I taught my Sunday School class last week on the book of Ruth. The title of the lesson was " Ruth: Finding Love After Loss."
But, as I studied the lesson I took it from a different angle. Ruth is really the illustration of "Jesus, our Kinsman-Redeemer". As I said, it is Christmas time. Also, I shared this video from The Skit Guys that someone else shared at our Wednesday night services. At first, I just knew I loved the video and wanted to share it before class, even though it didn't really go with the lesson. But, we were studying Ruth who is in the line of Jesus. Then, after I seeing it a second time when I showed it to the class, I realized I was wrong. The video fit right in!! SO, I'm going to do something I've never done before. :-) The following is my notes from my Sunday School lesson. I musty warn you, I write out my notes as a "script" and I write like I talk. :-) I pray it blesses you as much as it blessed me. :-)
Lesson 6
Ruth:
Finding Love After Loss
During
today’s lesson, through the account of Ruth, we are going to see that God is
faithful to us in our times of loss by bringing us hope, and we will learn how
the idea of the Kinsman-Redeemer relates to Christ.
Any of us in
here who have lost someone already knows this, I hope.
“There’s no
place like home”;
Read Ruth
1:1-7; another read 8-19
OK, so here
is the situation. We are still in the
time of the judges. Israel does not have
a king, yet. They are being invaded by
foreign enemies, and there was a widespread famine. Because of the famine Naomi, her husband and
two sons leave Bethlehem and go to Moab.
Naomi’s husband dies, leaving her and her two sons “strangers in a
strange land.” Her sons take wives of
the Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Ten
years later the two sons die. This
leaves Naomi in a scary situation, as well as the two daughters in law. Neither
of whom have had children.
Back then
there were only a few options open to a widow; 1) Sons could take care of her
(her sons died leaving widows); she could sell herself into slavery, become a
prostitute or die. At Naomi’s age the
last was probably her only option.
However, she had two young daughters in law, and who wants those options
for them as well?
Naomi hears
that the famine is over and there is food in Israel, so she and the DIL heads
back home to Bethlehem. She wants to be
with friends and family, right? Shortly after they leave she tells them to go
home to their families.
She believed
they did not have a future with her.
She’s old, has no more sons for them to marry, and could not promise
another relative would marry them once they got to Bethlehem. Remember, they are Moabite women; they would
now be the strangers.
Naomi also
had the attitude that the Lord had “cursed” her. Look at verse 13 again; “It has been far more
bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against
me.” She is bitter; we’d say
depressed. Afterall, they didn’t have
things like Griefshare at that time…
· Have you ever felt that way? – Here
is a woman who has literally lost everything, and just wants to get home to
family she HOPES will take care of her.
Both Orpah
and Ruth say no in the beginning, but eventually Orpah goes home. Ruth, however stays. Not only does she stay, but she makes a very
powerful pledge to Naomi.
READ verses
16-17 on page again.
ASK: What does this say about Ruth’s character,
and her faithfulness to Naomi?
They get
back to Bethlehem and all the women ask “Can this be Naomi?” – Have you ever
known someone who’s been through the wringer emotionally and it changes them so
much physically you don’t recognize them?
This is probably what is happening.
Verse 20
says “Don’t call me Naomi,[b]” she told them. “Call me Mara,[c] because the
Almighty[d] 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[e] me; the
Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
Naomi says
to call her “Mara” (which means “bitter”) rather than Naomi, which means
“pleasant”.
Let me
summarize what happens next up to chapter 3.
They arrived
in Bethlehem at the time of Shavout – the feast of Shavuot completes the counting
of seven “weeks” from Passover to the time of the new grain offering to the
Lord (Lev 23:15-16). This offering was a way to thank God for His abundant
blessing during the completion of the wheat harvest. Even more, the people were
to demonstrate their gratefulness by allowing the poor and foreign immigrants
to glean from the outskirts of their fields (Lev 23:22-23). Ruth and
Naomi arrive during the harvest. ** The
book of Ruth is read every year during The Feast of Weeks. For Christians it’s
the time of Pentecost. ( Same time)
They are 2
widows, with no money. Ruth asks Naomi
to let her go and collect grain behind the harvesters to get them some food. Again,
It’s the custom during Shavout.
