Providence and Obedience

We were looking at the law of gleaning in Leviticus and considering its application in other scriptures.

The main place we see the application is in the book of Ruth. Naomi, Ruth's mother in law, had gone with her son to Moab where he had married two Moabite women. When Naomi's son had died, Ruth determined to stay a part of Naomi's family when they had no way to provide for themselves in Moab.

Naomi knew the details of the scripture and the law of gleaning. They went back to Israel and found the field of Boaz and depended on God and the law of gleaning for their provisions.

There were other laws that came into play: the kinsman/redeemer and the jubilee year.

Though their obedience to these seemingly meaningless, miniscule details in the law, God brought about the union of Ruth and Boaz.

Where do we next hear of Boaz? In Matthew 1, in the geneology of Jesus.

God's providence and their obedience were used by God to add Ruth's genetic material and maternal heritage into the constitution of the baby Jesus, the savior of the world.

How do we regard the details of Leviticus 19? Jesus used several of these details in his teachings. Perhaps, we should pay them more attention.