Isaac and Rebecca: A Love Story

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Welcome! To Our Ancient Future Story: Navigating Scripture Through the Eyes of Family. Where I share with you, Biblical stories, as a family member would tell a story around the dinner table. As children of God, we are a part of God’s family, and His family story has a lot of history. Each week, we will take one story and talk about it, the cultural, historical, geographical, and sociological impacts. We will be looking at these stories from the perspective of our ancestors, through the lens of ancient times, in hopes of learning more about our family. This is Our Ancient Future Story.

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Welcome back to Our Ancient Future Story, I’m Vic, and I am so excited to share with you another story today! We ended last time with Abraham’s reconciliation with God. Yahweh provided a lamb for sacrifice and established an atonement for the broken relationship. But today we pick up almost 15 years later. Isaac is a young man now, Sarah has died, and Abraham is well advanced in years. And Abraham is finding away for his son to get married. This is a beautifully crafted Love Story. Surprisingly Isaac and Rebekah are probably the most stable of all the patriarch relationships. And today we are going to see their origin story. 

So, grab your cup of coffee or something to drink, and get ready to hear the story of Isaac and Rebekah. 

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We open our story with Abraham calling in his oldest servant, the one in charge of his whole estate and says to him, “Put you hand under my thigh and swear an oath by Yahweh that you will not take a wife for my son from the woman of Canaan, but that you will go to the land of my Father and find a wife for my son Isaac” 

 (Historical Fun Fact: The phrase, “Put your hand under my thigh” is a euphemism but more on this later.) 

The servant asked Abraham, “But what if she does not want to leave and come with me?” Abraham replied, “if that is the case, do not take my son Isaac there. I believe Yahweh, who told me, “To Your Offspring I will Give this Land’. So, I know that an Angel will go before you and help you find a wife for my son. But if she does not wish to return with you, you will be freed from this oath.” They then swore an oath concerning this matter. 

            Then Abraham’s servant took ten camels and departed for Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. When he arrived, he made the camels kneel outside the city walls, and waited for evening, when all the woman of the town would come to the well to draw water. 

            When evening approached, Abraham’s servant got down on his knees and prayed saying, “O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success in finding a wife for my master’s Son. I am standing by the spring of water, Let the woman to whom I say, “Please draw me some water to drink, and who shall say, “Drink, and I will water your camels also,” Let here be the one you have for Isaac. By this I will know that you love Abraham. 

And before he had finished speaking, a young woman came out to draw water from the well. She was very attractive and of an age to be married. 

[Historical Fun Fact:  A young woman is considered of age when she turns 13 years old. Just like boys become men at age 13. However, women at this time, were often married around this time because it was shortly after they started puberty, and they were developmentally ready to have children. So, we know that this young woman that Abraham’s servant sees is at least 13 years old.]

Abraham’s servant got up and ran to her saying, “Please draw me some water to drink”. She replied, Drink my lord, and she drew up water for him to drink. While he was drinking she said, I will water your camels also, until they have finished drinking. She went back and forth from the well to the camels until all 10 camels had their fill of water. All the while Abraham’s servant is watching in amazement. 

Once she had finished watering the camels Abraham’s servant gave her a gold ring and bracelets for her wrist. He said, who is your father?  Is there room to stay in his house tonight? She answered, I am Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, and we have plenty of straw and room for you to stay the night. 

Then Abraham’s servant bowed down and worshipped Yahweh, saying, “Blessed be the Lord who has shown steadfast love to my master Abraham. For the Lord has led me straight to the house of my master’s kinsmen!” Then Rebekah ran and told her mother about these things. 

Now Rebekah had a brother Laban who after hearing these things from Rebekah ran to meet the man by the spring. He said, “Come to my house, we have prepared a room for you and a place for your camels.” So, Abraham’s servant followed Laban. They gave him water to wash his feet, straw and water for the camels, and food for him to eat. (We are seeing the hospitality theme here). But Abraham’s servant went off script and declined the food by saying, “I will not eat until I say what I need to say.” So, they gathered around while he recapped all that had happened. He tells them, he is Abraham’s Servant, and about the oath he swore to Abraham not to find a wife for Isaac in Canaan but from his Father’s house. He told them about his prayer to Yahweh and how Rebekah offered to give him a drink AND water the camels. And how he had given her a golden ring and bracelets and worshipped Yahweh for sending him straight to Abraham’s kinsmen. 

Then Laban said, “The Lord is with you, take Rebekah with you and she will be the wife of your master’s son.” Then Abraham’s servant brought out all the jewelry of silver and gold, and garments, and gave it to Rebekah. To her brother and mother, he gave costly ornaments. Then they ate and drank and spent the night there. The next morning, Abraham’s servant was getting ready to leave, when Laban and Rebekah’s mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us for 10 days then she can go.” But the servant was adamant that he had to head back to Abraham now. 

