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Genesis Chapter Twenty-four
Preface
Although this chapter is rather long (61 verses) and it contains duplication of the account of how the servant of Abraham came across God’s chosen bride for Isaac, it represents several significant truths applicable to God’s children throughout the ages and especially today. In it the reader may become better acquainted with God’s way of orchestrating one of the two major institutions that God has given to man, the institution of marriage.
There are two institutions that God has given to the human family: one is marriage, and the other is human government (God permits man to rule himself today). These are two universal and very important institutions. When these are broken, a society will fall apart. The home is the backbone of any society—God knew that—and He established marriage, intending that it give strength and stability to society. The same thing is true relative to human government—a government must have the power to take human life in order to protect human life—that is the purpose of it. Because human life is sacred, God gave such laws. (Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1981)
And make no mistake about it, marriage is an institution that has from its inception been a union between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:21-24)—but never a gender-altered person of any type. Unfortunately, just as men and women left their natural state and corrupted the holy institution of marriage prior to God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19; Romans 1:26, 27), society today is rapidly taking the same path to destruction—that of legally recognizing homosexuality and homosexual unions as an acceptable and alternate lifestyle.
But no such contrivance was recognized by the “man of faith” (Abraham) or his son Isaac in the days as portrayed in this chapter. But rather, here is God’s way of establishing a proper relationship between man and woman. In all aspects of finding a proper wife, the reader will see that it is God’s way for man to submit to Him and to be led by Him in finding the right person to whom one is to be married. If this one simple but essential step is taken in a young person’s life when it comes to finding a life-partner, there would be far less disruption of God’s holy institution of marriage throughout the land.
The reader may also see in this chapter a picture of the Trinity, represented by Abraham as a type of God the Father, of Isaac as a type of Christ and Abraham’s servant as a type of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, who goes out to the world to find a bride for Jesus Christ. And like Isaac who goes out to meet his bride in the field, the day will soon come when Jesus Christ will return to claim His chosen bride in the sky.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Two additional significant observations regarding this union between Isaac and Rebekah should be noted as the reader reviews the love story contained in this chapter:
Genesis 24:1-9 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?” But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there. The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
The ancient form of oath described in verses 2-4 and 9 is explained by Charles F. Pfeiffer:
According to Biblical idiom, children are said to issue from the “thigh” or “loins” of their father (cf. Gen. 46:26). Placing the hand on the thigh signified that, in the event that an oath were violated, the children who had issued, or might issue from the “thigh” would avenge the act of disloyalty. This has been called a “swearing by posterity” and is particularly applicable here, because the servant’s mission is to insure a posterity for Abraham through Isaac.
(The Believer’s Bible Commentary by William McDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)
Here the Canaanites are symbolic of the children of this world (those without Christ), where those of Abraham’s family back in the land from where he came, are symbolic of those of the royal seed (Christians). The spiritual lesson is that it is important that a Christian seek union with another Christian. This should be the first perquisite for any Christian who seeks to find a mate for marriage. If this becomes a priority, along with allowing God to lead in the selection process, God will be certain to present only the very best for the occasion—one in whom one will always find contentment and true love and for whom one will always be grateful to God.
Genesis 24:10-14 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—-let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
Abraham’s servant, who may have been Eliezer (Genesis 15:2, 3), left nothing to chance. He prepared well for the journey and upon reaching the city of Nahor (a city believed to be formerly Haran, or a nearby settlement to Haran), he humbly suggested to God a sign whereby he would be able to identify God’s choice of a bride for Isaac. Regarding the sign that was suggested to God, the following by Murdoch Campbell, as taken from The Believer’s Bible Commentary is instructive:
It was a sign that was calculated to throw much light on the character and disposition of the girl worthy of his master’s son. He was merely to ask her for “a sip”—as the Hebrew word may be rendered—of water for himself; but the one whom God had chosen to be the mother of a great people and a remote ancestress of Jesus Christ would reveal her generous nature and her willingness to serve others by offering him not a mere “sip” of water but an abundant “drink.” To this she was also to add the astonishing offer of drawing water for the camels also. Now when we consider that these ten beasts, after the toil of the long desert, were prepared to empty at least four barrels of water in all, the spontaneous willingness of the girl of his prayers to serve man and beast would point to a kindly and unselfish disposition and also to a character of the highest order.
Genesis 24:15-49 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?” So she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor.” Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.” Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.” So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things. Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. And 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.” Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.” So he said, “I am Abraham's servant. The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 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. Now 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; but you shall go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’' And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house. You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath’' And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, "Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink," and she says 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.’ “But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
And it was the beautiful unmarried Rebekah that fulfilled all the aspects of the sign that the servant had requested of God. And upon receiving gifts of gold and assuring the servant that he would be able to stay at her parent’s home, she went back to recount her meeting with the servant. Her brother Laban, upon hearing of it, immediately went out to the well and invited the servant back to the home.
But before touching food the servant insisted that he inform the family of the purpose of his visit, which he profusely in detail did. And upon completing his chronicle of the events that had led him to their home, he then courteously requested their determination upon hearing of it.
Genesis 24:50-61 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the LORD has spoken.” And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth. Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.” But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.” And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.” So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.” Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
After Abraham’s servant informs Rebekah’s family of Abraham and Isaac, his purpose for coming to their land, and the events surrounding his meeting with Rebekah, they knew it was God’s will that Rebekah go back with the servant to become the bride of Isaac. So, they gave their approval and had their meal. The servant was ecstatic at the ease of their acceptance of his proposal, and he gave more gifts to Rebekah and to her family. But the next morning Rebekah’s mother and brother asked for a period of 10 days in order to say their goodbyes to her, but the servant wouldn’t hear of it. At this point Rebekah was consulted regarding her decision in the matter. She didn’t hesitate. She immediately answered that she would go and become the wife of Isaac. And as she departed, they told her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.” This prophetic blessing has now been fulfilled in God’s chosen people of Israel who have repossessed from the Palestinians the land promised to them by God.
The chapter ends with the meeting between Rebekah and Isaac out in the field. And he took her, married her, loved her and found great comfort in her after his mother’s death. |