To fetch the bride

“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.” Genesis 24:2-4

Genesis chapter 24 contains 67 verses. This chapter is rich with people acting upon faith and God’s omniscient plan and the refining of faith. From the luxury of looking backward through the account, we who read the story today can see God’s hand of sovereign leading and refining of pure faith, but to Abraham, Issac, the trusted servant, and Rebekah and her family, the contents of this chapter, along with the two preceding chapters were far from comfortable and predictable.

While reading Genesis 24, I did a simple online search to see how old Rebekah would have been when she married Isaac. I chose jwa.org or “Jewish Women’s Archives” for the answer. Rebekah was 14 while he was 40, in case you were also curious.

The article “Rebekah: Midrash and Aggadah” by Tamar Kadari was fascinating as it gave commentary-depth, exegesisal information regarding God’s alignment of Isaac and Rebekah as husband and wife long before they wed, the favor God granted Abraham’s servant on his journey to find Isaac a wife, and the righteous character of Rebekah and the beautiful continuation of a blessed, God-fearing woman back to the tent of Isaac’s family. The article suggested that like Sarah, Rebekah was favored by God.

Abraham’s confidence in God opens chapter 24. The most faithful and longest serving servant in Abraham’s home is believed to be Eliezer of Damascus. (Eliezer would have become Abraham’s heir had he not been granted Ishmael and Isaac.) Eliezer acted faithfully toward his human master, going several hundred miles over the course of several weeks to fetch a wife from family that had long lost communication with one another. He demonstrated his faith in God as well as he prayed and watched with intent to see if Rebekah was truly the answer to his prayers. The chosen bride starts to close out the chapter with her acceptance of the proposal and her acceptance to leave her family and all things familiar to fulfill what God had planned. The chapter finishes with Isaac loving and being comforted by his bride.

When we pray in line with God’s will and we surrender ourselves to his plan, oh what wonders He has in store. In the before-mentioned article, this beautiful passage concerning God’s foresight and His alignment of the future was written. “In

the midrashic telling, Rebekah was born at the same time that Isaac, who was then twenty-six years old, was bound on the altar. When God was revealed to Abraham at Mount Moriah and commanded him not to sacrifice his son, He also disclosed to him, by the spirit of divine inspiration, that Isaac’s bride had already been. This exposition shows that the divine plan is woven far from men’s eyes. When Abraham thought that his only son and heir was about to die, God had brought his future wife into the world, and the people of Israel would be built from their offspring.’” jwa.org

We might not understand a premonition or a prompting at the moment. We might not understand something huge when it happens, but I trust that all things in our lives will be made clear one day.

Considering any actions or thoughts Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and Eliezer, did or had at any given time during this orchestration of events they could have doubted and acted in self-centered fashion rather than in God-ordained trust. From the time Abraham said, ‘Eliezer go with God’, to the definitive moment Eliezer trusted without doubt that beautiful young woman was the answer to his present prayer, to the specific time of day Rebekah went to fetch water and in turn showed kindness to water all 10 camels, to her assurance that Eliezer was trustworthy- oh, how many things lined up perfectly to reached the ordained marriage of two people chosen by God. Only an amazing God of wisdom, wonder, planning, beauty, grace, kindness, and covenant could design such a chapter as Genesis 24. And only such a God as this can plan and place you and me here and now and have a reason for each of us that is bigger and farther reaching than we could ever know.

“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.” Genesis 24:15