Scripture Reading: Ruth 1—4

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 & DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 10　DAY 1　»

　　Gen. 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

　　Heb. 4:9 So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

　　Judges is a book of Israel’s miserable history, dark and foul; Ruth is the record of a couple’s excellent story, bright and aromatic. The main character in this story is like a lily growing out of brambles and a bright star in the dark night. (Ruth 1:1, footnote 1)

　　The book of Ruth speaks of Christ being brought into mankind through incarnation. This is the real rest. Ruth is thus a book of rest. As we will see, after Ruth married Boaz, they brought forth a child, Obed, and Ruth enjoyed a rest with an absolute satisfaction and full expectation for her descendants. The following generations enjoyed rest under David. Then after one thousand years, they enjoyed the real rest with the Lord Jesus. Two thousand years later, this rest will be enjoyed in a fuller way in the millennial kingdom with Christ as the King. After the millennium, the enjoyment of this rest will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. This matter of rest is the key to the book of Ruth. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 5-6)

　　God rested because He had finished His work and was satisfied. God’s glory was manifested because man had His image, and His authority was about to be exercised for the subduing of His enemy, Satan. As long as man expresses God and deals with God’s enemy, God is satisfied and can rest. Later, the seventh day was commemorated as the Sabbath (Exo. 20:8-11). God’s seventh day was man’s first day. God had prepared everything for man’s enjoyment. After man was created, he did not join in God’s work; he entered into God’s rest. Man was created not to work but to be satisfied with God and rest with God (cf. Matt. 11:28-30).

　　The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). The rest in Genesis 2:2 is a seed that develops through the Bible and is harvested in Revelation. The development of this seed includes the rest of the Sabbath day (Exo. 20:8-11) and the rest of the good land (Deut. 12:9; Heb. 4:8) in the Old Testament, the rest of the Lord’s DAY in the New Testament (Rev. 1:10; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2), and the rest of the millennial kingdom (Heb. 4:1, 3, 9, 11). The consummation of rest is the rest of the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem, in which all the redeemed saints will express God’s glory (Rev. 21:11, 23) and reign with God’s authority (Rev. 22:5b) for eternity. (Gen. 2:2, footnote 1)

　　This Sabbath rest is Christ as our rest, typified by the good land of Canaan (Deut. 12:9; Heb. 4:8). Christ is rest to the saints in three stages: (1) in the church age, as the heavenly Christ, the One who rests from His work and sits on the right hand of God in the heavens, He is the rest to us in our spirit (Matt. 11:28-29); (2) in the millennial kingdom, after Satan is removed from this earth (Rev. 20:1-3), Christ with the kingdom will be the rest in a fuller way to the overcoming saints, who will be His co-kings (Rev. 20:4, 6), sharing and enjoying His rest; (3) in the new heaven and new earth, after all the enemies, including death, the last enemy, have been made subject to Him (1 Cor. 15:24-27), Christ, as the all-conquering One, will be the rest in the fullest way to all God’s redeemed for eternity. But the Sabbath rest mentioned here and typified by the rest of the good land of Canaan covers only the first two stages of Christ’s being our rest; it does not include the third stage. The rest in the first two stages is a prize to His diligent seekers, who not only are redeemed but also have enjoyed Him in a full way, thus becoming the overcomers, whereas the rest in the third stage is not a prize but the full portion allotted to all the redeemed ones. (Heb. 4:9, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ruth, msg. 1

«　WEEK 10　DAY 2　»

　　Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, Do not entreat me to leave you…. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you dwell, I will dwell; and your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

　　19 So the two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem…

　　Matt. 2:1 …Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea…

　　In Ruth 1:1 and 2 we see that Elimelech swerved from the rest in God’s economy. He was in the good land and had a portion of it, and he should have remained there. Remaining in the good land that God has promised and given is the real rest. Israel’s rest, their prosperity for their enjoyment and their contentment, was related to their situation with God in His economy. For an Israelite to leave the good land meant that he was cutting himself off from God’s eternal economy. Elimelech’s mistake was to swerve from the ground, the standing, which gave him the opportunity to enjoy the rest in the good land. He swerved from Bethlehem in Judah…. Bethlehem, the city of David, was designated as the birthplace of the coming Christ (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-7). In the eyes of God, Bethlehem was a very special place, for it was the place where He, through incarnation, would be born to be a man.

