Adult Teching Resources November 8, 2015 A Time for Grtitude You re All I Hve Ruth 1:1-2:23 An Odd Rod to Hppy Ending Ruth 3:1-4:21 Trnsformtionl Ters 1 Smuel 1:1-28 Thnks for the Promises 2 Smuel 23:1-7 Hope Wits A Time for Anticiption 1 Thesslonins 3:6-13 www.bptiststody.org Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. www.nurturingfith.net Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
An Odd Rod to Hppy Ending Ruth 3:1-4:21 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Before the Lesson: Cut 10 strips from the Decisions, Decisions hndout to begin the Informtion session. Mke lyric sheets nd prepre v equipment to ply the hymn, God moves in mysterious wy, for the Trnsformtionl Exercise. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: Wht is one trffic lw you hve broken recently nd wht is your excuse? If you ve lived on frm or plnted grden, wht is your fvorite thing to hrvest nd why? Informtion Blck nd white. If only life were so simple! If only rules were rules nd lws hd no loopholes. But for every lw, we find we need to llow for exceptions. For exmple, you must come to complete stop t red trffic light nd my not move until the light turns green. Tht is cler nd understndble. Blck nd white (or in this cse, red nd green). Unless you live in stte tht llows turn on red if the trffic is cler. Religious lws cn be even more tricky. Terms must be defined, debted, nd legislted. Do no work on Sbbth. But when, exctly, is the Sbbth? And, wht, exctly, is work? In tody s lesson, we will see how Nomi nd Ruth nd Boz bump into lws nd mores nd then ese themselves round them. It s ll prt of doing God s will s uncomfortble s tht my seem to us. [Summrize lst week s text of Ruth 1 nd 2 for those who did not ttend lst week s lesson, including: Nomi ws Jew from Bethlehem who moved with her husbnd to pgn lnd becuse of fmine in Bethlehem. They hd two sons who mrried women from the pgn lnd. Eventully, ll three men died, leving three widows. One remined in her homelnd. Nomi decided to go bck to Bethlehem. Ruth insisted she would go with Nomi. In Bethlehem, Ruth glened the field of Boz. Boz ws intrigued by Ruth s fidelity to Nomi. He lso hd growing ffection for Ruth. The feeling ws mutul.] 2 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
Informtion continued We lerned lst week tht the lw provided for needy persons in the hrvest fields. They were llowed to pick up wht the first line of hrvesters left behind or dropped. Not only were widows given some provision s gleners, there were lws bout how fmilies were to provide for their widows. [Hve clss member red Deuteronomy 25:5-10.] We cn only imgine the trum it ws to become widow in society where women did not hve the opportunity to provide for themselves. Nomi nd Ruth were ble to get some food s Ruth glened whet fields, but more permnent provision ws on the wy. [Hve clss member red Ruth 3:1-5.] As The Bible Lesson writer notes, Nomi ws not sending Ruth to prty but to the pllet where Boz ws sleeping in the field. Flirttion nd sexul tension hd begun to emerge in the previous chpter. Now it comes front nd center. Ruth does not rgue or protest. She is trusting Nomi s instinct. Both hve been mrried. Both know wht bthing, perfuming, dressing nice nd snuggling beside sleeping mn cn led to. [Hve clss members red Ruth 3:6-13 nd Ruth 3:14-18.] Ruth does s Nomi instructs. Boz is surprised. Wht seems to surprise him the most? (tht she chose him) Wht would surprise you the most? How do you feel bout this sitution? Ruth is using sex to gin security. Is tht oky? Frederick Buechner describes the sitution this wy: Nomi ws nobody s fool nd sw which wy the wind ws blowing long before Ruth did. She ws ded set on Ruth s mking good ctch for herself, nd since it ws obvious she d lredy hooked old Boz whether she relized it or not, ll she hd to do ws find the right wy to reel him in. Nomi gve her instructions. As soon s Boz hd good supper under his belt nd hd polished off nightcp or two, he d go to the brn nd hit the sck. Around midnight, she sid, Ruth should slip out to the brn nd hit the sck too. If Boz s feet just hppened to be uncovered somehow, nd if she just hppened to be close enough to keep them wrm, tht probbly wouldn t be the worst thing in the world either (Ruth 3:1-5). But she wsn t to go too fr. Bck in Jericho, Boz s mother, Rhb, hd hd rther semy reputtion for going too fr professionlly, nd nything tht reminded him of tht might scre him off permnently. Ruth followed her mother-in-lw s dvice to the letter, nd it worked like chrm. Boz ws so overwhelmed tht she d py ttention to n old crock like him when there were so mny young bucks running round in tight-fitting jens tht he fell for her hook, line, nd sinker nd, fter few legl mtters were tken cre of, mde her his lwful wedded wife. [Source: http://frederickbuechner.com/content/ruth ] 3 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
