This then is the love story of Isaac and Rebekah. Our Scripture reading is virtually a repeat
of the first 28 verses. Abraham’s servant has been successful. The Lord God has heard Abraham’s prayer and
his servant’s prayer. He has found a beautiful wife for Isaac through a
remarkable set of providences, inspired by prayer to the God of Abraham, who
has created this world and everything in it. And yet, as I hope to show you, this is much
more than a love story. This is much more than a story of a God-fearing parent looking
for a suitable marriage partner for his son.
Isaac and Rebekah will be an important puzzle piece in the
history of God’s redeeming grace in this sinful world. They will continue the
story of God’s covenant dealings with mankind. Last time we were reminded that
the theme of covenant runs right
through the Bible. The Bible is made up of an Old and a New covenant (Testament).
The story line of the Bible
and the development of the covenantal theme essentially goes like this. Following creation (Genesis 1 &2) follows
the fall of mankind into sin (Genesis 3) follows the
fact that God, the holy Creator of this
world and the Universe has determined that despite the fall, He
would call out a people for Himself in this world. The question then becomes this: How can this holy God, who is of purer eyes than to see evil (Hab.
1:13) have anything to do with
sinners? The answer is this; God makes a way, by way of covenants, which all
point to ONE COVENANT! We have already
noted the Noahic covenant (8:20 – 9:17) in which God called out to
Himself the family of Noah, also
promising never to destroy the
earth through a universal flood again. The
sign of that covenant is the rainbow.
In Genesis 15/17 we find the Abrahamic
covenant. Once again God chooses for
Himself a people, beginning with Abraham.
The sign of that covenant is circumcision. This covenant is ratified by sacrifice and blood (Gen. 15:17)[1]. All this points to that great New
Covenant in Christ, who was given on
the cross, shedding His blood for those
who are given to Him by the
Father (John 17), those who will come to
Him and who believe in His Name. The sign of entering into that covenant is
believers baptism.
The message of the whole Bible remains the same. From this fallen world, God is calling out for Himself a particular
people, called not by their own merit,
but called according to God’s love. There
would be ultimately two kinds of people in this world: the serpent’s offspring
and the woman’s offspring (Gen. 3:15).
God promised Abraham that He would fill
heaven with a vast number of his offspring – born from among all the nations of
the world.
Now I need to point out that
whilst Rebekah did come from
Abraham’s earthly family she was not as yet a part of the covenant family. In
this story we see God bringing her into the covenant through her marriage to
Isaac. So again we need to see the big
picture here.
This is not just about Isaac and Rebekah, and finding a
suitable marriage partner (though that is true of course). It is about the greater
work of God in our lives. Little do we know what God is up to in the bigger
scheme of things? Did the mother of Moses know who she gave birth to? Did Hannah know that she was going to be the
mother of Samuel, one of Israel’s most revered prophets? Did the mother of David know that her youngest
son would be the greatest human king of Israel? Did Isaac and Rebekah know that
they were going to be the parents of Jacob, from whom the tribes of Israel
would be descended? Did Mary (descended from the tribes of Israel) know that
she was going to be the human mother of the Saviour of the world? And does anyone know and appreciate what
Christ is to the people He died for? He is the Bridegroom of the church. God the Father gives a bride to his Son. Marriage
is at the heart of God’s covenant of grace. The theme of the covenants runs
like a string of pearls through the Scriptures … beginning with the marriage covenant of Adam
and Eve in Genesis 2 and ending with the marriage supper of the church and
the Lamb of God in Revelation
22.
Here then is Abraham. He is the beginning of the Bibles’
narrative concerning a people for God, as numerous as the sand on the seashore
– as numerous as the stars in the sky. But the materializing of this promise is
not going to be straight forward. In
fact, it is going to be against the odds. God
deals with Abraham in a remarkable way, testing, strengthening, forgiving and
making him fruitful with Sarah in great old age. That is the background to this
chapter and its narrative of the marriage of Isaac, the marriage of the heir of
the covenant.
We have read the passage and the key text and question to
Rebekah now is this, "will you go
with this man?" (Genesis 24: 58)
Is she going to fulfill her calling in God’s bigger scheme of things?
One of her obstacles is her family. Abraham’s first encounter
is with her brother, Laban. He is the first to meet and engage Abraham’s servant (vv. 29-50). As the story is
heard, Laban and Rebekah’s father, Bethuel’s conclusion is, “This thing has come from the LORD…” (note
the mentioning of the covenant name- YAHWEH).
The truth of the matter is that whole narrative is driven by God’s
earlier promise in v.7, “To your offspring I will give this land.” God
has made these arrangements and the servant simply has to go out and find her,
and Rebekah’s parents, perhaps against their natural inclinations, will be made
to see this.
