by Jen | Aug 6, 2024 | 1-23, DISO studies, Ruth 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello again: here’s another week of awesome revelation from God’s Word!
Last Week’s Work
COMPARISONS
I noticed just one comparison in verse 13, where Ruth distinguishes herself from Boaz’s servants. The wording is awkward, I think, first calling herself your servant, but then saying … I am not one of your servants. My NASB95 Bible is a little clearer about the contrast, though. It reads: … I am not like one of your maidservants (emphasis mine). Perhaps because Ruth was Moabite?
CAUSES/MOTIVATIONS
I found these action – connector – explanation patterns relevant to the treatment Ruth received that first day in the field:
- explanation: She [Ruth] said, “Please let me glean…”
So
action: she came, and she has continued from early morning until now… (v7).
Here, the servant didn’t expressly say he’d given Ruth permission. I’m guessing the original audience for Ruth would already know she was entitled to do so under Mosaic law (as discussed last week).
- action: [Ruth] found favor in [Boaz’s] eyes… [even though she was] a foreigner (v10).
[because]
explanation: all she’d done for her mother-in-law… [leaving her] father and mother… [leaving her] native land and [coming] to a people [she] did not know before. (v11)
This is Boaz’s explanation when Ruth asked him why he was so kind to her. I wonder if the question indicates she didn’t know the gleaning law included foreigners. Boaz’s response shows he knew all about her, including her treatment of Naomi, that she was widowed, and she’d left family and country to live among Jews.
- action: [Ruth] found favor in [Boaz’s] eyes…
for
explanation: [Boaz] comforted [her] and spoke kindly to [her]. (v13)
- explanation: Boaz invited her to eat with him and his workers
So
action: she sat beside the reapers, … he passed her roasted grain, … she ate till she was satisfied (v14)
I’ve mentioned before this seems like over-the-top favor: the law says nothing about feeding gleaners as they worked, let alone inviting them to sit with the master and share his wine.
- explanation: After the meal, Boaz told his young men to let her glean even among the sheaves, don’t verbally harass her, and even help her (vv15-16).
So
action: she gleaned until evening (v17).
CONDITIONS/METHODS
As I read through this chapter. I noticed how Boaz didn’t initially seem to know who Ruth was (v5), but by v14, he’s inviting her to eat and share wine with them. As I considered this, the Spirit reminded me of a phrase in Ruth 1:19 I don’t think I even mentioned in our study of Ruth 1: when [Naomi and Ruth] came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. Boaz came from Bethlehem to the field (v4). If the whole town was stirred, he must have known about their arrival. I see him having least two responsibilities here: as an Israelite, to allow Ruth to glean; and as a member of Elimelech’s clan (v1), to be their redeemer per Naomi (v20). I really feel the Spirit moving me to learn more about redemption right now. Not only does it appear here in Ruth, but it also came up in my daily Bible reading this past week! Talk about a Wow! moment!
I also took note of how Boaz treated Ruth. He:
- Told her to glean in his fields exclusively (v8)
- Told his young men to leave her alone, and
- Told her to get water from their vessels when she was thirsty (v9)
- Blessed her.
Don’t you love how he describes her relocation as taking refuge under the wings of the Lord, the God of Israel (v12)?!
- Invited her to eat with them (v14)
- Instructed the young men not to harass her; but to help her (v16).
All this makes me expect good things to come between these two in future chapters!
Dig-In Challenges
Now that we’ve collected all these facts, we need to make sure we’re viewing them the same way Ruth’s author and his audience would have interpreted this story.
Here’s how I’ll be working toward that this week:
- PRAY. Of course!
- REFINE: First, let’s reread Chapter 2. We know the overall writing type from Ruth 1 is narrative, so now we’re just looking for instances of instruction, law, letter, poetry, and/or prophecy.
- REFINE: Next, I remember this book is set in the days when the judges ruled, and everyone basically did what they wanted to do. We also know no author is named for this book, but the mention of King David in Chapter 4 indicates it was written after 1010BC. Assuming a Jewish audience (Ruth is part in the Hebrew Tanakh), and considering what the Spirit seems to be pointing me toward, I want to understand what they would have known about gleaning, levirate, and redemption law, so I’ll be digging in Leviticus and Deuteronomy for that information.
REMEMBER: if you decide to research historical context about different topics or verse, stick with factual, historical resources and avoid commentary.
