The Book of Ruth
the Story of Ruth the Moabite
Here is the surprising truth about the identity of a young Israelitish widow, Ruth,
the central figure of the Book of Ruth, in your Bible.
Why is the identity of this woman important? How does this relate to our time
or to Christianity? The answer to these questions and more, you will find as
the truth unfolds about this amazing woman of the Bible.
Historical perspective: Ruth lived in "the land of Moab", which had been
conquered several generations earlier, at the time of Joshua, by the
Israelites. They had killed all the Moabites and Ammonites north of the Arnon
river, and it became their territory.
The Controversy of Race and the Lineage of Christ
The nationality of Jesus Christ has become obscured, by controversy. Four of
the women in Matthew's account of Christ's lineage are said to be Gentiles, by
both Jewish and Christian theologians. These women are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and
Bathsheba.
Recently, Christ's nationality has been the focus of controversy. On March 29,
1997, The Vancouver Sun, Saturday Review, G4, had an article "The Many Faces of
Jesus". He was depicted as being both Negro and Caucasian. A little confusing?
In a book, "Beyond Roots: In Search of Blacks In The Bible", a black American
author argued that a white Jesus had to be invented because He was useful to
white slave masters. The author said that, far from being the white,
European-looking man of popular imagery, Jesus was definitely middle eastern in
appearance, and could even have been of African descent.
The Executive Director of a group called Men Enhancing Community Cultural
Awareness, based in Gary, Indiana, declared that it is actually harmful to
depict Jesus as white. He feels that this causes psychological damage to black
peoples.
In this age of being politically correct, it is easy to see how the "white
Jesus" of established Christianity is under attack. The colour of His skin has
taken precedence over the strength of His message.
In his book, "Mystery of The Ages", the late evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong
made several striking statements on this issue. He wrote: "Jesus Christ was
born of the tribe of Judah, and it was necessary that He be of the original
pure racial strain, even as Noah was" (page 173, hard copy edition). He
further wrote: "God's chosen nation Israel was white. Jesus was white" (page
148, hard copy edition).
What is the truth? Was Jesus a Jew? Was He white? Can anything about this
issue be found and proven from the pages of your Bible?
The specific purpose of this article is to take the story of one of Christ's
ancestors, Ruth, and make plain what the Bible says about the lineage of Jesus
Christ, the Messiah.
The Dilemma of Race in the Book of Ruth
It has always been a DILEMMA, that God would allow a GENTILE -- a racial
Moabite -- to alter the family tree of the Messiah. It was strictly FORBIDDEN
for any Israelite to marry a Moabite FOREVER: "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not
enter the congregation of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his
descendants shall enter the congregation of the Lord FOREVER". (Deuteronomy
23:3)
This is a real problem for the Royal House of Judah. The truth of the matter
is, God would never instruct His people NOT to allow a Moabite into the
congregation, and then leave us an example of doing just the opposite,
especially within the Jewish Royal Family. God does not say one thing and do
another. God DOES NOT LIE!
The simple fact is that God kept the lineage of the coming Messiah pure up to
the time of Noah. For we read in Genesis 6:9, "Noah was a just man, PERFECT IN
HIS GENERATIONS." The Hebrew could easily be translated: "undefiled in his
descent", in what is a clear reference to his family tree.
It is interesting that the term Semitic goes back to the time of Noah. A
Shemite is the origin of the term Semite, where we get the modern derivation
"Semitic". It comes from Noah's son Shem. These Shemites lived in
Mesopotamia, and later migrated to modern Europe. The Germanic and
Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples are from the line of Shem. The Jews are not the
only Semites.
The kings of the nation of Israel had to come from the tribe of Judah. The
Messiah was to come from that line of Jewish kings. God instructs: "The
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes..." (Genesis 49:10).
God made it clear that no foreigner is to rule over the nation of Israel.
"...You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one
from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you MAY NOT set a
FOREIGNER over you, who is not your brother." (Deuteronomy 17:15). God makes
race an issue, with the kings of Israel. This is NOT for man to change!
This is true of Jesus Christ, our Messiah. He had to be an Israelite, of the
tribe of Judah. After all, if He was a gentile or genetically more gentile
than Israelite, He could not come back "to His own" (John 1:11). He might as
well have come back as the Messiah of the Canaanites or Moabites, if His racial
background were such.
