HomeARC ML 0685
"RUTH THE SECRET LOVER!"--Father David 25-1-69! MO GP 685
--At the Light Club.
Edited & transcribed by Beriah & Bethsaida Wire, Typed by Abigail Warner.
© April 1978 by The Family of Love, C.P. 748, 00100 Roma, Italia
1. JENNY LIND'S TRAINER-TEACHER TOLD HER, he said, "Jenny, there's just one thing you lack to make your singing the last word, the ultimate--you need to have a broken heart." Whereupon he promptly proceeded to break it for her and he succeeded: She fell in love with him and he broke her heart! But then she became the greatest singer of her day. As Wordsworth said,
"Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught,
And the sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."
Now that's true of the songs of the world, right?
2. AS THE GREEKS SAID, THE PUREST EMOTION OF THE WORLD IS SORROW, and they believed in the catharsis of tragedy-purification of sorrow. Like that little verse I so often quote to you,
"I walked a mile with laughter and she chatted all the way,
And never a thing I learned from her for all she had to say.
But I walked a mile with sorrow and never a word said she,
But oh, the things I learned that day that sorrow walked with me."
I remember all those years the songs that appealed to me the most, it seemed, were songs of saddest thoughts, and the worldly songs that were purest in emotion were the songs of sadness and sorrow--because some of man's deepest and greatest emotions are expressed in song at such a time as that.
3. BUT I FOUND TOO, AS I LEARNED TO KNOW THE LORD BETTER AND BETTER, THAT IF YOU KNOW HIM, YOU CAN BE MOVED WITH SONGS OF SWEETEST THOUGHT AND HAPPIEST THOUGHTS ABOUT JESUS! Have you ever noticed nearly all the world's songs are sad thoughts?--Unhappy songs of loving lament, very little in the way of happy music. Most of the teenage music of today is the heartcry of the teenager.--And it's a sad, sad cry--it brings tears to your heart. Even the songs that God has given some of our young people are the cries of the teenager, but then the answer comes--beautiful!
4. EXPRESS THAT CRY! SHOW THAT YOUR HEART HAS THE SAME CRY, BUT THAT CHRIST HAS GOT THE ANSWER FOR YOU, that you're just the same as they are, that you're no different, you have the same problems, you have the same heartaches, you have the same desires, you have the same faults, the same needs, but then the song changes. Have you ever noticed these songs that they sing?--First there's a black picture, so often a sad picture, the way they used to be, then comes the beautiful answer of the joy, true happiness, full satisfaction, that they have found the Greatest Lover of all! Praise God! Thank You Jesus!
5. YOU SEE WHY THE LORD HAS MADE ME A STEWARD: At first He trusted me with just a few young people, youth of my own, my own children, till He found I could be faithful and He could trust me with those, and now He's given me more. Some of you outside visitors that have come in here don't realise what a Family we are, what a close family spirit we have and how close together we are. Because unity of the Spirit is the greatest unity of all! We have such sweet love in the Lord, love in the Spirit. Oh, we've got all kinds of love in our midst!
6. WE BELIEVE IN FREE LOVE!--FREE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST HIS SON! We have other kinds of love too. It's all important, all that's important, but His is all-important. God has made all kinds of love. Aaron was telling you about the various Greek words--the Eros, the love of the flesh; the phylio, the love of the family; and agape, the love of God. God even made them all and He expects you to enjoy them all, in Him according to His rules--putting Him first. Amen! It's only the people who like to cheat that God has to lower the boom on. He made the game, but He just doesn't like the cheaters--because who likes to play a game where they cheat? It's not fair!
7. WELL, I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT LOVE ALL DAY, SO IT LOOKS LIKE I CAN'T GET OFF THE SUBJECT. Now that turns some people on. But if they only knew what I'm going to read! Do you want some real exotic reading?--You can get it out of the Bible. You want some beautiful love stories and some real lovemaking? In fact, if you really want to know how to make love, you can find it in the Bible; you can even find out how to kiss in the Bible! Praise God! There's your recommendation, girls. If you want to know how to catch a husband, you'll find that in the Bible too!
8. AMEN, LORD, WHAT DO YOU WANT? Thy will be done, in Jesus' name! Praise You Lord, thank You Lord. Would you like a love story tonight? We've been talking about the love of the Lord and I've been counselling with the girls about love today--the love of a man in this case, as well as the love of the Lord. We've been singing about love tonight--because God is love! Amen!
9. LORD, WHAT DO THEY NEED? Amen. Thank You Lord, for these precious youth, Lord. Thank You Lord for these young people who love you most of all--more than anything else or anybody else in this whole world, even their own loved ones, their family, their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, yea and even their own lives also, because they love You so much, Lord. Thank You Lord!
