A Wife for Isaac

In Genesis chapter 24, Abraham, an old man, wishes to see his son with a wife. The chapter is a bit long, so I'll just link to it rather than copying all 60 some verses here. Abraham decided that he wanted a wife for Isaac not from Caanan, so he sent his servant on a journey to find a wife from his homeland. So the servant left, a little daunted by the task. When he arrived at a town with a well, he stopped to water his camels, waiting for the women to do their daily hauling of water. Unsure who or what he was waiting for, he said a prayer.

12 Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master." Genesis 24:12-14

And before the servant had even finished praying, a woman appeared at the well.

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. 16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

18 "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

19 After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"

24 She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." 25 And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27 saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives." Genesis 24:15-27

The first woman he came upon was the one he was sent to find. The servant shared this story with her father and brother, and they agreed that he had been sent by God and that Rebekah should go with him. The next morning, the men asked the servant to stay longer, and wanted 10 more days with their daughter. The servant wished to leave right away, so they all agreed to leave it up to Rebekah.

"So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?"
"I will go," she said." Genesis 24:58

Just like that. Think about this one. She was agreeing to go with this servant to marry his master- whom she had never seen. Rebekah was also placing her trust in the Lord, and that this marriage was his will for her. She didn't even hesitate or ask questions, she simply said "I will go." Would we do that? If God presented us with direction in a strange manner, would we go? Would we drop everything we know and leave those we love for an unknown future? That's quite a question isn't it. And Rebekah did it- she left her home to marry someone she had never met.

64 "Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?"
"He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." Genesis 24:64-67

Not only did Rebekah marry Isaac, but she helped him to get over the death of his mother, who he was very close to. That in itself was likely a gift for Isaac. He now had someone to love and to share life with, his wife was a true gift from God. God took care of Isaac's need to love by bringing Rebekah to him from far away. What we can take away from this is that there are no needs to great for God to take care of. What a great message to start the day with.