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Last week Jacob explored the Gospel. This week…
Why are the books that are in the Bible, the ones that are in? Why are other ones not in? Why were those put in? These questions relate to the Dating and authorship of these books. Starting with the Pentateuch Jacob looks at these questions.
Last week Jacob examined the Genesis Flood.
What is the gospel? What does it mean to ‘believe’ or ‘have faith’? Was their ‘law’ in the Old Testament and ‘grace’ in the New Testament? Jacob looks at these questions through the story of Abraham
Next week Jacob examines why the books of the Bible are the ones there. Why not others? Why these?
Last week we explored natural selection & evolution, a pre-requisite to this week. The link to that is here.
This week we explore the meaning of fossils in regard to Geologic column and The Flood
Next Jacob explores what the gospel is – in the example of Abraham
Last week we looked at the End of the Bible – from its Beginning.
This week – Evolution and Natural Selection are considered to be sufficient to have caused higher and lower life. Jacob explores this
Next Jacob learns the meaning of fossils from the Genesis Flood
Last week we looked at Prophecies of Old Testament predicting Death & Resurrection of Jesus (Easter)
This week – Genesis 3:15 lays out the whole plan of the Bible as it plays out in history, including the return of Christ culminating in a great confrontation. All this from the Garden. Jacob explores this
Next Jacob takes a look at the Theory of evolution
Last week we examined the Historical evidence for the Resurrection, largely using historical sources outside the Bible. This week we looked at Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in Easter.
Next Jacob looks at how the Bible foresees the end of time – right from the Beginning
Following up on our initial discussion on the Reliability of the Bible, Jacob explores the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus in this one hour Zoom.
Next Jacob explores Old Testament prophecies predicting Death & resursection of Jesus
With the ‘stay-at-home’ mandate we are living in these days my 16 year old son took the time to learn the basics of textual criticism and the Reliability of the Bible with me. We went over if we can know whether the Bible message has not been changed or corrupted over the thousands of years since it was written. During most of that time copies of copies were made so many think the Bible was changed in that time. We hosted our conversation live on Zoom and recorded it.
Next Jacob examines the case for the resurrection
If you were to name some classic love stories you might suggest Helen of Troy & Paris (igniting the Trojan War dramatized in the Iliad), Cleopatra and Mark Antony (whose love entwined Rome in a civil war with Octavian/Augustus Caesar), Romeo & Juliet, Beauty & the Beast, or perhaps Cinderella & Prince Charming. In them, history, pop culture and romantic fiction come together in offering passionate love stories that captivate our hearts, emotions and imaginations.
Amazingly, the love that sparked between Ruth & Boaz has proved far more enduring and noble than any of these love affairs, and in fact, still affects the lives of all the billions of us living today – more than three thousand years after these lovers met. Their romance is also a picture of a mystical and spiritual love offered to you and me. The story of Ruth and Boaz deals with cross-cultural & forbidden love, immigration and the relationship between a powerful man and a vulnerable woman – applicable in today’s #MeToo era. It becomes a blueprint for us on how to establish a healthy marriage. By any of these measures the love story of Ruth & Boaz is worth knowing.
Their love is recorded in the Book of Ruth in the Bible. It is a short book – only 2400 words long – and is well worth reading (here). It is set about 1150 BCE, making this the oldest of all recorded love stories. It has been made into several films.
Hollywood movie depicting the Ruth Love story
Naomi and her husband with their two sons leave Israel to escape drought and settle in the nearby country of Moab (today’s Jordan). After marrying local women the two sons die, as does Naomi’s husband, leaving her alone with her two daughters-in-law. Naomi decides to return to her native Israel and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, chooses to accompany her. After a long absence, Naomi is back in her native Bethlehem as a destitute widow accompanied by Ruth, a young and vulnerable Moabite immigrant.
