Ruth 2:1 Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 2 Ruth the Moabitess
said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain
after him in whose sight I find favor.”
She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 She went, and came and
gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion
of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers,
“May Yahweh be with you.”
They answered him, “May Yahweh bless you.”
5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the
reapers, “Whose young lady is this?”
6 The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is
the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. 7 She
said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So
she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she
rested a little in the house.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to
glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my
maidens. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them.
Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to
the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.”
10 Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the
ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should
take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you
have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you
have left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come
to a people that you didn’t know before. 12 May Yahweh repay your work, and a
full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings
you have come to take refuge.”
13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord,
because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your servant,
though I am not as one of your servants.”
14 At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some
bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.”
She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched
grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it. 15 When she had risen up to
glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the
sheaves, and don’t reproach her. 16 Also pull out some for her from the
bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat
out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[a] of barley. 18 She
took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had
gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she
had enough.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned
today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.”
She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The
man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her
daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not abandoned his
kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close
relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my
daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any
other field.” 23 So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the
end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her
mother-in-law.
3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall
I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Now isn’t Boaz our
kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he will be winnowing barley
tonight on the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get
dressed, and go down to the threshing floor; but don’t make yourself known to
the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 It shall be, when he lies
down, that you shall note the place where he is lying. Then you shall go in,
uncover his feet, and lay down. Then he will tell you what to do.”
5 She said to her, “All that you say, I will do.” 6 She went
down to the threshing floor, and did everything that her mother-in-law told
her. 7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie
down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, uncovered his feet, and
laid down. 8 At midnight, the man was startled and turned himself; and behold,
a woman lay at his feet. 9 He said, “Who are you?”
16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it
go, my daughter?”
She told her all that the man had done for her. 17 She said,
“He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, ‘Don’t go empty to your
mother-in-law.’”
18 Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know what
will happen; for the man will not rest until he has settled this today.”
4:9 Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are
witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was
Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the
Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the
name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut
off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses
today.”
11 All the people who were in the gate, and the elders,
said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house
like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you
worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Let your house be like
the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring[a] which Yahweh
will give you by this young woman.”
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in
to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. 14 The women
said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a near
kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel. 15 He shall be to you a restorer of
life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you,
who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Naomi took
the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him. 17 The women, her
neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him
Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
33 comments:
Lizabeth
However, I do take exception to your statement, "God is not ever unfair." He is BLESSEDLY unfair, or else He would allow us all to suffer the due penalty of our own sin. Instead, He most unfairly paid the penalty for our sin and just as unfairly imputed to us the righteousness of Christ.
:-D
Now you have more readers!!!
Yes, that was my point, superrustyfly.
ClassyChassy, I wasn't bold. I doubt seriously if anyone who believes homosexual activity is compatible with God's will will even read this blog. I hope I did put forward the main scriptural reason why it is sinful, as well as some stern admonishment for those who believe that, as some say, "God hates fags," except that they won't read this, either. Oh, well.
Thanks, Keetha!
I most definitely want to hear more on this topic as you have time to research and think through this complicated issue. I have a close friend that is openly gay who I grew up with. He is still a friend and a good one at that, but I question how to deal with and accept his sexual preference choices. Your guidelines are informative and I appreciate them.
I'd also like to add that I completely disagree with the notion that there is a genetic basis for homosexuality. Much research has been done on this for years and nothing has come of it. The only bit of supporting evidence I've ever heard is the information you presented regarding prenatal hormones - and I doubt that will make much of an impact compared to upbringing and personal choices.
Oh, and you might explicitly include the David and Jonathan verses where David loves Jonathan that some include as a depiction of homosexuality. It's the passage where Jonathan shoots arrows and what says is code for David to flee or stay.
I didn't include the passages about David and Jonathan, or the one where John is described as the disciple Jesus loved, or the one on the rich young ruler. In the first place, I was looking only for verses that are against homosexual activity, not those that might support it. In the second place, I don't think any of these incidents were related to sexual activity at all -- as C. S. Lewis pointed out, there's more than one Greek word for "love," and it's too bad that that isn't true of English, also. Only one of those words has to do with sexual attraction, as I understand it, where, in English, we seem to have moved to where "love" means "sex," often without much love, in our minds.
David, of course, had several wives, and children, and his most glaring sin was related to his lusting after Bathsheba's body. He certainly wasn't an exclusive homosexual, and I don't believe that he was a homosexual at all.
Thanks again.
I've read a few of your blogs and believe that you are well-studied, fair, and open-minded in your posts as well as comment responses.
