Genesis 24:49-67

2008.Mar.21 02:30

Wedding in Canaan…Sort of

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Now please tell me if you are willing to do the right thing for my master. Will you treat him fairly, or do I have to look for another young woman? Laban and Bethuel answered, "The LORD has done this. We have no choice in the matter. Take Rebekah with you; she can marry your master's son, just as the LORD has said."
(Genesis 24:49-51, CEV)

The servant has told his story, now it’s “deal or no deal” time. Looking at these arranged marriages is a bit odd (although I gave that a lot of thought at one point in my life and may regale you dear readers with some of it…later) insofar as neither Rebekah nor Isaac is at all involved at this point, but, hey, what are cultural shifts for? The response of Laban and Bethuel is that this is pretty clearly the will of Yahweh (or whatever they called him in those days), so who are they to so no? Knowing that Rebekah will be financially well off and married to a (someone distant at this point) relative is probably encouraging to them (and they get some money out of it, as well). I think their response is, well, sensible. They are responding to the apparent will of God, and checking that response with wisdom.

This precedes a second set of negotiations regarding when Rebekah and the servant will leave. Understandably, Rebekah’s dad and brother would like to have a few days to say good-bye. Also understandably, the servant wants to go home. Laban and Bethuel refer the question to Rebekah, who decides to head on. That’s a nice moment in an “old patriarchs deciding the destiny of others” story. And so, after a bit of preparation, off they go.

At that time Isaac was living in the southern part of Canaan near a place called "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me." One evening he was walking out in the fields, when suddenly he saw a group of people approaching on camels. So he started toward them. Rebekah saw him coming; she got down from her camel, and asked, "Who is that man?" "He is my master Isaac," the servant answered. Then Rebekah covered her face with her veil. The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. Isaac took Rebekah into the tent where his mother had lived before she died, and Rebekah became his wife. He loved her and was comforted over the loss of his mother.
(Genesis 24:62-67, CEV)

Actually, I don’t know that I have anything to say on that point. It’s a nice feeling that Isaac and Rebekah seem to have sort of emotional connection from the first moment they see each other, but that’s just my spin on the reading. The point is that they do marry. Another point is the Yahweh did indeed make the servant’s journey successful, indeed working things far better than the servant probably anticipated.

Genesis 24:33-48

2008.Mar.15 03:35

The Servant Reviews

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Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, "I will not eat until I have said what I have to say." He said, "Speak on." So he said, "I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys.
(Genesis 24:33-35, ESV)

Thus the servant begins to tell his story to Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, and Laban, her brother. Which I am not going to quote in it’s entirety. It’s pretty much a rehash of the chapter so far.

There are two “retellings” going on here. First, the servant is telling this story once again, but to an audience that hasn’t heard it. So, it’s natural that he would need to retell recent history here, lest Bethuel and Laban have no idea what’s going on. But there’s another retelling, which is to us readers of the Bible. I try to take note when the scriptures repeat something. This is because, especially back in youth group, I found that so often people focused on the one-off phrases in the Bible and made huge deals out of them whilst ignoring the things the Bible says over and over and over and over… “Love your neighbor” for example. Realizing that I too am often guilty of doing so, I do try to make an effort to pay more attention to that which is said multiple times.

In this case, I’m not sure why this explanation is recorded rather than “and the servant explained what he was doing.” It’s not a bad review though. After all, in the midst of the story, I can forget why the servant is on this errand anyway (Not that I drew any real firm conclusions on that earlier). It is significant to remember though that the servant did not meet Rebekah in a vacuum, although it may feel like that to her and her relatives at this point. He has arrived for a purpose and one in which Yahweh has blessed him.

And, to an extent, what the servant is retelling here is Abraham’s life since leaving his relatives. Sure, the servant doesn’t spend much time on the power and wealth Abraham has collected. Instead he focuses more time (not much more, technically) on Abraham’s son, Isaac, and particularly on Isaac’s future. Is that weird?

One of my wife’s professors one time mentioned that you know someone is dying when that person stops including themselves when considering the future–or stops considering the future altogether. Abraham is getting old, so his thoughts for the future are naturally more directed towards his descendants than himself. But he is determined to take interest in that future. In effect, I read what the servant is saying right now as, “Abraham is blessed and he’s expecting more blessing for his descendants.” Which is a good sort of expectation for a parent to have.

