Bible Study Notes - Ruth 1:1-16 Part II

Bible Study Notes  

Family as Community  - Ruth 1:1-16 Part II

Ruth 1:1-6 - Provision in the Midst of Famine

Our ever gracious Heavenly Father faithfully provides for His children.  Naomi receives word in Moab that the Lord had come to aid of His people by providing food.  The severity of the famine lifts in Israel allowing Naomi and her daughters-in-law to return home.  This journey would be bittersweet at best.  It would occur after the deaths of their three husbands who died in the land of their temporary abode.  It is amazing the capacity that death has to bring people closer to each other.  We do not know the nature of the relationship of these three women prior to their collective experience with bereavement and widowhood.  We surmise  they joined together in a previously unparalleled bond.  Whereas God supplies food in Israel, He also gives Naomi, Ruth and Oprah food for the soul in fellowship, love and community with each other.

The bond of these women represents a greater union in the family of God.  The marriage of Ruth to Naomi’s son forever joins Moab and Judah.  Matthew’s gospel contains one of the genealogies of our Lord.  Not surprisingly, it includes Ruth, a Moabite woman who traditionally would have been despised by the Israelites.  Mystically and majestically, Almighty God uses the famine to create a connection between nations of people who had previously fought each other.  By incorporating a Gentile woman into Christ’s lineage, the Lord demonstrates His unconditional love for all people.  Naomi’s, Ruth’s and Oprah’s human response to natural disaster by forging a sincere friendship foreshadows the fulfillment of God’s plan in the Church of Jesus Christ.  As a community, the Church is primarily a family which shares the fundamental bond of the blood of our Lord.

Ruth 1:7-12 – An Act of Selfless Love

In response to the favorable word about the end of the famine, Naomi begins the journey back to Judah with her daughters-in-law.  After a period of reflection, she practices one of the most touching and illustrative acts of selfless love that the Bible records.  Naomi tells Ruth and Oprah to return to their mothers and families.  Thereby, Naomi releases them from their commitment to live with her regardless of the hard circumstances and personal costs.  Further, Oprah and Ruth plead with Naomi to continue the journey to Judah.  But, this gracious, wise and senior woman details the stubborn facts for them.  Should they return with her, they would be consigning themselves to living as widows for the rest of their lives.  In fairness to these young women who had many years before them, Naomi lovingly and forcefully encourages them to go back to their native land to find whatever life offers.  Naomi’s act foreshadows the sacrificial and selfless love of God in Jesus Christ.  The community that forms between the three of them transforms into a family in which members’ love for each other enables them to consider what is best for others.  Because Naomi unconditionally surrenders her will and her care into the hands of Almighty God, she affectionately sends her caring daughter-in-laws back to their mothers.