Redeemed
Chosen, Bought, and Paid For
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Week 1
Day 1
Spiritual Leader or Not
Ruth 1:1A
In the days when the judges ruled
Today we will just look at this phrase. This gives us the history of when the story of Ruth took place. We will look at some scripture to understand what was going on in Israel during this time. This was a very low point in Israel’s history. There was division, cruelty, oppression, civil war, national disgrace and disobedience to God.
Turn back a page from Ruth and you will be in the book of Judges. This takes place after Joshua died. Joshua had been the leader of the Israelites after Moses and now he has died and they don’t have a leader. If you have time, read the entire book of Judges to get a complete picture of the times.
Read Judges 2:8 – 19
Who died? ____________________________________________________________
What does verse 10 say about the next generation? ________________________________
Who did the people worship in verses 12-13? ________________________________________
What did God do in verse 16? _____________________________________________________
What was the people’s response in verse 17 - 19? __________________________________
Read Judges 17:6. What was going on during this time?
Read Judges 21:25. What does this say and why do you think it is repeated?
God repeats that Israel had no king. God had been the King directly to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then God raised up a leader Moses and then Joshua. The people were not obedient to God so he provided spiritual leaders. When Joshua died, the people stopped following God. God raised up Judges and the people followed God while they had a leader but when the judge died everyone did what he wanted. The people were not taking any individual responsibility for their spiritual growth and obedience to God. They still had a responsibility to be obedient to God whether or not they had a spiritual leader. Scripture says God was angry. Do you think God is angry today when we do not take individual responsibility for our spiritual growth? The judges were like our President, commander of the military, and spiritual leader all rolled into one person. However your spiritual growth will never happen based on the spirituality of the President, the military power, your pastor, your spouse, your parents, etc. Your relationship with God is solely based on you. You are individually responsible before God to be obedient, to walk in His ways, and be obedient to what He calls you to do and where he calls you to be.
You might say our country could resemble the time of the Judges. We don’t have much spiritual leadership in our government. Americans do pretty much what they want. The phrase of the day is to be tolerant. Many gods are worshipped in our land today. American gods may not be idols carved out of wood but we have idols like movie stars, singers, TV shows, money and power or even video games. Even God’s people tend to be obedient to God when they have a good spiritual leader in a pastor, teacher, spouse, etc. When that person is gone from their life or a problem comes, they run the other way.
You can see in the example of the people in Judges, that God was angry. He still held the people responsible for their obedience to him whether or not they had a spiritual leader for their country.
Let’s look at church leadership. Read 1 Sam 1:3. Who were the priests at Shiloh?
Read 1 Sam 2:12. What kind of priests were they?
Read 1 Sam 1:10. What did Hannah do at the temple where these wicked priests were?
You still have the individual responsibility to be obedient before the Lord whether or not you have good spiritual leadership in your church. Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. We need good spiritual leaders and there are many of them. If you have one, pray for them and thank God for them. If you don’t have one, then pray that they will become the leaders God intends or that God will send one. We see Hannah still poured out her heart before God in the midst of evil priests in the temple.
Sadly today when sin comes out in church leaders, many people leave the church and never return to one. There has been a constant barrage in the news of pastors or priests that have fallen to sin. The news never reports the mighty wonders and deeds God is doing today within the body of his church. Your focus is always to be on God and not your minister. You have a responsibility before God no matter what your minister does. I believe scripture points out to us in many examples that if you are not where God calls you, doing what God calls you to do, he will hold you responsible for the consequences not someone else. You won’t be able to use the excuse ‘the President wasn’t a believer, or I didn’t have a good pastor, parent or spouse ’. Even among the immoral American society, God calls you to be holy. A people set apart. We have talked about government and church leadership. What about parents. Can we use bad parents or unbelieving parents as an excuse? Read 1 Kings 15:1-3. Who became king of Judah?
Read 1 Kings 15:8-11. Who was Abijah’s son and did he follow in his father’s steps? What about David’s kids? Surely a man after God’s own heart for a father would be a good spiritual leader as a dad. You can read about David’s children in 2 Samuel. One son raped his half sister. One son kills the other son. One son conspires to take the throne away from David.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Much more than a great love story, the book of Ruth tells of redemption, sacrifice, and the price that was paid to buy freedom. In Redeemed, author Rhonda Williams offers a ten-week women’s Bible study focusing on the book of Ruth.
The study examines various aspects of the book of Ruth, the Bible’s greatest heroine, and considers how her story applies to today’s world. It depicts a picture of Jesus and how he chose you, loved you, and paid the ultimate price to purchase your freedom from sin and set you free. It paints a picture of the figures of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz and their relationships, family issues, love, loyalty, bitterness, death, hunger, and more, recognizing the stark contrast between Naomi and Ruth, their responses to life’s trials and the ways those responses affect each of them and bring blessings. Finally, it invites you to dig deeper into the biblical text and your life through study questions
Through the figures in the book of Ruth, Redeemed helps you visualize the pain of their trials and then experience the joy of being redeemed. Ruth’s story communicates that no matter who or where you are, you have hope—and that hope is in Jesus Christ, redeemer.
About the Author
Rhonda Williams teaches a women’s Sunday school class at Eastlake Baptist Church in Crown Point, Indiana; she also serves on the worship team. She is a mother and grandmother living in Portage, Indiana. This is her first book.