NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, Lifeway publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from The Gospel Project curriculum.
Bible Passage: Ruth 1-4
Discussion Questions:
- How can we discern when obedience to the Lord means we need to act or wait?
- What part does God’s redemption play in the story of your life?
- How does the story of Boaz and Ruth impact your thinking about redemption from sin and its effects?
Food for Thought:
The idea of redemption has multiple meanings. We might redeem a gift card for payment. We might want to redeem ourselves after a failure. To redeem means to buy back or exchange, to deliver, or to make amends, depending on the context. In the Old Testament, to redeem has the meaning of paying a price to release something or someone. Mosaic law had a kinsman-redeemer being able to restore a widow into the community and ensuring the lineage of the deceased husband.
Naomi and Ruth were two women who were left destitute by the deaths of their spouses and needed a family member to redeem them. Ruth was a Moabite who was loyal and loving to Naomi, her mother-in-law, choosing to follow her back to her people (Ruth 1:16). God orchestrated events for Ruth and Boaz to meet, and he was the perfect man to be a kinsman-redeemer for Ruth and Naomi (3:8).
Boaz stepped up to the plate, being gracious and compassionate to both Ruth and Naomi. He made it possible for them to be provided for, letting Ruth glean in his fields and eventually becoming their kinsman-redeemer (4:13-15). In doing so, he modeled what Jesus did for us on the cross to redeem us.
Jesus paid the price of death to release us from our penalty of death and to release us from the power of sin. Jesus also would be a descendant from Boaz and Ruth’s line. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus redeems sinners, and He makes us His bride, the church.
Ruth and Boaz lived in the time of the judges when the Israelites were in a cycle of doing evil in the sight of the Lord, yet God brought them deliverers to save them. The story of Ruth and Boaz reminds us that because of God’s character of love, mercy and faithfulness, even in our faithlessness, He is orchestrating events for the good of His people, to give them hope, redemption and a future.
The Gospel Project
The Gospel Project is a chronological, Christ-centered study for kids, students and adults. The Bible is not a collection of stories. It is one story of God’s plan to rescue His people from sin and death. It is the story of redemption, the gospel message of Jesus Christ. More information can be found at Lifeway.com/gospelproject.
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