We shall continue with
the study of the Book of Genesis this week.
(1) “The Lord has blessed him in every way”
a. Was this an over-statement? Why or why not?
b. Why was Abraham’s life so blessed?
c. Can the same be said of your life? Why or why not?
(2) In making his servant to swear by the Lord, why did Abraham call the Lord, “the God of heaven and the God of the earth”?
(3) Why did he have to get his son a wife from his homeland and not from the Canaanites?
(4) Why did he emphasize that the servant should not take his son back to the homeland? What was the significance of this command?
(5) How did Abraham know that God would send His angel before his servant?
(6) He was prepared to release his servant from the oath should the would-be wife of Isaac refuse to go with him. Was it a sign of little faith? A sign of submission? Or a sign of commitment?
(7) How did Abraham show his faith and commitment to the Covenant of God through this decision?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
In Genesis 24, we read that Abraham, in his old age, worried about whether or not his son would marry a local Canaanite woman, and so he made his servant take a very long journey back to his homeland in Mesopotamia, hoping to find a Semitic wife for Isaac. His fear was not unfounded, as his grandson, Esau, would take two local women as his wives (see the end of chapter 26). Furthermore, the Bible says, “They were a source of grief of Isaac and Rebekah.” (26:35)
Why did the two Hittite women become a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah? Did Isaac and Rebekah hold some kind of racial discrimination? For sure, living with people of a different culture always poses a challenge. It may cause inconvenience and even misunderstanding, but it does not necessarily lead to grief. Grief signifies something deeper, and in this case, the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah were hurt. This certainly was caused by a major difference in their value systems. The Hittites worshiped idols and were polytheistic, but Isaac and Rebekah followed the footsteps of Abraham in worshipping the Lord. They were monotheistic. As we can see in Isaac’s life, he meditated and prayed (24:63), and Rebekah had learned to consult the Lord when she needed direction (25:22). They were a people of faith in the Lord.
With Abraham, it was even more than this. He knew that his son was the chosen “seed” to accomplish God’s covenant in bestowing blessings to all nations. His son was to be a man of faith in order to be used by God for such a mission. The marrying of someone with a pagan belief would jeopardize God’s mission.
Some might argue that, Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah did not appear to have done any good to God’s program. Esau ended up causing them grief, and Jacob was no better, being a con man.
But the fact that Jacob, in spite of his many failures, ended up putting his fate in the hand of the Lord (Gen. 32) was an ultimate testimony of the family influence and heritage.
The Apostle Paul commands us, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Co. 6:14) for the same reason. Like Isaac, we have become heirs of Abraham, and God is counting on us to be channels of blessings to this lost world, including through our union in marriage which bears witness to the union between Christ and His church (Eph. 5:32). A marriage between a believer and an unbeliever defeats this purpose of a Christian marriage.
Here is a good passage for character study — of both the servant and of Rebekah. It was a long, long journey back to the north western part of Mesopotamia with an impressive entourage with ten camels.
(1) Consider the total strategy of this
servant.
a. Having waited at the well toward the evening, what kind of a girl was he looking for in principle?
b. Having to pray for success (the first time such a prayer for specific guidance was recorded in the Bible): What was the basis of his prayer in v. 12?
c. Specifying how he would discern God’s choice, was he not being presumptuous? Why or why not?
d. More specifically, with his particular approach, what kind of a girl was he looking for his master’s son?
(2) What does “before he had finished praying” mean to you?
(3) Was the meeting and greeting of Rebekah a chance occurrence? Why or why not?
(4) How did Rebekah demonstrate that she was worthy to
be the bearer of the seed of the Abrahamic Covenant, through her actions?
a. “quickly lowering the jar” to quench the thirst of a stranger
b. voluntarily watering the camels (each could drink 25 gallons of water)
c. running back and forth to fill the trough with enough water
d. offering hospitality of room and board for the whole entourage, including the camels
What kind of a girl was she?
(5) If you were the servant, how would you react to this encounter?
(6) How did the servant react to this encounter?
(7) What has he learned more personally about this God of his master?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
We like to say that God has no grandchildren in pointing out that ultimately, even in a Christian family, each one of us has to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life. We cannot become a Christian simply because our parents are Christians. In a similar way, the story of the search for a wife for Isaac has turned out to be the personal faith journey of this chief servant of Abraham.
