Ladies Bible Study: Naomi's Choices ... Lesson 2

Lesson 2

Naomi’s Choices

By Patsy Norwood © 2026.  All rights reserved.  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited.  Permission is given for use in ladies Bible classes as long as there are no changes made in the study and no monetary gain involved.  This Bible study is written for women.

In our last lesson we set the stage for what’s about to happen next!  Let’s see what that is …

Time-out!  Before embarking on this lesson, I want you to be mindful of what is missing ... what we have no record of ... 

Let's get started ...

Ruth 1:3 (NKJV) … Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.

We don’t know how long Elimelech and Naomi had been in Moab when tragedy struck, Elimelech died leaving Naomi and her two sons (age unknown) in this foreign land alone.   Naomi, however, did not choose to go back to Bethlehem after her husband’s death but chose rather to remain in Moab.  Could it be that they hadn’t been in Moab very long and the famine in Bethlehem was still raging? 

Could it be that the family had become entrenched in Moabite life and considered it home?  We are not told the reason why, but now Elimelech’s choice became Naomi’s choice, and she chose to remain in the land of Moab with her sons where foreign worship was all around them influencing their every choice.

 Verse 4 …  Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.

Mahlon and Chilion chose Moabite wives entrenching the family even more in the Moabite lifestyle.  Mahlon married Ruth and Chilion married Orpah.  It certainly seems that they planned to stay in Moab long term. 

We need to take note here of who is making the choice to stay in Moab.  Who is it?

Verse 5 …  Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

Some scholars suggest that the death of all three of these men, Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion, was due to their leaving Israel and the young men marrying foreign women.  God had warned Israel about intermarriage with unbelievers in Exodus 34:12-16 and in Deuteronomy 7:1-4 because of the potential negative spiritual effects.  Could this be the reason?    This is a good discussion question.

Exodus 34:12-16  (NASB) … 12 Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.

 Deuteronomy 7:1-4 (NASB) … 7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2 and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.

Naomi, Ruth and Orpah are now all three widows in Moab with no visible means of support and Naomi, in the midst of her grief, is once again faced with a dilemma and must decide what to do.

 

Questions:

1.            After Naomi’s husband died, she has a choice before her, what is it?

 

2.           What are some spiritual implications of Naomi’s choice?

 

3.           The next big events in Naomi’s life that we read about are weddings, who got married and who did each marry?

 

4.           It seems that Naomi and her sons intended to stay in Moab long term, verse 4 gives us two indications that this might be the case, what are they?

 

5.           Why should staying in an area where one is spiritually in danger be a concern?

 

6.           Tragedy strikes again, this time with Naomi’s sons, what happened? 

 

7.           This lesson ends with Naomi facing the same choice she faced when we began this lesson, what is it?

     8.           What are some take-aways from today’s lesson?  I’ll get you started:

 

Spiritual Choices Matter!

Before we close out this lesson, did you figure out what was missing, what we have no record of ... we have no record of anyone consulting God on the choices at hand!  Hmmm ... are we ever guilty of not praying/consulting God in our decision making?

This concludes lesson 2 of our study on Naomi.  I hope you’ll choose at least one of the questions above and answer it in the comments below.  

In lesson 3, Naomi is faced with two choices.

Until the next time!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~ 

Ladies Bible Study: Naomi's Choices: Lesson 1

Before we get started with lesson one, I want to point out that the format of this study is a little different.  I’ve added questions to be answered and included ways to mark in your Bible (if you mark in your Bible) that I hope you will choose to do, whether in your own personal Bible study or in the comments below if applicable.  Both will enhance what you get from this lesson. 

Lesson 1

Naomi’s Choices

By Patsy Norwood © 2026.  All rights reserved.  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited.  Permission is given for use in ladies Bible classes as long as there are no changes made in the study and no monetary gain involved. 

In our brief introduction of this study, we made the statement that God never deserts His children.  In lesson 1 and before we start talking about Naomi, we’re going to look at some Scriptures that assure us that God never forsakes His children.

Joshua 1:9 (NKJV) … Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

In your Bible, underline:  ‘for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’

Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV) Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

In your Bible, underline:  ‘for I am with you’

Let’s look at a couple more, this time from the New Testament …

Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV) … Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

In your Bible, underline:  ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’

Matthew 28:20 (NKJV) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In your Bible, underline: ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’

Each of these four verses have different contexts, but it doesn’t take away from the central message:  God is with His children wherever they go!

Can you think of other passages of Scripture that carry this same message?

Now that we’ve established that God doesn’t desert His children, let’s get started in our study of Naomi beginning with the first two verses in chapter 1 of the book of Ruth.

