The Complexities Of Life Series

Not far from the scene where Ruth proposed to Boaz in

the middle of the night, Musa Alami made a proposal of his

own. This Arab boy was educated at Cambridge, and he

went back to Palestine where he became very successful.

But political turmoil came and he lost everything. He went

out into the bleak desert between Moab and Israel, and

proposed to turn this desert into a rose. Where nothing had

ever grown before, he would make it into a farm by the use

of underground water. He got the same response that Noah

got in building the Ark. The people laughed and ridiculed

the idea as preposterous. The Bedouin sheiks all said it

could not be done. The government official agreed it could

not be done. The scientists confirmed it that it could not be

done.

To add to these minor complexities he had to face the

fact that he had no well drilling equipment. Based on this

preliminary information most people would have given up

before they started. But people who know that life is

complicated do not turn back because of complexities.

Musa used poverty stricken refugees to dig with shovels.

They had nothing to lose, and the project gave them some

hope. Day after day, and week after week, they dug and

dug the bid hole in the desert. They became the laughing

stock of the area. For 6 months they dug deeper and deeper

into the dry sand. One day the sand was wet, and so were

the eyes of the diggers, for they wept when water was found

in the desert. The sheik laid hands Musa and said, "Thank

God. Now Musa, you can die." They meant, you have done

what none other thought could be done. You have fulfilled

your purpose in life, and you can die happy.

Musa went on to develop a ranch in the desert. It was 3

miles long and 2 miles wide with 15 wells. He raised

vegetables, bananas, figs, and citrus fruit. He build a

training school to teach farmers and technicians. Others

followed Musa until 40 thousand acres were under

cultivation where once there was only sand. The shortest

distance between two points may be a straight line, but

seldom is life so simple that we can reach our goals by

traveling a straight line. Usually any goal worth reaching

calls for traveling an up and down winding road of

complexity with obstacles, road blocks, and detours. Life is

seldom a 100 yard dash where you get ready, get set, and

go, and a few seconds later the goal is crossed. Life is more

like a cross country marathon through winding trails, over

hills, through swamps, and you cross the goal line weary

and battered.

The story of Ruth seems so simple on the surface. Ruth

meets Boaz; they fall in love; they get married, and they live

happily ever after. But as we read the story carefully we see

it is more complex then this. Boaz loves Ruth, and she loves

him, but he is not free to respond to her proposal of

marriage. There are technical legal matters that throw a

monkey wrench into this otherwise simple romance. There

are rules that govern the marriage of a widow, and so there

are rights of other relatives that Boaz is obligated to respect.

The whole chapter is about the complexity of

responsibility. Naomi is fine now, and in her own life she is

adjusted, but Ruth complicates her life. She feels

responsible to try and find a secure future for her. Love

always complicates life. If you demand that life be simple,

then avoid love at all cost, for love is complicated, and it

adds a load of responsibility. The hermit has the truly

simple life, but for all who develop relationships there is the

inevitability of complexity.

The civilized people become the more complex they

become as well. There are more and more laws that are

needed to regulate the relationships of people. The law of

levirate marriage is the issue here in Ruth. It was designed

to keep the name of every man alive in Israel, even if he did

not have a child. This was cared for by the law that

demanded the man's brother, or if he had none, the closest

relative, to marry his widow, and have a child that would

carry on the name of the deceased. Elimelech and Mahlon

were both dead end branches of their family tree, and their

only hope of survival in a genealogy of Israel was for Ruth

to have a child. This was a great law for preserving the

names of the dead, but it often became very complex for the

living. For example, the Jewish Rabbis had some very

confusing and contradictory issues arise out of this law.