RUTH, HUMAN RIGHTS AND
THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
The Rev. Harold Shepherd, CD, M.A., S.T.M., LL.B., LL.M.,
Ph.D.
Sermon from November 9, 2003
The Book of Ruth recounts the story of
the marriage of King David’s great- grandparents,
Ruth and Booz. The story starts with a famine that caused
Elimelech to leave Bethlehem and relocate to Moab with his
with Noemi and their two sons, Mahalon and Chelion, both of
whom married Moabite women. After her husband and her two
sons died, Noemi decided to return home to Bethlehem.
Although she tried to persuade her two daughters-in-law to
remain in Moab, Ruth refused, insisting on accompanying
Noemi. Ruth 1:15-18 records Ruth’s response with
great rhetorical flare: “Do no press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will
go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my
people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die-
there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”
As widows and returning displaced persons, they were
penniless. How were they going to support themselves?
Provision for such circumstances was made in the legal
traditions of Israel reflected in the Hebrew Bible. When
fields are being harvested, some of the crop is to be left
behind for the poor. This is an early example of social
assistance to avoid starvation or to provide an alternative
to begging. Ruth went to the field of a rich landowner in
Bethlehem named Booz and began to glean food from the
fields. Another ancient tradition was that when a married
man dies without an heir, his closest male family member
has a right to marry her to continue the family line.
Although Booz was related to Ruth’s deceased husband,
there was another family member who had a prior right to
take Ruth in marriage. After he renounced this right, Booz
took Ruth as his wife and the two bore a son, Obed, King
David’s grandfather.
Little is known about the circumstances surrounding the
authorship of this book. Most scholars are of the
opinion that it was written sometime during the monarchy.
This would place it somewhere between the tenth century
B.C. and the early sixth century B.C. Moab lies to the east
of the Dead Sea in what is today Jordan. Although the
Moabites spoke a Semitic language that is related to
Hebrew, they were polytheistic, worshiping Chamos as their
primary deity and Ashtar, his consort, somewhat similar to
Caananite religious beliefs. Human sacrifices were likely
also part of their religious practices. Suffice it to say,
Moabites would have been viewed by Israelites at the time
as being pagans who had no inheritance with the people of
God. In addition, there was a long history of warfare
between the Moabites and Israel. As part of David’s
expansion of his kingdom, he invaded Moab and subjected it
(II Kings 8:2). Solomon brought Moabite women into his
harem and even built a temple to the Moabite deity Chamos
(I Kings 11:1, 7). After the death of King Ahab, Moab
rebelled and obtained its independence (II Kings 1:1,
3:4-27). The Moabites eventually were absorbed into the
Nabateans, best known for their capital carved out of
sandstone at Petra.
Given the history and religious differences between Israel
and Moab, it is safe to say that the two peoples did not
hold each other in high esteem. For Noemi to have taken
refugee in Moab because of a famine, then for her two sons
to marry Moabite women would not have made her popular back
home. However, the story of Ruth is about redemption. After
her husband’s death, Ruth had a choice to make-
remain in Moab and possibly remarry there, or take a
journey of faith with her mother-in-law to an uncertain
future with no money or employment prospects in a foreign
and possibly hostile country she had never visited. Placing
her trust and future in the hands of the God of Israel, she
ended up marrying a rich landowner and becoming the great
grand-mother of King David. Her husband apparently was not
concerned that she was a Moabite. The remarkable part of
the story of Ruth is the degree to which it celebrates the
role that a Moabite woman played in the history of Israel.
Those who would dismiss people because of various
stereotypes are shown to be wrong and narrow-minded. Often,
prejudice and discrimination must be overcome for
God’s plan to be realized in our communities and in
our lives. Judging from the nature of global conflict,
there are many who consider that the blood of members of
their group are much more important than the blood of
others. Often national security is used as an excuse for
this practice. It is time to treat all human beings as
people with equal value before God because they have been
created in his image. All human rights abuses need to be
challenged and condemned, regardless of geo-political
calculations. The same compassion that God showed to this
Moabite woman serves as an example to us for our treatment
of members of groups we have been taught to distrust or
even hate. Although we may not always agree, we must always
treat others with the respect and dignity God requires of
us.