A bride for Isaac
24
📚And Abraham was old, well advanced in age, and the LORD had blessed 📖 Abraham in all things. 2 📚And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who was in charge of all that he had, “Please, place 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 live.24:3 Deut 7:3; Ezra 9:1-4; 2 Cor 6:14-17. Abraham worshiped the one true God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The Canaanites worshiped many gods and idols. Abraham wanted to keep his son separate from such things. And he knew that a Canaanite wife might turn his son to idolatry. Compare Deut 7:3-4; 1 Kings 11:1-6; Ezra 9:1-4; 1 Cor 7:39; 2 Cor 6:14-18.⚜
4 📚But you shall go to my country 📖, and to my relatives, 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. Should I take your son back to the land that you came from?”
6 📚And Abraham said to him, “You be careful 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 relatives, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your offspring I will 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 free from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there”. 9 📚And the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him about that matter.
24:9 Verse 2.⚜
10 📚And the servant took ten camels of his master’s camels, and left, for all the goods of his master were in his charge. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia 📖, to the city of Nahor.
24:10 The servant in this chapter is a model for all who would serve God. He was obedient, prayerful, tactful, faithful, waited on God for guidance, and honored and praised his master.⚜
11 📚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.
12 📚And he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please send me good success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 📚See, I am standing here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 📚Let it come about that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your water pot so I can drink’, and she says, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’, let her be the one that you have decided on for your servant Isaac. And by that I will know that you have shown kindness to my master”.
24:14 On asking God for signs see note and references at Gen 15:8.⚜
15 📚And it came about before he had finished speaking 📖, that here came Rebekah, who had been born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. She had her water pot on her shoulder. 16 📚And the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin, no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her water pot, and came up.
17 📚And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your water pot”.
18 📚And she said, “Drink, my lord”, and she hurried and lowered her water pot onto 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 And she hurried and emptied her water pot into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 📚And the man, keeping silent, watched her to find out whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.
22 📚And this happened when the camels had finished drinking: the man took a gold earring of half a shekel weight and two bracelets of ten shekels 📖 weight of gold for her arms, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 📚And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor”. 25 📚She also said to him, “We have both straw and fodder enough, and room to spend the night”.
26 📚And the man bowed his head, and worshipped 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. I being on the way, the LORD has led 📖 me to the house of my master’s brothers”.
28 📚And the girl ran and told these things to those in her mother’s house. 29 📚And Rebekah had a brother. His name was Laban. And Laban ran out to the man at the well. 30 And it came about when he saw the earring, and bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah saying, “This is what the man said to me”, that he came to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. 31 📚And he said, “Come in, you blessed of the Lord. Why are you standing outside? For I have got the house ready, and a place for the camels”.
32 📚And the man came into the house. And Laban unloaded his camels, and gave straw and fodder for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 📚And food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my business”. And he said, “Tell it”.
34 And he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 📚And the LORD has greatly blessed my master so that he has become rich; and he has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
24:35 Material prosperity was often a sign of God’s blessing then, but not necessarily now. Many godly people are poor, many godless people are rich (Luke 6:20-26; 16:19-31; Jam 2:5-7).⚜
36 📚And my master’s wife Sarah bore a son to my master when she was old. And to him he has given all that he has. 37 📚And 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 am living, 38 📚but you shall go to my father’s house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ 39 📚And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’
40 📚“And he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk 📖, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives, from my father’s household. 41 📚When you go to my relatives, then you will be free from this my oath. If they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’
42 📚“And today I came to the well and said, ‘O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now you will give success to the journey I have come on, 43 📚see, I am standing by the well of water, and it will happen that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, ‘Please give me a little water from your water pot to drink’, 44 📚and she says to me, ‘You drink, and I will also draw water for your camels’, let her be the woman whom the LORD has decided on for my master’s son.’
45 📚“And before I had finished speaking in my heart, suddenly Rebekah came out with her water pot 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 hurried and lowered her water pot from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 📚“And I asked her and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’. And I put the ring on her face, and the bracelets on her arms. 48 📚And I bowed my head and worshipped the LORD, and praised the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. 49 📚And now if you will deal kindly and faithfully with my master, tell me, and if not, tell me, so that I may turn to the right or to the left”.
50 📚Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The matter comes from the LORD. We cannot speak to you anything either bad or good. 51 📚See, Rebekah is before you. Take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has said”.
52 📚And it came about that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the ground. 53 📚And the servant took out silver jewels, gold jewels, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. Also he gave to her brother and to her mother valuable things. 54 📚And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and spent the night there. In the morning they got up and he said, “Send me away to my master”.
55 📚And her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for a few days, at least ten. After that she will go”.
56 📚And he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey successful. Send me away so I can go to my master”.
57 And they said, “We will call the girl, and ask her what she has to say”.
58 📚And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go”.
59 📚And they sent away their sister Rebekah, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 📚And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “You are our sister. May you become the mother of thousands of millions, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them”.
61 📚And Rebekah and her maids got up, and rode on the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. 62 📚And Isaac had come from the way of the well Lahai Roi, for he lived in the south of the country. 63 📚And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening, and he raised his eyes and looked, and there were the camels coming. 64 📚And Rebekah raised her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from the camel, 65 📚for she had said to the servant, “What man is this walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant had said, “It is my master”. So she took a veil and covered herself.
66 📚And the servant told Isaac everything that he had done. 67 📚And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
24:67 In the events of the Old Testament there are often pictures of spiritual truth later revealed in the New Testament. Some think we have a picture in this chapter of the same truth Jesus presented in the parable of the king who made a marriage for his son (Matt 22:2). If this is so (and it is possible, though not at all certain) Abraham would represent God the Father who would make a marriage for His Son. The servant would represent the Holy Spirit who has come into the world to win the bride and who presents Christ to people (John 16:13-14). Rebekah would represent the bride of Christ, His Church (2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-32; Rev 19:7-8). Isaac would represent the Lord Jesus Christ who goes out to meet her (John 14:3; 1 Thess 4:16-17).⚜