The Book of RUTH - Chapter One

 

THE BOOK OF RUTH

 - Overview 

The Bible Project 

Naomi loses her husband and sons

1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.’

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, ‘We will go back with you to your people.’

11 But Naomi said, ‘Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me – even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons – 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!’

14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

15 ‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.’

16 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. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ 18 When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’

20 ‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’

22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Ruth 1: “determined” (v.18)

Meet David’s gran! Some woman! Born a Moabitess, she’d married an immigrant Israelite. A foreigner! That took some doing! But they had no children, and then her husband died. Her father-in-law Elimelech passed away, as did his other son. Three widows! Some shock! Her mother-in-law Naomi decided to return to Israel, and urged Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab, “but Ruth clung to her” (v.14).  Naomi “realised” how “determined” she was (v.18). Some personality! Copy her - there’s a gulf between “stubborn” and “determined”.

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The Book of RUTH - Chapter 1

- Read by David Suchet -

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The Book of RUTH 

- short films -

https://youtu.be/pXFdNhRy9jA

https://youtu.be/o48GTsB31s0

STUDY - LINKS

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The Book of RUTH

by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/WHGbkXiN5Mk

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The Book of RUTH

The Big Story in the Little Story

by Matt Mackie (the Bible Project )

https://youtu.be/--Tzi-jMD1E

CHILDREN CORNER 

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The Story of Ruth 

https://youtu.be/YIeRJmLDeQ0

https://youtu.be/irThVpdeSXk

https://youtu.be/UTZjvMzXQs4

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The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Sixty Six

 

Judgment and hope

1

This is what the Lord says:

‘Heaven is my throne,

    and the earth is my footstool.

Where is the house you will build for me?

    Where will my resting-place be?

2 

Has not my hand made all these things,

    and so they came into being?’

declares the Lord.

‘These are the ones I look on with favour:

    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

    and who tremble at my word.

3 

But whoever sacrifices a bull

    is like one who kills a person,

and whoever offers a lamb

    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

whoever makes a grain offering

    is like one who presents pig’s blood,

and whoever burns memorial incense

    is like one who worships an idol.

They have chosen their own ways,

    and they delight in their abominations;

4 

so I also will choose harsh treatment for them

    and will bring on them what they dread.

For when I called, no one answered,

    when I spoke, no one listened.

They did evil in my sight

    and chose what displeases me.’

5 

Hear the word of the Lord,

    you who tremble at his word;

‘Your own people who hate you,

    and exclude you because of my name, 

have said,“Let the Lord be glorified,

    that we may see your joy!”

    Yet they will be put to shame.

6 

Hear that uproar from the city,

    hear that noise from the temple!

It is the sound of the Lord

    repaying his enemies all they deserve.

7 

‘Before she goes into labour,

    she gives birth;

before the pains come upon her,

    she delivers a son.

8 

Who has ever heard of such things?

    Who has ever seen things like this?

Can a country be born in a day

    or a nation be brought forth in a moment?

Yet no sooner is Zion in labour

    than she gives birth to her children.

9 

Do I bring to the moment of birth

    and not give delivery?’ says the Lord.

‘Do I close up the womb

    when I bring to delivery?’ says your God.

10 

‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,

    all you who love her;

rejoice greatly with her,

    all you who mourn over her.

11 

For you will feed and be satisfied

    at her comforting breasts;

you will drink deeply

    and delight in her overflowing abundance.’

12 

For this is what the Lord says:

‘I will extend peace to her like a river,

    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;

you will feed and be carried on her arm

    and dandled on her knees.

13 

As a mother comforts her child,

    so will I comfort you;

    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.’

14 

When you see this, your heart will rejoice

    and you will flourish like grass;

the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants,

    but his fury will be shown to his foes.

15 

See, the Lord is coming with fire,

    and his chariots are like a whirlwind;

he will bring down his anger with fury,

    and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16 

For with fire and with his sword

    the Lord will execute judgment on all people,

    and many will be those slain by the Lord.

17

 ‘Those who consecrate and purify themselves 

to go into the gardens, following one who is among 

those who eat the flesh of pigs, 

rats and other unclean things – 

they will meet their end together 

with the one they follow,’ declares the Lord.

18 

‘And I, because of what they have planned and done, 

am about to come and gather the people of all nations

and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

19

 ‘I will set a sign among them, 

and I will send some of those 

who survive to the nations 

– to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians 

(famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, 

and to the distant islands 

that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. 

They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 

20

 And they will bring all your people, 

from all the nations,

 to my holy mountain in Jerusalem 

as an offering to the Lord – on horses,

 in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,’

 says the Lord. ‘They will bring them, 

as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, 

to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. 

21

 And I will select some of them also 

to be priests and Levites,’ says the Lord.

