A Moabite King?

The author of Ruth ruthlessly reminds us of her heritage. She was from Moab. No, she was not the mother of all [insert any word that starts with "b"]. She was from a land south of Israel through which the Hebrew fugitives fled. A curse was pronounced upon them by Moses that no Moabite even down to the 10th generation could enter the temple (Dt. 23:3).

Unlike other nationalities, the Israelites were not explicitly forbidden to marry with these people. It certainly would have been distasteful, but not forbidden.

What is so amazing about the fact the Ruth is a Moabitess is that King David is her descendant, and sooner than the 10th generation by the lineage at the end of the book. David, by the Deuteronomy command should not have entered the temple. And yet the grace of God, and His choosing changed that. Furthermore, David serves as a picture of the coming King, the true Priestly King Jesus. Also in the line of Ruth, Jesus then is in a sense born outside the temple. He represents a people forbidden from the presence of God. He stands for all of those not allowed to come into the temple, either because of their imperfections or their descent. He too was a descendant of a Moabitess and yet was not only allowed into the temple, but was even greater than the temple itself (Mt. 12:6).