Bible Study: Book of Ruth Ch. 1

Background: The book of Ruth is found in the Old Testament, immediately following the book of Judges. Ruth was a Moabite woman who married and was widowed within a short time frame. She made the life changing decision to give up everything she knew in order to
1. Get closer to the living God of her mother in law Naomi
2. Walk into her abundance (God's plan for her life)

The main themes in the book of Ruth are:
1. God drawing all people to Him regardless of past or lineage
2. Loyal love
3. Redemption

In this bible study we will dissect each chapter and bring a deeper revelation to this awesome book. It is about so much more than a woman finding her man. Please post any questions or comments you have.


Chapter 1
Verses 1-5
We are introduced to the following persons: Elimelech, Naomi (wife of Elimelech), Mahlon (son of Naomi and Elimelech), and Chilion (son of Naomi and Elimelech). Elimelech brings his family out of Bethlehem, Judah because of the famine that was in the land. He brought them to the land of Moab.
>>>>What is a famine and what are the purposes of it?
A famine during the bible days was mostly associated with being without food or rain. The land in essence stops producing and the rains are no where in sight. Present day, a famine can take many forms. It could involve a drought in your finances, peace of mind (causing depression and suicidal thoughts), relationships,etc. There were many purposes for famines, but the general purpose was to get the attention of the people. The Israelites were notorious for going back and forth with God and their 'faith', kind of like a see-saw. Sometimes they loved Him, worshippped Him, and were obedient to Him. However, they were not consistent and when things did not go their way or the way they expected it to go they turned their backs on God and often time gave credit to themselves or false idols.
>>>>>>>>>Does this sound familiar? How many times have we said, "I did this or I did that" and never mentioned that it was because of God giving me the skill/talent, idea, or favor. How many times have we jumped out of bed Monday-Friday or even rolled out of bed because we knew we had to get to work so we can pay the bills and eat? But when it came to giving God His time in fellowship with other believers by going to church, going to bible study, going to intercessory prayer, or getting up 15 minutes early so that we can have that personal time with Him, we have mumbled and complained and turned the alarm off. We put Him on the back burner, forgetting that it was and is Him that makes a way for us to go to the job, that wakes us up in the morning, that keeps the enemy away 365/24/7. God is our source...the job is a resource given to us by the source. So when we begin to give credit to other things and pay more attention to other things, then God allows us to see what it is like if we only have those things to depend on and not Him-------FAMINE!

We put so much stock in people and then when they disappoint us, we get all torn up. We think our mate is the be all and end all to everything, but when it is found out that they have been cheating or leading a double life we get angry with God and blame Him for our problems. When all He says to us is, "I still love you. Even though you didn't pray with Me or talk to Me, I still love you. It was during our time that we were suppose to have together that I wanted to tell you and show you what was going on, but since you kept avoiding Me and ignoring Me I didn't have the opportunity to show or tell you. But I still love you and I can make this right for you because I love you!" How powerful is that? Although we are in a famine God will make a way and lead us to a place where we can get what He wanted us to have in the first place. This is what He did for Elimelech and his family. He lead Elimelech to the land of the Moabites, which would probably be the last place that anyone would have gone. Why? (I am glad you asked)

Lets get some background on Moab: Go to Gen. 19:30-37. The Moab people were born out of the incestuous relations of Lot and his daughter. Lot's daughter's got him drunk after escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah and each went in and had sex with him with the intention of producing an heir. One of them did get pregnant and from that we have the Moabites. You can imagine what the Israelites thought of these people, so not only did God bring them to Moab, but Elimelech's two sons married Moabite women. Women who did not worship God, but idols.

Well, Elimelech dies leaving Naomi as a widow and then ten years after being in Moab, her sons die leaving their wives as widows as well. Can you imagine how Naomi felt having to bury her husband and her two sons? Outside of the obvious grief that a mother and wife would have we need to look at the cultural aspect of it all.
>>>>>>>Naomi did not have anymore sons, which meant she had not provider nor any protector. Ruth and Orpah were now widowed, but did not have any children. Which means that there was not anyone to carry on the family line or name. Naomi was in a strange land and had been there for a decade. Would her family welcome her back and take her in? What was she going to do with these two Moabite girls? She can't provide for herself, much less two girls who not Israelites and are not well versed in the Israelite customs.


Verses 6-13
Naomi has decided to go back to her people,because she heard that the famine was over "the Lord had visited His people". This means that God's love provided favor to the still disobedient people and gave them their harvest and their rains back. What an awesome God that is? Despite our small efforts, our hits and misses, and our inconsistencies..He still gives us grace and mercy and will not allow us to receive what we deserve. How often have we spent money on things we did not need, but when it came to give to God's kingdom we made countless excuses. ---"The church is crooked, the pastor already has too much money, what do they do with that money anyway?" or "I got bills to pay and I can't afford this right now!" or "I will do it with my next paycheck" Does any of this sound familiar? Please stop right now and read Malachi 3:8-12. (Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament) When we are not obedient to God's commandment in the giving of tithes and offerings, we are in essence robbing God. He tells us in His word that He will curse us with a curse if we are disobedient. He also gives us the challenge to prove Him wrong "try me in this". He says if you do this, then see if I don't give you things and open doors that you never thought would be open to you? The other side of this is....if you can't trust your pastor or your church enough to be obedient to God then why are you there? (things that make you go hmmmmm)

God is awesome in his loyalty of love and forgiveness to us. Now we touched on earlier why Naomi would not want her daughter's in law to go with her. Now both girls loved Naomi dearly. Please don't think that because Orpah did not go that she did not care about Naomi. She cared deeply for Naomi and that is why she did exactly what Naomi told her to do. But Ruth, was a little more hard headed and although she didn't understand why she was so persistent, I know that it was God giving her that push to not accept what Naomi was saying.

