Genesis 24:59-67

Today’s story is so sweet! Truly we should be visualizing this as a movie right now! Yesterday we read how Rebekah’s family had tried to delay letting her go, but Rebekah, obviously sensing God’s call, immediately responded in obedience. So, her family reluctantly sends her, but does so with a blessing:

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase 
   to thousands upon thousands; 
may your offspring possess 
   the cities of their enemies.”
Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. (Gen.24:59-61)

Look at this blessing. What a great model of prayer for our children. I’m sure they literally meant that they wanted her to have many children who would be successful in the world’s eyes. However, this is also a prayer we can and should prayer for our children and grandchildren with a spiritual application. In her study, The Patriarchs, Beth Moore asks her readers to rewrite this prayer in such a way. Thinking about my two daughters, Molly and Emmy, and my grandchildren, I wrote, “May many come to the LORD through your testimony and witness, and may they and you be victorious in your walk.” What would you write?

With that blessing from her family, Rebekah mounted the camel and went on her journey to meet and marry a man she had never laid eyes on! As Westerners, we cannot fathom such an arranged marriage, but this one had been arranged by God Himself! Beth Moore points out that this is the first marriage we get to witness in the line chosen for the Messiah, since Abraham and Sarah were already married when God called him. She reminds us that Abraham had specifically told the servant that this bride was not to be coerced into marriage. She was to come willingly. This shows a respect for women as something other than possessions! Let’s see what happens next!

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”


“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. (vs. 62-65)

When we first see Isaac, we are told he was “meditating.” Because we are told that he “looked up” from this meditation, I have no doubt that he was actually praying - and probably expectantly as he awaited the return of the servant. Rebekah also looks up and sees Isaac. Are you hearing the swell of the music? When she learns that this man is, indeed, her intended husband, she immediately covers her face with a veil. She knows the value of mystery in a marriage! At the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, I loved seeing her face veiled! It is just a precious thing to have that unveiling in the ceremony!

If we have any doubt that we can trust God to choose our mates, look at the ending:

Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. (vs. 66-67)

I had said at the beginning of our study of this chapter that we had previously not been told of Isaac’s grief over the death of his mother. Here, in a very simple, poignant sentence, we are told that he, indeed, had been grieving. This verse is so special to me, because it reminds me of my Emmy and her Nathan. When they had been dating about a year and a half, and were in their first year of college (Emmy at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Nathan at Berkeley), Nathan’s mother died unexpectedly at the age of 53 of a heart attack. It happened the week that they were home for spring break (and, amazingly, this was the ONLY spring break during their four years in college that they shared). I will never forget being at the hospital praying for Nathan’s mother, Susan, then seeing Nathan and his father huddled together after hearing that she had died. It still makes me cry! Emmy spent the next few days at Nathan’s side - they clung to each other - as the plans for the services we being made. She joined the family at the front of the church. I could see that the loss of his mother had completely cemented their relationship. for surely Nathan was comforted by Emmy. From then on, he grew increasingly protective of Emmy. It truly changed their relationship!

So, as I see Isaac taking Rebekah for his wife, it makes me cry, thinking of the loss he had felt, and how God gave him the perfect woman for him to move into his mother’s tent. I grew up with four sisters, then had two daughters, so it wasn’t until I had my first grandson, Beau, that I finally understood that whole mother-son relationship. It is completely different than the mother-daughter thing. I adore my girls more than anything, but when a boy tells you he loves you, it is so very special. Nathan and his mother were very close. When he was in high school and dating, he used to climb on her bed after a date and tell her all about it. She was an amazing woman! She had so much energy and had a great sense of humor. In fact, she and Emmy are VERY much alike! She has been greatly missed over these years, but I know that God provided Emmy as a comfort to Nathan - and just like Isaac felt about Rebekah, Nathan loves Emmy!

Beth Moore says we should look at precedent set by this marriage, which provides, "the ideal of parental blessing, prayer and the leadership of God, mutual consent, a draw of hearts toward one another, and a growing love that outlasts the romance of first sight."  It's the perfect blend of the spiritual with the romantic!  Yes, I believe God is a romantic!  And that is why I love this story!

