3 Life Lessons About God and His Love from Isaac and Rebekah
One of my favorite Old Testament Bible stories is one of true love. Isaac and Rebekah were destined to be together, and their story was anything but ordinary. Perhaps I love this story because I’m a romantic at heart. I envision what it must have been like for Rebekah and leave her family home to journey towards a husband she had never met. Her courage, bravery, and faith in God’s promise are truly inspiring. But what is even more inspiring is how God moved in His love through it all.
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We serve a loving God who keeps His promises, and Abraham knew this well.
At the beginning of our story, Abraham asks his servant Eliezer to travel back to his hometown to find a wife for Isaac. This was no ordinary request. He wasn’t simply trying to find love and happiness for his son, rather his faith in God’s promise led him to this decision. He knew that the covenant he had with God would be passed down to his son Isaac. Needless to say, a wife was necessary. Not only that, but Isaac needed to remain in the land God had given them.
This faith was also evident in Abraham’s servant, Eliezer. As he traveled back to Abraham’s hometown, he prayed and asked God for guidance. He knew that without God, this would be an impossible task.
God cares about the details of our lives and will use them to accomplish His will and purpose for us. We simply need to have the courage to trust Him.
The woman Issac was destined to marry mattered greatly to God. She had a servant’s heart, came from a good family who loved and cherished her. They also feared God and trusted His plan for their daughter. God had been setting this story up long before Eliezer arrived. Before this event in her life, she was simply a normal girl from a normal family. She had no idea God was going to use her in this mighty way. And when the moment came, she had a choice to make… step out in courage or stay back in fear.
God will use people in our lives to meet our needs. This is why it is so important to lean on each other and love the way God intended for us to love.
Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. – Genesis 24:64-67 (emphasis added)
In the previous chapter of Genesis, we read about the death and burial of Isaac’s mother Sarah. This was most certainly a significant event, not only in the life of Isaac but also historically speaking. No other Old Testament female is regarded as highly as Sarah throughout Scripture, and the fact that an entire chapter is dedicated to this event speaks to her importance. (Her age is recorded in the first verse, which is also the only recorded age of a woman in the entire Bible!) It was upon the death of Sarah that Abraham made the decision to seek out a wife for his son Isaac. This woman would bring comfort to him in his time of grief and loss.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of relationships in our lives. God intended for us to live together, to rely on each other, and to comfort one another in times of need. This is clearly seen in this story of true love. Rebekah would be a blessing in Isaac’s wife at a time when he needed her most.
The story of Isaac and Rebekah is one of faith, courage, and true love. But most of all, it is a reminder of just how trustworthy our God is.
This post is part of a larger series called “Let There Be Light.” Join me as we journey through the Old Testament leading up to the arrival of Jesus, the Light of the World!
*Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
**Photo by Daniel Irmler at ChristianPics.co
