Ruth 1

Ruth series slide: As we set out on this journey of four sessions from the Bible in the book of Ruth, I’m going to ask you to be attentive and active in listening. To do that, you’ll want to keep your Bible open to the passage we’re studying, you’ll want to take notes to help it sink in and remember, and to write down ways that you are internalizing God’s truth, applying it to your life. And as one little fun tool to help you be attentive.

[Hand out a piece of scrap paper to everyone.] I’d like each one of you to take a scrap piece of paper I’m giving out, and I would like you to crumple it up into a paper ball and to leave it sitting on your lap or nearby, within reach if you need it. And here’s when you’ll need it. If I should catch me saying Ruth when I mean Naomi, or saying Naomi when I mean Ruth, I want you to be the first to huck your paper ball at me up here. But, there are two rules: 1. If you should throw your paper at someone else or let it become a distraction in some other way, you will lose your privilege to have your paper weapon for the rest of the sessions. And 2. If you should throw it at me in error, when the rest of the group can vouch that I said the correct name, then you will be subject to the paper ball firing squad at the beginning of the next session. Got it? That’s it.

Now let’s PRAY and then we’ll dive into chapter 1.

Chapter 1: God’s Care in Naomi’s Crisis

What should we do when we cannot see the good that God is doing? We should trust in God’s loyal covenant love for his people, knowing that he is caring for us, orchestrating the very details of our lives, in ways that we cannot presently see. The book of Ruth teaches us that we can and should trust in God’s providence, knowing that he can and will work out his grand purposes while also truly caring for us in the very details of our lives.

Ruth 1:1–5 ESV

1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

[Comments while going through the verses]

v. 1 “in the days when the judges ruled” gives broader timeframe in which these events take place. It lets us know that in Israel these were dark and somewhat terrifying days because “everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” (Judges 21:25), so God kept allowing them to be disciplined by attacks and oppression from neighboring enemies. When the people repented, God would raise up a judge to deliver them and lead them temporarily. But the people would fall back into sin and ignoring God, so the cycle perpetuated itself for some 400 years. So too there was no king in Israel at this time, which is also significant to this story of Ruth, as we find out in the end that there is direct connection of this lineage to David, the great king of Israel who was a man after God’s own heart.

The fact that there was a severe famine in the land is stated as the reason the family needed to move and “sojourn” in Moab. Sojourning indicates that in that land they would be foreigners, and also perhaps that the move was not intended as permanent.

v. 2 Ephratha was the name of the region around Bethlehem, so they’re called Ephrathites. (kinda like you’re from southwest MO)

vv. 3-4 We don’t know how long after arriving, but Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi a widow. But she still has two sons, who marry in Moab. Naomi’s two daughters-in-law are named Orpah and Ruth.

v. 5 After 10 years though, both Mahlon and Chilion dies as well, leaving Naomi with no husband and no sons… meaning that the situation is not only sad, but also dire, for Naomi really has no means of provision even.

[map… from Judah to Moab] Again, they move from their home in Bethlehem because of a famine to sojourn in Moab, in order to provide for their basic needs.

Imagine what it would be like, if you grew up in Branson and got married in Branson and raised your family here. This area is home, with all its memories, friends, and where you are comfortable. But then something changes and there is no longer work available or you or your spouse to be able to continue living here. You hear of opportunities in Mexico, so you leave all your friends and other loved ones behind to take just your immediate family with you to live for a while in Mexico.

Once there, in the midst of struggling already to start a new life, your spouse dies. Your two boys, now grown, take wives there and begin to integrate into life in Mexico, but after 10 years, they both die. Now you are left entirely alone.

Naomi is a sojourner in a foreign land, and with seemingly nothing left, not even hope. What will Naomi do next? And in what way is God at work in this suffering?

As we read to find the answers to these questions, we will now also learn something more about the person for whom this book is named—Ruth—and about the God who has redeemed this foreigner for his good purposes… which turns out also to be a means of God’s loyal love, his compassion and kindness, displayed to Naomi as well.

Ruth 1:6–18 ESV

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following 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. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

[Comments while going through the verses]

v. 6 We could go right past this and not think much on it: all the way in the fields of Moab, Naomi had heard that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. Naomi (and others) do realize that it is the Lord who sovereignly provides. Naomi is also hoping against hope that there might be something better for her back home in Bethlehem. However, she also seems to have, in her present misery, resolved herself to a life of sadness.

vv. 8-9 Naomi is willing to unselfishly part with her daughters-in-law, in order that they might have a better life, that they should marry again in Moab and live full lives. Notice too that she does say that this would be kindness from God should he grant this to them. (She may be sad, but Naomi believes God is sovereign.)

v. 13 Obviously, it is unreasonable that Naomi should provide future husbands for these daughters she has come to love. Also, she credits God again with being in control over her circumstances. (Naomi may be miserable, but she accounts for this misery as coming from the hand of God.)

