It's Not That Complicated - Isaac and Rebekah


Because it's February, the current series in church is about the more popular love stories in the Bible.  Last Sunday, it was Isaac and Rebekah.

Pastor Jeff dissected the story based on the three main characters- Abraham as the devoted father, Eliezer the praying servant and Rebekah the honorable woman.  Unlike modern-day love stories Isaac actually figured very little in the choosing of his own wife.  The whole story is in Genesis 24.

Abraham and his family were living among the Canaanites but he did not want Isaac to marry among them for the same reason we are being told in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers." This is a warning against idolatry, which was prevalent among the Canaanites.  Abraham also did not want Isaac to go back to the land of his birth because he was holding on to God's promise from Genesis 12:7 “To your offspring I will give this land.”  So Eliezer traveled back to Abraham's land of birth to get a wife for Isaac and upon reaching the place, he prayed for success and a sign to determine which woman was to be Isaac's wife.  He will ask for  a drink and the chosen woman not only would give him a drink but offer to water the camels, too.  I have read this part of the Bible before but what was explained in the preaching, which was a revelation to me, was that offering to water the camels "until they have had enough to drink" is very unusual because it means Rebekah had to fill her jar 60 times!  So the sign Eliezer asked for and Rebecca fulfilled was extraordinary by itself and there was no mistaking that she was the wife for Isaac.

Rebekah traveled back with Eliezer and she became Isaac's wife.  It was not complicated because it was ordained by God.  Abraham, Eliezer, Isaac and Rebekah were all in tune with the spirit through prayer.  We discussed this during our VG meeting and most of it was around praying for relationships, praying for one's spouse and praying for our children's future spouses.  I thought the last part was a radical idea when I first heard about it years ago but it does make sense because outside of following Jesus, choosing a partner for life is the most important decision one can make.

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We have moved from the Friday night to a new Saturday afternoon VG.  We've had 2 meetings so far.=)

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