Bible Memory Verse:
“…Let us love one another, for love comes from God….” 1 John 4:7
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
After Joshua, who had been a good leader who followed God, had died, God had judges rule His people, the Israelites. When a good judge was ruling them, the people would obey God and good things would happen. When the judge died, the people would begin to disobey God and they would have troubles. Then they would call out to God and He would send another judge to help His people.
But there were some people that knew God and obeyed Him even when there was no good ruler and things were not going well. We are going to learn about some of these people.
This story is found in the book of Ruth in the Bible. It was a very hard time when people were often afraid because there was no justice (law and order). Enemies would often attack the people and there was no one to help. But God always looks after His children–people that know Him. He looked after Naomi, Ruth and Boaz even in this dangerous time.
A man named Elimelech, with his wife, Naomi, and their two sons Mahlon and Kilion lived in the land of Israel. There was a famine in the land. What is a famine? (when no food can grow so there is not enough to eat). Elimelech took his family and went to the land of Moab. In this land Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died. Her two sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Then her two sons also died.
Naomi heard there was no longer a famine in the land of Israel so she started to go back to Israel. Her two daughters-in-law started to go with her, but she told them, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown kindness to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? I am too old to have another husband and have sons for you to marry.” In those days, if a woman’s husband died, she would marry her husband’s brother and he would take care of her and children they would have would be considered the children of the brother who had died. Naomi was telling them that she was too old to have any more sons for them to marry. She told them to go back to their own father and mother so that they could find a new husband. Naomi didn’t have any money and no one to care for her so she could not take care of them.
Orpah went back, but Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die and there will I be buried.”
When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. So Naomi and Ruth, two poor widows, walked to town Naomi came from, Bethlehem in the country of Israel.
When all the people saw Naomi, they came to see her. She said, “Don’t call me Naomi (“pleasant), but call me “Mara” (“bitter”), because the Lord has dealt bitterly with me.” She felt that God was angry with her because her husband and children had died and she had no grandchildren. In Israel it was very hard if a woman had no children. But God loved her and was taking care of her, as we shall see.
Naomi and Ruth found a place to live and Ruth went out to gather grain to make bread. God had made a rule that the farmers were supposed to leave some of the grain in the fields for the poor people to pick. As it turned out, Ruth started to pick grain in the fields of a rich man named Boaz who was a relative of Naomi.
When Boaz found out that Ruth was picking grain in his field, he showed special kindness to her because he had heard how kind she was to Naomi. He said to her, “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth had come from the country of Moab to the land of Israel. Boaz was saying that he wanted the Lord, the God of Israel, to take special care of Ruth because she had come to the land where His people lived and where He took care of the people. Boaz was comparing God to a mother bird that protects her young under her wings. God protects His people under His wings of love.
Boaz let her stay to pick grain with his servant girls and to be protected there. She stayed for several weeks to pick grain in his field.
One day Naomi said to Ruth, “Shouldn’t I try to find a home for you? This Boaz is a relative of mine. He can be our kinsman redeemer.”
In those days, if a woman’s husband died, she was to marry his brother who would give her children and take care of her. Naomi said that Boaz could be their kinsmen redeemer. Kinsman means relative and redeemer means to buy back. Naomi was saying that because Boaz was a relative of hers, he could marry Ruth. He could buy back the land of Naomi’s dead husband, Elimelech, and also marry Ruth to have children to carry on the family of Elimelech. Naomi gave Ruth special instructions that would show Boaz that Ruth wanted him to marry her. Ruth was to put on her nicest clothes and go down to the place to the threshing floor where Boaz was taking care of the grain. When he went to sleep, she was to lie at his feet.
Ruth did exactly what Naomi had told her.
When Boaz was sleeping, Ruth lay down at his feet. He woke up in the night and saw that there was a woman sleeping at the threshing floor.
When he found out it was Ruth, he was very pleased because he knew what a kind woman she was. He told her that he would do what she asked, but there was another man who had the first right to marry Ruth because he was a closer relative to Naomi. Then he sent her home with some grain for Naomi.
The next day Boaz went to the town gate where all the men of the town came to do their business. When he saw the man that was a closer relative of Naomi’s than he was, he asked him if he would like to buy the land Naomi’s dead husband, Elimelech, had owned. He said he would. Then Boaz said, “But if you do, you must marry Ruth, because she is the widow of Elimelech’s son.”
The man said that he could not buy the land or marry Ruth because if she had any children his land might go to the family of Elimelech instead of to his own family.
All these customs seem strange to us. They are what they did in the land of Israel a long time ago. Another thing that they did, was when they made a business deal, as Boaz did with this man, they would give one of their sandals (they wore sandals in the land of Israel) to the other person as a sign that they had made a business deal. This man took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz as a sign that Boaz now had the right to buy Elimelech’s land and marry Ruth.
Boaz did marry Ruth and they had a son whom they named Obed. Naomi helped to take care of Obed. The people said to Naomi that Ruth was better to her than if she had seven sons of her own. Naomi thought that God had forgotten her, but He had taken very good care of her. He had given her a daughter-in-law like Ruth who loved her and took care of her and gave her a grandchild to care for.
Not only that, but the child of Boaz and Ruth was named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of King David, the most famous king in Israel. King David was an ancestor of Jesus.
Jesus can be called our Kinsman Redeemer. Redeem means to buy back. Jesus died for our sins so that we can be bought back from the hand of Satan. Now we can be sons of God if we will ask God to forgive our sins and ask His Holy Spirits to live in our hearts.
QUESTIONS:
1. Why did Elimelech and his family leave Israel and go to the land of Moab?
2. What was the name of Naomi’s daughter-in-law that came back to Israel with her and took care of her?
3. What work did Ruth find to do?
4. What was the name of the man in whose field Ruth worked?CE_Curriculum.htm
5. Why did Naomi want Ruth to marry Boaz?
6. In the land of Israel what did one person give another person to show that they had made a business deal?
7. What special blessing did God give Naomi?
RUTH
Bible Memory Verse:
“…Let us love one another, for love comes from God…” 1 John 4:7
Words to choose from: GRAIN, JESUS, CHILD, MARRY, FAMINE, GOD, RUTH, SANDAL, BOAZ, GOOD
1. Elimelech and his family left Israel because of a __ __ __ __ __ __.
2. Naomi came back to Israel with __ __ __ __, her daughter-in-law.
3. Ruth picked up __ __ __ __ __ which was left in the fields for the poor people.
4. __ __ __ __ , in whose fields Ruth worked, was a relative of Naomi.
5. Naomi wanted Ruth to __ __ __ __ __ Boaz.
6. Boaz was glad to marry Ruth because she was a __ __ __ __ woman.
7.When two people made a business deal one gave the other his __ __ __ __ __ __ at that time in the land of Israel.
8. Naomi now had a home and a __ __ __ __ __ to help care for.
9. __ __ __ had given Naomi more than she thought was possible.
10. Ruth was an ancestor of __ __ __ __ __ __.