Remember this post where we were questioning God's exclusions from the Israelites assembly, including Moabites? The story of Ruth, a Moabitess, sheds some light on the earlier section of Scripture. The Concordia Self-Study Bible explains:
"It may seem surprising that one who reflects God's love so clearly is a Moabitess. Yet her complete loyalty to the Israelite family into which she has been received by marriage and her total devotion to her desolate mother-in-law mark her as a true daughter of Israel and a worthy ancestress of David. She strikingly exemplifies the truth that participation in the coming kingdom of God is decided, not by blood and birth, but by the conformity of one's life to the will of God through the 'obedience that comes from faith' (Romans 1:5). Her place in the ancestry of David signifies that all nations will be represented in the kingdom of David's greater Son."
From this it sounds like God excluded certain groups, like the Moabites, in as much as they represented people who were the opposite of God's people--enemies of God and his people. But Ruth left that heritage behind her when she came with Naomi to Israel and put all her trust in the LORD. Spiritually she was no longer a Moabite, but an Israelite, one of God's chosen people.
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