"We read at the end of the second chapter that it was revealed to Ruth that she had a Redeemer, and that the Redeemer was the one who had shown kindness to her, and had had mercy upon her. Boaz, whom she knew, has the right to redeem. That fact must have profoundly influenced the spirit and the thought of Ruth. Now hope springs up, now she realizes that there is a future for her. Yet it did not merely depend upon the fact that there was a Redeemer. It also depended upon her putting in her claim; and that is what this chapter emphasizes.
"It is just the same to-day. It is not enough that Christ is a Redeemer. We must put in our claim if we would enjoy His Redemption. That is a fact that a great many Christians do not realize. We love to read about the Redeemer, and sing hymns about His glory and His power; but it all comes to nothing unless faith claims, and takes Him as a personal Redeemer.
"So Ruth puts in her claim at this time.
"Naomi says to her:
"Shall I not seek rest for thee?" (Chap. iii. ver. 1).
"We may well seek rest for ourselves and others. We may well be concerned, as Naomi was, that our friends and our loved ones shall know the best of God. And so let us exhort one another like this: 'Shall I not seek rest for thee?' Holiness is rest. Holiness means deep peace. Holiness means that the spirit of heaven has come into our hearts. This involves a real deliverance from sin. Holiness means a graciousness and a humility of spirit, which gives real rest. As long as sin is working there will not be rest. 'There is no rest', saith my God, 'for the wicked.' There is no rest as long as there is selfishness and pride and unbelief. Rest comes when we reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Oh! the restless spirits and the restless hearts in the Church of God! God desires to breathe peace upon us, and to give us a Rest that shall not be broken.
"Naomi's meaning was that she would seek a husband for Ruth. And for us also, rest comes by union with Christ the Rest-Giver. It involves living in a vital union with Him, as the Branch must with the Vine (John xv.). We heard that call: 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' And the call that follows: 'Take My yoke upon you.' That is to say, 'Be united to Me, as one ox is yoked to another.' 'And ye shall find rest.' Here our Lord changes the word for rest from 'lodging' to 'settled rest.' Union with Christ is the secret of abiding rest. In the words of this story union with the mighty man of wealth is the secret of rest.
"That was the remedy for Ruth in her poverty. She was a stranger, and had various needs, but there was a remedy for all her need in union with the mighty man of wealth. The remedy for you and all your failures and all your infirmities and all your poverty is just union with Christ, in Whom all fullness dwells.
"He will supply all needs. He will make you wealthy. When you are poverty-stricken, and shallow and poor and cowardly, He will be to you all in all. That is what redemption means. Redemption is not merely getting the forgiveness of sins, or being cleansed from sin. Redemption means union with our Boaz, sharing with Him His wealth and position.
"But how can we be united with Him? Naomi very wisely gives her instructions as to how she may find rest, and these instructions are very helpful to a seeking soul now. She says:
"Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing floor."
"Boaz is winnowing, that is, separating the chaff from the wheat. This is not the reapers' work. They have gone to their rest. Now He comes, Whose fan is in His hand. Every day's work is winnowed by the Master. This is a comfort to the servants of Christ; for with the barley there is also much chaff. So they are glad to have the work purged before it reaches the garner.
"'Go down, therefore, where Boaz is winnowing.' That is where we need to go. Many have found, alone with God or at some Convention, that the Lord is winnowing, and cleansing and delivering. That is the thought in Psalm cxxxix.
"O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest (margin reads "winnowest") my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways."
"When He takes His fan in His hand we realize that He knows us altogether, and has searched us through and through. He knows our character, He knows our nature. He knows the lives we lead. He knows the hopes we have formed. He knows us in our daily life. He knows us as we are gathering in the House of God. He knows us and He is winnowing us. He will divide the useless from the useful, the wheat that has life in it from the chaff that has no life. He is winnowing the character and the heart.
"Again in I Cor. iii. 12,
"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."
"That is speaking of the future, but nevertheless the Lord is beginning that work now. Just as you are ready, just as you are willing, just as you are obedient, the Lord is able to carry on this work and to winnow from your heart and life that which is of no value and will not last. Wood, hay, stubble is like that, and will eventually just be destroyed. He is bringing forth the gold, the silver, and the precious stones; and He by the Holy Spirit can make us, each one, pure gold for Himself."
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