- REFINE: Finally, let’s examine key words and/or phrases (I’ll look at verses 12 and 20, plus anything the Spirit flags from the law) using an interlinear Bible, and note what the Spirit reveals. These Bibles are available on several study websites (I’ll be using the Blue Letter Bible Interlinear tool), and show a verse in the original Hebrew or Greek providing details about each word, including its meaning in context. As usual, I encourage you to log anything the Spirit illuminates from this exercise.
This “refining” step is more involved than the “mining” we did earlier, but I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!
GO TO WEEK 6 >
by Jen | Jul 30, 2024 | 1-23, DISO studies, Ruth 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back, my friend! As I write, I’m awed at how the Holy Spirit is using this study to bring together for me themes of famine (Genesis 41-47) from my current Bible reading plan, and humility (1 Peter 5:1-6) in a recent episode of the At This Table podcast with Athena Dean Holtz and Carol Tetzlaff. His timing is so perfect!
Last Week’s Work
REPETITION
I found two repeated terms. The first didn’t surprise me: gleaning is pretty much the whole story of this chapter. I felt called by the Spirit to do a little research with the Bible Dictionaries on BlueLetterBible.org, and discovered the origin of this custom in Mosaic law (Lev 19:9, 23:22, and Deu 24:21): field owners were directed to leave the edges unharvested so the poor and foreigners could come and collect something to eat. So Ruth being allowed to glean wasn’t special treatment: under God’s law, it was her right. Even so, verse 7 indicates she asked permission to glean. That takes humility.
The second concept was find favor. Verse 2:2 sounds like Ruth was hoping someone would let her glean his field, which Boaz’s servant apparently did (v7). But Boaz went beyond that: he told her not to go to anyone else’s field (v8), he instructed his young men to leave her alone and offered her water from the reaper’s vessels (v9). At mealtime, he was even more solicitous (vv14-16). In v13, Ruth said she found favor in his eyes, and she asked him why. Then she described being comforted and spoken kindly to, though she wasn’t even his servant.
SPECIAL STATEMENTS
I found:
- 12 Commands:
Naomi to Ruth: Go, my daughter (v2)
Boaz to Ruth:
(1) listen, my daughter;
(2) do not go to glean in another field;
(3) don’t leave this one;
(4) keep close to my young women. (v8)
(5) let your eyes be on the field they are reaping;
(6) go after them
(7) go to the vessels
(8) drink (v9)
(9) come here
(10) eat some bread
(11) dip your morsel in the wine (v14)
- 11 Blessings:
Boaz to reapers: The Lord be with you
Reapers to Boaz: The Lord bless you (v4)
Boaz to young men:
(1) let her glean even among the sheaves
(2) do not reproach her (v15)
(3) pull out some from the bundles for her
(4) leave it for her
(5) do not rebuke her (v16)
Boaz to Ruth:
The Lord repay you for what you have done,
A full reward be given to you by the Lord (v12)
Naomi to Boaz:
Blessed be the man who took notice of you (v19)
May he be blessed by the Lord (v20)
- 1 Promise by Boaz to Ruth: I charged the young men not to touch you (v9).
LISTS
Last, I identified three lists: (1) Boaz’s eleven commands to Ruth listed under the Commands section above, (2) four reasons Boaz gave Ruth for his kindness (v11):
- All she’d done for Naomi after her husband died
- She’d left her family and native land
- Came to people she didn’t know
- Took refuge under the wings of God.
And (3) Boaz’s five commands to his young men (vv15-16), also listed above.
Clearly, Boaz was a kind man of authority, who took special note of the young widow from Moab who accompanied Naomi home and was working hard to support them both.
Dig-In Challenges
Next week, we’ll be wrapping up Step 3 by looking for three more elements:
- PRAY: As always, start with the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
- MINE: Read through the passage again to see if the author uses any comparisons. The quickest way to locate these is to look for phrases containing the words like or as, as well as more than/ less than and better than/ worse than. Do you find any comparisons that connect directly with your personal focus area?
- MINE: Next, look for causes or motives in the text. The best way I’ve found to do this is to look for these key words or phrases:
because, for*, in order to, lest, since*, so*, so that, that*, to*, therefore.
Finding them almost always means you’ll find an action phrase (noun + verb) with the reason for that action, too. The *exceptions are for, since, so, that, and to—when these are used as other parts of speech (like prepositions or articles), you won’t find an action or a reason.