On more than one occasion, the servant (whose name was not even mentioned) referred to God as “God of my master”. As Abraham sent him on this journey, he had made clear to the servant that this was going to be a faith journey, in that God “will send His angel” before him. The doubt raised by the servant in 24:5 indicated he lacked the faith that Abraham had. He might have witnessed all that the Lord had done in the life of Abraham; his faith might have remained on the level of “hearsay”. But this journey has made this faith personal.
As much as he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham” when he set out to test which girl might be the chosen one, this miraculous encounter has taught him that the Lord is not simply the God of his master, but his God as well. He responded to God’s miraculous leading by bowing down and worshipping the Lord, at least twice himself (Gen. 24:26, 52). And the greeting by Laban affirmed to him that this God was his, as he said, “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord.” (24:31)
Faith is contagious!
While Bethuel’s name was mentioned, he was properly incapacitated or too old and his son was the one in charge of the family.
(1) Referring to Laban, the brother of Rebekah, the Bible says, “As soon as he had seen the nose ring and the bracelets…”. What is being depicted by the Bible with these words?
(2) From later events, including those where Laban lied to Jacob and had idols in his household, what do you make of his greeting in v. 31?
(3) Why would Abraham’s servant refuse to eat after possibly a very long and tired day? What kind of a message was he trying to convey to Laban’s household with this gesture?
(4) His speech from vv. 34-49 was aimed to convince Laban’s household in allowing Rebekah to marry the son of Abraham. Before considering the following questions, read his words carefully, and see what emphases or angles the servant used to achieve his goals.
(5) Highlight the points that he made to particularly show that God’s hand was at work through and through.
(6) Highlight the points that he made about the wealth of Abraham.
(7) Highlight the points that he made about Isaac, his rights as sole heir, his approximate age, the unlikelihood that he would have concubines in Canaan.
(8) Consider these questions, if you were Laban:
a. What reason might you have in accepting this marriage proposal?
b. What reason might you have in refusing this marriage proposal?
(9) Did the servant of Abraham make this proposal one that could be negotiated?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
As we reflect on the journey of faith that Abraham had invited his servant into, may I invite you to reflect on the lyrics of the hymn below penned by John Campbell (1845-1914), the 4th Governor General of Canada. It is a paraphrase of Psalm 121.
Unto the hills around do I lift up my longing eyes
O whence for me shall my salvation come, from whence arise?
From God, the Lord, doth come my certain aid,
From God, the Lord, who heaven and earth hath made.He will not suffer that thy foot be moved: safe shalt thou be.
No careless slumber shall His eyelids close, who keepeth thee.
Behold, He sleepeth not, He slumbereth ne’er,
Who keepeth Israel in His holy care.Jehovah is Himself thy Keeper true, thy changeless Shade;
Jehovah thy Defense on thy right hand Himself hath made.
And thee no sun by day shall ever smite;
No moon shall harm thee in the silent night.From every evil shall He keep thy soul, from every sin;
Jehovah shall preserve thy going out, thy coming in.
Above thee watching, He Whom we adore
Shall keep thee henceforth, yea, forevermore.
(1) On what basis did Bethuel and Laban make their decision? Why?
(2) If you were the servant, how would you react to their answer?
(3) How did he react to their answer? What can you learn from this servant?
(4) Why did her brother and her mother try to stall the parting of Rebekah? Her mum might miss her, but what about the possible motive of the brother? What does deferring to Rebekah to decide tell us about their motives? (In ancient times, did the girl have anything say about the matter?)
(5) What did they expect Rebekah to say? What did she say?
(6) What does it say about Rebekah?
(7) This story ended with a very touching scene in the Negev:
a. Isaac went to the field in the evening to meditate (the Aramaic version of the OT says “in order to pray”).
b. He loved Rebekah.
c. He was comforted after his mother’s death.
What can you learn about the person of Isaac?
Did Abraham know that Isaac was lonely and hurt after his mother’s death?
(8) What is the main message to you today?
We do not know a whole lot about Rebekah, but based on the little that we know from the Bible, she was a rather unusual woman.
We were introduced to her at the well, the evening when the servant of Abraham was praying about meeting the chosen woman in Isaac’s life.
Rebekah was one of the girls drawing water from the well that evening, and to a certain extent, it shows that she, in spite of the relative wealth of her family (which was able to send a nurse to accompany her journey back to Canaan), was used to menial labor. She was not the kind that was pampered by the family. More impressive was how she immediately attended to the servant and all 10 camels; each could drink up to 25 gallons of water. It appeared that she did it all by herself, and did it very quickly, running back and forth. It was a picture of a young woman who was kind, hospitable and hard working.
