R2-2: The Hebrews Did Not Believe In Luck

“Rut the woman from Mo’av said to Naomi, ‘Let me go into the field and glean ears of grain behind anyone who will allow me to.’ She answered her, ‘Go, my daughter.'”-Ruth 2:2

There was a time in my life many years ago when I almost ended up homeless and out on the streets in San Francisco.

I would’ve ended up eating out of garbage cans had it not been for the city’s food stamp program.

My welfare benefits (thank God I was an American citizen!) enabled me to rent a cheap apartment south of Market Street and get my share of weekly food stamps I could take to the supermarket to buy what I needed to stay alive until I got back on my feet again.

Honestly, I don’t know how I would’ve made it without that support.

Now the reason I share this story is because both Ruth and Naomi were in a similar situation.

As widows with no means of support they represented the poverty-stricken of Bethlehem.

Therefore, they had no choice but to take advantage of the ancient version of our modern day “food stamp programs”.

This was known as “gleaning” in the Biblical era.

In an agricultural society, without the opportunity for the poor to glean the fields, there was no way they’d be able to get food.

So how did “gleaning” work exactly?

The activity of “gleaning” occurred at the same time as the harvesting.

The farmer would plant his seeds, water them regularly and then patiently wait for the crops to sprout up and ripen.

After that, the farmer’s field workers (the reapers) would begin the work of harvesting the crop.

It was during this time that the poverty-stricken gleaners would work behind the reapers and pick up what the reapers left behind.

Their goal was to collect much more than they could consume in a single day so they’d have enough food to last them during the “planting” and “growing” cycle.

In other words, it was only during the harvesting period that gleaners had a chance to gather food.

So they had to take full advantage of that brief window of time.

And let me be clear this was one of the non-negotiable rights of the poor.

Gleaning in ancient Israel was legislated by Torah.

You can find mention of this in the book of Leviticus as follows:

“’When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don’t harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and don’t gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am Adonai your God.’”-Leviticus 23:22

Notice how God’s grace was to be extended to both poor Hebrews and gentiles.

Because of this Torah law, as a gentile, Ruth had the right to wander around and choose whichever field she wanted to glean in.

What’s even more noteworthy is that when times were especially tight, the field owners were required to make sure that more of their crops were available to the gleaners than normal.

In other words, God’s grace increased in tougher times.

Now isn’t that completely opposite to how fleshly man operates today?

The typical human response to tough times is to donate less to those in need or decrease the giving of tithes and charity.

Next, let’s take a look at verse 3.

 ^“So she set out, arrived at the field
and gleaned behind the reapers.
She happened to be in the part of
the field that belonged to Bo‘az
from Elimelekh’s clan,”

Notice the part where it says she “happened” to be gleaning in a field owned by Boaz.

The Hebrew literally says she “chanced” upon one of Boaz’s fields.

Now to our modern minds, it sounds like the Biblical writer is saying that Ruth got lucky here.

The only problem with that interpretation is that the Hebrews did NOT believe in luck, serendipity, or “chance occurrences”.

They believed ALL things were guided by the Lord’s Hand.

So this verse does not really mean Ruth “chanced” upon this field owned by Boaz.

A much better translation would be to say…

“God led Ruth to the part of the field owned by Boaz”.

Or…

“Divine providence brought Ruth to the field owned by Boaz”.

Contrary to what I did yesterday when I took a guess at the meaning of Boaz’s name, I’m not speculating here.

I’m telling you EXACTLY how the Hebrews viewed events in the Biblical era.

To their minds, NOTHING ever happened by chance.