Women of the Bible – The Pillar and Ground of Truth

E. M. Bounds on the necessity of constant prayer, from his book The Weapon of Prayer:

GOD’S great plan for the redemption of mankind is as much bound up to prayer for its prosperity and success as when the decree creating the movement was issued from the Father, bearing on its frontage the imperative, universal and eternal condition, “Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession.” In many places an alarming state of things has come to pass, in that the many who are enrolled in our churches are not praying men and women. Many of those occupying prominent positions in church life are not praying men. It is greatly to feared that much of the work of the Church is being done by those who are perfect strangers to the closet. Small wonder that the work does not succeed. While it may be true that many in the Church say prayers, it is equally true that their praying is of the stereotyped order. Their prayers may be charged with sentiment, but they are tame, timid, and without fire or force. Even this sort of praying is done by a few straggling men to be found at prayer-meetings. Those whose names are to be found bulking large in our great Church assemblies are not men noted for their praying habits. Yet the entire fabric of the work in which they are engaged has, perforce, to depend on the adequacy of prayer. This fact is similar to the crisis which would be created were a country to have to admit in the face of an invading foe that it cannot fight and have no knowledge of the weapons whereby war is to be waged. In all God’s plans for human redemption, He proposes that men pray. The men are to pray in every place, in the church, in the closet, in the home, on sacred days and on secular days. All things and everything are dependent on the measure of men’s praying. Prayer is the genius and mainspring of life. We pray as we live; we live as we pray. Life will never be finer than the quality of the closet. The mercury of life will rise only by the warmth of the closet. Persistent non-praying eventually will depress life below zero.

Why Is Obed Called Naomi’s Son?

Why is Obed called Naomi’s son, and what did Boaz mean by this statement?

“Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day” (Ruth 4:10).

He was actually stating here that part of his intention for marrying Ruth is to restore the family lineage of Mahlon who was the deceased son of Naomi. Thus, when the child is born the people and elders of the city remember that they had made themselves witnesses to the intention of Boaz (Ruth 4:11). Acting as witnesses, the women neighbors name the child Obed, which means “a servant, to thee, to nourish, and comfort, and assist thee; which duty children owe to their progenitors.”[1]

These same neighborly women also state, “There is a son born to Naomi” (Ruth 4:17). By this we deduce that these women knew of Naomi’s loss. She had lost two sons and a husband and had nobody who would take their place as caretaker for her in her old age, continue her husband’s name, or receive her son’s inheritance. Obed served in all three capacities and became a great joy to Naomi and one who would carry on the family name. Thus, he became her son (grandson) by restoring Naomi’s family and their part in the lineage of King David and the Messiah.

According to the opinion of Mary Sisseck, “Naomi has now been given a child (a child is born) a grandchild from one of her dead sons! The law determined that Obed was Naomi’s child! Genealogy, under the law, determined that Obed was also her grandchild!”[2] The question then serves to teach us that Boaz, acting as the kinsman-redeemer, provided a miracle for Naomi, which is comparable to the miracle of salvation that Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, has given to us. Through Jesus Christ we have been given a new life through the miracle of restoration and He, like Obed was to Naomi, has become our nourishment, comfort, and assistance.

[1] Wesley, John. “Commentary on Ruth 4”. “John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible.” https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/wesleys-explanatory-notes/ruth/ruth-4.html.

[2] Sisseck, Mary. Ruth: the Hidden Pictures. Accessed: 9-23-2004

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NOTE: I wrote this as part of a homework assignment on September 23, 2004, for a Women of the Bible class taught at Parkersburg Bible College by Sis. Nelson.