A Bride for Isaac – Faith in the Providence of God
Genesis 24:1-67
In Genesis 24 we are coming to the end of Abraham’s story. This chapter and the beginning of Genesis 25 record for us the last years of Abraham’s life. But they are in large measure taken up with establishing Isaac. The LORD promised that Abraham would have many descendants. Nations and kings would come from him. Specifically, the LORD said these promises would be fulfilled through Isaac, the son of promise. And now that Abraham is advanced in years and Sarah has died, he is concerned to find a wife for Isaac, not only that Isaac might be comforted by her, but also that he would bear children by her, thus fulfilling the promises of God concerning a multitude of descendants. “This passage is about much more than simply a God-fearing parent desiring a believing spouse for his child. This passage is about the continuation of the line of promise.” (Duncan).
Moses wrote Genesis to a people who were poised to conquer the land of Canaan which God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. They were a rebellious people who were not inclined to endure the hardship necessary to fulfill God’s purpose. They often put comfort for themselves ahead of obedience to God’s will. Moses writes to show Israel the importance of maintaining their purity as God’s people when they entered Canaan. They must not forget God’s purpose to give them that land and they must not intermarry with the corrupt people there. If they would obey God and commit themselves to His purpose, He would faithfully guide them and provide for them, just as He providentially led Abraham’s servant to find Rebekah as a wife for Isaac (Cole).
This chapter has four scenes. It begins and ends in Canaan. The middle two scenes are in Haran, one by the well and the other in Laban’s house. Since this is such a long chapter we will read the scripture in sections as we progress through the narrative. In the first scene …
1. Abraham commissions his servant (Gen. 24:1-9)
1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 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; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 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?” 6 But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 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. 8 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.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
Sarah had been dead three years, and Abraham was now 140 years old (since Isaac was 40, Gen. 25:20), “well advanced in age.” While Abraham will live another 35 years (Gen. 25:7) and would die “in a good old age” (Gen. 25:8), he began to prepare for his passing. His greatest concern was to see Isaac married to a woman who would help him raise a godly seed, even as God had promised him in Genesis 18:19 saying, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
When Abraham considered the promises of God, he was confident that Isaac would have a wife and children someday. Yet Abraham also knew that he was responsible to act, for God brings about His sovereign purposes through the free choices of his responsible creatures (Anady).
Abraham entrusted the responsibility of finding a wife for Isaac to no one less than “the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had” (Gen. 24:2). Although he is not named in this narrative, it is possible that this servant was Eliezer of Damascus. The name Eliezer means “God is my helper.” Remember that in Genesis 15 before God promised Abraham a son from his own body that Abraham had said that his servant Eliezer was the heir of his house (Gen. 15:2). “The devotion of this servant to his master and to his master’s God is one of the highlights of the chapter. His piety, prayer life, and practical wisdom set a high standard for the believer in any age.” (Deffinbaugh).
Abraham gives the servant two requirements for finding a wife for Isaac. First, he insisted, “that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell” (Gen 24:3). And secondly he stipulated, “but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac” (Gen 24:4). Calvin states that the reason for this is that, “he would not allow his own race to be mingled with that of the Canaanites, whom he knew to be already divinely appointed to destruction; yea, since upon their overthrow he was to be put into possession of the land.” (Commentary on the First Book of Moses).
Immediately the servant asks a very practical question: “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?” (Gen. 24:5). Abraham strongly warns him against doing that and repeats God’s call and promise to give him the land of Canaan:
Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 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. 8 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. (Gen. 24:6-8).
Isaac was never once permitted to leave the land of Canaan, even in time of famine (cf. Gen. 26:2). Isaac encapsulated the divine promise of a people and a land (Hughes). Did you notice Abraham’s reason why Isaac should not leave Canaan? It was because, “The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family … spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land.’” (Gen. 24:7). Abraham was confident in the promises of God. He was so confident in God’s guidance to fulfill God’s purposes that he told the servant that God “will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there” (Gen 24:7).
