Ruth and Esther E-Book

Kathleen Nielson

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Knowing the Bible
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 114

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The books of Ruth and Esther recount two of the most memorable stories in all of Scripture: Ruth, a displaced widow in search of a new home and loving husband, and Esther, a courageous queen intent on saving her people from imminent destruction. Plumbing the theological depths, this guide explains the biblical text with clarity and passion—leading us on a journey to discover the God who hears the cries of his people and remains faithful to his promises. Over the course of 12 weeks, each study in this series explores a book of the Bible and: - Asks thoughtful questions to spur discussion - Shows how each passage unveils the gospel - Ties the text in with the whole story of Scripture - Illuminates the doctrines taught in each passage - Invites you to discover practical implications - Helps you better understand and apply God's Word

Leseprobe

RUTH AND ESTHER

A 12-WEEK STUDY

Kathleen B. Nielson

Knowing the Bible: Ruth and Esther, A 12-Week Study

Copyright © 2014 by Crossway

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Some content used in this study guide has been adapted from the ESV Study Bible (Crossway), copyright 2008 by Crossway, pages 475–483 and 849–868. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design: Simplicated Studio

First printing 2014

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4038-7

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4039-4

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4040-0

EPub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4041-7

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Series Preface: J. I. Packer and Lane T. Dennis

Week 1:    Overview of Ruth

Week 2:    Returning to Bethlehem (Ruth 1)

Week 3:    A Meeting in the Barley Field (Ruth 2)

Week 4:    A Proposal on the Threshing Floor (Ruth 3)

Week 5:    Redemption at the Gate (Ruth 4)

Week 6:    Overview of Esther

Week 7:    The Pieces in Place (Esther 1–2)

Week 8:    The Crisis and the Response (Esther 3–4)

Week 9:    The Story Takes a Turn (Esther 5–6)

Week 10:   Falling and Rising: Switched and Speeding to the End (Esther 7–8)

Week 11:   Reversal: Consummated, Celebrated, and Concluded (Esther 9–10)

Week 12:   Summary and Conclusion

SERIES PREFACE

KNOWING THE BIBLE, as the series title indicates, was created to help readers know and understand the meaning, the message, and the God of the Bible. Each volume in the series consists of 12 units that progressively take the reader through a clear, concise study of that book of the Bible. In this way, any given volume can fruitfully be used in a 12-week format either in group study, such as in a church-based context, or in individual study. Of course, these 12 studies could be completed in fewer or more than 12 weeks, as convenient, depending on the context in which they are used.

Each study unit gives an overview of the text at hand before digging into it with a series of questions for reflection or discussion. The unit then concludes by highlighting the gospel of grace in each passage (“Gospel Glimpses”), identifying whole-Bible themes that occur in the passage (“Whole-Bible Connections”), and pinpointing Christian doctrines that are affirmed in the passage (“Theological Soundings”).

The final component to each unit is a section for reflecting on personal and practical implications from the passage at hand. The layout provides space for recording responses to the questions proposed, and we think readers need to do this to get the full benefit of the exercise. The series also includes definitions of key words. These definitions are indicated by a note number in the text and are found at the end of each chapter.

Lastly, to help understand the Bible in this deeper way, we urge readers to use the ESV Bible and the ESV Study Bible, which are available in various print and digital formats, including online editions at www.esvbible.org. The Knowing the Bible series is also available online. Additional 12-week studies covering each book of the Bible will be added as they become available.

May the Lord greatly bless your study as you seek to know him through knowing his Word.

J. I. Packer

Lane T. Dennis

WEEK 1: OVERVIEWOF RUTH

Getting Acquainted

Two books in the Bible are named after women: Ruth and Esther. These women lived approximately five centuries apart, one in the period leading up to the kingdom of Israel,1 and the other following the kingdom’s decline and fall. One was a foreigner who came to the land of Judah; the other was a Jew who lived in a foreign land. God has always been at work in the whole world he made and over which he rules. Both women played crucial roles in the big story of God’s redeeming2 a people for himself from all the nations through his Son.

We begin with Ruth, a foreigner who found a home in Bethlehem. She lived during the period of the judges, when there was yet no king in Israel and “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 21:25). This masterful narrative is about Ruth, but it is even more about God’s covenant3 kindness to his people—even in the midst of their repeated rebellion against him. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, doubts but then learns this kindness, as Ruth and Boaz live it out before her eyes. In four artfully shaped scenes, these three characters live the story of a God who provides for his people according to his promises.

The narrative draws us into the experience of these widowed women who move from empty desolation in Moab to full provision back in Bethlehem. But the story keeps lifting our eyes in the process, letting us glimpse the God in charge of famine and harvest and barrenness and birth and death and indeed every scene of human history. Reading the book of Ruth, we marvel at Ruth’s story and we see more clearly the God who so kindly directs it. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 475–477, or visit www.esvbible.org.)

Placing It in the Larger Story

God’s covenant promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:1–7) are beautifully displayed in Ruth. Although the period in which she lived was one of disobedience and disarray, God had indeed made Abraham’s seed into a great people and settled them in the Land of Promise. In Ruth’s life, the blessing4 promised to those who bless God’s people proves true. As she, the foreigner, is enfolded among them, we catch a glimpse of all the families of the earth being blessed by Abraham’s seed.

The crowning evidence of God’s covenant faithfulness emerges at the book’s end, with the repeated mention of Ruth’s descendant David (Ruth 4:17–22), the great king to whom God promised an eternal throne (2 Sam. 7:12–17). But this blessing peeks through from the moment we open Ruth and begin to read about Bethlehem in Judah—Judah being the land named after the tribe from which David came. The Scriptures ultimately show the fulfillment of all God’s promises in the coming of Jesus Christ, the heavenly king born in Bethlehem, in the line of David. Matthew 1:1–6 gives us the genealogy that Ruth helps unfold in living color.

