What I will be using in our midweek meeting on Wednesday evening (at which locals are most welcome - do contact me)
A beautiful true historical
(romance / comedy) short story of loving kindness (hesed). As with any story,
we’ll want to look out for the “problems” and how they are overcome – therein
lies the drama of the tale.
Of course, we’ll want to
ask where God is in all this. He’s the main character / hero of the Bible, even
if his presence here isn’t obvious and dramatic (there are no overt miracles or
voices from heaven!).
Hubbard suggests the song “He’s
Got the Whole World in His Hands” summarises the essence of the book. God’s gracious
providence leads to his salvation and the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham
for Israel and the nations - ultimately through King David.
It would be good to read
the whole book once or twice.
We’re going to study this
chapter and try not to steal all the thunder of the remaining chapters but I guess
some of us know the story and we can only really understand this chapter fully
in the light of the rest of the book. There may be things here we want to come
back to in future weeks in the light of what the book goes on to say.
When we get to chapter
four, we’ll see it parallels chapter one in a number of ways. (See Ash, p32)
V1: “In the days when the
judges ruled…”- lit. judged
Do you know anything about
the Judges?
When was their time?
(Where does it fit in Bible history? After… Before…)
c. 1200-1020 BC, from
Joshua’s death (Judges 1:1) to the coronation of Saul (1 Sam 10) i.e. between
the conquest of the promised land and the monarchy
(See a Bible timeline /
overview)
What was the time of the
Judges like?
(See the very last verse
of the book of Judges – also 17v6; 18v1; 19v1; 21v25)
(How does the story of
Ruth contrast with that time?)
(How does the book of Ruth
end? Not with Judges but with?)
(Bethlehem (v1) is
frequently referred to in Judges 12:8-10; 17:7-13; 19:1, 2, 18)
Can you retell the story
of this chapter? Any queries about it? What are its themes? What does the
narrator emphasise / especially want us to notice?
Who makes up the family in
v1 and what’s their situation?
What problem do they face?
What do they do about it?
How does it turn out?
What happens then?
(What are the journeys / turnings
/ returnings in this chapter?)
The significances of names
and places / namelessness / displacedness.
Highlight all the
references to place and names in the chapter. (Ash, p37f)
(V5 – lit. the woman, not
named as Naomi – she has lost her name – she is in danger of losing her
identity / significance and even her life and legacy. Might she be nameless and
forgotten?!)
Can you spot all the uses
of “turn” or “return” / repent? There are twelve in all in this chapter. Some
are hidden in some English translations. V6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 twice, 16,
21, 22 twice. (See Ash p38)
Kindness (hesed) v8,
twice, 2:20; 3:10 = steadfast loving kindness (as in a covenant relationship) /
faithfulness / compassionate loyalty may be the key theme of the book.
V21 – empty – where do we
see emptiness and fullness in the book of Ruth?
We would do well to
reflect on emptiness, want, desire, longings, needs etc. as we read the book.
(What do human beings
want? What fills our lives – rightly or wrongly?)
What would you say about
the “scale” of this story? How many / what sort of characters are involved?
Do you think that tells us
anything about the big Bible / gospel story / God’s interest?
How would you evaluate the
decision to go to Moab?
Did it seem sensible?
How did it turn out?
Can we tell what the
writer of Ruth thought of it?
What do we know about Moab
from the Bible?
Moab – the mountainous region
east of the Dead Sea
(It might be worth consulting
a map)
Moab – every association
with Moab in the Bible is negative - goes back to Lot’s drunken incestuous sex
with his daughters (Gen 19:30-38) – the Moabites hired Balaam to curse Israel
(Num 22-24); Moabite women seduced Israelites into sexual immorality and
idolatry (Num 25); Moabites forbidden from joining God’s assembly for ten
generations (Dt 23:3-6); Eglon king of Moab caused 18 years of torment to God’s
people (Judges 3:12-14); The Moabite god Chemosh was worshipped with child
sacrifice (Num 21:29)
Marrying Moabite women –
see Numbers 25
For an Israelite to go off
to Moab at that time might have been a bit like one of us saying things are bad
in the UK so we went to join the Islamic State in Syria! (Ash)
What did the family seek in
Moab?
What did they find?
Compare their situations
at the beginning of the book and ten years later.
V1 – how long did this living
in Moab “for a while” prove to be? – v4
How are the promises to
Abraham in Genesis 12 etc. reflected in this chapter or not?