Genesis 24:28-61

The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” (Gen:24:28-31)

In today’s passage, Rebekah rushes to tell her family about the stranger she met at the well (much like the Samaritan woman at that other well, who ran to tell others about Jesus). Notice that her brother, Laban, quickly goes out to meet this man “As soon as he had seen the nose ring and bracelets on his sister’s arm...” I’m a little skeptical of Laban, only because I know how he will do business with Jacob later, but it does appear that his hospitality is motivated by the glitter of the gold! At any rate, he welcomes the servant into his home. And before the servant will even sit down to eat, he wants to take care of his master’s business, so he recounts the whole story to Laban.

I want to particularly review the charge that Abraham had given to the servant as he recounts it here in verses 39-41:

“Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’


“He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’


See how this parallels the work of the Holy Spirit? He never forces His way into anyone’s life. He comes and woos us, draws us to Jesus, but He never forces us to believe. We have complete free will to either believe and receive or to reject His gift of salvation. And the servant is very direct with the proposal:

“Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.” (vs. 49)

At first it appears as if Laban and his father, Bethuel, are going to immediately obey:

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.” (vs. 50-51)

The servant brings out gifts for the whole family, and celebrates with a dinner. However, the next morning, when the servant is ready to head back to Abraham and Isaac with Rebekah, the family now tries to delay:

But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.” (vs. 55)

This is similar to the tactics Laban will use on Jacob. He appears to obey God’s plan, then does a last minute shift to delay. While our Bible says “ten days,” Jon Courson says that the indication is that they were asking for more - as much as ten months. It’s like the young man who, when pressed by Jesus to leave everything to follow Him, says “Let me first bury my father.” There should be no delay in doing what God has clearly called us to do (and in this instance, there was no doubt that God was in control)! While her family hesitates, Rebekah has no such hesitation. When asked what she wants to do, she immediately replies, “I will go.” (vs 58). Oh, that we would so quickly respond to God! I don’t know about you, but most of my responses of eventual submission and obedience have been preceded by LOTS of hesitation, and even some whining!!! I don’t know why He’s so patient with me, but I’m so very grateful!!!

Is God asking you to do something over which you are hesitating? Are you pleading for more time?? Take a leap of faith like Rebekah and trust Him to catch you! If He’s clearly calling, He will also equip you to not only obey but to accomplish what He’s called you to!

Tomorrow we’ll get to the best part of the story, when Isaac finally sees his bride! Don’t you love a good love story?

 

Genesis 24:10-27

In today’s passage, we are going to see Abraham’s servant set out to find the bride for Isaac. Jon Courson, in his commentary, points out that the servant is a type of the Holy Spirit, seeking out the Bride for Christ, so as we look at the story, we’ll note the parallels.

Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.


Then he prayed, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” (Gen. 24-10-14)

Right away, we can note that the servant is never named. We don’t know if this is Abraham’s old and faithful servant, Eliezer (Gen 15:2), or another servant. It doesn’t matter that we know, GOD knows. In the same way, the Holy Spirit’s job is not to draw attention to Himself, but to Christ. Then, also note that the servant took with him TEN camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. The Holy Spirit brings us wonderful gifts from the Father - loads of them! When the servant gets to his destination, he says a very specific prayer. He is looking for someone with a servant’s heart, who will respond immediately. Don’t be afraid to pray specific prayers! I believe God put this specific prayer in the servant’s heart so there would be no doubt about God’s choice for Isaac.

From the time Molly and Emmy were young, I prayed specifically, and told them over and over, that I wanted them to find husbands who would meet two criteria: (1) ones who loved God first and foremost and who would take them by the hand to serve God together, and (2) men who would “cherish” them. I used that specific word over and over, because I feel so strongly that women need to marry men who truly value them above all other women. When Molly met her husband, Kevin, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she was a senior and he was a freshman. They met through a Christian fraternity, with which she was a little sister, and they spent that first year together as mere friends and prayer partners. By the end of her senior year, it was clear that Kevin was very attached to her (he cried at her graduation). They went on their first date right after graduation, and while they were at dinner, Kevin wrote to her on a napkin, “I cherish you!” BINGO!! It is my greatest joy to see my girls married to such godly men, who truly do cherish them as wives and mommies.

