Who is your Moabite?
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Moabite
Moabite
In Genesis 19:20-38 Tells us about how the descendants of Moab are traced back to Lot’s daughters seducing her father. Not a proud family heritage
In Number 21-22 we read how Balaam tried to curse Israel as requested by Balak, King of Moab. The curse didn’t work so Balaam encouraged the women of Moab to intermingle with the men of Israel and lead them astray.
Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp. But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.
Get the picture? A Moabite was looked down upon. They were not a people who had a good track record with the people of God.
As we move forward in Ruth, we need to understand how she would have been looked at by many people.
Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.”
And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.
Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”
Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”
People may not have said anything to her, but people’s prejudices are usually buried deep within up.
Why does this author keep repeating ‘the Moabitess’?
What is the Lord trying to get across here?
It reminds me of something that happened when I first got saved. A young woman I was working with at a store was furious about a couple she saw in the store. Why was she angry? She saw an couple who was inter-racial I actually shared the following passage with her
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Aaron and Miriam spoke out against Moses
So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.
Interesting that the Lord didn’t seem to say anything about Moses marrying an Ethiopian woman. I guarantee the woman wasn’t fair skinned, blonde hair with blue eyes
We are one race - the human race. We are different ethnic backgrounds. We come from different cultural backgrounds, but we are one race. Miriam had an issue with predujice that God didn’t
In the New Testament we move away from Moabites and exchange them for Samaritans
The bad blood started long ago...
Ezra 4:17 tells of that the Samaritans opposed Ezra rebuilding the walls
Nehemiah 2: the Samaritans were against the Jews rebuilding the wall
The woman at the well
Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary History
“the foolish people who live in Shechem are “not even a people” (Sirach 50:25–26)
“Blessed are you O God, King of the Universe, Who has not made me…” and conclude, respectively, “a goy [Gentile/Samarian],” “a slave,” and “a woman.”
People haven’t changed much.
Ruth the Moabitess
Those Samaritans
Those ________ (Fill in the blank)
If people in the Old Testament and people in the New Testament struggled with this, I am sure we do too.
I believe we need to look at our own hearts and ask the Lord who our Moabites and Samaritans are.
We talk about loving the Lord God with all our heart soul mind and strength. If we want to do that then we need to examine our heart and ask Him to give us a love for all people.