(What were those promises?)
The importance of the promised
Land / leaving the land
What is the importance of
a father / husband / sons / men in the book of Ruth / at that time?
What is Ruth and Naomi’s
situation with respect to men?
What might this mean for
them?
(How would you connect
this to the promises to Abraham?)
V1 - Famine
Maybe we are meant to
recall other biblical famines, migrations and returns (see Hubbard p85) – Abram
to Egypt (Gen 12:10); Isaac to Philistia (Gen 26:1); Jacob and sons to Egypt (Gen
41-50). We wonder if there will be an exodus!
V1, 2 - “Bethlehem” =
house of bread / food! – a famine in the house of bread!
V2 - Judah – the tribe
named after the patriarch of Genesis 38 “who fathered Perez through the
strangest of strange levirate unions” (Ash)
V2 – Elimelech – probably means
(my) God is king / God of the king
V2 - Naomi means pleasant
/ lovely; Mara means bitter – v20 – also v13
Mahlon – meaning unknown -
? Little Sickly One – Arabic mahala = to be sterile – other guesses include sweet,
attractive, ornament, crafty, cunning, writhe, dance, pierce, bore
Kilion - ? – complete, be
at an end, perfection, pining, annihilation, little vessel
Ephrathites – a clan
within the tribe of Judah / town of a similar name – possibly the decedents of
Caleb, one of the leading clans of Judah
Not all foreign marriages
are forbidden in the OT but the Bible reader would be wary about them as running
the risk of being led into idolatry.
V4 – Orpah – meaning unknown
– back of the neck, stiff-necked, obstinate, clouds, mane, scent, handful of
water, dew
Ruth probably related to rwh,
to soak, irrigate or refresh, hence comfort – other options see Hubbard p94
Childlessness and bereavements
Cf. childless women in the
OT – Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Manoah’s wife
They seek life in Moab and
find deaths
Although we call the book
Ruth, the prominence of Naomi – her redemption / transformation.
Suffering will make you
better or bitter!
Family tree of Ruth: https://visualunit.me/2014/03/13/family-tree-of-ruth/
V6 – food = lehem, bread
as in Bethlehem
V6 – the children of Lot
in the far country – Gen 13 cf. Lk 15, the prodigal
Do you think Naomi is
right to blame God for her “misfortune”? (v13)
Do you blame Orpah for
going home? (v14)
What does the passage show
about her character?
Is she acting wickedly or
sensibly or…?
Note v15. What’s the new
element here? What difference does that make?
Why is Ruth’s clinging to
Naomi commendable? (v14, vv16-17)
Clinging v14 suggests
covenant loyalty, the opposite of leaving / forsaking in v16. The same word (cling)
is used in 2v8, 21, 23.
In what ways does Ruth’s
decision seem costly? What is she giving up? What is likely to be her fate?
Does her action seem sensible?
V17 – Ruth is not like Lot’s
wife who looks back (Luke 9:57-62)
V21 – Naomi seems to think
of herself as empty and alone, but is she?
Are there any signs of
hope in this chapter?
What contrasts are there
between the first and last verses of the chapter?
How could we relate this
passage to Christ?
We really need to wait
until after week 4 to consider the message of the whole book of Ruth, but do
you think there are things we can learn from this chapter?
What would you say about
this passage in terms of living by faith (in the promises of God) or by sight
(looking at our situation and prospects and doing what seems sensible?)
What struggles / wants are
there sometimes in the lives of Christians? How might “Moab” / “the world” / a
godless pragmaticism offer to fill those emptinesses?
How would our passage
speak into that situation?
What might the cost of
living for Christ according to his Word be?
Has God ever used loss / emptiness
/ suffering to bring you back to Christ?
Suggestions for prayer and
praise in the light of this chapter?
* * *
Christopher Ash:
Context (1a)
(a) The days of the Judges
(b) The promised land
(c) a famine
A. A strange flight
(vv1b-5)
B. A surprising choice
(vv6-18)
C. Hope and Despair (vv19-22)
Key verse: v21
Main teaching point: Only
costly return to Christ can bring hope in an empty world.
Application: Return to
Christ whatever you have to leave behind and trust his promise of fullness
Suggested NT reading: John
6:60-69
(1) To be away from Christ
is to be far from life and hope (vv1-5)
(2) To return to Christ is
costly but necessary (vv6-18)
(3) To be brought back to
Christ may hurt, but is our only hope (vv19-22)
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