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Ruth – A Woman of Virtue

In the town of Bethlehem, in theland of Israel, there lived a man

named Elimelech who had a wifeand two sons. His wife’s namewas Naomi. They lived during thetime of the Judges. Because of agreat famine in Israel, Elimelechdecided to move his family toMoab.

After living there for awhile, Elimelech died.Both of his sons, namedMahlon and Chilion,married Moabite women.Orpah was the name ofone of the women, andthe other was namedRuth (Ruth 1:1-4).

Ruth was a Moabitewhose family historywent all the way back toLot, Abraham’s nephew.You might recall thestory of Abraham andLot from previous les-sons.

Ruth Goes With Naomi

A few years later, Naomi’s sonsdied. For the young women andtheir mother-in-law, things hadbecome very difficult. It seemedas though life could not get any

RuthA Woman of Virtue

1 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSONIllustrations by The Restored Church of God

worse. So, when the drought inIsrael had finally ended, Naomimade up her mind that it was timeto go back to Bethlehem (Ruth1:5-6).

Naomi wanted Ruth and Orpahto stay in Moab and remarry menfrom their own land. But bothyoung women wanted to return toIsrael with their mother-in-law.

Naomi eventually convincedOrpah to stay, but she could notconvince Ruth. She refused toleave Naomi.

Fill in the blanks with whatRuth said to her mother-in-law,Naomi. “Entreat me not to _____you, or to ____ back from follow-ing after ___: for wherever ______, I will ___; and wherever you______, I will ____; your ____shall be my _____, and your____, my ___” (Ruth 1:16).

Naomi was very surprised andhappy to hear Ruth say thesethings. She knew that no amountof convincing would cause Ruthto change her mind so they con-tinued toward Israel.

As they entered Bethlehem,Naomi was glad to see old friends.Before long, most of the people intown came out to greet her. Theywere all happy to see Naomiagain.

Once they were settled in, Ruthmentioned to Naomi that it was

time to gather the harvest. Ruthhad seen other women gleaningbarley and decided to help them inthe fields the next morning (Ruth1:22).

Gleaning was when they col-lected what was left behind afterthe harvesters went through. It wasnot viewed as stealing, and wasactually part of God’s Law. WhenGod gave His Commandments tothe Israelites, He told them toallow the poor and widows of theland to collect what was left on theground from the harvest. SinceRuth was a widow, she was per-mitted to do this (Leviticus 19:9;23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19).

Ruth and Boaz

In the morning, Ruth went to oneof the fields being harvested, car-rying a large bag. Once she hadbeen given permission, she found aspot behind one of the harvesters.

Later in the day, a man namedBoaz, the owner of the field, cameto see how the harvesters weredoing.

“God be with you,” he told theworkers.

“God bless you,” they allanswered back.

When Boaz walked past Ruth,he quickly realized he had neverseen this woman before.

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“Who is this young woman? Isshe new?” he asked a servantnearby.

“She is a Moabite. She camewith Naomi, the widow ofElimelech,” he told him. “Shecame by this morning and asked ifshe could glean barley.”

Ruth glanced up just asBoaz was walking towardher.

“If you are going toglean,” Boaz told her,“please stay near mywomen servants and in myfields. I have told the mento show the greatestrespect to you.”

Ruth was so takenaback by Boaz’s generosi-ty that she fell to herknees and bowed to theground.

“What have I done, thatyou have shown me suchkindness?” Ruth asked. “Iam but a stranger in yourland.”

“I heard how you treat-ed your mother-in-law,”Boaz said. “She has toldmany people how you leftyour own land to comeand care for her. May Godbless you and reward youfor your actions. May He protectyou for putting your trust in Him.”

Ruth humbly thanked Boaz andreturned to where the other work-ers were eating a meal.

After break, Ruth took herplace behind the harvesters. Shedid not know that Boaz had com-manded the workers to give herspecial privileges.

Boaz had told his servants to lether glean wherever she wanted.



He also told them to leave someextra barley for her on the groundand not to get angry with her ifshe followed too closely.

That evening, Ruth ground thebarley she had gathered on thethreshing floor. To her surprise, itturned out to be enough to makemany loaves of bread. When shegot home, Naomi was also sur-prised with how much grain Ruthhad gleaned (Ruth 2:3-18).

Ruth told Naomi that the fieldshe had gleaned in was owned bya man named Boaz.

“I know who Boaz is!” Naomisaid excitedly. “He is a relative ofElimelech, my dead husband, andis a man who fears God. If youcontinue gleaning in his fields,you will do well.”

Test Your Memory:

1) Who was Elimelech’s wife? _____________________________2) What town was Elimelech orig-inally from? _________________3) Ruth’s family history actuallyincluded ___________, and hisnephew Lot.4) What did Ruth begin to dowhen she got to Bethlehem? _______________________________5) Who was the owner of the fieldthat Ruth gleaned in? __________6) Boaz instructed his servants to

let Ruth __________ wherevershe ___________ and to ____some extra ____________ on the___________ for her.7) Boaz was a man who feared________.