　　Judah was the land of the royal tribe among Israel (Gen. 49:8-10)…. It was the top part of the God-promised land (Exo. 3:8b), the top part of the good land (Deut. 8:7-10), and the top part of the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8). How mistaken Elimelech was in swerving from this land! Elimelech swerved from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab, a place of incest rejected and condemned by God [Gen. 19:30-38; Deut. 23:2-4]…. Moab was a country of idolatry (Judg. 10:6). (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 5-7)

　　Naomi returned from Moab, the country of idolatry,…to Judah, the land of Immanuel. Naomi returned because she had been stripped by God first of her husband and then of her two sons, leaving her and her two daughters-in-law as widows without children (Ruth 1:5, 20-21). Naomi returned also because she had heard that Jehovah had visited His people by giving them food (v. 6).

　　Naomi returned [to Bethlehem] with Ruth, her daughter-in-law given to her by God for the accomplishment of His economy concerning Christ (v. 22a).

　　In verses 8 through 18 we have an account of Ruth’s choosing for her goal…. Naomi made a proposal to her two daughters-in-law for their future. She said to them, “Go and return, each of you, to your mother’s house. May Jehovah deal kindly with you, just as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May Jehovah grant you to find rest, each of you in the house of your husband” (vv. 8-9a). Then she kissed them….Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi said to Ruth, “Your sister-in-law has now returned to her people and to her gods; return with your sister-in-law” (vv. 14-15). Ruth said to Naomi, “Do not entreat me to leave you and turn away from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you dwell, I will dwell; and your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die; and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more as well, if anything but death parts me from you” (vv. 16-17). When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she ceased speaking to her about it (v. 18).

　　Ruth chose the goal of participating with God’s elect in the enjoyment of Christ, and she even became a top ancestor of Christ who helped bring forth Christ into mankind. This was more than just a resolution on the part of the Moabite widow; it was a goal, a choosing. Ruth chose God and His kingdom for the carrying out of God’s economy concerning Christ. Hallelujah for such a goal and for such a person choosing this goal! (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 8-10)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ruth, msg. 2

«　WEEK 10　DAY 3　»

　　Lev. 23:22 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner; I am Jehovah your God.

　　Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.

　　After Ruth’s husband died, she had two choices: remain in Moab or go with Naomi to be a foreigner in Israel. Ruth chose to go to the land of Israel because she probably had heard a great deal concerning God, God’s promise, and the good land. She had heard the good news sufficiently for her to make a wonderful choice. After arriving in the land of Israel with Naomi, Ruth exercised her right.

　　God’s commandment concerning the reaping of the harvest was that Jehovah would bless the children of Israel if they left the corners of their fields and the gleanings for the poor, the sojourners, the orphans, and the widows. Concerning this, Leviticus 23:22 says, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.” A similar word is found in Leviticus 19:9-10. Deuteronomy 24:19 says, “When you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not turn back to gather it; it shall be for the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow, in order that Jehovah your God may bless you in all your undertakings.” This shows not only the lovingkindness of God and how great, fine, and detailed He is, but shows also the rich produce of the good land. (Life-study of Ruth, p. 11)

　　God wanted to bless the harvest of the Israelites in the good land, but this blessing had a condition—that something would be left for the poor. The people would not be allowed to reap completely the corners of their field. However, in the ordinance of the law given by God through Moses regarding reaping, the size of the corners of the field was not specified. The size depended on the landlord’s faith in Jehovah. The larger one’s faith in Jehovah was, the larger the corners of the field would be. I believe that it was the practice of Boaz to obey this ordinance. He must have had great faith in Jehovah. Under God’s sovereignty this ordinance seems to have been written for one person—Ruth.

　　Naomi returned to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth at the beginning of the barley harvest (Ruth 1:22b). Barley, which ripens earlier than other grains, typifies the resurrected Christ (John 6:9-10, 56-58).

　　God is sovereign, and in His sovereignty He brought Ruth from Moab to the city of Bethlehem. Before she arrived there, He had prepared a rich, generous man by the name of Boaz. Ruth gained Naomi’s permission to go gleaning (Ruth 2:2-3). Ruth asked Naomi to let her go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight Ruth had found favor. Naomi told Ruth to go, and she went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, happening to glean in a portion of the field belonging to Boaz.

　　Boaz eventually became acquainted with Ruth (vv. 4-7). He came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “Jehovah be with you,” and they said to him, “Jehovah bless you” (v. 4). When Boaz asked the young man who was set over the reapers concerning Ruth, the young man told him that she was the young Moabite woman who had returned with Naomi from the country of Moab and who had asked to glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. His word to Boaz regarding Ruth indicates that he was happy with her, considering her a woman of fidelity and virtue. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 11-13)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ruth, msg. 3

«　WEEK 10　DAY 4　»

　　Ruth 2:8 And Boaz said to Ruth,…Do not go to glean in another field,…but stay close to my young women.

