The following is a teaching transcription. It has not been checked for complete transcription accuracy.
The Promise Has Not Been Fulfilled!
Well, as we turn to Genesis chapter 24, we're actually turning to the longest chapter in the book of Genesis. Now, of course, when Moses wrote the book of Genesis, he did not insert chapter breaks and divisions and verse breakdowns, that was added to scripture later, but he did write in sections. And this section, the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca is one of the longer sections or episodes in the book of Genesis. It might give us a little insight into how God feels about marriage that he would depict this story in such robust terms. But really the chapter isn't so much about relationships, it isn't so much about marriage as it is about God. God continuing to move and work and perform his plan here on earth.
You see, last week in our study of chapter 23, we saw the death of Sarah at, well, Abraham was 137 years old. Now, we know that this episode occurs a few years after that episode because Isaac in this episode is 40 years old. That means that Abraham is 140, Isaac his only son, is 40 years old and Isaac is not yet married.
You see, just because Isaac has been born doesn't mean that all of the promises of God have now come to pass. God told Abraham that through him, through his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed and he would have descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. And yes, it's beautiful that Isaac came, it's miraculous that Isaac came, but now Sarah is gone. Isaac remains, but without a wife, without children, without grandchildren, for Abraham, the promise of God is still in jeopardy. All Abraham has of the land of Canaan is a cave with his dead wife's bones buried within it. And all he has, as far as offspring, is this one grown man who is yet to take a wife and have children of his own.
God Is Sovereign
So as the ancient Israelites would read this story, of course, they knew the outcome. They knew that Isaac had gotten married to Rebecca and that they had had Jacob and that Jacob had had 12 sons of his own, which turned into the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel, they knew the outcome of this story, but what they needed to see was that God was supervening over the events in this chapter. That he was sovereignly expressing his hand. That he was in the details, unfolding his glorious and marvelous plan for his children, for his man, Abraham.
In other words, this chapter is to help us understand not so much about relationships, not so much about how to find a husband or a wife, not so much about how to serve the Lord, although there are decent principles found there in this chapter about all of those things, but this is a chapter that helps us understand God is working, God is moving.
Now, how might that help us in our modern time? Well, it's real simple. You know, we live in an age where a believer might wonder is the church going to succeed? Are God's people going to continue on here on earth? But Jesus said that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. And when it comes to individual believers, Paul said in Philippians chapter one, he said, "My God will complete the work that he started in your life."
And so, we understand and know that God is working even when we wonder what's going on? How is this going to actually happen? How will this actually occur? So that's really kind of the way I want to frame this chapter for us as we move through it.
1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3 that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
Abraham Commissions His Servant
So at this point, Abraham steps up. This is his responsibility in that culture to arrange a marriage for his son. He solicits the help of his oldest servant. Now, the servant throughout the whole chapter remains unnamed. You might remember when we were in chapter 15, that Eliezer was the servant that Abraham had in mind when he complained to God and said, "God, if I were to die today, my servant Eliezer would be the heir of all that I had." He hadn't had a child yet at that point.
Eliezer was named in chapter 15, so it's very possible many people think that it was Eliezer that Abraham asked to fulfill this mission of finding a bride for Isaac here in chapter 24, but he is unnamed in this chapter.
Now, Abraham's big request for his servant was that he would go on this mission to leave the land of Canaan, to go back to Abraham's home country, to go back to Abraham's kinsmen, his family so to speak, extended family, and find a bride for his son, Isaac, arrange a bride for his son, Isaac. Now, the important feature in this request of Abraham is that he did not want, desperately did not want the bride to come from the Canaanite culture and world.
No Canaanite Woman!
