The 10. Sermon.

WE haue declared before that RVTH hauing first gotten leaue of her mother in lawe to gather eares after the rea∣pers, came by fortune, or (that I may speake more truely) by the prouidence of God, into the field of BOAZ her kins∣man: but what befell to her there, the holy Ghost doth diligently set downe, in these wordes following. In the first place here is shewed, howe BOAZ com∣ming Page  [unnumbered] from Bethlehem into the field, sa∣luted his reapers, who aunswered, the Lord blesse thee. The worde blessing is vsed in diuers places of the holy scrip∣tures, and hath diuers significations. Sometime it signifieth to prayse & giue thankes, as when DAVID saith to Abi∣gall in the 1. Booke of SAMVELL the 25. chap. praysed be the Lorde God of Isra∣ell, which sent thee to meet me this day. Sometime it signifieth to pray for good thinges: as in the 48. chap. of GENE. IA∣COB the Patriarcke blessed his sonnes, that is, he did wish wel vnto them. GEN. the 37. chap. IACOB both at his com∣ming to the king, and at his going a∣way blessed him: that is, he saluted him, & bid him farewell, he gaue him thanks and wished him well. When it is attri∣buted to God, it signifieth to doe well, for God by his worde doth worke. It is sayd in the 10. chap. of the Prouerbes: The blessing of god doth make mē rich, that is, God doth increase and preserue riches. What the simple vse of this word is, we must consider by reading the holy Page  56 scriptures: as whē they say in this place. The Lord blesse thee. The meaning is, the Lord giue thee a fruitfull haruest, & and all good thinges, as well for the bo∣dy, as for the soule.

We haue an example in this place of salutation. The maner of salutation is not onely olde, but moste profitable to reconcile and confirme loue: which our sauiour doth diligently commend to all godly men. The Aungell saluted GEDION as hee was threshing corne, with these wordes. The Lorde be with thee thou strong man. IVDGES 6. chap. It is reckoned vp amongst the duetie of the Priestes, to blesse the children of Is∣rae•l. There is a solemne blessing set downe in the 6. chap. of numbers. Some Anabaptistes, will not haue men salu∣ted, citing that which Christ in the 10. chap. of LVKE sayd to his seuenty disci∣ples: salute no man by the way: but he doth meane nothing els then vnder the colour of salutation, to suffer themselues to be called from their calling or if thou wilt vnderstand it according to the let∣ter, Page  [unnumbered] it was a personall and speciall com∣maundement, and not a generall. The Aungell saluting the blessed virgin vsed this same forme, which BOAZ doth in this place. Also Christ saluted his Disci∣ples saying, peace be with you. The A∣postle PAVLE doth begin and ende hys epistles with salutations. Hee putteth downe their names whom he saluteth: also the names of them which do salute others. It is incredible to be spokē, how much that will auaile to the getting of good will, but we must take heede least we doe it with an hypocrites minde. It is a poynt both of curtesie and of huma∣nitie to salute others, and to pray for them. If great and mightie men doe sa∣lute poore men, they are marueilously affected, seeing that they are not despi∣sed of them. Neither was it to be doub∣ted but that this salutation of BOAZ was moste acceptable to the reapers. There are some who doe of enuie and hatred disdaine to salute others, who shouide remember that commaunde∣ment of Christ, that wee must pray for Page  75 and wish well to our enemies. How oft commeth it to passe that many who wil not willingly salute one an other, after they haue ben absent & asunder, would desire nothing more, then to liue togi∣ther, and to vse all dueties of humanitie to eche other?

