A Plan

jrn 6

Ruth 4:1-22

Boaz was talking about Ruth being redeemed. I’m trying to understand more the nature of their culture at the time. This land belongs to Naomi. Naomi is selling it maybe because of the famine and she needs to survive. With the purchase, comes possession of Ruth. It sounds like there is a government in place that requires “turns”. I guess when property comes available there are people waiting in line and they can choose to purchase or not to purchase. In this case, the land comes with Ruth and if the land comes with Ruth then whoever purchases it has to marry Ruth and have children.

This almost makes no sense in today’s culture. People are not property and polygamy is gross. It made perfect sense in the culture of that time. And, I can follow the story. Boaz wanted to redeem Ruth. The guy that was going to purchase the land and as a result Ruth decided against the purchase because Boaz reminded him that the purchase came with Ruth, a moabite widow. He would have to marry her and make babies with her and those babies would have to share in the inheritance of his supposed current children. He definitely didn’t want that. Maybe because she was a foreigner, maybe because she was a beggar. I think people probably passed judgement in the same ways we do today.

So, Boaz bought the property and Ruth. Boaz married her and they had a son, Obed, who is the father of Jesse, the father of David And eventually the lineage leads to Jesus.

One thing I’m wondering while I read this is who the author is. In this portion of scripture it mentions that David is the king, so whoever wrote this book had to know that. So, it was written at least three generations after Ruth. I wonder who was “reporting” all of these events. I wonder who were the journalists of the time. It sounds weird, but in verse 13, “So boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.” That’s some graphic stuff there. Was the sex just assumed because they had a baby, or was there someone there reporting all this. Not just this verse, but all of it. I imagine a bystander watching the purchase of the field. Did the author interview Naomi, Ruth and Boaz? The book was written a long time after the events. How much of this is accurate to the event? It’s funny because I’ve been brought up in church and I was taught to never ask questions like these. I feel kind of guilty asking questions about the validity of scripture, even just wondering beyond what is said in the verses.

I think it’s good to wonder what’s going on here, or in any verse in the Bible. I think that the Bible is here for us to dissect, to study and to form our ideas based on what’s written. I’m off topic, though. Back to this reading. I’m just explaining what was going through my head as I read these verses.

How can this be applied to our lives? Well, as we heard on Sunday’s service at Sagebrush, it’s about God’s plan. If we examine chapter 1-4, we see a woman that should have been broken in pieces. I mean, she probably still was, but she pushed on. She had the opportunity to run when she found out that her husband died. But, she stayed. She worked hard in the fields, then she met with Boaz. Was she happy when she was with Boaz? I assume so. She seems to have had a choice all along to leave. I know Naomi directed her to do things, to go sleep at Boaz’s feet while he was drunk and sleeping, and Boaz liked her. He liked her work ethic. And I guess he thought she was pretty because he worked to have her, too.

And the end of the story it reminded the reader that the son Boaz and Ruth had was a descendant of David, and we know that David is in the lineage of Jesus. So, Jesus was born of a virgin, and I think that Joseph was in the lineage of David, so I don’t quite understand how that’s important. I guess Joseph was a big part of Jesus being that he was his adoptive father. I don’t know much about Joseph’s actual relationship with Jesus… That’s another thought, and I’ll stop here. .

Work Hard

ggww jrn 5 wk 1

Ruth 3:1-18

This is a weird part of scripture. So Ruth goes to the place where they’re collecting wheat (I guess). She’s told by Naomi to do all this. And she puts her cloak down on the threshing floor. I guess Boaz is eating and drinking while all of this is happening. I’m guessing that Boaz is drinking alcohol and his “heart was merry”. I know my heart gets merry when I’m drinking, so I think this was the case for him. But, after he’s had enough, Boaz lays (lies?) down and goes to sleep. Ruth sleeps at his feet, and in the middle of the night, Boaz wakes up and he’s like “what the hell?”, “who’s there?”. I’m paraphrasing, but he was startled at Ruth just sleeping at his feet like a creep. When he wakes up, they talk and Boaz rewards her for her faithfulness and gives her a bunch of wheat, which is implied can be sold…

This is a weird story again, at least for me, an American living in the United States in 2015. I guess it might not have been so weird in ancient Israel. I think the point of this is that Ruth is faithful. She works hard. She wants to help Naomi. Her heart is right and she is diligent. I think a lot of times I will get lazy and just want to coast by in life. I know that anything worth having in this life has to be worked for.