Next, look for the action (what’s being caused). With most of these words/phrases, you’ll find the action before the key word/phrase, and the reason will be after it.
For example, I went to the store because I was out of milk.
The action = I went to the store
because
The reason = I was out of milk.
Occasionally you may see the order of the statements reversed, but the reason will still follow the key word or phrase: Because I was out of milk, I went to the store.
However, with therefore and its synonyms so, so that, and hence, the action appears after these key words:
Here’s an example using the same reason and action as above, just changing the key word: I was out of milk; therefore, I went to the store.
Same reason = I was out of milk [but different location!]
therefore
Same action = I went to the store.
Try it, I think you’ll see it’s easier than all these words make it seem (and, of course, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions)!
- MINE: Finally, see if you can find any conditions/methods by asking: does the author condition the action you’re studying on something else happening—for example, if or when x condition is met, [then] y outcome will happen? Or does he describe a particular method by which something happens—for example, specific steps taken to achieve something, or more generally by or through attributes or actions (i.e., grace, faith)? Does he use any adverbs (-ly words) that describe how the action was accomplished?
These exercises are a little harder, but I know you can do this—give it a try and check back with me next week. I hope you’ll join me then!
GO TO WEEK 5 >
by Jen | Jul 23, 2024 | 1-23, DISO studies, Ruth 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello again! Things just keep getting more tangled in our US presidential contest, don’t they? Even as the contention is touching our family, creating wounds and ruining relationships, I know the Lord has all this in His hands and His will prevails. I ask you, wherever you are in the world, to pray for the people of this country, that they will resist the evil one’s temptation to turn on each other, especially members of God’s family through Christ. Let relationship-healing miracles begin!
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
This chapter, I believe the Spirit is leading me to dig further into vv8-16. That’s a big chunk of text, but the topic drawing my attention is whether Boaz’s treatment of Ruth is unusual (as it feels like it might be based on her statements in vv10, 13). I remember what Naomi prayed over both her daughters-in-law in chapter 1: “… May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” (Ruth 1:8b-9a ESV). Could God be using Boaz to fulfill Naomi’s prayer for kindness? Let’s find out!
I’ll start by sharing what the Spirit showed me about characters, locations, and timeframes.
WHO (CHARACTERS)
Though the passage mentions several more characters, my focus, naturally, was on Ruth and Boaz:
- Boaz is mentioned first, identified as a blood relative of Elimelech in v1, and described as a worthy man. In the text, he comes from Bethlehem to the field (v4), I’m guessing to oversee the reaping, and he notices Ruth (v5). He learns who and how diligent a worker she is from the supervisor (vv6-7), then addresses her as my daughter (v8). That seems to imply an age difference and a closer relationship than just landowner/gleaner. His charge to the reapers not to touch her, and his actions to provide for her thirst (v9), and hunger (v14) also seem too intimate for virtual strangers. He admits he knows all about her and blesses her (v11). And I love the imagery in his characterization of the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!(v12).
After Boaz invites Ruth to eat with his workers, he instructs them to let her glean among the sheaves, to even pull some of the heads out for her, and to speak kindly to her (vv14-16).
When Ruth tells of his kindness, Naomi is moved to bless Boaz, without even knowing his identity (v19). When she learns that, she mentions he is one of our redeemers (v20).
- Ruth asks Naomi for permission to glean (v1) or pick up the grain dropped in the process of reaping. God required Hebrew farmers to leave that grain behind for the poor and foreigners (Leviticus 19:9-10). Ruth is both.
While giving her permission, Naomi also calls Ruth, my daughter (v2). That seems appropriate.
When Ruth comes to the part of the field belonging to Boaz (v3), she asks permission to glean there, working from early morning (v7) to evening (v17) with just two breaks—a short rest (v7) and a meal (v14). After Boaz approaches and speaks to her, she prostrates herself before him and asks why he even noticed her (v10), then acknowledges his favor, comfort, and kindness (v13).
Her work, including beating out what she gleaned, nets about one ephah of barley (per Wikipedia, about 35-39 pounds of grain!). She took it to Naomi, along with leftovers from her meal (vv17-18).
Ruth continued to glean in Boaz’s field through the barley and wheat harvests (v23).
WHERE (LOCATIONS)
- The main location for this chapter was the field outside Bethlehem where Ruth went to glean, specifically the portion of it owned by Boaz.
