Genesis 24

Sunday Morning Bible Study

May 6, 2007

:1-67 Isaac’s Bride

:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

Abraham is almost 140 years old.

:2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh,

the oldest servant of his house – we’re never told the name of the servant in this chapter, but 60 years earlier, Abram’s head servant was named Eliezer (Gen. 15:2).

Eliezer – ‘Eliy‘ezer – “God is help”

There is a picture that will be painted in this chapter. Eliezer will be a picture to us of the Holy Spirit who is sent out to get a bride for the Father’s Son. The Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter” (John 14:16), the “paracletos”, or “one called alongside to help”. Even as the name of the servant isn’t used in this chapter, the work of the Holy Spirit is not to draw attention to Himself, but to draw attention to Jesus (John 15:26, 16:13,14)

The servant is also a great example for us.

I believe there are different stages of growth we go through as Christians.

If you join a Karate studio to learn the martial arts, you progress through different colors of belts, with the “Black Belt” being the highest.

To me, the greatest level of Christian is the title “servant”.

(Mark 9:33-35 NKJV) Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" {34} But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. {35} And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."

God wants us to be servants.

The goal of a servant is not to be well known. The goal of a servant is to do what his master asks of him.

put your hand under my thigh – this seems to be one of the ways an oath was sworn. Some have suggested that it means, “If you don’t do what you are swearing to me, then may my descendants rise up and deal with you”.

: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 dwell;

:4 "but you shall go to my country and to my family, 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. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?"

:6 But Abraham said to him, "Beware 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 family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, '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.

:8 "And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there."

This tells me that Abraham is convinced that the land of Canaan is the land God had promised Him. I think Abraham would admit by now that it was a mistake for him to have made his trip to Egypt (Gen. 12). He doesn’t want his son making the same mistake.

:9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

:10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

ten … camels – there are provisions for the trip, gifts for the bride, extra servants are along for the ride (vs. 32), and a few empty seats to bring home a bride.

city of Nahor – it would take at least a month to travel the 500 miles from Hebron.

: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.

It is evening time.

:12 Then he said, "O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

:13 "Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

:14 "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."

Lesson

Spouse qualities

It might seem as if the servant is simply asking God for the first woman to be the one, but there’s more here than meets the eye. What should you look for in a spouse?

1. He’s looking for kindness

A camel can go 5-7 days without much food or water. When it comes time to water a camel, it will drink up to 20 gallons at a time. Ten camels = 200 gallons.

It will take a special kind of gal to willingly offer to water ten camels.

I call this “kindness”. Doing good things for others. Isaac’s bride must be kind.

2. He’s looking for a hard worker

He isn’t going to find the girl snoozing at the beauty parlor or the movie theater. He’s going to find her at the village well, working hard for her family to draw water. She’s going to have to be an extraordinary worker to willingly water the camels as well.

Many of the ancient wells in those days had a stone staircase leading down to where the water was. She’s going to be working up quite a sweat to water those ten camels.

3. He’s looking for purity

The servant says he’s looking for a “young woman”, but later we will find that he’s actually specifically looking for a “virgin” (vs. 16, 43).

This is a tough quality to look for these days. The pressure is on to have sex before you get married. If I understand what the TV is teaching me, people don’t wonder whether they will kiss on the first date, they wonder if they’ll have sex.

Consider this: If a person doesn’t practice self-control before you marry them, what makes you think they will practice self-control after you get married? Don’t you want to marry someone with self-control?

What if I have not led a pure life?

Then start now. Now is the time to develop the qualities of a life that honors God.

What if I’m currently sleeping with my boyfriend/girlfriend?

Stop or get married. Don’t tell yourself that you’re almost married. Wait for your spouse. Your boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t your spouse until you’re married. You’re not married until you’re married.

Learning self-control now will pay off when you’re married. If you see him have self-control now, it will be easier to trust him to have self-control after you’re married.

4. He’s looking for the right family

For the servant, he’s made a promise to find someone from the family of Abraham’s father, not the Canaanites.

For the Christian, the issue of family is also a priority – is the person a part of God’s family?

(2 Cor 6:14-16 NKJV) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? {15} And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? {16} And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."

God desires for marriage to be more than just a physical and emotional union. He wants it to be a spiritual union as well – and that is impossible with an unbeliever.

5. He’s looking for the “appointed” one

The servant has this idea that God already has the right person picked out for Isaac.

I think that this can be a healthy view of the person you marry or are married to – to think of them as having been “appointed” by God.

How does this happen?