You see, God had, and this is for a couple of reasons. Number one, God had told Abraham that he would give to Abraham the land of Canaan. And if Abraham became assimilated into Canaanite culture, that would not be God giving him all of the Canaanite territory and land. The second thing is that God had already shown Abraham that the Canaanite people, they were ripe for the judgment of God, or they were becoming ripe for the judgment of God. He would still extend to them another four centuries or so to become fully ripened in judgment, then he would bring judgment upon Egypt that the Canaanites would hear about. He would give them 40 years to figure out, what do we want to do with what we know about God from what he did with Egypt? And when they still were unrepentant, God brought judgment upon that culture.
And so, Abraham understood, my son Isaac cannot be tied to a Canaanite woman. We can't have it said that we are Canaanite people. We can't receive the land in that way. And my son can't have that kind of unequal yoke. So this was a very important development for Abraham, a very important mission that he gave to his servant.
In other words, Abraham knew that he was called to be separate from the nations in order to be a blessing to the nations. You see, a lot of times people think you have to be one of the group to be a blessing to the group, but Abraham understood God wants to make me into a blessing to all the world. And he realized that separation would actually be one method that God would use for him to become a blessing to the world around him.
A Constant Theme
You know, it says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, that we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. And this especially all throughout scripture applies to the way that a believer, someone allegiant to Jesus would consider marriage. You know, you don't want to be in a marriage where you're raising children, where one person is fervent for Christ, trying to lead the marriage in that direction, lead children, which are a natural byproduct of marriage, in the direction of Jesus. And the other is ambivalent to Jesus or at worst against Christ, antichrist in his message.
And so, Abraham understood that, and this theme will be repeated all throughout the book of Genesis. When the Israelites read this, they would have understood what was being said to them because one of their major temptations was intermarriage with the Canaanite peoples that were still among them or the pagan cultures that were next to them or beyond their territory. And so often they got into trouble, not because of racial intermarriage, that wasn't the big deal, but religious intermarriage. That's what got them into major trouble.
And so, here at the very beginning, Abraham calls it out, "My son cannot marry a Canaanite woman, he's got to be married to someone else. Go find a woman from my kinsmen, from my family back home." And so, he sends his servant on this journey, about 450 miles to find Isaac a wife. Let's go on in the passage.
5 The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”
A Practical Concern
This is a very practical concern that the servant has, right? He just kind of thinking about it and he says, "Look, I'm going to travel 450 miles. That's a long way. And when I get there, I'm going to tell somebody about Isaac and about you, Abraham. And what if the young woman just says, 'I don't want to go. I've never seen a picture of this guy. I don't know what I'm in for. That's a long way from my family. I feel I wouldn't have any security. There's no assurances there, there's no protections there.' So shouldn't I bring Isaac with me so that he can kind of speak for himself and seal the deal on his own?"
6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”
Mature Faith
I want you to see a few things about Abraham at this point. Like I said, he's 140 years old. And if there was ever a moment in his life where he was mature, this is it. You know, he has matured in the faith. He's the great father of the faith. In many ways, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, but we know that in previous episodes, he faltered in his faith. Didn't he?
As a younger man, when he would go to foreign powers like going down to Egypt, he feared and would tell Sarah, "Tell them that you're my sister." He would concoct the story to preserve his own life. And when Sarah approached him after years of barrenness and said, "Look, you're not having a child, we're not having a child, go into my servant Hagar and have a child with her. And I will bring that child into my family. He will be our son." He gave in to that plan.
There were moments, is what I'm trying to say, that Abraham stumbled a little bit in his faith. He struggled to believe that in their old age, he laughed at the promise of God, that in their old age they would have a child. But Abraham now has passed the test of God and he is strong now in the faith. And when the servant offers this very practical suggestion and gives Abraham this very real possibility that the woman will not want to come with him on this long journey, Abraham just says to him, "No. You know, the Lord he's been faithful in the past. He took me from my kindred, this young woman is going to have to leave her family, God took me from my family. He spoke to me and he swore to me, "To your offspring, I will give this land." He spoke to me, he'll have to speak to her. And he will send his, that God who did all that, he'll send his angel to go before you and he will give you success in this mission."
