Life Group Notes – May 8 2022

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Life Group Study

Mother’s Day

Week of  May 8^th,  2022

Study by Wayne Arcand

We all have a relationship with our mother that is unique to who we are as a person and who they were or are as a person. I was blessed with a mother who exemplified the characteristics of a Godly woman and I am even more blessed to have a wife and the mother of our children who exemplifies the same characteristics in her life.  Sadly, not everyone has had or has the same experience. Where this is the case, we are still called to love, forgive and honour our mother. This study will look at how God rewards those who obey his word and the consequences for those who choose not to. I pray the Lord will open your heart to his word as we study this together.

All passages in this study are from the New International Version of the Bible.

1. Ephesians 6:¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— ³ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
   1. What transition do you see as we move from verse 1 to verse 2?
      1. What is the difference between “obey your parents” and “honour your father and mother”? Discuss what it means to ‘honour your father and your mother’?
   2. What is the promise of verse 3? What does this mean to you?
      1. If there is a reward for acting in a specific way, is there an implied consequence if you don’t act as commanded? Explain.

2. Consider these two verses: Exodus 21: ¹⁵“Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death. ¹⁷ “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.
   1. What are the two methods of assault in these verses?
      1. In our society, is one considered more heinous than the other? Discuss.
   2. What does the penalty for each suggest about the seriousness with which God considers both actions?

3. The Book of Ruth is a beautiful account of loss, sacrifice, love, hardship, redemption and reward. It is an excellent example of honouring a mother or mother-in-law. Naomi had lost her husband and both of her sons. At Naomi’s urging, one daughter-in-law went back to her people but Ruth refused to leave Naomi’s side.

Ruth 1: ¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” ¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” ¹⁸ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

1. As you read the above verses, what do you learn about each of these women?
   1. What characteristic stands out for you? Why?
2. We will continue to explore how God worked in Ruth’s life: Ruth 2:¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” ¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. ¹² May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
   1. What attitude does Ruth display in these verses?
   2. What motivated Boaz to look favourably upon Ruth?
   3. What did Boaz acknowledge about Ruth in verse 11?
   4. What does verse 12 tell us about Boaz?
3. The last question in this study will look at Ruth 4:¹³So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer[1]. May he become famous throughout Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. ¹⁷ The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
   1. What verse in this passage touches your heart?
   2. Out of great sorrow, God brought great blessing to Naomi and Ruth. What lessons have you learned from this study that you can apply to your life?

For Reflection: We live in a world that puts me and what I want ahead of everything and everyone else. There is little room for love, tolerance or respect as the focus is on our rights, desires, felt needs and wants. How different this is from the sacrificial love Ruth demonstrated toward Naomi – a love that resulted in God rewarding Ruth with a rich life and the honour of being in the line of David, and therefore an ancestor of Jesus. The love we show to our children, the honour we give to our parents, can have a generational reward. To love one another as Christ loved us has an eternal reward. So let us keep our eyes on the big picture, giving honour where honour is due, and being a witness to the goodness of God in our lives.

[1] WHAT WAS A GUARDIAN-REDEEMER? (from biblegateway.com)

Ruth 2:20; 3:12; 4:3–6

A guardian-redeemer was a close, influential relative to whom members of the extended family could turn for help, usually when the family line or possessions were in danger of being lost. He was responsible for buying back family land sold during a crisis (see Lev 25:25), buying back enslaved relatives (see Lev 25:47–49), providing an heir for a dead brother (see Dt 25:5–10), avenging the killing of a relative (see Nu 35:19–21) and caring for relatives in difficult circumstances (see Jer 32:6–25).

The idea of the guardian-redeemer is also used at times to refer to God and his redemption of Israel (see Ex 6:6–8; Job 19:25; Ps 19:14; 69:18; Isa 43:1). In these passages, God is Israel’s nearest redeemer, stepping in to bring the nation back into his family when the people could not do it themselves.

The word guardian-redeemer finds ultimate fulfillment in the coming of the Messiah (see Isa 59:20). Jesus is our near guardian who came to buy us back into God’s family. In the New Testament the concept is reflected in the various words for redeem, which suggest paying a ransom, making a purchase or saving from loss.