RUTH II Introduction & Lesson On

RUTH II Introduction & Lesson One

I guess I am like an old hound dog when I study the Bible. I like to sniff in every little rabbit hole I find along the way. That being the case I hope you will enjoy the journey through Ruth with me. We are not going to be in a hurry. There are too many inviting “rabbit holes” to examine and we will chase a few rabbits too. Whenever my husband studies the Bible and he starts on one subject but his research takes him far and wide, he calls that “chasing rabbits”. In this study we will chase some rabbits. You may even find a few rabbits of your own to pursue along the way. I hope you enjoy this study in Ruth!

Lesson 1

Seeking Security For Ruth

Lesson Text: Ruth 3:1-7

1. Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek _______ for you, that it may be well with you? (1)

2. Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our _______? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. (2)

3. Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your ______ ______ and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. (3)

4. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall ________ the place where he _____; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.” (4)

5. And she said to her, “_____ that you say to me I will do.” (5)

6. So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to _____ that her mother-in-law _______ her. (6)

7. And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the _____ ___ ______; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. (7)

What do you think about Ruth’s “method of flirting” with Boaz? Would you give Naomi’s advice on how to catch a husband to your daughter? No, as relaxed as our culture may be, this little ritual even seems a bit strange to us. Naomi’s counsel to Ruth was a bit unusual. Here is Matthew Henry’s commentary on this passage:

The course Naomi advised appears strange to us; but it was according to the laws and usages of Israel. If the proposed measure had borne the appearance of evil, Naomi would not have advised it. Law and custom gave Ruth, who was now proselyted to the true religion, a legal claim upon Boaz. It was customary for widows to assert this claim, De 25:5 to 10. But this is not recorded for imitation in other times, and is not to be judged by modern rules.

Three Factors to Consider

There were three factors in their culture that probably held the key to the explanation of her odd sounding advice. First was the law of Moses. Another was the judgments made by judges and the elders who sat at the gates as they interpreted the law of Moses. The third factor was the practices or precedents that evolved from the judgments that were passed down.

Law of Moses and Judgments

The Law of Moses held the basic principles of law. There is no way any law can cover every possible situation or scenario that could happen. Our U.S. constitution, for example holds our basic law but since the time it was written many amendments have been added because of new circumstances that have arisen which were not specifically covered in the constitution. Of course, the Israelite judges could not add to the law of God but they out of necessity had to figure out how it applied in each specific situation.

8. Please read Numbers 27:1-11. It is an example of a situation that arose while Moses was still alive and how it was handled. Please explain what happened.

Please read Numbers 27: 18-21. Notice the system God set up for judgment that was in effect immediately after Moses died. Joshua was inaugurated to stand before the priest who inquired of God to know what to do. Joshua would then take the judgments to the people. Notice verse 21:

“He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim.”

9. Please research the Urim and tell what you find.

10. After Joshua died we know that individual judges were given the task to make judgments for the people. In a Bible Gateway window, type in the word in the Word Research: Elders. Follow and read the thread of references from Numbers 11 to Ruth 4. Please explain the role of elders and their function in “judgments”.

In our modern court system there are judgments which are determined by “precedent setting” cases. In other words once a judge in a certain state rules on an unusual case a record is made of his judgment. The next time a similar case comes up, the judgment on the first case sets the precedent or the standard. Judges will often pore over cases to find a precedent for a difficult judgment that he must make. I am sure that judgment was passed in a similar way in OT times too. They would follow the pattern of seeking God’s judgment through the use of the Urim. After many, many similar cases, though, the judgment became a part of accepted practice and culture. They didn’t have to approach God for every single case because He had given His judgment on a “precedent setting” case perhaps years earlier. This could be an explanation of how the strange practices we find in Ruth came about.

In our next lesson we will study Boaz’s response to Ruth.