Poul Madsen
THE BOOK OF RUTH
THE significance of the story of Ruth lies in the fact that it tells of happenings during those distressing days when the Judges ruled. From time to time during that era God brought help to His people through these individuals who did their specific tasks by faith but who mostly proved faulty characters whose work was limited in its duration.
Apart from the inspiring and admirable Deborah, I do not find among the great judges those qualities of character that I could wish to see. In certain points I can look up to them. They were brave when the Lord sent them. They were active in the tasks committed to them. But as regards holiness and likeness to the Lord, they seem to me to have proved sadly lacking. We are told that it was by faith that they accomplished their great deeds, but we feel that their personal relationship to the Lord tended to remain superficial.
We turn from the book of Judges to this little book and here we encounter three unheroic characters, Boaz, Naomi and Ruth, who came to no prominence but were "the quiet in the land" (Psalm 35:20). Their story is recorded in the Holy Scriptures because, in the long run, theirs was the most significant and lasting service to God and to His people. From their lineage came the king David and later great David's greater Son. Their story gives us the other side of the book of Judges and it shows how God answered the cry of Israel not only by giving them those who became public figures by their acts of deliverance, but by sending them -- even from Moab -- those who could be described as the quiet in the land.
These very ordinary people were not great figures in their own lifetime, but God has kept their record for posterity: they were hidden from the eyes of men but they counted much for Him. And so it is today. I am sure that there are modest saints here in Denmark who count more for the Lord than some of us who are on the platform and in the public eye. I think of some farmers or business men who resemble Boaz in that nobody publicises them, but their names and their godly behaviour arc recorded in the heavenly books. There are unrecognised devoted women who will be found to have meant much to God's purposes when the final story is told.
What did Ruth really do? She just told her mother-in-law that she would always be faithful to her and to her God. Nobody except Naomi took note of that decision. It could not be regarded as an exploit of any significance in Israel, yet it was of the utmost importance to Israel's history. In such unadvertised decisive choices, great spiritual purposes can sometimes be realised. Ruth must have fought with herself when she took the path to Bethlehem with Naomi for she literally forsook her own interests to go to a land where -- as a Moabitess -- she had no right of entry and no future. She could not have known then that this path would lead to her becoming a famous Israelite.
Having arrived at Bethlehem she faithfully helped her old mother-in-law by going out to glean in the fields, so engaging in the lowest task which the destitute were allowed to perform. We know that this proved to be the key to the whole future destiny of those concerned, but for her it only represented a humble willingness to serve. Such hidden service is far more difficult than to be given a conspicuous position in the harvest field of the world where everyone notices what you are doing. Spirituality, however, is best expressed in the hidden choices of daily life when the conscience hears and obeys God's call and chooses to follow in faith and serve in humility, as Ruth did. [41/42]
Naomi is rather a tragic figure who began in sorrow but who was able at the end to rejoice in God's faithfulness to her. Her only contribution was trust -- but that is a most vital contribution to God's plans for His people. And what shall we say of the godly Boaz whose character was revealed in his treatment of his workers on the farm and especially in that extra touch of kindness when he ordered bundles on purpose to be provided for the forlorn stranger? These would hardly seem to be matters for reports to be made in the accounts of what happened in Israel. In the history of God's kingdom, however, they are important in quite a different way from what might be reflected by publicity and statistics. They are mighty because of their spiritual content and not because of their sensational character. They are effective, though they have been done in quietness and purity and humility, without any kind of publicity.
There are differences between the equipment of the Spirit with some gift and the spirituality of character which is all important. It is possible to be fully extended in what we are doing for the Lord and yet not growing in a personal knowledge of Him, as I know to my cost. There is nothing greater than to learn to know the Lord. This knowledge, however, is only gained slowly and often painfully by those whose secret choices, known only to Him, are directed towards a deep sense of what is His will.
The greatest gift which the Spirit can give us is faithfulness. To maintain a life near to God, to spend time in the prayer chamber, to spread the spirit of goodness, purity and gentleness, love and helpfulness, these are the unadvertised virtues of the "quiet in the land" which can mean so much for the great purposes of God. Such people do not seek their own, even as Christ did not seek His own, but let nobody question their true importance in the kingdom of God. I suggest that one of the purposes of this little book of Ruth is to remind us that in the midst of circumstances as unpromising as those described in the book of Judges, and in contrast to the public figures who may have their part to play, God looks for simple and devoted souls -- the quiet in the land.
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