And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. Paul also affirmed that “in Christ” we “have our redemption through his blood” (Ephesians 1:7). And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. In the Hebrew Bible, Ruth stands with the Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther; together they make up the Megillot, five scrolls that are read at prescribed times on Jewish religious festivals. Now to show you what I mean by those three things, let us take, for example, the story of Moses as he stood on the back side of the desert and looked upon the bush that burned and yet was unconsumed [Exodus 3:1-2]. It has three great meanings. First, the primary meaning, the "then" meaning, the then picture, the condition as it obtained at that moment when Moses stood there and looked at the bush that burned and was not consumed.Â, The primary meaning, the then meaning, was this: the bush is a picture, a type, of the children of Israel, down in the furnace of Egypt, in the trials and the sorrows and the troubles of Egypt. And yet God has preserved His people. Though Pharaoh’s hand is against them, and the law of the land is against them, and the ruler of Egypt seeks to destroy them, yet God preserves them, and they live in the furnace and fire of Egypt unconsumed. That would be a primary meaning – the "then" meaning.Â, Now the practical application is, as a man would stand up and preach about it and speak of the people of the Lord today, in the fiery furnace of this present world, he could speak of his people as they are in the communist world, in the fires and troubles of Russia, or of the satellites of the Soviet Union, or of China. Then he could also speak of the trials and the fires and the troubles we have in this life. Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" [John 16:33].Â. 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? It is true God had chosen the Israelites as the primary avenue through whom to send his Son into the world; however, the very fact that there are Gentiles in the Lord’s background is evidence that God was still a God of all people. Should Women Function as Translators in the Assembly. The timeline of this book is intertwined during the period of the Judges. For centuries its literary excellence has been applauded by a wide variety of critics. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE BOOK OF RUTH, To you who listen on the radio, you are sharing with us the services of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. This is the pastor bringing the early morning message entitled The Spiritual Meaning of the Book of Ruth. In our following through these books of the Old Testament, last Sunday morning at this hour, we were introduced to the story of Ruth, of Boaz, of Naomi. And in order that we might the nearer follow the message of the hour, may I just briefly summarize that story.Â, The Book of Ruth is really a part of the Book of Judges. The Book of Judges closes with three incidents, three stories. One is the story of the idolatry of Dan who adopted the priest and idols of Micah [Judges 17-18]. Then the second story was the story of the almost well-nigh annihilation, the destruction, of the tribe of Benjamin [Judges 19-21]. Then the third story is this pastoral poem of the Book of Ruth [Ruth 1-4].Â, There was a man in Bethlehem-Judah named Elimelech whose wife was named Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, and when there was a famine in the land of Judah, they left their native country and went across the Jordan and lived in a strange land called Moab. And over there in Moab, the two boys reached the age of manhood and married two Moabite girls: one was named Orpah, and the other was named Ruth. And in the providence of God and the passing of time, the three men died. Elimelech died, Mahlon died, Chilion died, and there was left the three widows: Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth. And while the three were there in Moab, word came to Naomi that God had visited her native land in giving the people bread [Ruth 1:1-6].Â, So Naomi decided to return back to her native country. The two widowed daughters-in-law proposed to follow her, but when she invited them to go back to their own land and country, Orpah accepted the invitation and kissed her mother-in-law and returned [Ruth 1:7-15]. But Ruth, clave unto her and said that most beautiful devotion to be found in human speech, or language, or literature.Â, Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go; where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.Â. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. A glimpse of the Old Testament reveals that the period known as fiThe Judgesfl was not one of Israel™s brighter moments spiritually. Thus she is an ancestor in the messianic line that leads to … Tragically, many of them rejected him. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. He is in control of everything that happens, even when we do not understand the situation. This probably was not when Ehud led Israel out from under the Moabite oppression (Judges 3) 2. 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? The book of Ruth is the Narrative of a love story, yet also has some important Genealogy. This call applies just as clearly to us today.We belong to a loving, faithful, and powerful God who has never failed to care and provide for His children. The Book of Ruth derives its name from its principal character. Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. The first verse of the book points to the time of the Judges and the very last verse points to King David. It certainly illustrates Jehovah’s willingness to use pardoned sinners! When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. A. Naomi’s instructions to Ruth. blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. Thou art a near kinsman ” in Nature this book is intertwined during the period of the book to. 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