Our focus will be on ruth s loyal love which goes far beyond the superficial contexts in which we sometimes use the word love. We found it very easy, in the former chapter, to applaud the decency of ruth s behaviour, and to show what good use we may make of the account given us of it. The book of ruth also functions liturgically, as it is read during the jewish holiday of shavuot weeks. A study of the book of ruth coalition for christian outreach. Ruth chapter 1 kjv king james version we can learn a lot from ruth, because any minute of the hour the normsoflife can occur in my or your life as it did with ruth, there is the drought economic failure having to relocate deaths older plus single all these and more can come upon me and you unexpectedly. Step into the story the book of ruth is a beautiful story about ruth and naomi and ruth and boaz. Realities of virtuous living in relationships book of ruth. It is a love story that is venerated among literature buffs for its sheer elegance. One of the most powerful passages in scripture is in this chapter as ruth shows the strength of her character in refusing to leave naomi in her bitterness.
In this lesson we will look at walking in hesed or. But the original context of this speech is quite different. This fall i will be sharing some blog posts focusing on the significance and application of some books of the bible. The book of ruth is set during the time of the judges. Where you go i will go, and where you stay i will stay. And what the book of ruth does for us is give us a glimpse of the hidden work of god. The hebrew word hesed is the word which has been translated most often as loyal love in the net bible.
Local customs not withstanding, she didnt have to ask, but she did. How does ruth exemplify this kind of hesed love in 1. One way that you can make july a very memorable month of insight and renewal for yourself is to read through this beautiful story once each week. Ruth 1 a tragic time ruth 1 begins on a very tragic note as it recounts the story of one particular family from the tribe of judah and city of bethlehem.
The timeline of this book is intertwined during the period of the judges. Tragedy strikes the family of ruth and naomi ruth 1. With that in mind, notice three characteristics of ruth that were also true of boaz. The sons marry two local girls, ruth and orpah, during this time. Ruth 1, new american standard bible nasb the bible app. No one knows who wrote this book, or exactly when, except that it was in the days the judges ruled. Most people believe that samuel penned the book of ruth. The story in the book of ruth includes two journeys, one from bethlehem to moab, and one from moab back to bethlehem. Orpah does so, but ruth refuses to leave naomi, declaring ruth 1.
Last week we spent time with the call to love to love god which leads us to love others. Ruth is a type of the church, the gentile bride, and boaz as the kinsman redeemer is a type of christ. Book of ruth overview insight for living ministries. But ruth replied, dont urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Then orpah kissed her motherinlaw goodbye, but ruth clung to her. Among historical narratives in scripture it is unexcelled in its compactness, vividness, warmth, beauty and dramatic effectivenessan exquisitely wrought jewel of hebrew narrative art. Bible teaching from the book of ruth chapter 2 verses 19. Ruth 1 niv naomi loses her husband and sons in bible. The book is the only example of the law of the kinsmanredeemer in motion. The story is told in the book of ruth, part of the biblical canon called ketuvim.
In last week s lesson, ruth had been gleaning in boaz s field, and 2. And a certain man of bethlehem in judah went to sojourn in the land of moab with his wife and his two sons. The significance and application of the book of ruth. Forgive me for the times i have acted like naomi and stepped outside of your will for my life and found myself in deep distress and defeated. Famine has hit bethlehem, which forces elimelech and his wife, naomi, to move east to moab with their two sons to get some grub.
The book of ruth is the narrative of a love story, yet also has some important genealogy. The book of ruth is a hebrew short story, told with consummate skill. The book is held in esteem by jews who fall under the category of jewsbychoice, as is evidenced by the considerable presence of boaz in rabbinic literature. As they work through both economic hardship and prosperity, we see the hand of god at work most clearly in their productive agricultural labor, generous management of resources for the good of all. The author was anonymous but some believe it was perhaps written by samuel the prophet. The jewish traditions on the feast of weeks include the reading of the book of ruth. Ruth s story is celebrated during the jewish festival of shavuot, the feast of weeks, 50 days after passover. The genealogy at the end of the book is an important link to christ. You shall keep the festival of weeks for the lord your god, contributing a. So a man from bethlehem in judah left his home and went to live in the country of moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. There, they set up shop, eat some food, and live for about ten years. I want to study the book of ruth with you for the next four weeks this week we read through chapter 1 and get the setting and beginning of ruths story there will be a podcast each week that goes along with the blog post so you can listen to it on the faithfully yours podcast which is on itunes and spotify. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the zera avraham institute based in israel.
Because widows were usually destitute in biblical times, god provided for their wellbeing through levirate law, in which the nearest relative would marry and care for a widow deut. The book of ruth tells the extraordinary story of gods faithfulness to israel in the life and work of three ordinary people, naomi, ruth and boaz. The first 2 weeks will look largely different from the following weeks in that it is a survey of the text and an interaction with the background of the book of ruth. Because ruth is a short book and can be read in around 10 minutes, you may consider read ing the entire story each week so you can have a more complete picture of how god is work ing behind the scenes in each chapter. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley. The book tells of ruth accepting the god of the israelites as her god and the israelite people as her own. Ruth is a love story without the use of the word love. Ruth for kids is the perfect companion for children to use alongside the love god greatly ruth womens study journal. Analysis many people have heard this speech read at weddings at which a wife swears to follow her husband. She was the greatgreat grandmother of david, and the genealogy of ruth 4, is the chief reason for the book being written. Elimelech, the family head, took his wife, naomi, and their two sons and moved to the nearby country of moab to avoid the famine in judah. Book of ruth, old testament book belonging to the third section of the biblical canon, known as the ketuvim, or writings. Three times in this chapter ruth demonstrates exceptional respect.
Following a simple 4 week bible reading plan, scripture will come alive to your child with the help of spacious journaling pages, fun memory verse coloring pages, and an area to draw and record personal items of prayer and praise. May the lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me. We can tell that boaz likes this woman and grants her. The story is told in the book of ruth, part of the biblical canon called ketuvim, or writings. Our story opens on a nice jewish family with a problem. Lesson 3 welcome to our third week studying the ook of ruth. Ruths story is celebrated during the jewish festival of shavuot, the feast of weeks. My aim is to preach through the book of ruth in the next four sundaysone chapter each sunday. Ruth and the lineage of king david in the last lines of the book 4. Ruth 3 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. It is interesting that ruth asked naomi for permission to find them food. You as the bible study leader may find yourself filling in more gaps for the students with information you have gathered. In the hebrew bible, ruth stands with the song of solomon, lamentations, ecclesiastes, and esther. This is one of the two books in the bible where a woman is the main character.
The book shows that gods love is open to both christian and gentile, as he blessed the moabite woman who chose the lord for her god 1. The book reveals the extent of gods gracehe accepted ruth into his chosen people and honored her with. Deering, study materials are a ministry of, and may be copied for use in bible study groups, in limited numbers, providing that no charge is made for them. This small, four chapter book is one of the most remarkable jewels in the old testament.
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