There is a famine in the land of plenty. Naomi moves to the land of Moab. Her sons marry Orpah and Ruth, Moabite women. You might not know what a Moabite is, but you have them in your life. Each of us has a list of who our Moabites are.

In those days, it was looked down on to marry outside your tribe. If you were one of God’s chosen, you weren’t supposed to marry outside the tribe. Many think the Bible is outdated, but this concept is still with us. We now use the term “Mixed-Marriage.” It can refer to a marriage that involves different faith traditions, different races, or even people who have been married before and therefore create a blended family.

Mixed-Marriage isn’t always a positive term, even now. It denotes someone is marrying outside the bounds of what is acceptable. Maybe you have never heard of this term, and that’s great! Those of us who have heard this term, it’s because each of us has a list of who our Moabites are. Or if we don’t, we are handed that list from someone else or we glean it from our culture.

To understand who the Moabites are for us, let’s check out the origins of the Moabites. In Genesis 19, Lot is a relative of Abraham. He lives in Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot is a good man compared to those who live in the town. Maybe not the best guy if he lived here in Medina, but good for Sodom and Gomorrah.

Angels pay him a visit. The locals get wind of his visitors and show up at his door to “welcome” them. The men gather and threaten to rape the angels but Lot won’t give them up. The angels tell Lot that the towns will be destroyed because of their great wickedness.

The story doesn’t tell of the exact wickedness. We have been told that being a Sodomite means being gay. But that’s not how the Bible understands what made Sodom and Gomorrah so wicked. The Prophet Ezekiel is speaking for God when he wrote, “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”[1] The rabbis up until the late 1800s understood the sin of Sodom to be the sin of inhospitality. When we don’t welcome the orphan, widow, or foreigner within our land; that is what the rabbis described as being a Sodomite.

After Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, Lot and his two daughters go to the hills outside of Zoar. There they mourn the loss of Lot’s wife who looked back and became a pillar of salt. Thinking that they were the only people to survive the calamity, the daughters get their father drunk and 9 months later the daughters give birth to sons named Moab and Ben-ammi. This is the origin story of the Moabites and the Ammonites, rival tribes to the Israelites.[2]

Moabites are incestuous good-for-nothings. There is nothing good about them and a good Israelite wouldn’t cross the street to help one, let alone marry one.

We all have prejudices. Whether we are taught them or we develop them ourselves, we all have a list of who is a Moabite, even though we don’t call them that.

Usually we are taught these through ethnic jokes. Growing up I learned Polish people are stupid. All Italians are in the mafia. Irish people are drunks. Mexicans are lazy but are taking our jobs. All black people like chicken and watermelon, and they are dangerous and can’t be trusted. Gay people are weak and unnatural. And these are supposed to be jokes.

Humanity is a tribal species. Even to this day. We are most comfortable around our tribe. And we do a lot to show our tribe, from the clothes we wear, right down to the brands. The styles. The places where we shop. There are studies that show that conservatives like to shop and eat at certain places and liberals at other places.

We each seem to think that we are normal. Our tribe is the normal one. And we create our own bubbles that reinforce our ideals. We develop the idea of who is abnormal. We label them, we have stereotypes to reinforce those labels, and we stay away as best we are able. We each have a list of our Moabites, only we don’t call them Moabites. We call them “Pols, Micks, Spics, Fairies” and other racial slurs I will not utter up here.

It is true in the Bible and true in our lives as well. The Book of Ruth is a challenge to the tribalism of the Israelites. We can bring up all sorts of Bible verses to exclude but we miss the bigger narrative of the scriptures which is always an opening. The Bible is clear that Moabites are bad and Dt. 23:3 says they aren’t allowed to dwell with God’s people. Yet Ruth is a Moabite and is the main character of this book.

Ruth might seem like a contradiction in the Bible. Many atheists like to point those out, yet scholar Pete Enns states that there are no contradictions in the Bible. He explains the concept like this:

1. If I say, “I hate oatmeal” and then turn to someone else and say “I love oatmeal,” I am contradicting myself.
2. If I said 20 years ago “I hate oatmeal” and now say “I love oatmeal,” I am not contradicting myself. Rather my view of oatmeal changed over time.
3. If I say “I hate oatmeal” but my son says “I love oatmeal,” that would not be a contradiction. We are two different people voicing our opinions.[3]

We are in a tradition that believes that the Bible didn’t fall from the sky all at once. The Bible was written over a long period of time by different authors in different times and settings. Therefore the Bible is more of the last two oatmeal examples, which were of opinions evolving over time or being different from another person’s.

Everyone knows Moabites are bad news… But… there’s Ruth and she is loyal and sticks by her mother in-law, and because of her we have Obed. From Obed we have Jesse. Jesse is King David’s dad. You heard that right, Ruth the Moabite, is responsible for David, the greatest king Israel ever had and who is in Jesus’ lineage.

It’s a funny thing about making a list, every time we do, it seems God is always on the side of those on the list. Every time we draw a line in the sand, Jesus is standing on the other side of that line.

Just last week, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was shot up because someone had Jews on his list. And he acted on that list. We cannot be silent in the face of hate. We must speak up for the basic humanity of others because that is often the first thing to go.

FEAR THE MOABITES! FEAR IMMIGRANTS! FEAR BLACK PEOPLE! FEAR GAYS! They are coming to take things from you! Notice where evil starts. Evil always starts by denying the basic humanity of another group. Evil always starts by calling another group a name that attacks or removes their humanity. Moabites are incestuous. Moabites can’t be trusted. Moabites aren’t allowed into God’s group. Moabites are vermin. Moabites deserve to be shot.

To be clear, there are three people who deserve to be shot: Fascists, Murderers, and People who make list of people who should be shot.

The Book of Ruth is revolutionary in that the main character is a Moabite. A beloved community comes out of a “bad” person. David, the greatest king Israel ever had, and Jesus, whom Christians believe to be the Incarnate Word, start here. God comes from the wrong side of the tracks.

If you have ever been called unworthy. If your basic humanity has ever been attacked. We all know the children’s rhyme, sticks and stones can break my bones but words can cause a lifetime of therapy. If you bear the scars or the open wounds of the evil others can cause with their list, know that you are in good company. The Good News of Jesus Christ is for you. That no matter who you are, where you come from, or where you are on your journey; God loves you. God is for you. God has claimed you in your baptism, and has invited you to the table. We are inextricably linked to one another through our baptism and at the communion table and our common humanity.

Having such a wonderful connection we as followers of such Good News are called to make disciples of all nations. To burn our lists of Moabites. To greet one another as fellow Children of God. To love our neighbor as ourselves. Every. Single. Neighbor. Amen.

Works Cited

1 Ezekiel 16:49-50

2 Genesis 19:30-38

3 https://peteenns.com/there-are-no-contradictions-in-the-bible/