I think it’s important that you are being careful with your choice. It’s important that you let God be a part of your decision making process, just like this servant.

But after you’ve made your choice, you get married. And getting married means you are putting your stamp of finality on it. You believe this is the person appointed for you.

The danger comes after you are married – you can begin to think that you picked out the wrong person. What if I’m not married to the one God has appointed for me?

That kind of thinking will destroy your marriage.

I prefer to think that after you’ve made your choice, you have now found God’s choice.

Otherwise you are going to bounce around from one person to another, assuming that having a problem in your marriage must mean you married the wrong person.

The truth is that every marriage will have difficult times. After all, your spouse is married to a sinner – you.

God’s desire isn’t for us to quit when we have problems. God’s desire is to work on the marriage as if there’s no way out. Eliminate the word “divorce” from your vocabulary. “If I can’t get out of this, I might as well make the best of it” is not a bad way to start finding the answers to the problems.

God doesn’t want you thinking of your marriage as some sort of prison you can’t escape from. God wants you to realize that it’s an oasis in the middle of the desert and you’d be stupid to leave it. Don’t curse the oasis, enjoy it.

:15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.

We were already told about Rebekah at the end of Gen. 22.

Nahor and Abraham are brothers. Rebekah is the granddaughter of Nahor. Isaac is the son of Abraham. Isaac will be marrying the granddaughter of his uncle Nahor. He’s going to marry his second cousin.

:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.

a virgin – how did he know? In David’s day, gals that were virgins wore a different kind of robe to tell them apart (2Sam. 13:18). Perhaps he can tell by what she’s wearing. Perhaps it is by how she’s acting.

very beautiful – Rebekah was a good looking gal. When we think of this as a picture of finding a Bride for Christ, we realize that this is how the Lord looks at us, His bride. Psalm 45 is considered a Messianic psalm, and gives us a hint at what Son sees in His Bride:

(Psa 45:11 KJV) So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

Do you feel beautiful? Most of us don’t. But God thinks you’re beautiful.

:17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher."

:18 So she said, "Drink, my lord." Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.

She passes the first test. Wait for the next one …

: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."

Two down, one more to go.

:20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

:21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

He still doesn’t know if she’s from the right family or not.

:22 So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold,

The servant isn’t just pulling the jewelry out, he’s actually giving it to Rebekah, apparently as an expression of thanks for her kindness of watering his camels. Later we find out that he puts the nose ring on her nose (vs. 47).

nose ring – I have it on the best authority that nose rings are associated with punk rockers. Does this mean that Rebekah was wearing black, maybe even a Mohawk?

ten shekels – thought to be about 5 ounces of gold, today worth about $3500 ($680/oz., assuming this is the total weight of both bracelets). This sounds like a pretty expensive gift to give a girl for watering your camels.

:23 and said, "Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?"

:24 So she said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor."

:25 Moreover she said to him, "We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge."

:26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD.

bowed down his head – qadad – (Qal) to bow down

worshiped – shachah – (Hithpael) to bow down, prostrate oneself; before God in worship

I wonder what Rebekah is thinking when this man responds by bowing and worshipping God. I wonder if she’s thinking, “Does this guy have a hard time getting his camels fed?”

The servant is worshipping God because he realizes this is the one, this is the answer to his prayer. She’s passed the final test.

Lesson

Answers to prayer

Illustration

A not-so-smart guy was driving down the street, in a panic because he had an important meeting and couldn’t find a parking space. Looking up toward heaven, he said, “Oh Lord, please take pity on me. If you find me a parking space, I will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up ColdStone ice cream and FatBurgers.”

Miraculously, an empty spot appeared. He looked up again and said, “Never mind, I found one.”

I wonder if we always realize when God answers our prayers.

I think sometimes the reason God wants me to learn perseverance in prayer and learn to pray some of the same things every day for weeks is so I’ll get it through my thick skull that when it happens, I realize I was praying for it and God answered it.

God answers prayer.

We need to learn to trust Him. We need to learn to pray.

(Mat 21:21-22 NKJV) So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done. {22} "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Do you have any mountains that need moving? You need to be praying.

: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. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren."

:28 So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things.

It may be that Bethuel had a concubine or two and so she doesn’t bother to tell her half-brothers and sisters, just her own mother’s household.

:29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.

The suggestion is that Bethuel didn’t run to meet the servant because he may have been an invalid at the time.

Laban – we’re going to get better acquainted with Laban when Rebekah’s son Jacob will arrive for a visit. We’re going to find that Laban is not that great of a guy – in fact he’s quite a conniving fellow. Everybody check to see if you still have your wallet…

Even though the servant is looking for someone from the “right family”, he’s not looking for someone with a “perfect family”.