　　11-12 [For] all that you have done for your mother-in-law…, as well as how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth,…may Jehovah recompense your work, and may you have a full reward from Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

　　In Ruth 2:8 through 13 we have Boaz’s word of grace to Ruth….When Ruth heard these words, she fell upon her face, bowed herself to the ground, and asked Boaz, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you regard me, though I am a foreigner?” (v. 10). Boaz replied that all that she had done for her mother-in-law since the death of her husband Elimelech had been made known to him.

　　Boaz not only spoke kindly to Ruth but also showed generosity to her (vv. 14-16). At mealtime Boaz told her to eat some food, extending some parched grain to her, and she ate and was satisfied. When she rose up to glean, Boaz charged his young men to let her glean among the standing grain and not to rebuke her. Then he went on to say to them, “Also pull out some from the bundles for her, and leave it for her to glean; and do not rebuke her” (v. 16). (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 13-14)

　　When Ruth told Naomi that she had gleaned in the field of Boaz, Naomi said to her, “Blessed be he of Jehovah, whose lovingkindness has not failed for the living and for the dead” (Ruth 2:20a). Then Naomi told Ruth that the man was close to them, one of their kinsmen (v. 20b). In verse 22 Naomi charged Ruth, saying, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not meet you in any other field.”…What was on Naomi’s heart was not only that Ruth would partake of Boaz’s riches and be satisfied, but also that she would gain Boaz himself as her husband and bring forth a son for the name of Elimelech.

　　Ruth, as one who had returned to God from her heathen background, exercised her right to partake of the rich produce of the inheritance of God’s elect. Ruth, a Moabitess, had come to the good land as a sojourner. According to her threefold status as a sojourner, a poor one, and a widow, she exercised her right to glean the harvest. Although she was poor, she never became a beggar. Her gleaning was not her begging; it was her right.

　　The book of Ruth portrays the way, the position, the qualification, and the right of sinners to participate in Christ and to enjoy Christ. According to God’s ordination, we have been qualified and positioned to claim our right to enjoy Christ. This means that today we do not need to beg God to save us. We can go to God to claim His salvation for ourselves. We have the position, the qualification, and the right to claim salvation from God. This is the highest standard of receiving the gospel.

　　As a narration, the book of Ruth is lovely, touching, convincing, and subduing. In the aromatic story in chapter 2, four types are implied. Boaz, rich in wealth (2:1), typifies Christ, who is rich in the divine grace (2 Cor. 12:9). The field of the God-promised good land (Ruth 2:2-3) typifies the all-inclusive Christ, who is the source of all the spiritual and divine products for the life supply to God’s elect (Phil. 1:19b). Barley and wheat (Ruth 2:23) typify Christ as the material for making food for both God and His people (Lev. 2; John 6:9, 33, 35). Ruth, a Moabitess (Deut. 23:3), a heathen sinner, alienated from God’s promises (Eph. 2:12), given the right to partake of the gleaning of the harvest of God’s elect typifies the “Gentile dogs” who are privileged to partake of the crumbs under the table of the portion of God’s elect children (Col. 1:12; Matt. 15:25-28). (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 14-15)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 16

«　WEEK 10　DAY 5　»

　　Ruth 3:1 And Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, I must seek some resting place for you, that it may go well with you.

　　2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

　　Ruth chapter 3 shows Ruth’s seeking for her rest. We need to enjoy Christ to such an extent that we have rest. In order to have rest, we surely need a home. No place can give us as much rest as our home. In chapter 3 Naomi proposed and even pushed to gain a home for Ruth.

　　The steps taken by Ruth correspond to our spiritual experience…. By believing in the Lord Jesus, we were organically joined to Him. Now He is in us and we are in Him. With this intimate, organic union, we must begin to pursue Christ in order to gain, possess, experience, and enjoy Him. This is typified by Ruth’s exercising of her right to gain and possess the produce of the good land. Just as Ruth had the right to enjoy the produce of the good land after coming into the land, so we have the right to enjoy Christ as our good land after believing in Him.

　　However, after our gleaning we still need a home so that we can have a settled rest. This kind of rest can come only through marriage….Naomi wanted to find a way to establish a home for Ruth [cf. v. 1]. If Ruth was to have a home for her rest, she needed a husband. Naomi realized that the proper person to be Ruth’s husband was Boaz, who typifies Christ. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 17-18)

　　Have you ever had a time with the Lord when you said, “Lord, You are my Husband”? Even though you are saved and you love the Lord, you will not have a home for your rest until you marry the Lord Jesus, taking Him as your Husband.

　　In this modern age there are many idols, such as entertainment, sports, and shopping, which cause Christians to be unfaithful. It seems as if they have never been married to Christ, that they have never actually taken Him as their Husband. As a consequence, they are roaming, wandering from place to place with no rest.

