1403AFC010714 – More of the Same
Read it online here, please.
Genesis 24:7, 12-15 – [Abraham told his servant,] “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.”
The servant journeyed to Abraham’s homeland and waited for the angel of the Lord to help him.
[The servant of Abraham] prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. Be faithful to my master Abraham. Here I am, standing by the spring, and the daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out to draw water. I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor).
Bethuel – Man of God. Milcah – Queen. Nahor – “Snorting.” Laban – White; Appearing Pure
Before we begin analyzing this story, let me ask you Did you take time to read Acts 10 last week? I hope so! There are two extraordinary lessons in that passage, so I hope you took the time do read it. If you did not, try to fit it in this week, please.
And so, now more of the same. In this selection from Genesis, the story of Abraham continues. He is very old, Ishmael and Isaac are both grown men, and Abraham wants Isaac to marry. However, he does not want the young man to marry any of the local women, the Canaanite women. Instead he wants a girl from “back home.” It was the custom at that time to marry within one’s family; that was not considered immoral or surrounded by taboos as it is today. Abraham is even wealthier than he was when he arrived in Canaan, and he prepares a caravan of gifts to attract the woman God has chosen for Isaac. He sends his servant back to his homeland to find the right woman for Isaac. He tells the servant that a messenger of God – an angel – will help him find the right woman. When the servant reaches his destination, he asks for signs from God to help him identify that woman. The first young woman he notices fulfills all the signs, and – as the story continues – she goes with the servant to Abraham’s holdings in Canaan, marries Isaac, and becomes the mother of Esau and Jacob. Jacob eventually becomes Israel, the founder of the nation from which will come the Messiah.
Who was this captivating young woman? He name was Rebekah. She, too, was from a wealthy family, and her family were relatives of Abraham. The name Rebekah (even if it is spelled Rebecca) can mean “captivating.” It comes from an old Hebrew word, associated with hoofed animals, referring to a loop that was used to bind the animal’s feet to keep it from running away; it was held captive by the loop of rope. In this sense, her name indicates she was very attractive. From her actions in the process involved in bargaining with her brother, Laban, she was self-confident, intelligent, generous, hard-working, and adventuresome. Laban was eventually related to Abraham’s family in three different ways: His sister Rebekah married Isaac, and his two daughters, Leah and Rachel, both married Jacob. It turn out that Laban was Abraham’s great-nephew, Isaac’s cousin and brother-in-law, and Jacob’s uncle and father-in-law.
The first meeting with Rebekah was at a well, and her willingness to draw water from the well to share with a stranger is something of a foreshadowing of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well. Rebekah is not afraid to help a stranger in need. As the story develops we see that she is generous and hardworking (can you imagine volunteering to water 10 camels with water from a well drawn up in a watering jug?). She was beautiful, a virgin, and modest in her behavior. (Genesis 24:16) After revealing the details of his mission, the servant of Abraham began his a fairly long negotiation – in which Rebekah actually had more choice over whom she would marry than Isaac did – Laban and his crew concluded this was the will of God and they agreed to hand over Rebekah to the servant. After a meal and a night’s rest they were ready to go back, but Milcah and Laban (Rebekah’s mother and brother) asked for more time – ten days – before Rebekah would leave. The servant said, “I need to leave now. It’s God’s way.” They decided to ask Rebekah, “Do you want to go with this man?” and she replied, “I want to go.” It was a long journey. When they reach the place where Isaac was living, Rebekah modestly covered her face with a veil and approached Isaac. From there, it was pretty much love at first sight.
Ah, Beloved, we would do well to learn from this family. Abraham wanted his son to find a reputable wife, one that was not immersed in the idolatry and sinfulness of his neighbors surround him in Canaan. He trusted that God would send an angel to help find that woman. In this instance, as with the angel discussed last week, it seems it is God himself who interacts with the participants in this story. It is an incident wherein God “goes ahead” of the traveler and prepares the circumstances for success – much the same as assisting the nation Israel in battle is in the days of David. In our present day, we know it can be difficult to forge relationships with reputable people. Each of us who are readers of these messages are like the characters in this story: We love God, we want to do the right thing, we are committed to family. And yet, we also know that we are decidedly a minority. There are just so many people who don’t care to even acknowledge God, much less love and serve him. Doing things that are sinful, and living in ways that are contrary to God’s commands is constantly promoted all around us. The entire concept of family has been transformed for many in ways that are vulgar perversions of what God ordained for family life. Rachel brought solace to Isaac whose mother, Sarah, had passed shortly before this story. They loved each other deeply and wanted to raise a large family; but alas, it appeared Rachel was barren. Isaac had learned from his father’s experience and, supported by Rebekah’s strong faith in God, they decided to patiently wait for God’s plan to be fulfilled. Rebekah did conceive – twins! She and Isaac were a praying family, and when difficulties arose, they turned to God for guidance.
How can we use this story of Isaac and Rebekah in our lives today? I see at least three things we can hold onto here. First, always put God’s will first. As Paul said in Colossians 3:23-34, “do it heartily, as to the Lord,” and things will be better for you in the long run. This is often difficult to do, because our own will counters nearly every attempt to put God first. Nonetheless, with prayer and patience, like that of Isaac and Rebekah, we can conform to God’s will for our lives. They were blessed with messages from angels, and we can find similar blessings by listening to all the clues God gives us about living an upright and holy life.
Second, we need to do the right thing. This is an extension of the first point. “What is ‘the right thing?'” The will of God. How do we know the will of God? By listening to him! Where? First in scripture, but also in our hearts and minds – he does speak to us there. We have the pleasure of knowing that God made an extraordinary journey to come and find us. He took on human form, lived among us, and died on a cross to restore us to himself. He lived without sin and gave himself as a ransom for us all. When we unselfishly give our lives – even parts of our lives – to God by serving others, we participate in that redemptive act by being recipients of the redemption and by sharing the graces of redemption with others.
Third, we are called daily to answer the question that was put to Rebekah: “Do you want to go with this man?” Well, do you? Rebekah made a very long strip to accept a station in life she had never seen or contemplated. She went, in faith believing, to marry a man whom she had never met. Although it was a long journey, perhaps it was pleasant nonetheless. Our journeys are also long, and some of us have very pleasant journeys. Others of us have very difficult journeys. But, if we are traveling with Jesus, we are putting God’s will first and we are doing the right thing. May God bless you on your journey as the Bride of Christ – the Church.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
chick
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
