SOJOURN AND TRAGEDY
WEEK 1 | DAY 1 | RUTH 1:1-5
Ruth 1:1-5 – 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.
REFLECTION
The story begins in the days of the judges. Judges 21:25 tells us, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This is obviously a recipe for disaster in any community. Thus, Elimelech makes the poor decision to leave Bethlehem because of the famine and move 50 miles into a pagan land to try to survive. Verse 3 renders the consequence of this decision. The very outcome he was seeking to escape happens anyway; he dies. There was a checkered history with the Moabites and the Israelites. Surely taking one’s family to a pagan land will end up poorly. Naomi feels the brunt of these consequences when her husband and both sons die. Naomi is left with two daughters-in-law to care for now.
What criteria should a Christian use to make godly decisions?
Under what circumstances would it be clear that moving to a pagan land is truly God’s will?
When we are living with the results of a poor decision, how does God invite us to move forward?
WEEK ONE MEMORY VERSE
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.
RETURN FROM TRAGEDY
WEEK 1 | DAY 2 | RUTH 1:6-18
Ruth 1:6-18 – 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.
REFLECTION
Naomi begins the road back to Bethlehem because she heard that God had provided food for Israel. She has Ruth and Orpah with her but soon Naomi encourages them to turn back and go to Moab. In verse 10 both Ruth and Orpah insist to stay with Naomi and return with her. Naomi, clearly bitter from the circumstances, tells them that they have no future with her and they should return. Orpah decides to return, but Ruth decides to stay with Naomi. Then, Ruth declares in the end of verse 17, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” This can be understood as a conversion to a follower of YHWH (God). Naomi seems to see this as real and allows Ruth to come with her.
Orpah ended up choosing security and physical provision. Why did Ruth make the better choice?
In verse 13 Naomi says, “the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” Why is this not true?
In the midst of Naomi’s tragedies, Ruth’s faith in God stands out as a clear blessing. How might this encourage us to look for God’s blessings even in seasons of deep loss?
ARRIVAL BACK HOME
WEEK 1 | DAY 3 | RUTH 1:19-22
Ruth 1:19-22 – 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.
REFLECTION
As the two women enter Bethlehem, it is clear that they have different perspectives. Ruth is coming hopeful; Naomi is coming hopeless. The town is stirred because Naomi has not been there is ten years, and all are wondering what has become of her. She lets them know just how upset she is by requesting a different name – Mara. She further explains how she views God’s hand to be the cause of her pain. But the chapter does end with hope. The “barley harvest” is foreshadowing the fact that hope is coming.
How important is the renewing of the mind in responding to trials and afflictions in life?
Did Naomi really return empty? Why or why not?
Did God really bring calamity upon Naomi? Why or why not?
