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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ruth, Chapter I].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>R U T H</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have Naomi's afflictions.
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I. As a distressed housekeeper, forced by famine to remove into the
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land of Moab,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. As a mournful widow and mother, bewailing the death of her husband
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and her two sons,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:3-5">ver. 3-5</A>.
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III. As a careful mother-in-law, desirous to be kind to her two
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daughters, but at a loss how to be so when she returns to her own
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country,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:6-13">ver. 6-13</A>.
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Orpah she parts with in sorrow,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:14">ver. 14</A>.
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Ruth she takes with her in fear,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:15-18">ver. 15-18</A>.
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IV. As a poor woman sent back to the place of her first settlement, to
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be supported by the kindness of her friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:19-22">ver. 19-22</A>.
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All these things were melancholy and seemed against her, and yet all
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were working for good.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ru1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Elimelech and Naomi; Death of Elimelech and His Sons.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1312.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that
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there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of
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Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and
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his wife, and his two sons.
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2 And the name of the man <I>was</I> Elimelech, and the name of his
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wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion,
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Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of
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Moab, and continued there.
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3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her
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two sons.
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4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of
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the one <I>was</I> Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they
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dwelled there about ten years.
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5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman
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was left of her two sons and her husband.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The first words give all the date we have of this story. It was <I>in
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the days when the judges ruled</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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not in those disorderly times when <I>there was no king in Israel;</I>
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but under which of the judges these things happened we are not told,
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and the conjectures of the learned are very uncertain. It must have
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been towards the beginning of the judges' time, for Boaz, who married
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Ruth, was born of Rahab, who received the spies in Joshua's time. Some
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think it was in the days of Ehud, others of Deborah; the learned
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bishop Patrick inclines to think it was in the days of Gideon, because
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in his days only we read of a famine by the Midianites' invasion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:3,4">Judges vi. 3, 4</A>.
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While the judges were ruling, some one city and some another,
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Providence takes particular cognizance of Bethlehem, and has an eye to
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a King, to Messiah himself, who should descend from two Gentile
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mothers, Rahab and Ruth. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. A famine in the land, in the land of Canaan, that land <I>flowing
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with milk and honey.</I> This was one of the judgments which God had
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threatened to bring upon them for their sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:19,20">Lev. xxvi. 19, 20</A>.
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He has many arrows in his quiver. In the days of the judges they were
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oppressed by their enemies; and, when by that judgment they were not
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reformed, God tried this, for when he <I>judges he will overcome.</I>
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When the land had rest, yet it had not plenty; even in Bethlehem,
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which signifies <I>the house of bread,</I> there was scarcity. A
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<I>fruitful land is turned into barrenness,</I> to correct and
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restrain the luxury and wantonness of those that dwell therein.</P>
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<P>
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II. An account of one particular family distressed in the famine; it is
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that of <I>Elimelech.</I> His name signifies <I>my God a king,</I>
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agreeable to the state of Israel when the judges ruled, for the Lord
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was their King, and comfortable to him and his family in their
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affliction, that God was theirs and that he reigns for ever. His wife
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was <I>Naomi,</I> which signifies my <I>amiable</I> or <I>pleasant</I>
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one. But his sons' names were <I>Mahlon</I> and <I>Chilion,
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sickness</I> and <I>consumption,</I> perhaps because weakly children,
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and not likely to be long-lived. Such are the productions of our
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pleasant things, weak and infirm, fading and dying.</P>
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<P>
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III. The removal of this family from Bethlehem into the country of Moab
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on the other side Jordan, for subsistence, because of the famine,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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It seems there was plenty in the country of Moab when there was
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scarcity of bread in the land of Israel. Common gifts of providence
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are often bestowed in greater plenty upon those that are strangers to
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God than upon those that know and worship him. <I>Moab is at ease from
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his youth,</I> while Israel <I>is emptied from vessel to vessel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+48:11">Jer. xlviii. 11</A>),
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not because God loves Moabites better, but because they have <I>their
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portion in this life.</I> Thither Elimelech goes, not to settle for
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ever, but to sojourn for a time, during the dearth, as Abraham, on a
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similar occasion, went into Egypt, and Isaac into the land of the
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Philistines. Now here,
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1. Elimelech's care to provide for his family, and his taking his wife
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and children with him, were without doubt commendable. <I>If any
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provide not for his own, he hath denied the faith,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:8">1 Tim. v. 8</A>.
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When he was in his straits he did not forsake his house, go seek his
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fortune himself, and leave his wife and children to shift for their
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own maintenance; but, as became a tender husband and a loving father,
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where he went he took them with him, not as the ostrich,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:16">Job xxxix. 16</A>.
