours. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee.
And through that union, Thou art working out Thy eternal purpose. Lord, we just stand amazed at all Thy marvelous work.
We truly can proclaim, “Thou hast done great things for us.” And to Thee be all the praise and the glory. Amen. In Thy precious name, amen.