Naomi’s Plan

After each day passed, Ruthalways had more news for Naomi.Naomi quickly realized that aclose friendship was formingbetween Ruth and Boaz.

“I only want the best for you,Ruth,” Naomi said. “I can tell thatBoaz cares for you with all hisheart. Tonight, you must go to thethreshing floor in your bestclothes and with your nicest per-fume on. That is where Boaz willbe working. Wait until he is sleep-ing and then quietly lie down athis feet.”

Naomi knew the Israelite cus-tom regarding widows. If a widowhad no children, then the closestmale relative of her deceased hus-band was to marry her.

Ruth was hesitant, but she trust-ed Naomi and did what she said.That night, Ruth went to thethreshing floor. She slowly lookedinside and saw Boaz finishing hisdinner.

She waited until he had eatenand fallen asleep, and then slipped



inside. She lifted up the blanketnear his feet and quietly lay down,careful not to wake him.

In the middle of the night, Boazsuddenly woke up. He realizedthat someone was lying at hisfeet!

“Who’s there?” he asked.“It is Ruth,” she replied nerv-

ously. “I was told that, becauseyou are a close relative of mydead husband, you may marryme.”

Boaz was shocked, andanswered, “You are blessed of theLORD, for you have shown memore kindness now than when Ifirst met you. You did not followafter young men, whether theywere poor or rich.”

Fill in the blanks with the restof what Boaz told Ruth. “Andnow, my daughter, do not__________. I will do for you_______ that you ___ ______, forall the _________ of my _______know that you are a _____________________” (Ruth 3:11).

This made Ruth very happy tohear Boaz say this. “But there isone man who is a closer relativethan I am, and he would have firstrights,” Boaz said.

When Ruth heard this, shebecame very worried. But Boazcomforted her and told her that hewould take care of the situation

the next day. Feeling a little better,she curled up at his feet, and wentback to sleep.

Ruth woke up early in themorning, before the sun was up,and started to leave. But beforeshe left, Boaz gave her some grainto take back to Naomi.

Ruth ran home and quickly toldNaomi all that had happened. “Iam sure Boaz will solve the prob-lem by the end of the day,” hermother-in-law told her (Ruth3:14-18).

Boaz’s Deal

After Ruth had left, Boaz went tothe main city gate where thetown’s business took place. Hebegan looking for Ruth’s closestrelative.

Eventually, Boaz found theman, and said, “I have news foryou! Please, wait here until Icome back.”

Boaz came back with ten of themost important men of the city. Itwas tradition to have several peo-ple there to witness a businessagreement.

“Naomi, Elimelech’s widow, isselling a piece of land. Becauseyou are the closest relative, youhave first choice,” Boaz said.“But if you choose not to buy it,then I would like to.”



The man answered, withouthesitation, “Certainly, I will buyit!”

Boaz continued, saying, “Butthere is one other thing. The saleincludes marriage to Ruth,Elimelech’s daughter-in-law. She isa Moabite woman. You must alsobe willing to have a family by her.”

The relative’s excitementquickly turned to sadness. “Then Imust decline. I cannot afford tobuy it,” he told Boaz. “I am notwealthy enough to buy the landand support a wife and child.”

Boaz got just the answer he washoping for. When the nearest rela-tive was passing their responsibil-ity to the next closest relative, itwas an Israelite custom to givethem their shoe. So the relativetook off his shoe and gave it toBoaz (Ruth 4:8).

Boaz then repeated the agree-ment in front of all the witnesses.“We all saw and heard what hap-pened here today,” they said.“May your wife be blessed likeRachel and Leah.”

Boaz ran to tell Ruth the goodnews. They were both very happyand gave God praise and thanksfor so greatly blessing them.

Ruth’s story teaches us manyimportant lessons; most of all, itteaches us loyalty to God’s Wayand courage to step out in faith.

Ruth was a young woman whenshe left her family in Moabbehind. She loved and cherishedher mother-in-law and knew howimportant it was to follow God’sway of life.

Because of this obedience toGod, Ruth was blessed with ahappy and wonderful marriage toBoaz. Eventually, Ruth and Boazwere blessed with a son namedObed. This boy went on to be thefather of Jesse, the father of KingDavid (Ruth 4:13-22). Ruth wasactually David’s great-grand-mother!

Test Your Memory:

1) Why did Naomi tell Ruth to goto Boaz’s threshing floor while hewas asleep? _______________________________________________________________________2) Was Boaz the closest relative toRuth? ______________________3) Where did Boaz go first thingin the morning? ______________4) Why did Boaz need ten of theleading men of the city there? ____________________________________________________________________________________5) What was the name of the sonborn to Boaz and Ruth? ________6) Who was the great-grandson ofBoaz and Ruth? ______________


BIBLE MEMORY: Ruth 1:16

Published by The Restored Church of God.Printed in the USA; All Rights ReservedCopyright © 2006

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CROSSWORD

There are 28 words in this puzzle associated with the story of Ruth.See if you can find them without a checklist. They can go forward,backward, up, down, diagonal or backward diagonal.