-Do you know how all your friends met and got married? One podcast I listen to asks people “what’s your ‘meet cute’”? 

-Cara and I met when she was looking for a small group and walked away with a husband! Cara moved to Cheyenne to work in the ER and it took her a while to find a church. When she finally did, she reached out to one of the other pastors and asked to join a small group. That pastor came into my study and asked if we had any room in ours, so I said yes but we’re all in our 20s so how old is she? He said I can’t tell, but I figure she’s either in her 60s, or your future wife. And here we are! 

-Today’s text is a the “meet cute” of Isaac and his wife Rebekah.

READ/PRAY

1. Promise (1-14)

-We’re getting to the end of the account of Abraham, we’ve followed his life through the ups and downs, but just the highlights that God wanted Moses to record to help us understand the bigger story of what He’s been doing through Abraham.

-Notice that he’s been blessed by the lord “in everything” – last week he finally has a plot of land, he’s got his chosen descendant, and he’s already started being a blessing to the world.

-But Abraham wants to ensure that his son is provided for (that will come up again next week), so he calls his main servant (who may have been mentioned by name in Gen. 15:2 Eliezer of Damascus), and tasks him with finding a wife for his son, but let’s look at the stipulations Abraham makes for this wife:

-First – her past with her family.

-The first place Abraham goes is to swear that he won’t let Isaac marry a Canaanite, a native of the land that will someday be theirs. What’s the significance of this?

-First, it’s the opposite of what Ishmael has done. Remember? His mom found an Egyptian woman for him to marry, going a long way off from Abraham to find a wife! 

-Secondly, the Canaanites are those who have been cursed from God (Gen. 9:24 “Canaan is cursed, he will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers”), and those who will be driven out of the land for Abraham’s descendants. 

-This is preserving the lineage that God has promised, and will actually set up a pattern for the rest of Genesis – Genesis is the story of how God became known as the God of: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Isaac’s brother Ishmael married an Egyptian, Jacob’s brother Esau will marry Hethite women while Jacob marries 2 women who are a part of the family (Laban will show up again after today’s text)

-Finally, this is continuing the theme from last week that Abraham is a resident alien. Remember, he’s looking forward to a future hope, a future home not built by human hands.

-The next thing Abraham focuses on is her present. What kind of character does this woman need to have?

-We’ve started with a sweeping statement: not a Canaanite. But what if he finds someone and she doesn’t want to move halfway across the known world? Is it worth taking Isaac to ensure the bloodline continues?

-I think we’ve seen Abraham finally become convinced that God is actually planning out all these events. The Lord had promised to give this land to Abraham and his family, not his homeland. We’re back to this tension of not having a true home. Abraham is FINALLY trusting that God will follow through on everything He’s promised, 

-Which means the woman’s future is in play. If the woman isn’t willing to come back to the promised land, the servant is off the hook for any penalties from this oath.

-The servant agrees, taking 10 camels, all kinds of goods (required to travel and to pay the bride price) and travels across the Middle East to get to Abraham’s homeland. One scholar stated this trip would have taken over a month to travel, ending up in a place called “Aram of the Two Rivers”, near Haran (giving some credence to the northern Ur argument)

-Skips ahead to his arrival, which was apparently during the evening, he stops the caravan just outside town to rest. Once he’s gotten settled, he then prays to the God of his master. 

-Friends, don’t miss that the God of all of creation has always connected Himself to a people or person. He’s the God OF ______, connecting Himself to history and bringing all things to their fulfilment in just the right time.

-And he asks a specific request of God: if he happens to find a girl and he asks her for water, the right one will be the one who goes even further to even water the camels. Is this a test of her character? Is it a test of God? The text doesn’t say.

-Have you ever been in one of these situations where you’ve been asking God for clear direction, and you ask Him to do 1 of 2 things for you? You might have heard this as “laying out a fleece for God,” which is referring to Gideon who has a call on his life from God, but he’s just trying to make sure that God is actually on his side. Or maybe you’ve heard stories of people who are in a difficult situation, and they promise God they’ll devote their lives to Him if He gets them through. This is a fairly common human experience! And it even follows some of the ways God worked in the past:

-One of the components of the priestly garments was Urim and Thummim, almost like a magic 8 ball where the priest would ask a question, stick his hand in this pouch, and whatever was pulled out was the will of God.

