Roots of Ruth in the Torah

Ever say, “Why me?” 

Bethany Hamilton was a member of North Shore Christian Church, leader of the Hanalei Girls Surf Team and the No. 1-ranked amateur female surfer in Hawaii.  Then she was attacked by a shark.  She lost her arm, but only grew stronger.  Her parents always described her as a compassionate kid, but after losing her arm to a shark in a surfing accident, her compassion has only grown deeper. 

·        When she learned of plans to hunt down the 13-foot, 1,500-pound tiger shark that attacked her, she tearfully insisted the animal not be harmed.

·        During a stress debriefing session with a Christian counselor who is legally blind, Hamilton offered to donate money raised to help pay her own medical bills to fund an operation to restore the psychologist’s sight.

·        On a media tour of New York City, she took off her ski jacket and gave it to a homeless girl sitting on a subway grate in Times Square. Wearing only a tank top, Hamilton then canceled a shopping spree, saying she already had too many things.

"We thought we'd be at her bedside, helping her cope, but she's not suffering," her father says. "Somehow God gave Bethany an amazing amount of grace in this. I am in awe. She never says, 'Why me?' "

Roy Hofstetter, a close family friend, says, "Bethany sees it as an opportunity that has been handed to her by God," "She believes that her arm was taken by the shark so that she would be noticed and that she would help and inspire others."

In Hamilton’s own words, “This was God's plan for my life, and I'm going to go with it.  I might not be here if I hadn't asked for God's help. I look at everything that's happened as part of God's plan for my life.”

Bethany’s story has been retold in the movie Soul Surfer. 

We’re all going to experience adversity, some more than others.  We may even say, “Why me?”  But you can overcome your circumstances, knowing the power and work of God in your life in the midst of it all.  Suffering need not have the last word.  Ruth chapter four shows us why.   

Your disability doesn’t define you. 

Your disability is your opportunity. 

~ Kurt Hahn

Ruth looks back to the patriarchs of Israel and ahead to the messiah, and beyond.  There are striking parallels in Ruth with the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers of Israel.  In all, a good student can find at least eleven parallels in Ruth with the patriarchs.  Here are three.

• As Abraham went to Egypt, there is migration because of a famine, so advancing God’s plan:
• Like Abram, with Ruth there is a foreigner’s voluntary, permanent immigration to a new land;
• A family line’s survival is threatened because of a mother’s childlessness (Abram and Sarah, Isaac & Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel)

So what?  What difference does it make? Parallels with the Patriarchs can show us the hand of God guiding the history of his people.

• At the time, it was one way of showing ancient Israel, continuously on the verge of civil war, that David’s family line had a legitimate claim to the throne. 
• It ties God’s people together with a common strand, down through the ages. Even we share the same connection with God’s purposes for his people and in history as Ruth, Boaz and the Patriarchs. 
• It shows us the unity of Scripture, and God’s hand behind it all. 
• It demonstrates the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant promises, even tying them to great blessing, through a role as important as David’s. 

And you know what’s cool? You’re part of the plan.