- The supervisor mentioned Ruth’s homeland (Moab) by name (v6), which Boaz calls your native land (v11). I’m aware of some animosity between Israel and Moab, though not sure this is the right timeframe for that.
- Boaz invited Ruth to sit with them at mealtime. I wonder if that was another instance of special treatment: would women eat with men? Would gleaners be fed at all?
WHEN (TIMEFRAMES)
All the timeframes I noticed seemed to point to what a diligent worker Ruth was:
- She worked from early morning (v7) till evening (v17). An ephah seems like a lot of grain: it feels like she had to have worked hard to gather that much even with the help of the reapers.
- At mealtime (v14). This was one of only two breaks Ruth took that day. Pretty amazing!
Dig-In Challenges
I hope you’ve also discovered some interesting facts from the setting of Ruth 2, and it spurs you to work through more of this process. Here’s what I’ll be doing this week:
- PRAY each time I start to study using my prayer from last week.
- MINE: Look for repeated concepts in this passage and, if I find any, consider their relevance to how Boaz treated Ruth.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) connected to his treatment of her.
- MINE: See if I can find any lists (3 or more similar items mentioned in the text) that are related to how Boaz treated Ruth.
See you next week!
GO TO WEEK 4 >
by Jen | Jul 16, 2024 | 1-23, DISO studies, Ruth 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back, I’m glad you’re here, my friend! For those in the United States, it’s been a week, hasn’t it? I am praying for our nation and specifically for the victims of Saturday’s shooting and their families, and encourage you to do the same, even for those with whom you disagree. My fervent prayer is for unity: not uniformity. Let us love each other despite our differences; and let us begin by seeking God’s help for the miracle that requires. If you’ve been studying with me for a while here, you know miracles require faith and prayer. I hope you’ll join me in praying and believing for a united nation.
Now, let’s get back to our study of Ruth!
Last Week’s Work
MY PRAYER
Here’s the prayer I intend to pray before digging into Ruth 2:
Thank You, Lord and Father God, for another chance to dig into Ruth. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to help me see, understand, and apply the principles here to my life. Remove the scales from my eyes and the plugs from my ears and unburden my heart so I can see all You want me to discover here. Give me wisdom to recognize Your good counsel and courage to follow it no matter what. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
If you’re studying along with me, you’re welcome to use this one.
HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
Next, I slowly read through the study text, focusing on my reactions, and noting the parts that caught my attention. Here are my responses:
- HUH? What does a worthy man mean (v1)?
- WOW! I think it was most observant of Boaz to notice Ruth and ask about her (v5).
- HUH? and WOW! Did Ruth understand the Jewish Levirate law? Naomi mentioned it in Ruth 1:11-13. Specifically, it only calls for brothers to marry sisters-in-law, but Boaz is of the same clan (v1). Could Naomi or Ruth demand Boaz support them under it? If so, I think it’s notable that Ruth is so respectful of the servants (v7) and of Boaz (v10). But wait, at this point, Ruth probably didn’t know who Boaz was; though, looking ahead to the next chapter, Naomi did (3:2)! Maybe I’ve become too jaded by current culture, but I still find Ruth’s respect for the servants and for Boaz—not knowing who they were—remarkable.
- WOW! Gotta love Boaz: he starts with a beautiful blessing (v12), provides for her at mealtime (v14), and even instructs the reapers to help her (v16). What a great guy!
- HUH? How much is an ephah of barley (v17)? It took Ruth a whole day (vv7,17) to glean that much.
- WOW! Ruth gave her leftover food to Naomi instead of keeping it hidden so she could have it later (v18).
Dig-In Challenges
Next week, I plan to:
- PRAY: Read my prayer before studying this passage.
- MINE: Identify which aspect of this study I feel the Spirit leading me to dig deepest into right now. It could be one (or more) of the Huh? and Wow! Moments I wrote about this week, or some other item the Spirit hasn’t yet called to my attention.
- MINE: Focus specifically on the setting of the scene in Ruth 2 (who’s involved, where and when did the action take place), and note anything the Spirit emphasizes.
See you again soon, I hope!
GO TO WEEK 3 >
by Jen | Jul 9, 2024 | 1-23, DISO studies, Introduction, Ruth 2
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re with me as I study the second chapter of Ruth! We’ll be using the 5-step inductive study process I’ve developed from leading youth and women’s Bible studies for more than ten years.
Let’s Study Ruth 2!
