April 7, 2026

Business by the Book

Ruth 3:12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.

Live according to a code. Boaz did. According to the Law of Moses, a near kinsman could redeem all that belonged to a close relative. Ruth, having been instructed of Naomi, requested that Boaz would do the part of a near kinsman. This would mean that Boaz would take her as a wife, which he obviously wanted to do in that later he did marry her. However, Boaz knew that he was not the nearest relative that could perform the part of a kinsman redeemer; there was another man that actually had that lawful right. It was a “right of first refusal” type of thing.

This mighty man of wealth had a code that he lived by. This code regulated his behavior. His code was the Law of Moses. Christians today could say that their code is the New Testament. In Scouts we had the twelve points of the Scout Law that was our code. Some use the laws of the state they live in as their code of behavior; some national laws. Doctors have the Hippocratic oath, and CPAs have the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct; everyone seems to have a code by which they live.

Even John Wayne said, “A man has to have a code, a creed to live by.” He also said, “A man oughta do what he thinks is right.”  A person’s code, or creed, is that boundary that they bump up against when they don’t know what to do. It is like a curb that steers them back onto the straight and narrow. A few years ago there was much discussion concerning “Situational Ethics.”  This seems to be an oxymoron. Ethics are not situational, they are fixed, that are standard, they are defined, and they are safe.

There was a man who was a representative of a large national contractor who was trying to win a contract with another large company. The man with the contractor asked the purchasing agent to sway the contract his way, if so he would give him $5,000. The purchasing agent was indignant, “What type of man do you think I am? I would not risk my reputation, job, and future for money.”  Then the contractor offered him $100,000. “How could we do it, what would I have to do, when would I get the money” were some of the responses to such a large offer. After a while the contractor offered the purchasing agent $10,000 to guarantee that he win the bid and obtain the contract. The purchasing agent asked again “What type of man do you think I am?”  The contractor said, “I have established what type of man you are, now we are negotiating price.” 

In that situation the purchasing agent had no code, no creed. Boaz did, for he was an honorable, mighty man of wealth.

Dr. William Howe