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But,
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2. I see not how his removal into the country of Moab, upon this
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occasion, could be justified. Abraham and Isaac were only sojourners
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in Canaan, and it was agreeable to their condition to remove; but the
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seed of Israel were now fixed, and ought not to remove into the
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territories of the heathen. What reason had Elimelech to go more than
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any of his neighbours? If by any ill husbandry he had wasted his
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patrimony, and sold his land or mortgaged it (as it should seem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:3,4"><I>ch.</I> iv. 3, 4</A>),
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which brought him in to a more necessitous condition than others, the
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law of God would have obliged his neighbours to relieve him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+25:35">Lev. xxv. 35</A>);
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but that was not his case, for he went out full,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
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By those who tarried at home it appears that the famine was not so
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extreme but that there was sufficient to keep life and soul together;
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and his charge was but small, only two sons. But if he could not be
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content with the short allowance that his neighbours took up with, and
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<I>in the day of famine could not be satisfied</I> unless he kept as
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plentiful a table as he had done formerly, if he could not live in
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hope that there would come years of plenty again in due time, or could
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not with patience wait for those years, it was his fault, and he did
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by it dishonour God and the good land he had given them, <I>weaken the
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hands of his brethren,</I> with whom he should have been willing to
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take his lot, and set an ill example to others. If all should do as he
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did Canaan would be dispeopled. Note, It is an evidence of a
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discontented, distrustful, unstable spirit, to be weary of the place
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in which God hath set us, and to be for leaving it immediately
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whenever we meet with any uneasiness or inconvenience in it. It is
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folly to think of escaping that cross which, being laid in our way, we
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ought to take up. It is our wisdom to make the best of that which is,
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for it is seldom that changing our place is mending it. Or, if he
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would remove, why to the country of Moab? If he had made enquiry, it
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is probable he would have found plenty in some of the tribes of
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Israel, those, for instance, on the other side Jordan, that bordered
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on the land of Moab; if he had had that zeal for God and his worship,
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and that affection for his brethren which became an Israelite, he
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would not have persuaded himself so easily to go and sojourn among
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Moabites.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The marriage of his two sons to two of the daughters of Moab after
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his death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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All agree that this was ill done. The Chaldee says, <I>They
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transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord in taking strange
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wives.</I> If they would not stay unmarried till their return to the
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land of Israel, they were not so far off but that they might have
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fetched themselves wives thence. Little did Elimelech think, when he
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went to sojourn in Moab, that ever his sons would thus join in
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affinity with Moabites. But those that bring young people into bad
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acquaintance, and take them out of the way of public ordinances,
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though they may think them well-principled and armed against
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temptation, know not what they do, nor <I>what will be the end
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thereof.</I> It does not appear that the women they married were
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proselyted to the Jewish religion, for Orpah is said to return to her
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gods
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>);
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the gods of Moab were hers still. It is a groundless tradition of the
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Jews that Ruth was the daughter of Eglon king of Moab, yet the Chaldee
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paraphrast inserts it; but this and their other tradition, which he
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inserts likewise, cannot agree, that Boaz who married Ruth was the
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same with Ibzan, who judged Israel 200 years after Eglon's death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+12:8-10">
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Judg. xii.</A></P>
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<P>
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V. The death of Elimelech and his two sons, and the disconsolate
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condition Naomi was thereby reduced to. Her husband died
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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and her two sons
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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soon after their marriage, and the Chaldee says, <I>Their days were
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shortened,</I> because they transgressed the law in marrying strange
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wives. See here,
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1. That wherever we go we cannot out-run death, whose fatal arrows fly
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in all places.
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2. That we cannot expect to prosper when we go out of the way of our
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duty. <I>He that will save his life</I> by any indirect course
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<I>shall lose it.</I>
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3. That death, when it comes into a family, often makes breach upon
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breach. One is taken away to prepare another to follow soon after; one
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is taken away, and that affliction is not duly improved, and therefore
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God sends another of the same kind. When Naomi had lost her husband
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she took so much the more complacency and put so much the more
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confidence in her sons. Under the shadow of these surviving comforts
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she thinks she shall live among the heathen, and exceedingly glad she
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was of these gourds; but behold they wither presently, <I>green and
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growing up in the morning, cut down and dried up</I> before night,
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buried soon after they were married, for neither of them left any
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children. So uncertain and transient are all our enjoyments here. It
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is therefore our wisdom to make sure of those comforts that will be
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made sure and of which death cannot rob us. But how desolate was the
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condition, and how disconsolate the spirit, of poor Naomi, when the
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woman <I>was left of her two sons and her husband!</I> When <I>these
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two things, loss of children and widowhood, come upon her in a
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moment,</I> come upon her <I>in their perfection, by whom shall she be
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comforted?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:9,51:19">Isa. xlvii. 9; li. 19</A>.
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It is God alone who has wherewithal to comfort those who are thus cast
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down.</P>
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<A NAME="Ru1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ru1_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Naomi Returns to Canaan; Naomi and Her Daughters-in-Law; Ruth's Constancy to Naomi.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1312.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might
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return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country
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of Moab how that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had visited his people in giving them
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bread.
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7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and
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her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to
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return unto the land of Judah.
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8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each
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to her mother's house: the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> deal kindly with you, as ye have
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dealt with the dead, and with me.
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9 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> grant you that ye may find rest, each <I>of you</I> in
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the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted
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up their voice, and wept.
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10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto
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thy people.
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11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go
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with me? <I>are</I> there yet <I>any more</I> sons in my womb, that they
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may be your husbands?
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12 Turn again, my daughters, go <I>your way;</I> for I am too old to
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have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, <I>if</I> I should have
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a husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
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13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay
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for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth
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me much for your sakes that the hand of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> is gone out
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against me.
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14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah
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kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
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15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto
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her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in
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law.
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16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, <I>or</I> to return
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from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and
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where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people <I>shall be</I> my
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people, and thy God my God:
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17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> do so to me, and more also, <I>if ought</I> but death part
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thee and me.
