Materials - Inexpensive wooden shape from Hobby Lobby (I think there may have been something printed on it), some red paint, hot glue, piece of wheat from dried flowers, electric drill to make hole, twine
Read Ruth 1:1-11, 1:14-17, 1:22-2:3, 2:8-4:17
From the Prologue from Ohrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, December 18
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God … naught but death shall part thee and me (Ruth 1:16,17).
These are wonderful words, whether they are spoken by a son to a father, a daughter to a mother, or a
wife to a husband. But they are three times more wonderful when a daughter-in-law says them to her
mother-in-law. Blessed Ruth spoke these words to Naomi, her sorrowful mother-in-law. When both of
Naomi's sons died in the land of Moab, where they lived as immigrants, the aged mother wanted to
return to Bethlehem, her native land, and there to lay her bones to rest. And Naomi, noble in her grief,
counseled her young daughters-in-law to remain in their own land and to remarry. Orpah remained, but
Ruth said: Naught but death shall part thee and me. Behold a most beautiful example of how a mother-in-law
can tenderly love her daughters-in-law, and again how a daughter-in-law can be wholeheartedly
devoted to her mother-in-law. But in Bethlehem someone had to feed these two souls. Who would feed
them? God and the diligent hands of Ruth. Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn (Ruth
2:2), said the daughter-in-law to the mother-in-law. And Naomi replied: Go, my daughter (Ruth 2:3). In
a strange field, with strange reapers, she had to glean the ears of grain. That was not only toil but also
shame. However, Ruth took upon herself both toil and shame out of love for her aged mother-in-law.
The All-seeing God saw these two sweet souls and rejoiced. Their Creator rejoiced and rewarded and
glorified them, as only He knows how to reward and glorify those who fear Him. And God, in His
providence, provided that Ruth should enter the field of the wealthy Boaz to gather the gleaned ears of grain, and Boaz saw Ruth and asked Naomi for her hand in marriage. Of this marriage was born Obed,
the father of Jesse and grandfather of David the King. So it was that Ruth had humbled herself to being
a beggar but God made her the ancestress of the great king (David), from whom came many kings and
finally the King of kings, our Lord Jesus Christ.
See also Law of God, Sacred History Chapter 32, The Story of Ruth,
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/law_of_god_slobodskoy_1.htm#_Toc36163705
(excerpt below):
Naomi and Ruth, coming to the land of the Israelites, settled in the town of Bethlehem and lived on the
wheat which Ruth picked up from the harvested fields. This was enough for sustenance, since it is
written in the Law of God, "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the
corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest; thou shalt leave them for the
poor and the stranger" (Lev. 19:9-10).
The Lord God rewarded Ruth for her attachment and respectfulness towards her mother-in-law. The
Israelites had a law: if one of them died, not leaving children, then the nearest relative had to marry the
widow of the person who died, and the children from this marriage were considered the dead man’s
children. This law was called the Levinite Law.
At this time in Bethlehem there lived a rich man, Boaz, a relative of Ruth’s dead husband. According to
Levinite Law, Boaz married the poor Moabite Ruth. When a son was born to them, Obed, women said
to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not left thee this day without a kinsmen, that his name may
be famous in Israel." Naomi rejoiced and was Obed’s nurse.
In fact Obed’s name was glorified in Israel, for he was the father of Jesse, the father of King David
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