The Messiah was born as King of the Jews and King of Kings. He could NOT be a
foreigner.
Several times the lineage of the Messiah could have been subverted. One
example, is when Judah married a Canaanite. The lineage would have produced NO
offspring of PURE Hebrew descent. God intervened through the Hebrew woman
Tamar. She put her life on the line, when she foresaw the problem was with
Judah, not Shelah, Judah's half-breed son. Tamar seduced Judah and produced
twin Hebrew boys, Perez and Zerah as heirs to the Royal House of Judah, and the
throne which Jesus Christ will ultimately occupy.
As Judah himself said of this situation with Tamar: "She has been more
righteous than I..." (Genesis 38:26).
The Lineage of King David
More proof that the lineage of the kings of Israel had to be of the tribe of
Judah, comes from the pages of history. During the Maccabean Period lead by
the Hasmoneans, 142 to 63 B.C., the controversy of bloodline arises again.
We read in the Encyclopedia Judaica, under the title, Genealogy: "Thus the
Hasmoneans, who had to defend themselves against the contention that only
Davidic descendants could lay claim to kingship, in turn questioned the
purity
of King David's blood, in view of his descent from Ruth the Moabite."
We further read in this article, why Jewish families marry so closely within
immediate family lines, to maintain their family roles in the Levitical temple
worship. "...Herod, who also had to face a challenge to the legitimacy of his
rule, forged for himself a pedigree going back to King David, after first
DESTROYING
THE GENEALOGICAL RECORDS maintained in the temple..."
The racial purity and lineage of the Kings of Judah were important right up to
the time of Christ. That is why Matthew and Luke record the genealogies of
both Joseph and Mary. Genealogy was critical to kingship! The Messiah had to
come from the lineage of King David!
The Book of Ruth - the Story
The book of the Bible, that both the Jews and the Church of God associate most
with The Feast of Weeks or "Pentecost", is the Book of Ruth. The scenario
takes place during the spring harvest season.
This story of Boaz finding a wife, Ruth, is analogous of Christ and the Church
-- Christ taking a bride. This book centers around the Jewish royal family and
the redemption of their inheritance, through the child Obed.
The Book of Ruth is a story of a young ISRAELITISH widow, who produced
offspring for the Royal House of Judah, whose descendants were residing in the
area of Bethlehem.
Ruth had been living in the territory still known as the land of Moab. This
territory north of the Arnon River, and east of the Jordan River, was occupied
by the tribes of Israel known as Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. Like their
brothers on the western side of the Jordan (who retained the name of the land
of Canaan), the three tribes to the east were said to live in the "land of
Moab".
Ruth moved to Bethlehem, with her mother-in-law, and married a man named Boaz,
of the Royal House of Judah. When she bore the child Obed, the stage was being
set for the future kings of the nation of Israel, and the coming of the Messiah.
THREE BASIC PROOFS
There are three basic proofs as to Ruth's true nationality. These are found in
a book entitled: Far Above Rubies, by Isabel Hill Elder, published in 1957.
The first deals with the question of who inhabited the "land of Moab",
mentioned in the Book of Ruth. The second involves Ruth's own very famous
statement to her mother-in-law. The third relates to who has the legal right
to inherit land under the ancient Levirate Law of Marriage and the Jubilee
System of land redemption.
Proof Number One:
The Israelites conquered the land of Moab, east of the Jordan river, and north
of the Arnon River. Israel took all the cities and killed ALL the inhabitants
of the land.
"So the Lord our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan, with all
his people, and we attacked him until he has no survivors remaining." "And at
that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who
were on this side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon..."
(Deuteronomy 3:3,8).
In another place the Bible records that no racial Moabites were left alive in
the land (Deuteronomy 2:34). The land was now inhabited by the tribes of
Reuben, Gad and Manasseh (Deuteronomy 29:8).
This territory retained the name "land of Moab", just as the land west of the
Jordan remained "the land of Canaan". Joshua 13:32 summarizes the conquest:
"These are the areas which Moses had distributed as an inheritance in the
PLAINS OF MOAB on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward."
In the first chapter of the Book of Ruth, the expression the "country" of Moab
is used. This word used for "country" in the original Hebrew translates best
as "land". The reference is to the PHYSICAL LAND not to the occupying people
of the land. This term is not pointing to the nation, but to the territory.