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18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her,
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then she left speaking unto her.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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See here,
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I. The good affection Naomi bore to the land of Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Though she could not stay in it while the famine lasted, she would not
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stay out of it when the famine ceased. Though the country of Moab had
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afforded her shelter and supply in a time of need, yet she did not
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|
intend it should be her rest for ever; no land should be that but the
|
|
holy land, in which the sanctuary of God was, of which he had said,
|
|
<I>This is my rest for ever.</I> Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God, at last, returned in mercy to his people; for, though he
|
|
contend long, he will not contend always. As the judgment of
|
|
oppression, under which they often groaned in the time of the judges,
|
|
still came to an end, after a while, when God had raised them up a
|
|
deliverer, so here the judgment of famine: At length God graciously
|
|
<I>visited his people in giving them bread.</I> Plenty is God's gift,
|
|
and it is his visitation which by bread, the staff of life, <I>holds
|
|
our souls in life.</I> Though this mercy be the more striking when it
|
|
comes after famine, yet if we have constantly enjoyed it, and never
|
|
knew what famine meant, we are not to think it the less valuable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Naomi then returned, in duty to her people. She had often enquired
|
|
of their state, what harvests they had and how the markets went, and
|
|
still the tidings were discouraging; but like the prophet's servant,
|
|
who, having looked seven times and seen no sign of rain, at length
|
|
discerned a cloud no bigger than a man's hand, which soon overspread
|
|
the heavens, so Naomi at last has good news brought her of plenty in
|
|
Bethlehem, and then she can think of no other than returning thither
|
|
again. Hew new alliances in the country of Moab could not make her
|
|
forget her relation to the land of Israel. Note, Though there be a
|
|
reason for our being in bad places, yet, when the reason ceases, we
|
|
must by no means continue in them. Forced absence from God's
|
|
ordinances, and forced presence with wicked people, are great
|
|
afflictions; but when the force ceases, and such a situation is
|
|
continued of choice, then it becomes a great sin. It should seem she
|
|
began to think of returning immediately upon the death of her two sons,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Because she looked upon that affliction to be a judgment upon her
|
|
family for lingering in the country of Moab; and hearing this to be the
|
|
<I>voice of the rod, and of him that appointed it,</I> she obeys and
|
|
returns. Had she returned upon the death of her husband, perhaps she
|
|
might have saved the life of her sons; but, <I>when God judgeth he will
|
|
overcome,</I> and, if one affliction prevail not to awaken us to a
|
|
sight and sense of sin and duty, another shall. When death comes into a
|
|
family it ought to be improved for the reforming of what is amiss in
|
|
the family: when relations are taken away from us we are put upon
|
|
enquiry whether, in some instance or other, we are not out of the way
|
|
of our duty, that we may return to it. God <I>calls our sins to
|
|
remembrance,</I> when he <I>slays a son,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+17:18">1 Kings xvii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, if he thus hedge up our way with thorns, it is that he may oblige
|
|
us to say, We will <I>go and return to our first husband,</I> as Naomi
|
|
here to her country,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:7">Hos. ii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Because the land of Moab had now become a melancholy place to
|
|
her. It is with little pleasure that she can breathe in that air in
|
|
which her husband and sons had expired, or go on that ground in which
|
|
they lay buried out of her sight, but not out of her thoughts; now she
|
|
will go to Canaan again. Thus God takes away from us the comforts we
|
|
stay ourselves too much upon and solace ourselves too much in, here in
|
|
the land of our sojourning, that we may think more of our home in the
|
|
other world, and by faith and hope may hasten towards it. Earth is
|
|
embittered to us, that heaven may be endeared.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The good affection which her daughters-in-law, and one of them
|
|
especially, bore to her, and her generous return of their good
|
|
affection.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They were both so kind as to accompany her, some part of the way at
|
|
least, when she returned towards the land of Judah. Her two
|
|
daughters-in-law did not go about to persuade her to continue in the
|
|
land of Moab, but, if she was resolved to go home, would pay her all
|
|
possible civility and respect at parting; and this was one instance of
|
|
it: they would <I>bring her on her way,</I> at least to the utmost
|
|
limits of their country, and help her to carry her luggage as far as
|
|
they went, for it does not appear that she had any servant to attend
|
|
her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
By this we see both that Naomi, as became an Israelite, had been very
|
|
kind and obliging to them and had won their love, in which she is an
|
|
example to all mothers-in-law, and that Orpah and Ruth had a just
|
|
sense of her kindness, for they were willing to return it thus far. It
|
|
was a sign they had dwelt together in unity, though <I>those</I> were
|
|
dead by whom the relation between them came. Though they retained an
|
|
affection for the gods of Moab
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
and Naomi was still faithful to the God of Israel, yet that was no
|
|
hindrance to either side from love and kindness, and all the good
|
|
offices that the relation required. Mothers-in-law and
|
|
daughters-in-law are too often at variance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:35">Matt. x. 35</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore it is the more commendable if they live in love; let all
