Ruth 1

Read verses 1-2: We start out by being given some background information. First, we're told this story takes place during the time of the judges, like an addendum to the book of Judges.Next we're told that there is a famine in the land. More than likely this was a punishment from God for repeatedly sinning (Lev. 26:18-20). Then we start learning about the people in the book. Elimelech takes his wife, Naomi, and his sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to Moab. They leave to find food and provision which doesn't seem like a big deal but they are doing this instead of turning back to the Lord and trusting God to provide.

Read verse 3: Elimelech dies; we are given know details but it makes me wonder if this is more punishment from the Lord. In that day, blessings were tied to the land and having left the land could've brought more punishment.

Read verse 4: Our titular character now enters the scene... Mahlon and Chilion both marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, respectively. They live in Moab for ten years. This is a much bigger deal than it seems. Israelites were given instructions to never marry foreigners, especially not Moabites and Ammonites (Deut. 23:3).

The Final on Judges

Hope you studied, it's time for the final! This week we played Judges Jeopardy! If you think you're ready for it, you can try answering the questions too.

Round 1: jeopardylabs.com/play/the-book-of-judges5

Round 2: jeopardylabs.com/play/the-book-of-judges-2

Final Jeopardy: These are the six steps in the Cycle of the Judges.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Unfortunately for you, reading this online instead of participating in church, you don't get to enjoy the treats we had in celebration of the culmination of our study. Then again, you may not have wanted them anyway... We had:
Tent pegs (like Jael hammered into Sisera's head)...
Honey in a lion carcass (like Samson ate and gave his parents)...
Blood & guts (like oozed out of Ehud and Abimelech when they died)...
Wine (ok just sparkling cider because Gideon hid in a wine press and Samson liked to drink it)...

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I just finished teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. However today it was one game/Bible combo.

Crazy Plans for the Benjaminites

The last few chapters of Judges are appendices to the rest of the book. Chapters 19-21 deal with one continuous story and its repercussions. If you recall in chapter 19, a Levite's concubine is raped and killed by the Benjaminites when he travels through their city. She dies so the Levite chops her up into 12 pieces and sends her to the other tribes as a warning and/or to seek retribution. In chapter 20, Israel gathers, the Levie tells half-truths about what happened and so Israel fights against Benjamin. The first two days Benjamin kills lots of Israelites, but then the third day things swing around and all of the Benjaminite women and children are killed, and only 600 Benjaminite men remain.

Read verse 1: If you remember, the men of Israel were in Mizpah to discuss what happened to the Levite's concubine. Apparently while they were there they also made a pact that they would not give their daughters to the Benjaminites in marriage.

Read verses 2-3: Israel is upset and asking the Lord why this happened. Apparently they forgot that they did it!!

Read verse 4: The next day they offer sacrifices. Interestingly, they are honoring and serving God and don't seemed to be hindered by their disobedience.

Philemon

The book of Philemon is a short one chapter book. Yet through it we are able to glean principles of how to live, as well as seeing a picture of Christ.

Read verses 1-3: This is Paul's typical greeting, with one difference. He refers to himself as a prisoner of Christ rather than an apostle of Christ, clearly there must be some reason he identifies himself this way. The letter is also coming from Timothy and it is addressed to Philemon, Apphia (our sister and possible Philemon's wife?), Archippus (our fellow soldier and possible Philemon's son?), and their house church.
In verse three Paul switches from the plural "you" to the singular "you" and is now addressing Philemon specifically.

Read verses 4-7: Paul shares a testimony about Philemon. What do we learn about Philemon's character through this? He has a great love and faith in God and people, he shares his faith and all he does encourages and refreshes other believers (including Paul).
I don't know about you, but if I was Philemon reading this, I'd be wondering what does Paul want that he's buttering me up by saying all these nice things.

Read verses 8-9: As an apostle and church leader, Paul has the authority that he could just make Philemon do what he wants. However, he gives Philemon the option to what he wants. It's in essence a chance for him to put his words into action. When it's going to cost him something, will he still do what it right?

The Levite Seeks Revenge

The last few chapters of Judges are appendices to the rest of the book. The last chapter was one of the craziest stories we see in the Bible. Chapter 20 deals with some of the repercussions of that story. If you recall in chapter 19, a Levite's concubine is raped and killed by the Benjaminites when he travels through their city. She dies so the Levite chops her up into 12 pieces and sends her to the other tribes as a warning and/or to seek retribution.

Read verses 1-2: All sorts of leaders of Israel gather at Mizpah (which is a Benjaminite city). We're told Israelite leaders come from Dan to Beersheba, which is like saying from the north to the south.

Read verse 3a:  The Benjaminites hear about this meeting (which isn't surprising since it's happening in their land.

Read verses 3b-6: The Levite is questioned about what happened. He explains what happens, but with some omissions and alterations to make himself look completely innocent and the Benjaminites look worse.

Read verse 7: The Levite then asks Israel for their advice and counsel.

A Levite and His Concubine

The last few chapters of Judges are appendices to the rest of the book. The last two chapters were one continuous story. We now move on to a new story with different characters, but the same theme. Now a word of warning, chapter 19 of Judges would get an R rating if it were a movie. Be prepared for that, no seriously, it's about to get crazy!

Read verse 1a: Yet again we are reminded that there is no king, which should makes us think that the people therefore are doing whatever they want.

Read verse 1b:  A Levite (not the same Levite from the last two chapters) is traveling around (but remember he should be doing priestly duties in a levitical city) and he takes a concubine. Now the question you don't want to answer for 7-12th graders, but you have to since you've been asked is: what exactly is a concubine? Well here are some possible answers:

• a sex slave (some sort of extended prostitution)
• a secondary wife (lacks the respect a wife deserves)
• the bearer of children for barren wives
• woman who was part of a king's harem for sexual gratification
• if a woman was unmarried and had no family, this was a better option than prostitution, homelessness or death.

The definition that seems to best fit this story is that she was like a live-in girlfriend. There was a relationship there but it lacks the commitment of marriage.

Oh and one other thing, The Levite is referred to as "the man," "his son-in-law," "her husband," "his master," and "the traveler" among other things. To make it less confusing, I'm just going to refer to him as the Levite throughout the entire story.

Read verse 2: After some time, the concubine is unfaithful to the Levite and goes to her dad's house for four months. In those days adultery would've been punishable by death so when it says she was unfaithful it means they were just having some issues which cause her to leave.

Read verses 3-4: The Levite goes to woo her back, and is welcomed by her father to stay for a few days.

The Levite and the Idols

A little refresher from the last chapter... Micah has a house full of idols and he just hired the Levite as his priest. This is all quite sinful because Israel has no king and people are just doing whatever they want.

Read verse 1: In case you forgot, we start off with another reminder that there's no king. We now find out that the tribe of Dan hasn't cleared the Gentiles of of their promised land and they decide to look for land elsewhere.

Read verse 2: Five spies are sent out who find Micah's house.

Read verses 3-4:  They recognize the Levites voice (meaning his accent probably), so they ask him what he's doing there.