“Ruth – A Faithful Foreigner”

​YEAH! Church - Sunday, August 29, 2021

"Heroes of the Bible” – Many of the heroes of the Bible were members of God’s chosen family, the Israelites…but not all of them. God readily accepted anyone who chose to follow Him; one foreigner who did was Ruth.
Today’s Lesson - “Ruth – A Faithful Foreigner”

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h1eoBeR4Jk&t=4s (The Bible Project – Ruth – for adults and older children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irThVpdeSXk (Crossroad Kids – God’s Story: Ruth)
Today’s Hero – Ruth (Book of Ruth)

Chapter 1 - Ruth’s story begins with tragedy. After being married for about ten years, Ruth’s husband died. To make matters worse, so did his brother who was married to a woman named Orpah. That left Naomi (Ruth’s mother-in-law), Orpah and Ruth with no one to take care of them. “Why did they need someone to take care of them?” you may ask…because during the time that they lived, women could not work to earn money, they could not own property and they had no rights under the law. Without a man to help them, they would be homeless and forced to beg! Naomi, who had been brought to Moab by her husband, decided to return to her home country of Israel. Ruth and Orpah’s families were from Moab. Ruth decided she would go with Naomi, even though it meant that she would live in a new country and she didn’t know what the future would hold; she was determined to take care of Naomi and never leave her to fend for herself.

Chapter 2 - Once in Israel, Ruth worked hard to find food for her and Naomi. Everyday she would go out to glean in the fields to collect whatever grain she could. God was with Ruth keeping her safe because this could have been dangerous for her—she might have been mistreated. But Ruth found herself gleaning in a field that was owned by a man named Boaz. Boaz loved God and was very kind to Ruth. He even told her to stay in his fields throughout the entire harvest, directed his workers to allow Ruth to collect lots of grain and invited her to eat with his workers.

Chapter 3 – In those days, a woman who found herself widowed could be taken care of by a ‘kinsman redeemer.’ This was usually a man who was a close relative to her deceased husband. The man would marry the woman, and any children they had would be considered her deceased husband’s and they would inherit the family property. Boaz just so happened to be one of the men who could act as a kinsman redeemer for Ruth. So Naomi hatched a plan. She told Ruth to propose to Boaz! It wasn’t like a marriage proposal like today, but Boaz said, ‘Yes!’ But there was only one problem. There was actually one kinsman redeemer who was closer to the family than Boaz, so Boaz himself did a little planning of his own.

Chapter 4 – Boaz met the other possible kinsman redeemer and told him that Naomi’s family’s land was available to be redeemed; this other man wanted the land. But when Boaz told him that Ruth was a part of the deal, he changed his mind. This then cleared the way for Boaz to marry Ruth. In time, they had a little boy named Obed, who became the grandfather of the future king David! Because of Ruth’s bravery, her faithfulness to Naomi and her desire to serve God, God took care of her and she would even become one of Jesus’ ancestors!

Engage:
• Naomi, Ruth and Orpah found themselves in a very hard position with no men to look after them. What did Naomi decide was her best option?
• Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their families in Moab, which probably would have been much easier for them. Why do you think Ruth refused?
• Ruth was brave and a very hard worker and determined to find a way to take care of Naomi and herself. How did God help her?
• When Boaz married Ruth, he was committing to take care of her, Naomi and their family’s property. Why might the other kinsman redeemer not have wanted the responsibility?
• Many in Israel would have looked down on Ruth because she was from Moab. How did God feel about Ruth? How do you know?

Theme verses:
Ruth 1:16, NLT - “But Ruth replied to Naomi, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
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Prayer – Dear God, thank you for helping Ruth—you helped her be loyal to Naomi, brave and introduced her to the man who would become her husband. You proved that anyone who wants to live for you is welcome in your family; you didn’t just help Ruth, but you included her in the family line of not just kings, but of the King of Kings—Jesus!
~ Pastor Jane