|
|
who sustain this relation aim at the praise of doing so.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. When they had gone a little way with her Naomi, with a great deal of
|
|
affection, urged them to go back
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Return each to her mother's house.</I> When they were dislodged by
|
|
a sad providence from the house of their husbands it was a mercy to
|
|
them that they had their parents yet living, that they had their
|
|
houses to go to, where they might be welcome and easy, and were not
|
|
turned out to the wide world. Naomi suggests that their own mothers
|
|
would be more agreeable to them than a mother-in-law, especially when
|
|
their own mothers had houses and their mother-in-law was not sure she
|
|
had a place to lay her head in which she could call her own. She
|
|
dismisses them,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) With commendation. This is a debt owing to those who have
|
|
conducted themselves well in any relation, they ought to have the
|
|
praise of it: <I>You have dealt kindly with the dead and with me,</I>
|
|
that is, "You were good wives to your husbands that are gone, and have
|
|
been good daughters to me, and not wanting to your duty in either
|
|
relation." Note, When we and our relations are parting, by death or
|
|
otherwise, it is very comfortable if we have both their testimony and
|
|
the testimony of our own consciences for us that while we were together
|
|
we carefully endeavoured to do our duty in the relation. This will help
|
|
to allay the bitterness of parting; and, while we are together, we
|
|
should labour so to conduct ourselves as that when we part we may not
|
|
have cause to reflect with regret upon our miscarriages in the
|
|
relation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) With prayer. It is very proper for friends, when they part, to
|
|
part with prayer. She sends them home with her blessing; and the
|
|
blessing of a mother-in-law is not to be slighted. In this blessing she
|
|
twice mentions the name <I>Jehovah,</I> Israel's God, and the only true
|
|
God, that she might direct her daughters to look up to him as the only
|
|
fountain of all good. To him she prays in general that he would
|
|
recompense to them the kindness they had shown to her and hers. It may
|
|
be expected and prayed for in faith that God will deal kindly with
|
|
those that have dealt kindly with their relations. <I>He that watereth
|
|
shall be watered also himself.</I> And, in particular, that they might
|
|
be happy in marrying again: <I>The Lord grant that you may find rest,
|
|
each of you in the house of her husband.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is very fit that, according to the apostle's direction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:14">1 Tim. v. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
the younger women, and he speaks there of young widows, should
|
|
<I>marry, bear children,</I> and <I>guide the house.</I> And it is a
|
|
pity that those who have approved themselves good wives should not
|
|
again be blessed with good husbands, especially those that, like these
|
|
widows, have no children.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The married state is a state of rest, such rest as this world
|
|
affords, rest in the house of a husband, more than can be expected in
|
|
the house of a mother or a mother-in-law.
|
|
|
|
[3.] This rest is God's gift. If any content and satisfaction be found
|
|
in our outward condition, God must be acknowledged in it. There are
|
|
those that are unequally yoked, that find little rest even in the
|
|
house of a husband. Their affliction ought to make those the more
|
|
thankful to whom the relation is comfortable. Yet let God be the rest
|
|
of the soul, and no perfect rest thought of on this side heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) She dismissed them with great affection: <I>She kissed them,</I>
|
|
wished she had somewhat better to give them, but silver and gold she
|
|
had none. However, this parting kiss shall be the seal of such a true
|
|
friendship as (though she never see them more) she will, while she
|
|
lives, retain the pleasing remembrance of. If relations must part, let
|
|
them thus part in love, that they may (if they never meet again in this
|
|
world) meet in the world of everlasting love.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The two young widows could not think of parting with their good
|
|
mother-in-law, so much had the good conversation of that pious
|
|
Israelite won upon them. They not only lifted up their voice and wept,
|
|
as loth to part, but they professed a resolution to adhere to her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Surely we will return with thee unto thy people,</I> and take our
|
|
lot with thee." It is a rare instance of affection to a mother-in-law
|
|
and an evidence that they had, for her sake, conceived a good opinion
|
|
of the people of Israel. Even Orpah, who afterwards went back to her
|
|
gods, now seemed resolved to go forward with Naomi. The sad ceremony
|
|
of parting, and the tears shed on that occasion, drew from her this
|
|
protestation, but it did not hold. Strong passions, without a settled
|
|
judgment, commonly produce weak resolutions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Naomi sets herself to dissuade them from going along with her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:11-13"><I>v.</I> 11-13</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Naomi urges her afflicted condition. If she had had any sons in
|
|
Canaan, or any near kinsmen, whom she could have expected to marry the
|
|
widows, to <I>raise up seed</I> to those that were gone, and to redeem
|
|
the mortgaged estate of the family, it might have been some
|
|
encouragement to them to hope for a comfortable settlement at
|
|
Bethlehem. But she had no sons, nor could she think of any near kinsman
|
|
likely to do the kinsman's part, and therefore argues that she was
|
|
never likely to have any sons to be husbands for them, for she was too
|
|
old to have a husband; it became here age to think of dying and going
|
|
out of the world, not of marrying and beginning the world again. Or, if
|
|
she had a husband, she could not expect to have children, nor, if she
|
|
had sons, could she think that these young widows would stay unmarried
|
|
till her sons that should yet be born would grow up to be marriageable.