So, they decided to call Rebekah and let her decide if she will go with him now or not. So, they call her into the room and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” Rebekah responded “I will go.” So she packed up with her nurse her family said a blessing over her and then she left with Abraham’s servant. 

Now, Isaac had been out in the fields near Beer-lahai-roi tending to the fields, when he looked up and saw camels in the distance. When Rebekah saw him from a far way off, she hopped off her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that in the field?” He said, “It is my master.” So, Rebekah took her vail and she covered her face. Then Abraham’s servant told Isaac all that had happened, and Isaac took Rebekah to be his wife and he loved her. And so, Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. 

And that is where our story ends. Isaac and Rebekah, newlyweds, together because of the leadership of Abraham, the faithfulness of the Servant, and the steadfast love of Yahweh. 

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So, Let’s dig into our story a little bit. We open our story with Abraham calling his Servant in to make an oath. Now today in 2021 we think of making a promise, like a scout’s honor or a pinky promise, but in the Ancient Near East, oaths or vows were taken very seriously. Like a covenant agreement, but without the animals. Instead, the covenant of an oath was one’s word before the gods. To make an oath by the gods was to acknowledge that the gods had a way to ensure the oath was kept. Remember the gods controlled everything that happened in the Ancient world, so for them, this was a very serious oath, because the gods could literally destroy them if they failed to uphold their end of the oath. 

In Abraham’s case, he and his servant are making a Body oath. This is not the only time we see this type of oath in the Old Testament. Isaac asks Joseph to make this oath when he makes him swear to not leave his bones in Egypt but take his bones back to the Promised Land. 

Abraham tells his servant to “Put his hand under his thigh” As mentioned earlier is a euphemism.

[***Disclaimer: If you don’t want the details of this oath, go ahead and skip ahead 15 seconds]

A Body Oath was mostly used between family members to swear a promise, because it was personal. To make a Body oath, one who is agreeing to the oath would “Put their hand under the other party’s thigh”. This is a euphemism for genitals. So, to Literally say, “Put your hand under my genitals and swear an oath by God.” This particular oath is believed to connect the covenant of circumcision with the covenant oath they are swearing. Some scholars believe that the punishment for this oath being broken would be the death of the party’s children, or even the cause of infertility in the party who broke the oath. So, to break the oath was to lose the hope of descendants and therefore, lose the ability to keep the family name alive. 

Remember, in the Ancient Near East, the tradition and therefore the expectation, was to leave all the inheritance of the father to the oldest son. And then he would leave everything to his oldest son, and so on for generations. This is how the memory of family members stayed alive. But without descendants all that goes away. And no one is there to remember your name, your standing in society, or to care for the family you left behind. So, there is a lot riding on this oath they are making. And understandably Abraham’s servant is a little anxious, which is why he asks, “What if she doesn’t come back with me?” He doesn’t want to be punished because a girl in a foreign city said “No.” Abraham, understanding, says, “If she says ‘No’ then you will be freed from my oath. Only don’t find a wife for my son among the Canaanites or let him move to her city.” 

Abraham asks his most trusted servant to make this body oath, that he will go and find a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s father’s house and not to find a wife among the Canaanites where he was living. Now you may be asking, “Why? Why go all the way back to your family’s house to find a wife, why not just find someone who lives near by. And the reason comes down to values. Abraham’s brother Nahor had similar values to Abraham. He understood that Abraham left to follow the personal God Yahweh. Unlike the Canaanites in the land who, at this point, did not recognize Yahweh as a deity at all. Abraham did not want his son to be led away from the call of Yahweh by a wife who worshipped Canaanite gods and didn’t acknowledge Yahweh as LORD. In addition to this, Abraham didn’t want Isaac to leave the promised land, because Yahweh had established the covenant that Abraham’s descendants would possess the land of Canaan, and Abraham did not want his son to be tempted to break the covenant between him and Yahweh. 

 So, for that reason, Abraham sent his servant to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor to his brother’s house to find a wife for Isaac. This city was just north of Haran where Abraham’s father Terah set up his Beth-Av. Remember when Terah died, Nahor became the Patriarch and took over the Beth-Av. But when Abraham’s servant arrives, the Patriach has been passed down to Bethuel, Son of Nahor. 

When Abraham’s servant arrives in the city of Nahor he made the ten camels kneel outside the city. There could be a couple reasons for this. 

