The story of Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges. That period was marked by violence and immorality. The concluding remark concerning this time period is "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). The narrative of Ruth is in contrast to what was going on in those days. Where the book of Judges outlines the undulating morality of the people of Israel, the book of Ruth narrates the life of some steadfast and virtuous individuals.
The events of Ruth take place in two locations. The story begins in Bethlehem, moves to Moab, and then comes back to Bethlehem. The locations are significant because of the relations between these two people groups.
The Moabites were the descendants of Lot (Gen. 19:37). They were the result of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his older daughter. After the Exodus, the children of Israel came to the plains of Moab and were lead astray due to their interactions with them. They were guilty of "harlotry with the women of Moab". Numbers 25:2 says that the Moabites "invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods." This lead Moses to order the death of all those who participated in the joining of themselves to the "Baal of Peor". The total death count among them was 24,000.
We know from Judges that Moab, under king Eglon, defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms (probably Jericho). Judges 3:14 says that the "children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years" until the coming of Ehud. King Eglon heavily taxed the children of Isreal, and ironically it was the individual who delivered the taxes who killed him.
Needless to say, the people of Isreal did not have high esteem for a people born of an incestuous relationship and who had harrassed them in the past.