From later records in the book of Genesis, we would come to know that Laban’s household worshipped pagan gods, as was common at their time (the moon god was the main god of the land). She might have heard of Yahweh and His calling of Abraham. But the story told by the servant of Abraham would be her first and first-hand account of the faithfulness and might of this God of Abraham. I think Laban was counting on Rebekah to refuse to follow the servant back to Canaan right away as he deferred such a decision to her (24:57). But her answer must have caught them by surprise. A kind, hospitable and hard working girl like her must be very attached to her family, and yet she wanted to leave with the servant right away. We may not know the real answer, but I believe this miraculous encounter with the servant and the testimony of the faithfulness of Yahweh must have meant a lot to her. Her eventual faith in the Lord proves not to be a second-hand faith for we read of how she inquired of the Lord because of the jostling of the two babies in her womb (Gen. 25:22).
No wonder she became the comfort of Isaac (Gen. 24:67).
(1) Biblical scholars, in general, tend to view the re-marriage of Abraham as occurring much earlier on; Calvin even suggested that it occurred after Sarah forced Abraham to divorce Hagar. The Bible, in fact, has not given us any clue as to its timing. Why do you think people are so concerned about whether or not Abraham married Keturah before Sarah’s death? Are you? Should you be?
(2) What did Abraham do to ensure that Isaac remained the sole heir to God’s promise?
(3) Abraham lived a long life of 175 years (he would have lived 15 more years after Jacob and Esau were born — see 21:5; 25:7 and 26). It is perhaps fitting that we use some time to remember him:
a. What caused him to uproot from his homeland?
b. What were the hurdles he needed to overcome in such a move?
c. What were the major mistakes he made in his life that the Bible chooses to reveal so openly?
d. What were the results of these mistakes?
e. When God chose him, what were the blessings being foretold? How important was his role in the ultimate plan of salvation for the whole humankind?
f. What was the key of success for Abraham to be able to fulfill his role in this plan?
g. What were the important milestones in his journey of faith?
h. What were the potential events that could have derailed God’s plan of salvation through him?
i. Write a short eulogy for Abraham, as if you were at his funeral.
(4) Why does the Bible choose to give details of his other wife and children and their descendants? This included details of Ishmael together with the account of his death. What kind of a legacy did Abraham leave?
(5) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
I have to admit that in trying to make sense of Abraham’s marriage to Keturah, I was disturbed when I discovered that the bulk of the conservative commentaries that I consulted, opine that it probably took place before the death of Sarah. Even the leading Reformer, John Calvin, leaned towards this view (Calvin, Genesis, 33), based on the fact that Abraham’s body was as good as dead and that the birth of Isaac was through and through a miracle.
I was disturbed because that would have made Abraham guilty of polygamy, and John Calvin was right, “This (is) worthy of grave censure.” And he went on to say, “We know it to be not uncommon for men to be rendered bold by excessive license. Thus, Abraham having once transgressed the law of marriage, perhaps, after the dispute respecting Hagar, did not desist from the practice of polygamy. It is also probable that his mind had been wounded, by the divorce which Sarah had compelled him to make with Hagar. Such conduct indeed was disgraceful, or, at least, unbecoming in the holy patriarch.” That’s exactly my point, he was the holy patriarch, the father of faith!
These commentators also see that the reason why Moses chose to recount his re-marriage at this point was to avoid distracting us unnecessarily “from the promise of Isaac and its fulfillment” (Wenham, 158).
True, as I was reading his journey of faith, this was not the first incident that disturbed me: His twice betrayal of Sarah with his lies to both Pharaoh and Abimelech, his taking of Hagar as a concubine, his driving away and deserting Hagar and Ishmael in a sure-death situation and now his taking of another wife! But I have to admit, all these flaws and failures paled into insignificance when I read how he willingly offered his only beloved son on the altar at Mount Moriah. And when God cried out in heaven, “Now I know you fear me”, I could almost hear God say in His own heart, “Since you did not spare your only beloved son for me, I would not spare mine either for you.”
He loved and feared God in a way, probably no other human has ever or can ever duplicate!
(1) Barrenness continues to be the theme of these matriarchs. How significant was barrenness in the ancient culture? What was its added significance concerning both Sarah and Rebekah?
(2) How did Isaac deal with Rebekah’s almost 20 years of infertility? How different was he from Abraham in dealing with his wife’s barrenness?
(3) Why did Rebekah bring the jostling of the babies in her womb to the Lord? Would you? What does this say about Rebekah?
