Genesis 24:1-67
Abraham is very old now and Isaac is to be Abraham’s heir.
Isaac, who was thirty-seven when Sarah died at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven, is yet to be married; placing the promise of descendants in jeopardy. Abraham aged one hundred and thirty-seven, instructs his trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac, stating that she must be from his kinsmen back in Mesopotamia and not from amongst the Canaanites.
Abraham was adamant that Isaac should remain in the promised land and not go with his servant to Haran. Abraham is fully convinced of God’s faithfulness and trusts in God’s providence to provide a wife for his son from amongst his father’s house in Mesopotamia.
So the servant departs with a large train of camels loaded with valuable gifts to make the three year return journey. He prays and asks God to intervene, and almost immediately upon arriving at the city of Nahor, finds Rebekah drawing water from the well. She meets all the requirements and readily agrees to go with the servant to be the wife of Isaac. She leaves her family to travel to a land she doesn’t know, to be the wife of a man she has never met. Just like Abraham when God called him, she steps out in faith and trust.
The servant returns with Rebekah to Isaac’s dwelling place, where he was then living in the Negeb. The servant then told Isaac everything that had been done to secure a wife for him. Isaac took Rebekah for his wife and he loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
Today’s sermon was by Steve Messer.