After learning so much about bitterness from Naomi in Ruth 1, I’m ready to see what the Holy Spirit has for us in the second chapter of Ruth. So, this week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Ruth 2. If you want to work along with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Ruth 2, plus access to the entire book of Ruth.
I copy the text from www.blueletterbible.org, paste it in a word processing program (Google docs or MS Word), change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a copy I created with plenty of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
To finish this study we’ll need to review what we’ve learned, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work in Steps 1-4. I’m old-school and like the pen/pencil-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to physically write or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, if you just don’t have the bandwidth to study right now, no problem. You’re welcome to just read the posts I publish here. They’ll help you become more familiar with the process and show you how the Spirit speaks to my situation. I’m praying there will be enough similarities between my life and yours that you’ll find it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig in yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So here’s what I’m going to do this coming week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer that I can pray every time I study Ruth 2. I’m going to write it in my study journal, so I’ll have it handy each time I study.
- SURVEY: And then I’ll read Ruth 2, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and ask the Spirit to reveal which one He would have me dig more deeply into right now.
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you—I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Jul 2, 2024 | 1-22, DISO studies, Ruth 1
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Wow! I can hardly believe this is the last week for Ruth 1. I am again amazed at how the Spirit has helped me learn anew through this story. If you’re working with me, I hope you’ve discovered new ways of reading, studying, and thinking about Naomi’s situation. Here’s how I think the Spirit is leading me to practice what I’ve found.
Last Week’s Work
LESSON(S) LEARNED
As I went back over my study notes, the Spirit showed me these principles:
- You can’t run from God’s discipline. Elimelech, Naomi, and their sons left Bethlehem during a famine—a scriptural punishment for the disobedience common in Israel during the time of the Judges. But a change of habitat didn’t make that much difference. Elimelech and his two sons died anyway, leaving Naomi in a strange land with only her two Moabite daughters-in-law.
- God’s discipline can make us bitter. It certainly did so to Naomi, she recognizes it in verse 20, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
- But the Lord doesn’t want us to be alone in our bitterness. By God’s provision, one of Naomi’s sons married Ruth. We don’t know much of Ruth’s background, only that she was a Moabite. Her country didn’t acknowledge Naomi’s God (our God), but by the time Naomi was ready to return home, Ruth knew enough about Him to take an oath converting to Judaism (v16). From whom but her husband and her husband’s mother would she have learned about God? And, even when Naomi turned into a bitter, old woman, Ruth committed to stay with her anyway.
I’m really excited about these revelations! I see them coming together in an awesome way as we dig deeper into Ruth, so I hope you’ll stay tuned through this whole series, my friend!
CONVICTION
In this section of study, my focus landed on what Naomi did in her bitterness. She turned back to God by going home.
In a sense, I’ve been where Naomi was. I also left home for greener pastures only to become destitute through a series of self-serving decisions. I, too, was embittered by the failure of my plans—so bitter I wanted to take an easy, though permanent, way out. Looking back through the lens of this chapter, I see how God placed several Ruth-like women in my life who stuck with me when I needed their energy and assistance. What a wonderful God He is, providing companions like Ruth who walked with me on the difficult journey back to Him.
CORRECTION
This time I didn’t find a correction text from Ruth 1 or its cross-references. As I was doing a little more reading about Moabites in general, the Spirit brought up from nowhere this partially memorized verse:
… if my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
When I get Scripture like this, I always look it up, paying particular attention to the literal context. In this case, it’s the second part of a sentence God spoke to King Solomon after he finished and dedicated the temple in Jerusalem. Here’s the first part:
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, (2 Chronicles 7:13)
Sounds like the kind of stuff that would cause a famine, huh?!
And the amazing thing is, we know Naomi humbled herself and turned from pursuing her own solution to the famine crisis. I think it’s probably fair to assume she also prayed and sought God’s face, even as she complained to others of her bitterness at His outstretched hand.
ACTION PLAN
This is one of the easiest action plans I’ve ever developed for a study because my correction verse spells it out so well!
When I feel bitterness, resentment, indignation, etc., coming on—and it happens more often than I want to admit—I will turn back to God, humble myself, pray, and seek Him through His Word.
Our Next Study
Thanks so much for joining me for this study! If you’re working along with me, we’re 25% done with the book of Ruth! I hope you’ll continue to check in as I start Ruth chapter 2 next week. After the long journey back to Bethlehem, Ruth’s life is about to get really interesting!
CONTINUE TO RUTH 2 STUDY
