At least it's a good story...

Open your Bibles to Ruth 1 and read along as we talk through the chapter. (Seriously open your Bible or at least open this in a new tab!)
Read verses 1-2.
Who: a Jewish family of four - Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion
What: they are leaving Bethlehem for Moab to sojourn… Sojourn means a temporary journey.
When: the time of the judges... according to commentaries, it was probably during the same time as when Gideon was judge. Another reason this is important is because when the Jews would read that this story is taking place in the time of the judges they would sense hopelessness.
Where: They start in Israel and end up in Moab. Throughout the Bible, the land is associated with blessing. Jewish readers would see red flags go up as this family decided to leave their land and head to foreign land.
Why: there is a famine in the land of Israel, so rather than waiting for God to provide they decide to go try to find food.


Read verses 3-5: These are some sad verses. Elimelech dies. His sons both marry foreign women (which really is not condoned by God) and then after 10 years, the sons die too. This leaves all 3 women as widows. Losing your husband or children is tough regardless of the time in history, but it's especially difficult in Bible times because it was a male-dominated society and women generally couldn't work, receive an inheritance or really provide for themselves.
Also remember back in verse 1, they only planned to be there temporarily. However they've been there long enough for their sons to find wives and be married for 10 years. This doesn't really sound temporary to me.

Read verses 6-7: It's easy to read the Bible quickly and to miss details. When I read this, I was confused by verse 7 when Naomi is telling her to daughter-in-laws to go back to Moab because I thought that's where they were. However if you read it closely, in verse 6 it says that they leave Moab and are heading back to Israel. Evidently she has a change of heart and decides to tell them to return.
If you are familiar with the book of Ruth, you know that there are themes of redemption that run through it. Here is one of the first examples of that. We see an example of repentance as Naomi turns from Moab back to Israel. Repentance is always about turning from what is bad and heading to what is good.

Read verses 8-18: Orpah  and Ruth tell Naomi that they are not going to go back to Moab but instead stay with her. So for a second time she asks them to return and uses some more logic in her explanation. She says that it would be unreasonable even if she were to have a son born to her right now, to think that they would wait for her son to be grown to marry them and that they'd be better off finding new husbands in Moab. This time Orpah accepts the offer and returns to Moab. Naomi now pleads with Ruth for a third time to return to Moab.  Ruth responds rather poetically that she will go to Israel with Naomi but more importantly that Naomi's people will be her people and that Naomi's God will be her God. This is definitely Ruth's conversion or at least the first that we as readers know she has chosen not to follow the foreign gods from her homeland but is choosing to follow the one true God. So even though Elimelech and Naomi had left to go to a foreign land which would look like they were choosing not to follow God, evidently they were still worshiping God in such a way that Ruth saw it and chose their God and their lifestyle over what she had known growing up.  

Read verses 19-22:  These verses kind of make me laugh. Apparently people must've thought maybe they recognized Naomi but figure she's been gone for a minimum of 10 years which means she's aged quite a bit. The fact that she encountered hard times means she may have looked even older than you would expect. One of the teens pointed out that this is like what we see with the US presidents and how they age so quickly during their years in office. When Naomi hears people questioning if it is her, she responds to them not to call her Naomi, which means pleasant, but to call her Mara, which means bitter.
Interesting that they had left hoping to be filled with food and instead became so empty due to losing her family. However, she's not as empty as she says; she has her faithful daughter-in-law with her.

Application:
Life doesn't always turn out as expected. Both women are widowed and childless. No one pictures that for their lives. What expectations do you have for your life? (In Sunday School, I gave the teens this worksheet on the right to use to think about their expectations for life.)
We all have expectations for our lives and much of our heartache in life is from these expectations not coming to fruition.
Naomi got bitter with life didn't go her way. Ruth turned to God. It's easy to get angry and bitter rather than trusting that God has a plan when life doesn't turn out as you expect.

Here are some tips:

• Expect the Unexpected: Life is full of things you can't control. Be ready for that. When we are flexible and trust God we aren't disappointed by a wrench in our plans. We can trust that God is in control and that He really knows what He is doing. Jesus says "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) When we picture our life in 5 or 10 years, we don't picture losing jobs or family members, we don't picture any tribulation. But it will come, thankfully Jesus has overcome all things.
• At least it's a good story: One of my coworkers used to say this anytime something unplanned happened. Think about it, a story generally isn't worth telling unless there is some sort of conflict. Movies, tv shows, and books that are entertaining have conflict or hardships the characters need to overcome. Life isn't any different. Conflict/difficulty produce growth. Wrenches in our plans cause us to grow-especially in our walk with God. "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and the will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord." (Mal. 3:3) To refine silver you must heat it so all of the impurities surface and can be removed. This is part of the reason why God allows difficulties in our life. He is trying to refine us and make us more like Jesus. We don't have to get it right every time either. Paul encourages us by saying "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ." (Phil. 1:6) God loves us to much to leave us in the middle of conflict, He is always working on us! He is writing a story worth telling for all of us.
• Embrace the Journey: As a society we are always looking about what comes next. As you are approaching the end of high school, the questions start coming. Where are you going to school and what are you majoring in? Then in college the questions are about you job plans and then they start getting more personal and want to know about your love life. Soon as people get married, they start asking when are you having kids? Soon as you have a kid, people start asking about the next one. All these questions almost teach us to never be content with what we have. We are always focused on what's next that we miss what's now. For the wilderness trip, our theme was embrace the journey and we talked a lot about being present in the moment and enjoying your surroundings. In life, we need to take time to enjoy the season of life we are in and the people we have around us. "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10b)

Feel free to comment or email me your thoughts!

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In Sunday School, we are going through the book of Ruth. I taught this lesson last week and then again today because there was only one teen there both weeks and he said he didn't remember anything... so I'm all prepared for next week already :)