A LOVE STORY: THE BOOK OF RUTH

Chapter 10

GLEAN ING, GLEAN ING,
OH HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FIELDS OF MY LORD

08-19-07

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(Ruth 1:22)  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 [Gk: in the sense of roughness] harvest. (Ruth 2:1)  And Naomi [pleasant] had a kinsman [first mention in the Book of Ruth] of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth [valour], of the family of Elimelech [my God is King]; and his name was Boaz [a type of Jesus Chist]. (Ruth 2:2)  And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace [Ruth was seeking Grace – she didn’t have it yet. Why not?]. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

1.       Commentary: Barley is one of the most important of the cereal grains, and the most hardy of them all. It was grown by the Hebrews, who used it for baking into bread (“I am the bread of life” John 6:35), chiefly among the poor, and as fodder (dry, without water mixed in) for king Solomon’s horses (1 Kings 4:28). Horses are a biblical symbol of power. A significant association is that Jesus was laid “in a manger” (Luke 2:7,12,16) from which horses eat and are thereby empowered. Because barley was considered a food for slaves and the very poor, it was held in low esteem as a grain, as was our Lord. The barley harvest takes place in Palestine in March and April (The Feast of Passover), and always precedes the wheat harvest (The Feast of Pentecost), and the grape harvest (The Feast of Tabernacles).

WINNING SOULS TO CHRIST

Commentary: Where are the souls? In the Bible, the crops of barley and wheat and grapes (fruit) planted in the field of the world represent three evolving aspects of the souls of God’s people (an enigmatic statement). The fields of my Lord are also the past, the present, and the future which may be laid out in both a horizontal (for us) and an ascending (for Him) continuum. There are three food harvests in the biblical year (a trinity): barley, wheat, and grapes which are celebrated respectively as the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. These feasts may correlate respectively with God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. What is God teaching us here? Perhaps the barley harvest represents the harvest of the Old Testament inhabitants, now past, which concluded upon the death of Jesus Christ (the testator: Heb 9:16,17) on the cross. The wheat harvest represents the harvest of the New Testament inhabitants that commenced in the book of Acts (Acts 2:1-4) with the prophetic outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and is presently ongoing but rapidly drawing to a close. The grape harvest (please note the abundance of water within the grape, symbolic of the Holy Spirit) will commence upon the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in His resurrected glorified body (Rev 19:11-16), and is the beginning of the harvest of the Millennium inhabitants; the Millennium which we are about to enter into. Noah (a type of God) sent forth the “dove” into the world three times, and the third time the dove “returned not again.” (Gen 8:6:12).

1.       barley        Passover          God the Son                 He sent His Son               past   

2.       wheat        Pentecost         God the Holy Spirit      He sent His Spirit            present     

3.       grapes       Tabernacles      God the Father             He sent His Self        “to dwell with them” (Rev 21:3)

Commentary: From this perspective, we are now gleaning the wheat harvest while concurrently suffering adversity and greatly increasing tribulation from Satan and his fallen angel minions in this world of which he is the god (2 Cor 4:4); however, we shall overcome. At the conclusion of the wheat harvest, as the “fullness” is accomplished, Jesus Christ (the fullness Himself) shall return to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and Satan shall be locked up (silenced) in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, greatly lessening the adversity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately thereafter, in our resurrected glorified bodies, we shall without overt hindrance reap the grape harvest throughout the 1000 year Millennium, because although Satan’s fallen angels shall remain loosed within mankind for this duration, they will be without a leader, a directive head, the head having been separated from the body in an interesting counterfeit image of Acts 1:9.

1.       (Mark 6:48)  And he saw [from the mountain (of God)] them [His disciples] toiling in rowing [doing the work of the Lord, which is???]; for the wind was contrary unto them [opposite; fig. antagonistic: against (hostile)]: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them [i.e. we shall overcome].

a.       toiling = Gk: tortured:--pained, toil, tormented, tossed, vexed [i.e. in Great Tribulation].

2.       (1 John 3:2)  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear [at His Second Coming], we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Amen

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