|
|
Yet this was not all: she could not only not propose to herself to
|
|
marry them like themselves, but she knew not how to maintain them like
|
|
themselves. The greatest grievance of that poor condition to which she
|
|
was reduced was that she was not in a capacity to do for them as she
|
|
would: <I>It grieveth me</I> more <I>for your sakes</I> than for my own
|
|
<I>that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] She judges herself chiefly aimed at in the affliction, that God's
|
|
quarrel was principally with her: "<I>The hand of the Lord has gone
|
|
out against me.</I> I am the sinner; it is with me that God has a
|
|
controversy; it is with me that he is contending; I take it to
|
|
myself." This well becomes us when we are under affliction; though
|
|
many others share in the trouble, yet we must hear the voice of the
|
|
rod as if it spoke only against us and to us, not billeting the
|
|
rebukes of it at other people's houses, but taking them to ourselves.
|
|
|
|
[2.] She laments most the trouble that redounded to them from it. She
|
|
was the sinner, but they were the sufferers: <I>It grieveth me much
|
|
for your sakes.</I> A gracious generous spirit can better bear its own
|
|
burden than it can bear to see it a grievance to others, or others in
|
|
any way drawn into trouble by it. Naomi could more easily want herself
|
|
than see her daughters want. "Therefore <I>turn again, my
|
|
daughters,</I> for, alas! I am in no capacity to do you any
|
|
kindness." But,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Did Naomi do well thus to discourage her daughters from going with
|
|
her, when, by taking them with her, she might save them from the
|
|
idolatry of Moab and bring them to the faith and worship of the God of
|
|
Israel? Naomi, no doubt, desired to do so. But,
|
|
|
|
[1.] If they did come with her, she would not have them to come upon
|
|
her account. Those that take upon them a profession of religion only
|
|
in complaisance to their relations, to oblige their friends, or for
|
|
the sake of company, will be converts of small value and of short
|
|
continuance.
|
|
|
|
[2.] If they did come with her, she would have them to make it their
|
|
deliberate choice, and to sit down first and count the cost, as it
|
|
concerns those to do that may take up a profession of religion. It is
|
|
good for us to be told the worst. Our Saviour took this course with
|
|
him who, in the heat of zeal, spoke that bold word, <I>Master, I will
|
|
follow thee whithersoever thou goest.</I> "Come, come," says Christ,
|
|
"canst thou fare as I fare? <I>The Son of man has not where to lay
|
|
his head;</I> know this, and then consider whether thou canst find in
|
|
thy heart to take thy lot with him,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:19,20">Matt. viii. 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus Naomi deals with her daughters-in-law. Thoughts ripened into
|
|
resolves by serious consideration are likely to be kept always in the
|
|
imagination of the heart, whereas what is soon ripe is soon
|
|
rotten.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Orpah was easily persuaded to yield to her own corrupt inclination,
|
|
and to go back to her country, her kindred, and her father's house, now
|
|
when she stood fair for an effectual call from it. They both <I>lifted
|
|
up their voice and wept again</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
being much affected with the tender things that Naomi had said. But it
|
|
had a different effect upon them: to Orpah it was a savour of death
|
|
unto death; the representation Naomi had made of the inconveniences
|
|
they must count upon if they went forward to Canaan sent her back to
|
|
the country of Moab, and served her as an excuse for her apostasy;
|
|
but, on the contrary, it strengthened Ruth's resolution, and her good
|
|
affection to Naomi, with whose wisdom and goodness she was never so
|
|
charmed as she was upon this occasion; thus to her it was a savour of
|
|
life unto life.
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,</I> that is, took an
|
|
affectionate leave of her, bade her farewell for ever, without any
|
|
purpose to follow her hereafter, as he that said he would follow Christ
|
|
when he had buried his father or bidden those farewell that were at
|
|
home. Orpah's kiss showed she had an affection for Naomi and was loth
|
|
to part from her; yet she did not love her well enough to leave her
|
|
country for her sake. Thus many have a value and affection for Christ,
|
|
and yet come short of salvation by him, because they cannot find in
|
|
their hearts to forsake other things for him. They love him and yet
|
|
leave him, because they do not love him enough, but love other things
|
|
better. Thus the young man that went away from Christ went away
|
|
sorrowful,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:22">Matt. xix. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>Ruth clave unto her.</I> Whether, when she came from home, she
|
|
was resolved to go forward with her or no does not appear; perhaps she
|
|
was before determined what to do, out of a sincere affection for the
|
|
God of Israel and to his law, of which, by the good instructions of
|
|
Naomi, she had some knowledge.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. Naomi persuades Ruth to go back, urging, as a further inducement,
|
|
her sister's example
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy sister-in-law has gone back to her people,</I> and therefore of
|
|
course gone back <I>to her gods;</I> for, whatever she might do while
|
|
she lived with her mother-in-law, it would be next to impossible for
|
|
her to show any respect to the God of Israel when she went to live
|
|
among the worshippers of Chemosh. Those that forsake the communion of
|
|
saints, and return to the people of Moab, will certainly break off
|
|
their communion with God, and embrace the idols of Moab. Now,
|
|
<I>return thou after thy sister,</I> that is, "If ever thou wilt
|
|
return, return now. This is the greatest trial of thy constancy; stand
|
|
this trial, and thou art mine for ever." Such offences as that of
|
|
Orpah's revolt must needs come, that those who are perfect and sincere
|
|
may be made manifest, as Ruth was upon this occasion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. Ruth puts an end to the debate by a most solemn profession of her
|
|
immovable resolution never to forsake her, nor to return to her own
|
|
country and her old relations again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Nothing could be said more fine, more brave, than this. She seems
|
|
to have had another spirit, and another speech, now that her sister had
|
|
gone, and it is an instance of the grace of God inclining the soul to
|
|
the resolute choice of the better part. <I>Draw me</I> thus, and <I>we
|
|
will run after thee.</I> Her mother's dissuasions made her the more
|
|
resolute; as when Joshua said to the people, <I>You cannot serve the
|
|
Lord,</I> they said it with the more vehemence, <I>Nay, but we
|
|
will.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] She begs of her mother-in-law to say no more against her going:
|
|
"<I>Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
|
|
thee;</I> for all thy entreaties now cannot shake that resolution
|
|
which thy instructions formerly have wrought in me, and therefore let
|
|
me hear no more of them." Note, It is a great vexation and uneasiness
|
|
to those that are resolved for God and religion to be tempted and
|
|
solicited to alter their resolution. Those that would not think of it
|
|
would not hear of it. <I>Entreat me not.</I> The margin reads it,
|
|
<I>Be not against me.</I> Note, We are to reckon those against us, and
|
|
really our enemies, that would hinder us in our way to the heavenly
|
|
Canaan. Our relations they may be, but they cannot be our friends,
|
|
that would dissuade us from and discourage us in the service of God
|
|
and the work of religion.
