Elementary Level, Block 5—Aaron to Ruth
Week 49
Ruth—Making a Choice
Point to Emphasize: We can choose to be with the people of God.
Reference Reading: Ruth 1:1-18
Memory Verse: …For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you dwell, I will dwell; and your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. (Ruth 1:16b)
Story Sample
As we have gone through the book of Judges, we have heard stories about several people. We have heard about Judah, Deborah, Gideon and even Samson. But today we want to tell you a story about a woman during the time of judges. This woman’s name is Ruth and she was not just any woman. She was a very special woman, do you know why? She was the great grandmother of King David, who was the ancestor of Jesus Christ.
First, we need to go back a little. Now, during the time of the judges, many things happened. And one thing that happened was that there was a famine. Can you tell me what a famine is? [Let the children answer.] That’s right!
Now, there was a man named Elimelech. He had a wife, Naomi, and two sons. One day, because of the famine, he packed up his family and set out for Moab. The Moabites were not children of God, and they had nothing to do with God, so it was not the best place to go. But they went to the land of Moab and remained there. And then Elimelech died, leaving his wife Naomi and his children in a foreign land without any other family. This was a sad situation!
Eventually, Naomi’s sons married women from Moab. One married a woman named Orpah and the other married a woman named Ruth. And they lived there for ten years. But guess what? Another sad situation! Naomi’s sons both died! Poor Naomi! Not only had she lost her husband, but now she had lost her sons also. What would she do now?
It was hard to know what she should do next. But Naomi had heard something – she had heard that there was no longer a famine in Israel. God had visited His people in Judah and now they had food. This news had traveled all the way from Judah to Moab. This was a long way for news to travel, but it traveled all the way to Naomi.
When Naomi heard this good news, she rose up to return to her homeland. She desired the best for her daughters-in-law, so she told them to return to the homes they came from, speaking her desire that Jehovah would deal kindly with them and grant them rest in their own homes.
Orpah and Ruth wept when they heard this. They wanted to go with Naomi. They must have loved her. And she must have loved them also. Eventually Orpah returned to her parents’ home. But Ruth still wanted to go with Naomi. She pleaded with Naomi to not make her leave. She told Naomi, “Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you dwell, I will dwell; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die; and there will I be buried” (Ruth 1:16-17).
Now, doesn’t this seem strange? Ruth was willing to leave her family, her friends, and the country she had grown up in just to be with Naomi. What a choice this was! She was willing to walk away from everything she was sure of and comfortable with! And even more than that, she was going to a place where she would probably not even be accepted. Remember, she was a Moabite, and Moabites were not accepted by the Israelites. But she made a choice. She chose to go to be with the people of God.
Ruth was willing to leave the gods of the Moabites to follow Jehovah! She must have heard a lot about God from her mother-in-law. Naomi probably talked about God and her homeland and God’s people even while she was in Moab. Ruth must have believed that He was the true God. I think she made the right choice to go, don’t you? She chose God! She made the better choice. And God had something very special planned for Ruth in the Holy Land (Ruth 1:6, footnote 1) also.
Do you know that you are like Ruth even today? You made a choice to come to children’s meeting this morning rather than do something else. Every time you go to a neighborhood meeting, or a Bible camp you are making a choice – a better choice. [Storyteller, ask the children for some examples of how they can choose to be with the people of God.]