A Wife for Isaac

 Read Genesis 24

The chapter begins not by telling us that Abraham is old but by stating he was very old.  He was also tremendously blessed.  Abraham had himself some stuff and a trusted servant to manage everything.

He had the son that God promised him but his son had no wife and the prospects for finding the right wife in the land where he lived were zero.  This was pagan country.

Those who surrounded Abraham surely knew of his God and perhaps even feared his God but they had no relationship with the one true God.  Abraham was something of an enigma.

He was a powerful man blessed by a powerful God, but the people around him did not seek this God.

Though they had many idols and knew not to mess with the God of Abraham, they were essentially godless people.

In the first service, we looked at the oath taken by the servant and his sojourn to the well in northern Mesopotamia.

We learned about the servant’s prayer and how the answer to that prayer singled out Rebekah as the woman most likely to be Isaac’s wife, but the work of the servant was not yet done.

Just who was this girl?

She was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah. Now it was time to meet the parents, but first, it was time to pray again.

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.”

God was still blessing Abraham, now through his servant in the land of his brother’s family.  His brother’s family also knew to show hospitality. 

The servant and his caravan would be put up at the home of Rachel’s parents.  She also had a brother named Laban.  Watch out for that rascal when Isaac’s son needs a wife but for now, he welcomed the servant.

“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.”

The servant came into Bethuel’s household and dinner was served, but the servant would not eat until he explained his business. The servant was on a mission and the success of the mission was looking good, but he wasn’t home yet.

He was compelled to tell the story from the beginning—Abraham and Sarah having a son in their old age, the oath he took to bring Isaac a wife, the release from the oath if she would not come with him, and the fact that God was in this every step of the way.

He recounted how he had prayed and God had shown him Rebekah, just as he had petitioned.  He told of the gifts he gave to Rebekah and the praise he lifted up to the Lord.

As you read this, you might have thought, didn’t I just read this?  The answer would be yes, but the servant was not acting of his own will or authority but by the authority of his master, Abraham, who was fulfilling the will of God.

Bethuel and Laban said that all of this is from the Lord.  We don’t really have a say in it.  Take Rebekah and return to your master.

There were gifts galore given to Bethuel’s household.

The servant ate, drank, and spent the night, but by morning, the family was reconsidering the haste of their decision.  You might compare this to buyer’s remorse—a big decision followed by second thoughts. They wanted her to remain with them for 10 more days.

But the servant was on a mission from his master.  He had some momentum going. He didn’t want to take a break when things were going so well.  He needed to go and go now.

Instead of an impasse, the family asked Rebekah to decide.  She chose to go.  The family chose to send her with a blessing.

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.”

It seems that the family embraced this Father of Many Nations blessing given to Abraham.  Rebekah was now to be a part of this.

And so, they headed back to Abraham. Rebekah was not without some means.  She had a nurse and some maidservants.  It’s a good thing that they unloaded the gifts for the family because Rebekah had some luggage.

I know the experience.  When we go on a cruise, I ask my wife the same question each time.  For how many people and how many months are you packing?

So here is the love story.  The caravan arrived near home.  Isaac was out in the fields in the evening time meditating. Rebekah asked the servant, who is that man?  He replied, that is my master.

Rebecca covered her face and the servant recounted the entire experience to Isaac. Isaac took Rebekah into the tent and made her his wife.  He loved her. She comforted him.

But what about the wedding invitations?  What about the feast?  What about the ceremony?  Was there even a priest around? What about premarital counseling?

Years ago, I was at Montana Mikes in Clinton.  A young couple recognized me as the pastor for the Burns Flat CPC.  They asked if I could do counseling before they got married.

I told them we should set up a time to talk and if it looked like some counseling was appropriate, we would set up a schedule.

They were disappointed.  They were hoping I could work it in between the appetizer and the main course.  I guess that would have been more counseling than Isaac had.

But Isaac was also on a mission from God.  He was part of this Father of Many Nations business.  Rebecca would be his wife.

Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah.

Isaac was sad that he had lost his mother but comforted that he now had a wife. The Lord will provide. It wasn’t too long ago that Isaac was to be a sacrifice and burnt offering, but the Lord provided the sacrifice.  Now the Lord has provided a wife.

Abraham wouldn’t have much more time on this earth.  The story would shift to Isaac.

What should we take from this?

How about it’s good to have top-notch servants, wealth, and camels.  You never know when you might need to fetch a wife for your son.

Premarital counseling might be overrated.

Who needs wedding invitations and a select venue when mom’s tent is available for a right-now wedding.

 Maybe there is something else.  How about the Lord will provide.  Could you imagine being on a mission like the one Abraham gave his servant?

Find my son a wife.  This is the most important thing I have ever asked of you.  Swear to me you will get it right.

OBTW—the angel of the Lord will precede you.  There is a 100% difference between do this thing that is beyond comprehension and do it, the Lord is with you.

The servant had seen how the Lord had blessed his master.  The Lord provides!

How can I take the longest chapter that we have read so far and reduce it to the Lord provides?

Let’s go with this.  Know the story but know that the Lord provides.

The Lord provides.

Amen. 

Lord, Give Me a Sign that I can't Miss

 Read Genesis 24

The chapter begins not by telling us that Abraham is old but by stating he was very old.  He was also tremendously blessed.  Abraham had himself some stuff and a trusted servant to manage everything.