Informtion continued This is not the typicl wy we think of the Ruth story. We hve beutiful clssic pintings of Ruth s glener, mybe even frmed in our dining rooms. But portrits of Ruth s schemer would not mke it into ny Bible s imges or s murl in the men s Sundy School clss. Why would we even hve such story told in the Bible? Why didn t it get clened up in some revision? Jim Dnt points out tht in the Hebrew Bible, Ruth is not ner the front of the Bible but in the lst section. The first section dels with lw, the blck nd white. Once tht is mstered, young person my move onto the next section, the prophets. The prophets often chllenge nd broden the lw. The lst section in the fith developmentl order of the Hebrew Bible is the Writings. Ruth is prt of the Writings. Dnt notes the fith formtion progression s reltes to Ruth. In Deuteronomy 23:1-5, the lw mkes it very cler tht no eunuch or Mobite is llowed entrnce into the fith community of Isrel. This is the lw blck nd white, right nd wrong. However, in Isih 56:3-7, the prophet rgues tht eunuchs nd foreigners re welcomed into God s house house of pryer for ll people if they choose to keep Sbbth nd hold fst to God s covennt In Isih s mind nd writings, the lw simply cn t be the lst word. It is prt of fith development. It is the first step of fith development but not the lst. And by the time we get to the Writings section of the Hebrew Scriptures, we red the story of Ruth. Ruth is Mobite who mrries n Isrelite nd becomes the gret grndmother of King Dvid! (Jim Dnt. Finding Your Voice: How to Spek Your Hert s True Fith. Fithlb. 2013. pp. 14-15.) [Hve clss member red Ruth 4:1-6 nd Ruth 4:7-12.] The lw is fulfilled. It is not the letter of the lw, from wht we red in our prior pssge, but the point ws mde Boz would redeem Nomi s property nd tke Ruth s his wife. It is interesting tht there re differences in the ctions between the legl reding in Deuteronomy nd the nrrtive of this story. Over time, things chnged. Hve you experienced this in your own spiritul pilgrimge? Ws something wrong tht now seems innocent? (For exmple, dncing, drinking wine, plying crds, etc.) Should there be times we drw the line with our culture nd stick with our ethics? How is tht determined? [Hve clss member red Ruth 4:13-22.] [Here s little joke, if you d like to use it here: Wht ws Boz s life like before Nomi cme bck to town? (Ruth-less)] So, everyone lives hppily ever fter. And, eventully, Boz nd Ruth become the ncestors of King Dvid (nd Jesus Christ). 4 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
Trnsformtionl Exercise God cn use nyone. Ruth ws Mobite non-jew, powerless womn, n immigrnt. Consider how God could use you! In his introduction to the book of Ruth, the trnsltor of the Messge Bible sys this: Introduction to Ruth By Eugene Peterson, The Messge As we red the brod, comprehensive biblicl story of God t work in the world, most of us re entirely impressed: God speking cretion into being, God lying the foundtions of the life of fith through gret nd definitive fthers nd mothers, God sving people out of brutl slve existence nd then forming them into lives of free nd obedient love, God rising up leders who direct nd guide through the tngle of difficulties lwys involved in living joyfully nd responsively before God. Very impressive. So impressive, in fct, tht mny of us, while remining impressed, feel left out. Our unimpressive, very ordinry lives mke us feel like outsiders to such strstudded cst. We disqulify ourselves. Guilt or willfulness or ccident mkes loophole nd we ssume tht wht is true for everyone else is not true for us. We conclude tht we re, somehow, just not religious nd thus unfit to prticipte in the big story. And then we turn pge nd come on this smll story of two widows nd frmer in their out-of-the- wy villge. The outsider Ruth ws not born into the fith nd felt no nturl prt of it like mny of us. But she cme to find herself gthered into the story nd given quiet nd obscure prt tht proved criticl to the wy everything turned out. Scripture is vst tpestry of God s creting, sving, nd blessing wys in this world. The gret nmes in the plot tht climxes t Sini (Abrhm, Isc, Jcob, Joseph, Moses) nd the gret nmes in the sequel (Joshu, Smuel, Dvid, Solomon) cn be intimidting to ordinry, rndom individuls: Surely there is no wy tht I cn hve ny significnt prt on such stge. But the story of the widowed, impoverished, lien Ruth is proof to the contrry. She is the inconsequentil outsider whose life turns out to be essentil for telling the complete story of God s wys mong us. The unssuming ending crries the punch line: Boz mrried Ruth, she hd son Obed, Obed ws the fther of Jesse, nd Jesse the fther of Dvid. Dvid! In its rtful telling of this outsider widow, uprooted nd obscure, who turns out to be the gret-grndmother of Dvid nd the ncestor of Jesus, the Book of Ruth mkes it possible for ech of us to understnd ourselves, however ordinry or out of it, s irreplceble in the full telling of God s story. We count every lst one of us nd wht we do counts. 5 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