The book of Ruth is one episode in the story of Jesus. It’s an episode that shows the utterly magnificent and intensely personal kindness of this God who is redeeming a people for himself from all the families of the earth. As God fulfills all Ruth’s and Naomi’s needs for food, home, and family, through their redeemer Boaz, we glimpse the heavenly Redeemer in whom all these needs are finally and fully met.

Key Verse

“Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!’” (Ruth 4:14).

Date and Historical Background

Ruth’s story takes place “in the days when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1). The book of Judges describes this period (c. 13th–11th centuries BC) as a downward-spiraling cycle of sinful5 rebellion by God’s people, followed by cries for help to God who sends a deliverer/judge, followed again by sinful rebellion. Such a background for Ruth’s story highlights both the need for and the wonder of God’s merciful6 faithfulness to his people.

The book’s concluding genealogy, with its mention of David, implies that it was composed later, after David’s taking the throne in c. 1010 BC.

Outline

I. Introduction: Naomi Bereft of Family (1:1–5)

II. Scene 1: Naomi Returns to Bethlehem with Ruth (1:6–22)

III. Scene 2: Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field (2:1–23)

IV. Scene 3: Ruth, at the Threshing Floor, Asks Boaz to Marry Her (3:1–18)

V. Scene 4: Boaz Arranges Redemption at the Gate (4:1–12)

VI. Conclusion: Naomi Blessed with a New Family (4:13–17)

VII. Genealogy: Extended Blessing (4:18–22)

As You Get Started . . .

Do a quick read-through of Ruth, as if you were reading a short story. What aspects of the book stand out after such a reading? Jot down some of your initial observations.

This book called “Ruth” doesn’t start and end with Ruth! Look at the prominent role of Naomi in the beginning (ch. 1) and the end (4:13–17). What do you notice? What are your thoughts at this point on why Naomi provides the “bookends” to this story?

On first reading, what specific words (perhaps repeated ones) or phrases stand out to you? Write them down. How might those words help clarify the big picture of what this book is about?

As You Finish This Unit . . .

Take a moment now to ask God to bless you with increased understanding and a transformed heart and life as you study the book of Ruth. Look back through this introductory chapter and underline words or thoughts you would like to pray about or consider further. May the Spirit who inspired Scripture’s living and active words use them to challenge and encourage our hearts.

Definitions

1Israel – Originally, another name given to Jacob (Gen. 32:28). Later applied to the nation formed by his descendants, then to the 10 northern tribes of that nation, who rejected the anointed king and formed their own nation. In the NT, the name is applied to the church as the spiritual descendants of Abraham (Gal. 6:16).

2Redemption – In the context of the Bible, the act of buying back someone who had become enslaved or something that had been lost to someone else. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus purchased redemption for all believers (Col. 1:13–14).

3Covenant – A binding agreement between two parties, typically involving a formal statement of their relationship, a list of stipulations and obligations for both parties, a list of witnesses to the agreement, and a list of curses for unfaithfulness and blessings for faithfulness to the agreement. God throughout Old Testament times established covenants with his people, all of which he faithfully keeps, and all of whose benefits come to God’s people finally through Christ, who inaugurated the new covenant (1 Cor. 11:25).

4Bless – To worship or praise another, especially God; to bestow goodness on another.

5Sin – Any violation of or failure to adhere to the commands of God.

6Mercy – Compassion and kindness toward someone experiencing hardship, sometimes even when such suffering results from the person’s own sin or foolishness. God displays mercy toward his people and they, in turn, are called to display mercy toward others (Luke 6:36).

WEEK 2: RETURNINGTO BETHLEHEM

Ruth 1

The Place of the Passage

Ruth begins with a brief introduction and a dramatic first scene that set the stage for the whole narrative. In the midst of a desolate context both historically and personally, Naomi decides to return from Moab to Bethlehem. That return precipitates the action of the rest of the story, beginning immediately with Ruth’s response. This chapter shows Naomi’s emptiness in Moab which, by book’s end, will turn into the fullness of God’s provision in Bethlehem.

The Big Picture

Ruth 1 shows the context of Naomi’s desolation (the time of the judges, famine, alienation from home, death, bitterness) and yet the seeds of hope in a return to a food-filled Bethlehem along with a faith-filled1 daughter-in-law, Ruth.

Reflection and Discussion

Read Ruth 1 slowly and carefully. Then consider and write your reflections on the following questions, which move through the chapter section by section. (For further background, see theESV Study Bible, pages 478–479, or visit www.esvbible.org.)

1. Introduction: The Desolate Context (1:1–5)

For a glimpse into the period of the judges (1:1), read Judges 2:6–23 and 21:25. Why might this background be important for understanding the book of Ruth?

Elimelech evidently didn’t intend to leave permanently the Land of Promise or his own particular clan, city, and tribe within it (1:2). He meant only to “sojourn” (1:1), or to stay a while in Moab, to escape the famine in Israel. Look on a map to find the land of Moab across the Dead Sea from Bethlehem. Moab’s inhabitants were the descendants of an incestuous union between Lot and one of his daughters (Gen. 19:30–38). The Moabites worshiped other gods and were not friends of God’s people (see Numbers 22–25). The story does not directly judge Elimelech, but in what ways might we see his move to Moab as problematic?

2. Naomi’s Plan and Ruth’s Determination (1:6–18)