I am a homosexual male. I feel like I was born like this, but I suppose I'll never know for sure... I am also a practicing Catholic and come from a very conservative background. It should then be no surprise that when I discovered this about me, I did everything in my power to "change" myself. I believed there was something wrong with me. Everything I did to fight it led to more pain, and as a result, anger - especially with God. (This anger is no more... I understand that God gives everyone different challenges and trials through which to work.)
My entire story would be a book so I'll summarize here. I became aware of my homosexuality at 16, fought it for approximately 8 years, and began dating and learning about the "gay lifestyle" at 24. I'm 31 now.
As I stated earlier, I believe you to be fair. I also believe you well-intentioned. So I wanted to ask you to pray and reflect on this question - After much reflection on my part, I believe with all my heart that two men or two women together in a loving relationship is not morally wrong. I believe God loves those couples and does not disaprove. If I am wrong, why do I still feel with all my heart that I am not? Wouldn't God find a way to convince me I am wrong?
I believe I can speak fairly objectively in my belief. Though I am gay, currently, I am not dating. After much reflection, I feel relationships are not good for me. I seem to be happiest being single. This fact, however, does not impact my belief about homosexual relationships...
I am a teacher so I will refrain from posting my full name. I trust you understand. Also, if there is anything you would like to know about me or just wish to engage in a thoughtful discussion on the topic, I am willing. It would just have to be outside of a public blog. Thank you for your time.
David
I will try to pray for you and your situation. Let me try to respond.
Unfortunately, our hearts can mislead us. as Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 11:8, and many other Bible verses indicate. As Jeremiah 17:9 put it: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (KJV) As I indicated in my post, I believe that the Bible has enough on this, especially the emphasis throughout it on heterosexual marriage as the norm, and blessed by God, to convince us of God's ideas on the subject, regardless of our own hearts.
As I understand the Bible, you should not be in a sexual relationship with someone, regardless of your homosexual tendencies.
I sympathize with you, and understand that I may be wrong in anything I have said about this issue. Also, I know that I am not looking at this in the same way you do, that is, from the standpoint of a person who is sexually attracted to a person of their own sex.
I'm sorry, but I don't think I have any special expertise in this area, and don't think that I could be of more help in this.
God help you. He loves you.
Thanks for your comment.
2) Gay men are generally characterised as being more promiscuous then heterosexual men. I don't know much about gay culture, but I gather that the characterisation is probably true.
However, isn't this more down to the fact that men in general are more promiscuous than women? Straight men's promiscuity is limited by the women they can hook up with. Gay men don't have this limitation.
The evidence for this is that when straight men get rich or famous, they find it a lot easier to get women, and they tend to become as promiscuous as gay men.
The other factor is that gay men cannot marry. We're always being told that marriage stabilises people, encourages them to stick out relationships. I don't know if this is true, but if it is, would it not follow that denying gays the ability to marry would effectively be encouraging promiscuity?
This is similar to the fallacy that pigs are dirty creatures, therefore we keep them in muddy styes, which makes them dirty, reinforcing our original misconception. In other words, people say gays are too promiscuous to marry (an institution we believe discourages promiscuity), and then the same people point to all the promiscuous unmarried gay people as evidence.
Andrew - ar@wlv.ac.uk
My reaction to the Archbishop is that it is possible to be a Biblical scholar and still deny what the Bible says. Whether that's what the Archbishop is doing, I don't know. It is possible, of course, that I am mis-reading the Bible. But I read it as indicating that homosexual sexual activity, even within a long-term relationship, is not God's best plan for humans, and is sinful.
In the US, and probably elsewhere, churches have sanctioned heterosexual marriages when not all such should be sanctioned, for any number of reasons, including immaturity of the partners, lack of real commitment to each other, and the partners not having any other relationship with the church. Ideally, I think the church should sanction a lot fewer marriages than the state allows, and that would be true if there were no such thing as homosexuality. However, that's not the way we do it, and I think the church sanctions a lot of heterosexual marriages that God doesn't.
I'm not sure that I oppose state-sanctioned marriage between homosexual partners, for some of the reasons you give, and for fairness -- why should a homosexual caregiver who would have been a spouse if homosexual marriage were allowed, be denied hospital visiting rights, for example?
But a God-sanctioned marriage has to be between a man and a woman, who are committed to each other, and to God, as I understand the Bible. Therefore, I oppose church-sanctioned marriages between homosexual partners.
Thanks for your comment.
A reply I've heard a couple of times is that those are OT passages, and that if they took such passages literally they'd also have to also take literally all the passages that condoned slavery. (Googling 'bible condones slavery' brings up many examples).
Is it not special pleading to reject those 'pro-slavery' passages, but not do the same for the 'anti-gay' parts?