He was trusting the Lord. I just want you to see that maturity of faith that Abraham displayed. This man who in the past when he stumbled in faith would manipulate to get his way, now he's just trusting the Lord so much so that he just says, "And if she won't come, then she won't come. That's on her. And you are released from this oath that you are making to me." Without any compromise, Abraham was willing to send this man on an impossible mission, believing in the God who can do impossible things.
The Next Generation
I just love this about Abraham. He has matured in the faith. Now, before we move on to see what happens next, I just want to point out the responsibility that Abraham felt for his son, Isaac, the responsibility that he felt for the next generation, it was important to him to work hard so that the next generation would be preserved in their walk with God and in the plans of God to fulfill his promises here on earth. I think this spirit is an important spirit that the people of God should have today. You know, we should have it in the church. The body of Christ should be thinking about the next generation, talking to them and answering the questions that they have and wanting to disciple them and build them up in the most Holy faith.
But also in our homes, in Christian homes, parents should make it a strong priority of their lives to not only deposit to their children a good work ethic or prepare them for success in this life, but to build them up in the faith, to strengthen them in the things of God, the things of the Lord. And this takes a lot of work and focus and energy for a person. And Abraham, man, he was willing to do the work.
9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.
A Promise
Now, this is a little awkward for us to read this whole under the thigh kind of promise and covenant that Abraham and his servant were making together. And to be honest, there is a chance that the phrasing under the thigh is actually indicative of something even more personal than that. That it might have been something where in a sense Abraham is saying, "God has made a promise to my seed, to my offspring, that there would come one from me that will be a blessing to all nations. And if you, my servant, mess with this promise of God, then you're messing with God himself. And my descendants in a sense will pay you back for the work that you have done or the evil that you have done."
So I think it's just kind of speaking to the gravity of the whole situation. And Israel would have felt this in reading this. They would have understood that they, as a nation, they were in the balance. Are we going to be a people or not? Is Rebecca going to say yes or not? And of course, we know that Jesus came from the people of Israel. So in a sense, the church in the balance as well.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
A Test
Now, Nahor of course is Abraham's brother. So they go back to Abraham's home area.
So Eliezer completes this journey. We really don't get any details about the journey itself, it's not what Moses, it's not what God is interested in telling us about, but he finally gets there to Abraham's home country, so to speak. Finds his brother Nahor's land, finds a well, and it's at the time of day where the women would come out and they would draw water from the well. And the servant begins to pray. And he just says to God, "God, please give me favor. Lead me to the right woman and my prayer," and what he brought to the Lord, he said, "Let it be that a young woman would come out and when I greet her and ask her for a drink of water, she gives me a drink and then she offers to give my camels water as well."
This is a very big test that the servant or perhaps Eliezer, if that's who this servant is, is giving to the Lord. This is not one of those 50-50 kind of things, like maybe she'll offer water to my camels, maybe she won't, this would be hyper generosity. I think I've heard that camels can drink around 25 gallons of water. He had a multitude of camels, 10 of his master's camels there, in verse 10. He's been on a very long journey. The way that wells were structured in that day, she would have had to climb into the well and draw the water in a pot. It would have been a one trip thing to give the servant water to drink. It might've been around 50 to a 100 trips into that well to water all of these camels. So it was like a miraculous kind of request that the servant is bringing to God.
And it was a good test that he prayed or a good thing that he was looking for, for a couple of reasons. First of all, there would be a real clear black or white, very clear answer from the Lord, kind of a yes or no situation that he brought before God. There'd be no gray area. Like I said, secondly, though, it wasn't just black or white, it was also a miraculous thing. So if it was yes, it would be a resounding yes, but there's also something beautiful in this, in that if the woman did this thing, it would speak to the volume of her character, the kind of person that she was. Not just hospitable because in that ancient culture they loved and valued hospitality and would have definitely offered a traveling man like this water to drink from the well, but it would speak of hyper hospitality, a hyper generosity, a real giftedness in this area, a woman of character, a real inner beauty before the Lord. And so, he offers that prayer to God.