10. GOD'S WORD SAYS TO PREACH THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD, amen! So I have to give you everything you need, boys and girls, including not only the wrath of God but also the love of God, not only tell you about the wrath of man and the Tribulation but you need to know a little something about the love of man too--and God's got all kinds! He's got all kinds of stories. He's got all kinds of advice, He's got everything you need to know right here! As Cecil B. DeMille used to say to his directors who'd want to know something, "You can find anything you want in the Bible."--Anything: Drama, love, hate, peace, war! Some people have even called it a little obscene here and there, but not really--it's just telling the truth about life.
11. "NOW IT CAME TO PASS IN THE DAYS WHEN THE JUDGES RULED, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons." Now apparently he was a Jew, he went to a foreign country--the country of Moab. He lived over here in Israel, in Bethlehem in Judah, and he moved clear over here, passed the mountains and the Dead Sea, over into the desert which is now the country of Jordan--King Hussein's country. He went to a foreign country to live, I don't know why--maybe the wages were better over there right then, maybe he could get a better job.
12. "AND THE NAME OF THE MAN WAS ELIMELECH, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi's husband died, and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab." Now ordinarily this was forbidden to a Jew: to integrate with other nations or peoples because God was afraid that it would make them also integrate their religion, which it often did, with the heathen religions of the heathen around them. So ordinarily they were forbidden to intermarry with anybody but a Jew, unless that person was a proselyte--in other words, a convert to the Jewish faith. So they even had converts then. "They took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth."
13. IT'S A SHORT LITTLE BOOK IN THIS BIBLE, it's only two pages. Can you stand two pages of the Bible tonight? "And they dwelled there about ten years." Well, you say, "Good night, Ruth must have been an old woman by the time she came back to Israel"--married ten years! Well, that's because you don't know how young they got married in those days; a girl is able to get married and have children at a lot earlier age than the Law will allow, or at least her parents would allow. I wonder why God made them that way if it wasn't a good time to get married.
14. THE TROUBLE WITH MOST OF THESE WOMEN IS THAT THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY SPOILED AND SO INDEPENDENT BY THE TIME THEY FINALLY GET MARRIED--up in their twenties and thirties--for security, that it's too late, boys! You can't even change them--they're really old maids!--And the boys too, girls! Let me warn you if you're planning on changing him, don't marry him over the age of about 16. Of course, if you like him just the way he is, well it doesn't matter how old he is! Oh, you say, "But I want a nice young strong man that can really make love and so on." Well, my grandfather was 65 when he had his last son. When he was teaching at L.A. City College at the age of 83, one of his students asked him, "When does a man finally become impotent?" He said, "I don't know, I never have." So girls, it's not the age of the man that counts!
15. YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR A LOVE STORY TONIGHT about a man who was apparently pretty well along, and wow, what a trick, the Lord played on him! If God's on their side, boys, you might as well give up. So Ruth could have been about 22 to 25--something like that, it's possible.
16. "AND MAHLON AND CHILION DIED ALSO BOTH OF THEM; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband." All three of the menfolks had died. Now you've got three widows. "Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread." Times had been kind of hard in Israel when they left--unemployment, famine--and they had gone to seek something to eat. Well, now apparently things were better at home. "Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah."
17. DO YOU WANT THIS LOVE STORY? Well anybody that's not interested in love is excused. But you have to be either interested in the love of God, the love of family, or in the love of the flesh. I don't know anybody that's not interested in one of those.--And some of us are interested in all three!
18. "AND NAOMI SAID UNTO HER TWO DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, GO, RETURN EACH TO HER MOTHER'S HOUSE." Now remember, Naomi was a Jewess, her daughters-in-law were both Moabites--heathen, but apparently they had been won to the faith of Jehovah of the Israelites. But she says, "Go home, the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me." In other words, "You don't have to make this sacrifice, you don't have to go with me. Now even though I'm an old widow and maybe need your help, go on home. I'm going back to my country, strange country, strange town to you, you don't have to go."
19. "THE LORD GRANT YOU THAT YE MAY FIND REST, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice and wept."--For they loved their mother-in-law. How about that? They weren't like that guy I think I told you about: His mother-in-law died; it was wintertime and in those days they couldn't dig a hole in the winter, the ground was frozen. So they wired him, he was away from home, and said, "What shall we do with the body?--Shall we freeze it until winter's over or shall we cremate it?" He wired back, "Don't take any chances! Do both!"
20. "AND THEY SAID UNTO HER, SURELY WE WILL RETURN WITH THEE UNTO THY PEOPLE. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also tonight and should bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? Would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me." She said, "What are you going to stick around me for? Just because you loved the sons that I once had, don't think you can live in hopes for more--you couldn't even wait for them."
21. NAOMI APPARENTLY FELT LIKE THE LORD WAS AGAINST HER--lost her husband, lost her sons, now going back to Israel empty and she thought alone. A very sad picture: An old woman stripped of everything--husband, family.--And now, sacrificially even telling her daughters-in-law, "Don't worry about me, you don't have to try to take care of me, go on home." Pretty good mother-in-law, huh? "And they lifted up their voice, and wept again." She must have been a good mother-in-law or they sure wouldn't have cried about her leaving, huh? Most girls I know would absolutely jump up and down and rejoice if their mother-in-law would only leave.