The other day, I bought a lottery ticket because the jackpot was half a muther freaking billion dollars. What would happen if I would have won that jackpot? Well, I didn’t work for that money. I mean, I guess I worked for the $2 that purchased the ticket, but I didn’t work for that half a muther freaking billion. What I’m saying is that money would have been worthless to me… I mean, that’s a gripton of money… Back to Ruth. She is showing her work ethic. I don’t know if she was going to sleep with Boaz, again, I don’t know the culture of the time. But she is definitely displaying her character by caring for Naomi.

Forget you read that last paragraph.

Today, we love a deal. We love to save. Free crap is good crap, it doesn’t matter what the hell it is. I think that something of value has to be worked for. I’m not just talking about things either. I’m talking about relationships. I’m talking about the valuable things in our life. I might be missing the point here, but that’s how I read this. I have to work on the relationship with my wife because it’s valuable. I have to work on the relationship with my son, because it’s valuable. etcetera. I want a bomb ass Chromebook 2, I’ll have to work to get that G. Anyway, I’m out. This was Bible studying with Zohan. Peace.

Journal 3, Week 1

ggww jrn 3 wk 1

Ruth 2:1-16

What I see here is a woman who sees a need and is willing to work for it. As humans, we don’t like to make sacrifices. I sure don’t. But Ruth was willing to go to Boaz’ field and basically pick up the scrap wheat. I guess they would be able to then grind up this wheat and make flour for bread or cakes. Not sure, but they would have food basically. So she humbled herself and basically begged for food. She was then noticed by Boaz as a hard worker and he fed her and showed her favor as she continued to glean in the fields.

There are a few things that I see in this section of scripture. One is that she was a beggar. She found herself in a situation that was less than fortunate. I don’t know what the culture was like back then, but I think it probably wasn't much different than today. We see beggars today and assume they are all just lazy. Ruth wasn't lazy, she worked really hard for what she had. Beggars today might be working just as hard, and it definitely doesn't feel good to beg. You take a position of the lowest person in our culture. I’m sure that doesn't feel very good. Some people will show compassion like Boaz did, but most people will look down on them and judge them and wish they weren't there. I hear people brag about cities with harsh weather that they don’t have a homeless “problem” because many of the homeless will die from being exposed to the hot or cold weather.

I think there are two lessons from these verses; one is that we should work hard for those that we care for, even when we don’t like our job, or don’t like our situation. Work as hard as you can. The second is that if we see those working hard and notice that they are in a situation that isn't so great that we should show compassion like Boaz did.

Why, God?

I have asked this question before and it still baffles me. If God exists, then why (insert problem). Here's what I know-- God has infinite power. God knows everything. God loves. Knowing these things make me wonder. Why does God allow children to suffer? I'm a Christian, am I allowed to ask this question? Is God upset with me when I question His nature? Does God just want me to accept the things I see around me? Like pastors in America say, "God said it, that settles it". That was shortened from "God said it, I believe it, that settles it".

But it doesn't feel settled to me. Maybe I don't have enough faith. Well, not maybe. I don't. I don't have enough faith.

There has been a lot of bad news coming out of Albuquerque. Cops are being shot in meth busts, there were three separate shootings yesterday, a ten year old was involved in a hit and run, and a three year old shot his pregnant mom and dad accidentally with his two year old sister in the room, and we're still talking about the cops that killed a schizophrenic homeless man in cold blood in the Sandia Foothills.