A Fleece?
Now, at this point, it's probably important for me to mention as a Bible teacher that not everything in the Bible that is described is also secondarily prescribed for us to follow. The Bible records what its people did. So just because we had moments where Abraham told his wife, "Hey, tell them that you're my sister," that doesn't mean that we copy Abraham in that moment. Just because it's described doesn't mean that it is also prescribed to us. And that would go for the way that the servant prayed before God. There aren't actually a ton of instances of these yes or no kinds of prayers throughout scripture. They are found a little bit in the Old Testament, because eventually when the priesthood was developed, a thing called the urim and the thummin was developed where the priests could seek the Lord with yes or no kinds of questions and trying to discern God's will on various matters.
There is a moment in the book of Acts where the early apostles, before the Holy Spirit fell upon the church, cast lots in a yes or no kind of decision to figure out who would replace Judas. And even that decision is sometimes frowned upon by various commentators. And then of course, there's the infamous story of Gideon in the book of Judges where he was told to go out into battle that God was going to use him, but he was very fearful, hesitant, reserved in the mission that God gave to him. And so, before he went into battle, he asked God for a sign to confirm that this is really what God was doing.
So he said, "God, tonight when I go to sleep, there's this fleece that I'm going to put out, this wool or whatever, and when I wake up in the morning, I pray that the ground would be dry and the fleece would be soaked with dew." And he woke up in the morning, the fleece was soaked and the ground was dry. And then he said, "Lord, thank you for that, but I'm still unsure." And so, on a second night, he said, "Lord, would you make the ground covered with dew and keep the fleece dry?" This time he kind of reversed the prayer and God accommodated Gideon and answered his prayer.
But again, just because it's described in scripture, doesn't mean that it's prescribed in scripture. I don't think that anybody should want to build who they are or how they pray off of people like Gideon in the Bible. Gideon should have just listened to God and said, "Let's go for it. God has made it clear. Let's do the revealed will of God." Nonetheless, all that said, the servant does pray this beautiful kind of prayer and he's trying to seek the will of the Lord. And it's all built upon knowing that God had steadfast love for Abraham. So he's appealing to God's character. He's like, "God, I know that you love Abraham, so I pray that you would answer my prayer."
15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.
Rebecca!
So she's in the clan of Abraham, Abraham's brother, this is answered prayer.
The servant, by the way, doesn't know that her name is Rebecca. He doesn't know all of these things about her. This is one of those moments where you're reading the Bible and the narrator knows the full story. We call it the omniscience of the narrator. The narrator knows the whole story. Moses knows the whole story. And because we're reading it, we know the whole story as well. We know who Rebecca is, we know her whole family, and we know the story about Rebecca and what became of her. But this servant doesn't know these things. She's got no Rebecca name tag on or anything like that, she's just an innocent, anonymous, young woman coming out to draw water.
16 The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” 18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
Rebecca Passes The Test
Now, as I said earlier, this is just normal hospitality in that culture. So notice she's past the first step. She's offered him water to drink when he requested it, but she hasn't taken that second step. And I'm sure the servant is wondering, is she going to be the one? He sees that she's a beautiful young woman. He knows that Isaac would probably appreciate that. And so, he's probably praying like, "I hope this is the one. I hope that she's the one." But at least at first glance, it appears that she might not be because all she does is say, "Sure, I will give you a drink. Drink my Lord."
So there it is. Rebecca, she comes out to the well and she passes the test. God is speaking to the servant. She offers water to the man after he requests it. And then she offers on her own to water all of the man's camels all the way until they've fully drunk. So this is going to be a long process of a lot of work for this young woman. And the whole time this man is not helping, he's not working alongside her, he's just watching this whole thing unfold. And in his heart he's wondering, "Is this God? Is God answering my request?"