At the time of Joshua, the most dramatic statement relating to Israelites
dwelling in the plains of Moab, comes in the twenty-second chapter of the Book
of Joshua.
The western tribes of Israel almost went to war with their brothers living on
the eastern side of the Jordan, because of a misunderstanding over an
impressive monument built near the eastern bank of the Jordan River. The
tribes of Reuban, Gad, and Manasseh built a replica of an altar, to remind the
western tribes that Israelites lived on the eastern side of the river.
Here is the explanation: "Therefore we said, 'Let us now prepare to build
ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but that it may
be A WITNESS between you and us and our generations after us...that your
descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, "You have no part
in the Lord."'" (Joshua 22:27)
The tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan were afraid of losing their
identity. In effect they were saying: "We are the SAME PEOPLE and we worship
the SAME GOD." (Remember this, for proof number two.)
It has been a habit of Israelites to keep the name of the original inhabitants
of the land -- even to this day. Are the men living in the Dakotas all Dakota
Indians? Are Albertans all Albertan Indians? How about those living in the
city of Miami, Florida, are they all Miami Indians. How about the peoples in
the Province of Manitoba, Canada, are they all Manitoban Indians? (The name
"Canada" is of North American Indian origin.) Again, are they all Native
Indians living in these places? The answer is, certainly NOT! Yet, we have
retained the names of the original inhabitants of the land.
Do you get the point? We do the same thing today in the United States of
America, and in Canada. Ruth was an Israelite living in the land of Moab,
occupied by the eastern tribes of Israel.
Proof Number Two:
The most amazing proof that Ruth was a Israelite, and possibly a Jewess, comes
from her most famous and misunderstood statement to her mother-in-law, Naomi.
"...For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your
people shall be my people, and your God, my God. (Ruth 1:16).
It is important for you to notice that in most Bibles, the words "shall be" are
in italics. This is done because the words ARE NOT in the original text.
Hebrew is written with consonants only, NO VOWELS. The vowels are added in the
spoken language. One of the things this does, is leave word 'tense' for the
individual to add when reading. You have to understand THE CONTEXT in order to
correctly read aloud the Hebrew.
To put things in plain English, it is impossible for Ruth to become (ie. "shall
be") a part of Naomi's tribe, if she was not of the same genetic strain. "A
Gentile in the woodpile", would make Ruth a Gentile, not an Israelite of pure
racial strain. The future tense, then, is not correct.
If Ruth's ancestors were, at one time, of the same tribe, then the translation
"used to be" would not be correct, because somewhere a Gentile would have
entered her pedigree, changing it to that of a Gentile. The past tense would
not be logical.
The only translation which makes sense, and fits the situation is: "...Your
people are my people, and your God, is my God." Ruth's statement is one of
CONFIRMATION. She is saying the same thing as her ancestors, of the eastern
side of the Jordan, said to the tribes of the western side, earlier in history.
She is paralleling, what was said in the twenty-second chapter of Joshua.
Remember proof number one.
Ruth is confirming that she worships the same God of Israel, just as her
forefathers did in the time of Joshua. That is why God placed that story of
the altar on the western shore of the Jordan River in the Book of Joshua.
God intended that the Book of Ruth be a "mystery" until our time. Even the
Hasmoneans did not understand the TRUTH of the matter two millennia ago.
Joseph and Mary understood, and so did the apostles!
We read in Ephesians 5:31,32: " 'For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.'
This a GREAT MYSTERY, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." There are
things which God intends to be known in "the end time". He has kept these
things hidden for His own purpose.
It IS TIME to realize the truth about this woman, Ruth.
Proof Number Three:
Only an Israelite could inherit land under the nation's Jubilee System, and
receive restoration of that inheritance, under the Levirate Law of Marriage.
An understanding as to the historical background of these two laws, is
necessary to grasp the restrictions placed on inheritances within the nation of
Israel.
Levirate Law Of Marriage
In the story of Ruth, a single man, a relative of her dead husband, is supposed
to intervene and marry Ruth. The purpose of this is to "...raise up the name
of the dead on his inheritance..." (Ruth 4:10). This custom is known as the
"levirate Law of Marriage". This Hebrew law predates the nation of Israel.
