The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 26, 4 November 2018
The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 26, 4 November 2018 Ruth 1:1-18 Psalm 146 Or Deuteronomy 6:1-9 Psalm 119:1-8 Hebrews 9:11-14 St. Mark 12:28-34 Background: Moab The land of Moab lies to the immediate east of the Dead Sea, north of the Kingdom of Edom, and south of the Kingdom of Ammon. There are several references in the Hebrew Scriptures as well as archaeological evidence, especially the Mesha Stele which commemorates a victory of Moab over Israel. The name seems to come either from the phrase “seed of a father” or from the word “desire” an appellation akin to “the land of milk and honey” as a designation for the lands north of the Negev in the Levant. There are connections in the Hebrew Scriptures to the story of Lot and his daughters, which daughters seduce lot and have sons by him, ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites. Situated where it is along the King’s Highway, Moab enjoyed the benefits of the trade route, and provided...