Custom Search
|
To receive notice of each days Bible Study,
please go to my Twitter and Facebook pages and sign up.
Facebook -
| Daily Bible Study | ||
 You can help people worldwide. Please make a small donation. Make a difference in someone elses life. |
Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List 
Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your email inbox. |
Express your comments, opinions, questions, etc. |
| Ruth 1:1-5 |
|
Lesson # Ruth. 1:1-5 Study Material - Ruth. 1:1-5 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. 1 Now it came to pass in the days [yowm] when the judges [shaphat] ruled [shaphat] , that there was a famine [ra`ab] in the land ['erets] . And a certain man ['iysh] of Bethlehemjudah [Beyth Lechem] [Yahuwdah] went [yalak] to sojourn [guwr] in the country [sadeh] of Moab [Mow'ab] , he, and his wife ['ishshah] , and his two [shanayim] sons [ben] . 2 And the name [shem] of the man ['iysh] was Elimelech ['Eliymelek] , and the name [shem] of his wife ['ishshah] Naomi [No`omiy] , and the name [shem] of his two [shanayim] sons [ben] Mahlon [Machlown] and Chilion [Kilyown] , Ephrathites ['Ephrathiy] of Bethlehemjudah [Beyth Lechem] [Yahuwdah] . And they came [bow'] into the country [sadeh] of Moab [Mow'ab] , and continued there. 3 And Elimelech ['Eliymelek] Naomi's [No`omiy] husband ['iysh] died [muwth] ; and she was left [sha'ar] , and her two [shanayim] sons [ben] . 4 And they took [nasa'] them wives ['ishshah] of the women ['ishshah] of Moab [Mow'abiy] ; the name [shem] of the one ['echad] was Orpah [Orpah] , and the name [shem] of the other [sheniy] Ruth [Ruwth] : and they dwelled [yashab] there about ten [eser] years [shaneh (in pl. only),] . 5 And Mahlon [Machlown] and Chilion [Kilyown] died [muwth] also both [shanayim] of them; and the woman ['ishshah] was left [sha'ar] of her two [shanayim] sons [yeled] and her husband ['iysh] . KJV-Interlinear 1 Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4 And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. NASB The time of the Judges, a time when Israel had no king, began after the time of Joshua, around 1400 BC, and continued until the time of Saul, approximately 1050 BC, when he was appointed the first king over Israel. The link between Joshua and the book of Ruth is in their genealogy. Israel, without a leader and now that Joshua was gone, oscillated, in cycles of disobedience to God, between oppression from its neighbors, and eventually, deliverance from its problems. God raised up Judges, those who would deliver the nation, or various regions within the nation, from its oppressors. In the midst of these national or regional events, individual peoples lived their lives, as the greater picture of the world swirled around them. The genealogy during this time in history is, Salmon marrying Rahab and they had Boaz. Ruth will marry Boaz and they will have a son, Obed, who will have a son, Jesse, who will have a son, David. There will be four generations through the time of the Judges, until Saul, and then to David's time, or approximately 400 years. In the land of milk and honey, is the land of Canaan, and more specifically the city of Bethlehem in the region of Ephrathah, there is a famine. The only other famine mentioned in the book of Judges, is during the time of Gideon, which occurred about half way through the period of the judges or at about 1250 BC. So this may have taken place in the time of Gideon, perhaps after his defeat of the Midianites and the Amalekites. That is only speculation of course. There was obviously peace between Israel and Moab at this time. Elimelech and his family will move to Moab and his sons will marry Moabite women. Moab lies to the east of the Dead Sea. There was famine in the land, and in Bethlehem, the city of bread. No bread in the city of bread. This is true of the physical sense of bread, as well as in the spiritual sense in general. Elimelech and his wife left the land of milk and honey, for the land of Moab. Moab meaning, 'from her mother's father.' Moab was the incestuous son of Lot. No doubt Elimelech along with his wife had some doctrine in their souls, but just as Abram left for Egypt when Abram experienced a famine, so Elimelech left for Moab, for a 'temporary' stay, 'To sojourn' there. Abram was able to return. Elimelech did not return. He left doctrine (Bethlehem representing the city of spiritual bread) and died outside of doctrine (in Moab, the land of sin). His trip set into motion the sequence of events that will lead to Ruth's, a Moabite woman, move to Bethlehem and eventual marriage to Boaz and her inclusion in the line of David and eventually Jesus Christ. Famine is representative of that lack of food. The lack of food means that there was a lack of production. Whatever seeds were planted, did not grow, probably due to lack of rain. And that which did grow produced little. This paints a picture of a weak spiritual life in the region. The lack of grain sown is reflective of the lack of Bible study people were engaged in, or rather were not engaged in. The lack of production or harvest is indicative of the lack of application of that doctrine to the daily lives of people in general. A weak study program, leads to a weak knowledge base, and therefore few spiritual resources for applying Gods Word to ones life. Therefore the famine, or the picture of bad and hard times. People will be hungry from lack of food. People will lose income from lack of work. And