22. "AND ORPAH KISSED HER MOTHER-IN-LAW," TOLD HER GOOD-BYE AND LEFT, "BUT RUTH CLAVE UNTO HER. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law." "What's the matter with you, don't you know when you're well off? Why don't you go home? You'd be better off than to go back to a strange country, with a strange tongue, with an old, broken-down, worn-out, penniless mother-in-law."
23. NOW RUTH MAKES ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS STATEMENTS IN THE WHOLE BIBLE, and probably the most famous verse in this whole book--which you've heard used at weddings, you've heard sung and is used in love affairs, affairs of the heart and romance. Probably if there's any verse quoted in connection with a romance from the Bible, this is it. But you're going to get a shock because Ruth was not saying this about her lover; believe it or not, this famous verse from the Book of Ruth was said to her mother-in-law! Wow! How about that? Girls, do you think you could love him enough to even love his mother?
24. THIS WHOLE STORY, OF COURSE, IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL TYPE. It's one of the typologies of the Bible regarding the love of God toward man, regarding the love of Christ toward His Bride. We find many beautiful types, shadows--in other words, pictures, illustrations of the love of the Lord.
25. "AND RUTH SAID, INTREAT ME NOT TO LEAVE THEE, or to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." How's that for love?--I want to go where you go, I want to be with you, I'll even switch Gods, I want your God, I want to stay where you stay. How's that for love? Certainly I think it can be beautifully applied to any love affair. It doesn't have to be your mother-in-law. It's just a beautiful expression of love! Amen! "Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried"--I'll follow you till the day I die, till death do us part. "The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
26. COULD YOU SAY THAT, GIRLS, ABOUT THE ONE YOU LOVE? Can you say that, boys? Well, it better be that kind of love or it won't last! I told the girls today: "No good thing will the Lord withhold from him that walketh uprightly." (Ps.84:11) Have you got a good thing going? Well, if it's really good for you the Lord will let you have it, if it's really good for His Kingdom and His Work as well, He'll let you have it. He knows what's good for you and what's good for His Kingdom is good for you. If it's good for His Kingdom, if it's good for you, His Word promises that He's not going to hold back. Amen!
27. SOME OF YOU GUYS HE HAD TO GET MARRIED TO TEACH YOU A LITTLE RESPONSIBILITY. Some of you girls to teach you what real love is, not just lovemaking. Real love is to fulfill the part that God created you to play--that of a slave and a servant and helpmeet to your husband. I'm sorry girls, but that dreamboat was not just made for you, you were made for him! "For man was not made for the woman, but the woman for the man." (1Cor.11:9) I don't know how popular this is going to be with the girls. You were made to help him, he wasn't made to help you; you were made for his benefit, he wasn't made for your benefit. Most girls are running around looking for some guy that will be so sweet & wait on her hand-&-foot and do the dishes, and you can tell him what to do & boss him around--my, and be such a blessing to her!
28. AS I TOLD THE GIRLS TODAY, 70-SOME PERCENT OF THE WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES IS IN THE NAMES OF WOMEN, in the hands of women. Most advertising is aimed at women because they control the purse strings, they're the ones who tell how the family ought to spend its money. We have a matriarchal society in the United States of America--that's why the United States is about to perish. That's one reason--because everywhere where they ever wound up with a matriarchal society, where the women were boss, that was the end of that civilisation. Sorry girls, but that's the truth. Whenever the women and the children began to rule over them, whenever the men lost their guts and quit telling the women what to do, that society, that empire stopped telling the world what to do too, and it went down. You've got to be convinced that you're right and try to convince everybody else of the same and be willing to fight for what you believe in, or you're going to be like America today: Oh, so sorry, please excuse me for living.
29. "WHEN SHE SAW THAT SHE WAS STEADFASTLY MINDED TO GO WITH HER, then she left speaking unto her." Mother-in-law quit arguing with her when she found out she couldn't dissuade her. "So they two went until they came unto Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara (sorrow, the desolate one): for the almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?"
30. SOMETIMES LIFE'S DARKEST HOUR IS JUST BEFORE DAWN! Sometimes God's got to get you all the way down before He can make you look up! "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." Naomi had hit bottom, lost everything! But little did she realise that this little foreign daughter-in-law was going to be the way up.--This one that she might have been ashamed of, as a Jewess. No doubt the long-nosed, long-tongued gossips of her day went around, "Do you see that girl she brought home with her? Did you see the kind of a girl her son married? Why he must have married one of those foreigners. Think of that!" ... Wag, wag, wag!
