Study: #PeopleOfTheBible Bible Character: Ruth Scripture References: Ruth 1-4 Theme: An Unusual Love Story At Home Preparation Have a cup of flour and a cup of chocolate chips, M&M s, or chocolate candy of some sort, available to begin the discussion. Mark this scripture reading in your Bible: Ruth 1-4. Introducing the Character During a famine in Judah a Jewish family (Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion) fled to Moab. Elimelech died and the sons both married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. After some time both sons died. Naomi returned to Bethlehem in Judah. Only Ruth went with Naomi. Ruth swore an oath to stay with Naomi and to accept her people and God.
In Bethlehem Ruth gleaned from the fields of a man named Boaz who was related to Elimelech. Boaz knew of Ruth s loving kindness to her mother-in-law. He showed Ruth kindness and protection while she gleaned in his fields. Later, with direction from Naomi, Ruth went to Boaz and asked him to be her kinsman redeemer. They married and had a son named Obed who was the father of Jesse, the father of David. This was during the time of the Judges which was often characterized by lawlessness (Judges 17:6). This time was characterized by great spiritual confusion and moral decay as far the nation was concerned. But we see that during this awful time, God was at work in a very special way. The book of Ruth gives us insight to how God was at work. Making the Connection Set out the flour and the chocolate. Ask, If I you were to show someone you care about him/her, which gift would you give? The flour or the chocolate? Why?
In the book of Ruth, we find an unusual love story where grain, which is what flour is made from, plays a key role! To give you some background on this story, Naomi and Ruth are two of the main characters. Naomi lived in Judah with her husband and two sons. Because of a famine in the land, where they could not get enough grain to stay fed, they moved to Moab. Moab was considered an enemy to Judah because the people in Moab did not serve the one true God. They worshipped idols and false gods. Ruth lived in Moab and married one of Naomi s sons. Let s read Ruth 1 to learn more. 1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man s name was Elimelek, his wife s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now Elimelek, Naomi s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back, each of you, to your mother s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband. Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, We will go back with you to your people. 11 But Naomi said, Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord s hand has turned against me! 14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Look, said Naomi, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her. 16 But Ruth replied, Don t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay
I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me. 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, Can this be Naomi? 20 Don t call me Naomi, she told them. Call me Mara,because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. 22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. How was Naomi feeling after losing her husband and two sons? (Bitter) Naomi even renamed herself Mara to describe her grief. Ruth refused to let Naomi leave Moab and go to Bethlehem without her. Why do you suppose she was committed to staying with her mother-in-law?
What harvest was beginning when Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem? (Barley harvest) Wheat is the grain commonly used for the flour we use today to make bread, but barley was a grain harvested in Bethlehem at that time. In Kansas, we have many organizations that provide bread and other forms of nourishment for people who cannot afford to buy groceries. Back then, they didn t have food pantries set up. Instead, they provided for the poor by leaving the grain that dropped to the ground or grain that was missed by the harvest workers for the poor to pick up as they followed the harvesters. Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem with nothing and Naomi was too old to work in the fields. Let s read about how they made the best of their situation. Introducing the Character How was Naomi feeling after losing her husband and two sons? (Bitter) Naomi even renamed herself Mara to describe her grief. Ruth refused to let Naomi leave Moab and go to Bethlehem without her. Why do you suppose she was committed to staying with her mother-in-law?