　　The place to find our Husband is in our home, the church. Christ is the Husband in the church. To have a husband is not sufficient. We must also have a home…. If we have Christ, enjoy Christ, and experience Christ, yet we do not have the church, we are still homeless. Therefore, we must stress not only Christ as our Husband but also the church as our home. Christ as our Husband and the church as our home are a complete unit for us to have a proper and adequate rest.

　　Naomi was clear that Ruth needed to be married to Boaz…. There was the need for Naomi, as the person in the middle, to push Ruth and Boaz to get married. My burden today is like Naomi’s. I am seeking a resting place for you, and the only way for you to have rest is to take Christ as your Husband. Thus, I am here as a person in the middle to push you to marry Christ….You need to do more than to glean in His field—you need to take Him as your Husband. My burden, therefore, is to push all of us to marry Christ. I am pushing us to marry Christ so that we can build up a home and enjoy Him in this home, which is the church.

　　Nothing is more intimate than marriage. Taking Christ as our Husband is a most intimate matter. If we marry Christ, taking Him as our Husband, our life will be changed. We will realize that we must have a wife’s fidelity, and we will learn how to enjoy Christ as our life, walking and behaving in oneness with Him. Then we will become those who gain Christ and enjoy Christ, loving Him, staying at home with Him, and living with Him at home, in the church. If we do this, we will truly know the church life in the Lord’s recovery. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 18-19)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ruth, msg. 4; Life-study of Romans, msg. 1; Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 52-53

«　WEEK 10　DAY 6　»

　　Matt. 1:5-6 …And Boaz begot Obed of Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king…

　　Isa. 54:5 For your Maker is your Husband….And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer…

　　Rom. 7:4 …You also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.

　　If we consider Matthew 1:5-6 and 16, we will see that Ruth’s seeking for her rest was actually for the continuation of the genealogy to bring in Christ. (Life-study of Ruth, p. 21)

　　In Ruth 3:12 the first kinsman of Ruth’s husband, Ruth’s closest kinsman, typifies our natural man, who cannot and will not redeem us from the indebtedness (sin) of our old man (4:1-6). Boaz, the second kinsman of Ruth’s husband, typifies Christ, who partook of blood and flesh (Heb. 2:14) to be our Kinsman and who can redeem us from our sin, recover the lost right of our natural man in God’s creation, be our new Husband in His divine organic union with us, and take us as His counterpart for His increase (Ruth 4:7-13). (Ruth 3:12, footnote 1)

　　The crucial point…is that, as part of her reward for God’s economy, Ruth gained a redeeming husband, who typifies Christ as the redeeming Husband to the believers. Only Christ can be both our Husband and our Redeemer….Now as believers in Christ, we have a Husband who is our eternal, present, and daily Redeemer, rescuing us, saving us, delivering us, from all our troubles. What a gain this is!

　　Ruth was redeemed from the indebtedness of the dead husband (Ruth 4:1-9). This typifies being redeemed from the sin of the believers’ old man…. Boaz said to the kinsman who was closer than he, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi’s hand, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead man, in order to raise up the dead man’s name upon his inheritance” (v. 5). That kinsman replied, “I cannot redeem it for myself, or else I will mar my own inheritance. You redeem for yourself what I should redeem, for I cannot redeem it” (v. 6). Boaz did so, redeeming Ruth from her indebtedness.

　　According to Romans 7 the dead husband, our old husband, is our old man. God created us to be His wife, but we rebelled against Him. We gave Him up and assumed the position of the husband for ourselves. Our sinful husband encumbered us with many debts. But on the day we married Christ, we received a Husband who is our almighty, omnipotent Redeemer….Having Him as our Husband, we should come to Him and simply say, “Lord Jesus, I need You.”

　　Another aspect of Ruth’s reward is that she became a crucial ancestor in the genealogy to bring in the royal house of David for the producing of Christ (Ruth 4:13b-22; Matt. 1:5-16). This indicates that she had an all-inclusive and all-extensive gain with the position and capacity to bring Christ into the human race. She is thus a great link in the chain that is bringing Christ to every corner of the earth. We all are indebted to Ruth, for without her Christ could not have reached us.

　　The burden of this ministry is to produce Christ in the believers. This means that the goal of this ministry is not to teach you to be humble or merely to glorify God in your behavior. Ruth not only became a crucial ancestor in the genealogy for the producing of Christ, but she also continued the line of the God-created humanity for the incarnation of Christ (Matt. 1:5-16). The incarnation of Christ was a matter of His being brought out of eternity into time with His divinity…. Every day of our Christian life should be a continuation of Christ’s incarnation, with Christ being brought forth in order to be born into others through our ministering Christ to them. In order for this to happen, we all need to speak for Christ, to speak forth Christ, and even speak Christ to others. Ministering Christ in this way will surely change us. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 24-26)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ruth, msg. 5