31. BUT THROUGH THAT LITTLE GIRL JESUS CHRIST THE MESSIAH WAS TO COME TO THE WORLD as her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson. She was one of Jesus' grandmothers--a foreigner, formerly of another religion and even of a darker colour. The Moabites were Arabs and had mixed with Edomites, the Ammonites, the Ishmaelites and the Hamites--the dark-skinned branch of Noah's family--so she was even of a darker colour. But through that little dark-skinned girl Jesus was to come into the world, so at least one of His forebearers was of a darker colour. Praise God! The blood's all the same colour so it doesn't make any difference anyhow, amen?
32. "AND NAOMI HAD A KINSMAN OF HER HUSBAND'S, A MIGHTY MAN OF WEALTH, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz." Now she's going back to her in-laws, to the family of her husband's people, feeling she has some claim left--at least upon their hospitality, if nothing else. "And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers." Now it was the custom in that day that if there were any poor in the land, the Mosaic Law forbade you to reap the corners of the field--that was to be left for the poor. In other words, if there was anything left over the poor got it. If there's anything left over today the government gets it, and they're anything but poor! The government, it seems, gets most of the field and leaves the corners for you.
33. "AND HER HAP WAS TO LIGHT ON A PART OF THE FIELD BELONGING UNTO BOAZ, who was of the kindred of Elimelech." Do you think that was just an happenstance? Do you think that was just an accident? Here's a girl who had changed Gods, switched from the heathen gods of her own land to the true God of her mother-in-law, and had been faithful to this old lady--shown her love and kindness and gone with her. You think God's going to forget about that? Or do you think God's going to do something about it? Well, you'll soon see!
34. "AND BEHOLD, BOAZ CAME FROM BETHLEHEM, AND SAID UNTO THE REAPERS, THE LORD BE WITH YOU." Now apparently he's not only a man of wealth, but a man of faith. He said, "God bless you, boys! You're doing a good job!" I come down here and I tell my reapers, "God bless you, boys! You're doing a good job!" Praise God! I'm a mighty man of wealth as far as I'm concerned, just to have you working for the Lord. "And they answered him, The Lord bless thee." Apparently they loved one another. There were no labour problems here, there was no friction and striking for a raise or better living and working conditions or fringe benefits or pension. Apparently this guy was the right kind of rich man--he took good care of his workers, & they liked him & they blessed him. You know there have been people like that, believe it or not. There were even slave masters that were good to their slaves. Talk about security, they had it.--All their lives--took care of them when they were old and sick, took care of their children, their families. Real security! You want social security?--Try slavery! But apparently some of them were not so good.
35. "THEN SAID BOAZ UNTO HIS SERVANT THAT WAS SET OVER THE REAPERS"--he called the foreman over and he says, "Hey, who's this good-looking gal over here? Whose damsel is this? I haven't seen this chick around before, where's she from? She one of yours, she belong to one of the boys here? He was getting interested for a guy who apparently was old enough to have made his wad by this time.--So he must have been one of those bachelors, girls, so there's even hopes for them if God's on your side. "And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab."
36. APPARENTLY SHE NOTICED THAT THEY WERE STANDING THERE DISCUSSING HER, and she was getting a little bit worried whether she's going to be allowed to continue to work there. So "she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves." She said, "Please let me keep on working here." "So she came, and hath continued from morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens." Apparently he had other girls working for him too. "Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee?" That's funny! Young fellows must have been, in those days, just like they are now--had a hard time keeping their hands off of her! "And when thou hath athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn."
37. FIRST OF ALL THE FOREMAN HAD MERCY ON HER, NOW THE BOSS HAS COME ALONG AND SHE'S IN! "Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" She's saying, "You're too good to me, boss. I don't deserve this, thanks a lot!" "And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father and mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore." He says, "I've heard all about your story, little girl; how you were so loyal and faithful to your mother-in-law that you left your own people--you forsook all to follow the God that you've now found with the one that led you to him."
38. AS I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS TODAY, IT REALLY TOUCHED MY HEART WHEN I THOUGHT HOW LIKE RUTH OUR GIRLS ARE: Having left the land of their nativity, so to speak, their hometown and families and homes, background and education and comfortable room and all these things, loved ones to follow the Lord. Made me feel a little bit like Naomi to think they were willing to give up all that because they love the Lord. Amen!
39. NOW LET ME TELL YOU, BOYS, A GIRL THAT'S NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING FOR GOD IS CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING FOR YOU--so that's not the kind of a girl you want. If she won't even forsake all for God who do you think you are, anyhow? But let me tell you, boys, if you can find a girl who loves God even more than she does you, that's the kind of a girl worth having--because you can trust her! You know where she's going to be, you know what she's going to be doing and you know she's going to go according to the Rule Book and you can count on her! You can depend on her that she'll even follow the Rules of Love that He's laid down Here! (Taps Bible.)
40. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING: THAT REAL RELIGION, THE KIND THAT THIS BOOK PREACHES, IS NOT THAT STUFFED-SHIRT, STRAIGHT-LACED KIND that you hear about in these churches! God's kind of love is real wild, far-out, way-out--the real kind, the kind that God talks about in here! You're going to hear about some of that in a minute. It will shock you!
