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This is part 2 of a study comparing Abraham with David and Rivkah (Rebecca), Ruth and Photini (Samaritan woman at the well). See part 1.
Toward the end of the Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), we meet Sarah’s future daughter-in-law Rivka (Rebecca), whose faithful walk with God started with a simply act of hospitality and kindness to a stranger.
There’s a reason that the life stories of Rivkah, Ruth and the Samaritan woman in John 4 (known via tradition by the name Photini) resonate with us.
All three of them are connected to the Messiah Yeshua in concrete ways. Choices they made brought them into relationship with Messiah Yeshua, either biologically or spiritually.
Rivkah, Ruth and Photini all prevail in their faith because of their kindness and their willingness to abandon their past life and to live a different life, a life their training and eduction did not prepare them. They had no control over where they were born, over who their relatives were, over which gods they were taught to worship, but they did have control over their kindness to strangers and their willingness to abandon their past lives when confronted with an opportunity to live in a completely new way in a completely new place.
Because of this, Rivkah, Ruth and Photini all received the Messiah as a blessing.
To abandon one’s past is to have faith in the unknown future. This is why Rivka, Ruth and Photini were such great women of faith.
Here are some of the many parallels between these three women:
| Rivkah (Rebecca) | Ruth | Samaritan woman (Photini) |
|---|---|---|
| Living in a foreign land | Living in a foreign land | Living in a foreign land |
| Related to Abraham’s family | Related to Abraham’s family | Related to Abraham’s family |
| Worshipped foreign gods | Worshipped foreign gods | Worshipped foreign gods |
| Main character trait: Kindness to Eliezar | Main character trait: Kindness to Naomi | Main character trait: Kindness to Messiah Yeshua |
| Blessed by Eliezer | Blessed by Boaz | Blessed by Messiah |
| Seeks permission from Laban and father to leave | Seeks permission from Naomi to leave | Seeks permission from relatives to follow Messiah |
| Marriage | Marriage | Unmarried, but should have been married |
| Abandons her past life | Abandons her past life | Abandons her past life |
| Blessed to be an ancestor of Messiah | Blessed to be an ancestor of Messiah | Blessed to speak with the Messiah face to face |
Kindness and a willingness to abandon one’s crazy, weird, messed up past life, is an inherent characteristic in the life stories of Rivkah, Ruth and Photini. Just as God is inherently kind and loves humanity people, these women were the same. They were inherently generous and kind and loved people.
These women were not highly educated in theology, this is not why God blessed them. He blessed them because they were kind to others, they were flexible and willing to walk away from their past life and live their lives the way He wanted them to live.
Our behavior matters, even if we know nothing about the Torah, God will look with kindness on us when we extend kindness to others. He will also acknowledge our faith when we exercise the willingness to give up our crazy, mixed up past and trade it in for a better future with Him.
Summary: Tammy