:30 So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, "Thus the man spoke to me," that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.

Because we know something about how Laban is going to turn out, we can assume that Laban sees nothing but a chance to profit from all this. If Rebekah got jewelry for watering the camels, what might Laban get for feeding the man and his camels and putting them up for the night?

:31 And he said, "Come in, O blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels."

:32 Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

:33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told about my errand." And he said, "Speak on."

The servant hasn’t forgotten why he’s come. He wants to get on with his mission.

:34-46 Retelling the story …

The servant tells Rebekah’s family the entire story. I’m sure Laban’s eyes got big when he heard about how wealthy Abraham was …

:34 So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.

:35 "The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

I imagine that Laban’s eyes are getting pretty big about now.

:36 "And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.

The servant is “wooing” the Bride. He’s telling of the glories of the Son:

(Heb 1:2 NKJV) …whom He has appointed heir of all things…

:37 "Now 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 dwell;

:38 'but you shall go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.'

:39 "And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me.'

:40 "But he said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house.

:41 'You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.'

:42 "And this day I came to the well and said, 'O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,

:43 'behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, "Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,"

:44 'and she says 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 "But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'

before I had finished speaking in my heart – his prayer was not one spoken out loud. He wasn’t even finished with his prayer before he saw the answer.

:46 "And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.' So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.

:47 "Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

The Holy Spirit has given gifts to the church while we’re on our journey to the wedding.

:48 "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.

:49 "Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left."

:50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, "The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.

They too can see that God was behind the entire event.

:51 "Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the LORD has spoken."

:52 And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

Again, the servant worships, bowing down on his face before God.

:53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

A dowry proved the financial condition of the groom as well as provided something to support the wife in case of death or divorce.

:54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, "Send me away to my master."

:55 But her brother and her mother said, "Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go."

:56 And he said to them, "Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master."

Laban doesn’t want Rebekah to go to quickly. The world wants you to delay getting serious about Jesus. The world says you should wait a while. But the Holy Spirit says, “Today is the day of salvation”.

:57 So they said, "We will call the young woman and ask her personally."

:58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

Rebekah doesn’t hesitate. She’s ready to go. Jesus offers to us His proposal of love:

(Rev 3:20 NKJV) "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Will you say “yes” to the Son?

:59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.

Rebekah won’t be making the journey by herself with these strangers, she is taking the woman who nursed her, who raised her. She is also apparently taking other maidservants along as well (vs. 61, “maids”).

We know the name of this gal, it was Deborah (Gen. 35:8). She would be a greatly treasured, and LONG time member of Rebekah’s family, apparently living with Rebekah’s family for the next 106 years. It takes some detective work, but you can see it in the book of Genesis.

Detective Notes: She apparently went with Rebekah’s son Jacob when he fled to live with uncle Laban because when Jacob returns, we have a record of Deborah’s death:

(Gen 35:8 NKJV) Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

Keep in mind – Rebekah and Isaac will take twenty years to have their kids (Gen. 25:26), Jacob will be about eighty six years old when he leaves for Uncle Laban’s, and will spend twenty years with Uncle Laban. That puts 126 years on top of how old she must be when she leaves with Rebekah (I’d guess she’d have to be at least 30 years old at that time). Perhaps this is why her death is recorded, it was a big deal.

Track Jacob’s dates: Jacob was 130 years old when he made it to Egypt with Joseph (Gen. 47:9), when Joseph was 30 years old (Gen. 41:46), meaning that Jacob was 100 years old when Joseph was born. Jacob spent 20 years with Uncle Laban (Gen. 31:38), but his kids weren’t beginning to be born until year 8 (Gen. 29:20, 28). Joseph wasn’t born to Rachel until after Leah had born six sons and one daughter (Gen. 30:20-24), meaning he probably wasn’t born until at least year 14 at Uncle Laban’s, meaning that Joseph was six (20-14=6) when Jacob left Uncle Laban’s, Jacob was 106, and that means that Jacob was about 86 (106-20=86) when he arrived at Laban’s.

:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: "Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them."

:61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

We aren’t told much about the journey, except we know that it would be a long, hard ride. Perhaps the servant told Rebekah more stories about Isaac.

Lesson

Finding God’s Will

One of the things I love about this chapter are the lessons in it about finding God’s will. The servant was given a mission, to find the “appointed” wife for Isaac. He was looking for the gal that God had chosen. How did he do it?

