In our current discussion of why Elimelech and his sons died, one question that might have popped up in your mind was…
…was it wrong for Elimelech’s and Naomi’s sons to marry gentile or Moabite wives?
I’ve already talked about how Elimelech’s family came under a curse for leaving the Promised Land simply because things became difficult.
But could the fact that the sons decided to mix their Hebrew genes with non-Hebrew genes also be a cause for being cursed.
I would say the answer is no.
Here’s why.
There’s simply no explicit command against this.
Some folks may bring up this verse from Deuteronomy Chapter 7:
“Don’t intermarry with them
— don’t give your daughter to his son,
and don’t take his daughter for your son.”
But in context, this verse is specifically referring to intermarriage with Canaanites, NOT to Moabites.
Another verse that’s brought up is the following from Deuteronomy Chapter 23.
“No Ammonite or Moabite
or any of their descendants
may enter the assembly of the Lord,
not even in the tenth generation.”
-Deuteronomy 23:3
The verse clearly says no Moabite is allowed to enter “the congregation” of Israel until ten generations have passed…
And at this stage in Israel’s history, since ten generations had not yet passed, Elimelech’s sons were clearly in the wrong for taking Moabite wives…is how the argument goes.
Alrighty, so this argument is about as weak as a dying cockroach that just got run over by a 1976 Ford Mustang and is now gasping for life.
The Hebrew word for “congregation” is KAHAL…
This word does NOT refer to the whole general population of Israel.
It possesses a much more nuanced meaning than that.
It refers to a member of Israel who is a FULL CITIZEN and possesses all the rights that come with that citizenship.
What kind of rights am I talking about?
For example, if one was a full citizen, one could serve as a leader in the congregation and oversee certain rituals and observances.
A full citizen was also allowed to gather on special occasions inside the Tabernacle grounds and so on.
A GER (resident alien) wasn’t allowed to do such things.
These restrictions would of course also apply to foreign women who married Hebrew men.
And for good reason I might add because some of these foreign wives still insisted on worshipping pagan gods from their former culture while at the same time proclaiming allegiance to the God of Israel.
As I’ve said many times before, this syncretism (mixing) was an abomination.
A good analogy is to consider the difference between a green card holder versus a US Citizen who was actually born and raised in the United States (like me).
A US citizen who was born and raised in America not only has the right to vote but possesses the basic credentials to become President of the whole country.
A resident alien can’t vote or ever become president (sorry Mr. Schwarzenegger)...
But he can do pretty much anything else…including working and marrying whoever the heck he wants.
Anyways, there’s no connection between Elimelech’s sons taking foreign wives and the tragedies that befell them.
As the Rabbis have pointed out, the real reason they were cursed is because they left the Holy Land when life became uncomfortable.
This makes sense because ever since the very beginning of Israel’s history, Israel’s blood lines have always been mixed.
Remember, it was a “mixed multitude” that left with Israel during the Exodus.
So mixed marriages were most likely happening from the very beginning of Israel’s Wilderness journey.
And even later on, remember how Jacob’s sons raided and killed all the males of Shechem to avenge the rape of their sister Dinah?
They captured all the women and brought them home to be their wives ALL who were gentiles (of Hivite ethnicity).
You can read more about it in this article I posted earlier.
You should check out that article because I was actually thrown out of the Messianic Worldwide group (of the One for Israel Ministry) for posting it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
The uniting issue with the Lord has always been allegiance to Him rather than some kind of insane obsession with bloodlines…
An obsession that seems to take on ridiculous proportions equivalent to Jewish blood worship with some members in the Messianic Community.
Having said that, don’t misunderstand me and in any way think I’m saying physical Israel and the Jew isn’t relevant or important.
As Paul said…
“What advantage, then,
is there in being a Jew,
or what value is there in circumcision?
Much in every way!
First of all, the Jews have been entrusted
with the very words of God.”
-Romans 3:1-2
And no I don’t believe a gentile becomes a Jew when he or she comes to faith in the Jewish Messiah.
I know a lot of gentile believers believe that or want to believe that anyway.
When you come to faith in Yeshua, yes, you’re grafted into the spiritual commonwealth of Israel but it’s not like you’ve suddenly become an ethnic Jew.
Heck, I know gentile members of Messianic congregations who so strongly wanted to “become Jewish”, they decided to convert to Orthodox Judaism (while secretly deciding to still keep their faith in Messiah).
Talk about identity insecurity man!
Look, until you fully accept who Yehovah created you to be whether you’re a gentile, a Jew or mixed, you’re always gonna be pulled left and right by the world’s perspectives on what identity is cool or not cool.
And unfortunately, these worldly (and sometimes downright racist) perspectives do creep into our congregations of worship.
When you encounter someone who thinks he or she is better than you because of their ethnic background, remember that underlying those feelings of superiority that person is parading in front of you is really a deep-seated inferiority and insecurity…
Which means that person still hasn’t adopted a healthy identity of who he or she is in Messiah…
Because one who has an healthy identity in Messiah won’t have this urge to look down on others.
Alright, this is getting long and I’m starting to ramble here…
Later homies.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free,
nor is there male and female,
for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.”
-Galatians 3:28
“Don’t think to yourselves,
‘We have. Abraham for our father,’
for I tell you that God is able to
raise up children to Avraham
from these stones.”
-Matthew 3:9
“Then Peter began to speak:
‘I now realize how true it is that God
does not show favoritism
but accepts from every nation the
one who fears Him
and does what is right.’”
-Acts 10:34-35
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