Rebecca's Beauty
Now, again, this speaks to the character of this young woman. Rebecca is very important in this story. The servant is very active. Rebecca is very active. Abraham and Isaac in a sense are more bystanders to this whole thing. But she is a beautiful woman of character. Not only does she have beautiful appearance, the text tells us, but she's a person of character.
You know, Proverbs 31:30 says that, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman that fears the Lord is to be praised." You know, the external part of us, we age, we fatigue. Paul said the outward man is perishing, but the inner man is being renewed day by day. And a woman that fears the Lord has an internal beauty to her. And Rebecca, she had that glorious internal beauty.
Peter said it this way, in 1 Peter 3:4, he said, "Make sure that you're also focusing on the hidden beauty of the heart, that which is within." And in a externally focused beauty crazed world, many times men and women alike are confused and forget about the glorious beauty of character, the inner person, and how that's so much more important to living a happy, joyful, fruitful kind of life.
Is This From God?
Now, it's interesting that it says here that the servant, did you notice that in verse 21, he gazed at her to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not. We might be tempted to say to him, "It's obvious, the Lord has prospered your journey. You prayed this prayer, you said, 'Lord, if she comes out I ask her to give me a drink of water, and if she gives me a drink and then says, 'I will also water your camels also,' then that will be the one.'" But here's the thing. Rebecca could always say, "No." Just because he's prayed this way, just because it seems like the Lord is leading in a certain direction, doesn't mean that she is forced to submit to this plan. And we're going to see very much that Rebecca is involved in this story.
So he's wondering, he's learning, was she the one? Is she from the family? Is she for Isaac?
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”
Now, this is beautiful because Abraham had sent the servant back to his home country, to his clan. And now the servant knows, I've hit the jackpot here. This woman is part of Abraham's family or clan, and so she could qualify to be a wife to Isaac. Now I know that we don't work in shekels today, and I know that we have jewelry all over the place. And so, it's hard for us to imagine what this might mean, but these different weights of jewelry and the kind of jewelry being given to Rebecca indicates great wealth and tons of wages. And so, this is over abundant prosperity from Abraham as a gift to Rebecca.
25 She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” 26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” 28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
Answered Prayer
I love the reaction of the servant. He just simply begins to worship the Lord and what he worships the Lord for in that brief little interlude is the faithfulness of the Lord and the steadfast love of the Lord. Now, that word for steadfast love it speaks of God's covenantal kindness toward Abraham. He was committed to his man, Abraham, but he'd also been faithful to Abraham. And here what the servant is recognizing is that, I've just stepped out and I've done God's will. I've been obedient to my master. And in the process, he has been, God has been faithful to me.
You know, when you do the revealed will of God, he will reveal more of his personal will for your life. And this servant is discovering that in a beautiful way. So everybody's excited. Rebecca runs home to tell her family, her mother's household about these events.
29 Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. 30 As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31 He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
Laban!
Now, of course, the ancient Israelites they knew this character, the brother of Rebecca, this man named Laban. He becomes infamous in Israelite history, not necessarily for this episode, but for later on. Once Rebecca marries Isaac, they have two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob has to run for his life, and he runs to Laban, his uncle. And Laban treats him very unfairly for many, many years. He is portrayed in scripture as a greedy man who could never be satisfied and there was nothing he would not do in order to increase his bottom line, in order to increase his wealth.
And he apparently is the man in charge really in the home. Later in the passage we'll see Bethuel, the father, and Laban speak together to give permission for Rebecca to go off and marry Isaac. But even here, he's portrayed as the number one figure, perhaps the power in the household has already begun shifting to Laban as Bethuel has aged. But here he sees the wealth, he sees the bracelets, he sees the gold, and he's intrigued. It's not so much that he wants to do the will of God, it's that he wants to grow wealthy. He's a greedy man. He's not content with something like godliness. There's of course, nothing wrong with earning a living and doing well for yourself, but Laban in his heart, it was an out of control temptation.