(4) In answer to Rebekah’s inquiry, what prophecy did God make about the future of the two brothers?
(5) Does this prophecy necessarily mean that Esau will not be able to live a life pleasing to God? Does it mean the Jacob will necessarily be able to live a life pleasing to God?
(6) What were the professions of the two brothers? Does it mean that a stay-at-home, quiet child is better than an outgoing child?
(7) What’s wrong with Isaac and Rebekah in their parenting?
(8) In the case of Esau, what did his birthright entail? How important was it, apart from “possibly” inheriting a double portion of estate (as mandated by the Law of Moses subsequently almost a thousand years later)? (It should be natural that both brothers would have been told of the Covenant made by God with Abraham, their grandfather.)
(9) Did Jacob happen to think of cheating the birthright from Esau?
(10) Do you think the birthright could be sold? Was it officially sold by Esau to Jacob and recognized by the parents?
(11) What was the actual, serious consequence of Esau’s action according to v. 34? What spiritual significance did it have?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
In defending God’s sovereignty, the Apostle Paul cites God’s choice of Jacob over Esau by quoting from Malachi 1:2-3 as he writes in Roman 9:13 that “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
But the context of Malachi “indicates it is the nation Israel and Edom, rather than their individual ancestors Jacob and Esau, that are in view.” (Bruce, TNTC, Romans, 182)
In fact, as Rebekah inquired of the Lord about the jostling babies in the womb, the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23)
The context is clearly about two nations, not two individuals. In fact, it was Jacob who ended up bowing down to Esau seven times. (Gen. 33:3)
It is true that Esau should know very well the importance of the Abrahamic Covenant and that he, as the older son, would be assuming the role of the continuation of the line of the “seed”. Yet he despised his birth-right. Clearly he was not a man of faith. But it has nothing to do with the prophecy. The fact that God has not chosen you as the continuous bearer of His Covenant does not mean that you could not lead a life pleasing to the Lord. Of the sons of Jacob, God has chosen Judah, not Joseph. But this did not prevent Joseph from becoming a man of faith and a blessing to the family.
Esau has no one to blame — not predestination, nor parental favoritism — but himself for his spiritual apathy. It was his choice to despise his birth-right and to marry the Hittite women.
Likewise, when a person turns away from God, it is always his or her own choice — no one can blame their family, society or even the church!
(1) What reason did God give in telling Isaac not to go to Egypt in spite of the famine?
(2) What did Isaac do in order to face the famine?
(3) Why did God tell Isaac not to go Egypt, while He did not appear to have warned Abraham under a similar situation before (Gen. 12:10)?
(4) This Abimelech was likely the son of the king who took Sarah as wife for a time. Why did Isaac lie? Did he not learn from his father’s mistake?
(5) From the rebuke of Abimelech, how would you describe the actual moral condition of Abimelech and the people of the land?
(6) In spite of his lack of faith in God’s protection, how did God honor his obedience in not going to Egypt in spite of the famine?
(7) When the Philistines plugged up all the wells dug by Abraham’s servants, what was the message to Isaac? Did they not break the treaty made between Abraham and King Abimelech back in Genesis 21:30-31?
(8) How did Isaac react to their threat?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
In many ways, we find that the life of Isaac resembles that of Abraham. It appears that history has a way of repeating itself.
Both had a wife who was barren. Both were blessed by God and their wealth increased in the land of their sojourn. Both faced famine. All these examples happened to be a source of testing of their faith in the Lord.
Abraham and Sarah responded to the barrenness by trying to usher in God’s promise by their own means. Isaac, however, might have learned from Abraham’s mistake for he took the matter in prayer to the Lord, and thereby avoided making the same mistake.
Both were blessed with great wealth, and both handled this material blessing humbly, without making wealth a source of their security or a goal to pursue.
Both faced famine. Abraham made the mistake of moving away from the Promised Land into Egypt, but in the case of Isaac, God intervened to prevent him from making the same mistake. But Isaac made the same mistake as Abraham, in lying about who his wife was for fear of his own life — It was a sign of faithlessness. But both, in spite of their mistakes, received something far more precious — they experienced the grace of God.
The lives of these two patriarchs show us that crises in life happen to everyone. Whether in failure or success, a crisis always serves to draw those who love God closer to God and to be stronger in Him.
Lot, too, faced many crises in life. But they have done him no good. What is the difference? Unlike Abraham and Isaac, his heart was attracted to the worldly city of Sodom. It was a sign that his first love was not the Lord.
The Apostle Paul is right, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him…” (Rom. 8:28)