Genesis 24

(Gen 24:1-67): Abraham was old, well advance in age (Gen 24:1, around 139 years of age, give or take, allowing for the journey, several hundred miles long, to Mesopotamia by his oldest servant to take a wife for Isaac and bring her back; Abe was 140 when Isaac and Rebekah married, cf. Gen 21:5 with Gen 25:20). Looking back over his long life it was said by Moses through the Holy Spirit, the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things, an amazing tribute. 

Abraham was not going to send just any of his servants to find a wife for his son Isaac. Too much was riding on this selection. He had to send his most responsible, most reliable, most trustworthy, and wisest of servants who feared the LORD, Abraham’s oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had (Gen 24:2).

To ensure that his servant would carry out his commands to the letter, he was required to follow an ancient custom of placing his hand under Abraham’s thigh (Gen 24:2; cf. Gen 47:29) and swearing an oath. Unlike the oath Joseph made to Jacob, this oath was to be made to the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth (Gen 24:3), not Abraham. The objective was straightforward; go to Mesopotamia to Abraham’s family and take a wife for Isaac. Why was this so important?

In order for this to take place, Abraham had to do it exactly the way God instructed – To your descendants I give this land, He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there (Gen 24:7, emphasis mine). The oldest servant was commanded:

(1) Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan (Gen 24:3, 7, from my father's house and from the land of my family … from there).

(2) Do not take Isaac to Mesopotamia (Gen 24:6, 8).
So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter (Gen 24:9) and traveled to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, Abraham’s brother (Gen 24:10).

During his journey, the servant of Abraham had to be wondering how the LORD God was going to point out the woman. He was under a lot of pressure to please his master and satisfy the HUTT (hand under the thigh) oath. In all his years this was the first time his master ever required him to make such an oath in carrying out his duties.

Arriving at his destination, the first item on his prayer requests was, O LORD God … please give me success today … (Gen 24:12, 42), but it wasn’t all about him because of the HUTT; he truly wanted God to favor Abraham, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

He had formulated a simple game plan that he would position his camels outside the city by a well of water around evening time when women go out to draw water (Gen 24:11). The cool thing about the servant’s strategy was God approved of it!

Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, Please let down your pitcher that I may drink, and she says, Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master (Gen 24:13-14, emphasis mine; cf. Gen 24:43-44).

Abraham’s servant was looking for a woman who had a servant’s heart. Only a servant’s heart would make such a gesture for him to refresh himself as she watered the number of camels in his train. He had 10 camels loaded with wealth (Gen 24:10), his own camel, and security detail to protect his master’s cargo. Nobody in their right mind would make such an offer to water all those camels at the end of the day. The women would already be tired from their labors and in no mood to take on more work for some nomad.

That is what God loved about the servant’s scheme. God delights in the impossible, the unthinkable! Before he had finished speaking in his heart there was Rebekah (Gen 24:15, 45)!

Whether Rebekah was the first woman to the well is unclear but she probably was the first one he asked because as he was praying Rebekah showed up (cf. Gen 24:7, He will send His angel before you)! The choice wasn’t his to make; she just had to be pointed out by God (You have appointed, Gen 24:14). All he had to do was request a drink of water and see the response. As the women were drawn to the well, the servant of Abraham was drawn to Rebekah, and he ran to meet her after she had drawn water from the well (Gen 24:17) to politely ask for some water.

This was too easy, too good to be true! Wasn’t this the key? The woman that replies to him, Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink was his way of knowing who the LORD God appointed for Isaac (Gen 24:13-14)? As this kind-hearted, energetic young woman was watering his camels, Abe’s servant simply stared in silence at her, wondering if she was the one and to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not (Gen 24:21)!

You could almost hear his mental gears turning as the Holy Spirit whispered in the servant's heart, “I know you are thinking that maybe your test was too easy and only coincidental. Why don’t you ask her whose daughter she is?” It dawned on him!

After all the camels were through drinking, he asked her about her family – I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor (Gen 24:24). Epiphany! A third of the mission is accomplished – I found the woman!

What was the servant’s response? And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son (cf, Gen 24:26-27).

Now comes the second hurdle; will Rebekah’s family allow her to go and will she be willing to marry a man she has never seen or knows nothing about? After explaining to Laban and Bethuel the series of events leading up to him being there, they were convinced that this was from the LORD (Gen 24:50) and consented to the marriage (Gen 24:51). Being a man of God, the servant of Abraham worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth (Gen 24:52). The servant gave gifts to seal the engagement (Gen 24:53).

 

The next morning Rebekah’s family blessed her and said, Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them (Gen 24:60). So the servant took Rebekah and departed (Gen 24:61). Two-thirds of his mission was complete. He found her, acquired her, and now he had to deliver her safely to his master (Gen 24:65-66), the last hurdle.

Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening and saw the camels were coming (Gen 24:63). After the debriefing (Gen 24:66) the mission was complete. God truly prospered him in the journey. This marriage was more than an arrangement, Isaac truly loved her. There is no evidence that he shared his affections with another woman. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death (Gen 24:67).

Father, Abraham was pushing 140 years of age, and You blessed Abraham in all things. What a testimony of a long life living in the way of truth! You didn’t bless him in “some” things but in all things. Only a great faith can generate that kind of spiritual legacy. My faith is pitiful by comparison; I cannot say You have blessed me in all things. This indicts my soul that I am not abiding in the way of truth that allows You to bless me in all things. LORD, this truth tears at my soul; it rips the curtain of my pride, exposing the sin of self-will.

I am fearful that like Nahor I chose not to head toward Canaan (cf. Gen 11:31) and stayed in my comfort zone in Mesopotamia. He was blessed but not like his brother Abraham. I believe you want to bless all Your children abundantly, but a self-willed lifestyle gets in the way. We are saved but so self-serving.

Nahor’s son, Bethuel, did a very good job in raising Rebekah. She was a woman with standards (a virgin), kind and considerate, a servant’s heart, energetic, and willing to invest herself in the will of the LORD. No wonder You appointed Rebekah for Your servant Isaac (Gen 24:14) to be the mother of thousands of ten thousands.

Everything You do has an eternal weight of glory. When we do Your will our actions possess an eternal quality. Is it any wonder that Abraham was so emphatic not to deviate from Your will! Only that which is done according to Your will survives eternity. Why do we spend so much of our life’s energies on those things that have no lasting value? Will we not leave this world as we came into it? Only what is done for Christ will last! 

LORD, it is not in me to direct my own steps! When I fail to put legs to my faith, how can I testify before man “I walk before the LORD” while my life bears the marks of Mesopotamia? I am thankful that with You is forgiveness.

Show me the path that leads to that lofty place of being blessed in all things so that men may say of me, God is with you in all that you do (Gen 21:22). This is a life pleasing to You. May I, like Rebekah, invest in the plans of the Eternal One to be in the place of blessing for Your name’s sake. <><