41. HE'S STILL TALKING TO RUTH & HE SAYS, "THE LORD RECOMPENSE THY WORK, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." He's saying, "God bless you, little girl. You're a good girl." "Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord." How about that, girls? Are you willing to call your future husband "my lord"? Even in the New Testament He tells us--giving Sarah, the wife of Abraham, as an example of how she honoured and respected and reverenced her husband; it says that she reverenced her husband, even calling him lord! Now that's not the way we call God, Lord. Don't misunderstand! But it's more like saying, "Well, okay boss, I don't always agree with you, but you're the boss. Honey, you're the boss." Love and respect and reverence your husband--love, honour and obey! Most girls want to love 'em but they don't want to honour 'em, much less obey 'em.
42. "LET ME FIND FAVOUR IN THY SIGHT, MY LORD: for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens." She apparently didn't look like them--she was different. But he was good to her and she appreciated it. "And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar." Wow! She's really getting further in all the time. Now she's going to eat with all the rest of the hands. Have you ever lived on a farm? Oh, you've missed something if you haven't been on a ranch, if you haven't been there at reaping time. When all the hired hands come in, boy, what a meal they've got in the middle of the day--they come in from working hard, from reaping the oats and the barley and the wheat and whatnot. As the story goes: The guy they got up at 4 o'clock in the morning to go reap the oats, he said, "What is it?--Wild oats that you got to sneak up on them in the dark?"
43. "SHE SAT BESIDE THE REAPERS AND HE REACHED HER PARCHED CORN, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left." What did Boaz do? Here, honey, try some of this. He even handed her a nice ear of corn to chew on--something special. He was being especially nice, he was playing favourites. I wonder how the other girls liked it? I've got to be very careful around my house not to play favourites, I live with a lot of girls. Now don't carry that too far! I should say they live with me, so when I love one of them I have to love them all!--I'm talking about the fatherly love and affection that I show all my daughters the same.
44. "AND WHEN SHE WAS RISEN UP TO GLEAN, BOAZ COMMANDED HIS YOUNG MEN, SAYING, LET HER GLEAN EVEN AMONG THE SHEAVES AND REPROACH HER NOT." What were the sheaves? That's the stuff that was already cut, it was already stacked up, already harvested, she wouldn't even have to work for it--just pick it up. "Now boys, be a little nice to this particular girl." Did you ever work somewhere where the boss said be especially nice to one of the girls? "Now don't let the rest of them get away with it, but this one's special."
45. WELL, IT WAS JUST ONE SPECIAL GIRL IN THIS CASE because God was getting ready to do something. At least certainly Boaz was--that's for sure! Only I don't think he expected to do as much as he did, if you know the rest of the story. "And let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her; and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not." You just drop a little here and there along the way so all she has to do is pick it up.
46. "SO SHE GLEANED IN THE FIELD UNTIL EVEN, and beat out that she had gleaned." Threshed it, separated the chaff from the good kernels, "and it was about an ephah of barley." It's like one of those nice little peck baskets. That's quite a bit when you consider it's just the bare grain she was working on. "And she took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed." How about that? There's real love!
47. "AND HER MOTHER-IN-LAW SAID UNTO HER, WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TODAY? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee." The mother-in-law said, "Wow! Where did you get a paycheck like that? Your boss has sure been good to you." "And she shewed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen." "You're getting warm girl, you're getting close. I begin to see how God's working something out here"--because what was the custom of the Jews? In fact, according to the Mosaic Law, if a man died and left no children to his wife, what were the near relatives supposed to do? His own brother, the closest relative, was to marry her and was to raise up seed to his brother so that she lose not the inheritance in the land. 'Course in those days it didn't matter how many wives you had as long as you could support 'em.
48. "AND RUTH THE MOABITESS SAID, HE SAID UNTO ME ALSO, THOU SHALT KEEP FAST BY MY YOUNG MEN, UNTIL THEY HAVE ENDED ALL MY HARVEST." He said, "You've got the job. You can stay here and work here until the end of the harvest." Mind you now, she wasn't even really working for him--she was working for herself! That'd be like if I ran the store up here and I liked a girl so well, I hired her and said, "Now here, you can come in here and whatever you sell you can keep the money."--That's really playing favourites, huh?
49. "AND NAOMI SAID UNTO RUTH HER DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, IT IS GOOD, MY DAUGHTER, THAT THOU GO OUT WITH HIS MAIDENS, that they meet thee not in any other field." She said, "Stick to it! I think you found the right man." "So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother-in-law."