-Even the 12 disciples in Acts 1 cast lots to determine who else would be added to their number to bring them back from 11 to 12, the number of completion.

-So if we see these examples in Scripture, should we be doing these same things? Like, should we try to copy what the priests did, and go buy a Magic 8 ball that I’ll keep in my study to consult when any questions come up? And if not, then why? I always seemed to get the “ask again later” option.

-We need to have an understanding of the way God’s will works, and what He wants and expects from us in our daily lives. God has 2 wills (from our perspective, in Himself it’s just 1): His revealed will and His hidden will (theologians call this His preceptive and decretive wills) 

-You get this idea from Deut. 29:29. And notice the purpose of God’s revealed will: so that we may follow God’s law. God doesn’t keep things hidden from us to try to trick us.

-We also know from Jesus’ time being tempted in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry that one thing we’re not supposed to do is test God. So how in the world do we figure out God’s will apart from putting out a fleece, or testing Him?

-There’s 1 key difference between us and Abraham, Gideon, and even the 12 disciples when they cast lots. Do you know what it is? It’s come up the last 2 weeks: we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. We don’t need a magic 8 ball anymore, we have God living in us! 

-Think of what James, the brother of Jesus, says in the beginning of his letter.

-3 things: God’s Word, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, in the context of the church.

-God’s Word is the foundation and source of truth. Apart from knowing how God has chosen to reveal Himself you’ll have no hope of knowing what He wants from you. He even says in 1 Thess. 4:3 that his revealed will is for us to be holy. Then we should ask what is holiness? What does that look like? It looks like God! God is holy, so being in His will is taking on His character traits and becoming daily more like Him.

-Because we need to know and understand God’s Word (the Bible), in order to correctly understand it we need the Holy Spirit within us to bring it to life. Unbelievers can read Scripture, understand it, put together the syntax and grammar of it, and completely miss the point of it. It’s not like any other ancient work of literature, and it requires the same Holy Spirit who inspired it to faithfully interpret (or illuminate it).

-Which gets us to this last part: this interpreting needs to be done in the context of the church (both past and present!). The Bible isn’t meant to be read alone. Did you know that? One of the things that has led to a number of heresies has been reading the Bible alone, without any other council or help. See the Bible is supposed to be read and interpreted with the local church, AND the church of the past (provides guardrails and gets us out of the blinders of our cultural context). 

-Friends, if you’re struggling to determine God’s will, don’t buy a magic 8 ball, don’t cast lots, spend time in God’s Word, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, and invest in the church. Thankfully, it’s not rocket science, and it’s not hidden! That doesn’t mean all your decisions will be easy, but it does mean that you can trust God’s hand as you go through life!

• Providence (15-25)

-In this situation, God does answer the servant’s prayer exactly how he requested. And notice how quickly it happens: before he had finished speaking, the answer walks up: Rebekah.

-Now if the wording here confuses you, you’re not alone! I had to write it down so I could keep track of where these family relationships were! So I drew up the way this family lineage was working. Rebekah is Isaac’s “first cousin once-removed.” Relationships worked a little different at this time period! But the key is that she’s in Abraham’s family, so she’s exactly what he had requested.

-Then we learn some more about her:

-Very beautiful (like her future mother-in-law), and a virgin.

-And then there’s some speed in the rest of this section:

-The servant runs

-She quickly gets the water for him, then quickly fills up the trough for the camels, and repeats this process again and again until all 10 camels have had their fill. The servant waited to see if she would follow through and be the person he had prayed for, and once they’re all done, then he gives her a drink, costly gifts. 

-And then invites himself into her house, perhaps to see if she is hospitable like she needs to be to follow after Yahweh. 

-And what’s the proper response when God answers our prayers? 

• Praise (26-61)

-Not only did she fill up the water for the camels (again and again) she also offered him a place to stay. This woman is perfect for Isaac! So he gives thanks to God.

