Today we begin the first chapter of the book of Ruth.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James Version, click HERE.
“Back in the days when the judges were judging, at a time when there was a famine in the land, a certain man from Beit-Lechem went to live in the territory of Mo’av — he, his wife and his two sons.”-Ruth 1:1
The very first verse of Ruth illustrates a HUGE difference between the Hebrew mindset and the modern/rational Greek mindset.
We’re told the story of Ruth took place “when the judges were judging”.
But it doesn’t tell us when.
The verse only gives us a slight hint by saying “when there was a famine” in the land.
Now that’s hardly helpful.
I mentioned earlier this famine likely took place during the years when Gideon was judging Israel…
This was a time when the Midianites were oppressing Israel by attacking their food supply and thus they created a man-made “famine”.
But I can’t say for sure.
Other folks have said the famine mentioned was just a general statement talking about the entire time Israel was under judges and was NOT referring to some single point in time (thanks Steven!).
Well, this brings up the following question:
Why couldn’t the author of Ruth have been more specific about when things happened?
The writer could’ve EASILY connected the events of Ruth to a more specific time in Biblical history to help us out, don’t you think?
Maybe just add a sentence or two saying Ruth occurred “during the rulership of this particular judge” or something like that.
But the author didn’t and here’s the reason why:
The Hebrew Scriptures don’t care so much about WHEN something happened…
What’s infinitely more important is WHAT happened…
And how what happened affected Israel’s relationship with the Lord.
At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters, don’t you think?
We even see this pattern in the first verse of Genesis Chapter One.
“In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.”
–Genesis 1:1
If you read carefully, you’ll see the creation of the heavens and the earth is not necessarily said to have occurred on the first day.
Rather, it says it occurred at a period of time called “the beginning”.
The first day of the creation story may NOT be referring to “the beginning”.
The first day could have been AFTER “the beginning“.
When you read the opening words of Genesis carefully, it says the creation of light and its separation from darkness was what happened on the 1st day.
The wording (in both the Hebrew and English) leaves open the distinct possibility that the heavens and earth were created sometime before the first day.
“The beginning” could have been a 10-minute period or it could have been 10 billion years.
Who knows?!
But more importantly, and this illustrates the BIG difference between the Hebrew and Greek mindset I’m driving home here…
WHO CARES MAN?!
Again, the author of Genesis (considered to be Moses) could have added one sentence making it clear the heavens and earth were part of the 6-day creation process…
OR he could have made it clear, the heavens and the earth were formed before the 1st Day…
But he didn’t, did he?
The reason why is because this was a secondary issue to the Hebrew mind.
More important was the WHOM behind the creation…
Not some specific “God created the heavens and the earth on March 16th at 9:45am Eastern Standard Time” type of record.
That’s modern Western thinking and it has its roots in Greek thought.
We moderns are always looking for evidence that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that God exists.
Sure, the vagueness of the opening words of Genesis may have provoked some curiosity among the ancient Hebrews…
But that was about it…
The ancient Hebrews never needed evidence of God’s existence.
They KNEW He existed.
And no, their confidence in God’s existence had nothing to do with them being primitive, unsophisticated scientifically or unintelligent as the Richard Dawkins of the world like to assert.
The Hebrews didn’t need proof of the Lord’s existence because it was evident from creation that He existed…
And after what the Lord did to the Egyptians during Exodus, heck man, was any more proof needed?
The need to apply some hardcore Greek logic that would satisfy some scientific model was never an issue with the Hebrews.
So I’ll close with this excerpt from the Psalms of the great King David:
“The fool says in his heart,
‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt,
they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.”
-Psalms 14:1
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Ever since the creation of the world,
God’s invisible qualities
—God’s eternal power and divine nature—
have been clearly seen,
because they are understood through
the things God has made.
So humans are without excuse.”
-Romans 1:20
At the risk of commenting too often on your blog . . .
15 years ago, in a discipleship group, the teacher began to talk about the difference between the Greek and Hebrew mindsets. I was _moved_ to the say the least. I began to cry, then weep, then shake. For about 10 minutes.
It was like hearing the salvation message for the first time.
He emphasized the difference in source of knowledge: Revelation (Hebrew), vs. analytical reasoning based on input from the five senses (Greek).
Thank you for adding another aspect to this truth.
Hey Eric,
No problem. Please feel free to comment as much as you feel inspired to do so.
Be blessed!