CHAPTER 77.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Levi
Jesus in Hebron. Goes to Bethany. Advises Ruth regarding certain family troubles.
With three disciples Jesus went to Hebron where he tarried seven days and taught.
2 And then he went to Bethany and in the home of Lazarus he taught.
3 The evening came; the multitudes were gone, and Jesus, Lazarus, and his sisters, Martha, Ruth and Mary, were alone.
4 And Ruth was sore distressed. Her home was down in Jericho; her husband was the keeper of an inn; his name was Asher-ben.
5 Now, Asher was a Pharisee of strictest mien and thought, and he regarded Jesus with disdain.
6 And when his wife confessed her faith in Christ, he drove her from his home.
7 But Ruth resisted not; she said, If Jesus is the Christ he knows the way, and I am sure he is the Christ,
8 My husband may become enraged and slay my human form; he cannot kill the soul, and in the many mansions of my Fatherland I have a dwelling-place.
9 And Ruth told Jesus all; and then she said, What shall I do?
10 And Jesus said, Your husband is not willingly at fault; he is devout; he prays to God, our Father-God.
11 His zeal for his religion is intense; in this he is sincere; but it has driven him insane, and he believes it right to keep his home unsullied by the heresy of Christ.
12 He feels assured that he has done the will of God in driving you away.
13 Intolerance is ignorance matured.
14 The light will come to him some day, and then he will repay for all your heartaches, griefs and tears.
15 And Ruth, you must not think that you are free from blame.
16 If you had walked in wisdom’s ways, and been content to hold your peace, this grief would not have come to you.
17 It takes a long, long time for light to break into the shell of prejudice, and patience is the lesson you have need to learn.
18 The constant dropping of the water wears away the hardest stone.
19 The sweet and holy incense of a godly life will melt intolerance much quicker than the hottest flame, or hardest blow.
20 Just wait a little time, and then go home with sympathy and love. Talk not of Christ, nor of the kingdom of the Holy One.
21 Just live a godly life; refrain from harshness in your speech, and you will lead your husband to the light.
22 And it was so.