then ultimately decisions are made - to remain and hope for better times, or to move and seek a better situation elsewhere. Elimelech chose to leave Bethlehem, the city of 'spiritual' bread. He walked away from God. He was already weak in his spiritual life, and he moved to Moab, where sin is more pronounced. The three men of the family, Elimelech and his two sons, died in Moab. The trip that was intended to last for a short while extended to ten years, or a rather permanent stay. They left Bethlehem (doctrine) temporarily probably with every intention of returning, and got distracted or trapped by their daily schedule, by their own attitude and comfort in Moab, in the land of sin (incest). Naomi, who was bound to go where her husband went, was now in a foreign land and destitute with only her widowed daughters-in-law. She had no future in Moab and obviously desired to return to Bethlehem. She had continued her studies in Gods Word, as we will see later. Ruth too, had a desire to remain with Naomi and the faith that Naomi kept in her household, and probably taught Ruth. Ruth would have a natural tendency and close relationship with the one who taught her about God. Naomi's God, would become Ruth's God) Note that it is not always the man of the house that keeps faith functioning inside the house. Often it is the wife or mother who teaches doctrine, and who holds the household together by means of doctrine. Every home is held together or torn apart because of what God has planned for that home. Naomi was loyal to her husband, though he chose to leave Bethlehem. Probably not a good choice. God was gracious to Naomi, though now she is destitute and has lost everything, God will return her to her first love, her home in Israel, and closer to where the Word of God is taught. The family left Israel intending to return, but got caught up in their new environment and remained in Moab and the beliefs of that land. Elimelech means 'god of the mighty king'. They are the words 'el', and 'melech' combined. Which implies that he was probably a very proud and headstrong person. This also indicates that there had been spiritual knowledge in the land. Elimelech's parents named him after doctrinal principles. The famine caused some type of embarrassment (lack of work, lack of income perhaps), thus he left. Note that Boaz an older man when Ruth arrives ten years later, did not leave the land, nor did many others in the land, not leave for Moab or other parts unknown. Many remained. Those who remained in Bethlehem will receive Naomi with open arms when she returns. So the principle here is this. There is often temptation to leave doctrine. Perhaps from hardships in life, from embarrassment of some type either public or private, from boredom or disappointment of expectations, social problems, medical problems, employment related problems, business problems, from many possible things that distract or lead one away from doctrine. One can logically think that one will return to doctrine when things get better. 'I'll get back to Bible study when I get my bills paid, or when I have more time.' Good intentions, however that is a fantasy that never occurs. Doctrine is the mechanism of improvement, not the abandonment of doctrine. We can think that when we get more time, then we will spend time in Bible study, but the reality is that Bible study is the means of attaining more time in ones life. To leave Bible study, to ignore it, or avoid it is a bad decision and leads to bad results. Elimelech will die away from doctrine. His loss is incalculable. Anyone who leaves their study of Bible doctrine for parts unknown (life in the carnal world, the social, hustle and bustle world) will in turn lose any blessings that God might have provided for them during their life, and they will lose out on those additional blessings in eternity due to their lack of spiritual growth while they were alive on this earth. Naomi was faithful to her husband, as well as to God. She kept faith regardless of her location and taught it to those whom she loved. Naomi means 'pleasant, agreeable, delight, grace, splendor'. She was most probably a very nice and intelligent woman in her own right. The saying that 'God helps those who help themselves' is generally misinterpreted implying that one has to hustle in life in order to get Gods help, and that is not the case. Helping ones self means to pursue Bible study, helping ones self means spiritual advancement, thus through spiritual growth, through fellowship residence, then God will provide unlimited help to the spiritually positive and mature believer. The issue of moving to another geographical location is not what is important either, nor is it relevant. Elimelech left the environment of God and Bible study in his life. He could very well have continued his studies and spiritual growth regardless of where he ended up. Naomi did. Elimelech and his sons did not. Naomi was eventually returned to the land of milk and honey. Her husband and sons hustled in the land of sin, Moab, and they died in that foreign land. Elimelech mortgaged his property and therefore his life. He sold his inheritance for a chance to live elsewhere. Naomi will return to and redeem her property and restore her inheritance with the help of a redeemer, Boaz.
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
|
Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List 
Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your inbox. |
|
|
|
|