Leviticus
19:9-10
9 “‘When you
reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or
gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second
time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the
foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
So, that’s
what Ruth is doing.
The field
she chooses belongs to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s late husband. Boaz notices her and tells the men who work for
him to “Let her gather among the sheaves and don't reprimand her. Even pull out
some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and
don't rebuke her" (Ruth 2:14).
Boaz then
gives Ruth a gift of roasted grain which she eats and saves some for
Naomi. He not to work in any other
fields but his, so she will be safe.
Also, to fill free to get water to drink and to rest whenever she needs
to along with his servants, as if she were one of his servants.
Ruth is
there from morning until evening and after she threshed the barley she had
collected it weighed 30 lbs. A real
blessing for her and Naomi.
Ruth tells
Naomi about the day and that she was in Boaz’s field and all he had said. Naomi, of course, knows Boaz is a relative of
her late husband and tells Ruth that Boaz is one their “guardian-redeemers”, or
“kinsman-redeemer”.
A “kinsman-redeemer”
is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious
difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55) when God tells them about the year of Jubilee.
Boaz is
taking his role seriously.
“A match
made in Heaven”
Naomi then
advises her daughter-in-law to dress herself up and sleep at Boaz's feet while
he and his workers are camping out in the fields for the harvest. Naomi hopes
that by doing this Boaz will marry Ruth and they will have a home in Israel.
Ruth does
just as Naomi tells her and Boaz awakes and finds her at his feet.
They
converse and he says to her in Ruth 3: 10-11 “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not
run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t
be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that
you are a woman of noble character.”
He then goes
on to say that while he is her Kinsman-Redeemer there is another relative
closer than him, so he needs to first make sure that relative does not want to
“do his duty” then Boaz will be happy to marry her, and even lets her stay
until morning, which is against the custom.
She stays,
but leaves long before she would be noticed, and Boaz gives her “6 measures of
barley – were not sure how much a “measure” is – I looked on the internet and I
got everywhere from 16 lbs – 330 lbs.
She takes
the barley to Naomi and tells her what transpired. Also, she was to wait until she heard from
Boaz regarding the other relative.
Boaz goes to
the town gate to wait for the relative.
When he comes Boaz calls him over to talk, as well as 10 elders for
witnesses. Boaz tells him that Naomi is
selling a piece of her late husband’s land, and that as the closest relative he
has “first dibs” you might say, on buying it.
The man says he will until he finds out that Ruth comes with the
land. He then says “no” and tells Boaz
to go on and buy it. They complete the
deal in front of the witnesses, and the “giving of the sandal”. ( Their version of the handshake).
READ 4:13-17
“A Baby
changes everything”
Now, the
baby is Obed ( which means “servant”), Obed is the father of Jesse, Jesse the
father of David ( King David) and then on down the line until you get to Joseph
– Jesus’ earthly father.
The lesson
writer points out that Ruth was married to Naomi’s son for 10 years and never
had a child. As we read last week, this was somewhat of a point of shame for a
Jewish woman. But, when she marries
Boaz God causes her to conceive. This
shows it was most definitely designed by God.
And the women praised God for the child who would one day take care of
Naomi and Ruth.
Romans 8:28
says “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called
according to His purpose.”
The book of
Ruth is most definitely a wonderful illustration of Romans 8:28.
Look at all
how it began; so much death, so much uncertainty for Naomi and Ruth’s
future. But, by God’s plan looked how it
unfolded. The field she chose, Boaz’s field.
How he took favor with her; the other relative letting Boaz take the
responsibility of Kinsman-Redeemer. Ruth
conceiving and having a SON… and Ruth becoming the grandmother of King David,
the king who finally brought some stability to nation of Israel after
everything that happened under Saul.
And, finally, Jesus The Messiah, coming from that bloodline. Just as it was prophesied.
Do you see
where God moved in all of that?
** What role
does Christ play as our Kinsman-Redeemer?
** How does
Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi demonstrate God’s faithfulness to us?
** How could
you demonstrate God’s faithfulness to someone in their time of grief?