Trnsformtionl Exercise continued [Distribute the bookmrks.] Those lst two sentences re found on this bookmrk. Tke this with you in this seson of Thnksgiving. We cn be thnkful tht God knows us nd will use us in the big story of God s Kingdom. [Close in pryer something like this: God, we thnk you tht you know us nd love us. We re mzed tht you could use Ruth nd Nomi nd Boz. They were such nobodies. We offer ourselves to you Use us s you will. Allow us to be prt of your story of love nd redemption. Amen. ] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 6 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Which feet? The text does not require us to red feet in 3:4 s euphemism for genitls, but it llows it, nd ny Hebrew reder or listener would be wre of the optionl mening. The scene is highly chrged: whether t his literl feet or more intimte region, Ruth ws to stelthily pproch Boz s sleeping plce, pull bck his covers, nd lie down beside him. One cnnot escpe the sexul tension in the scene. Doing one s duty The custom described in Ruth 4 ws clled Levirte Mrrige. If mn mrried but died before siring ny sons, his nerest mle reltive (usully brother) ws supposed to mrry his widow in hopes of conceiving together son, who would hve legl sttus s the son of his mother s decesed husbnd, nd who would inherit whtever portion of the fmily estte would hve gone to his mother s first husbnd. The overll intent ws to perpetute the nme nd heritge of the decesed while lso providing for the widow nd keeping her in the fmily (Deut. 25:5-10). Since performing such duties could decrese one s own inheritnce, it ws not uncommon for men to refuse to do their duty. For exmple, fulfilling the duties of Levirte mrrige or not lso plys key role in the story of Judh nd Tmr tht resulted in the birth of Perez (Genesis 38), who fetures prominently in Ruth 4 nd is discussed further in The Hrdest Question. Whether Boz ws lso widowed when he mrried Ruth is unstted. He could hve been, though his eltion seems to suggest he hd been longing for compny. When cting s go el for young widow, mn ws not only llowed to tke her in ddition to other wives, but compelled to do so s mens of perpetuting the ded husbnd s line. Six mesures How much grin did Boz pour into Ruth s shwl to crry home, instructing her to crry it on her bck? The text sys it ws six mesures but which mesure? An ephh of grin ws probbly bout three-fifths of bushel, nd might hve weighed 30-50 pounds. Tht s how much Ruth collected on her first dy of glening, but she could hrdly hve crried six ephhs (180-300 pounds) in ny fshion. An omer ws tenth of n ephh, but six omers would be less thn Ruth hd glened on her first dy, nd seems too smll. A seh ws one-third of n ephh, which seems more likely mesure. Six sehs would hve been bout 60 pounds or more, significnt mount, but one she could crry on her bck. Bethlehem s gte Tody Bethlehem is surrounded by thick security wll nd high fences constructed by the Isreli government, restricting most residents to remin in their city, which tody hs expnded to encompss the towns of Byt Jl nd Byt Shour, long with refugee cmps contining mny thousnds of people. 7 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
Digging Deeper continued During the Old Testment period, Bethlehem ws smll villge, not wlled city with typicl gte. Even so, there would hve been min rod leding into the villge, nd smll plz or gthering plce t the edge of town would hve been customry. Elders of the city typiclly gthered t the city gte, where they or government officils decided legl cses, pronounced judgments, nd witnesses business trnsctions. The judge s set inside the Isrelite gte t Dn, where there were lso stone benches for the elders. Judge Bill Self of Mcon held court during Nurturing Fith Experience trip to Isrel nd the West Bnk in November 2014. Mr. So nd So Since the nerest of kin decided not to redeem the lnd, mrry Ruth, nd crry on Elimelech s inheritnce, the nrrtor chose not to honor (or embrrss?) him by clling his nme. To preserve his nonymity, he