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Not only is Ruth, the Moabitess, graciously brought under the wing of the God of
Israel, and her temporal needs satisfied by the love and wealth of Boaz the Strong, but a
link is also made in the chain that binds Adam to Christ, and Ruth finds an honourable
place not only in the line of David, but in the genealogy of David's greater Son
(Matt. 1: 5).
When we remember that the Scriptural redeemer must be a kinsman and an Israelite,
and also that the Redeemer of Israel is set forth as Israel's Lord and God (cf. Isa. 41: 14;
43: 14; 44: 6, 24, etc.), we are confronted with a problem which can only be solved in
the light of the person of Christ as "God manifest in the flesh".
With this delightful story the O.T. narrative passes on from the days of the Judges
to the times of Samuel. We can but be thankful for the presence of this interlude of
simple faith and love in the midst of much that is a record of failure and departure. It
would almost seem that the God of Israel points to the faith of the Moabitess here in
much the same way as, when in the flesh, He drew attention to the faith of the centurion
(Matt. 8: 10, 11).
Blessed be God for every one that can say with Job: "I know that my Redeemer
liveth."
The Book of SAMUEL.
#1.
The Closing Days of the Judges.
(I Samuel 1: 1 - 8: 3).
pp. 211 - 215
Rather in the same way as the Book of Ruth establishes a link between the days of the
Judges and the days of David, so the opening book of Samuel begins with the days of the
Judges and ends with the death of Saul. The books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles
form a complete whole, and were apparently written by the three prophets, Samuel, Gad
and Nathan.
"Now the acts of David the King, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of
Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
with all this reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel and
over all the kingdoms of the countries" (I Chron. 29: 29, 30).
It is evident that the prophets often wrote the history of their own times, for we read:
"Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and write it in a book, and
laid it up before the Lord" (I Sam. 10: 25).