|
|
|
|
[2.] She is very particular in her resolution to cleave to her and
|
|
never to forsake her; and she speaks the language of one resolved for
|
|
God and heaven. She is so in love, not with her mother's beauty, or
|
|
riches, or gaiety (all these were withered and gone), but with her
|
|
wisdom, and virtue, and grace, which remained with her, even in her
|
|
present poor and melancholy condition, that she resolves to cleave to
|
|
her. <I>First,</I> She will travel with her: <I>Whither thou goest I
|
|
will go,</I> though to a country I never saw and in a low and ill
|
|
opinion of which I have been trained up; though far from my own
|
|
country, yet with thee every road shall be pleasant. <I>Secondly,</I>
|
|
She will dwell with her: "<I>Where thou lodgest I will lodge,</I>
|
|
though it be in a cottage, nay, though it be no better a lodging than
|
|
Jacob had when he had the stones for his pillow. Where thou settest up
|
|
thy staff I will set up mine, be it where it may." <I>Thirdly,</I> She
|
|
will twist interest with her: <I>Thy people shall be my people.</I>
|
|
From Naomi's character she concludes certainly that the great nation
|
|
was a wise and an understanding people. She judges of them all by her
|
|
good mother, who, wherever she went, was a credit to her country (as
|
|
all those should study to be who profess relation to the better
|
|
country, that is, the heavenly), and therefore she will think herself
|
|
happy if she may be reckoned one of them. "Thy people shall be mine to
|
|
associate with, to be conformable to, and to be concerned for."
|
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> She will join in religion with her. Thus she
|
|
determined to be hers <I>usque ad aras--to the very altars: "Thy God
|
|
shall be my God,</I> and farewell to all the gods of Moab, which are
|
|
vanity and a lie. I will adore the God of Israel, the only living and
|
|
true God, trust in him alone, serve him, and in every thing be ruled
|
|
by him;" this is to take the Lord for our God. <I>Fifthly,</I> She
|
|
will gladly die in the same bed: <I>Where thou diest will I die.</I>
|
|
She takes it for granted they must both die, and that in all
|
|
probability Naomi, as the elder, would die first, and resolves to
|
|
continue in the same house, if it might be, till her days also were
|
|
fulfilled, intimating likewise a desire to partake of her happiness in
|
|
death; she wishes to die in the same place, in token of her dying
|
|
after the same manner. "Let me die the death of righteous Naomi, and
|
|
let my last end be like hers." <I>Sixthly,</I> She will desire to be
|
|
buried in the same grave, and to lay her bones by hers: <I>There will
|
|
I be buried,</I> not desiring to have so much as her dead body carried
|
|
back to the country of Moab, in token of any remaining kindness for
|
|
it; but, Naomi and she having joined souls, she desires they may
|
|
mingle dust, in hopes of rising together, and being together for ever
|
|
in the other world.
|
|
|
|
[3.] She backs her resolution to adhere to Naomi with a solemn oath:
|
|
<I>The Lord do so to me, and more also</I> (which was an ancient form
|
|
of imprecation), <I>if aught but death part thee and me.</I> An oath
|
|
for confirmation was an end of this strife, and would leave a lasting
|
|
obligation upon her never to forsake that good way she was now making
|
|
choice of. <I>First,</I> It is implied that death would separate
|
|
between them for a time. She could promise to die and be buried in the
|
|
same place, but not at the same time; it might so happen that she
|
|
might die first, and this would part them. Note, Death parts those
|
|
whom nothing else will part. A dying hour is a parting hour, and
|
|
should be so thought of by us and prepared for. <I>Secondly,</I> It
|
|
is resolved that nothing else should part them; not any kindness from
|
|
her own family and people, nor any hope of preferment among them, not
|
|
any unkindness from Israel, nor the fear of poverty and disgrace among
|
|
them. "No, I will <I>never leave thee.</I>" Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) This is a pattern of a resolute convert to God and religion. Thus
|
|
must we be at a point.
|
|
|
|
[1.] We must take the Lord for our God. "This God is <I>my God for
|
|
ever and ever;</I> I have avouched him for mine."