Deffinbaugh comments,
What a wonderful example of faith in God as One Who guides His people! Abraham sent his servant, assured that God had led by His Word. Abraham sought a wife for his son, assured that God had prepared the way and would make that way clear. Abraham also allowed for the fact that God might not provide a wife in the way he had planned to procure her and thus made allowance for divine intervention in some other way.
Faith is confident in God’s purposes.
In scene 2 we see …
2. The Servant conducts his search (Gen. 23:10-27)
So the servant sets out on the long journey from Hebron to Nahor. Genesis 24:10, “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.” Camels were a sign of wealth and status. Only the super-rich could afford camels. When a servant shows up with ten camels, how many camels must the master have? This journey of several hundred miles might have taken him a month or more. Eventually he arrived on the outskirts of Nahor (perhaps near Haran), “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” (Gen. 24:11).
Wisdom had brought him this far. He was in the right place, the “city of Nahor,” and he was at a good spot to observe the women of the city as they came to the spring for water. But how could he possibly discern the most important quality of a godly character? What’s his first step? How will he know which girl is the right one for Isaac? Should he conduct interviews, ask them to complete an application, or what? Hold a beauty contest? His next step is all-important. So he stops and asks God to give him specific guidance (Gen. 24:12-14):
12 Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 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.”
He prays. He bases his request on the covenant relationship that God had with Abraham. He asks for specific, direct, unmistakable guidance from God. He believed that God had already “appointed” or chosen a wife for Isaac. He simply needed to discern which woman God had chosen. He wasn’t putting God to the test, he was using wisdom to test which woman was the right one.
It would have been customary for any young woman to have given a stranger a drink. But to draw water for ten thirsty camels, each of which could drink about 20 gallons, and to do so without being asked, required a woman who was not self-centered, but who was kind, industrious, and had a servant’s heart. Any woman who was willing to “go the extra mile” in this matter was one of unusual character. The servant was going to the very heart of what Isaac needed in a godly bride. He applied God’s wisdom in seeking God’s will.
Genesis 24:15 says, “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.” He didn’t even finish getting the prayer out of his mouth and God was already answering him.
Moses describes Rebekah in Genesis 24:16, “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.” Rebekah fit the requirements to be a wife for Isaac. She was the daughter of Bethuel, Abraham’s nephew. Beyond this, she was a beautiful woman who had maintained her sexual purity—essential to the preservation of a godly seed. Seemingly, she was the first to appear and the only woman there at the moment. Everything the servant saw suggested that this woman was a candidate for the test he had devised.
So Genesis 24:17 says, “And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”” Will she pass the test? Look at how Rebekah responds,
So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. (Gen. 24:18-20).
This must have taken considerable time to water ten camels. The servant waited in stunned silence as the Lord confirmed the character of this selfless young woman, “And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not” (Gen. 24:21). Trusting that God had answered his prayer, the servant responded by lavishing gifts on Rebekah and asking about her family,
22 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, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”
Her answer further convinced the servant of God’s hand in this situation,
24 So she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.” (Gen 24:24-25).
Trusting that God had answered his prayer the servant turns to give thanks and praise to the LORD:
26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. 27 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.”
Again, this servant is a model of a faithful servant for us. His first thought was for the Lord. His second thought was for his master. His last thought was of himself. Faith goes to God in prayer. Faith trusts in God’s providence. And faith praises God for His answers.
Steven Cole comments:
The longer I’m a Christian, the more I believe that finding God’s will isn’t a matter of some formula. It’s a matter of walking in constant fellowship with the Lord, taking everything to Him in prayer. When you know that prayer is behind your circumstances, then that which otherwise may seem to be a coincidence turns out not to be a coincidence at all. Your steps are ordered by the Lord. When you walk with Him and are committed to His purpose, He will work quietly behind the scenes of your life, leading you through potential hazards, not always leading as you might have hoped, but still leading, putting all the pieces together. The process becomes a beautiful blending of God’s faithfulness and sovereignty and of our obedient trust in Him.
