How could Boaz do such a thing?

Question:

God said the Moabites could not join with the Israelites yet Ruth was a Moabite. Did Boaz disobey, and what happens to Obed, Jesse and David?

It is difficult to believe Boaz did anything against God’s will.

∼ Vanaly P.

Answer:

There is a theme that runs through King David’s life of the despised becoming the elevated. He expresses this in Psalms 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone.”

The first rejection in David’s life came when his brothers rebuffed him based on the fact that his mother was a Moabite. The correct ruling that the exclusion of Moab only applied to males was not yet widely known at that time. Ruth and her descendants were vehicles for publicizing this ruling.

Boaz, as a leader of the generation, followed the correct path, despite it not being ‘politically correct’ and generally accepted. By acting as a strong leader concerned with what God thought rather than what people thought, he merited to have King David and the Messianic line come from him.

We hope this helps to clear up any confusion,

Rabbi Daniel and Susan Lapin