|
|
|
|
[2.] When we take God for our God we must take his people for our
|
|
people in all conditions; though they be a poor despised people, yet,
|
|
if they be his, they must be ours.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Having cast in our lot among them, we must be willing to take our
|
|
lot with them and to fare as they fare. We must submit to the same
|
|
yoke and draw in it faithfully, take up the same cross and carry it
|
|
cheerfully, go where God will have us to go, though it should be into
|
|
banishment, and lodge where he will have us to lodge, though it be in
|
|
a prison, die where he will have us die, and lay our bones in the
|
|
graves of the upright, who enter into peace and rest in their beds,
|
|
though they be but the <I>graves of the common people.</I>
|
|
|
|
[4.] We must resolve to continue and persevere, and herein our
|
|
adherence to Christ must be closer than that of Ruth to Naomi. She
|
|
resolved that nothing but death should separate them; but we must
|
|
resolve that death itself shall not separate us from our duty to
|
|
Christ, and then we may be sure that death itself shall not separate
|
|
us from our happiness in Christ.
|
|
|
|
[5.] We must bind our souls with a bond never to break these pious
|
|
resolutions, and swear unto the Lord that we will cleave to him. Fast
|
|
bind, fast find. He that means honestly does not startle at
|
|
assurances.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
8. Naomi is hereby silenced
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When she saw that Ruth was stedfastly minded to go with her</I>
|
|
(which was the very thing she aimed at in all that she had said, to
|
|
make her of a stedfast mind in going with her), when she saw that she
|
|
had gained her point, she was well satisfied, and <I>left off speaking
|
|
to her.</I> She could desire no more than that solemn protestation
|
|
which Ruth had just now made. See the power of resolution, how it puts
|
|
temptation to silence. Those that are unresolved, and go in religious
|
|
ways without a stedfast mind, tempt the tempter, and stand like a door
|
|
half open, which invites a thief; but resolution shuts and bolts the
|
|
door, resists the devil, and forces him to flee.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The Chaldee paraphrase thus relates the debate between Naomi and
|
|
Ruth:--Ruth said, <I>Entreat me not to leave thee,</I> for <I>I will be
|
|
a proselyte.</I> Naomi said, <I>We are commanded to keep sabbaths and
|
|
good days, on which we may not travel above 2000 cubits</I>--a
|
|
sabbath-day's journey. <I>Well,</I> said Ruth, <I>whither thou goest I
|
|
will go.</I> Naomi said, <I>We are commanded not to tarry all night
|
|
with Gentiles. Well,</I> said Ruth, <I>where thou lodgest I will
|
|
lodge.</I> Naomi said, <I>We are commanded to keep 613 precepts.
|
|
Well,</I> said Ruth, <I>whatever thy people keep I will keep, for they
|
|
shall be my people.</I> Naomi said, <I>We are forbidden to worship any
|
|
strange god. Well,</I> said Ruth, <I>thy God shall be my God.</I> Naomi
|
|
said, <I>We have four sorts of deaths for malefactors, stoning,
|
|
burning, strangling, and slaying with the sword. Well,</I> said Ruth,
|
|
<I>where thou diest I will die. We have,</I> said Naomi, <I>houses of
|
|
sepulchre. And there,</I> said Ruth, <I>will I be buried.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ru1_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ru1_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ru1_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ru1_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Naomi's Reception at Bethlehem.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1312.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 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, <I>Is</I> this Naomi?
|
|
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for
|
|
the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
|
|
21 I went out full, and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath brought me home again
|
|
empty: why <I>then</I> call ye me Naomi, seeing the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
|
|
testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
|
|
22 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Naomi and Ruth, after many a weary step (the fatigue of the journey, we
|
|
may suppose, being somewhat relieved by the good instructions Naomi
|
|
gave to her proselyte and the good discourse they had together), came
|
|
at last to Bethlehem. And they came very seasonably, <I>in the
|
|
beginning of the barley-harvest,</I> which was the first of their
|
|
harvests, that of wheat following after. Now Naomi's own eyes might
|
|
convince her of the truth of what she had heard in the country of Moab,
|
|
that <I>the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread,</I> and
|
|
Ruth might see this good land in its best state; and now they had
|
|
opportunity to provide for winter. Our <I>times are in God's hand,</I>
|
|
both the events and the time of them. Notice is here taken,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Of the discomposure of the neighbours upon this occasion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>All the city was moved about them.</I> Her old acquaintance gathered
|
|
about her, to enquire concerning her state, and to bid her welcome to
|
|
Bethlehem again. Or perhaps they were <I>moved about her,</I> lest she
|
|
should be a charge to the town, she looked so bare. By this it appears
|
|
that she had formerly lived respectably, else there would not have been
|
|
so much notice taken of her. If those that have been in a high and
|
|
prosperous condition break, or fall into poverty or disgrace, their
|
|
fall is the more remarkable. And they said, <I>Is this Naomi?</I> The
|
|
<I>women</I> of the city said it, for the word is feminine. Those with
|
|
whom she had formerly been intimate were surprised to see her in this
|
|
condition; she was so much broken and altered with her afflictions that
|
|
they could scarcely believe their own eyes, nor think that this was the
|
|
same person whom they had formerly seen, so fresh, and fair, and gay:
|
|
<I>Is this Naomi?</I> So unlike is the rose when it is withered to what
|
|
it was when it was blooming. What a poor figure does Naomi make now,
|
|
