Thursday Bible Study

  There has been a real rise in the popularity of knowing your background and where/who’ve you have come from in recent years. With websites like Ancestry.com and DNA-based genealogy tests. And with the growing popularity of TV shows like ‘Who do you think you are?’ This isn’t a coincidence… history and genealogy and knowing your past and telling stories as a way of remembering have always been here. As this love story concludes, the author of the book of Ruth tells us that Obed “was the father of Jesse, the father of David”. The author also includes a genealogy that traces the roots of this particular family line as far back as Perez, 900 years of history! Perez’s story is told in Genesis 38 (which we’ve already looked at) is referred to by the townspeople’s prayer… along with the ‘guardian-redeemer’ and ‘levirate marriage’ connections, there is a third reason why this particular genealogy is traced back to him… Read Genesis 49:10. How does this connect to the love stor...

As an ancient ‘influencer’ and wealthy ‘guardian-redeemer’, Boaz can easily redeem the land for Elimelek. But he also marries Ruth. While in Moab, as Mahlon’s wife for 10 years, Ruth didn’t conceive. The ancient understanding of infertility was that it was judgement (or a ‘curse’) from God. If Ruth remains childless and cannot produce an heir, the family line is doomed… no pressure! [Read Ruth 4:13] In this verse, we read that “God intervened”. This is the second time that we read about God taking this kind of direct divine action. The first time is found in Ruth 1:6. What do both of these instances tell us about the nature of God?     Recalling the prayers/blessing in the last part of the story, how do we see God answering both the prayers of Ruth and Boaz?     With God stepping into the story and directly providing for Ruth, she joins a long list of other women who have had similar experiences. Can you think of any examples?   By j...