1. Prayer (vs. 12 – “O LORD God …”)

(James 1:5-6 KJV) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. {6} But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

If you don’t know which way you are to go, ask God. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Our problem comes because we don’t often wait for God to give us the answer. We wait ten seconds and when we don’t see the answer, off we go our own way.

As Joshua and the Israelites were conquering the land, they got into trouble when they were visited by the emissaries that pretended to be from a distant country. The visitors were dressed in worn out clothes, beat up sandals, and all their food was crusty and moldy.

(Josh 9:14 NKJV) Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.

They thought it was no big deal to make a commitment to these people because after all, it “looked” like they were from a distant country. But they weren’t. And it caused a lot of trouble for Israel. Looks are deceiving. We need to ask God for advice and listen for His response.

2. Laying out a stipulation (vs.14 – “let it be that …”)

Sometimes it can be good to put some stipulations to your prayers.

The things the servant asks for are not particularly easy things (watering ten camels), but they’re also not impossible things (ie - I want her to be able to fly).

The things the servant asks for are also very practical, wise qualities that will contribute to finding a good wife.

He doesn’t ask that she have a freckle under her left ear (which has nothing to do with marriage). He asks for her to be kind, a hard worker, pure, etc.

3. Patience (vs.21 – “wondering at her, remained silent”)

Even after the servants initially meets Rebekah, he takes is slowly.

He waits until he had finished drinking before he hears her offer to water the camels.

Then he waits until she had watered ten camels before he takes his next step.

He waited for his answer.

Saul didn’t wait for Samuel (1Sam. 13) – his impatience lost him the kingdom.

4. Get in the way (KJV vs. 27 – “I being in the way, the Lord led me”)

What does it mean to be “in the way”?

He was on the right road and he was moving.

His master Abraham pointed him in the right direction. But he had to get moving along that path.

It’s hard to steer your car if you’re sitting in “Park” at the curb. You need to get a car moving to be able to turn the wheels.

For us –

We have things that Jesus tells us we ought to be doing.

And as we are doing those things, moving along the right road, we will often find God leading us, just because we’re moving.

Illustration

Yesterday my wife stopped by Albertson’s to pick up a prescription and while she was there she thought she’d look for my son who works there to say “hi”. As she was talking with my son, up walks an old and dear friend of ours who tells her that something had happened earlier that day that had caused him to think about her and wish he could talk to her – and that’s what they ended up doing, talking, all by an “accidental” meeting. She was “in the way” and the Lord led her.

When you start out your day walking with God – be prepared to be amazed. I’m not sure I believe in coincidence. God moves in our circumstances.

It is not uncommon for me to read about something in my daily Quiet Time and then a situation comes up where the thing I read about is the perfect thing to share with someone I’m talking to.

If you feel that God is calling you into the ministry, then get “in the way”.

Teach a Sunday School class. Help out with the Food Drive on Saturdays. Start a home fellowship. Get moving.

If you are sitting on the sofa watching Gilligan’s Island and expecting that at any moment you’re going to get a call from the Harvest Crusade to fill in for Greg Laurie, you can stop waiting. It ain’t going to happen. Get moving “in the way”.

5. Do God’s Will (vs. 56 – “Do not hinder me…”)

The family wants the servant to stay for a week or two before heading back. They don’t see why it’s so important to leave.

But for the servant, he knows he’s not done yet. He’s not going to rest until he finishes what he’s started. He not only has found God’s will, but he’s being careful to do it.

:62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.

Beer Lahai Roi – B@’er la-Chay Ro’iy – “well of the Living One seeing me”; the well where Hagar ran to when she was pregnant with Ishmael (Gen. 16:14). It might be that this just happens to be where Isaac was, but it might be a reminder to us that God does see us. God does know what is happening in our lives. God sees Isaac’s situation. God knows that Isaac needs a wife.

:63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.

meditate – suwach – to meditate, muse, commune

Some fellows seem to feel they need to hit the bars and nightclubs to find a wife. Isaac was communing with God. One evening he looked up and there she was.

:64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;

:65 for she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself.

There will be a day when our long journey to the groom will be over.

(Isa 25:9 NKJV) And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

:66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

:67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Apparently Isaac had been living in his mother’s tent. It’s been three years since his mother died and he was still mourning the loss of his mother. Isaac is forty years old (Gen. 25:20).

he loved her – it may have been an arranged marriage, but this is no less a love story.

When Rebekah heard about the wealthy Father with a beloved son, she didn’t hesitate. She was invited to leave her old life and find a new life with the son.

Today you’ve heard a little about a Father with a beloved Son. The Son invites you to follow Him. Will you?