Ruth’s Story Series

Series Intro: Series BC Justice League of Bible Super Heroes:

In a world of chaos and destruction, many are called but few are chosen. Join us as we explore the events surrounding the lives of those biblical heroes; these are the true stories of the BC Justice League.

http://www.whatsyourstoryonline.com/: Quote: Stories are powerful. Stories give meaning to who we are and how we became who we are. Stories help us understand how life happens, and they give value to our experiences. Some of the most powerful testimonies to Christian faith come not from lists of accepted doctrinal beliefs (though they’re important) nor from recitations of biblical principles (also important), but from the enlivened re-telling of how God has acted, overtly or covertly, in each of our lives.

T.S. - Over that last few months we explored the Biblical lives of kings and queens, of generals and prophets, and of famous patriarchal fathers of nations. But today we are looking at no-one as rich or famous in the history of time. Yet this ordinary non-Jewish woman finds her story being told centuries later. She does not perform any miracles in her story, she does not change the course of a nation in her story, she does do any supernatural miracles in her story but she does become a hero as she helps another person through the process of loss, grief and restoration.

Ruth’s Story

Thesis: Ruth was called a woman of noble and faithful character. The book of Ruth is a romantic drama of the life of a Godly non-Jewish woman who had trust in Jehovah-Jirah. She was also committed to staying with her grieving mother-in-law through the crisis of loss, grief and eventually to the blessing of finding their kinsman redeemer.

Key Verses: Ruth 1:15-18:

15“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16But Ruth replied, “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.

17Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

18When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

The story of Ruth has the following key characteristics: Key Word: Redeem - Key Phrase: Kinsman - Redeemer

Outline:

I. The crisis of famine, death, poverty and grief (Ruth 1:1-22).

II. The response of the Kinsman Redeemer to compassion, persistence, hard work and faith (Ruth 2:1-3:1).

III. The story ends with a happy ending (3:1-4:22).

Historical Background:

This book is taken from the time of the Book of Judges. The nation of Israel is in anarchy, chaos and apostasy. This story happens around the time that Gideon is one of the Judges of Israel. The romantic love story centers in upon a woman named Ruth. Ruth was not Jewish but a Moabite who had married a Jewish man. Her ancestors were from Lot’s line. The Moabites were birthed by Lot having an incestuous union with his eldest daughter according to Genesis 19:30-38. The son born out of this sin was "Moab". The Moabites were into the cultic worship of the local deities and practiced Baal worship. The book of Ruth opens up with a tragedy but ends in victory. We see a woman who responds to tragedy with a clear statement about her purpose in life Ruth 1: 16, 17. She commits to staying with her grieving mother-in-law till her death and they set out on a journey to return to Israel. Ruth gives up all she knows for her mother-in-law and finds herself involved in a new romance and in a place where she can bring deliverance and restoration back to her and her mother-in-law. She heeds the instructions of her Mother-in-law and wins the affection of her redeemer Boaz. Through the path of obedience and teach-ability she opens the door for her re-marriage and her and Naomi’s redemption from the loss and grief of their former life.

The story parallels what our Kinsman-Redeemer does for each of us at the point of salvation. That Kinsman –Redeemer is Jesus Christ. He is the one who rescues us from our lives our loss, grief, bondage caused by sin. He is the one who willingly paid the price for our deliverance and restoration.

T. S. - Let’s look into this romantic drama of Ruth and learn how to deal with the emotions of grief!

I. The crisis and the grief (Ruth 1:1-2:3)

A. The death of loved ones and the grief, pain and anger.

1. The father-in-law dies crisis one and then about 10 years later so do her 2 sons crisis two.