NOTE: It’s hard to say exactly where Naomi’s heart is at in this, whether she thinks God is disciplining her, or she’s feeling sorry for herself and doesn’t know why he’s doing this, or what. Here’s what you should know. The God of all goodness and glory knows what he is doing. He may discipline us because he loves us (Heb. 12:6), but not everything is discipline or is a result of our sin (as Jesus says when he heals the man born blind, John 9:2-3). God may also allow evil against us (but he himself is not the direct cause of that evil… but may allow it) for his own good purposes and glory (Job, Joseph), which means that we can trust him for our good as well.

v. 15 We learn here something that is NOT good for Orpah in returning to her own people: that they worship false gods… that the Bible teaches everywhere are not gods at all (dead idols with no power, and of no value). The God who reveals himself to and through Israel is the only True and Living God, worthy of worship. - Appropriately, that leads to Ruth’s response.

vv. 16-18 I absolutely love this! Listen to the conviction, loyalty, and kindness of this woman! Ruth is willing to leave her home country and stick with Naomi to care for her: what compassion and kindness. And in my view, she sticks with a clear conviction that she must have already made before this time: “your people shall be my people and your God my God.” She chooses this conviction about God and what is right over her own comfort. And listen to the depth of her loyalty and conviction: “where you die, I’ll die.” And she calls down a curse on herself if “anything but death parts me from you.”

Ruth’s loyalty, kindness, and conviction are the one bright spot in chapter one, on this bleak backdrop of tragedy and death in Naomi’s life.

But, in the context of this whole book, to which we must be attentive, does Naomi yet see God’s kindness (Hb - hesed), God’s compassionate loyalty, in his providential care for her through Ruth? No. This is evident as we continue.

Ruth 1:19–22 ESV

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Naomi means pleasant. Mara means bitter. Naomi may rightly reflect on her situation being bitter… her life has not in recent times been pleasant, but bitter. Her suffering is very real and shouldn’t be delegitimized. However, there is also a very real risk of Naomi herself becoming bitter, and bitterness in our character crowds out the ability for us to be pleasant. Pleasantness comes from knowing God and resting in his providential care.

Although she clearly believes in God’s sovereignty (“the Almighty has dealt” and “The Lord has brought be back empty”)… in her misery, Naomi can’t see God’s providential care. - Naomi doesn’t perceive the hope of God’s plan.

But Ruth is the evidence of God’s care and hope for Naomi, although Naomi isn’t seeing it. This first scene of the short story of Ruth closes with a note that leaves us wondering what will come next: They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. If you know anymore of the story, you know that that sets the stage for how God will continue working in and through these individuals lives in his providential care and through them to bring about his bigger plan.

Chapter 1: God’s Care in Naomi’s Crisis

It can be difficult to see God’s care in our crisis.

What should we do when we cannot see the good that God is doing? We should trust in God’s loyal covenant love for his people, knowing that he is caring for us, orchestrating the very details of our lives, in ways that we cannot presently see. The book of Ruth teaches us that we can and should trust in God’s providence, knowing that he can and will work out his grand purposes while also truly caring for us in the very details of our lives.

APPLY GOD’S TRUTH TO YOUR HEART AND LIFE:

When suffering strikes and problems persist, we must realize that God is providentially caring for us in and through our hardships.

God often provides comfort by means of other people… others who by faith are loyal to God (and to others God has given into their care), displayed in compassion, kindness, and conviction over personal comfort.

Although unlikely for must of us, it is possible that we could be separated from all other people of God to suffer alone (such as being a prisoner in isolation for your faith). In such a situation, God would grant comfort through his truth hidden in our hearts: that the Lord God is my rock, he is a strong tower, he is a shield for those who fear him… the Lord is my strength and my song, he is my joy and salvation.

But how foolish of any of us to choose to do this willingly, to not remain close to God’s people as a means of God’s grace to us, and to his teaching and growing us through the study and application of his word in fellowship with his people. Young adults, you need the church and the church needs you. You need other believers and other believers need you.

And let us be people like Ruth to others. (God’s grace to others by us being compassionate and kind, choosing conviction over personal comfort)

Instead of focusing on the bitterness of our trials, we must submit to God’s plan and provision, trusting in His fullness and in the hope of his promises to be fulfilled.

God invites us to choose him and never turn back.

Our prayer and even hopeful expectation, is that you will not leave this retreat the same way you came to it. So we will have discussion groups each time following the lesson, to help encourage internalizing the truth and applying it to the way you think and see the world, and the way you live your life.

Before we split up into application groups for discussion, please help me collect into these sacks all the wads of paper. We’ll need them again.

CLOSING PRAYER

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[Possible questions for discussion groups - All of them except #3 are ones that could be used in some form each time.]

Did anything from the lesson on this text surprise you?

What did you already know, but that grabs your attention in a new way this time?

Are you willing to share any stories of your hardship and of hope in God?

What further connections from this lesson do you think can be made to the gospel?

What will you walk away with from this lesson to apply to your life? How will you remember it and put it into practice?

Do you still have any questions about the text that weren’t answered?