Leaving the Grain

I am not sure about you but I love reading a story or watching a movie where two people meet and they fall in love. Did you know that the Old Testament has a few love stories but the one I want to talk about today is Ruth and Boaz. Even if you didn’t grow up in the church, you most likely have either heard of the love story between them or at least have seen the meme on social media that goes something like this:

Dear Girls Wait for your Boaz Don’t settle for Po-az Lyin’-az Cheatin’-az

It goes on from there but you get the point of the meme, and as funny as we think this meme is, Boaz was actually being obedient to Levitical Law in how he treated Ruth, a foreigner in the land, and that’s the part of the story I want to talk about.

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Ruth 2:2

Throughout the Bible God made provisions for the poor, widow, orphan and foreigner.

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 23:22

God also talks about it in Deuteronomy and James to give you a few more examples.

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Deuteronomy 24:19-21

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

You may also see that in Deuteronomy after we read the Levitical Law, it goes on to say “so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” The word for Bless is barak, meaning you are blessing God as an act of adoration. Literally this was all done to make God known not to make them known. But if you read the Old Testament, if you disobey God’s laws and word, the consequences can be extreme.

Take Lot’s wife for example in Genesis 19 she looked back and became a pillar of salt.

Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

The Isrealites leaving Egypt to the promised land. Did you know that that trip was only 11 days but because of all their disobedience it took 40 years and all the men of fighting age would not see it?

These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) Deuteronomy 1

In the book of Numbers chapter 16 the ground opened up and swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram along with their wives, children and little ones because they had become insolent and rose up against Moses. Also the 250 that were following them were consumed with fire because of their disobedience.

There are plenty more examples but I think you get the point that if you were a person who was following the law of God then you adhered to it, there was no obeying just parts and not others.

One commentary said this law was God’s way of not only providing for those in need but also protecting the dignity of the poor.

Did you notice that God didn’t write: Now that you have gone over your field once, go through a second time and take the food to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the foreigner? No! He said to leave it so they can have it by coming and getting it. In God’s economy the food was there but you had to work for it.

Working was actually a concept God started in the Garden of Eden, unfortunately with the fall it was harder.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15

So if this is God’s plan for people to work for what they received, which will give dignity to the fatherless, widow, poor, foreigner, why has our charity (leaving the gran) become about handouts?

Let’s face it, we live in a society where there are no fields in which we can leave the sheaves, so the saying, “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime,” is probably a better representation.

As wonderful as this sounds, after years of doing ministry to single moms we found there was much more than just teaching them to fish. Most didn’t have a fishing pole, permission to use someone’s fishing hole, let alone transportation to get there. We also found that the new way of “leaving the grain”, took a lot of time through empowerment and equipping.

As a pastor, my husband has presented at conferences and has been invited to train for churches the concept we adopted while doing ministry. It teaches churches how to “leave the grain”.

In the seminar, which is based on his book Breaking the Broken: Debunking the Myth of Social Justice, you learn about God’s plan for Adam to meet his own needs in the Garden of Eden.

God provided Adam with:

Resources: Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. Genesis 2:8 The word planted is nata (pronounced naw-tah) literally means that God got down on his hands and knees and got dirt under his fingernails planting this garden for Adam to tend to.

Opportunity: The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15

Instruction: And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:16-17

Relationships: The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

After the explanation of the four fundamental principles, he categorizes people into three groups called, “The Can’ts, The Don’ts and The Won’ts.”

The Cant’s are a group of people who physically or mentally cannot do things. We have an obligation to serve them but also grant as much dignity in the way we serve.

The Don’ts are a group of people who are lacking one or more of the fundamental principles but with education, empowerment, and/or mentoring they will gain all four and become one who has been taught to fish and now has all the tools.

The Won’ts refuse to make a change. They continue with their excuses as to why it will never work. And Paul in the New Testament has something to say about them.

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10

So as we are learning what it truly means to leave the grain in today’s society, we need to get back to the way God intended it.

Will it be easy? No! But it will provide dignity to those who need help and bring glory to God.