A FAMILY FROM BETHLEHEM By Ronda Hinrichsen

(A Read-together Story for you and your child.)

Note: See Ruth 1-4

PARENT:   More than a thousand years before Christ was born, a good family lived in Bethlehem.

CHILD:      Naomi was the mother of that family. She had a husband and two sons.

PARENT:  They lived happily in Bethlehem, near their relatives and friends, until one season when a famine came to the
                  land.

CHILD:     A famine means that the people began to run out of food.

PARENT:  Naomi’s family decided to move to a place that had food.

CHILD:     That place was called Moab.

PARENT:  While living there, Naomi’s husband died, and her sons married.

CHILD:     The girls they married were from Moab. Their names were Orpah and Ruth.

PARENT:  Orpah and Ruth were good and kind, but their families had not taught them to believe in the Lord.

CHILD:     They worshipped many other gods.

PARENT:  But after Orpah and Ruth married Naomi’s sons, they began to learn about God.

CHILD:     And for a time, they were happy.

PARENT:  Then a very sad thing happened: both Naomi’s sons died.

CHILD:     Now, Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth were widows. They had to decide what to do and where to go.

PARENT:  Naomi decided to go back to Bethlehem. She had heard that God had ended the famine there.

CHILD:     Orpah and Ruth wanted to go with her.

PARENT:  Naomi loved Orpah and Ruth. She knew she would miss them, but she wanted them to be blessed with their
                  own families. She said, “Go, return . . . to (your) mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye
                  have dealt with (my sons) and with me.”

CHILD:     Orpah kissed Naomi good-bye. She went back to her first family.

PARENT:  But Ruth clung to Naomi. She did not want to go back to worshipping idols. She did not want to leave
                  her mother-in-law.

BOTH:       Ruth said: “Intreat me not to leave thee . . . for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will
                  lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy god, my God.”
CHILD:     Naomi knew Ruth loved her. She also knew Ruth loved the Lord. She let Ruth move toBethlehem with her.
PARENT:  Naomi and Ruth traveled many miles until they came to Bethlehem.

CHILD:     When they got there, it was the beginning of the barley harvest.

PARENT:  Ruth saw a way to help her and Naomi get the food they needed.

CHILD:     She said, “Let me now go to the field, and glean grain.”

PARENT:  “Go, my daughter,” Naomi said.

CHILD:     Ruth went into the fields. She gathered grain that the reapers missed. She worked very hard.
PARENT:  The owner of the field saw Ruth gleaning the grain. His name was Boaz. He was related to Naomi’s husband.
CHILD:     “Whose damsel is this?” he asked one of his servants.

PARENT:  “It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab,” the servant said.

CHILD:     Boaz was impressed with Ruth.

PARENT:  He told her she could stay and work in his fields, alongside his servants. She would be safe there. She would
                  have good water to drink.

CHILD:     Ruth asked Boaz why he was being so good to her, “seeing that I am a stranger?”

PARENT:  Boaz told Ruth he knew about all she had done for Naomi and how kindlyshe had taken care of her. “A full
                  reward be given thee of the Lord God ofIsrael, (whom) thou art come to trust,” he said.

CHILD:     Boaz was kind to Ruth in another way, too. He told his servants to secretly leave extra grain behind so Ruth
                  could gather even more of it for food. Ruth gathered grain all day.

PARENT:  That night, Ruth returned to her home with Naomi. She told Naomi how kind Boaz had been to her.

CHILD:     “Blessed be he of the Lord,” Naomi said.

PARENT:  Ruth continued to gather grain from Boaz’s fields during the barley harvest and then throughout the following
                  wheat harvest.

CHILD:     When all the harvests ended, Ruth and Boaz decided to marry.

PARENT:  They had a baby boy. His name was Obed.

CHILD:     Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, and Obed were happy.

PARENT:  This kind and loyal family from Bethlehem had faced many trials, but because they were faithful to the
                  Lord and to each other, they received many blessings. They also received future blessings.

CHILD:     One blessing was that Ruth and Boaz became the great-grandparents of David, the faith-filled boy who killed
                  the giant, Goliath. When he grew up, he became a mighty king. King David, like his great-grandparents, was
                  from Bethlehem.

PARENT:  Then, many, many years after that, the greatest king of all was born into Ruth and Boaz’s family.

CHILD:     That King brought blessings to all of Heavenly Father’s children.

PARENT:  He was kind, loyal, and perfectly righteous, and He, too, was from Bethlehem.

BOTH:      His name was Jesus Christ.