50. "THEN NAOMI HER MOTHER-IN-LAW SAID UNTO HER, MY DAUGHTER, SHALL I NOT SEEK REST FOR THEE, that it may be well with thee?" "Now it's one thing to eat, girl, and to have a living, but a job and a paycheck doesn't keep you warm at night and doesn't comfort with children and grandchildren when you're old. It's nice to have that job, financial independence--I'm my own boss. Love--I could take it or leave it. But nobody loves you when you're old and gray." Her mother-in-law is saying, "Well now, you're not going to be perfectly happy, you're not going to be completely satisfied, you're not going to find all the joys and fulfilment that life has to offer unless I can find you a husband." She was doing a little matchmaking. "And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshingfloor." Now here's a mother-in-law that's up to something--& she is up to a whole lot more here than meets the eye! (--A real fisherwoman!)
51. IN FACT, IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER AND THE ORIGINAL MEANINGS OF SOME OF THESE WORDS YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, but maybe you can get a few hints if you watch closely. "Wash thyself therefore"--go take a bath, Ruth. Oh, Mom, what in the world for? I want to tell you this mother-in-law meant business. "And anoint thee"--put on perfume, use the deodorant. Get yourself all prettied up, "and put thy raiment upon thee"--dress up, look pretty--"and get thee down to the floor." What? Do all that just to hit the floor? And that's exactly what happened, believe it or not!
52. SEE, THE TROUBLE WITH MOST GIRLS: THEY HAVE A VERY EXALTED IDEA OF WHAT IT IS TO BE A WIFE--they want to be on a pedestal somewhere and to be adored and worshipped. I want to tell you something right now, you've got a rude awakening coming: Marriage is the most humiliating, humbling thing you'll ever get into--when you really hit the floor! Take it from those who know, you really hit the floor.
53. THIS WAS A VERY HUMILIATING, EMBARRASSING, HUMBLING PROCESS FOR RUTH. But I want to warn you girls, if you want to get what you're after, sometimes God's way up is down--in fact, usually. You're not going to be able to act like a queen in your domain, not if you're going to get him! You may have to humble yourself, you may even have to hit the floor like she did.
54. "GET THEE DOWN TO THE FLOOR: BUT MAKE NOT THYSELF KNOWN UNTO THE MAN, UNTIL HE SHALL HAVE DONE EATING AND DRINKING." Make sure he's well-fed, he's had his glass of wine, and then catch him in a weak moment. You know, set the stage, make sure all the things are there that please him. "And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and shalt go in and uncover his feet, and lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do." So her mother-in-law apparently instructed her and told her what to do. "And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn."
55. DO YOU THINK THE BIBLE'S A SAFE BOOK TO READ PUBLICLY? I'll tell you it's not! It's a dangerous Book! We've gotten in a lot of trouble for reading the Bible here. Just be careful what you do and how you do it and how you take these things.
56. "AND SHE CAME SOFTLY, AND UNCOVERED HIS FEET, AND LAID HER DOWN. And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet." How about that? How did he know she was a woman? "And he said, who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaiden: spread therefore thy skirt (scrotum) over thy handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman."
57. THE BIBLE IS A WONDERFUL BOOK, AND GOD BLESS THOSE KING JAMES TRANSLATORS BECAUSE THEY STATE THINGS VERY DELICATELY, very nicely, put it in nice gentle language in some cases. If you will go back into the Bible and other related passages you will find the word used here has something to do with a lot more than some part of his clothing, believe it or not!
58. "AND HE SAID, BLESSED BE THOU OF THE LORD, MY DAUGHTER: FOR THOU HAST SHEWED MORE KINDNESS in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest." What was she requiring?--Marriage!
59. ACCORDING TO SOME PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE THAT HAVEN'T READ THE BIBLE, THEY THINK IT'S SOME KIND OF NAMBY-PAMBY LITTLE BOOK FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL KIDS.--There's nothing very exciting in there, nothing very adventuresome or romantic. I'm telling you there's stuff in the Bible that's just as wild as anything you'll see on television and maybe a lot wilder; only the difference is it puts it in its right perspective. It puts it in its proper place, with a proper attitude. The villains are not portrayed as heroes. But it just talks about people just like you and me, and the things that people like you and me do. It looks at life just the way it is--that's one of the amazing things about the Bible. Men's books always gloss over the bad things and make heroes out of the good boys with the white hats and never really tell all the bad things about its heroes. But the Bible tells you all about their mistakes, some of the terrible things they did, and yet how God forgave them and how they were just as human as you and me--they made the same kind of mistakes, did the same things and yet the Lord loved them. Amen!
60. WELL, GIRLS, I DON'T NECESSARILY BY ANY MEANS RECOMMEND YOU GOING THIS FAR TO GET YOURSELF A HUSBAND, BUT IN THIS CASE SHE DID. "Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning." What kindness had she shown in the beginning? She was kind to her mother-in-law. Now in the end she's being kind to somebody else. Although he was a very powerful rich man, evidently he wasn't necessarily the answer to a maiden's prayer, as far as age and looks were concerned--because he counted it as a kindness that she hadn't run around with the young fellows but had picked him instead.
