Genesis 24

Genesis 24:1-67 is the story of the marriage of Isaac. The story of this family continues with the rather common, mundane problem of a wife for the child of Abraham (Genesis 24). The story continues the J narrative of the Patriarchs.

Some parts of our political conversation ridicule the family. The notion is bourgeois, after all. We need the reminder this story provides of the importance of simple values like family. Any hope we have for the future may well be in recovering a sense of personal responsibility that this story suggests. Our narcissism does not combine well with a healthy family. We find meaning in part by connecting with the sacred character of a human community rather than simply doing our own thing. While money can certainly contribute to our sense of meaning and wellbeing, we will need meaningful relationships to complete the picture. Such little, seemingly insignificant matters, do not play well on the big screen of world history. Yet, this simple story shows that the Lord has an abiding interest in our personal lives. The things that concern us most are those closest to us. No matter how old our children are, we care about them. In this case, Isaac needed some TLC. Abraham cared, and we see in the story that God cared as well. God knows our needs before we are even able to articulate them ourselves. God was also faithful to Rebekah, one of the great women of the Bible. How innocent that trip to the well must have appeared that morning. What would have happened if she had not been faithful in her daily responsibilities? God saw in her someone to whom God could entrust the fate of what would be an entire nation.

In this passage, we see a rich description of one of the most ordinary occurrences in family life, namely, the arranging of a marriage. The rich detail of the story of the marriage of Rebekah and Isaac because of the great importance that the biblical writers placed on marriage customs. The writer of the story uses a high ancient Near Eastern style, from its beginning with Abraham's commissioning of his servant intermediary, until its ending with Rebekah moving into Sarah's tent with Isaac, every step in the journey leading up to their union. The story uses repetition, including a nearly verbatim retelling. The individuals in the story reveal their character in their actions. The journey would have taken about a month, but we do not get a sense of this length of time in the story. In this story, the field of divine activity is the internal of the human heart, as God works, guides, and removes resistance.

In verses 1-9, we have the story of the servant Eliezer and Abraham. Eliezer makes a promise to Abraham, and he will keep that promise. He expresses the natural anxiety that the woman may not want to leave her home, but in such a case, Abraham releases the servant from the promise. The story begins with the affirmation that “the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.” He has his servant make an oath “by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth” to find a wife for Isaac from among his people. He goes to the city of Nahor. The servant prays for success and that the Lord would “show steadfast love to my master Abraham.”

In v. 11-27, we find the story of Eliezer and Rebekah, in which God has guided Eliezer to the extended family of Abraham. God's answer to prayer is like a miracle.  The narrator offers significant detail in the scene at the well.  The expression "whether Yahweh prospered his journey" is a profane usage. He finds Rebekah. The servant “bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.” Why did the servant show such reverence? The Lord “has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master.” The Lord led him to this house. The brother of Rebekah is Laban. Laban and Bethuel admit, “The thing comes from the Lord.” Rebekah is willing to go immediately.

In verses 26-60, Eliezer is at the house of Laban, where Eliezer relates the story of Abraham and wins approval for Rebekah to come with him. The purpose is to impress the relatives of God's guidance.

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. ³⁷ 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 live; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’

The story portrays Rebekah as friendly, helpful, generous. 

⁴² “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! ⁴³ I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” ⁴⁴ and who will say 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 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. ⁴⁸ Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹ Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”

The story pictures Laban as greedy and insincere.  The brothers can act in the place of the father in Hurrian marriage practice. Milcah and Laban seem to play an unusually large role in the story. Rebekah goes to tell her "mother's" household about the strange visitor (24:28), at which point her brother Laban goes to meet the man and bring him in (24:29-33). Her father Bethuel listens to the messenger's story along with Laban (24:50), but when they agree upon the marriage, it is Laban and Milcah, not Bethuel, who receive the gifts by the messenger (24:53).  This central role played by the mother and brother of Rebekah reflects the central importance of the grouping of a mother and her children in the context of a culture where a man may have had more than one wife. It is as if they are a subset of Bethuel's family with whom the messenger needed to negotiate with separately.

⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“May you, our sister, become

thousands of myriads;

may your offspring gain possession

of the gates of their foes.”

In addition, this story serves to foreshadow Laban's key role in the upcoming story in which his nephew by this union, Jacob, comes to work for him and eventually marries his two daughters Rachel and Leah (Genesis 29-31). By doing this, Jacob seeks the right marriage (among near kin), while Esau makes the mistake of marrying foreign women (28:6-9). 

Finally, Rebekah and Isaac meet, the story reaches a tender climax.

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. ⁶³ Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her 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. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Although readers often overlook Rebekah as a character, and judge her harshly because of her deception of Isaac on Jacob's behalf, Rebekah is really a very important figure in the history of Israel. She is the literal mother of Jacob/Israel. She is the only woman described in the Bible as "inquiring of the Lord," an oracular function usually reserved for prophets (25:22), and she is the first to hear from God that her younger son was the chosen patriarch of the future nation. One might wonder why the rather mundane subject of a marriage between the relatively obscure character of Isaac and his cousin Rebekah merits such an elaborate story. Yet, given the pivotal role that Rebekah plays, offering Jacob crucial assistance that leads to his gaining blessing and pre-eminence, it is little wonder that the story of her formal entry into Abraham's family has such beauty and formality.

The field of activity for God is the internal realm of the human heart in which God works, visioning, guiding, and removing resistance. This conception of faith is that of guiding and removing resistance. It represents a contrast with Yahweh acting in miracles or the leaders with charisma, or the cult with ritual practices. No one stands beyond the sweep of God's providence: man, woman, child, master, servant, husband, wife, son or daughter. God takes care of the people of God. In this case, God brought to Isaac the object of his love's affection. Love is one of God's sweet gifts, and by grace, it reveals itself in many ways. In marriage, we discover God's design for two people to share their lives, to support each other through whatever great plan God has created for them. When Isaac looked up and saw camels coming, he could not know that what was also coming was his future, his destiny, his great love. When Rebekah looked up and caught a glimpse of the one she had heard about, she prepared to meet him face to face. In Sarah's tent, Rebekah received love. Isaac received comfort. God had given them new reasons to live.

Garrison Keillor has a wonderful essay in which he says that "To know and to serve God, of course, is why we're here."  Yet, it is so obvious, that, like the nose on your face, it is near at hand and easily discernible, but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it too hard.  Faith is what gets you through life, he says.  When it looks like the country is going to the dogs, it is important for us cats to walk carefully, walk on fences, sleep in trees, and have a little faith that all that barking is not the last word.  He concludes: 

            Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids--all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.  

 

It is true.  Faith is part of our everyday life, the ordinary events and relationships of life.  This is where the grace of God shines through (Garrison Keillor, We Are Still Married).