LIFE ON THE ALTAR

Taken from the book, Reflections on the Book of Ruth, by A. B. Saint

Chapter 9

“… and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat…”
Ruth 2: 14

My soul is now united to Christ the Living Vine,
His grace I long have slighted,
But now I know He’s mine.
I was to God a stranger,
‘Till Jesus took me in.
He freed my soul from danger,
And pardoned all my sin.

I can well imagine the joy beginning to rise in the heart of Ruth. The joy of acceptance, the thrill of belonging. From the conversation Boaz had with her it was clear to see that she was accepted by him. Boaz had rolled out the Welcome Mat for her and Ruth was now in the right place with the right people.

Just this morning whilst in the supermarket I spoke to a lady assistant who was showing me which aisle a certain product was on. I had never bought this article before and had no idea where I might find it. Afterwards, grateful for her help, I made a nice cheery and truthful remark as to her well-dressed appearance, when she told me that since a child she had never been happy about herself or happy in any situation she had ever been in all the way through her life. She told me that she thought all this might have stemmed from not really knowing who she was and never having the love of a mother.

As she spoke, she told me she had no sense of belonging and even though she kept on insisting that she was a very spiritual person, nevertheless she carried around with her a spirit of rejection. I tried to offer her a little word of encouragement and spoke about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but she would have none of it, telling me all she believed in were the crystals hanging around her neck. I asked her if she would like me to pray for her when I got home to which she agreed. Each day I will hopefully remember her and pray that at a suitable season she too will realise that Jesus is only a prayer away and He alone is the answer to her need for acceptance. I am praying that at some later season she will come to know the Lord.    

Not only our bible story character Ruth, and not only the lady at the supermarket, but all of us I think without exception have that need within us to belong, to be accepted by others.  For us to be rejected in any way and for any reason can be a very painful thing. For some young people, the thought of being rejected and not being picked for the high school team would be unthinkable. For the young man who is dating his sweetheart and looking forward to a lifetime together, to be rejected by her at a later date must be awful.

Think too of our Lord who the bible says: “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.”  John chapter 1 and verse 10. In a sense, Christ Himself was a stranger upon this earth was He not? What does that well-known passage of scripture in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 3 say of our Lord? It says: “He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” If anyone knows about rejection our Lord does, and still today there are many wise and prudent in their own sight. They have no time for Jesus, nor do they have time for His Word. 

This is probably a fitting time to bring in an article which once came to my notice and dates back to the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Although there were several other cases, the one which I read about appears to be where a Court action was brought against a particular school in Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, because the students and teachers were having daily bible readings in the school and the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer first thing in the morning. 

It is a long story, but this case led to the Court’s justification for the removal of these bible readings, even though they were proved to be only about fifteen minutes long. This took place because of one boy’s battle to reject and remove what he did not believe in personally, and considered to be a gross violation of human rights. The school of course appealed this decision saying that if parents wished their children to be exempt at these times they were free to do so, but even this did not satisfy the boy or the family involved, and they continued on with their lawsuit. 

One boys stand, along with that of his atheistic family, also led to prayers being banned in public schools. Even though the Court at this time declared that only 3% of the nation professed no belief in religion and no belief in God, yet was consistent with 97 % of the beliefs of the people of the United States at that time, unfortunately the Court decided for the 3% against the majority. Things like this show how far some people will go in their rejection of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  

Knowing she was not a native of the Land, Ruth saw herself as a stranger and we have already seen how she readily admitted this to Boaz. Thinking on the word ‘stranger,’ a verse from the book of Leviticus comes to mind. It is Leviticus chapter nineteen verse thirty-four which says: “The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” The Lord Jesus Himself bore this sentiment out when He said over in the pages of the New Testament that we were to love our neighbours as ourselves. Despite their appearance, their mannerisms, their background, their language, and their religious persuasion we have to learn to love them as we would want to be loved ourselves. Love was ever on the mind of Jesus wasn’t it? In one of my daily readings, someone rightfully said: “We must give our love wings and when we see a need we must spring into action.” This is what Boaz did when he looked into the eyes of Ruth.   

In a spiritual sense, the bible also makes clear that before we came to know the Lord as Saviour, we were all of us strangers to God in that we lived sinful lives. We walked in the ways of the world and were under its control. John Knox lays this very clearly on the line when he says of Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 how Christ found us as ‘dead men,’ such were our transgressions and such were the sinful ways in which we lived, and such is original sin. Gods plan all along was to adopt us into His family. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 6 tells us that through grace He has made us ‘accepted in the beloved’. In other words, as Knox puts it yet again, God has taken us into His favour in the Personhood of His Beloved Son. This ‘acceptance’ speaks of our being welcomed as it were with the open arms of Jesus. In truth, what favour is ours that we should be called the sons of God?

