Religion a Powerful Bond
Ruth 1:16-17
And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you: for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge…


1. Such and so powerful is the bond of religion that it makes the saints of God not only desirous, but even resolute also, both to live and die together.

2. All persons and people should so live as those that do expect that they and their relations may die. So Ruth did here expect it, both for her mother and for herself. "Alas, I never thought of his death." So there be others that live so licentiously as if they should never die, never come to judgment, as if they were to have an eternity of pleasure of sin in this world (as Psalm 49:10-13).

3. As burial is one of the dues of the dead, so dear friends desire to be buried together. Ruth desires to be buried with her godly mother. It is very observable that the first purchase of possession mentioned in Scripture history was a place to bury in, not to build in (Genesis 23. 9).

4. Death is the final dissolution of all bonds of duty, whether natural, civil, or religious. The wife is no longer bound to her husband (Romans 7:1-4), children to parents, subjects to princes, and people to pastors.

(C. Ness.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

WEB: Ruth said, "Don't entreat me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God;




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