God Is Sovereign
And here's the point. The point really isn't to beat up on Laban, the point really isn't to try to draw out his negative characteristics or the positive characteristics of others, the whole passage, like I said, seems to be pointing to the sovereign work of God. That God is unfolding his purposes throughout this whole episode. And here's the kicker. God is even able to use a sinful man like Laban to get his work done.
Now, I realize that in some ways you might think of that being expressed in our modern time by things like maybe preachers who are less than Holy, but God uses them anyways or something like that. And that might be true. I've known men who are unholy personally and privately that God has used their lives to speak in powerful ways into people's hearts. I don't think it's right, I don't think they should be doing the work of the Lord, that you need to be clean and Holy to be a representative of God and opening up his scripture to others. But sometimes God blows right past it and he uses a fool in the midst of his folly to deliver the wise counsel of his fatherly heart, to his children.
But what I'm thinking of are the people in your life that have been less than Holy. Can you receive that God in his sovereign work in your life might even use some of the shameful people in your life to help produce his ultimate good in your life, in your heart, to unfold his plans, his kingdom in and for you? It's just beautiful that God was even able to break through and use Laban for his own purposes.
32 So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.”
Obedience
So he had servants with him. The servant was not just traveling alone. That would be unwise with all of the money and treasure that he was bringing.
Now, what a beautiful sentiment from this servant. You know, he is faithfully executing Abraham's desires. And when he sits down, I mean, it's been a long journey. You excuse him for eating a meal and celebrating and lounging for a little while before finally getting to his business. But he says, "I don't even want to eat until I do the thing that I'm supposed to do. Until I say what I have to say." It's just beautiful. And our service of the Lord, we should crave this kind of devotion. You know, I don't want to delay, I just want to do the things that Lord has asked me to do.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has.
A Recap
Now at this point, Laban, especially is paying close attention. The servant is announcing to everybody in the house that he serves a man named Abraham. They would have known about Abraham, he was their relative. And that Abraham had grown incredibly wealthy over the years since they'd heard about Abraham. And that Abraham only had one child, one son named Isaac, and that Abraham had dedicated all of his wealth into Isaac's hands. Laban is paying big time attention at this point.
Now, what follows from this point forward is a recap of really everything that's happened up to this point. And to be honest, as we read the next couple of paragraphs, and I'll just read right through them, it can almost strike us as tedious that the story is retold. Why didn't Moses just say, "And the servant told them everything that had just happened," and then carry the story forward? But there are some elements that Moses is going to highlight for us that are important. And I think also he's trying to double the story so that Israel can be convinced that God is sovereign in their lives as well. God oversaw these events and the double story helps hammer that home in their lives.
37 My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ 39 I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ 40 But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house. 41 Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’
42 “I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, 43 behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44 and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. 48 Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. 49 Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
It's On You, Laban and Bethuel!
And now we know a major reason why the servant retold this whole story. Over and over again throughout the whole story he says, "The Lord did this. The Lord did that. The Lord blessed Abraham. The Lord brought me here. The Lord answered my prayer. The Lord showed me Rebecca. She fits all the criteria that are required. She could be the one." And then after saying all of that, he looks at the family, Laban and Bethuel especially, and says, "If you're going to show steadfast love and faithfulness, do it. If not, let me know, because I need to depart to the left or to the right."
What he's doing in a sense is he's saying, God has done his part. God has been faithful. God has fulfilled his promises. God is working. And earlier he rejoiced and celebrated that God had been faithful and that God had shown his steadfast love to Abraham. And now he wants to know of Laban and Bethuel, will you do the same? Will you be faithful? And will you show steadfast love? It's like he's taking now the responsibility and putting it on the shoulders of these men. He's saying, "God's done his part, will you do yours?"
God's Plans
This would have been a major lesson for the people of Israel and can be a major lesson for us. You see, all through the passage we're learning, God leads, God moves, God fulfills his purposes, God is sovereign, God is working, God gets the job done. He cannot be stopped. But even in the midst of all of that, there's this possibility that there will be a couple of guys who say, "No, we don't want to move forward in the plans of God."