He had the son that God promised him but his son had no wife and the prospects for finding the right wife in the land where he lived were zero.  This was pagan country.

Those who surrounded Abraham surely knew of his God and perhaps even feared his God but they had no relationship with the one true God.  Abraham was something of an enigma.

He was a powerful man blessed by a powerful God, but the people around him did not seek this God.

Though they had many idols and knew not to mess with the God of Abraham, they were essentially godless people.

Abraham knew that the land promised to his descendants would not provide a suitable wife for his son, and so the story unfolds with Abraham summoning his chief servant and requiring him to swear an oath.

Oaths were taken by putting a hand under the thigh of the other person.  This seems a little odd in our time, but it was the practice then.  Today, we would expect to raise our right hand.  Sometimes we put our left hand on the Bible and raise our right hand.

You might put your hand over your heart for something like the Pledge of Allegiance.  Customs change but in Abraham’s time, putting the hand under the thigh was the tactile part of the oath.  We see this again when Jacob asked Joseph to swear that he will be buried in Canaan, not Egypt.

What must the servant swear?  That he will find a wife for Isaac from his own country and his own relatives.  There was something of a corollary to the oath.  Isaac could not go with him to the land of his brother’s family.

We are not told why, at least not directly, but Abraham believed God that the land he was in was promised to his descendants.  His line would continue from here.  Should Isaac go to the land of his father, he might not return.

This servant was no dummy.  He had obviously thought the matter through.  What if the woman selected won’t come with me?

Good question  Maybe he should take 40 or 50 armed men.  Abraham was not sending his servant on a raid to obtain a wife.  An angel of the Lord would precede the servant, but most likely to put his chief servant at ease, Abraham said if she won’t come with you that’s not on you.

You would be relieved of your oath.  The servant took the oath.

He did not head east empty-handed.  He loaded up 10 camels with all sorts of good things.  He probably had some men accompany him so he would not be an easy target for robbers and others who might do him harm. 

He was headed to Aram Naharaim, which was in northern Mesopotamia. Abraham’s brother had moved to the north from Ur which was in the southern land of the Chaldeans, present-day Iraq.  In any case, there had been enough communication between the eastern and western parts of the family that the servant knew where to go.  Plus, in those days it was ok for a guy to ask for directions.

This servant was on a mission for his master. Abraham sent the right man for the job and he arrived at his destination at the well outside of town.  It was evening, the time when women came to draw water.

He could have started surveying the women and rating them by looks, water-carrying ability, and the perceived likelihood that they would accompany him to a land they had never seen.  That would be one approach.  Instead, the servant 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.”

Today, we might have prayed a two-second prayer, Lord give me a sign and then we might question the sign when it came asking, is this a sign from God?

Lord God of my master Abraham—this is approaching God’s throne humbly.  You are my master’s God and he is the most successful man I know.

He sent me on this mission.  I must not fail him.  I brought sufficient gifts.  I navigated the dessert.  I arrived at the most opportune place—the well when women are coming to draw water, but there are many women and I must get the right one for my master’s son.

I am wise in managing my master’s wealth and his affairs and whatever else he wants me to do, but how do I choose a wife for his son?

I am at a trust in the Lord with all my heart moment because my own understanding tells me that I don’t have a clue how to choose a wife for my master’s son.

How about you make it so clear to me that I can’t pick the wrong woman or a woman who won’t go with me or the woman who has been sleeping around or the…

Lord, just make this crystal clear for me.  Let’s go with the one who says: Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.

Sometimes we pray to God and get very specific about what we want because we want our will to be done.  This servant prayed and asked for something very specific because he wanted to do the will of his master who was in good standing with the one true God.

This servant had come a long way, and used his knowledge, skills, and abilities to be ready to claim a bride for his master.  He was loaded with good stuff. He came to the right spot, but he needed help.  He was not bargaining for a piece of land or trading for spices.

He had to please his master and get the right girl.

I would have probably asked that she be dressed in a tee shirt that said, I’m the one, but the servant knew what to ask.

Today we see couples wearing paired tee shirts.  His says:  Mr. Right.  Hers says: Mrs. Always Right.  Tee shirts were not really a deal back in the day, so the servant asked God to show him the right girl with a sign that he would know was from the God of Abraham.

 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.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

Don’t we wish that the Lord revealed his will to us so easily?  Don’t we wish that things were so clear?  Don’t we wish that we didn’t have to wonder, was that a sign from God?

If God would only speak to us!

How many of you read your chapter every day this week?

How many of you prayed not so much for what you needed but that the will of your master would be accomplished in your life?

How many of you began the day with the trust of Abraham’s servant, knowing that based on your own knowledge, skills, and abilities you can only get so far?  But you trusted that the Lord would provide?

What if God is giving us signs but they are how to accomplish his will and we don’t see them because we are engrossed in our own will?

How much more would we see God at work in our part of the world if our mindset was: Thy will be done?

How much more boldly would we approach the throne of grace if our hearts were set first on doing the will of our master?

We can and should ask God for what we need, but let us first ask him to help us accomplish the mission that he has given us. Let’s ask him to help us live a life worthy of the calling that we have received.

Let’s begin and end our days with Thy will be done and see if he does not open our eyes to the signs he has given us.

Amen.