The Lord Has Turned Against Me

Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Ruth 1:12-21 

12 Turn again, my daughters, go [your way]; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, [if] I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; 13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, [or] to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people [shall be] my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, [if ought] but death part thee and me. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. 19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, [Is] this Naomi? 20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why [then] call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Naomi's husband and two sons died in Moab. What did Ruth tell her daughters-in-law to do? Why? (v.12)
2) What did Naomi believe about God and what did she ask the young women to do, as a result? (v.13)
3) What did the women do in response to her suggestion? (v.14)
4) What was Naomi's response when Ruth would not leave? (v.15)
5) How did Ruth respond to Naomi? (v.16-17)
6) What was Naomi's reaction to Ruth? (v.18)
7) How did Naomi's people respond when she returned to Bethlehem? (v.19)
8) What did Naomi say to them? (v.20-21)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9) Have you ever felt that the Lord was angry with with you? Why?
10) How do you typically respond to your brothers and sisters in Christ, when you feel that you've lost fellowship with the Lord?
11) Who has encouraged you in your faith despite trying seasons in your journey with the Lord? How did their encouragement make you feel?

PRINCIPLES
12) Though He may seem distant, the Lord is never far from any one of us.
13) The Lord asked us to encourage one another in our journey of faith.
14) Our journey of faith need never be solitary. We need the fellowship of other believers.