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. (vs. 15-16)

The servant received the answer to his prayer before he had finished praying!! This same thing happened to Daniel in Daniel 9:23. Before the words leave our mouths, before the desires even take form in our hearts, God is at work answering. Again, I believe that is because God is the One who initiates this relationship and He wants us to know when the answer is His. And, surely, Rebekah was the answer to this servant’s prayer. Not only did she come from the right family, she offered to go above and beyond the servant’s direct request for a drink, volunteering to also take care of TEN camels! That would be MANY trips to the well with a heavy jar! The servant gives her a gold nose ring and gold bracelets as thanks for her generosity of spirit. Then Rebekah even offers hospitality at her father’s home (verse 25)! No wonder the servant breaks out in worship:

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” (vs. 26-27)

Remembering that Rebekah is a type of the Bride of Christ, what do we learn from her response to the servant? When the Holy Spirit asks something of us, do we respond so quickly? Do we go above and beyond or just meet the bare minimum? Are we people of hospitality and generosity? Certainly, we learn from the servant that we need to pray specifically and expect God to answer. Are you doing that for your children and grandchildren? Especially as it concerns a future mate? There will be no more important decision they make, so we must begin praying early for their mates. It’s never too early to start those prayers. :)

Tomorrow we’ll look at the response of Rebekah to the servant’s next offer and get our first glimpse of her brother, Laban, who comes back into the picture later with Jacob.
Off to school - our first day of state testing!

Genesis 24:1-9

In chapter 23 we looked at the grief of Abraham over the loss of his dear wife, Sarah. However, nothing in the chapter mentions the grief of Isaac. Surely Isaac must have been close to his mother! She must have doted on him as her only son, the treasure of her heart. Well, today’s story just gives a a glimpse into Isaac’s pain, while revealing much about God’s plan.

Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” (Gen. 24:1-4)

Interesting that the Abraham is now described as “very old!” Jon Courson says he was about 140 years old! It reminds me of a line in the movie, On Golden Pond, when the frail and aged Henry Fonda mentions to equally old Katherine Hepburn other “middle aged couples like us.” Katherine Hepburn looks at him in disbelief and says, “We are NOT middle aged! People don’t live to be 150!” Well, Abraham is no longer in the prime of his life! God has faithfully blessed him in every way. Abraham left all he ever knew and had to follow God, and God has given him everything he could have ever wanted or needed and more, as we read later in the chapter:

The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. (vs. 35-36)

But Abraham is now concerned about taking care of Isaac and seeing that he is settled with a wife and family. So he calls his servant in and gives him the assignment of finding God’s choice for Isaac. Notice that Abraham has two big qualifications: the wife must NOT be from the Canaanites, but his own family, and the servant must NOT let Isaac go back to the old country. God does NOT want us marrying unbelievers, and He NEVER wants us to return to where He’s saved us from!!! Look at the emphasis Abraham places on this, as he makes his servant swear an oath to obey Abraham’s wishes:

“Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” (vs. 6-8)

How intentional are WE when it comes to protecting our own children from those things which will pull them away from God? Satan has an amazing array of activities and enticements to occupy the minds and hearts of our children. We need to have the same passion and commitment to raising our children in God’s kingdom as Abraham shows here! We need to protect them from those things which will pull them away. So why aren’t more of us anxious to work in children’s ministries? This is the most important mission field of the church! Vacation Bible School and Sunday School ministries are recruiting, people. It’s that time of year. Is God calling you to step up?? As a parent how are you working to protect your children or grandchildren? Are you helping them learn how to put on the full armor of God?

There are so many great nuggets in this story! I can’t wait until next week to really get into it!

Have a restful weekend!