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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
July, 1933
LESSON COMMENTARY Golden Text Illustrations Children’s Division In Holy Places B y A lan S. P earce B y H elen G ailey B y H erbert H. T ay
Outline and Exposition B y B. B. S utcliffe
Blackboard Outlines B y B essie B. B urch
great. She seemed j ust about ready to take the step which would lead her into the promised land, but at the final moment she drew back, returning to her people and her gods (v. 15). Orpah is a picture of many who feel strongly about yielding to Christ. They can weep and declare they want to go with Him, but when the final step is to be taken and the past forsaken fprever, they hesi tate, and in so doing are lost. It is not enough that one’s soul shall be deeply moved and the emotions strongly stirred; there can be no salvation until the sinner is willing to cast his all upon the Lord, with out any other hope or help. Naomi then suggested that Ruth follow her sister-in-law and return with her to her own land. Naomi had no reminder of the good to be found in the Lord’s land; she spoke only of the good which Ruth must leave behind. Thus the backslider always talks o f the sacrifices which must be made in order to follow the Lord. But it is no loss to accept Christ and to follow H im ; it is always great gain. Because the backslider has no practical separation unto the Lord, he has no real joy of the Lord o f which to speak. But God uses all things in dealing with the inquiring heart, and here He used even the testimony o f the backslider to strengthen and reveal the reality of Ruth’s faith. Ruth’s heart had already left Moab, and her feet would fol low her heart. The reality of her faith is seen in her decision and in the confession of her pur pose (vs. 16-18). This was clear-cut, defi nite, final. I f she lost, she would lose every thing. She was burning her bridges behind her. By her own volition, she took a step by which everything would be gained, or else everything would be lost. Her decision was for all time. She de clared, “I will go where thou g o e s t or, in other words, “ Thy society will be mine.” “ Where thou lodgest I will lodge,” or, “Thy home will be mine.” "Thy people shall be my people,” or, “ My own family will have second place with me.” “ Thy God shall be my God,” or, “My religion ends here, and thy religion begins for me.” “ Where thou diest, will I die,” or, “My own hopes are dead beyond recall.” “And there will I be buried,” or, “ I put myself in the balance along with all I am and have.” Thus everything that Ruth was or had was placed at the disposal o f Naomi, and this is a true picture o f real surrender to the Lord which exchanges self and what self has for the Lord and what the Lord has. When Naomi saw that Ruth was deter mined to go with her, she ceased dissuad ing her. Real faith always separates from the past. Ruth was separated from Orpah, her gods, and her country. Abraham was divorced from his kindred, his gods, and his country. Moses also left his. But the separated ones found themselves united to all who are traveling in God’s path. Ruth’s decision was put immediately into practice: “ They two went until they came to Bethlehem” (v. 19). The word “until” is filled with meaning. There was no turn ing back; all obstacles were overcome, all difficulties were removed, all hard places
AUGUST 6, 1933 RUTH T he B ook
of R uth are what they are, essentially selfish. Such was the condition o f Ruth when first the message came that “the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.” She did not know the Lord, she was not numbered among His people, and she had no claims upon Him. But she was connected with one, Naomi, who had a claim, and through her, Ruth heard the good news, and hear ing, desired to possess the blessing. II. T he T est of R uth ’ s F aith (8-10). The testimony o f a backslider, which is never attractive, tested Ruth’s faith (vs. 8, 9). Naomi did belong to the Lord; but she was out of His place for her, and hence out o f her own. Her words sound well, but they are nothing more than a mere pious wish, which might be uttered by any pagan. Her own resources having failed, she thought the resources of God had also failed. Naomi expressed the desire that good should be the portion o f her daughters-in- law, but she should have known there could be no true “ rest” for these young women outside the plan o f God, and that unless they could in some way be brought into God’s country, they would be bereft indeed. There was real sorrow on the part of these two women at the prospect of leaving their mother-in-law; they wept aloud and protested that they would surely accomp-; any her back to her own land, even though she advised them to stay where they were. This is an illustration of the fact that the Lord tests the reality of every confes sion of faith in Him. When He was upon earth, and certain persons professed that they were ready to follow Him, He did not at once accept their fellowship, but He said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son o f man hath not where to lay his head.” It was as though He would say to them, “ Consider well before you make the final choice; count the cost before turning your back upon what you already have; be sure you are ready -to follow Me for My sake alone and not for what you will receive.” III. T he R eality of R uth ’ s F aith (14-19). After Naomi had again tried to dissuade her daughters-in-law from following her, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave to her. Orpah would have liked to go, but the cost, as she counted it, was too BLACKBOARD LESSON
Lesson Text'. Ruth 1:6-10, 14-19. Golden T ext: “Let us love one another: for love is of God” (1 John 4:7). The Barley Harvest «-fT'V aomi and R uth returned to Bethle- II f hem at the time of the barley har- -*■ vest. If we wish to visualize the scene at that time, we need only to visit the fields of Palestine today at harvest time, for the process is almost identical now
with what it was three or four thou-j sand years ago. The native of Pal estine t o d a y reaps his grain with a s i c k l e . He grasps s ev er al stalks of grain with his left hand, and with a cir cular motion o f the
sickle, he severs the bunch near the ground. He lays these down and reaps more until he has enough to make a good sized sheaf o f wheat or barley. Then the sheaf is bound, and at the end o f the day it is car ried to the threshing floor, usually on the back of a donkey. It is plain to be seen that such methods o f reaping occasion waste. Many heads of grain are left on the field, and the poor people of the community are allowed to follow the reapers and pick up this grain for themselves. The threshing floor consists o f a flat place on some very hard ground, or better still, the top o f a flat rock from twenty-five to fifty feet across. The bundles of wheat are thrown on this space, and oxen or donkeys are driven about over them. The constant trampling loosens the grain from the hull, and it falls down beneath the straw upon the hard surface of the thresh ing floor. Then about evening— for a good breeze is usually blowing at that time— the men pick up the straw with big, flat, wooden shovels, and throw it into the air. The breeze blows the lighter chaff and straw to one side, while the wheat, being heavier, falls back upon the threshing floor. Thus the process is repeated until all the grain is winnowed. Outline and Exposition I. T he B eginning of R uth ’ s F aith (6, 7). In Moab, Naomi heard that good times had come again to her own land, and she desired to return. She informed her daughters-in-law of her purpose, and one o f them, Ruth, came to the beginning of her faith by hearing this good news. “ Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). It is the material benefits which first draw the sinner to the Lord. There is, at first, no true repentance for sin, no sorrow for crimes against God, but only sorrow because of the distress and loss to oneself. The appeal to selfishness, however, is the only one that can be use«, because sinners
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