Now let's take a look at verse 13 for a minute. Here we have Naomi and she is expressing how she is feeling on the inside because she feels that God is punishing her. "the hand of the Lord has gone out against me"
>>>>>>>>Why would she think that God is punishing her?
Well who wouldn't? We don't want to be so super holy and religious here. If you had lost your most prized possessions (your spouse and children) and in your mind had no definite place or persons to turn to, wouldn't you wonder if God was punishing you? But I come to challenge your thinking. God does not punish His children in the way that we think of punish. We assume that because we have cancer or homeless, etc that God is punishing us. NO!! God will discipline His children to teach a lesson because He knows what is around the corner and if He does not get our attention quickly, the enemy will devour us. But God also sets us up for greatness. We don't always understand His methods, but He tells us in His word "your thoughts are not My thoughts, and your ways are not My ways". This means, He is not going to do it like we would. Don't ever think that God is punishing you. If He has allowed affliction to come your way, then He has a way for you to get through it, but we have to follow His plan and keep our hands and our methods of doing things out of it. We have to continue to trust Him and remain faithful to Him. He says in His word, "that He has given us power to tread over the lion and the adder" and that power comes from the Holy Ghost. (Now I purposely did not give you those scriptural locations because I want you to use your bible and look them up. We must know God's word for ourselves so that we can not be tricked) If you have gotten angry at God because of things that have happened in your life, I want you to stop right now and pray this prayer:
Father God, in the name of Jesus, I come before you right as humble as I know how. I ask your forgiveness right now God, because I know now that you have a loyal love towards me and it is never your intention to punish me or to get even with me. You sent your son Jesus to die for me because you love me. I love you Lord with everything in me and if you lead me then I will follow. Teach me Lord how to love you and how to let you love me. Enter in God that I may enter into peace. In the name of Jesus, I pray--Amen.
Now just take a minute and let Him minister to you. Cry if you need to cry and don't rush what He is doing. This blog will be here when you get back. If you have to pray the prayer more than one time, then do that.

Verses 14-22
In these verses decisions were made and a covenant was made. Orpah kissed Naomi good bye and went her way back to her people and what she knew. Again, she was being obedient to Naomi. Now, Ruth hugged Naomi and held on to her for dear life. "Ruth clung to her" When Naomi tried again to convince Ruth, Ruth made a powerful covenant with Naomi. It was so powerful that Naomi gave up trying to convince her to go with her sister in law "she stopped speaking to her". Now when they arrived back in Bethlehem, Judah Naomi was greeted with smiles and excitement. But she was still fixed on the fact that God was punishing her and tried to change her name to Mara, which means bitter.
>>>>>>>>>Why do we always try to put a comma where God has put a period?
This means Naomi was trying to take something on that God did not call her or put on her. We add debt onto our plate by buying a house or car that we can't afford and then pray for God to come and bail us out. We stay in abusive relationships and God did not tell you to stay and did not tell you that this person was going to change, but then we expect God to make it right. If we choose to go the opposite of what God has determined for us, we can not expect God to fix it while we are in the mess. That is not fair to God. IF you are an alcoholic or a recovering alcoholic, and you tell me that you are going out with some friends tonight. I don't say anything to you and you go out with your friends. You wind up getting drunk as all get out, but then call me mad because I didn't talk you out of it. Let's push pause right here....you already knew that you shouldn't have gone and you can't blame me because I didn't talk you out of it. At some point, we have to be mature and do what we know we should do or not do. Bitterness was a garment that Naomi chose to put on. God did not have that in store for her or for you, so if you have malice, anger, hatred, bitterness in her heart know that it is not God's will for you to carry that parasite. He has a bigger plan for you if you are willing to let Him do it. Stop right now and pray this prayer:
>>>>>>>Father God, in the name of Jesus, I know that you are aware of all of my problems, struggles, and issues. I refuse to keep telling you about my problems. As of right now, I make the decision to tell my problems about you. That you are a healer, a deliverer, a giver, and a forgiver. I ask right now Lord, that you give me a clean heart and renew the right spirit in me. I want to walk in peace and joy. I don't want any parasites on or in me. Everything you have for me, I want it. Teach me oh God and forgive me now for holding on to these things for so long. Replace the anger with love, bitterness with joy, and hatred with forgiveness. I thank you right now God because I know and have faith that not only did you hear my prayer, but everything I have asked for is already done in the name of Jesus.--Amen
Now understand that the enemy is going to test you on your declaration that you just made. But keep praying and keep believing that God is going to do it and He will. God moves as fast as our faith is strong. This means, the stronger our faith the quicker He moves.


I pray that you have learned alot from this study and please send your questions and your thoughts. Also, if you have some topics that you would like to see posted then please let me know. You can also feel free to give your personal testamonies and you have the option of leaving it anonymous.