hd Boz cll him peloni lmoni, plyful Hebrew wy of sying Mr. So nd So. NRSV nd NIV11 use the unhelpful trnsltion friend, while NET hs Boz cll him John Doe. You, or I? The kethib (written in the text) reding of 4:5 sys The dy you cquire the field from the hnd of Nomi, I will cquire Ruth the Mobite, the widow of the ded mn, to mintin the ded mn s nme on his inheritnce. The qere reding ( mrginl note suggesting better reding) sys you will lso cquire Ruth. In either cse, the presence of Ruth complictes the mtter. If the closer kinsmn purchsed the lnd, he would hve use of it only until mle heir ws born, who would inherit the lnd. This would be finncilly disdvntgeous especilly if the son ws born to Boz nd Ruth nd possibly disruptive to his fmily life. Boz ppers to hve been rther welthy to begin with. Since he wnted Ruth s prt of his fmily, deeding over the field to the first son he hd by Ruth would not hve been problem for him. 8 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Wht s the del with Perez? Perez is not prticulrly fmilir nme, so why does he figure so prominently into the story of Ruth? Perez is first mentioned when the people t the gte celebrte the upcoming mrrige of Ruth nd Boz, sying through the children tht the LORD will give you by this young womn, my your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tmr bore to Judh (4:12). After the birth of Obed nd the resolution of Nomi s need, the book closes with genelogy of Perez s fmily, from Perez to Dvid (4:18-22). On the one hnd, then, Perez is mentioned becuse he is n ncestor of Boz nd thus of Dvid. Of more interest, however, is tht the births of Perez nd Obed both occurred under unusul circumstnces, nd to non-hebrew mother. The story of Perez s birth is found in Genesis 38, which ppers to hve been inserted into the longer Joseph nrrtive (Genesis 37-50) s reminder tht life continued in Cnn while Joseph ws in Egypt. According to Genesis 38, Judh, the oldest of Jcob s 12 sons, moved wy from his fther s compound to estblish his own household ner Adullm, bout 10 miles northwest of the fmily cmp in Hebron. There he mrried the dughter of Cnnite nmed Shu (v. 2). His wife is not nmed, perhps becuse her role, s fr s the story is concerned, is limited to bering three sons nd lter dying t propitious time. Judh is not criticized for mrrying Cnnite womn, even s there will be no criticism for Joseph when he mrries the Egyptin womn Asenth (Gen. 41:45). A lter bn on Hebrews mrrying outside the cln (see Josh. 23:12-13, Ezr 9-10, Neh. 13:23-29) hd not yet developed. Judh s wife bore three sons: Er, Onn nd Shelh. When the sons reched mrrigeble ge, Judh followed custom nd rrnged for his oldest to mrry locl womn, whose nme ws Tmr. At some point fterwrd, Er died, the text sys, becuse he ws evil in the eyes of Yhweh, who cused him to die (v. 7). Since Er hd no children, Judh instructed Onn to Go in to your brother s wife nd perform the duty of brother-in-lw to her; rise up offspring for your brother (v. 8). Onn, however, knowing tht ny son born to Tmr would get Er s shre of the inheritnce (nd thereby reduce his own shre), did not wish to impregnte Tmr. So, when engged in intercourse, he prcticed birth control by coitus interruptus, withdrwing before ejculting (literlly, he wsted erthwrd ), so Tmr would not become pregnnt (v. 9). During this period, women were thought to be living seedbeds into which men plnted 9 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
The Hrdest Question continued their seed, from which life grew. Onn s prctice of spilling his seed on the ground rther thn plnting it in Tmr ws considered to be n intentionl nd rebellious ct of filing to do his duty towrd his ded brother. Yhweh regrded Onn s behvior s evil, the text sys, nd cused him to die (v. 10). Judh did not recognize the deths of his sons s divine punishment, but concluded tht Tmr ws poison. He did not wnt to tke chnce on losing Shelh, only remining son, so he told Tmr to go nd live s widow with her fther s fmily until Shelh ws old enough to mrry (v. 11). Judh s deceit becme obvious s Shelh grew older, but Judh kept him wy from Tmr. Now the plot thickens: wht is desperte womn to do? In her culture, Tmr s future would be determined by whether she gve birth to sons. As widow, with no children (like Nomi, severl genertions lter), she would be doomed to life of poverty, with limited rights. But Tmr ws still bound to Judh s house nd could not mrry nother. How could she hve son? The deth of Judh s wife (v. 13) gve Tmr n opportunity for deceit of her own. Unwilling to ccept desolte future, Tmr disguised herself s veiled hrlot nd set up tent t crossrods she knew Judh would pss on