 Ruth 1:1-2 … Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.

Naomi was the wife of Elimelech, they both were Ephrathites (a clan) from the tribe of Judah, living in Bethlehem near Jerusalem.  There is some thinking among scholars that Elimelech and Naomi might have been of some prominence and affluence in Bethlehem.  Naomi’s statement in chapter 1, verse 21 that she went out ‘full’ could support this idea.  “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty …” (Ruth 1:21a)

Elimelech and Noami lived in the day when judges governed apparently during one of the more peaceful times since we know that the period of judges was all about cycles.  The children of Israel would sin and fall away from God.  God would allow their enemies to attack them, and the people would come under servitude to their captors.  The children of Israel would repent and cry out to God for help, God would send a judge to lead them out of the captivity and after a time the cycle would start all over again.  It seems that the children of Israel were turning to God during times of need and oppression but forgetting about Him during the good times.

There was a famine in the land, a pretty severe famine from all indications and since Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons, like everyone else, depended on the land for their food; something needed to be done.  Elimelech, being the head of the household, made the decision to move his family to the land of Moab some 70 miles away, where he apparently thought things would be better.  Moab’s lush, fertile land could be seen from high points in and around Bethlehem; this sight could have been what gave Elimelech the idea to move his family to Moab since the area appeared unaffected by the famine.  The journey involved mountainous terrain and included crossing the Jordan River as well as the Arnon River.  Even though it wasn’t that long of a journey by today’s standards, it would have taken Elimelech and his family several days to reach their destination.

Moab though, was steeped in the worship of false Gods and idols; in short, the Moabites did not follow the one true God.  In addition, the children of Israel and the Moabites had a long-standing conflict with each other reaching back to when the children of Israel were journeying to the Promised Land.  The children of Israel asked permission to cross through the territory of Moab but were refused (Judges 11:17).  Moab was a constant ‘thorn’ in Israel’s side after that resulting in them often being in conflict with each other.  This was the place Elimelech chose to move his family.  (You can read about the origins of Moab and the Moabites in Genesis 19:30-38.)

The events of this portion of Naomi’s journey cover a minimum of 11 years.  In this study we’re going to see what a difference a decade of being away from God, His people and His promises made.   We're also going to see God quietly working behind the scenes.

Questions: 

1.          Who are the people mentioned in this family and what are their roles? 

 

2.         What are the two places mentioned that this family lived?  One they’re moving from, the other they’re moving to.

 

3.         Naomi’s husband made a pretty significant decision for his family; what was it and why did he    make it? 

 

4.         What thoughts come to your mind when you think of experiencing famine?

 

5.         The Bible doesn’t tell us what Naomi thought, but let’s try to get inside her head.  How do you think she felt about the move?  What might have been some things she ‘pondered’ in her heart?

 

6.         Now, let’s look at the land they are moving to, what do we learn about Moab from this lesson?

 

7.         Elimelech moved his family from a place where God was worshipped to a place where He was not.  In fact, false gods and idols were worshipped instead.  Elimelech, in trying to provide for his family seems to have neglected their spiritual needs or maybe he thought they were spiritually strong enough that they wouldn’t be affected.  When making decisions for our families, do we consider the spiritual implications?  Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) tells us ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.’  How can we apply this Scripture to our decision-making process today?

This concludes lesson 1 of our study on Naomi.  I hope you’ll choose at least one of the questions above and answer it in the comments below.  If you choose to comment but don’t want it published, please include that request in your comment.  I will acknowledge your comment without identifying your name and do my best to respond to it in the next lesson.

In lesson 2, tragedy strikes for Naomi … one of the worst kinds of tragedies!

Until the next time!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~ 

Naomi's Choices ... Bible Study for Women

Naomi’s Choices 

by Patsy Norwood Copyright © 2026.  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited!

Our study this time comes from the book of Ruth.  When we think of the book of Ruth, our first thoughts almost always go to the beautiful, inside and out, woman we have come to know as Ruth … but there is another key lady in this book!

Our lives on earth are a journey and the choices we make while here determine where we will spend eternity.  Sometimes our journey takes us through difficult seasons like it did for the lady we’re going to learn about in this study.  In the book of Ruth, we meet Naomi and that's who we're going to focus on for a few weeks. 

Naomi’s journey took her through a difficult path and even though she felt God had forsaken her, we see from Scripture that He had not.

Have you ever traveled on a difficult path?

Have you ever felt that God has forsaken you?

I hope you’ll join me in this study as we see, through Naomi’s Choices, that God never deserts His children.  The question is, do we desert God?

Please share with other women about this new study, the first lesson will be posted on February 12^th, 2026.