In this book of Ruth, we will journal through the pages of a beautiful love story that also speaks about how God is deeply invested in our life circumstances and He can turn any situation around for good. For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:

HINT: If you read about a place in the Bible, pause and do a quick search on the internet about that place. See if you can find what it could have looked like in the time when the Bible was written - sometimes some archaeological evidence has been found from the same era. This is an exciting way to inspire your creative imagination when reading the Word.

LOOK UP:
(information)  -  encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

The book of Ruth is supposedly written by the prophet Samuel. This book is about the great-grandmother of King David. Her loyalty and faithfulness are remarkable and it sets the stage for what is to come. 

Audience:

Have you ever wondered how much God cares about the details of our boring everyday lives? If yes, the book of Ruth was written for you. 

History:

In this book we start from our perspective of God and the Israelites that we have been reading about (zoomed-out perspective) and we focus on a single family (zoomed-in perspective). Through Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi, and Boaz’s kindness towards an immigrant we see examples of faithful living as the people of God. 

This post gives a good overview of what happens in the book as a whole.

Genre:

The genre is a historical narrative, but it also has elements of poetic prose. This book tells a beautiful story that reads like an enjoyable book. This is a nice breath of fresh air after the terribly devastating book we just read, Judges. Try to connect the lines between this story and the rest of the story of God and the Israelites that we have been journaling through. Example: Boaz is an Israelite! 

LOOK IN:
(revelation)  -  contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

Ruth 1:16 NIV

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay…” 

Inspiration:

Ruth is an example of loyalty. She is willing to leave behind everything familiar to her and go with Naomi. Pause for a while and think about your own life. Are you willing to follow Jesus wherever he leads you to go? Are you “all in” or do you still have safety nets in case this faith thing doesn’t work out? Having an escape plan is the opposite of having faith. How can you become more like Ruth in this respect?

LOOK OUT:
(transformation)  -  respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

Paint a picture of Ruth and Naomi after their husbands died: they were in mourning, without food, leaving their hometown. On the back of the page, paint a picture of them as they are described at the end of the book: they were rejoicing over the new baby, Ruth was married and Naomi was happy. You can use this page as a bookmark in your Bible to remember the wonderful story of transformation that God did in these women’s lives. 

Bible Journey with JournalOwl:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the JournalOwl community. 

• Why did Naomi decide to go back to Israel? (Ruth 1:6)
• What did Ruth say to Naomi when Naomi asked her to return to her people? (Ruth 1:16-17)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

 Writing prompt:

Mark all the places where God is mentioned in the book of Ruth - it’s not a lot, right? Now, mark all the places where we can see God’s hand through circumstances working out. This is a beautiful example of how human will and God’s perfect divine will intertwines when our hearts are set on Jesus. Write down an example of a time in your life when human will and God’s will worked together in this way. An example is how this seemingly small family is actually part of the genealogy of the Messiah (read the last part of Ruth).

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of Ruth. Thank you for being a God who is interested in our daily lives. Show me how to align my will with yours today. I want my life to bring glory and honor to you.  Let my response to this text be worship unto you!