Post by Lee on May 7, 2014 2:54:57 GMT
AMMONITE AND MOABITE
Brother G. writes:—“‘An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever. . . . Thou shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.’ So said the spirit of God through Moses (Deut. 23:3). Who was Ruth? Was she not a Moabitish woman? Did not she enter into the assembly when she married a prince in Israel in the fourth generation? And was she not, above all, the ancestress of Him whose we are, and whom we serve, even our beloved Lord? What is the explanation?”
ANSWER.—The facts referred to by brother G. concerning Ruth the Moabitess, show that the law must be understood with reservations as to the “eternal inheritance.” Nehemiah (ch. 13.) enforced the law in a drastic manner; but then Eliashib was “defiling the priesthood.” It was a very different thing from a Moabitess becoming a proselyte and forsaking alike “her people and her gods.” The law seems to concern naturalization in Israel, and to leave open the higher matter of inheritance of the Kingdom of God. God said by Isaiah (ch. 56.) that the sons of the strangers and eunuchs might take hold of His covenant: “Even them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name” (verses 4, 5). Contrast the opening verses of Deut. 23., and remember the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8.).
1917 Christadelphian: Volume 54. 1917 (electronic ed.) (303). Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association.
Brother G. writes:—“‘An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever. . . . Thou shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.’ So said the spirit of God through Moses (Deut. 23:3). Who was Ruth? Was she not a Moabitish woman? Did not she enter into the assembly when she married a prince in Israel in the fourth generation? And was she not, above all, the ancestress of Him whose we are, and whom we serve, even our beloved Lord? What is the explanation?”
ANSWER.—The facts referred to by brother G. concerning Ruth the Moabitess, show that the law must be understood with reservations as to the “eternal inheritance.” Nehemiah (ch. 13.) enforced the law in a drastic manner; but then Eliashib was “defiling the priesthood.” It was a very different thing from a Moabitess becoming a proselyte and forsaking alike “her people and her gods.” The law seems to concern naturalization in Israel, and to leave open the higher matter of inheritance of the Kingdom of God. God said by Isaiah (ch. 56.) that the sons of the strangers and eunuchs might take hold of His covenant: “Even them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name” (verses 4, 5). Contrast the opening verses of Deut. 23., and remember the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8.).
1917 Christadelphian: Volume 54. 1917 (electronic ed.) (303). Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association.