Who Doesn’t Love a Love Story?
Who doesn’t love a love story? This one’s about Isaac, son of Abraham, and the beautiful Rebekah:
Abraham has been promised many descendants through Isaac, but Isaac, at age 40, is still in need of a wife… and Abraham puts his senior servant on the job of finding him one!
As you might expect, it wasn’t just any wife that Abraham had in mind:
Recalling that God had led him out of his former home and promised the land of Canaan to his offspring, Abraham makes it very clear that the servant should bring the woman to Isaac and not take Isaac to Abraham’s homeland.
Loaded with gifts, the servant sets out and comes to the town where Abraham’s relatives live. It is approaching evening, so the well outside town is a good place to “park” the camels and pray for guidance.
I love the sign he prayed for. If someone is not only going to give water to a thirsty stranger but also go the extra mile to do the same for his animals, that’s a good start!
I’m sure I wouldn’t want the responsibility of choosing a spouse for anyone, but if I had it, kindness and hospitality would be two of the top things on my list.
She was beautiful -” very beautiful,” says Genesis 24. A beautiful virgin.
So far, so good!
After filling her jar down at the spring, she went back up.
Rebekah did everything the servant had prayed for, and she did everything “quickly;” she even ran to get more water for the camels.
How’s that for an answer to prayer?!
If we honestly seek God’s direction, we can rest assured He will show us what we need to see; He always answers. Always.
But not always like that.
Sometimes God’s answers aren’t obvious at all, and many times we have to wait.
There is value in the process of seeking, of course, and the lessons we learn through waiting inevitably enrich us.
But every so often, an answer comes obviously and immediately. I love it when that happens!
This was one of those times when God’s answer couldn’t have been clearer.
Notice the servant’s reaction. He had wisely prayed for guidance (something I need to remember as I’m often tempted to plunge into projects first and pray later!) Everything appears to be falling into place, but instead of immediately charging ahead, he waits and watches, quietly observant.
His example provides a good prayer lesson. I’m usually so eager to have whatever I’ve prayed for that I pounce on anything which seems to affirm the answer I want.
Thankfully there was a wise servant on the job because marriage is a big decision. More important than finding a wife for Isaac was finding the wife that GOD wanted for him. The servant’s example reminds us that, whatever our mission, tuning in to God’s direction is the most important thing we can do.
The servant brings out jewelry for Rebekah and has a couple of questions for her, the answers to which are even more affirmation that God has blessed his journey.
Abraham had sent the servant to find a wife from among his relatives; Rebekah was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. So Rebekah would be Abraham’s great-niece.
When Rebekah ran home and told her family what had happened, her brother, Laban, took charge:
The servant lets them know about Abraham’s wealth and about his mission to choose a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s own people (“my own clan and my father’s family,” as directed by Abraham.)
Relating how he prayed to know the Lord’s indication of whom he should choose and of how his selection had come about, he gets no argument from either Rebekah’s dad or brother.
The next day, when it was time to go, brother Laban, along with Rebekah’s mother, wanted to delay the departure by “ten days or so.” The servant, however, doesn’t want to be detained. Having had success, he’s ready to get back to Abraham.
They let Rebekah make the decision.
It’s fascinating to consider marriage customs in a culture so very different than our own. I’m trying to imagine how Rebekah felt as her dad and brother made such an important decision about her life. At least when it was time to leave, she got to weigh in on whether she was willing to go!
Can you imagine a “messenger” coming to fetch you at the request of someone you’d never even met?
The closest I ever came to a romance initiated “by proxy” was the time a fellow 6th grader wanted us to “go together” and sent a mutual friend to do the asking. Not impressed, I sent back a response that should have warned the poor fellow this relationship would be more trouble than it was worth: “He will have to ask himself!“
I was nowhere near the catch Rebekah was, but I sure drove a harder bargain. Haha!!
On one hand, I can’t imagine going off with a “stranger” or, even less, sending my daughter off with one. On the other, for Rebekah, who went out for water and came back with jewelry and a proposal of marriage to someone who was not only wealthy but “family,” in that day and time had to carry a sense of security.
At any rate, she agrees to go. They bless her, and off goes Rebekah with her attendants, Abraham’s servant, and his men.
How must her family have felt watching their virgin daughter/sister mount a camel and ride off with a group of men … a group of men they’d met only yesterday who had come to town, loaded with gifts and claiming to be sent from their rich relative?
Off to another country and a new life?
Isaac was outside the evening the group arrived. He’d gone out to meditate and looked up to see camels approaching.
And Isaac?
He loved her and was comforted after Sarah’s death.
Life isn’t the same when our moms are gone, as Isaac’s was.
Having a supportive spouse who stands beside us through the worst moments of our lives is more than a blessing; it’s a treasure. For Isaac, what a beautiful way to “begin anew” as he finds comfort and strength to move ahead after such a painful loss.
Life won’t always be perfect for the couple who made such a sweet start, but for now…
Blessings until next time, Kim