Women of
Courage: The Study of Ruth – Feb. 16
Beginning
with question #7
Summarize
the way that Ruth proposed marriage to Boaz.
Was it scandalous
for her to lay at his feet? From our
research we didn’t find answers, but she did place his covering over her. That may have represented his care for her.
The women
understood the law that they had a right to the protector, the kinsman
redeemer. Tamar forced the issue, and in
a sense Ruth did the same. This kinsman
redeemer was an ancient custom that they all understood.
Sometimes we
get so shy in our submission, but God has given us rights. God will honor what we may have to do, as
long as we are walking in his will and following.
The story of
Tamar is found in Genesis 38 and follows at the end of this blog
Both women (Tamar and Ruth)
in their circumstances stepped up to the need, trusting God to lead them. They did what they needed to do, in
submission. Husbands need to know that
they are needed and we as wives need to be submissive to follow them.
Naomi is a
good example of what a mother-in-law should be.
Can you imagine setting up your daughter-in-law with a new husband; it
is a self-less act. In the end she would
not only have a grandson, but an heir.
Bible
Connections
Question 1
Ruth 1:15-
In what way might Naomi have been testing the faith of Ruth pointing out how
Orpah had returned to her Moabite gods?
There was a
difference in their reactions, Ruth clung to her mother-in-law, but Orpah
kissed her and returned to her family.
Naomi was at a point that she knew she could not return to her people
with a Moabite girl, and a girl that might bring her gods with her. She wanted to be sure that Ruth would
surrender her life fully to God, like Naomi.
As Shera stated, “What sack full of stumbling blocks was she bringing
along with her?”
Naomi wanted Ruth to think about all that was
ahead of her. There may not be enough
food for them, being that they were both widowed and without provision. There
may have been adversity against them because of Ruth’s heritage. There would be rough roads ahead.
Naomi has
been where Ruth would be, the craziness of being in it and not a part of
it. Naomi wanted her to make a full
commitment. The confession was what they
all needed to hear Naomi and Ruth. God saw the surrendered heart.
God tells us
to leave the idols behind, he asked Abraham to leave them too. We need to do the same, surrendering our own “gods”
to the Almighty God, that we must rid our lives of the idols we carry with
us. Through the women’s actions they were
doing what Josiah had done, destroying the idols in their lives. It is so important for us to be obedient to
following God and his commandments, being courageous in their steps of faith.
God directs
us in our choices for him. Psalm 125:5
Psalm 125:5
5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked
ways,
The Lord will lead them away with the doers
of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel.
Naomi would have been accountable for the
actions of Ruth and she was aware that Ruth would be a part of her household.
Question #2
Ruth 1:20-21 – Naomi was not suggesting that she was a
bitter person, but instead of complaining she was admitting to God’s sovereignty
and that he was taking her through a hard time in her life. It is ok to ask God to help you to understand
and to lead us in the ways he wants. Sometimes
God takes us through difficult times, trials and suffering. Like Job and what he went through. But we need to praise God for all our
circumstances.
James 1:2
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter
various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing.
His plan is bigger than our scars.
Providence of God includes not only the sun but the rain,
the fruit and the drought.
We looked at the names of God in Ruth
The Almighty, the Lord
We need to walk away recognizing the name of God, all the
way through Ruth the Lord is used – Jehovah
When you use the word Jehovah, it means you have a close personal
relationship with your God. It is a personal thing. When people just use the word god, it can
mean many different things to different people. It can be capitalized to mean
the God almighty, or lower case, the god of anything. But Lord, is very personal.
Almighty God is also the God of judgment and control. Shera suggested that we go home this week and
think about the words of Naomi and her profession of her belief in God. As God inspired the words of Ruth to be written,
no one from her town called her bitter, they knew that her faith was strong and
she was honored for her faith. The
first time the name of Almighty God was used was when God came to Abraham and
made his promises to him.
In Exodus 6:2
2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the
Lord; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My
name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. 4 I also established My
covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they
sojourned.
When so many do what is right in their own eyes, we see
Naomi in realization and submission to God.
She is turning back to him. When
do we see God as the Almighty and when do we finally meet him as our Lord.
Hebrews 12 speaks about our trials in line with this
question.
In chapter 4 of Ruth, Naomi is being congratulated for her
new grandson. In verse 14-15 they speak of God’s provision and blessing upon
her life, how he has worked out his plan in her life.
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Judah and Tamar Genesis 38
38 At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.
11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.
12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.
13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”
“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked
17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18 He said,“What pledge should I give you?”
“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”
“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.
22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.
Judah said,“Bring her out and have her burned to death!”
25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.