It is, indeed, dangerous to specially plead for something. Perhaps I, and other Christians, have done so in the matter of homosexuality.
It is also dangerous to say that we know better than the Bible.
As I read the New Testament, it isn't pro-slavery, but it accepts slavery, and some other things, such as the inferior status of women in Jewish society, as part of the culture. Christ didn't come so much to re-make culture (He didn't defeat the Romans!) as to re-make people, one at a time. Some Roman soldiers became His followers. A long time later, Christians led the fight to defeat slavery, relying, I guess, on their sense that it was wrong. They had some Biblical support. There's the Golden Rule -- they didn't want to be slaves, so why should anyone else have to be? There are also as admonitions, in both Testaments, to be just to the poor, and slaves were (and are) as poor as you can get.
My response to your question about the Old Testament is two-fold.
First, the Bible is much more a pro-heterosexuality book than it is an anti-homosexuality book, and this includes the New Testament, through Revelation.
Second, saying that the New Testament doesn't touch on homosexuality is just plain wrong. I referenced either five or six (depending on how you count) passages that deal with it in my post.
Thanks again.
Andrew, UK.
David
Evil.
I don't have the energy at the moment to fully argue this article, and although I do think you are ignorant of what exactly you're saying, and so I forgive you; it is evil and it is bigotry.
If what I said was evil, I'm sorry. It is also true that heterosexuals have done some nasty things to children who were their responsibility in church children's work.
Homosexual tendencies mean that a person is sexually attracted to someone, or several someones, of the same sex as they are. And, yes, this is a form of temptation.
As to your hypothetical question, that's a tough one. I guess I'd agree with you that homosexual marriage is not recognized by God, so this wouldn't be the same as divorce. And I would further state that it is important to get out of a relationship or situation that is sinful right away. But I can also see that there might be legal or moral ties between a homosexual couple, for example they might own a house jointly, or they might have agreed to share expenses, or a pet, in some way. In such cases, just as with a divorce between heterosexuals, more than a mere sexual relationship is involved, and separating might involve temptations to deceive or be greedy or slanderous in the process.
Thank you for your blog posts! They are very insightful!
I recently wrote a blog comment in response to your entry on homosexuality last year (the one on June 12, 2009). I am a "newbie" when it comes to arguments on homosexuality. If you have the time, please read it over--it would be greatly appreciated!
I read and commented on the other comment.
I replied back to your comment from the June 12, 2009 comment. I also wanted to you know that from here on out, I will post to this more recent blog post if I want to reply back.
Thanks again,
Callie (that is my online pen name)
By the way, Blogger (this is a Blogger blog) sends any comments to the blog author as e-mail, so it doesn't matter where you comment.
I find your implication that a homosexual person should not be trusted with young people to be offensive and inaccurate.
I am sure your words were well-intentioned, but remarks such as those you made about this subject undermine your credibility.
I stand corrected. Not all people with homosexual tendencies are paedophiles.
Some are, if I understand recent tragic scandals in the Roman Catholic church.
Do you mean with our without receiving the redemptive work of the cross in their lives.For I have heard testamony of men who are now happily married and living lives sold out for Christ. could you please clarify your answer?
As you have indicated, there have been cases of practicing homosexuals who have become apparently happy practicing heterosexuals. I'm sure that the redemptive power of God was involved, as well as their own choice.
However, I doubt if that would be possible for all individuals. At least some people seem to be homosexual because their hormones make them so. You have probably had the same experience that I have, while watching TV. I have heard some men speak, and said to myself, something like "That sounds like a homosexual," and, it turned out that the person was, indeed, a homosexual. There seems to be a strong biological tendency, in some people, to be homosexual. God could overcome that, but, just as He doesn't choose to make all believers with Down syndrome into college professors, or all blind believers sighted, He doesn't seem to choose to change everyone's sexual orientation.
I believe that a Christian can be a fulfilled, happy, celibate. There are seem to be many examples of such, such as, for example, many protestant female missionaries, and Catholic nuns (most of whom would not have chosen to be homosexual, if such a choice were somehow allowable under God). This can be true whether the person's biological inclination is to be homosexual or heterosexual. I am thankful that, for most of my life, I have not been so called -- I have been happily married to a good woman -- and I hope I have some appreciation for those who have been called to celibacy for a significant portion of their lives, or all of them.
As I say, I'm not convinced that all practicing homosexuals can become satisfied practicing heterosexuals. I have no statistics on this, and no Biblical proof, but I still believe it, based on what I know of biology, and of how God deals with various other types of infirmity. I am convinced that, with the help of God, both heterosexuals and homosexuals can become, or remain, celibate.