his wy to oversee the shering of his sheep, ssuming tht he would be nxious for sexul diversion (vv. 13-14). Judh did not recognize Tmr behind her veil (v. 15) nd sought to obtin her services, s the text boldly portrys with the explicit phrse let me come in to you (v. 16). Plying the prt of the hrlot, Tmr negotited price of one young got for the trick (v. 16b-17). Judh did not hve got in his pocket, but greed to leve with her his personl sel with its neck cord nd his recognizble wlking stick s gurntee tht he would send pyment lter (v. 18). The deed is described mtter-of-fctly: he went in to her, nd she conceived by him (v. 18b). Since she ws no hrlot, but only womn seeking wht ws rightfully hers, Tmr chnged bck into her widow s clothes nd pcked up her tent s soon s Judh ws out of sight (v. 19). Three months lter, s Tmr s pregnncy becme obvious, it ws reported to Judh tht his dughter-in-lw hd plyed the whore nd gotten pregnnt (v. 24). Judh, who remined in position of uthority over Tmr nd pprently subscribed to double stndrd tht mde extrmritl sex permissible for widower but not widow declred tht she should be burned (v. 24b), penlty not clled for in the Bible. When someone ws sent to bring her out for execution, however, Tmr hd someone crry Judh s personl sel nd wlking stick to him with the messge It ws the owner of these tht mde me pregnnt tke note, plese, whose these re, the signet nd the cord nd the stff (v. 25). Judh responded with pproprite chgrin, nnouncing She is more in the right thn I, 10 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
The Hrdest Question continued since I did not give her to my son Shelh (v. 26). The impliction of the text is tht Judh took responsibility for Tmr nd ccepted her bck into the fmily, though the text is creful to point out tht he did not hve sex with her gin (literlly, he did not know her gin ). The rel significnce of Judh s sop oper story surfces when the time comes for Tmr to give birth. Like Rebekh before her, she gives birth to twins, nd the one officilly born second becomes the most prominent. His nme ws Perez, nd he becme the ncestor of Boz, s well s of Dvid (Ruth 4:18) nd Jesus (Mt. 1:3). The nrrtor reminds us tht God works in mysterious wys. The story relies on leglistic elements (the requirement of levirte mrrige, the penlty of deth for hrlotry) in some wys, but is surprisingly forgiving in others. Tmr is not criticized for her desperte ct of pretending to be hrlot: indeed, Judh confesses his belief tht she is more in the right thn I. As with Tmr, Nomi s despertion led to dring pln to hve Ruth crwl into bed with Boz in order to jumpstrt mrrige so she could hve sons. The ctions of both Tmr nd Ruth suggest tht sometimes one hs to go beyond the lw in order to fulfill the lw, even s Lot s dughters hd done (Gen. 19:30-38). By going beyond the expected nd cting outside the norms, Tmr the Cnnite widow who ws done wrong, Ruth the Mobite widow who plyed the seductress, nd lter Rhb the Cnnite hrlot of Jericho ll becme ncestors of Dvid nd in tht sense, of Jesus. Their ctions re nmed nd noted s unusul, but not condemned. Sometimes, the story implies, being true to one s clling doesn t fit in the box of ccepted behvior nd God hs wy of bringing good even from the most messed up of circumstnces. The connection between Boz nd Perez, then, is not just genelogicl, but bout the connection between Nomi/Ruth nd Tmr: women who dred to do wht needed to be done. 11 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015
The Book of Ruth mkes it possible for ech of us to understnd ourselves, however ordinry or out of it, s irreplceble in the full telling of God s story. We count every lst one of us nd wht we do counts. Eugene Peterson The Messge The Book of Ruth mkes it possible for ech of us to understnd ourselves, however ordinry or out of it, s irreplceble in the full telling of God s story. We count every lst one of us nd wht we do counts. Eugene Peterson The Messge The Book of Ruth mkes it possible for ech of us to understnd ourselves, however ordinry or out of it, s irreplceble in the full telling of God s story. We count every lst one of us nd wht we do counts. Eugene Peterson The Messge The Book of Ruth mkes it possible for ech of us to understnd ourselves, however ordinry or out of it, s irreplceble in the full telling of God s story. We count every lst one of us nd wht we do counts. Eugene Peterson The Messge The Book of Ruth mkes it possible for ech of us to understnd ourselves, however ordinry or out of it, s irreplceble in the full telling of God s story. We count every lst one of us nd wht we do counts. Eugene Peterson The Messge 12 Nurturing Fith November 8, 2015