The Ring of the LORD

“But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:” (Lu 15:22 AV)

Every time the transfer of a ring is mentioned in the word of God, it is meant as a symbol of transferring authority from the one wearing the ring to the one receiving the ring.  The only difference here, and it could be significant, is the ring which the son receives did not come from the finger of the father.  Rather, it was a ring which the father possessed for the purpose of giving it to his son.  Now, let us remember the ring which this younger son possessed was sold.  He went away from the father with his entire earthly wealth on his being.  He wasted it in riotous living.  When he returned he has spent all.  Which included the first ring he possessed.  Yet, his father had a back-up.  Another ring to which he granted again without any act on the part of the wayward son.  In this ring, we see a wonderful truth of God’s grace.  One that is a comfort to every child of God who wanders for the grace of God.  A truth that no matter how far one wanders, if he is child of God, he will always be a child of God.

The ring meant something.  Men do not normally wear rings with no meaning.  We normally do not wear rings simply because we like the look of the rings.  This is very rare.  When we wear rings, they have a deep meaning associated with it.  Our wedding ring tells all those who see that we are devoted to the love of our life.  It is our association with an individual.  It is also common for a man to wear his college ring.  Or, a high school graduation ring.  This associates us with a group of people or an organization along with an accomplishment.  My father-in-law has a ring that was handed down to him by his father. A ring that says he is the son of his father.  This is the idea of the ring which this father gave to his son.  A ring that stated the nature of their relationship had not changed.  A family ring.  A ring that was proof their relationship, although strained from time to time, was never severed.  A ring that states a father will never disown his son!

We can take comfort that no matter how far we may stray, our heavenly Father will always be our heavenly Father.  Even if we stray so far as to attempt to sell our birthright, it doesn’t change the fact there is still a ring that fits on our finger that says we are our Father’s child.  We are cautious to teach a doctrine from allegory, but the Bible clearly teaches eternal security.  This happens to be a wonderful picture of what it looks like.  The ring, although it may not always be visible, in the hand of God, it still exists.  Praise be to God!