Genesis 24:1-20

Abraham was old by now, well advanced in days. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

² And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who was steward of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh,

³ so that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of the sky and God of the land, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,

⁴ but will go to my country and to my kin, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant said to him, “What if the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ Abraham replied to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there.

⁷ The LORD, the God of the sky, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kin, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸ But if the woman does not want to follow you, then you will be free from this oath from me; only you must not take my son back there.”

⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him on this subject.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he set out for Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.

¹¹ And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the water well at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water.

¹² And he prayed, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show faithful love to my master Abraham.

¹³ See, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴ Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’- let her be the one whom you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown faithful love to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, see, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.

¹⁶ The young woman looked very beautiful, a virgin whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came back.

¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”

¹⁸ She replied, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they have finished drinking.”

²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to get more water, and she supplied all his camels.

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A bride for the Master’s Son

Abraham gave his servant specific instructions that he should travel the long distance back to Paddan-Aram and find a wife for Isaac there. She should not come from the Canaanites. The servant found Rebekah, who demonstrated the qualities one looks for in a bride. An angel had gone before the servant and had put all the variables in place so that the servant found the perfect match.

This story is important historically, because it explains how Rebekah became Isaac’s wife.

It is important spiritually because Rebekah’s attitude of eager hospitality, submission to the marriage and love for Isaac (whom she had not seen) teaches the church how we should respond to Jesus, our Bridegroom, and the Master’s Son.

LORD, may our love for Jesus motivate us to serve his servants, and submit to his will eagerly, as Rebekah did.