Posted on 07/10/2011 9:59:02 AM PDT by Sioux-san
I recently re-read a book entitled "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs. Jacobs is a secular agnostic Jew in New York City who – purely out of curiosity rather than religious suasion – decided to not just read the Bible, but live every possible rule and regulation as best he could. He writes about his year-long experiment in living biblically.
The book is full of his interpretations for various passages. Recently, I was struck by his analysis of Leviticus 19:10: "Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner." The idea behind leaving some of the harvest was to provide gleanings for the poor.
We're all familiar with the most famous biblical example of the good that comes from this, namely the faithful and industrious Ruth whose gleaning led to a match with Boaz. The descendent of that match included King David, the ancestor of Jesus.
So gleaning plays a critical part of biblical history. "The idea of gleanings is one of my favorites in the Bible," Jacobs writes. "It goes like this: When you harvest your field, don't reap the entire field. Leave the corners unharvested so that the leftovers – the gleanings – can be gathered by the poor. It's a beautiful and compassionate rule. … It's been called the first welfare system."
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Welfare that actually required the recipients to make the effort first!
The author’s idea that Leviticus and Deuteronomy are just about leaving food for the poor is egregious oversimplification.
Those passages contain detailed and accurate descriptions of good management and bad management of lands including vineyards.
I suggest www.Shemitta.com.
Lots of working ideas.
We lived in Siloam Springs, AR, for 5 years. The Allen canning company is located there. They always (then, anyway) left the rows nearest the roads unpicked for the poor to pick beans, etc. We were students then, with our family coming along. It was a blessing to have access to this one summer, in particular, when my husband’s VA checks got mixed up and took a couple more months to arrive! It helped to put fresh produce on the table and save the little money we had for meat, milk and other staples. Today, we purchase this brand whenever we see it available in local supermarkets. It has always been a quality item for a better price. I think that Christian principles, such as this, often manage to hold a company through the storms of life. The same for individuals, too. I’ve known many elderly who continued to set out a large garden, just so they could share with neighbors. Imagine in your old age, doing the back breaking work to maintain one, just to give it away! Unheard of today in all but the smallest of communities. God bless those who still live by Biblical principles! They do work. If only our nation would move in that direction!!
Indirectly tied..., but I wonder if this book also touches on the Old Testament year of Jubilee.
I used to find teaching about periodic debt forgiveness to be completely baffling.... but lately I’ve started to glean some relevance to our world.
— Joe
Ok, so say for the sake of argument this article is persuasive.
SO WHAT
It is not welfare or social programs that got us in trouble. It was the administration’s DISCRETIONARY spending, ya dig?
Read the posted material, then consider buying the book online, all of $20.
The author has caused a reinterpretation of those passages. Not too bad for someone who doesn’t really speak or read Hebrew.
But - there are computer programs to translate. And, he used them well.
There are often gleanings left in the field but no one wants to pick them, they want you to pick it and bring it to them. There are some but most will just let it rot.
God even feeds the birds of the sky. But he doesn’t throw it in their nest. Just saying.
God even feeds the birds of the sky. But he doesn’t throw it in their nest. Just saying.
This is why I donate all my garbage to the poor.
I like that, you just gave me my new tagline.
"Progressives", better known as Commie Rats, don't give a rat's hiney what anything in the Bible says. They are doing every thing in their power to render Christianity impotent in this country.
Why would that surprise anybody? Wonderful are the ways of G-d...
the infowarrior
Didn’t surprise me, but I know of several people who would be shocked by it.
Welfare and social programs have larded up the national debt for years. It was just Obama's discretionary spending that has put us so far over the top, in the last two years.
That must be how long it takes for kids to forget what the older generations tries to teach them.
Of course, we can follow the ways of modern banking and just have a major depression every 50 years or so ...
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