God's plans would then move forward in a something else. Is this servant turns to the right or to the left. And so, in a sense what you're seeing is the sovereignty of God mixed with the responsibility of man. Our responsibility to respond to what God is doing. Now, of course the ancient Israelite readers would be sitting on the edge of their seats as they thought about their great, great, great, great, great grandmother, Rebecca, as a young woman, is she going to marry him or not? They know the answer, but they love the story. It's all in the balance right here.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.” 52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. 53 And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. 54a And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there.
An Agreement
This is all agreement kind of language. The Lord is brought up. Money is exchanged, so to speak or dowery, so to speak, and the giving of these gifts and then the eating of a communal meal together. It's like they're making this agreement. Rebecca is going to go with the servant. She is going to marry Isaac.
I'm sure some of you at this point are thinking, "Well, this sounds very gendered in the sense that Rebecca seems to have no say in the matter." Well, hold on for a moment, though that is the kind of culture that they lived in. We'll see in a moment that she very much had a say in all of this and we're going to have to commend her for her faith and bravery.
55b When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” 55 Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” 56 But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”
Proposed Delay
Laban and Rebecca's mother want a delay of 10 days. Some scholars think that it actually means 10 months. Why did they want this delay? Was it just one last hurrah with Rebecca, one last moment to kind of enjoy her? It could have been, but in that culture, it was the family's responsibility to make sure that a young woman was safe and provided for when committing her to marriage, into another family, another man's life. And so, this could have been a time where they're kind of wondering like, "Is this really the right thing? Should Rebecca really go? Does Isaac really have what is required to take care of her?" And this was especially important because they were going to have to leave hundreds of miles away from their home territory. This was not normal for a young woman in those days. They would normally still have the close by connection to and protection of their birth family.
And so, this was a big deal. She is leaving now the protection of her family, and they might've wanted a time to kind of debate whether this was really what they should be doing. And so, they ask for the 10 days, at least give us 10 days, but the servant following the theme of saying I've got to do the job that Abraham has given to me, says, "Do not delay me."
57 They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” 58 And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!” 61 Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.
The New Abraham
What I want you to see here is if you could just envision this with me for a moment, I hope this isn't an improper way to say it, but it's as if Rebecca becomes the new Abraham. Remember what happened in our last episode, Sarah died, her tent is empty. We're going to see at the end of this chapter, that Rebecca inhabits Sarah's tent. Remember the promise that God had made to Abraham? He said, "Through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed." And as Rebecca is sent off, her siblings sing to her and bless her and say, "May you become thousands of ten thousands."
Remember how God had told Abraham that he would have victory over the Canaanites, all his enemies? Well, Sarah's family sings of her, "May you possess the gate of all who hate your offspring." And remember how God spoke to Abraham one day before he had anything and said, "Come out from your land to a land that I will show you," and how he went out not knowing, the Bible says, where he was going. Rebecca imitated Abraham and says, "I will go. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I will go." There is no delay, just like Abraham. It's an adventure that she heads out into just like Abraham. And she receives a blessing from God, just like Abraham, even though I'm sure her siblings had no idea what they were saying, when they say, "May you become thousands of thousands, and may you have victory over your enemies." God knew what they were saying.
It's like Rebecca comes into the story, we don't know much about Isaac and we really won't learn a ton about Isaac, but Rebecca it's like she's the new Abraham going on a faith adventure, receiving the blessings and the promises of God. You know, Jesus also talked about a love and devotion for him that gets kickstarted because of what he did for us on the cross. That leads us to this kind of life. A life that's, though we would say we love our families, places a love for Jesus above even family love and affection and takes us on adventures for Jesus. Rebecca was that kind of woman. She was that kind of person of faith. "Then Rebecca," verse 61, "And her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebecca and went his way."
