R3-6: How The Biblical World View Gave Birth To Modern Science

“Now there’s Bo‘az our relative — you were with his girls. He’s going to be winnowing barley tonight at the threshing-floor.”-Ruth 3:2

So Naomi has devised her plan to have Ruth visit Boaz’s residence during the nighttime hours.

And it was all based on the timing of when Boaz would be doing his “barley winnowing”.

As you can imagine, the winnowing process in those days was very basic.

The so-called threshing floor was a flat area of ground that was chosen because it was in an area known to have regular breezes flow through it.

A rock with a large flat surface was the best option for winnowing but more often than not a spot on the ground was used.

In that case, the soil had to be tamped down until the ground was good and firm.

The stalks of grain were placed on the ground and beaten to remove the heads (seeds) from the stems.

Afterwards, the workers would toss the stalks up into the air so the wind would carry the straw part away leaving only the kernels of grain left.

The trick to making this work just right was to find an area that had just the perfect amount of breeze.

If the flow of wind was too weak, the grain wouldn’t be separated from the chaff…

And if the wind was too strong, the grain was blown away together with the chaff and straw.

So you can imagine how challenging it was in those days to winnow the barley.

You needed to know in advance when there would or would not be a strong enough wind.

Fortunately, there was a pattern that could be discerned.

The wheat harvest was normally during the late summer or early fall when it was very hot.

In those days the desert winds blew quite strongly in the afternoon.

But as the sun started setting towards the horizon, the winds gradually died down.

Finally, once darkness fully settled in, there weren’t any breezes to be found anywhere.

So even though the Scripture says Boaz winnowed during the nighttime, that’s not entirely accurate.

Rather he winnowed at dusk while there was still some sun left in the sky.

So in case you were wondering how in the world Naomi knew when Boaz would be winnowing, this is why.

She wasn’t clairvoyant or something.

Naomi simply knew the regular hours when winnowing took place in Beit-lechem and planned accordingly.

Which leads to my takeaway for today…

The “patterns in nature” that enabled folks back in ancient times to winnow the barley are the same patterns that gave birth to modern science…

Even though science is usually viewed as being incompatible with having a Biblical faith…

The simple truth is…

The Biblical teaching that we live in a rational world is what gave birth to the possibility of scientific laws!

Laws that when properly harnessed enabled us to discover and use such things as electrical power as well as create machines such as cars and airplanes.

Remember before you can do or create something that has never been done before, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IT CAN BE DONE!

The Bible gives us that world view and that belief. 

An awesome example is the Wright Brothers.

It’s because they believed there were certain laws of aerodynamics that would enable them to construct a machine that would defy gravity and fly in the air (it’s called the Law of Lift by the way) that they were able to invent the airplane.

And I remind you that some of the greatest scientists in history were all strong Bible believers such as Isaac Newton (calculus and dynamics), Michael Faraday (electro-magnetics), Johannes Kepler (Celestial Mechanics) and so on.

Ironically, there’s no way that science could have originated in the philosophical worldview that’s prevalent today.

I’m talking about existentialism which at its foundation is irrational.

Existentialism believes we are each responsible for creating purpose or meaning in our own lives.

It is not given to us by God, governments, teachers or any other outside authority.

In other words, we become our own gods.

It’s pretty much the same old lie Satan told Eve in the garden when he said…“you will be like God, knowing good and evil”.

I’m done.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“For since the creation of the world
God’s invisible qualities–
his eternal power and divine nature–
have been clearly seen,
being understood from
what has been made,
so that people are without excuse.”
-Romans 1:20