The purpose is to not let an inheritance go out of the family. This law
protects the inheritance and birthright of rulers from Adam to Noah and then to
his son Shem, after the Great Flood.
The first time it is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 38:8. "Go in to your
(dead) brother's wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother."
This is part of the story of Judah and Tamar.
Instructions were given to the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 25:5,6: "If
brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the
dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's
brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a
husbands brother to her, and it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears
will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted
out of Israel."
Note the importance of keeping the inheritance within the family. No STRANGER
is to inherit!
No Gentile would have been allowed to inherit land under the levirate Law of
Marriage. This law was there to keep the inheritances and the land of Israel
in the possession of Israelites ALONE!
From Noah to Abraham
What is not commonly known is that the inherited line of rulers goes from Noah
to Abraham and to the kingly line of David. The story of Ruth is the rescuing
of this royal lineage -- a coveted inheritance!
Noah lived three years into the life of Abraham. Shem lived seventy-five years
into the life of Abraham. Abraham was told to depart from the land of the
Hebrews: "Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's
house..." (Genesis 12:1), at the AGE of SEVENTY-FIVE.
The details of the passing of the authority of Noah to Shem and Abraham, are
not recorded in history or the pages of the Bible. The principle followed by
the patriarchs is using the "laying on of hands" to pass on an inheritance and
kingly authority.
Shem had the authority of God, and an army, which traveled to Egypt and killed
Nimrod. In the Compendium of World History Book I, by Dr. Hermon L. Hoeh,
pages 246-247, we read of Shem's exploits: "...Mes-kiag-gasher is the Sumerian
name of Shem!...Mes-kiag-gasher was also a high priest. From Egyptian records
historians have discovered that Semsem -- the Great Shem -- of Dynasty I of
Thinis was also pictured as a HIGH PRIEST! This famous man crossed from Asia
over the water to the mountains of Europe. Shem traveled far and wide to put
down the government of Nimrod."
Abraham had an army of three hundred and eighteen "trained men" (Genesis
14:13). Abraham was a PRINCE, who had influence in Mesopotamia. Abraham was
also a priest of God, as he could SACRIFICE on an altar, and this was
acceptable to God. He gave up the opportunity to use this influence when he
followed God's instructions to leave the land of the Hebrews. Upon Shem's
death, and Abraham's leaving the scene, an opening was made for Gentile
world-ruling empires to influence and shape the known world. God was removing
His direct hand from secular history, as was present through His servants from
Seth to Shem.
What is not said, in the Bible, is that if Abraham had not left for Egypt when
God instructed, other Shemites would have conspired to put Abraham to death.
Before he died, Shem laid hands on Abraham and "anointed" Abraham, passing on
his authority given to him from Noah.
Shemites in Assyria, covetous of that authority, and the birthright carried
with it, would have killed Abraham, and claimed the birthright for their side
of the family. This is the same birthright passed on down to the kingly line
of David. Therein lies the importance of the inheritance. It is the
inheritance of KINGS and PRIESTS of God.
God had chosen to grant rulership through a lineage that came from Seth to
Noah, and then to Abraham and the nation of Israel -- His CHOSEN people. This
lineage would also provide the Messiah, or King of Kings. Jesus Christ is to
rule over a nation of King-Priests, in the World Ahead.
Racial Purity a Must
The significance of an unbroken link between Adam and Jesus Christ is of the
utmost importance. That is why God inspired us to know that up to the time of
Noah, there is a chain of inheritors to the kingly line -- an unbroken genetic
racial strain (Genesis 6:9). God is particular of the national characteristics
which would be inherent in His nation of Priest-Kings! National
characteristics are PASSED ON by our genes. There is other evidence in the
Bible that genetic background is important to God and the nation of Israel.
Levites were not to marry outside of their tribe, in order to preserve their
characteristics as teachers and men who could carry out duties as priests. God
instructed in Leviticus 21:14,15: "...he shall take a virgin OF HIS OWN PEOPLE
as wife. Nor shall he PROFANE his POSTERITY...". The Levites were to set an
example for the nation, by marrying within their own tribe. Racial purity WAS
an ISSUE in ancient Israel.
The sons of Shelah (Shelanites) were considered half-breeds (half-Canaanites).
