Bible Study Guide Day 097: Ruth 1–4
May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
Ruth 2:12
Previous Day 096: Judges 19–21
Ruth 1
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
The Book of Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges, when all kinds of wickedness is filling the land of Israel. The book opens with a married couple, Elimelek and Naomi, leaving their hometown, Bethlehem of Judah, to escape a famine. They settle in Moab, across the Jordan River, which is pagan territory.
After Elimelek and Naomi and their two sons get to Moab, the sons marry women who worship other gods. Eventually, Elimelek and his sons all die, leaving Naomi and her Moabite daughters-in-law behind to fend for themselves.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
Naomi gets word that Bethlehem isn’t in a famine anymore, so she prepares to return home. She tells her pagan daughters-in-law to go back to their homes, where they can start over. Orpah goes back home, but Ruth makes the surprising decision to attach herself to Naomi and leave her country to move to a foreign land. As she makes this commitment to Naomi, Ruth invokes…
