Finding Rebekah

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Thursday, June 20, 2019

Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.  One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.  Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”  The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home?  Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?”  “No!” Abraham responded.  “Be careful never to take my son there.  For the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.  If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of mine.  But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.”  So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions.  Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim.  There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled.  He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town.  It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water.  “O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.  See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water.  This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’  If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife.  This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.”  Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder.  She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah.  Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin.  She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again.  Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”  “Yes, my lord,” she answered, “have a drink.”  And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink.  When 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 jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.  The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission. Genesis 24:1-21

You know that Christmas prayer of a 9-year-old:  Lord, I don’t want anything else but a pony.  If you’re a parent you know this isn’t like him asking for a hamster.  In my parent’s case, it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d prayed for a B-52 bomber; they hardly had the wherewithal to buy the small gifts we did get.  But I prayed that prayer; and I’m still waiting at 72.  

In fact, until several years ago I hadn’t even been close to a horse, much less owned one.  Then, on a vacation whim, Elizabeth and I rented a ride, and Big John tolerated me for the afternoon.

Abraham’s servant wasn’t praying for a pony; he was praying to God that he would complete his holy task of finding a bride for his master’s son Isaac.  The servant was specific and asked that the one who God had picked out for Isaac would say this and do that.  Genesis tells us she showed up even before the servant of Abraham finished his prayer and did exactly the specific things he’d asked God for in his prayer.  Verse 21 of the text always makes me smile:

The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission.

He had prayed – God had answered – but the servant guy just had to double-check if this was really God!  You gotta love Christmas pony prayers!

For You Today

When you pray, try not to second-guess God’s answers!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com     Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©