1.     Depending on the gates of this city, it could be difficult to get the camels through the gates into the city

2.     Unloading bags, and gifts off of a camel is easier if they are kneeling 

3.     Kneeling was a way for the camels to rest. It was a long journey from the Negev to the city of Nahor, and the camels needed to rest

Once the servant got all the camels resting he prays saying, “Yahweh, God of my master Abraham.” Why? Because Yahweh is a personal God. At this time only one person had direct connection to Yahweh and that was Abraham. The Servant is calling on Abraham’s God for a favor. He wants to be successful in his mission to find Isaac a wife, but there are hundreds of people, finding a good wife for Isaac would be no easy task. So, he asks Yahweh for help. And Yahweh leads him straight to Rebekah. 

Now we can’t go on without stopping to talk about this proposition Abraham’s servant puts on God. To let the woman who will not only give him a drink but water the camels. This is a massive feat.

One thirsty camel can drink up to 135 liters of water in under 15 minutes. That’s 35 and a half gallons of water! And he had 10 camels with him! Assuming she was carrying even a gallon jug, which is highly unlikely, it would’ve taken several hours to water all the camels. Not to mention, she likely only had one bucket, so she would have to draw water, carry it outside the city, let one camel drink from the bucket until it was empty, then go back to the well to draw water, and do it again. Oh but did I mention this was all happening during the evening hours, so she was not the only person at the well trying to get water. By the time she finished water all the animals it was well past dark. I do have to wonder what her family was thinking. Surely someone asked the question,  “why is Rebekah taking so long to retrieve the water?” Remember this was a young woman’s task. Part of her taking care of the home is drawing water every morning and evening. And She probably perfected the time it took to draw water for her household. So, it would be a little scandalous for her to return home so late, with jewelry and a male servant in tow.

But her brother, Laban, runs out to meet Abraham’s servant and invites him into the house. Showing him that Ancient Near Eastern Hospitality. But the servant refuses to partake in the ritual until he says what he has come to say. And the whole family listens to him, retell the story of Abraham and his oath. After hearing these things Laban agrees for Rebekah to marry Isaac. 

The next thing we should discuss is Marriage in the Ancient Near East. Marriages were often arranged by the parents of the two getting married, long before they even meet. Generally they would make an agreement when the boy was about 8 or 9 and the woman was a baby. Yes, there is a major age gap, but this was on purpose. At the time of marriage to officially happen the man needed to be well established in the community. Have a job, and be building a house in his father’s Beth-av. The woman on the other hand was generally married shortly after her 13th birthday or around the time she began her monthly cycle. This would be the sign that she developmentally ready to have children and therefore, capable of carrying out the family line.  At which time, the groom family would pay the Bride Price. This often was in the form or jewels, fabric,  livestock, and other precious gifts. Now these gifts would vary based on the value of the woman. If she was from a higher class family, such as royalty the bride price would be higher than if she was from a low class family. These gifts also, were to show the brides family that the man was wealthy enough to provide for and take care of her. So, if the groom paid the bride price he would be approved to marry the girl. In Abraham’s case, he sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac. When his servant arrived and found Rebekah, he gave her gifts and offered a large some for the hand of Rebekah. Laban, Rebekah’s brother agreed to these terms and approved her marriage to Isaac. 

The last thing I want to point out is Rebekah saw Isaac from afar and once she knew who he was she covered her face. You may be asking why did she cover her face, they were betrothed to be married. Shouldn’t he be able to see her face? Well in keeping with the Ancient Near Eastern Custom, woman would cover their face with a thick vail hiding their features until the wedding night. This was intended to create a level of implied intimacy. Unveiling the bride, was a very intimate act between a bride and groom. So, Rebekah by putting on her veil before seeing Isaac, she is foreshadowing their intended relationship. Rebekah was intended to be Isaac’s bride, so she covers her face. 

And that is where we end today. A very precious and special meet cute of one of the most stable relationships in the Bible. But their story teaches us about a personal God who cares about your relationships. 

Before we go, I want to close our time together by reading the scripture from which our story comes from today in Genesis 24. I hope that as you listen to this chapter being read that you will embrace all that we have learned, and that this passage will be illuminated for you. Let’s Read.

“Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” 

The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘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. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. 

Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Then he prayed, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” 

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The woman was very beautiful, a maiden; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. 

After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 

Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? 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, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.” Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.” “Then tell us,” Laban said. 

So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’ “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ “He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’ 

“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.  “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ “She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’ “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.” 

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.” When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.” 

But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.” But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.” Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” 

Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Our Ancient Future Story, I hope that you really enjoyed it! This episode was written and produced by Vic Harmon. Executive Produced by Amanda Gilliam. Music is Embarking on Adventure by Evan MacDonald. Please Subport the show by subscribing and Rating us. And Be sure follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ourancientfuturestory.

See you next time! Bye!