Isaac was no spring chicken when his dad Abraham encouraged him to get married. Abraham was concerned that Isaac should not take a Canaanite woman to be his wife, but someone from the place where his kith and kin were established. Probably too frail to undertake the journey himself, he had a trusted servant travel there to find the right person.
The servant put his faith in God to help him discover who God wanted in this special household, and, in what appears to have been a remarkably short time after their arrival, Rebekah appeared. The meeting at the well (perhaps the modern equivalent is Costa?) went according to plan, and the servant asked about overnight accommodation. Rebekah dashed home to tell her brother and her mother, and in due course Rebekah’s family learned about Abraham, found they were related to him, and also the purpose of the servant’s journey. Gifts were exchanged and it was arranged that the girl would become Isaac’s wife.
Perhaps because the customs of that day were so alien to ours, Rebekah appears commendably sanguine throughout. Yes, sure, she wanted to be married, but it meant travelling a long way to a place of which she had no knowledge, to a man she had never heard of before. And to leave the very next day, as the servant wanted to complete his mission without delay. At least they asked Rebekah about this the next morning. And she said ‘I will’, no doubt throwing all into a fevered rush to get things arranged. The packing, the sorting, the sad goodbyes. My heart goes out to her mother, and to Rebekah’s servant-girls, the chance for family reunions being quite remote making farewells dreadfully final. It also called for a remarkable level of trust, travelling a very long way over rough and arid country with strangers.
I have made some journeys into the unknown in my life, and I am sure you have too. Think about them, draw them from your subconsciousness, and consider how much you have learned about trusting God in your journey. God bless you.
PS. Isaac loved Rebekah, and years later she gave birth to Esau and Jacob. But you knew that.
Church of England churches in Fryerns, Basildon
