Have you ever wondered...?

Have you ever read a Bible story and wondered what in the world was going on? The characters behaved in inexplicable ways, sometimes even seemingly ignoring common rules of morality, and yet it seem to be implied in the text that what they did was acceptable or even praise-worthy. So we sit back and scratch our heads and wonder, "What in the world just happened?"

I think that coming to Israel and studying here at JUC has helped me to understand a few of those stories a bit better. Let me give you a couple of examples from my study this semester and then you can let me know your thoughts.

Let's start with Genesis 38, Ben's favorite passage of this summer. :) For those of you who might have skipped over this passage in your yearly reading-through-the-Bible-plan, here's a brief synopsis:
1. Judah (son of Jacob) gets married and has 3 sons.
2. Judah gets a wife for his first born son, Er. Her name is Tamar.
3. Er dies before having any children.
4. Judah then marries his second son, Onan, to Tamar (practicing levirate marriage), to raise up an heir for his brother.
5. Onan refuses to give his brother an heir (possible reasons discussed below) and God kills him.
6. Judah's third son, Shelah, is too young to marry, so he sends Tamar back to her father's house to wait for Shelah to grow up.
7. For some reason, Judah never gets around to marrying Tamar to Shelah.
8. Judah's wife dies.
9. Judah goes to shear sheep and Tamar hears about it. She veils herself (like a prostitute) and sits by the road when Judah will pass.
10. Judah does pass, sees Tamar, thinks she is a prostitute, and sleeps with her. He leaves with her his "signet and cord" and staff, as promise that he will pay for the services provided. However, she never comes to claim payment, and no one knows anything of a prostitute in that area.
(If this isn't making sense, read the story in Genesis for yourself.)
11. Tamar is found to be pregnant. Judah is told and recommends that she be punished by death.
12. Tamar then brings out Judah's signet and cord and staff as evidence of the man who made her pregnant.
13. Judah sees them and says, "She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son."
14. She bears twins, the first of which, Perez, apparently becomes Judah's heir.

So, we are left with the thought that a woman who seduced her father-in-law is considered righteous? That seems really bizarre.

First of all, we need to realize that culturally speaking, land and heirs were the most important things. These values are echoed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Er, as Judah's first born would have inherited the main portion of all that was Judah's, as then his son would be next in line. Because he didn't have a son, Onan was to provide one for him. The inheritance would have then pass over Onan (as the oldest remaining son) and gone to "Er's" son (who would have been biologically the son of Tamar and Onan). Perhaps Onan wanted to insure that the inheritance came to him and his sons, thus explaining why he refused to give Tamar children. Later on, by not making Shelah provide Tamar with a son, Judah was also disregarding the importance of the line of inheritance. So Tamar took things into her own hands. She insured that the line of Judah would be properly continued. Perhaps this is the reason that Judah says she has been more righteous than he. She valued land, inheritance, and had a high respect for the way inheritance should be passed (as confirmed by God in the law later). Perhaps.


Example 2: Ruth
This one is a bit longer, so I'll assume that you know the gist of the story. I'm going to focus on chapter 3 and the happenings at the threshing floor. If you recall, Boaz is eating and drinking at the threshing floor. He goes to lie down and once he's asleep, Ruth goes and uncovers his "feet" and lays down. He wakes up later and tells her "Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter. For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich."

Have you ever wondered what was going on here? Why this sneaking about the threshing floor? And why is she blessed by Boaz for doing so? We've been reading through Ruth in Hebrew this semester, and this topic came up as some of us were studying together. Someone made an interesting point, which, if not completely correct, is at least worth consideration.

First, let's look at history a little.
Question: Where was Ruth from?
Answer: Moab! (as you all knew)
Question: Who are the Moabites? How did that people start?
Answer: Why, we are told about this in Genesis 19: 30-38, of course. Another rather disturbing story. Lot's two daughters have no prospects for getting husbands, and without a husband or a son, women in that day were pretty well destitute. Once their father died, they would have been as good as dead themselves. So instead, they make their father drunk, and in nine months, each of his daughters gives birth to a son. The son of the eldest daughter was called Moab and the Moabites are decended from him. So, to put it bluntly, Ruth is the decentant of a woman so desperate for a child that she took advantage of her drunk father.

When Ruth arrived at the threshing floor, Boaz's "heart was cheerful." In other words, he was "drunk as a skunk." And she went and uncovered his reglaim, which our Bibles translate as "feet" but which really can mean everything from the waist down. Ruth and Naomi were desperate. Without a man - a son- they were destitute. It would have been understandable if Ruth had taken advantage of Boaz's inebriated state to get a son, as her ancestor did. But she didn't. She gave him the choice: to act like a kinsman redeemer and provide that son properly, or to refuse and effectively condemn her and Naomi to death. Perhaps this is why Boaz calls her blessed. She had more faith in God than her ancestor, Lot's daughter. Perhaps even more faith than Naomi did when she gave Ruth her instructions. And Boaz rewarded her faith by marrying her, redeeming her land, and providing and heir.

Interesting, at least. I'm not convinced that I fully understand either of these stories yet, but I think understanding the culture in which they took place had helped me have at least a little bit of a better grasp on them. Feel free to let me know where you would agree or disagree or if you have a question.