On the subject of acceptance there is a true story told, of how in the second world war a group of soldiers were fighting in the rural countryside of France. During an intense battle, one of the American soldiers were killed. His comrades did not want to leave his body on the battlefield and decided to give him a Christian burial. They remembered a church a few miles behind the front lines whose grounds included a small cemetery surrounded by a white fence.

After receiving permission to take their friends body to the cemetery, they set out for the church, arriving just before sunset. A priest, his frail body, back bent over, betraying his many years, responded to their knocking. His face deeply wrinkled and tanned was the home of two fierce eyes that flashed with wisdom and passion. “Our friend was killed in battle,” they blurted out, “and we wanted to give him a church burial.” Apparently the priest understood what they were asking, although he spoke in very broken English. “I’m sorry” he said, “but we can only bury those of the same faith here.” Weary, after months of war, the soldiers simply turned to walk away. But the old priest called after them, “You can bury him outside the fence.” 

Cynical and exhausted the soldiers dug a grave and buried their friend just outside the white fence. They finished after nightfall. The next morning the entire unit was ordered to move on, and the group rushed back to the little church for one final goodbye to their friend.  When they arrived, they couldn’t find the grave site and tired and confused they knocked on the door of the little church. They asked the old priest if he knew where they had buried their friend. “It was dark last night, and we were exhausted. We must have been disoriented.” A smile flashed across the old priest’s face. “After you left last night, I could not sleep, so I went outside early this morning, and I moved the fence!” 

In verse 7 of Ruth chapter 2 we find her gleaning ‘after’ the reapers, but her position changes when in verse 15 she is allowed to glean ‘among’ the sheaves, or ‘among’ the reapers. Boaz had wonderfully ‘moved the fence’ for her for here she will be even more successful in her daily endeavours. In verse 14 an opportunity avails her to also eat at the table of Boaz where the bible says “……he reached her parched corn, and she did eat and was sufficed…..” So generous a helping was she given that she was able to put some aside for Naomi later in the day. 

Some may ask what is parched corn? It is corn from the field which has been plucked up with all the stalks still attached to it. Although they are not to be overripe, they must be amongst the best ears of corn. These are then tied into little parcels and then roasted over an open fire. The heads of corn are held over a blazing fire until most of the chaff is burned off and this nutritious meal is then rubbed in the hands and eaten.

Ruth gladly accepted what Boaz had for her. She was working hard and by this time had developed a hunger. Often the Scriptures talk of such things as seed, or manna, or bread, or wheat when it is referring to the Bible. How hungry are we for the Word of God? Whenever we pick the bible up, is our spirit man desirous of being nourished? In a sense when we take up a copy of the Word of God it is as if like Boaz, Christ Himself is reaching out to us with those nourishing ears of corn. Is He not also the Lord of the Harvest? Accept what comes from His loving hands for He will always without doubt give more and above any requirement you may have. As you take your bible in your hands you can be sure that you will thereby always receive your daily allotted portion and be sufficed.

How much do we love His Word? How necessary is it for our daily lives? In the book of Job chapter 23 and verse 12 we note that even in all his sufferings Job could say: “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” In Psalm 119 verse 97 the Psalmist says: “Oh how I love Thy Law!  It is my meditation all through the day.” When God called Joshua, Moses successor, to the work, in the very first chapter of Joshua and verse 8 we are told: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

The best way for Christians to grow is through prayer and the reading of the Word of God, which is to us as the Bread of Life! Sadly, some of us have lost the ability to seek out food for ourselves, instead always relying upon others to feed us. This is a dangerous thing as we must never ever rely on anyone else to grow our faith. Look at what the Psalmist in Psalm 119 and verse 15 has to say to us: “I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways.” Here it is shown as a personal thing.

Have ever been to Yellowstone Park? If you have, you were probably given a piece of paper by one of the rangers standing at the entrance. On it in big letters is the warning that people should not feed the bears. However, it is duly noted that driving only a short way into the park, people are ignoring this request and are happily feeding the bears! It is said that someone once asked the ranger the need for this warning. Turning to the gentleman the ranger replied: “Sir, you have only one half of the picture. In the autumn and the winter, we rangers have the job of carrying away the dead corpses of bears who had lost their ability to find their own food.” Could this very same thing be happening to some Christians today?

THOT: What Boaz was to Ruth, CHRIST as the Bread of Heaven is to us!

Taken from the book, Reflections on the Book of Ruth, by A. B. Saint