Genesis 24:28-32

2008.Mar.10 14:57

Introducing Laban

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Laban, son of Nahor, is one of those interesting folks whose antics are recorded in several chapters of the Bible, and yet comes off as a throw-away character. That is, I don’t recall ever hearing anybody teach about Laban. He’s just Jacob’s pesky father-in-law, perceived more as an environmental factor that a real person. Which is unfortunate, because his life, like Lot, is an example for us (men, especially, I think) of how we can get out-of-tune from seeking God, and end up doing a lot of stupid.

Most of what the Bible records of Laban is in relation to his son-in-law and nephew, Jacob, second-born of his sister Rebekah. But in this episode, we see him interacting with his sister and Abraham’s servant, many years before Jacob begins working for him.

Rebekah ran straight home and told her family everything. Her brother Laban heard her tell what the servant had said, and he saw the ring and the bracelets she was wearing. So Laban ran out to Abraham's servant, who was standing by his camels at the well. Then Laban said, "The LORD has brought you safely here. Come home with me. There's no need for you to keep on standing outside. I have a room ready for you in our house, and there's also a place for your camels." Abraham's servant went home with Laban, where Laban's servants unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed. Then they brought water into the house, so Abraham's servant and his men could wash their feet.
(Genesis 24:28-32, CEV)

Rebekah, shortly after the servant gives her the ring and bracelets, heads home to inform her family of the matter. I imagine that she also goes back to get another member of the household to give the official invite, probably a male in this patriarchal society. In addition, we are in the middle of a courtship ritual, whether or not everybody realizes it. While Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, appears later in this chapter, it appears that Laban is acting as the head of household by this time, and so he would be the one, in our contemporary context, to “give away” Rebekah. Hence, him inviting the servant may make particular sense within the courtship context. Then again, this paragraph has pretty much been a series of guesses.

Anyway, back to Laban. He, as had his sister, shows great hospitality to the visitor. It’s unclear to me if he has yet guessed the servant’s purpose, but it’s evident that Laban has determined to treat Abraham’s servant very well. I do appreciate that Laban’s first response is to ensure the comfort of his guest, rather than to interview him as to his goal. At this point, I don’t see any of the attributes that I find distasteful later on in Laban, in particular his deceptiveness in dealing with Jacob. Which is something that I want to be mindful of in my own life. Just because I choose to seek, serve and obey God now (although I often fail) doesn’t guarantee that I will continue to do so later in life. Or, to put it another way, I cannot rely on my past ‘goodness’ to override any unrighteous decisions or actions in the present. I must, instead, continually and throughout my days, choose to place Yahweh above all else in my life and continue to seek more of him and his work in me.

Genesis 24:22-27

2008.Mar.01 03:08

Reactions

Read Genesis 24:22-27 | Full Chapter

The servant watched Rebekah and saw her actions matched the sign he had requested from Yahweh. Rebekah has finished giving water to the servant and his horses. So, we arrive at a point in the story where conflicts have been resolved (for now), everything is looking lovely, and it’s time for a few reactions (and an additional positive revelation).

After the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold.
(Genesis 24:22, Holman)

I’d imagine there’s all sorts of cultural significance to this ritual. Wikipedia does not shed any particular light on it, and thus, my 60 second research period reveals nothing. However, receiving–from someone you’ve just met–significant gold jewelry cannot be ignored. I would guess that at least this act reveals to Rebekah that whatever this guy is about to say, he’s serious about it. It also makes clear that the servant is convinced that she is the woman whom God desires Issac to marry. I might then consider that this act is a statement of confidence in a forthcoming covenant. Mostly because I think the phrase sounds neat.

"Whose daughter are you?" he asked. "Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?" She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." She also said to him, "We have plenty of straw and feed, and a place to spend the night."
(Genesis 24:23-25, Holman)

Despite the servant’s confidence that Rebekah is indeed the woman he set out to meet, he has not yet proposed to her marriage with Isaac or even stated that this is the purpose of his travels. Not that I would have expected him to broach that subject yet. Instead, he inquires as to Rebekah’s family and if he may spend the night with them.

