Ⅰ
Judges is a book of Israel’s miserable history, dark and foul; Ruth, as an appendix to the book of Judges, is the record of a couple’s excellent story, bright and aromatic; the main character in this story, Ruth, is like a lily growing out of brambles and a bright star in the dark night—Ruth 1—4.
Ⅱ
Chapter 1 of the book of Ruth speaks of Elimelech’s swerving from the rest in God’s economy (vv. 1-2), Naomi’s returning to the rest in God’s economy (vv. 3-7, 19-22), and Ruth’s choosing for her goal (vv. 8-18):
A
Ruth is a book of rest; the Sabbath rest is Christ as our rest, typified by the good land of Canaan—Deut. 12:9; Heb. 4:8-9:
１
God rested on the seventh day because He had attained what He desired; the desire of God’s heart is to have man on earth expressing Him in His image and representing Him with His dominion—Gen. 1:26-28; Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 5:17, 21; Rev. 5:9-10; 22:5.
２
In the Old Testament the good land was a rest because the temple could be built there; the temple was the ultimate consummation of the entering into the good land by the children of Israel; with the temple God could have His expression and His representation for His kingdom, government, and administration—1 Kings 8:1-11.
３
Christ is rest to the saints in three stages:
ａ
In the church age the heavenly Christ, the One who has expressed, represented, and satisfied God and who rests from His work and sits at the right hand of God in the heavens, is the rest to us in our spirit; as our rest, He is our perfect peace and full satisfaction—Matt. 11:28-29.
ｂ
In the millennial kingdom, after Satan has been removed from the earth (Rev. 20:1-3), God will be expressed, represented, and satisfied by Christ and the overcoming saints; then Christ with the kingdom will be the rest in a fuller way to the overcoming saints, who will be co-kings with Him (vv. 4, 6) and share and enjoy His rest.
ｃ
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 of God’s redeemed for eternity.
Morning Nourishment
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)
Today’s Reading
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