But, as indicated, we are here to see the greater picture
behind this story. Since everything in covenantal history ultimately points to Christ, we can now see
how this question, “will you go with this man?" points us to
the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. It is from our perspective an evangelistic
question that the servants of Christ the Master are asking. This is where we are as a congregation that serves
the Lord. We are involved in God’s
mission to bring in the bride of Christ. God has purposed that from the lost
sons of Adam to give a bride to his Son. Among all the nations is the bride of
Christ. And so we can labour confidently
in the assurance that our preaching, our seeking after a bride for Christ will
be successful. How many of you have been found by faithful servants of God in
the last few years? What a wonderful
assurance then, “All that the Father
gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (Jn. 6:37)
And so Rebekah is asked the critical question,
“Will you go with this man?”,
and while in context, this is a marriage proposal, in which Rebekah says, “I will go” (v.58), we
with the entire testimony of Scripture, and an understanding of the
covenants behind us, can apply this ultimately to the offer of
the gospel; “Will
you go with Jesus? Will you go with
Jesus this very moment, for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health; will you take His people to be your people?
And so we see that Rebekah was ready to go. But not without a
challenge! After that important question,
"will you go with this
man?", they retired for the
night, but the next morning, as the
servant is eager to take her to her bridegroom
Isaac, as he makes the request, “Send me
on my way to my master” (v.54),
800 km’s away, there is some
hesitation on the part of the family. “Let her remain with us a while, at least 10
days, after that she may go.” “Don’t go yet!” You need to see what is
happening here.
From the bigger perspective we see the enemy of God, Satan at work here. He is working his delaying tactics through human instruments. He does not want this
thing to happen. He knows that “The seed of the woman that will eventually
crush his head “ (Gen. 3:15). This marriage must be stopped! “Delay!
Have second thoughts. Put it off. Why be in a rush? Wait!” But Abraham’s servant is urgent. He cannot be delayed. She
must come with him now.
Since the Old Testament
points us to Christ, our heavenly
bridegroom, we cannot be slow in making the application as it relates to us as
New Testament believers. The Gospel
calls us to follow Christ now. The call to follow Christ is not ‘later’ but now
– see Matthew 8:18-22.
Now is the time!
Rebekah is chosen for a moment such as this. She must go now. She is an important role player in God’s
history of redemption. It is significant that the only New Testament
reference to Rebekah is in the context of the covenant purposes of God. In Romans
9:10-12 we read, “Rebekah’s children had one and the same
father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything
good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works
but by him who calls – she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger’. She is a vital part of the purposes of God
in election. She must come. She must give birth to Jacob, the son of the
covenant.
And now she is sent away by her family with a rich blessing
(v.60), and perhaps
unknowingly they prophesy,
“ Our sister may you become
thousands of ten thousands and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him.”
This agrees with the Abrahamic blessing in 22:17. Rebekah's family had
no idea how great a role she would play
in Yahweh’s redemptive purposes.
And now finally, in vv.
61-67 Rebekah is brought to Isaac.
Please note that the
servant did not say to Rebekah, “Now that
I have found you make your own way there“. No! We read, “Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way” (v.61). He took her all the way to
Isaac. He made sure that she was brought to him and joined to her bridegroom.The
servants of the church make sure that the hearts of those that come to Christ
are tied to Christ. We do not abandon people upon their profession of faith and
love to Jesus! We accompany them. We disciple
them. We make sure that they are sustained until they meet their bridegroom.
And so we read that Isaac lifted up his eyes and saw the
camels were coming. Rebekah likewise lifted up her eyes and she saw Isaac. They
recognised one another instantly. True
believers will recognise Christ when they see Him. They recognise Him as their
Shepherd and they will follow Him (John 10). When the heart finally meets Jesus it is at
home.
And so we read that she became his wife and he loved her (v. 67). And now all the covenantal blessings became
hers because of being united with Isaac.
She became an heir of all the promises of the covenant which God
had made with Abraham by being united with the son of the covenant, the son of
Abraham.
And so as we read the Scriptures we see Isaac gradually
fading away and we realize what this is all about. It is all about the greater
Son of Isaac –it is all about the Lord Jesus Christ our heavenly bridegroom to
whom we are led by the gospel and her gospel servants. We can’t wait to meet
Him!
[1] A heifer, a female
goat , a ram, a turtledove and a
young pigeon were cut in half , and each half laid over against each other and God, in a symbolic , yet real
fashion passed between these pieces and
made a covenant with Abraham,
promising Abraham and thus Himself an
offspring of faithful
believing people , who would
inherit a promised land.
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