Ruth

Ruth 1: The LORD brings Naomi home

Begin in prayer

Before we hear how the LORD brings Naomi home and gives His people bread, let us come to Him together. Ask Him to quiet our hearts, to help us trust His care in sorrow, and to show us Jesus, the true Bread.

The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season.

Psalm 145:15

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You bring Naomi home and feed Your people. Help us turn from our sin and see Jesus, the true Bread from heaven. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

A famine comes to the land of Judah, and Elimelech of Bethlehem takes his family to Moab. They live there about ten years. Elimelech dies, and then both sons die, so Naomi is left with her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Naomi hears that the LORD has visited His people by giving them bread, and she sets out for Judah. She urges her daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers' homes, and Orpah goes back. Ruth clings to Naomi and says, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” They reach Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest, and Naomi says the LORD has brought her home empty.

As you read Ruth 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD brings Naomi home and gives His people bread.

Ruth begins in the days of the judges, when Israel had no king (Judges 21 verse 25), and a famine comes to the land. Elimelech takes his wife Naomi and their two sons to Moab, where he dies (verses 1 to 3). About ten years later both sons die, and Naomi is left with Orpah and Ruth, her Moabite daughters-in-law (verses 4 and 5). When she hears that the LORD has visited His people by giving them bread, she turns for home (verse 6). Orpah goes back to her people and her god (verse 15), and Ruth takes Naomi's people and Naomi's God as her own (verse 16). In Bethlehem Naomi asks to be called Mara, which means bitter, and says the LORD has brought her home empty (verses 20 and 21). She believes the LORD's hand has gone out against her (verse 13). Yet the same LORD has visited His people, and she comes home as barley harvest begins (verse 22). The bread points to Jesus, who said that whoever comes to Him will not be hungry (John 6 verse 35).

How does Ruth 1 show us that the LORD brings Naomi home and gives His people bread?

God gives His people bread after the famine.

The famine drove Elimelech's family to Moab, and there Naomi lost her husband and both sons (verses 1 to 5). She hears in Moab that the LORD has visited His people by giving them bread (verse 6). That news is what turns her toward home (verse 7). The LORD's gift of bread comes first, and Naomi's journey home follows it.

Ruth goes with Naomi and names Naomi's God as her own.

Naomi urges both young women to go back to their mothers' homes (verses 8 to 13). Orpah goes back to her people and her god (verse 15). Ruth holds on to Naomi and says, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God” (verse 16). Why Ruth held on while Orpah went back, the chapter does not say. Jesus taught that no one comes to Him unless the Father draws him (John 6 verse 44).

Naomi comes home while she is grieving.

Naomi says she went out full, and the LORD has brought her home empty (verse 21). She also says the LORD has testified against her and the Almighty has afflicted her (verse 21). Ruth stays beside her, and the two women reach Bethlehem as barley harvest begins (verse 22). Her grief is real, and the chapter does not hide it.

Memorise

Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread.

Ruth 1:6

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, will I come to Jesus, the bread of life, with my empty hands?

Naomi says, “I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty.” Her husband and both sons were gone, and she had lost almost everything she had. Yet the LORD had visited His people with bread, and He brought her home to Bethlehem at the beginning of harvest.

Jesus is the true Bread that the empty soul needs. He carried the judgment of sin for His people, and He gave His life on the cross for them. God raised Him from the dead on the third day. His work is finished, and it is enough to save all who trust Him.

Come to Jesus with your empty hands and your sin. Please turn from your sin and trust Him, and He will never turn away anyone who comes to Him. He still feeds those who come to Him, and He will bring His people home.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD gives His people bread, and that Jesus is the bread of life. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for bringing Naomi home and for giving His people bread, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread.

Psalm 132:15

Lord God, thank You for bringing Naomi home and for giving Your people bread. Please help every child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, the true Bread from heaven. Hear the sorrows we bring to You, and help our family care for anyone who grieves this week. Amen.