compared with what she made in her prosperity! If any asked this
|
|
question in contempt, upbraiding her with her miseries ("is this she
|
|
that could not be content to fare as her neighbours did, but must
|
|
ramble to a strange country? see what she has got by it!"), their
|
|
temper was very base and sordid. Nothing more barbarous than to triumph
|
|
over those that are fallen. But we may suppose that the generality
|
|
asked it in compassion and commiseration: "Is this she that lived so
|
|
plentifully, and kept so good a house, and was so charitable to the
|
|
poor? <I>How has the gold become dim!</I>" Those that had seen the
|
|
magnificence of the first temple wept when they saw the meanness of the
|
|
second; so these here. Note, Afflictions will make great and surprising
|
|
changes in a little time. When we see how sickness and old age alter
|
|
people, change their countenance and temper, we may think of what the
|
|
Bethlehemites said: "<I>Is this Naomi?</I> One would not take it to be
|
|
the same person." God, by his grace, fit us for all such changes,
|
|
especially the great change!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Of the composure of Naomi's spirit. If some upbraided her with her
|
|
poverty, she was not moved against them, as she would have been if she
|
|
had been poor and proud; but, with a great deal of pious patience, bore
|
|
that and all the other melancholy effects of her affliction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Call me not Naomi, call me Mara,</I> &c. "<I>Naomi</I> signifies
|
|
<I>pleasant</I> or <I>amiable;</I> but all my pleasant things are laid
|
|
waste; call me <I>Mara, bitter</I> or <I>bitterness,</I> for I am now
|
|
a woman of a sorrowful spirit." Thus does she bring her mind to her
|
|
condition, which we all ought to do when our condition is not in every
|
|
thing to our mind. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The change of her state, and how it is described, with a pious
|
|
regard to the divine providence, and without any passionate murmurings
|
|
or complaints.
|
|
|
|
(1.) It was a very sad and melancholy change. She <I>went out
|
|
full;</I> so she thought herself when she had her husband with her and
|
|
two sons. Much of the fulness of our comfort in this world arises from
|
|
agreeable relations. But she now <I>came home again empty,</I> a widow
|
|
and childless, and probably had sold her goods, and of all the effects
|
|
she took with her brought home no more than the clothes on her back.
|
|
So uncertain is all that which we call fulness in the creature,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:5">1 Sam. ii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Even in the fulness of that sufficiency we may be in straits. But
|
|
there is a fulness, a spiritual and divine fulness, which we can never
|
|
be emptied of, a good part which shall not be <I>taken from those that
|
|
have it.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) She acknowledges the hand of God, his mighty hand, in the
|
|
affliction. "It is the Lord that has <I>brought me home again
|
|
empty;</I> it is the Almighty that has afflicted me." Note, Nothing
|
|
conduces more to satisfy a gracious soul under an affliction than the
|
|
consideration of the hand of God in it. <I>It is the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+3:18,Job+1:21">1 Sam. iii. 18; Job i. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Especially to consider that he who afflicts us is <I>Shaddai,</I> the
|
|
<I>Almighty,</I> with whom it is folly to contend and to whom it is
|
|
our duty and interest to submit. It is that name of God by which he
|
|
enters into covenant with his people: <I>I am God Almighty, God
|
|
All-sufficient,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+17:1">Gen. xvii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
He afflicts as a God in covenant, and his all-sufficiency may be our
|
|
support and supply under all our afflictions. He that empties us of
|
|
the creature knows how to fill us with himself.
|
|
|
|
(3.) She speaks very feelingly of the impression which the affliction
|
|
had made upon her: He has <I>dealt very bitterly with me.</I> The cup
|
|
of affliction is a bitter cup, and even that which afterwards
|
|
<I>yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness,</I> yet, for the
|
|
present, is <I>not joyous, but grievous,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:11">Heb. xii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Job complains, <I>Thou writest bitter things against me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+13:26">Job xiii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) She owns the affliction to come from God as a controversy: <I>The
|
|
Lord hath testified against me.</I> Note, When God corrects us he
|
|
<I>testifies against us</I> and contends with us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:17">Job x. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
intimating that he is displeased with us. Every rod has a voice, the
|
|
voice of a witness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The compliance of her spirit with this change: "<I>Call me not
|
|
Naomi,</I> for I am no more pleasant, either to myself or to my
|
|
friends; <I>but call me Mara,</I> a name more agreeable to my present
|
|
state." Many that are debased and impoverished yet affect to be called
|
|
by the empty names and titles of honour they have formerly enjoyed.
|
|
Naomi did not so. Her humility regards not a glorious name in a
|
|
dejected state. If God deal bitterly with her, she will accommodate
|
|
herself to the dispensation, and is willing to be called <I>Mara,
|
|
bitter.</I> Note, It well becomes us to have our hearts humbled under
|
|
humbling providences. When our condition is brought down our spirits
|
|
should be brought down with it. And then our troubles are sanctified to
|
|
us when we thus comport with them; for it is not an affliction itself,
|
|
but an affliction rightly borne, that does us good. <I>Perdidisti tot
|
|
mala, si nondum misera esse didicisti--So many calamities have been lost
|
|
upon you if you have not yet learned how to suffer.</I> Sen. ad Helv.
|
|
<I>Tribulation works patience.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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