Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Focus 1 (vv. 3, 5): The passage twice tells us who remained. Ask the group: reading “the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband,” what do they feel?
Focus 2 (vv. 1–2): ‘Living there for a while’ became “They came into the country of Moab and lived there” (v. 2), and then “They lived there about ten years” (v. 4). Ask the group whether they have a place they meant to stay in only for a while.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down one thing they have lost and one sentence to God. Next time, those who are willing can share.
Leader tip: This lesson touches on losing a spouse, losing children, and leaving home; some in the group may be in the middle of these. Don’t press on question 8, and let people share only if they want to. Don’t explain for the passage why Elimelech’s family died — the passage does not call it a punishment, so don’t teach it as ‘leaving the promised land brings disaster.’ The book of Ruth is also not a guide to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships; this lesson does not discuss how to be a good mother-in-law or daughter-in-law.
Focus 1 (vv. 16–17): Ruth’s words. Ask the group to read the ‘you … I will …’ lines aloud one by one, and say which one moves them most.
Focus 2 (vv. 20–21): Naomi’s bitter words. Ask the group: reading “the LORD has brought me home again empty,” would they want to correct her, or sit with her for a while?
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of one person who did not leave them in a hard time. Next time, those who are willing can share.
Leader tip: This lesson can easily be told as ‘Ruth the good daughter-in-law, Orpah the bad one’ — the passage does not blame Orpah, so don’t condemn her for it. It can also be told as ‘Naomi was weak in faith and was wrong to complain against God’ — the passage records her words without comment, so don’t pass judgment for it. The book of Ruth is not a guide to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships; this lesson does not discuss how to be a good mother-in-law or daughter-in-law. Some in the group may have lost a spouse or a child, or may have complaints against God; don’t press on question 10, and let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 2–3): Ruth speaks first — “Let me now go to the field” — and the passage goes on, “she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz.” Ask the group: reading ‘happened,’ how do they see it?
Focus 2 (vv. 8–12): How Boaz looks after a foreign widow. Ask the group to count together how many things he says and how many ways he looks after her.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of someone near them who has just arrived and has no one to lean on. Next time, those who are willing can share: what small thing did they do?
Leader tip: This lesson can easily be told as ‘Ruth meets her prince charming,’ or the group may start guessing at feelings between Ruth and Boaz — the passage does not say, so don’t supply it. Also don’t turn ‘happened’ straight into ‘everything was arranged by God long ago’; let the group see it from the passage themselves. The book of Ruth is not a guide to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships; what Ruth did for her mother-in-law is something Boaz had heard about, so don’t expand it into ‘how to honor your mother-in-law.’ Some in the group may be immigrants or newly arrived somewhere; let people share on question 10 only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 15–16): The passage does not say Ruth heard Boaz’s orders. Ask the group: have they ever found out only later that someone had quietly ‘left a little more’ for them?
Focus 2 (vv. 19–20): Naomi goes from “the LORD has brought me home again empty” (Ruth 1:21) to speaking a blessing. Help the group notice what happened in between: a very practical meal, an ephah of barley, and a name.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down one kindness they received. Next time, those who are willing can share.
Leader tip: “who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead” (v. 20) can be read as referring to the LORD or to Boaz; there is no need to settle it in the group. In this lesson ‘near kinsman’ is only a term to get to know; don’t develop it into ‘Boaz as a type of Christ.’ That is an allegorical reading, and this series does not read it that way. The book of Ruth is also not a guide to getting along with one’s mother-in-law; don’t turn “she lived with her mother-in-law” (v. 23) into ‘a model daughter-in-law.’ If anyone in the group is working far from home or depending on others’ help, don’t press on questions 9 and 10; let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (v. 9): Naomi said Boaz would tell Ruth what to do, but Ruth is the one who speaks first. Ask the group: what does Ruth ask for? What does she call Boaz?
Focus 2 (vv. 10–13): Boaz’s answer contains a blessing, a word of comfort, a difficulty, and a promise made as the LORD lives. Ask the group to find each one.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down one thing they are waiting for. Next time, those who are willing can share.
Leader tip: Read this lesson as the passage is written, without dramatizing and without hints. “uncover his feet, and lie down” (v. 4) — read it as written; don’t guess, don’t joke, and don’t supply thoughts or motives for Ruth or Boaz that the passage does not give. Don’t comment on whether Naomi’s plan was clever or risky. This chapter is not a dating guide, nor a guide to getting along with one’s mother-in-law; don’t turn it into ‘young women taking the initiative’ or ‘a daughter-in-law obeying her mother-in-law.’ Get to know ‘near kinsman’ only from the passage and Lev 25:25; don’t turn it into ‘Boaz as a type of Christ.’ Questions 8 and 9 only set passages side by side for the group to see for themselves; the leader does not need to give a conclusion.
Focus 1 (vv. 1–2, 9–10): Boaz settles the matter at the gate, before the elders and the people, and twice says, “You are witnesses today.” Ask the group: why do it in front of everyone?
Focus 2 (vv. 4–6): The man first agrees to redeem, then says, “I can’t redeem it for myself” (v. 6). Ask the group to look only at the words the passage records, and say what they notice.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person thinks of one thing they have put off making clear. Next time, anyone who wants to can say: did you do it?
Leader tip: The passage does not say what the near kinsman was thinking, and it does not blame him. Don’t make him out to be selfish or a bad example, and don’t guess at his reasons. This lesson is also not the place to develop ‘the near kinsman as a type of Christ’ — read as the passage tells it, redemption in this book is a matter of family, land, and keeping a name. Lev 25 and Deut 25 are only for comparison; don’t turn them into ‘Boaz fulfilled such-and-such duty under the law.’ The book of Ruth is not a guide to getting along with your mother-in-law, and this lesson is not about how to be a mother-in-law or a daughter-in-law.
Focus 1 (v. 13): “the LORD enabled her to conceive.” Ask the group to think back over the whole book: the narration shows God acting in only two places (Ruth 1:6; 4:13); every other mention of the LORD is in people’s prayers and blessings. Where is God in these ordinary days?
Focus 2 (vv. 14–17): Naomi goes from ‘empty’ to holding a child in her arms. Ask the group to read Lesson 1’s “the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband” (Ruth 1:5) together with this passage.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person writes down one place where they saw God at work in ordinary days; anyone who wants to can share next time.
Leader tip: Don’t turn this into ‘After you suffer, God will surely make it up to you’ — the passage does not say that what Naomi lost was given back. If anyone in the group has lost a child, cannot have children, or has waited a long time, questions 1 and 7 and verse 13 can touch a wound. Don’t comfort them with ‘the LORD enabled her to conceive.’ Be with them first; don’t argue a point. Read verse 15, “who is better to you than seven sons,” as written; don’t stretch it into ‘the standard of a good daughter-in-law’ — the book of Ruth is not a guide to getting along with your mother-in-law. For Pointing to Christ, read only Matt 1:5; don’t develop it into ‘Boaz as a type of Christ.’ Question 11 is just for each person to write down.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.