Life gets hard for all of us–but what should our response be? In this heartfelt Bible study, Arlin and Anthony dive into Ruth chapter 1 to explore how Naomi faced devastating loss yet ultimately moved toward God.
Ruth 1 – Honesty in Hard Times.
Take away: Life will be difficult; we must be real with our feelings and move toward God.
A hard life, Tragedy
1 “When the judges ruled” Do you remember the theme from Judges? There was no king; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. This is alluded to several times in Ruth. We GET this because our culture is so similar.
Bethlehem, we know this town. House of Bread did not have bread. Lev. 26:3-4 Who did the famine come from? They knew well God had caused it.
They went to Moab, or Atlantic City or Vegas. Moab had a reputation Moab – Gen 19:30-38 Son of Lot and his oldest daughter. Ps 108:9 God calls Moab his Washpot. Chemosh was their preferred god. I Kings 11:7 5–7-day journey, 50 miles. Deut. 23:3-4 10 generations could not go into the temple and why. Solomon built a high place for Chemosh in Jerusalem. Josiah tore down this altar in II Kings 23:13. Jeremiah 48 the end of Moab is prophesied.
What do we make of Elimelech’s choice to move? It was risky. Maybe he saw the godlessness and no end of the famine? But why move to this godless country?
4 During this time there were no grandchildren then both of her sons died. A widow in a strange land, talk about a hard story.
A hard decision, Return
6-7 she heads for her home. At least there, she knows the customs and how she could be taken care of, after all, the Lord had aided His people. Like time usually does, she has changed. She was not the same as when she left.
8-9 Notice how she blessed them and wished them the LORD’s presence. V13 She was feeling shortchanged at the hand of the same LORD.
11-13 Understand the culture. We don’t do this. She is speaking out of her Jewish mindset, this is very “normal.” She is referring to Levirate marriage from Deut. 25. First reference to it, more coming later.
14-18 Orpah returns, Ruth cannot leave. Lovely expression of commitment to Ruth. We will look at this closer next week; now, let’s stay focused on Naomi and the God who forgot her.
A hard reality, Be real in the Hard, honest in the hard
19 Get a picture of the communal living. This plays out through all of Ruth. It has a lot to do with 3:14 and 4:14. The “they” is a feminine word. Many translations say, “the women.” The stirring of the town may point to their previous greatness. My hunch is she moved back because of this community.
V20 This is like a woman you know named Joy. If Joy has a hard experience, I can easily see her asking others not to call her Joy. It just reminds her every time she hears it. The positive is she is embracing her pain. She is not living in denial. She is in the middle of her story and does not know how it will end, at this point, it feels very dark. We are guessing she felt guilty and condemned. She knew OT teaching.
I am sure this move was difficult, Naomi knew she and Ruth were poor. Makes you wonder what kind of attitudes she faced.
22 This is the first of positive “random” events. They arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest, March or April. Probably lasted 6-7 weeks. This is a positive statement among many negatives.
A hard life, hard decision, and hard reality. Life is hard, it will be difficult. Then what? What will we do. Can we respond like Naomi? She was honest and real; we have the benefit of know the rest of the story. She didn’t. What about us, how are we responding?
