It is quite amazing to see the contrast between the book of Ruth and the book of Judges; in Judges, we see many powerful men who did great things for God yet failed at the end of their life, while in Ruth we see a person on the line of life, seemingly quite weak, who was part of the lineage that brought forth Christ.
In Judges we see Gideon and Samson, who did great and marvelous works for God, one having defeated countless enemies and having great victories, while the other having great power and performing mighty deeds.
In Ruth, we see this backslidden Naomi who returned to the good land together with a Gentile, Ruth, who was very poor yet exercised their birthright to partake of the land.
Both Gideon and Samson, though they did great works for power for God and delivered the people, failed at the end of their life, both because of their fleshly lust.
Gideon had seventy sons and at least another son outside of marriage, while Samson fully indulged in the fleshly lusts.
Boaz, by contrast, was not a mighty man nor did he do any works of power, but he was on the line of life, and he was willing to redeem Ruth and her birthright, being willing even to marry her and bring her into the line of life.
There’s a contrast between God’s move by the Spirit of power in Judges and His move by the Spirit of life in the book of Ruth.
Most people are impressed with mighty works in God’s name and give heed to those who are eloquent, powerful, doing great works of power in God’s name; after a while, however, these leave the way of the Lord, for there’s no solid foundation in life.
However, there are a few who find the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way of life, but those who do this are part of the lineage that brings forth Christ in humanity.
We have a choice today: we can choose the way of life or the way of power, the way of enjoying and experiencing Christ as life or the way of doing works of power for God yet without the basis of the experience of life.
God can use anything and anyone to do His great works of power, but who chooses God’s way of life?
Who is diligent to seek the Lord, follow Him, and live Christ in the way of life so that He may be brought forth and lived out in humanity?
The New Testament tells us that Satan will disguise himself as angels of light and many will do great works of power to the extent that some will say that Christ is here or there; but the way the Lord comes is hidden, in the way of life, organically, in and from within the saints who take the way of life.
The way of life is quite simple and pure, with not much outward show of power or greatness; the way of power is with many works of power yet without the essence of life.
Many were fed by the Lord when He multiplied the fish and the loaves, and many were healed by Him as He did works of power on earth; however, only twelve remained with Him, and at most, one hundred and twenty were in one accord after He was ascended.
May we take the way of life that will bring forth Christ in humanity. May we be those who are part of the Lord’s overcoming bride who will bring Him back!
God in Christ as the Spirit is Life to us to Fill us and Live in us for the Expression of God
![In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:4 The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and may have [it] abundantly. John 10:10 Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/In-Him-was-life-and-the-life-was-the-light-of-men.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:4 The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and may have [it] abundantly. John 10:10 Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6")
When we speak of taking the way of life (as seen in Ruth) versus taking the way of power (as seen in Judges) we mean taking the way of the divine life, the way of the life of God.
According to the divine and eternal nature of the life of God, God’s life is the unique life, and only the life of God can be counted as life (John 1:4; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6).
What is life? Many human beings asked themselves this question, and unless we have the light of God shining on us, our answer will differ, for it will be tainted by our natural view of things.
Many think that life is to enjoy this and that aspect of this human life, or that life is to have a good time.
Even Christians may not know what life is; many Christians think that Christ came so that we may have a good life, a life full of God’s blessing and much prosperity, and a life that is full of riches and abundance.
According to the divine revelation in the Bible, life is God Himself; life is mysterious, for life is God Himself (John 1:1, 14; 5:26; Eph. 4:18).
The first and basic attribute of God is life, the divine life; when we think of God, we think of life, for God is life (1 John 5:11-12; Rom. 8:2).
God is not only living; He not only exists from eternity to eternity and has life, but He also is life. Life is the content of God and the flowing out of God; what God is in His being is life, and His flowing out is the impartation of Himself as life to us (Eph. 4:18; Rev. 22:1).
God is life; Christ is life; the Spirit is the Spirit of life. The entire Triune God is life, and because He went through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, He is now a life-dispensing, a life-imparting, a life-giving Spirit.
When we touch God, we touch life; when we come to God, we receive life. Life is Christ, and life is Christ living in us and Christ being lived out from us (John 14:6; Col. 3:4; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21).
Christ came to be life to us; He is our life, and He lives in us. For us to live is Christ, for when we live by the divine life in our spirit, we live Christ, and this is real life.
When we were regenerated, Christ as life came into us, and He is daily growing in us to be formed in us and live through us; when we live Christ, we are in the line of life taking the way of life to bring forth Christ.
Life is the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is the Spirit of life, even the life-giving Spirit (John 14:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:45; Rom. 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:6).
This is not something abstract, a doctrine or a concept; God in Christ as the Spirit is life for us to enjoy and receive.
Life is nothing but the processed and consummated Triune God dispensed into us and living in us (John 1:14; 7:37-39; 20:22; Rom. 8:10, 6, 11).
Life is not just an abstract concept or something we can’t grasp; life is the Triune God being processed and consummated to be life to us, to fill us with life, and to live in us and through us.
