Harvest Field of the
Bride
.
Jeanne Stewart, Oklahoma
The caring woman places another spoonful of oatmeal into the
hungry child’s mouth; his eyes stare ahead in despondency. Truly her place is
among these 
hungry, needy souls and strays the world has cast out. As
the child realizes his hunger is being satisfied his gaze transforms to hope.
“Remember those in
prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as
if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” (Hebrews 13:3)
The Church as God’s
Bride Has a Mission
“Gather the people – sanctify
the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babies;
let the Bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing
room.” (Joel 2:16)
An awe-inspiring story is the Bible’s book of Ruth. Set
within the atmosphere of famine, we see a Moabite woman named Ruth building
loyalty of true covenant with the living God of her dead husband’s family.
Needing to leave the land where she grew up, Ruth travels with her
mother-in-law to a strange land. She finds a new life in her commitment as she
submits unto her kinsman Boaz, a man of great wealth in Judah.
Ruth asks her mother-in-law Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in
whose sight I may find favor.” And Naomi said to her, “Go my daughter.” Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field
after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging
to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. (Naomi’s dead husband)
Boaz as a Type of Christ
– The Bridegroom
“Ask of Me and I will
give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your
possession.” (Psalm 2:8)
Then Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the
reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
Within this part of the story we can see Boaz as a type
of Christ – the Bridegroom. As a “kinsman-redeemer”
Boaz says to Ruth in verse 8, ‘… you will
listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go
from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field
which they reap, and go after them.” He clearly wants Ruth to sense his
sincere concern for her well-being, and the young men in the fields were also
warned to leave her alone as it was common to mistreat foreigners.
Ruth as a Type of Christ
Church – The Bride
“And the Good News about
the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations
will hear it; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
We can see Ruth is a type of Christ’s Church – the Bride.
Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi and to God moved her to leave her homeland Moab for
Judah. Though a foreigner, she became an ancestress of David and Christ. Once
again we see in verse 11 Boaz’s spiritual precedence in his respect for Ruth’s
incentive in coming to Judah, both her encouraging kindness to Naomi and her
trust in the Lord God of Israel.
Naomi as a Type of Holy
Spirit – Covenant
“The threshing floors
shall be full of wheat and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.”
(Joel 2:24)
We also can see Naomi is a type of Holy Spirit – the one
who brings a covenant of faithfulness, pointing to the open door the Lord gave
them through Boaz that it may lead to their redemption from famine.
When we speak tenderly to a new believer the words of
Christ, it is like feeding a starving child. We see their eyes brighten with a
gentle expression of hope, as they sip the much-needed milk of the Word. They
swallow and want more as God’s mercy pours forth into their doubt and despair,
bringing peace to hearts and minds.
The Spirit would say to us:
My Bride should be found in the harvest field … My
harvest field … NOT the dressing room! Your present desire to be intimate with
Me will find your threshing floor as your harvest field!
Church … be the spark and lead My army into battle … through
prayer … prevailing prayer!
Be as Ruth … YIELD! For surely the beginning of My
harvest has come and you are called out to find Me in the field as Ruth found
Boaz. Hear Me My Bride for the time has come … run from your dressing room to the
threshing floor to find your inheritance.
Ask of Me and I will give you the nations for your
inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.
Feed My lambs!
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