Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the September 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.)
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COMPANION RESOURCES
“Ruth’s Exemplary Loyalty,” by David Faust (Lesson Application)
Discovery Questions for Sept. 6, 2020
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Lesson Aim: Serve God devotedly.
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By Mark Scott
Arthur Gossip was the preacher at the Beechgrove Church in Aberdeen, Scotland. The day after his wife suddenly collapsed and died in 1927 he preached his famous sermon, “When Life Tumbles in, What Then?” In the days of the judges, life tumbled in for three widows: Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth. This last widow taught us what to do when life tumbles in: serve devotedly.
Devotion Can Reverse Disobedience
Ruth 1:3-5, 8-11
The local famine in the land was the result of disobeying God. In the house of bread (Bethlehem) there was no bread. The dysfunctional cycle in the book of Judges had created destruction. Elimelek (also spelled Elimelech and meaning “My God is king”) took his wife, Naomi (“delight”), and his two sons, Mahlon (“sick”) and Kilion (also spelled Chilion and meaning “pining”), to Moab to survive the famine. The Moabites had a rough beginning (Genesis 19:36-37), and while it was not sinful for an Israelite to marry a Moabite, it was far from ideal.
In the course of time, Elimelek died. The sons married Moabite women. Mahlon married Ruth (Ruth 4:10) and Kilion married Orpah. After ten years (literal or figurative . . . for a substantial time) both sons died. When word came that there was bread in Israel, Naomi decided to head home. Was she reversing the former disobedience of going to Moab to start with? A Jewish tradition said that death was the punishment for leaving Bethlehem (John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary). In the Old Testament, marriage meant security for a woman. And consider the thought of leaving three graves in a Moab cemetery.
Naomi was accompanied on her journey by her daughters-in-law. She said to them, “Go back.” This phrase springs from a single Hebrew word that appears in this text five times; it is translated, “go back,” “return,” or “turn back.” (Dialogue is one of the main literary features of this book; 59 of 84 verses are dialogue.) Naomi wished Orpah and Ruth well in two ways: kindness and rest. Kindness is the word for God’s loving-kindness or covenantal love. Rest can also be translated as “comfort.” By the phrase, “May the Lord . . .” Naomi was invoking God’s special kindness toward them.
This was an emotional scene. They kissed and wept aloud. The weeping involved more than shedding tears. They “wailed, lamented, and bewailed.” The girls not only refused to leave their mother-in-law, they also pledged to be assimilated into the Israelite nation. Naomi insisted that they go back. Naomi reminded them that even if she were to marry again and have sons, the girls could hardly wait for the boys to mature in time to marry (vv. 12-13). Naomi felt that God’s hand had been dealt against her. Later she would desire not to be called “delight” but “bitter.”
Devotion Can Give Evidence of Conversion
Ruth 1:14-18
There was more weeping. Orpah headed back to Moab, and she was not criticized for her decision. But Ruth’s devotion did stand out. She clung to Naomi. The word can be translated “join” or “cleave.” It is the same word used of Adam clinging to Eve (Genesis 2:24) and Israel clinging to God (Deuteronomy 10:20). Naomi had met her match in terms of devotion. Ruth would not take no for an answer.
One of the most beautiful statements of devotion ever occurs next in our text. It is often said (or even sung) at weddings—even though that is not its context. Ruth chose life with Naomi over family, national identity, and religion. Ruth was loyal. It is as if she said, “Enough already! I am going with you!” Ruth will go with and stay with Naomi. Her people would be Ruth’s people. And, most importantly, Naomi’s God would be Ruth’s God. This is the language of conversion in the Bible. Ruth crossed a line.
Ruth’s attitude was like Cortez’s attitude (“burn the ships”). She would die in Israel and be buried in Israel. What she probably did not realize was how this decision would feature into the coming of the Messiah (Ruth 4:15-17). Do we realize what our conversion can bring?
Ruth was so serious about this that she invoked a judgment of the Lord: “May the Lord deal with me.” Naomi twice used similar phrases, each starting with “May the Lord,” early in our text (Ruth 1:8-9). Ruth promised that even death could not separate her from Naomi. Ruth would not be deterred. She was determined (persistent or obstinate). Devotion was in place. Now the bigger story can unfold.
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Lesson study ©2019, Christian Standard Media. Print and digital subscribers are permitted to make one print copy per week of lesson material for personal use. Lesson based on the scope and sequence, ©2019 by Christian Standard Media. Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, ©2011, unless otherwise indicated.
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