Ruth 1
Amanda
mind. I guess my first question is what compelled Ruth to stay with
Naomi? Had Naomi done something in the time before her sons died that
made Ruth feel bonded to her? Was Ruth just that committed to her new
mother out of a sense of responsibility? And while pondering these
questions, I came up with a few more. One being how long had Ruth
been a part of Naomi's family? In verses 4 & 5 the text says "after
they had lived there about 10 years, both Mahlon and Kilion also
died..." Is this 10 years after the men were married or 10 years
total time Elimelech's family spent in Moab? If the 10 years refers
to the time after the sons were married, then Naomi had 10 years'
worth of time to gain the respect and total trust of Ruth. If the 10
years refers to total time in Moab, then that gives less time for
Naomi to have gained Ruth's loyalty. And the last question I have (at
the moment anyway) is how much did Ruth know about God? We know Ruth
was a Moabitess and we know the god of Moab was Chemosh (see I Kings
11:7), so I assume that Ruth grew up worshiping Chemosh. That being
the case, how much did she learn about the God of Israel prior to her
statements in verses 16 & 17? She says, "May the Lord deal with me,
be it ever so severely..." I wonder how much she understood when she
said this.
If anyone has insights or thoughts on these questions, I'd love to
hear what you have to say.
Crystal Smith
into the Naomi's family, she got more than just a husband. She gained
her knowledge of God from her new family. This knowledge was the
building blocks for what shaped her actions and future.
As I was rereading though this chapter, I ran across vs 20-21.
"Don't call Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty
has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has
brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me,
the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
I have read this many times, but it really caught my attention this
time. I understand why she was bitter at the end, but she says she
went away full. How? What was she full of? Hope? Did she know that her
and her family would settle for ten years in Moab? Surely she knew
that there was a possibilty of her sons marrying the native women from
there. Naomi and her family were leaving behind everything they ever
knew.
Thoughts?
Amanda
She left with a husband and two sons and came home with only a
daughter-in-law; and a foreigner at that. I think there is also the
issue of finances. When Naomi left Israel initially she had people to
provide for her and when she came home she had no male heirs to
provide for her. This basically left her with little to no means of
support for herself; at least that's the way I understand it. Of
course, this is just what I've generally thought about when I read
those verses and whether or not that is what Naomi was referring to
I'm not sure if I'm right. It's definitely interesting to ponder what
exactly she meant by that.
Diann
finished and just deleted it...
I agree with Amanda on the full/empty topic. I'm sure there are more
escoteric meanings out there in some study guide.
One of the things I had been thinking about was, why did Elimelech and
family leave Israel for Moab... Was is just to find food, or was
there something more? We presume that the Lord sent the famine
because of the disobedience of the Israelites. Were Elimelech and
family faithful to God and trying to get away from the things the
Israelites were doing? I can't imagine that it would be any easier in
Moab? If so, did they keep their faith while in Moab (except for
marrying Moabite women)?
How else would Ruth learn about God to say what she does in verses
16-17? She must have heard something of the Israelite religion just
as we hear of other religions around us, but her statements in these
verses seem to tell me that she knew something more of God. Naomi and/
or her sons must have taught Ruth (and Orpah) about God and maybe even
told them the stories of what he had done for His people...
Why was Ruth (and Orpah, at first) so willing to go with Naomi back to
Israel? Naomi must have been a kind mother-in-law. Presumably Naomi,
Ruth, and Orpah were together all day while the sons went to work?
The three must have gotten along well. Or was Ruth's own family that
bad that she would want to not ever go back or was she appalled with
the Moabite religion - worshiping Chemosh to begin with? Or just
simply that Ruth's heart was tuned into God's?
In any case, I keep bringing myself to thinking that the family was
faithful to God the whole time in Moab... could be wrong. Naomi might
just be a very nice person and Ruth was trying to escape something in
Moab... I will never really know the answers while on earth and I
could talk myself in circles all day. It is interesting to see God
working through a famine to bring a Moabitess into Jesus' family line,
preparing the way for us non-Jews to come into His family.
