Message of Hope: Kindness, with no strings attached, will come back to you.
Listening and Learning:
Ruth 1:2:1-13
1. What could verse 2 tell us about Ruth and Naomi’s financial condition?
2. With what we have learned about Boaz in this story so far, why do you think he asks about Ruth in verse 5?
3. Read verses 8-9 again. Why does Boaz seem to go overboard in his kindness to Ruth?
4. What evidence do we find in this story that suggests Boaz has wholesome, upright and pure motives for his kindness to Ruth? In other words, that he is not romantically perusing Ruth?
5. What clues are in this story that would tell us if Ruth knows or does not know the family connections to Boaz? 
Excerpts and questions used in this study are used by permission from
Living in the Moment 
Listening and Learning: Ruth 1:2:1-131. What could verse 2 tell us about Ruth and Naomi's financial condition?They must have been quite poor, for Ruth to go behind the harvesters to ‘glean’ the grain that was leftover.2. With what we have learned about Boaz in this story so far, why do you think he asks about Ruth in verse 5?We are told that Boaz was a worthy man. So, for him to ask about Ruth, would most likely mean that he is asking, not with the intent to get her into trouble for gleaning behind the reapers, but perhaps to help her.3. Read verses 8-9 again. Why does Boaz seem to go overboard in his kindness to Ruth?Perhaps he is drawn to her perseverance to provide for herself and her mother in law. He seems to want to make things a little easier for her by instructing his workers not to touch her, and even offering her water.4. What evidence do we find in this story that suggests Boaz has wholesome, upright and pure motives for his kindness to Ruth? In other words, that he is not romantically perusing Ruth?Boaz refers to her as ‘my daughter’ and talks to her of her sacrifices in making this move away from her family and the familiar, to be there for Naomi. He says that God wants to bless her for her sacrifices and seems to feel called to be the hand that God uses to bless her.5. What clues are in this story that would tell us if Ruth knows or does not know the family connections to Boaz?I am not sure that she knows of the family connections to Boaz, because it says that ‘she happened’ to come to Boaz’s field. It seemed to be ‘coincidence’ on her part.
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Cathy BarkmanThank you, Iris, for your answers to these questions. I am going to add a section from the Zondervan Handbook (p. 251). \”There were not many ways for widows to earn a living, and Ruth and Naomi were poor. But the law (Leviticus 19:9-10) laid down that the gleanings of the harvest must be left for the needy.\” The Zondervan Handbook goes on to say that Boaz's kindness goes far beyond the law's demands. We know that God has a plan for each one of us. Boaz and Ruth will have been brought together by God's design.
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