How I met your mother
Saturday, Sept. 26
Genesis 24:1-67 Read it here Listen to it here
This is a love story with a twist.
In our time, a love story usually begins with boy-meets-girl and progresses from there. In this love story, the meeting doesn’t happen until the very end. The courtship, to the extent it exists, is carried out by others.
Even so, there’s a romantic feel to it. You get a sense of who Rebekah is, both charming and strong.
The idea of a marriage being arranged, and the wife being almost purchased, is foreign to us. Yet, Rebekah seems to be a strong person throughout. She is even asked for her input and agrees to go.
Her father and brother agreeing so readily for her to go with Abraham’s servant seems casual, but in verse 50 they accept it as being God’s will: “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.”
Later in the Old Testament the law will require that a crime be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. In Matthew 18, Jesus will require two or three witnesses in dealing with sin in the church, and assures his followers that where two or three gather, he will be with them.
Rebekah isn’t given over to the servant just on his claim alone to have been guided by God. Laban and Bethuel are also witnesses. It is never safe to take the word of just one person who claims to represent God’s truth—always look for the supporting testimony of other faithful witnesses.
There’s no suggestion that Isaac had any part in the decision-making, but in verse 66 we read, “So she became his wife, and he loved her.” In a time and place where wives could be seen as mere possessions, the relationship between Isaac and Rebekah was clearly more than that.
Their match combines elements of tradition, law and love—a fitting combination for the literal parents of Israel.
Saturday meditation
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Prayer focus
God, grant me wisdom and understanding, but never allow me to raise them above my faith.
-Rev. Mark Fleming