WHAT A FIND!
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Opening Prayer
Lord God, please use me for your purposes in some way today. Help me to bring you glory.
Read GENESIS 24:29—51
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Genesis
Genesis 24
29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring.
30 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.
31 “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.”
32 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.
33 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.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
35 The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.
36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns.
37 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,
38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40 “He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, 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.
41 Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you-you will be released from my oath.’
42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.
43 See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,”
44 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.’
45 “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.’
46 “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.
47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?'”She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.'”Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,
48 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.
49 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.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.
51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.”
Reflect
Have there been times when God confirmed that you were in just the right place at just the right time? In what ways?Enjoying typical Middle Eastern hospitality from Rebekah’s family, Abraham’s servant recounts what happened when his master asked him to find a wife for his much-loved son, Isaac. As he sits with his master’s relatives, his testimony to God’s faithfulness and his loyalty to Abraham are paramount (vv. 40—42). His loyal service and uncompromising obedience are rewarded, and his question in verse 49 is met with an acknowledgement that God is fulfilling his purposes. The details of the story—in particular the way in which Rebekah spontaneously offered to give the camels a drink (hard work in itself!)—show that God has led him to just the right wife for Isaac, and her father and uncle obviously agree (v. 51). They, too, acknowledge God’s direction.
What do these verses tell us about Rebekah? Apart from the fact that she ‘checked’ the relatives’ box (v. 40), she was clearly thoughtful and kind, as demonstrated by her actions at the well (v. 46). She would have to leave her home and marry a man she had never met (v. 51), and that would require great courage. But hugely significantly (and without realizing it), Rebekah was a young woman through whom God’s promise to Abraham would continue to be fulfilled.
Apply
Might there be qualities exemplified by Rebekah that God is challenging you to develop in your own faith walk?
Closing prayer
Father, wherever you lead me, help me to follow, trusting in your good plan and purposes for me.
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