61. MOST GIRLS WOULD RATHER HAVE A MAN THAN A MILLION, although I don't know about some of them. I've tried to make some matches in some cases and the girl wouldn't even give them a second look. I thought they were great, I thought they were just the one, I thought they really had everything. Well, maybe they were not as young as some of them, maybe they were not as dashing and romantic as they might have desired, but I thought they'd made a good husband, but the girls didn't see it. One reason being that the girl's only thinking about herself & not about him.
62. WHAT DID RUTH SHOW IN THIS CASE? SHE SHOWED REAL LOVE, KINDNESS AND CONCERN FOR BOAZ. Now of course, I'm sure someone here will get suspicious she was just marrying him for his money--but in the last analysis there haven't been too many girls that married men for their money, at least not that last. In this case she was showing real love and kindness because God was behind it.
63. "AND NOW, MY DAUGTER, FEAR NOT; I WILL DO TO THEE ALL THAT THOU REQUIREST." How did he know what she was asking for? Well, let me warn you girls, if you go to sleep with some man after he's worked hard and had a good meal and a little merry with wine, you'll find out what he's asking for! The trouble is some girls go too far; you tempt the man beyond the point of endurance, you play around and you fiddle around, and you are just playing around with love, and pretty soon you find you've been playing with fire! You've been took, and you blame it on him and holler, and it was your own fault. I think there are a lot of guys in prison for rape today and the girl ought to be in prison with him. But this was no case of rape, thank God!
64. NOW IT MAY SOUND LIKE A PRETTY CLEAR-CUT CASE OF PREMARITAL SEX--WHICH IT WAS! Maybe that's one reason the story's in the Book: This was undoubtedly a very unusual case, right? Let that be a lesson to you girls: Don't go sleeping against any man's bare feet unless you want to get married! It's amazing how sexy feet can become! How did he know she was a woman? It doesn't take much to find out!--Remember she uncovered his feet!--Why?
65. "FOR ALL THE CITY OF MY PEOPLE DOTH KNOW THAT THOU ART A VIRTUOUS WOMAN." He said, "Okay now, kid, I'm not going to ruin your honour.--Everybody knows you're a good girl. I'm not going to let this happen unless I intend to go through with it." (Sings:) "If somebody loves you it's no good unless they love you all the way!" Don't settle for anything less--if it's real love! And by "all the way" I mean marriage, kids, and the Lord's service--the works! All the way! What the world is settling for nowadays isn't even halfway, it doesn't even scratch the surface--well, that's about all it does: scratch the surface! The next guy gets a tarnished bill of goods, damaged goods, except for the mercy of God.
66. THAT'S YOUR ONLY HOPE! GOD SAYS HE'S BLOTTED OUT THY SINS AS A CLOUD, and as a thick cloud He's put them behind His back, and will remember them against you no more. You can start from scratch with the Lord, for you're a new creature in Christ Jesus.--Old things are passed away and all things are become new. Forget that past, forget all of that and all of those and all of them. You're starting from scratch, you're starting out all over again. Thank God! Amen! You're a new creature!
67. WELL, WE'RE ON THE HOME STRETCH. And by that I really mean the home stretch. When Boaz stretched out on that floor, that was the home stretch--that stretch made a home! I warned one of the girls today, I said, "Oh, watch out when you stretch like that!"--A woman is her most dangerous when she stretches, a woman is her most beautiful when she stretches.
68. SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE THE LORD A LITTLE COOPERATION! I know one girl here who never even told the guy that she loved him, although she was in love with him. Because it just isn't right and proper, and it's just not the custom in society where women want to be chased. I mean by that not c-h-a-s-t-e, but c-h-a-s-e-d. They don't necessarily want to be chaste in one way, but they want to be chased in another.
69. WELL, THIS GAL REALLY WENT TO SOME LENGTHS TO GET HERSELF A HUSBAND, with the advice of her mother-in-law. Apparently they were pretty sure of this fellow--that he'd do the right thing, otherwise I would not advise you. In fact, don't go out of here and quote me that I advise it at all. Although I think in some cases, with some men, if they hadn't almost been caught in such a situation as this they never would have gotten married. So this man was ready apparently to go all the way. He was just working hard and was not willing to leave the job until it was done. He was sticking with it, with the workers and his hired hands--out there until it was done. Apparently this was so customary that Naomi knew he'd be there, so she tipped off her daughter-in-law on what to do.--And she did it and it worked!
70. HE SAID, "DON'T WORRY; I'LL DO THE RIGHT THING BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE A VIRTUOUS WOMAN and everybody knows it." "And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I." By the right of kindred succession the next nearest kinsman had the right to marry the girl first. If her husband had a brother he was first in line and so on down through the kinsfolk--cousins, uncles and whatnot--and they were supposed to come first unless they relinquished that right, they didn't want to marry the girl, and the next guy could marry her. But it was the commandment of the Law of Moses that they were to marry--in order that they'd not lose their share of the inheritance and to keep the property in the family. A pretty good system? I've known some families to lose nearly everything they had through one unwise marriage.
