THE KING’S BUSINESS
1 2 4
unto thy people” (v. 10). Naomi had given Ruth one more chance to go back. ; Her final appeal was based upon Ruth’s love for Orpah. One of the strongest appeals to loving natures to forsake Jehovah is found in love for those who are in the world. But while Ruth loved Orpah, she loved Naomi more and no love for Orpah could induce her to forsake Naomi. No love to any human being will draw away from our Lord Jesus the one who really loves Him (2 Cor. 5:14, 15; Matt. 10:37): they may love Orpah but they love the Lord Jesus more. Orpah was “no't far from the kingdom” (cf. Mark 12:34), but she did not enter it. Ruth was not only near, she really entered. Naomi would not have Ruth go with her without fully counting the cost (vs. 9, 11, 15) nor will the Lord Jesus have us go with Him without fully count ing the cost (Luke 14:25, 33). v. 16. "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, 1 will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall he my people, and thy God my God.” This reply of Ruth to Naomi is one of the most beautiful that ever fell from human lipl It shows us what pure love existed in these rude days, and it il lustrates wonderfully what our attitude should be toward Him whom we love su premely: whither He goes, we should be ready to follow (cf. Matt. 16:24; John 12:26) ; where He dwells, we should desire to dwell, for there is no greater joy than that of communion with Him; His people should be our- people, we should recognize no one as being really our people except those who belong to Christ; and His God should be our God; we should know no God but “the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Ruth meant every word she said. Do we mean every word of it when we say it to the Lord Jesus? And Ruth lived up to it. Do we live up to it ? Do we go wherever He goes ? Are we ready to make our abode where He makes His, preferring communion with Him in the lowliest cottage to separation from
dispensation was no respecter of persons (cf. Acts 10:34, 35). The whole of verse 14 illustrates that place in our own expe rience where we have to decide whether we should leave home and friends and every thing to go on with Christ or whether we should turn our backs on Christ and go back to the world and its promise and to loved ones. Ruth’s attitude of love, that left all to go with Naomi, illustrates what our attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ should be (Matt. 10:37; Luke 14:33). From the worldly standpoint, Orpah seemed to make the wiser choice but in the final out come Ruth gained the most and became the mother of a long line of kings and not only that but the mother of the Christ. Indeed, she became one of the most honored women of all history. When we Decome Christians, we. may for a time suffer the loss of all things but we gain infinitely more than we lose (cf. Phil. 3:8 with Phil. 4:19. Study Romans 8 the entire chapter and Phil. 4 the entire chapter). It is true Orpah went back reluctantly, but she went back. She kissed her mother-in-law, it is true, but she left her. She wept about going, but she went. . v. 15. "And she said, Behold, thy sister- in-law has gone hack unto her people and unto her god: return thou after thy sister- in-law.” In forsaking Naomi, Orpah had forsaken Jehovah also. She had not only gone back to her people but back to her god, a false god. The one who goes back to the world goes back to the god of the world, i. e. the Devil (2 Cor. 4:4). Prob ably Orpah pitied Ruth as she went back to the delights and ambitions of Moab; but Ruth needed no pity, Orpah was the one to be pitied. And the one who goes back to the world is always the one to be pitied, though the world is wont to pity the one who turns their back upon the world and its profits to follow Christ. There must have been something exceedingly attractive and lovable about Naomi that both of her daughters-in-law should have gone with her as far as they did. At the outset even Orpah had said, “I will return with thee
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online