Here is an houshold example pro∣pounded vnto vs, of a good housholder he goeth to his reapers, he looketh what is done in the field, for the presence of the maister helpeth much in any worke. PLINIE in his 8. booke 6. chap. the elders haue said that the eye of the mai∣ster is moste fruitfull for the ground. A∣RISTOTELL in his 1. book of gouerning a house doth write of a certaine man, who being demaunded what dung was the best: aunswered the steppes of the maister. Although a man hath good and trustie seruauntes and bayliffes, yet the mayster being absent, they do all things the more negligently and carelesly, TI∣TVS LIVIVS sayth elegātly, those things doe not prosper which are ouerseene by straungers. Read the prouerbes of Page  [unnumbered] ERASMVS concerning this matter, the forhead is better than the hinder part: negligent housholders doe spoyle both themselues and their seruauntes. These sayinges may be applied to greater e∣states, as to kings and Bishops, that they doe not al things by other mens hands, eyes, and eares, while they doe cocker themselues with pleasures.

BOAZ asked his seruaunt which hee had set ouer the reapers (IOSEPHVS cal∣leth him Agronomon) of RVTH, what shee was, or whose wife, or daughter she was. This he did not aske as some youthes doe, that they might offer them some villanie, but because he saw that she was a straunger and painful: The Bayliffe an∣swered, shee is that Moabitesse, which came of late with NAOMIE, and he gaue her great prayse: hee little thought that she should haue bene his wife, but see how wonderfully GOD bringeth it to passe.

As touching that BOAZ appointed a ser∣uant ouer the reapers, who shoulde pre∣scribe to euery one of thē their taskes, & Page  58 see that they did euery thing in order, & without doubt an honest man, all hous∣holders ought to followe it. For vnlesse that in great families, euery one knowe what to do, or haue theyr ouerseers and guides, they may haue theyr things very negligently done: as order is required in an armie: euen so in a houshold. That seruaunt did marke RVTH so diligently, that hee coulde aunswere his maister to that hee did aske▪ so ought all seruants to marke diligently euery thing that ap∣pertaineth to them, that they may giue an account of euery thing to theyr mai∣sters.

This also must be noted diligently, that he praysed RVTH. He doth not, as the enuious, disprayse and lessen those thinges which are praise worthy in her: Neyther doth he hate her, because shee is a stranger, nor reproch her for it. They are to be praysed for their vertues, who are worthie of prayse: vertue must not be hated. Oftentimes the poore men being commended to the rich by theyr seruauntes, they receaue great commo∣ditie Page  [unnumbered] by them. This kinde of duetie is required of vs, that if wee cannot helpe the godly, by our owne riches or coun∣cell: at least, let vs entreat others to doe for them, which wee may doo without our hurt.

But he doth shew two things of RVTH which are worthie of prayse, and are to bee followed of vs. The one that shee did aske leaue of them to gather eares. The law of MOSES doth graunt straung∣ers and widdowes by name to gather eares: yet she would not by that warant gather eares in the field without the ow∣ners good will. There are many who a∣gainst the minde and wil of the owners, and agaynst the law of God and man, do go into other mens fieldes, and by theft and rapine, take awaye their fruite and destroy their hedges and doe them great hurt.

The other thing for which she is com∣mended, is, that she was painfull and di∣ligent from the morning vntil this time, namely, she plied her labour to the mid∣day. By and by: assoone as she had eaten, Page  95 she returned to her labour, sauing shee tarried a litle in the house. MVNSTERVS enterpreteth it, except she eased her selfe in the house. The Tigurine translation sayth, that she sat a while in the house. Some doe vnderstand it, that she taried in the house not a moment. The old in∣terpreters and Septuagintes wer of this minde: Others doe think that she stood still, and rested not, but when shee went home, or taried in the tent, (which per∣haps they had in the field to take the shadow, and to recreate them in) Those Countries are very hote in the time of haruest, shee was not of the number of those women which walke idelly in the streets, and look the whole day through the windowes: but rather she was such a one as SALOMON speaketh of in the Prouerbes, of whome amongest other thinges he saith, that she laboureth day and night: this ought to be more ac∣compted of in women then bewtie. There are this day fewe children, or hi∣red seruauntes, which will work so hard as she did.