What harvest was beginning when Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem? (Barley harvest) Wheat is the grain commonly used for the flour we use today to make bread, but barley was a grain harvested in Bethlehem at that time. In Kansas, we have many organizations that provide bread and other forms of nourishment for people who cannot afford to buy groceries. Back then, they didn t have food pantries set up. Instead, they provided for the poor by leaving the grain that dropped to the ground or grain that was missed by the harvest workers for the poor to pick up as they followed the harvesters. Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem with nothing and Naomi was too old to work in the fields. Let s read Ruth 2 to see how they made the best of their situation. Listen for the name of a guy named Boaz. He is key part of this unusual love story. 2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor. Naomi said to her, Go ahead, my daughter. 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the
harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, The Lord be with you! The Lord bless you! they answered. 5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, Who does that young woman belong to? 6 The overseer replied, She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters. She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter. 8 So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me. Don t go and glean in another field and don t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. 10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner? 11 Boaz replied, I ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have
done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. 13 May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord, she said. You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant though I do not have the standing of one of your servants. 14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar. When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, Let her gather among the sheaves and don t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don t rebuke her. 17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. 19 Her mother-in-law asked her, Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you! Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz, she said. 20 The Lord bless him! Naomi said to her daughter-inlaw. He has not stopped showing his kindness to the
living and the dead. She added, That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers. 21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, He even said to me, Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain. 22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else s field you might be harmed. 23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law. Would you say Boaz was a good guy or a bad guy? Why? (good guy because he greeted his workers with kindness, noticed Naomi was in need and provided her with grain and protection, invited her to eat with him and his workers) Why do you suppose Boaz showed favor to Ruth? (she was working hard, she was a related to Naomi, she had a reputation for being faithful to her mother-in-law) Do you think the story ends here or do you think the blessings continue for Ruth and Naomi?s Did Boaz use flour or chocolate to show love and kindness to Ruth? (flour)
Why would flour be more of a sign of love and kindness than sweet chocolate? (Flour provided needed nourishment for the widows.) Exploring the Text We won t read the rest of the story, but I will tell you that Boaz and Ruth did get married. At the time of this story, there was a provision for the protection of widows called a redeemer. The redeemer was a close male relative who would marry the widow, so she would be provided for after the loss of her husband. Boaz was a man of great integrity and honor, who also happened to be related to Naomi s husband who had died. Out of love and compassion for Ruth, he married her as her guardian-redeemer. Do you think this was a coincidence? Why or why not? Seeing the Big Picture God sees the hurting people. He sees widows and orphans. He sees hungry people and people who need protection. This story illustrates his love and provision for those in need. Naomi worshipped God, but lost hope when she lost her husband and two sons. She became bitter.
Ruth did not grow up knowing God. She only came to know God through her relationship with her husband and his family. But Ruth must have recognized the power of the one true God because she chose to leave her family and the land she grew up in. She followed Naomi. She said, Where you go, I will go. and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. God honored Ruth s faithfulness by bringing her to a wellrespected man by the name of Boaz who took notice of her hard work ethic and honorable behavior. Though Ruth and Naomi experienced great loss and sadness, they also experienced redemption, provision, love, and joy because of Ruth s commitment to God. How do you respond to disappointment? Do you identify with Ruth or Naomi? Why? How will you be noticed by others in response to difficult situations? Why? Do you notice when people are hurting or in need, like Boaz? How do you respond when someone needs help?
Making a Plan The story of Ruth is an unusual love story because it starts off with loss of loved ones, grief, and poverty. Then Ruth shows great love to her husband s mother and vows to stay with her no matter where she goes. Ruth shows commitment to the one true God and walks away from a country full of people who worship false gods. Ruth humbles herself in a strange land and works hard to gather grain, in order to provide for Naomi and herself. Boaz gives protection and provision for Ruth and Naomi by letting them gather extra portions of grain. Because he is an honorable man, he eventually marries Ruth as her guardian-redeemer. Each story in the Bible has a purpose for our lives today. Even though this is an unusual love story, there are some things we can learn and apply to our lives: trust God to provide even when life gets hard live honorably notice hurting people show love and kindness to those in need
Making it Count ***If you are ambitious, take the flour and chocolate chips and bake your favorite recipe of chocolate chip cookies and bless a hurting friend with a gift of flour and chocolate! Let s take a bit of time to think about who might have a need we can provide for in some way. Take some time to pray and thank God for how He sees us when we hurt and provides for our needs. Ask God to help you see how you can provide for the needs of others.