Bereft of income, Ruth goes out to gather grain left behind by the local harvest crews in the fields. The Law of Moses, as a social safety net, had ordained harvesters to leave some grains behind in their fields so the impoverished could gather food. Randomly it would seem, Ruth finds herself picking grains in the fields of a wealthy landowner named Boaz. Boaz notices Ruth among the others working hard to gather up the grains left behind by his work crews. He instructs his foremen to leave extra grain behind in the field so that she could gather more.
Because she can gather plentifully in his fields, Ruth comes back to Boaz’s fields every day to gather left-over grain. Boaz, ever the protector, ensures that Ruth is not harassed or molested by any of his crews. Ruth and Boaz are interested in each other, but because of differences in age, social status, and nationality, neither makes a move. Here Naomi steps in as match-maker. She instructs Ruth to boldly lay down by Boaz’s side at night after he has celebrated the harvest gathering. Boaz understands this as a marriage proposal and decides to marry her.
But the situation is more complicated than simply love between them. Naomi is a relative of Boaz, and since Ruth is her daughter-in-law, Boaz and Ruth are kin by marriage. Boaz must marry her as a ‘kinsmen redeemer’. This meant that under the Law of Moses he would marry her ‘in the name’ of her first husband (Naomi’s son) and so provide for her. This would entail that Boaz purchase Naomi’s family fields. Though that would prove costly to Boaz it was not the biggest obstacle. There was another closer relative that had first rights to buy Naomi’s family’s fields (and also thus marry Ruth). So the marriage of Ruth to Boaz hung on whether another man wanted the responsibility to care for Naomi and Ruth. At a public meeting of the city elders this first-in-line declined the marriage since it put his own estate at risk. Boaz was thus free to purchase and redeem Naomi’s family estate and marry Ruth.
In their union they had a child, Obed, who in turn became the grandfather of King David. David was promised that ‘a Christ’ would come from his family. Further prophecies were given and finally Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, the same town that Ruth and Boaz had met in long before. Their romance, marriage and family line resulted in offspring that today is the basis for our modern calendar, and global holidays like Christmas & Easter – not bad for a romance in a dusty village over 3000 years ago.
The chivalry and respect with which the rich and powerful Boaz treated Ruth, the destitute foreign woman, is a model contrasting the harassments and exploitations now common in our #MeToo day. The historical impact of the family line which this romance and marriage produced, detectible every time we note the date on our devices, gives this love story an enduring legacy. But the Ruth & Boaz love story is also a picture of an even greater love – one you and I are invited into.
The Bible describes us in a manner evoking Ruth when it says:
I will plant her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ (Hosea 2:23)
The Old Testament prophet Hosea (ca 750 BC) used the reconciliation in his own fractured marriage to picture God reaching out to us with His love. Like Ruth who entered the land as one unloved, but then was shown love by Boaz, He desires to show His love even to those of us who feel far from His love. This is quoted in the New Testament (Romans 9:25) to show how God reaches wide to love those far from Him.
How is His love shown? Jesus, that descendant offspring from Boaz & Ruth, is God come-in-the-flesh and is thus our ‘kinsman’, just as Boaz was to Ruth. Jesus paid our debt of sin to God when he was crucified on the cross, and thus he
gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:14)
As Boaz was a ‘kinsman-redeemer’ who paid a price to redeem Ruth, Jesus is our ‘kinsman-redeemer’ who paid (with his life) to redeem us.
The way Jesus (and Boaz) paid to redeem and then win his bride models how we can build our marriages. The Bible explains how we establish our marriages:
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wifeas he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:21-33)
As Boaz and Ruth established their marriage on love and respect, and Jesus’ care for the church is a model for husbands to love their wives sacrificially, so we do well to build our marriages on these same values.
