Ruth & Esther
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About this ebook
See What God Will Do When You Trust Him
Can trusting God change the world? Ruth and Esther, two young women who lived 600 years apart, would both say Yes. Living in dark days, ruled by oppressive regimes, their small but significant faithfulness would play a decisive role in God’s bigger plan. Ruth chose to leave her family, face hardship, and trust God, without knowing what would happen to her. Esther chose to risk her life, confront the king, and trust God, even if it cost her her life. Today, their stories still inspire believers to see what God will do when they trust Him.
LifeChange
LifeChange Bible studies will help you grow in Christlikeness through a life-changing encounter with God’s Word. Filled with a wealth of ideas for going deeper so you can return to this study again and again.
Features
- Cover the books of Ruth & Esther in 10 lessons
- Equip yourself to lead a Bible study
- Imagine the Bible’s historical world
- Study word origins and definitions
- Explore thoughtful questions on key themes
- Go deeper with optional projects
- Add your notes with extra space and wide margins
- Find the flexibility to fit the time you have
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Ruth & Esther - The Navigators
Lesson One
OVERVIEW
The Story of Ruth
Map of Israel Under the Judges
Map showing the area around Israel. The Mediterranean Sea is to the west. From north to south are the regions of Asher and Naphtali, Zebulun, Manasseh, Ephraim, Benjamin, Judah, the Philistines to Judah's west, and Moab to its east. The cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are in Judah. The city of Gaza is in the region of the Philistines.In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Judges 17:6; 21:25
The story of Ruth shines like a diamond in the dark years before Israel took Saul as its king. On one level, it is a tale of selfless love in a family, but at bottom it tells what God was doing when most of His people were doing whatever they pleased.
Timeline for the Book of Ruth. 1446 BC: Moses leads the Israelites in the Exodus from Egypt. 1406 BC: Joshua leads the Israelites into the promised land. 1380 to 1043 BC, approximately: The Judges. Shortly after 1100 BC: Ruth marries Boaz. 1043-1011 BC: Saul, king of Israel. 1011-971 BC: David, king of Israel. 971-931 BC: Solomon, king of Israel. 931 BC: Solomon dies; Israel and Judah split into two nations.The judges
After Moses died, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land. They were supposed to kill or enslave all the Canaanites, lest those people seduce Israel into their depraved, pagan ways (see Deuteronomy 7:1-6). But the conquest was incomplete when Joshua died, and the Israelites found it more agreeable to settle down among the Canaanites, trade and intermarry with them, and borrow their morals and religious beliefs.
God had promised Israel victory over the Canaanites if His people remained faithful to Him, but defeat and enslavement if they shared their loyalties with other gods. The book of Judges shows a repeating cycle of apostasy, oppression by foreign peoples, appeals for help, and deliverance by the ever-faithful Lord. What the Israelites saw at the time, however, was an endless series of skirmishes and raids interspersed with months or years of tense peace. The judges
who arose were men (and one woman) endowed by God with special skills to lead the tribes. They were chiefly empowered to lead in warfare, but God also gifted them with wisdom, discernment, and moral virtue.
When a judge defeated an enemy, there was often peace in his region for a generation. He was respected as one who could decide disputes between people, and he might influence some Israelites to conform their religion and ethics more to God’s Law. However, no judge ever governed more than a few of the twelve tribes of Israel. Israel was just a loose league of tribes; the mountains and Canaanite cities that separated them prevented unified action. Hence, while there was peace and godliness briefly in one tribe, parts of another tribe were practicing child sacrifice and ritual prostitution with their pagan neighbors, and another several tribes were at war with foreigners.
Judah, where the book of Ruth is set, seldom appears in the book of Judges. No judge over Judah is named, and no battle for liberation is described. Judges 15:9-13 tells us that in the time of Samson the Philistines dominated Judah and the tribe accepted its foreign rulers. The Judahites mustered a force, not to support Samson, but to capture him for the Philistines.
[1] The Philistines worshiped the gods Dagon (Grain,
a god of the crops) and Baal-Zebul (Baal the Prince,
a god of rain and thunder). However, Bethlehem in the book of Ruth shows no signs of war or Philistine influence; the village is like an island in a sea of violence and