The women of the bible are interesting. I enjoy studying
these women for their strength, their courage, their testimonies and the
situations where each rose to the occasion before her. Rebekah is a fascinating woman. I find it intriguing how she would in full
confidence go to marry a man she knows nothing about. I find her servant’s heart admirable and her
desire to seek the Lord encouraging.
Rebekah was hand chosen by God for Isaac; born and molded perfectly to
fit his personality, body and spirit.
God had a plan for this young woman, for out of Rebekah’s son would
bring a nation of the Lord’s people.
In young
Rebekah’s journey, her story begins with faith.
Faith in Abraham for his servant to bring back a wife, Eleazar’s faith
to find the wife, Laban and Bethuel’s faith in God to send Rebekah to Isaac,
and Rebekah’s faith to pack up and leave to an unknown land. Our God desires our faith. Rebekah mimics Abraham’s call to “leave your
household and your father’s land to the land which I am giving to you.” Blindly
Abraham goes and blindly Rebekah follows the promptings of the Lord.
We first
see Rebekah getting water for her family towards the cool of the evening. Answering the call to serve, a stranger asks
for a drink of water. She willingly gives the unknown man a drink from her jug
and offers to feed his animals. A servant’s
heart God has given her, Rebekah generously gives of her time to a
stranger. This reminds me of Hebrews 13:2, “Do
not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people
have entertained angels without knowing it”, for in a sense, she was
entertaining an angel. Genesis 24:7, “…to your offspring I
will give this land, he will send his angel before you so that you can get a
wife for my son from there.”
Rebekah,
beautiful, young, a virgin, and a sweet servant, was God’s answer to Abraham’s
prayer and Isaac’s broken heart from his mother’s death. She willingly left her father’s house to meet
the man she would marry. I am sure
exceedingly excited with anticipation for her future husband, Rebekah would
indeed marry a man who loved her greatly, but she would also feel the heartache
of a barren womb.
Just
as her mother-in-law before her, Rebekah would spend twenty years seeking,
praying and believing for children. I’m
sure witnessing births, just as Sarah, Rebekah longed for a family of her
own. In the time deemed by God as right,
this beautiful servant became pregnant.
Although exceptionally thrilled with the pregnancy, Rebekah is concerned
with the “jostling” of the babies in her womb (Genesis 25:22). And this is
what I love about Rebekah the most, “So she went to inquire of the Lord.” (Genesis 25:22). “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.’” (Genesis 25:23). Remember this bit of
information, for it will come in handy when the “babies” are of age to receive
Jacob’s blessing.
The
two boys could not be more different.
Esau, a hunter, mighty, strong and prideful, had his father’s favor for Isaac
loved the game his son brought to him.
Jacob, a homebody, witted, secretive, schemer and manipulator, had his
mother’s favor for he was the exact opposite of Esau. Esau had also taken “foreigners” as his
wives, Hittite women. Esau was a “worldly” man, who enjoyed the fruits of God’s
bounty including women, food and self pleasures. Remember, Esau was the one who sold his
birthright for a bowl of soup. His
desire for immediate gratification reminds us he lacks self-control, the
importance of his spiritual blessing and duties to his family. His lack of self-control desired women his
mother detested! “Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I’m disgusted with living,
because of these Hittite women. If Jacob
takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women, like these,
my life will not be worth living.”
For
Rebekah, yes, she favored Jacob, but remember what the Lord had told her
regarding these two boys, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from
within you will be separated; one people will be stronger that the other, and
the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis
25:23). As Mary treasured all the things surrounding the birth of Christ in
her heart, Rebekah treasured the Lord’s words and kept them in her heart. I am sure she was reminded daily of Esau’s
abrasive attitude toward the family. I am
sure Rebekah watched as Esau become more and more entrenched with the world
around him.
I believe after taking the women as
his wives, Rebekah had had enough.
Encouraging
a son to deceive his father is ungodly, but the circumstance around Esau
receiving Jacob’s blessing and giving the “inheritance” to ungodly, pagan women
was more than Rebekah could allow. We
all know the rest of the story, but the “deception” many portray Rebekah to
play is somewhat unfair. The Lord gave
her a word of knowledge regarding the two men; the older would serve the
younger. Oddly, this seems a theme in
the Old Testament. Joseph received the
same dream regarding his brothers bowing before him, while God chose David, the
runt of the family to serve as King.
Moses was also the younger sibling who was called a friend of God and
used to deliver his people from bondage and Jacob blessed the younger of
Joseph’s two sons when he in turn blessed his own family.
As
Christian women, what can we digest from Rebekah? I believe we are to walk by faith and not by
sight, to obediently following the promptings of the Lord when asked to “go and
tell” and train our children in the way they should go and when they are older,
they will not depart from it. Rebekah
walked by faith, leaving her family in to the family of God’s chosen. We except Christ as our Savior and leave the
desires of the world for the desires of God’s heart. As Christian women, we are pray as Rebekah and
“inquire” of the Lord. She knew
something was different about the pregnancy and just as Hannah ran to the High
Priest, Rebekah sought the Lord for answers.
When our hearts inquire of knowledge, we are to seek the Lord’s will and
not our own.
Rebekah’s
story is one of service, prayer and hope.
She had a servant’s heart as we are to serve the Lord. She was a barren woman, as many before her,
but continued to pray to the Lord for a blessing. Christian, we are to never give up hope, but
be as the persistent widow in the Gospel of Luke, always seeking the Living
God, his plan and purpose for our lives, treasuring all the Lord gives us in
our hearts. I pray her story blesses you
today. I pray you “inquire” of the Lord,
seek his face, anoint him with your prayers, never give up hope for change in
Christ and believe God will work out all things for good for those who love him
and are called according to his purpose (Romans
8:28).
Let
us pray and “inquire” of the Living God, the same God Rebekah “inquired” of!
Father,
I
desire the heart of a servant. I know my
attitude should be the same as Christ’s for it is written, “Who, being in very
nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but
made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human
likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became
obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the
highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
(Philippians 2:5-11).
I
pray to be quickly obedient and submissive to the plans and purpose you have
for me. May I be a loving wife who holds
her husband with great esteem. May I be
a mother who will “inquire” of the Lord when questions arise with the
children. I pray to train them in the
way they should go and when they are older, they will never depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).
I
pray for the faith that can move mountains.
I pray to know you and the power of the Cross. I pray to boldly stand for the Christian
faith, no matter the persons present or the obstacles that appear in the way. I
will treasure, as Mary and as Rebekah, all these things in my heart. I thank you for listening to my prayers. I thank you I can “inquire” of the Lord
anytime I want, need and desire to spend time with my King. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth I pray,
Amen.
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