Again, Rebekah’s response is to extend hospitality, unlike, to throw in a contrasting example, the folks of Sodom. However, she adds an unintentional bonus. Guess what, servant? God led you to a relative of your master. Yay! Which is kind of the servants reaction.

Then the man bowed down, worshiped the Lord, and said, "Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."
(Genesis 24:26-27, Holman)

The servant’s journey is not yet complete. But he knows that Yahweh has already given him great favor. And he worships and thanks Yahweh. When success arrives, as in this case, there’s often so much left to do. But I don’t want to forget to give Yahweh praise for each blessing he gives me…although too often I do forget.

Genesis 24:15-21

2008.Feb.23 02:03

Not your everyday courting

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Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar." She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.
(Genesis 24:15-21, NASB)

Everybody is so nice in this passage. Well, anyway, the servant and Rebekah are so nice. Both of them are practicing servanthood–Abraham’s servant, by his care in seeking a wife for Isaac, and Rebekah, by her attentions to this traveler. They both exhibit one of the keys of true service to another, which is that their service is complete. Rebekah does not merely give the servant a bit to drink, but goes back to the well and draws additional water for his camels. Likewise, the servant does not just watch to see if she seems like a decent lady, but even once it’s clear that Rebekah is fulfilling the signs for which the servant had prayed, he’s watching her; he could have, at her first approach, said, “She looks good and is polite. Let’s go.” But instead, because he chooses to serve Abraham well watches Rebekah carefully to judge her qualities as best he can in this short span.

And, well, that’s the point I’m wanting to make in a nutshell. In a smaller nutshell, service to others is more than doing the minimum to help or please, it is rather helping in a complete way.

Genesis 24:9-14

2008.Feb.16 04:27

A Specific Request

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So the servant gave Abraham his word that he would do everything he had been told to do. Soon after that, the servant loaded ten of Abraham's camels with valuable gifts. Then he set out for the city in northern Syria, where Abraham's brother Nahor lived. When he got there, he let the camels rest near the well outside the city. It was late afternoon, the time when the women came out for water.
(Genesis 24:9-11, CEV)

The servant, having clarified Abraham’s request, agrees to fulfill it. He then acts according to the promise he made. If Abraham, proverbially, had said “Jump”, the servant would have said “How high?”, and then jumped to that height.

I was about to just give high marks to the servant and move on to the next few verses, but quoting the “When I say jump” stuff has my mind going another direction. I have often found myself hearing that expression and thinking that if I told somebody to jump and they asked me to clarify just how high they should jump, slappings would ensue. I mean, seriously, if I wanted to be that specific, I would say so. If I thought of it. Maybe…

And there’s the trouble, when do I ask for more specific instructions and when should I just go forth and do, filling in the gaps as needed. This is particularly difficult when the instructor is unlikely to know how much I know. Or, from the other side, how detailed should my instructions be to others? And what about instructions from God?

I feel confident in saying that there is a balance between no details and too many, whether the giver or receiver of the instructions. But a more important point is that new instructions should not serve as a reason to ignore those of the past. In particular, a new “calling” from God does not give me leave to violate his commandments; if I think I have received a calling which would require me to disobey his word, then I can safely assume I misheard his more recent instructions, or they were not indeed from Yahweh.

This could lead back into a “new” versus “old” covenant discussion, but I’m not up to that right now; and would probably make a fool of myself if I tried. Now, trying to get back on track…

The servant prayed: You, LORD, are the God my master Abraham worships. Please keep your promise to him and let me find a wife for Isaac today. The young women of the city will soon come to this well for water, and I'll ask one of them for a drink. If she gives me a drink and then offers to get some water for my camels, I'll know she is the one you have chosen and that you have kept your promise to my master.
(Genesis 24:12-14, CEV)

The servant is aware that the task is not something that he can really do on his own. Sure, he could wander around town, find the hottest unmarried gal, and say, “Hey, wouldja like to marry a millionaire?” But the servant has shown himself loyal to Abraham, and so he wants to do better than “good enough”. The servant, faced with this challenge, does what I often forget to do. He asks Yahweh for help.

