Setting the Scene

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Ruth 1:1-2 (NKJV) The Story pg. 127

In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. 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. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.

• What do you know about the time of the Judges?
• The cycle consists of idolatry, oppression, repentance, and deliverance.
• What part of the cycle do you suspect the children of Israel are in? </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/search_gray.svg" alt="/icons/search_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Famine

An extreme scarcity of food, a great shortage.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/search_gray.svg" alt="/icons/search_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Backslide

to revert to go back to a worse state.

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• Leaving the place of promise to return to a place of desolation is a form of backsliding.

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Ruth 1:3-5 (NKJV) The Story pg. 127

Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.

• You are not guaranteed to return from your stint in the “wilderness.” </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Ruth 1:6 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 127

Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland.

• What stage of the cycle in judges does this scripture denote? </aside>

The Spirit of Adoption

<aside> <img src="/icons/search_gray.svg" alt="/icons/search_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Adopt

to take (a child born to other parents) voluntarily as one's own child, especially in compliance with formal legal procedures to take into a relationship by choice.

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The Book of Ruth is an adoption story of an outsider being brought into a relationship with others.

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Ruth 1:16, 22 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 128

But Ruth said Entreat[e] me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.”

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

• Ruth was a non-covenant person who chose to be brought into a relationship with the covenant people.
• Adoptions are legally binding. It is as if the person were a natural descendant of the adopter. </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Galatians 4:4-5 (NLT)

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

ACTION MOMENT:

Take a moment to think about how God adopted you into his family.  Write a couple of things you are thankful for. Stand and praise the Lord.

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Under Inspection

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Ruth 2: 5-10 (NKJV) ****The Story pg. 129-130

Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.” 8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” 10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

• Ruth was polite and asked permission to glean in the field.
• Ruth was not greedy and took only her share.
• Ruth worked hard and was not a slacker.
• Ruth knew how to take instructions.
• We are under inspection, also. At times when we don’t know it, we are being watched by others to see how we will walk with God. And what they see will make a difference.

ACTION MOMENT:

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<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> John 15:8 (NLT) ****

8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

*(Think fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.)

ACTION MOMENT:

What do you think people see when they are watching you?  How does God see you? What do you think he would say about your life?

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The Book of Ruth foreshadows the story of Jesus, the ultimate redeemer.

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Ruth 4 (NKJV) pg 132-134

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• According to the law, Ruth was owed a levirate marriage.