The Moabite

Ruth the Moabitess marries Boaz.
It’s a rare romance in the Bible,
With an end of love, restoration, royalty:
A new child for bitter Naomi to love,
A line that will continue to the Christ.

So the end of Nehemiah reads like a slap:
The Ammonite and Moabite are not to come
Into the congregation of the Lord for ever.
Nehemiah is right: the law of Moses is clear:
Deuteronomy 23, speaking of those peoples:
“Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity
All thy days for ever.”

And at the end of Ezra, the concurrent story is
That those who had married Moabites
Simply sent their women and children away.
An end of barrenness.
Correct, but bitter.

What am I to do with this?

It is not satisfying to assume that Ruth
Was the only one who converted.
Besides, the prohibition is clearly racially based,
Without regard to faith in the true God.

It is satisfying to say that, by lineage
And story and heart of God,
The story of Ruth is the story that should be told.

And what was happening with Ezra and Nehemiah
May have been what the exigencies of the moment demanded.
They were faithful, and I can trust that God rewarded that.

But we know that the law brings death.

In Ezra, the families wait to be separated, in the rain:
A cold, sad picture of brokenness and failure.
One could say: a picture of life under the law.

The story of Ruth comes during the days when the judges ruled,
A time when every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
And yet, here is this story of harvest and life.
It is such a better story!

Can I read this as a metaphor for the New Testament teaching,
That the law brings death, but walking by the Spirit brings life?
Because that’s the story I choose.