Providence is God providing for or sustaining and governing the universe. It is God working all the circumstances in our lives according to His divine wisdom and purpose. Faith trusts in the providence of God.
In the third scene …
3. Consent is secured (Gen. 24:28-60)
This is a long section so let me just read it and make a few comments.
28 So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.
29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. 30 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. 31 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.” 32 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.
Not much is said about Laban, but he is portrayed as one impressed with the wealth of Abraham, and desiring to profit from it. We will find later in the story of Jacob how true this is. Nevertheless, Laban concludes by the servant’s generosity and display of wealth that he is “blessed of the LORD” (Gen. 24:31).
Having found the woman he believed should be Isaac’s wife, the servant now had to convince the family that Abraham’s son Isaac was the right man for Rebekah. The fact that Rebekah would need to move far away was an obstacle which must be overcome by strong argumentation. This delicate task was skillfully handled by the servant.
33 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.” 34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 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. 36 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. 37 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; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ 39 And I said to my master, “Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ 40 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. 41 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.’ 42 “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, 43 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,” 44 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.’ 45 “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.’ 46 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. 47 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. 48 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.49 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.”
Did you notice his emphasis is on the will and working of God in all of this? The most compelling argument he could possibly provide was evidence that it was the will of God for Rebekah to become the wife of Isaac. He accomplished this by testifying of all that God had done his commissioning by Abraham to the conclusion of his search at the spring. The forcefulness of the servant’s testimony to God’s hand in all this convinced Laban and his father:
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. 51 Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken.”
The servant again stops to worship and give thanks:
52 And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
He then gives more lavish gifts to Rebekah from Abraham and Isaac as well as to her family:
53 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.
Having secured their consent, the servant is anxious to return quickly to Abraham. But this will also require the consent of Rebekah herself:
54 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.” 55 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.” 56 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.” 57 So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” 58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 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.”
Their immediate consent and blessing on Rebekah is a reflection of their faith in Abraham’s God and His covenant. The blessing they pronounced closely parallels God’s covenant promises to Abraham (Gen. 17:16; 22:17). Clearly, the purpose of this story is to show that it would be through Isaac and Rebekah that the promises made to Abraham would be fulfilled.
Both the servant and Rebekah’s family testified of God’s hand in making Rebekah the wife of Isaac. Faith testifies of God’s faithfulness.
Finally, in the last scene we see …
4. Isaac marries Rebekah (Gen. 24:61-67)
So immediately they start on their journey back to Canaan (Gen. 24:61): “Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.”
The most romantic portion of this story begins in Genesis 24:62.
62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 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. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 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. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 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.
It is interesting that Isaac was in the field meditating (Gen. 24:63). While it is may be speculative, I infer from this that Isaac, like the servant earlier, had been praying about this task of finding a wife. Isaac was surely aware of the mission on which the servant had been sent. Isaac may have been praying for the servant, that his mission would prosper. As in the case of the servant, Isaac’s prayer was answered even before it was completed.
After the servant told Isaac the whole story (Gen. 24:66), Isaac also was confident that Rebekah was God’s good and perfect gift for him. His love for her blossomed and continued to grow. But the emphasis in the last verse is on Isaac’s comfort. I believe Isaac’s comfort came from the fact that he personally saw the LORD fulfilling His promises and His purposes.
Faith finds comfort in God’s plan. Genesis 24 clearly shows that behind the affairs of men stood Almighty God. Doesn’t it bring you comfort to know that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28)? Doesn’t it bring you comfort to know “Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11)?
God is in charge and He knows exactly what He is doing in your life. Faith finds comfort in God’s plan. And God’s ultimate plan was to send His only begotten Son Jesus Christ into this world to save you from sin. He did this by dying on the cross in your place. God raised Him from the dead and now He gives life to all who repent and believe in Him. He blesses us every day with His love and His guidance. He is sanctifying us by the work of His Holy Spirit through His word. Someday He will come again and take us to be with forever. Nothing is more comforting than to be assured of God’s plan. Do you have that assurance? Have you trusted in Jesus to save you? Is He your Lord?