-Which we need to pause and contemplate for just a minute. Because God answers prayers ALL the time! My kids and I pray for a good day at school every day, and God always answers that prayer. We regularly pray that God would bless our food, and he always answers that. Which means we should always respond with praise and thanksgiving to God.

-And once again, speed becomes of the essence, Rebekah RUNS home to tell everyone what’s going on, and surely shows them the gifts he had brought (and the 10 camels, representing the great wealth of his benefactor).

-And then we’re introduced to her brother, Laban. And what does the text say he notices about his sister? The ring and the bracelets. See, Laban is an opportunist. We learn later on that he is a polytheist and is always looking to get ahead, and I think we see that begin to take shape in this text, but I’ll wait to point out where. And notice that just as Rebekah ran home, Laban ran to go meet this servant, not wanting to miss out on this opportunity!

-Laban seems to have gotten things at the house ready, the camels are taken care of, and then the food is brought out, but the servant refuses to eat until he accomplishes his mission. And then we get a repeat of the exact story we just read, almost verbatim.

-He begins with a description of Abraham, who is rich in every way. These riches have been handed down to his son, and he’s here to find a wife for that son, and Rebekah is the one who responded exactly how he’d prayed. So: what’s their answer?

-It’s interesting that it lists Laban first, because generally they start with the older and then go to the younger. And their response seems odd to us: well, this is obviously from the Lord, so go for it. We don’t see the psychology behind this, and this is a completely different culture from ours, so this is a fascinating look at how marriages were conducted 3,000 years ago!

-Abraham’s servant responds just as he did last time! God had provided the woman, this time her family’s on board. God has provided exactly what he’d requested, giving Isaac a wife. And in response, he gives more gifts to Rebekah, and Laban and her mother, and after finally getting his answer, then he sits down to eat with everyone.

-The next morning, he’s ready to go. His prayer had been answered, the wife has been found, now they just need to get back.

-But Laban and her mother aren’t quite ready to go along with it. Could it be that they’re wanting a few more of those gifts the servant had given to them? See this is where I think we’re starting to see Laban’s character coming through. Rebekah’s just a means to an end for him!

-This delaying becomes a bit of a pattern in Laban’s life later on, but that will come up in a future sermon series someday! Or you can just keep reading in Genesis and learn more about Laban! 

-And the servant is ready to go! His job is done, there’s only 1 step left: get home. And remember, this is probably a long journey!

-And finally Rebekah gets to make her thoughts known: they decide to ask her, and she’s ready to go.

-So they do, and with her is her nursemaid, and on her way out they bless her. And does this blessing sound like any other blessings we’ve heard in this book? Think back to Gen. 22, after Abraham had offered up Isaac as a sacrifice, in response God reiterates his promise to Abraham and says: 

-What’s taking place here is Rebekah is demonstrated as being like Abraham. She has been a blessing to others, she is following the ways of the Lord, and now she’s received the same blessing as Abraham. Abraham’s family line will continue through a woman who is emulating him.

• Provision (62-67)

-This location has come up once before, this is where the Lord provided for Hagar and Ishmael when Hagar fled from Sarah’s abuse.

-One day, he’s out for a walk and he sees Rebekah and Abraham’s servant approaching. We never heard Isaac and Rebekah interacting in this story, but she asks the servant who’s coming to greet them.

-When she finds out, she puts her veil on, which is the customary way of signifying that a woman is unmarried. And then this love story comes to a happy conclusion: they’re married happily ever after! At least mostly, it does say that Isaac loved her, that this marriage brought comfort to him after his mother’s death, but they’re going to end up having twins that adds some level of animosity into their marriage, but that’s a story for a different day!

-What do WE do with this story? Well, if you’re unmarried it may be time to go find the local well. JK. 2 things, both related to God’s will. If you want to dig into what I said about God’s will further, read this book: 

-Do you trust God’s providential hand in your life? Friends, even when things are difficult, God is still working to accomplish his plans and purposes: make you more holy.

-Do you ask God to lead and guide you in your life? It can be very easy for us to only call out to God when things are difficult, but as we saw in this text, even when things are going well we should be praising God and asking for His continual guidance.