All of these stories suck. The stories I especially hate to read are the ones involving kids. A three year old accidentally pulled out his mom's gun and shot her. What if he would have killed his mom? He would have had to grow up without a mother. Why is he even in this situation in the first place? This family was in a motel... not a home. Were they homeless? Why does God allow kids to be born into homelessness? Why does God allow kids to suffer? God loves kids. It says in the Bible he does. Why then?

All of these stories have guns involved. That's another question I have. Why did God allow guns to be invented. I think guns are the most devastating single invention in human history. Think about what life would be like if we didn't know what a gun was. I do think that it would be different, but humans are full of sin and would think of other ways to hurt each other. If we didn't invent the gun, then we would have invented something else to hurt each other.

I wonder if the beauty on earth balances out the evil. There were three shootings and a roll over accident in Albuquerque last nigh, all evil. Lives were lost. Families are mourning today. But look at the Sandias. The mountains are a way for God to show himself to us. They are beautiful. Look at our children, they're curious, and innocent. They bring us joy. I'm sure there are people today that are showing kindness that's not being reported. Is the beauty balancing out the evil? Why does God allow evil?

Resolution

Journal 3. 1 John 1:8-9

How many times have I said to myself that I am without sin? A lot. I justify a lot of things in my life that I feel are not sinful, or that I just don’t even think about. Here it says that I am deceiving myself and that the truth is not in me. What does sin mean? I've had an idea of what sin is since I was born. Sin is basically actions that are bad in God’s eyes. There are a lot of things that have been identified as sin to me from just being in church since I was young. There’s a focus on guilt. I’m still trying to process that… but what is sin? Well, I would say it’s the inability to be holy, blameless. I am with spot, I am stained, I am at fault. Guilty, I guess. I see a truck with a spoiler on it and I judge that person. I see a Twitter post with poor grammar and I pass judgment (even though my English skills are terrible). I do worse things than that, too. I am with sin. I would say that sin is to disobey what God is commanding of us by going against the example He gave to us in Jesus. Am I washing the feet of others? Do I judge? Do I care for myself more than those around me? Yes. I’m with sin.

I think sin is something different than what I was brought up to understand, but like I said, I’m still trying to process it completely. Anyway, this passage says that I am deceiving myself if I think I’m without sin. There’s good news. If I confess my sins….God. is. Faithful. The first step is to realize that I am with sin. Then what do I do next? Well, I need resolution. God provides resolution. He is faithful. He is just. He will forgive me. He will cleanse me. As a Christian, this is huge. 

Vengeance is God's

Journal day 4. Romans 12:19-21

What I see here is that when we witness evil, or if we’re wronged, we’re not to get revenge. We want revenge really bad, we want to equalize the world by repaying their evil with equal or greater evil. It would satisfy us. Here, Paul is saying that we’re not supposed to satisfy our desires but repay evil with good. He says we’re to feed our enemy is he’s hungry, give him something to drink if he’s thirsty—totally going against what we really want to do to those people. It also says that by doing this we will “heap burning coals on their head”. Okay, so by doing good, we’re really getting revenge via God? Overcome evil by doing good…

This passage brings me more questions. I understand that we’re to do good all the time, even if evil is involved. What’s weird here is that this passage is saying that we’re doing good to accomplish God’s vengeance. Isn't the point of doing good just to do good? Also, the ever present question of if God exists, then why does he even allow evil. I know, I know, we’re fallen, we have sin, we need redemption. We’re flawed people. I don’t ever think I’ll completely understand the problem of evil.  

Ass

The other day I wrote a post on Facebook I'm regretting. This is why I hate this crap. I open my dang mouth. I posted some garbage about how I think Facebook sucks because I hate what people are saying, and I hate what I say on Facebook. I basically said that I think the people on my Facebook feed are dumb and I'm better than they are. Yeah, I'm not better than anyone. I'm quite the ass actually. I'm not going to pull the post. Whatever. I'll keep Facebook, though.