62 Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
Finally, Isaac
Okay, this is where Isaac comes onto the scene. He goes out into the field and for a time of meditation, it's a biblical word that can mean a lot of different things, it could mean that he's out there deep in thought, it could mean that he's meditating on the revealed word of God at that time, it could mean that he's praying perhaps.
We would assume that this isn't any ungodly kind of meditation that he's engaging in, it's some kind of seeking of the Lord that Isaac is entering into. There he is just waiting. You could almost picture it that he's waiting in prayer, going out to spend time with his Father in heaven. Perhaps as a 40 year old man, he didn't even really know that he wanted to be married. And he's just content with God, seeking the Lord. And he does become a real picture for, in a sense, as much as I would say that these stories aren't designed to give us morals or templates to follow, he's a great example of a man who just said, "My style at least is I'm going to just seek the Lord and I'll let God bring someone into my life when the time is right."
I think there's something to be said for a young man, building himself up, building his character, developing as a person, and coming to a place in life where he says, "You know, I think now I'm at the point in life where I would like to pursue a relationship. I'm going to seek God about this and I'm going to faithfully and with great care see if God's brought someone into my life. And then I will be the initiator in pursuing this person." But Isaac isn't any of those things, that's not how his story goes.
He was the kind of guy that just laid back and prayed, and God, like he did for Adam, brought him his bride. Now of course, in all of this, we're designed to see the sovereign hand of God. Abraham's working, the servant is working, Rebecca is working, Isaac is praying, but God is the one who is doing the work. So Isaac lifts his eyes and he sees this caravan of camels coming.
64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel 65 and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.
This is hinting at some initial attraction. You know, that there, who is this man? Covering herself with the veil, something that a young maiden would do in that culture.
66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Love
So Isaac and Rebecca are married. They go into the tent. Isaac, it says, he loved her. This is beautiful biblical language, actually, because even though this is an arranged marriage, there was love, there was affection that immediately blossomed between these two. It's a very tender and divinely inspired moment. God is so sovereign that even produces this love in this couple that barely knows each other.
Now, I should make a comment as we close this out, that in many cultures throughout the world, throughout all of human history, arranged marriage has been a normal practice. It's shocking to us because we live in a culture with our apps and profiles where the dating game is just off the rails and people are testing and trying out. It used to be that you had to tell people, "Hey, there's plenty of fish in the sea."
Our culture today is thoroughly convinced of that reality so much so that it's hard for someone to actually settle down at times because they're so worried that they're missing the fish that they really should be with who's out there in this big ocean of people. But here you have Rebecca and Isaac, didn't even know each other, God had brought them together and they had a happy marriage. There were struggles, to be sure, conflicts, to be sure, like in any marriage, but there are so many marriages on the face of the earth today and historically throughout human history that have not started with dating and testing out and romance and all of that, but started out with a couple of sets of parents arranging the future, and two kids growing up, getting married, but then a decision to let love blossom and develop and mature.
Perhaps this is just an evidence that we often have the wrong idea in our heads about how love actually works. I'm not saying that I'm a proponent of arranged marriage, but what I am saying is I'm a proponent of saying, "I'm going to sacrifice my life for my spouse. And I'm going to let love grow, blossom, bloom, because I'll put my energy and my affections there. I'll commit myself to this person so that God can do his best work within us." Too many people are falling in and out of "love" but Isaac and Rebecca lived a long and loving life together because they believed that God had put them together, and what God has joined together, let no man separate.
The New Sarah
But let me end all of this with one last comment. Notice there in verse 67, "Isaac brought Rebecca into the tent of Sarah, his mother." This means that Rebecca has now become the new mother of Israel. She's become the new matriarch, so to speak. The Canaanite women were rejected and Isaac is married to the right person. And she now will carry on the beautiful line of the Serpent Crusher, the Messiah, all the way until a day in the distant future when God would speak to another young woman who would courageously enter in to the plan of God, a woman named Mary, who would give birth to the Messiah himself.