Boaz and the Bible

Seven times the book of Ruth mentions that Ruth is from Moab. Seven additional times in the book of Ruth she is called a Moabite. This is not a subtle part of the story.

If you thumb back through the pages of your bible, the previous mention of Moab/Moabites is in the Law:

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation. - Deuteronomy 23:3

So then we read this at the very end of the book of Ruth, which seems to contradict what God said in the Law:

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son…  This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. - Ruth 4:13, 18-22

Not only does Boaz, the male hero of the story, marry a Moabite, but he has children by her… and within three generations the offspring is none other than King David himself! So the greatest king in the Old Testament was welcomed - the very one who laid plans and raised money to build the temple in the first place - was supposedly not allowed to gather with the holy assembly when they were in worship!?! That’s a bit much to take in.

We’ll be exploring the questions around “what is scripture?” this week in our devotionals. Today, let’s start off our time simply giving thanks that Boaz found a way to respond to Ruth’s invitation to do justice by responding to her marriage proposal and that King David - and ultimately King Jesus (see Matthew 1) were the result. Thank God for making a way even when sometimes the Bible itself seems to put up obstacles to doing what God desires.