22

 ‘As the new heavens and the new earth 

that I make will endure before me,’ declares the Lord, 

‘so will your name and descendants endure. 

23

 From one New Moon to another 

and from one Sabbath to another, 

all mankind will come and bow down before me,’ 

says the Lord. 

24 

‘And they will go out and look on the dead bodies

 of those who rebelled against me; 

the worms that eat them will not die, 

the fire that burns them will not be quenched, 

and they will be loathsome to all mankind.’

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 66: “islands” (v.19)

This final chapter foresees an international mission, specifically mentioning “Greece” (v.19), a  country lying hundreds of miles to the west, and which did not become a significant power till centuries later. Yet God announced he would “send” out his emissaries, including to “distant islands … they will proclaim my glory among the nations” (v.19). Not just comparatively close ones like Cyprus; one wonders if this word prophesied  the evangelisation of the British Isles 1000 years ahead of time. The UK isn’t named, but “God so loved the world” (John 3 v.16).

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READINGS

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The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 66

- Read by David Suchet -

https://youtu.be/YT8Xku-vXB0

OVERVIEW 

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ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg 

STUDY - LINKS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

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The Book of ISAIAH - Chapter Sixty Five

Judgment and salvation

1 

‘I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

    I was found by those who did not seek me.

To a nation that did not call on my name,

    I said, “Here am I, here am I.”

2 

All day long I have held out my hands

    to an obstinate people,

who walk in ways not good,

    pursuing their own imaginations –

3 

a people who continually provoke me

    to my very face,

offering sacrifices in gardens

    and burning incense on altars of brick;

4 

who sit among the graves

    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;

who eat the flesh of pigs,

    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5 

who say, “Keep away; don’t come near me,

    for I am too sacred for you!”

Such people are smoke in my nostrils,

    a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 

‘See, it stands written before me;

    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;

    I will pay it back into their laps –

7 

both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,’

    says the Lord.

‘Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains

    and defied me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

    the full payment for their former deeds.’

8 This is what the Lord says:

‘As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes

    and people say, “Don’t destroy it,

    there is still a blessing in it,”

so will I do on behalf of my servants;

    I will not destroy them all.

9 

I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

    and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;

my chosen people will inherit them,

    and there will my servants live.

10 

Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

    and the Valley of Achor a resting-place for herds,

    for my people who seek me.

11 

‘But as for you who forsake the Lord

    and forget my holy mountain,

who spread a table for Fortune

    and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

12 

I will destine you for the sword,

    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;

for I called but you did not answer,

    I spoke but you did not listen.

You did evil in my sight

    and chose what displeases me.’

13 

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘My servants will eat,

    but you will go hungry;

my servants will drink,

    but you will go thirsty;

my servants will rejoice,

    but you will be put to shame.

14 

My servants will sing

    out of the joy of their hearts,

but you will cry out

    from anguish of heart

    and wail in brokenness of spirit.

15 

You will leave your name

    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;

the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,

    but to his servants he will give another name.

16 

Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

    will do so by the one true God;

whoever takes an oath in the land

    will swear by the one true God.

For the past troubles will be forgotten

    and hidden from my eyes.

New heavens and a new earth

17 

‘See, I will create

    new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

    nor will they come to mind.

18 

But be glad and rejoice for ever

    in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

    and its people a joy.

19 

I will rejoice over Jerusalem

    and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

    will be heard in it no more.

20 

‘Never again will there be in it

    an infant who lives but a few days,

    or an old man who does not live out his years;

the one who dies at a hundred

    will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reach a hundred

    will be considered accursed.

21 

They will build houses and dwell in them;

    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 

No longer will they build houses 

and others live in them,

    or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

    so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

    the work of their hands.

23 

They will not labour in vain,

    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,

    they and their descendants with them.

24 

Before they call I will answer;

    while they are still speaking I will hear.

25 

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

    and dust will be the serpent’s food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

    on all my holy mountain,’

says the Lord.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 65: “revealed” (v.1)

As this book advances to its finale God declares “I revealed myself … I was found” (v.1). Note 

[A] his verdict on his own chosen people is that “they did not ask for me” nor “seek me”; they were spiritually blind and oblivious – as people are everywhere. 

[B] God himself had to take the initiative (“I revealed myself”) – as he always needs to. 

[C] in consequence he says “I was found” by some – no credit to them. Peter confessed Christ due to it being “revealed” to him (Matthew 16 v.18). Biblical conversion is by God’s gracious pursuit of us in spite of ourselves. 

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READINGS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 65

- Read by David Suchet -

OVERVIEW 

-=-=-

ISAIAH Chapter 1 to 39

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8

ISAIAH Chapter 40 - 66

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg 

STUDY - LINKS

-=-=-

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 1 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/XqNzGrYbFWg

The Book of ISAIAH

Part 2 by David Pawson

https://youtu.be/1VLLZ_6ZjiE

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