God’s purpose in the creation of man in His image and according to His likeness was that man would receive Him as life so that man might become a man of life, a man filled with the divine life, even a God-man, to express God in His attributes through his human virtues (Gen. 1:26; 2:9).
We believers in Christ are born of God to be God-men, men filled with the life of God; therefore, we need to take the way of life by enjoying God as life and being filled with God as life so that we may live Christ for the expression of God.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming into us to be our life; now Christ is our life. Thank You for being the life-giving Spirit to daily impart life to us so that we may grow in the divine life and live out this life. Amen, Lord, we open to You and we receive You as life. We want to enjoy and experience You as our life. Live in us today. Be our life in a subjective and experiential way today. Keep us under Your divine dispensing of life. Keep us enjoying You as life, growing in the divine life, and being filled with You as life so that we may live by the divine life to express God. Amen, Lord, be lived out and expressed through us!
Being in the Line of Life by taking the Way of Life in the Church Life today
Life is indeed mysterious, for life is God Himself; however, in our daily living, it is so normal for us to live by the divine life, for in the daily things we need to do and speak, we can simply take the way of life.
We may want to seek to have power and be strong in the Lord, even to do works of power, but the Lord wants some like Ruth, a lily trusting in the Lord who has little power but keeps His word, so that He may be brought forth.
Elimelech sold his property in Israel and moved to Moab; after his death and the death of his sons, Naomi his wife returned to Israel empty-handed, having no portion of the land.
However, she returned to the rest in God’s economy to participate again in the enjoyment of the God-promised land.
She did a great thing by returning to the Holy Land, but it wasn’t accomplished by power; rather, she was weak and poor.
Ruth, her daughter-in-law, chose the way of life when she said that she will go wherever Naomi will go, and Naomi’s God and people will be her God and her people (Ruth 1:16).
This was Ruth’s choice: she chose life and was thus brought onto the line of life.
We are like Ruth: once we hear the gospel concerning God and His people, we made a choice, we chose life, and now we are on the line of life.
What Ruth did was in the spirit of the New Testament believers, for the Lord told us that for us to follow Him we need to forsake parents, children, relatives, houses, and all things, coming to Him empty-handed (Matt. 19:29; Luke 14:26).
Ruth was a poor beggar, and she gleaned in the field; there was nothing of power here, but there was a choice to be on the line of life and exercise the birthright to glean.
When Naomi found out that Ruth was gleaning in Boaz’s field, she instructed her to go and lie at his feet during the night, and he will know what to do.
Here was Boaz, who was merry in his heart at night and went to sleep in the field by the sheaves of wheat, and Ruth was there at night, uncovering his legs and asking him to spread his cloak over her, for he was her kinsman.
Unlike Samson, Boaz did not indulge in fleshly lust but rather took the matter seriously and legally redeemed Ruth to have her birthright in the land and to have her as his wife.
Boaz did not indulge in lust, even though no one could see the two of them in the field, but did all things according to the highest standard of morality, for he was full of virtue.
Without proper restriction and control, no man could endure such a temptation. But Boaz was on the line of life by taking the way of life; he exercised strict self-control and did things according to the way of life.
May the Lord shine on us and bring us fully on the line of life in the church life today; may we be those who take the way of life even as Ruth and Boaz did.
May we not take the way of the judges to be powerful and to do a great work; may we take the way of life, choose the way of life, and enjoy and experience Christ as life in our daily life so that Christ may be brought forth through us today.
It is only life that can bring forth Christ; only by the divine life can Christ be manifested and expressed.
May we be those who do not pay attention to work than to life but rather, may we choose life, enjoy God as life, experience Christ as life, and live by the divine life so that Christ may be lived out through us in the church life.
Lord Jesus, we want to be on the line of life by choosing the way of life in the church life today. We don’t want to take the way of the judges to be powerful and do a great work; we choose life so that Christ may be brought forth. Save us from paying attention more to work than to life. Bring us back to enjoying God as life, experiencing Christ as life, living by the divine life, and ministering life to others. Amen, Lord, grant us to be on the line of life today to be those who take the way of life so that Christ may be brought forth through us. Grant us to be part of Your overcoming bride who brings You back!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 3, The Knowledge of Life (chs. 1-2, 5), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 12, Taking the Way of Life in the Lord’s Recovery.
- Hymns on this topic:
– When I first believed, and His life I received, / The seed was sown into me. / Now this seed must grow, and this zoe life flow / As on to maturity. / Am I a person of life? / Do I experience life? / Does my living bear the issues of life? / Good trees bear good fruit; / Healthy plant, healthy root; / Oh Lord! The ground in my heart! (Song on, A Person of Life)
– I take Thee as my person, Lord; / I have been crucified with Thee. / My inner man has been restored; / I’m now indwelt by Thee. / When all Thy members self forsake, / Thy glorious Body, Lord, is known; / When of Thy Person we partake, / The one new man is shown. (Hymns #1220)
– Life is God the Father in Christ Jesus / As the Spirit flowing into us. / How enjoyable, this Person wonderful! / He’s our life so rich and bountiful. / We experienced regeneration / When we opened to this living One. / We were born again; another life came in. / Now it floods us till we’re full of Him. (Hymns #1193)
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