The servant does tell make a precise request to Yahweh as to just what sort of woman he expects that God will direct him to. Yet, he is very specific in stating what signs he wants God to use to reveal his (God’s) desire. Now, the particular indications alone would likely lead the servant to a good woman, one who is certainly very hospitable, but the servant is expecting Yahweh to ensure that the particular woman he desires to marry Isaac will be the one to give the servant a drink and offer to water his camels.

I’m not sure about the practice of asking God for a particular sign, but it’s certainly better than not asking him for help or ignoring his direction. As with the discussion of should I ask for more details or simply press forth (or a balance), the question is valid, but the key is obeying Yahweh’s commands, seeking his help, and worshiping him.

Genesis 24:5-8

2008.Feb.08 00:30

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Abraham, as noted last entry, is assigning his eldest household servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Abraham, in asking the servant to accomplish this task gives him two restrictions. The first was that the servant must seek a bride for Isaac from among Abraham’s relatives, not from among the Canaanites. Now, we come to second:

The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?" Abraham answered him, "Make sure that you don't take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from my native land, who spoke to me and swore to me, 'I will give this land to your offspring '— He will send His angel before you, and you can take a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don't let my son go back there."
(Genesis 24:5-8, Holman)

The servant, while heading back to Abraham’s native country, is to ensure that Isaac stays in Palestine. Abraham and Isaac are, I assume, fairly nomadic. Abraham and Sarah certainly have moved around a lot. And while Abraham has taken hold of Yahweh’s promise that his descendants will inherit the land of the Canaanites, there’s no indication that Isaac wouldn’t migrate on back to the ancestral homeland. Especially if he went back there to get married.

For me, there’s often the temptation to return to what is comfortable. Having grown up as an alien may have been very trying for Isaac. Returning as the heir of Abraham’s success to his relatives and there “settling down” would, I think, have been tempting. And yet it was not in line with Yahweh’s plans. Welcome to earth. This is one of the key differences of pick-and-choose religion for my immediate benefits verses obeying God, that obedience to Yahweh means doing what is uncomfortable, even when I will not inherit the promise of that obedience. Because inheriting the land will not be Isaac, nor his children.

Genesis 24:1-4

2008.Feb.02 20:43

Read Genesis 24:1-4 | Full Chapter

Well, we’ve spent a while now looking at the lives of Abraham and Sarah. Finally, somebody else is going to get married! Yay. Chapter 24 of Genesis is about Isaac marrying Rebekah. Isaac, of course, is not a central figure in this story. And even Rebekah is not the principal actor. It is instead the oldest of Abraham’s household servant, to whom Abe has assigned the task of finding a wife for Isaac.

Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
(Genesis 24:1-4, NASB)

The job is finding a spouse for the heir of Yahweh’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham assigns this job to the eldest of his household servants, which indicates to me that this is very important to Abraham. As I reckon it should be. Of course, as the eldest servant, we might assume he’s, well, old, so it is also a testament to his devotion to Abraham (whether out of love, fear, or something else), that he agrees to this adventure.

Now, we come to the point that it is extremely important to Abraham that Isaac does not marry a native of Canaan. This does have a nice logical ring to it: it would be difficult for Isaac’s descendants to dispossess the Canaanites of Palestine if they are, in fact, all Canaanites. Throughout the next four books of the Bible, too, are warnings against inter-marrying with the then-inhabitants of Palestine, due to the probability that the Israelites would adopt the prominent religions of the land, forsaking Yahweh. For example:

People of Israel, the LORD your God will help you take the land of the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations have more people and are stronger than Israel, but when you attack them, the LORD will force them out of the land. Then you must destroy them without mercy. Don't make any peace treaties with them, and don't let your sons and daughters marry any of them. If you do, those people will lead your descendants to worship other gods and to turn their backs on the LORD. That will make him very angry, and he will quickly destroy Israel.
(Deuteronomy 7:1-4, CEV)

I don’t know if this is particularly Abraham’s concern. Indeed (and I may just be missing something obvious), it’s not clear to me why this is so important to Abraham. The results represented in the rest of this chapter certainly suggest that Yahweh supports and agrees with this decision. Then, it’s not necessary to know the precise reason for each action of the patriarchs and matriarchs of Judeo-Christian tradition. Trying to do so is one of those things that I, at least, can get caught up in at the expense of really seeking God himself.