Kimberly
been said. I think Ruth's time with Naomi was life changing. Not
only did she gain a husband and a new mother and father in law, she
gained the real purpose of why she was on earth. God's love and plan
for her. I can only imagine if I had come to know Christ because of
my new family, I would not want to leave it. It would be my new
foundation and I would feel a sense of need and responsibility to be
with Naomi leading a Godly life and not be a part of the life I used
to have.
Megan
found her faith in God. I tend to lean towards, like many of you have
already mentioned, that she learned about him through her husband's
family.
One questions I had that I don't think anyone touched on is from
verses 20-22. When I read these verses Naomi seems very defeated at
this point, and when she says "the Almighty has dealt very bitterly
with me" it seems as though she is blaming God for her current
circumstances. I realize that God is in control of everything so in a
way he is responsible for what happens in our lives, but here it is
like Naomi is referrencing a direct correlation between bad things
happening and God punishing us. What are your thoughts? Was this how
the God of the Old Law dealt with individual people? We are always
being told today that "Sometimes bad things happen to good people."
Where does that idea fit in? I'm interested because when something
terrible happens to me, my first reaction is not to feel like God is
punishing me and I'm wondering if maybe it should be? Did Naomi know
something I don't?
Diann
with the OT Israelites (and maybe even us) in this way. There are
many instances in the OT where God says that he allows/causes bad
things (famine, losing wars, etc.) because of the Israelites
disobedience. Naomi would only have this view of God.
But we have advantage of the wonderful teachings of Jesus to look to
as well. I don't have my Bible handy (even though I probably
should). There is the story of the man who was blind from birth and
the Pharisees basically ask, "Who in this man's family sinned?"
Jesus' response is that this happened for the glory of God to be shown
- not something the man did. So, I think WE know something that Naomi
didn't.
Amanda
didn't know. I feel like the Israelites saw misfortune as punishment
all too often. I think we always have to remember that there are
consequences to our actions. Sometimes those consequences are not
pleasant, but it is not necessarily God punishing us even though it
may seem that way.
Naomi's words in verses 20-22 remind me a lot of Job. After all of
his trials, he eventually broke down and blamed God. Noami's words do
not really indicate to me that she felt like she was being punished
for something, she just wanted to blame someone other than herself for
her situation. I think this is a very human reaction for her to
have. We always want to put the blame somewhere for our misfortunes
and we never want to put it with ourselves. I think a lot of times
when we can't figure out who is to blame, we just blame God. He is in
control of everything, so He must be to blame for my sad situation. I
think it's more often that He allows bad things to happen instead of
preventing them because He knows we can handle them and we learn from
them. I played soccer when I was growing up and our coach always told
us after a loss that we could learn much more about ourselves as a
team from a loss than from a win. I think it's the same with "bad"
things and "good" things in our lives. If we aren't tested with the
bad, how much do we learn about ourselves and how to handle
adversity? So while God allows bad things to happen in our lives, I
don't think He causes them like we often want to blame him for. And I
don't think misfortune is a form of punishment, it's more of a
learning tool and a refining of our faith. I like what we are told in
James 1:2-3: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance." I think this is more the idea behind
misfortunes we face. They are a refining of our faith and help us
develop perseverance. They also allow us to relate to others in
similar situations and be an encouragement to them. I think I've gone
off on a bit of a tangent here, so I'll end with that thought.
Kimberly
were taught about how they would be punished for disobedience based on
their ancestry (free will, etc). I am thinking that Naomi and her
family chose go to Moab, which would not have been God's first choice
for them, so Naomi had to deal with the consequences of her decision
(God allowing us to make mistakes). However, the real power in that
story comes from what God does with that situation. He used it to
strengthen Naomi's faith and to bring Ruth closer to her faith as
well. He used this situation to grow his Christian family for
generations to come.