71. "TARRY THIS NIGHT, AND IT SHALL BE IN THE MORNING, THAT IF HE WILL PERFORM UNTO THEE THE PART OF THE KINSMAN,"--they both must have had a lot of faith--"Let him do the kinsman's part"--in other words, let him marry you--"but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning. And she lay at his feet until the morning."
72. I'LL NEVER FORGET WHEN MY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER TRIED TO EXPLAIN THIS to me when I was a little boy, and that explanation never did quite make sense. Of course, it couldn't make sense because that nice little prim Sunday school teacher didn't even want to know what it meant. "And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another." She got up before anybody else was awake. "And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor." He said, "Now be quiet. Don't let anybody know that there was a woman here." "Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city." He didn't forget to give her what she needed. (A real thankful fish!)
73. "AND WHEN SHE CAME TO HER MOTHER-IN-LAW, SHE SAID, WHO ART THOU, MY DAUGHTER?" That's a funny question to ask the girl that's been living with you for ten years or more: Who are you? She had a pretty good idea for asking that question--you went away Ruth Mahlon, have you come home Ruth Boaz? "And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother-in-law." Well, he was doing quite a bit to curry favour too, wasn't he? It works both ways, boys and girls. Love is a two-way street: It's give and take, live and let live!
74. "THEN SAID SHE, SIT STILL, MY DAUGHTER, UNTIL THOU KNOW HOW THE MATTER WILL FALL: for the man will not be in rest, until he hath finished the thing this day." Okay, kid, just sit tight now and let's see what happens. If I know my men, Mom says, he's going to finish this off today, he's not going to wait, he'll not take any chances. If he really loves you he's going to make sure he gets you. Watch out girls, about those guys that keep putting it off. As soon as my kids made up their minds, I said, "Okay, this is it! The sooner the better! Right now, if you really mean business--this is of God, you're both settled in your own minds and hearts." In our Family when we find the right one and know we've got it, the sooner the better!
75. YOU KNOW IT TOOK A LOT OF FAITH FOR THAT GAL. I haven't known many cases like that, but I've known a few. It took a lot of faith! Did her faith pay off? Did her obedience pay off?
76. "THEN WENT BOAZ UP TO THE GATE, AND SAT HIM DOWN THERE: and behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by, unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here." Hey, fellow, come on, sit down. Let's talk things over. "And he turned aside, and sat down."
77. SOME OF YOU GIRLS WANT TO MAKE SURE that you've got a house and a car and a good income and the name on the dotted line, the positive security and everything all set before you'll say yes. What guarantee did this girl have, anyhow? She didn't have any guarantee--but faith! In fact, he didn't even make her any promises until she'd gone pretty far already. Let me tell you it takes plenty of faith to be obedient! In fact, that's exactly what it does take to be obedient. You can't be obedient unless you do have faith! Think that one over!
78. IT TOOK FAITH TO DO WHAT HER MOTHER-IN-LAW TOLD HER TO DO. That was a pretty risqué, far-out wild thing to do: To go down there to the barn and sleep with the guy before he'd made any promises. You mean that's in the Bible? Wow! I thought church people were oh, man, you know! I want to tell you if you haven't found out by this time, if there's any resemblance between churchianity and the characters in this Book, the resemblance is purely coincidental--as they say on the dramas and in the books. This Book is pretty heavy, pretty strong, pretty deep!
79. I'M NOT TELLING YOU TO GO AS FAR AS RUTH DID, what I'm trying to tell you is that sometimes you're going to have to give God a little co-operation, a little obedience. You should tell the guy at least you love him, even if you don't have to sleep with him.
80. "AND HE TURNED ASIDE AND SAT DOWN. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down." They had to have ten witnesses. "And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: and I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it." He's being pretty smart! Boy, let me tell you he's working around to the subject. In a sense, he's dealing with the father of the girl--now this guy he's dealing with is not the father, but he was the guy that had to say yes, who had to give her away, and he couldn't have her unless this guy okayed it.
81. YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE WHOLE STORY YET, he's working up to something; he hasn't mentioned the girl yet. The girl went with the land. How about that? You couldn't have the land without the girl--a little catch to the sale. So he says, "I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance." He said, "Of course, the girl goes with the land. You're going to have to marry the girl if you want the land." "And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it." He said, "Wait a minute, I wasn't planning to go that far! You didn't tell me there was a gal mixed into this deal, that I was going to have to marry the girl! I don't mind getting the property, but I don't want that much responsibility."
82. "NOW THIS WAS THE MANNER IN FORMER TIME IN ISRAEL, concerning the redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife!" How about that girls? Are you willing to be bought? Can you be had?
83. "TO RAISE UP THE NAME OF THE DEAD UPON HIS INHERITANCE, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: we are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel." Isn't that something? How about that? She actually became greater--Jesus' great-grandmother!
Copyright (c) 1997 by The Family
