09WK6 -RUTH – SELFLESSNESS AND DILIGENCE LEAD TO SUCCESS

RUTH – SELFLESSNESS AND DILIGENCE LEAD TO SUCCESS

KEY VERSE: She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning
till now, except for a short rest in the shelter. RUTH 2:7

SCRIPTURE LESSON: RUTH 1:19-2:23
Ruth 1: So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
Don’t call me Naomi, “she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied but Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
RUTH 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz.
2. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor. “ Naomi said to her, “go ahead, my daughter.”

3. So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvests. As it turned out, she went out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.


4. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!” they called back.
5. Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “ Whose young woman is that?
1. The foreman replied, “ She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi.
2. She said, ‘please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters. She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8. So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls.
9. Watch the field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10. At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in you eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?”
11. Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of you husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
12. 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.”
13. “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls.”
14. AT mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar. “When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over.
15. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don’t embarrass her.
16. Rather, pull out some stalks fro her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
17. So Ruth gleaned in the filed until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.
18. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
19. Her mother-in-law her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20. The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
21. Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “ He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.”
22. Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, :It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”
23. So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

BACKGROUND
Las week, we began to study the character of Ruth who later became, the great grandmother of King David of Israel and consequently the ancestor of the lord Jesus Christ on the human side. She took a very challenging decision to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, to live among a people who had been traditional enemies of her own people, Moab.

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Gold’s law instructed farmers, at harvest, to leave behind all that the harvesters missed. This was so that the widow, the fatherless, the poor and the alien could glean, that is harvest the left- overs for themselves (Lev. 19:9,10)

Ruth offered to undertake this task, so that they could be provided for, even though they had not been back for long and was consequently a stranger to Bethlehem and its customs. But she would not be deterred by this obvious limitation to stay at home mother-in-law and to save the situation.

IN DEPTH
Ruth 1:19-22 Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley (and later wheat) harvest, which traditionally fell in April and May Naomi means pleasant but in her bitterness she would rather be called ‘Mara meaning bitter. In her estimation, God has been unfair to her but her understanding of God’s ways is limited (see 1 the. 5:18).




RUTH 2: 1 – 4 – God leads Ruth to glean in the field of Boaz who was relative to her father-in-law, Elimelech. As a young widow, who was also an alien, a Moabitess, working alone in the field, Ruth’s decision opened her up to possible abuse. The content of the greetings exchanged between Boaz and his workers reflect Boaz’s nature and also make them worthy of emulation.
VERSES 5-9 The hard work, persistence and commitment of Ruth is revealed. Boaz faith in committing herself to the God of Israel is again highlighted. The result: Boaz heaps upon her words of blessings.
VERSES 14 – 18. Boaz continues to show much kindness to Ruth. She obtains an ephah, which is about 22 liters of grain. Can this immense kindness not be related to her selflessness, diligence and act of faith?
VERSES 19 – 23. The lord had led Naomi unknowingly to Boaz, who was a kinsman. The kinsman-redeemer was responsible for protecting the interests of needy members of the extended family. This is divine providence!

THE WORD IN OUR LIVES
A story is told of how a couple of good standing tin the U.S. ask two relations to take charge of two building projects they had embarked upon, each in charge of one. Azu, the first relation mismanaged the monies that were sent to him, but in order to show evidence of its use, purchased inferior quality materials for the building. Also the composition of cement to sand for the block work was so thin that the house was quite weak. It was not long after completion that cracks began to develop.





The other relation, Martey put in first class work, occasionally going beyond the budget to ensure that a high level of quality was achieved in the construction exercise. For him ‘whatever you do, work at with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving’ (Col. 3:23-24). So he did.

Not long after the buildings were completed the couple passed through Ghana on their way to a conference. They summoned their relations, Azu and Martey to a hotel near the airport and informed them that they had received a very high international appointment, which would eventually keep them away for a further 15 years. Since they would be away for so long they had decided to donate the houses to them and their families and to build again when they were about to return. What a shock for Azu, but joy and happiness for Martey! It was obvious why the two contrasting emotional reactions.

Maxwell comments on the story of Ruth in his Leadership Bibles as follows: Commitment precedes resources. Until a leader commits, hesitancy lingers. But the moment that leader definitely commits then God moves and a whole stream of evens begin to flow. ‘Ruth committed herself to making the return to Bethlehem a success. So, early in their stay, when still virtually a stranger in Israel, she decided to do whatever it took to remove poverty from their home. This was her decision, her own initiative, in the task of settling. She worked so hard, out of the normal, that she received a very high commendation from the other harvesters. She was committed to be of service to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and to carry through her pledge of devotion to her and to God (1:10-17) And she did all this when there was the strong possibility of abuse because of her social position! NO wonder God blessed her efforts. She ended up in a field where she received the maximum protection and provision. One event led to the other until eventually she got a husband.

METRO ‘TV’ and ‘TV’3 of Ghana show programmes, ‘The Survivor’s Story and ‘M’asem’ (my story) in which people of low social estate through selfless hard work, Christians will do well to learn from Ruth and from them. Let us be committed to God’s word and his direction. Let us be committed to diligence and hard work. And God will prove himself to be God! There will be a testimony.

TEST YOURSELF
1. What reason did Naomi give for rejecting her name for Mara/ (1:20)
2. How was Boaz related to Naomi/ (2:1)
3. Because Ruth was no used to gleaning, she often stopped to rest in Boaz’s field. True or False (2:6-7).
4. Quote Ruth 2:12
5. Complete: The Lord bless him! “Naomi said to her daughter-in-law……. (2:20)
6. State the food items Boaz offered Ruth during the lunch break (2:14)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.
1a. Ruth must have learnt about the practice of gleaning in Israel from Naomi. What moved her to glean when still a stranger in Israel?
b. What may young people learn from Ruth when they find themselves in positions of need?
3. In what way did Ruth show herself to be selfless in the incidents of this week’s passage? Give examples to show how Christians may be similarly selfless
4. What lesson about commitment do we learn from Ruth’s character in this week’s passage?
5. Give examples to show how God honours commitment, selflessness and diligence.
6. Identify and discuss lessons from the actions of Boaz in today’s passage.

BIBLES LESSON APPLICATION
This week, reflect on the story of Ruth and her selflessness, commitment and diligence. Take decisions that will enable you to show forth these characteristics in your life.

DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday John 13:1-17 Humility and Service
Tuesday Colossians 3:22-25 Work as unto the Lord
Wednesday Mathew 25:14-30 Use you talent to work
Thursday Proverbs 6:6-11 Do not be lazy
Friday Proverbs 27:23-27 Be diligent and wise
Saturday Revelation 2:1-7 Work hard till the end

The study on Ruth continues in 09WK 8 and 09WK 18