As in all good love stories, the Bible concludes with a wedding. Just as the price that Boaz paid to redeem Ruth paved the way for their wedding, the price that Jesus paid has paved the way for our wedding. That wedding is not figurative but real, and those accepting his wedding invitation are called ‘The Bride of Christ’. As it says:
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
Those who receive Jesus’ offer of redemption become his ‘bride’. This heavenly wedding is offered to all of us. The Bible ends with this invitation for you and me to come to His wedding
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)
The relationship between Ruth & Boaz is a model of love that is still making itself felt today. It is a picture of the heavenly romance of God who loves us. He will marry as His Bride all who accept His marriage proposal. As with any marriage proposals, His offer should be weighed to see if you should accept it. Start here with the ‘plan’ laid out in the beginning, here to see how serious He is, here how the Redeemer would pay the price, and here to see how it was predicted long beforehand so we can know it really is God’s Proposal.
Another adaptation of the Book of Ruth in a short movie
Last week some ancient discoveries were announced. Standing alone, these discoveries would be of interest only to specialists in ancient archaeology. But because these discoveries converge with the Bible, they carry broader implications. Reported from the Times of Israel, the first discovery is summed up nicely in their title:
The article reports on the discovery, under debris of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, of a Hebrew inscribed ‘beka’ stone which was used to measure the Temple Tax – for the First Temple (960 – 586 BCE) . This was exactly as prescribed ‘straight from the Bible’ in the book of Exodus way back in the time of Moses.
The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel— one beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel,from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more,a total of 603,550 men. (Exodus 38:25-26)
This discovered beka stone had mirror image (reverse) Hebrew lettering. It is very rare that lettering this old is discovered.
The second announcement, just a few days later, was the publication of a multi-disciplinary report on the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah.
This paper used archaeological findings of a deeply burned and scarred surface area of 500 square km adjacent to the Dead Sea to argue that this was caused by a huge meteor blast – and that the biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) was the biblical account of this same event. The authors of the paper write:
“The physical evidence from Tall el-Hammam and neighboring sites exhibit signs of a highly destructive concussive and thermal event that one might expect from what is described in Genesis 19.”
These two announcements this week are merely the latest in a steady stream of archaeological discoveries and announcements that have been coming out of Israel this year. Last month a stone column engraved with the word ‘Jerusalem’ in Aramaic and Hebrew, dated to 100 BCE, was unearthed at the city gate. A city gate, used by David (1000 BCE) and where Jesus was recorded to have performed miracles was also discovered this summer.
The Bible records events as history. Its accounts do not begin with ‘Once upon a time … in Never Never Land …’ As Israelis have returned to Israel, and with a deep interest in their ties to the land, they have been digging all over the country – and making findings that corroborate the historicity of the Bible. There is evidence that there was a city by the Dead Sea that was destroyed by a searing fire from the sky. The evidence is in the ground. The absurd idea that Moses did not write the Torah (Pentateuch) looks increasingly tenuous as artefacts are unearthed that can be tied back to those writings. Of course, what is excavated does not directly show that ‘God did it’. But the accounts preserved in the Bible broadly match and corroborate what is being dug up from the ground.
But it is not only ancient history that comes to life with these discoveries. This is what is written in Jeremiah (about 588BC)
“This is what the Lord says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,
“Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
for the Lord is good;
his love endures forever.”For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate and without people or animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. 13 In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord. (Jeremiah 33:10-13)
These artefacts, lieing buried in the ground for thousands of years, are a testament to the long desolation of the land – a desolation that was predicted. Yet the mere fact that these artefacts are now being discovered is a witness to the reviving of the land – also predicted and happening right before our eyes.
Then Jeremiah continues directly from above:
14 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 “‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’ (Jeremiah 33:14-16)
In almost the same breath when he predicts the desolation now being unearthed, Jeremiah foresaw the ‘Branch’ coming from David. This was the theme begun by Isaiah earlier, continued by Zechariah, predicting that the name of the Branch would be ‘Jesus’. The time of His coming was foreseen by Daniel.
Funny as it may seem, the manner in which the Bible ties its record to events on the ground and then seamlessly predicts the coming of ‘Christ’, makes it so that even little stones being unearthed today are a witness to Him. Almost like what He said, “the stones will cry out”. That’s worth ruminating on as the Christmas season comes upon us.