They were not granted the same status within the nation of Israel as were the
rest. This family became the weavers of cloth, gardeners and greenhouse
workers (I Chronicles 4:29-23). They were not given the same royal duties as
the families of Perez and Zerah.
What is interesting, is that Shelanites were allowed to rule over Moabites. (I
Chronicles 4:22) They were not rulers in Israel.
During the Second Temple Period, Jews were very conscious of the purity of
their family tree. They established ten categories of families to determine
eligibility to work in the temple. Record of descent was of prime importance.
The Israelites would not even eat a meal with a Gentile, never mind allow one
of them to marry into the Royal House of Judah. This presence of mind carried
right on into the time of Christ. Gentiles were considered "unclean". A Jew
considered his posterity "defiled" if any of his family married a Gentile.
A Modern Perspective
A simple way of looking at it today, is with the present royalty in Britain.
Would the English take it lightly if Prince Charles, the heir of the throne of
England, brought home from the British Commonwealth, a dark woman to be his
bride and the next Queen of England? The British tabloids would have a field
day with that one. It is not acceptable today! It was not acceptable then.
You would think that church historians would have seen the paradox of Tamar,
Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, listed amongst the lineage of Christ, in the book
of Matthew, and the fact that both the Protestant and Jewish communities
falsely consider all four women to be all, or part Gentile, in their racial
origin.
The truth is, Tamar was a Hebrew woman, the other three were Israelites. Their
stories are fascinating and inspiring, as to God's intervention in the lives of
His chosen people, Israel.
"A Restorer of Life"
The Book of Ruth is one of RESTORATION. Naomi was the equivalent to the "Queen
Mother" in Britain today. She was as beloved then as the Queen Mother is
today. Notice Ruth 1:19: "...ALL THE CITY was EXCITED because of them; and the
women said, 'Is this Naomi?'" It was Naomi who anguished over the possibility
of her family name and inheritance disappearing into oblivion.
The essence of the story is in Ruth 4:13-17: "So Boaz took Ruth and she became
his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she
bore a son." (It appears that God intervened and made sure that a male heir
was conceived.) "Then the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed be the Lord, who has
not left you this day without a NEAR KINSMAN ; and may his name be famous in
Israel! And may he be to you a RESTORER OF LIFE...'. "Also the neighbor women
gave him a name, saying, 'There is a son BORN TO Naomi.'"
This ancient levirate Law of Marriage was fulfilled and the Royal House of
Judah was rescued, with an heir to the future throne!
Boaz tells of his actions in Ruth 4:9-10: "You are witnesses this day that I
have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's,
from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I
have acquired as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on HIS INHERITANCE,
that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from
the gate of his place."
Boaz paid off the family debt of Naomi, and proclaimed the occupancy of the
property to be given back to Naomi, all according to the Jubilee System of the
restoration of property rights.
Furthermore, the elders of the city proclaimed their knowledge of the
importance nationally, of this event. Following the story in Ruth 4:11,12:
"And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, 'We are
witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and
Leah, the two WHO BUILT the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah
(the equivalent to the Queen's Windsor castle, in England) and be famous in
Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez, whom TAMAR bore to
Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give to you from this young
woman.'"
These elders saw the parallel to the story of Tamar rescuing the Royal lineage
for Judah. They saw how critical the situation was for the nation.
Conclusion
In looking into the concepts surrounding the Book of Ruth and facing the
reality of the details of the story, it is obvious that the lineage of the
Messiah, Jesus Christ, has to be of pure racial strain. This is only one
aspect of the message -- that of RACE.
The aspect that
mostconcerns us is that of GRACE, that is: redemption, salvation, inheriting the
Kingdom of God, and the analogy of Christ and the Church. These are weightier
matters. In order to understand these things we must FIRST get the story of
Ruth correct.
Ruth was an Israelite, who in analogy, represents the Bride of Christ.
Links to Similar Articles on other Web Sites :
The Book of Ruth
Bibliography
- Far Above Rubies
; by Isabel Hill Elder; Chapter viii: Ruth (Book of Ruth); The Covenant Publishing Co., Ltd.; 1957
- Mystery Of The Ages
; by Herbert W. Armstrong; Chapter 4: Mystery of Civilization; Chapter 5:
Mystery of Israel; Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc.; 1985; First Edition; (hard cover only -- in later editions some material is edited out and reworded.)