Ruth
Do you ever feel like the Bible is outdated? Some relic from a strange time and place that doesn't exist anymore? Some of it may be. Like a story in Ruth that tells of Boaz purchasing a piece of property. In front of witnesses they agreed to whatever the terms of the sale was and then one party removes his sandal. This story must have taken place quite a bit earlier than it was written because that practice what outdated then. Here is Ruth 4:7:
Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final,
one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing
transactions in Israel.
Can you imagine walking into Chase with a certified check to close on your new dream house and you leave with the keys and your bankers Birkenstock?
God's word is filled with these types of traditions or procedures that are so antiquated today we cannot even fathom how they might work or if they ever did. But, every single one of them are examples of human created traditions and procedures. But the ways of God remain. And really, why should that surprise anybody? I mean, God tells us that that is the way it is.
There are some other behaviors in the book of Ruth that we probably don't see enough of these days. One day Ruth entered a grain field walking behind the harvesters and picking up the grain that was missed or dropped. This grain is called the gleaning. If this happened today the farmer may press charges for theft but this farmer told his harvesters to intentionally leave more than normal for her and to not bother her about it!!
Why did Boaz offer such incredible generosity? Really all that we know is that he knew the Lord. We can assume that he was familiar with the Law of Moses and followed it to the best of his ability. So, lets take a look at a few of the regulations from Moses to get a look at Boaz's rationale. First we find that God gives three commands about when a farmer reaps his harvest. First, the corners of the field are not to be touched. It doesn't say so, but we can guess that it doesn't mean to not touch the one plant that is in the corner of the field. Second, the gleaning to be gathered. Third, the harvesters are to go over the field once. Then God says that those three things are to be left for the poor and the alien. The alien were not able to own land so to have food God made this provision. Then, as if He knew that we would complain about leaving all this grain behind, that could be sold or eaten, He reminds us that He is God.
The same rules are restated not once but twice just to make sure we don't misunderstand. But if the rules and things of God can not be stopped, where is this behavior today? Things of man fail, not things of God. I'm happy to report, they still exist. God never changes and His decrees never fail. I attended a church for a while a couple years back. During every offering they pass the plate around to cover the bills of the church and salaries and whatnot. But they also made a very special point to have what they called the four corner offering. In each corner of the sanctuary was a box with a slot in it that people could drop some change or a buck into. Every month the recipient changed but they were always charities that directly with the poor. I never understood what exactly they were all about until I came upon this passage again.
Also, two weeks ago, several of my coworkers and some volunteers were able to attend a food show at the convention center downtown. After it's completion we were permitted to walk around and take whatever the vendors were willing to give. We were so blessed to be able to take over $100,000 worth of gleaning back to our mission to give to the hungry, homeless and hurting of this community.
It's true ya know. The things of God never fail. We sometimes just need to change viewpoints to be able to see them happening.
Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final,
one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing
transactions in Israel.
Can you imagine walking into Chase with a certified check to close on your new dream house and you leave with the keys and your bankers Birkenstock?
God's word is filled with these types of traditions or procedures that are so antiquated today we cannot even fathom how they might work or if they ever did. But, every single one of them are examples of human created traditions and procedures. But the ways of God remain. And really, why should that surprise anybody? I mean, God tells us that that is the way it is.
There are some other behaviors in the book of Ruth that we probably don't see enough of these days. One day Ruth entered a grain field walking behind the harvesters and picking up the grain that was missed or dropped. This grain is called the gleaning. If this happened today the farmer may press charges for theft but this farmer told his harvesters to intentionally leave more than normal for her and to not bother her about it!!
Why did Boaz offer such incredible generosity? Really all that we know is that he knew the Lord. We can assume that he was familiar with the Law of Moses and followed it to the best of his ability. So, lets take a look at a few of the regulations from Moses to get a look at Boaz's rationale. First we find that God gives three commands about when a farmer reaps his harvest. First, the corners of the field are not to be touched. It doesn't say so, but we can guess that it doesn't mean to not touch the one plant that is in the corner of the field. Second, the gleaning to be gathered. Third, the harvesters are to go over the field once. Then God says that those three things are to be left for the poor and the alien. The alien were not able to own land so to have food God made this provision. Then, as if He knew that we would complain about leaving all this grain behind, that could be sold or eaten, He reminds us that He is God.
The same rules are restated not once but twice just to make sure we don't misunderstand. But if the rules and things of God can not be stopped, where is this behavior today? Things of man fail, not things of God. I'm happy to report, they still exist. God never changes and His decrees never fail. I attended a church for a while a couple years back. During every offering they pass the plate around to cover the bills of the church and salaries and whatnot. But they also made a very special point to have what they called the four corner offering. In each corner of the sanctuary was a box with a slot in it that people could drop some change or a buck into. Every month the recipient changed but they were always charities that directly with the poor. I never understood what exactly they were all about until I came upon this passage again.
Also, two weeks ago, several of my coworkers and some volunteers were able to attend a food show at the convention center downtown. After it's completion we were permitted to walk around and take whatever the vendors were willing to give. We were so blessed to be able to take over $100,000 worth of gleaning back to our mission to give to the hungry, homeless and hurting of this community.
It's true ya know. The things of God never fail. We sometimes just need to change viewpoints to be able to see them happening.