Rebekah’s Story
Genesis 24:10-14
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master, and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer 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 appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
This passage relates how Eliezer, Abraham’s most trusted servant, created a test to pick a wife for his master’s son, Issac. He had been instructed to bring all kinds of bobbles and bangles of gold and silver that might please a young woman from Nahor, gifts for the future Mrs Issac. But Abraham had not given him a dating profile to use in that task, except that she be a Nahor native. So Eliezer prays for God to send the one God would have Issac marry and he asks that the qualifier be kindness, thoughtfulness and faithfulness to the Law as character traits for the bride to be.
He hits town at the perfect time, when all the young women of the town, teenagers one and all, would be coming to the community well to draw water to be used in preparing the evening meal. The community well at this time would have also been a gathering place for all the teenage boys of the town. It would have been like the Daily Queen after school when I was young…back in the stone age. Jewish tradition says Rebekah was 14 and quite a beauty, so she may have had her eye on more than one of the locals…or maybe not. Because when she arrives at the well, not only are all the boys there, but there was also a small caravan led by an old man, a stranger.
My guess is that all the other girls were asking their favorite beaus to help carry the water back home. But Rebekah, faithful to the teachings of Moses, offers hospitality to the stranger in their midst. And, literally in answer to Eliezer’s prayer, she offers water for Eliezer, his 10 servants and his camels. And, “SHAZAM” the deed is done.
As with virtually all the stories in the Old Testament, folks were never satisfied with the bare bones stories found in the Torah. So over generation after generation, supplemental legends grew up around the Bible story and were preserved in books entitled the Midrash and Aggadah. These are interesting addendum to scripture that fill in the blanks, but always with a tip of the hat to God’s working in our lives.
The Midrash story goes that Rebekah was born at the same time as the angel appeared to Abraham as he was about to sacrifice Issac. So God saved Issac and at the same moment began the life that would fill his heart with love.
According to legend, Rebekah’s family and those among whom she lived were deceitful, but Rebekah was not adversely influenced by her surroundings, and she grew up as “a lily among thorns.” As the story goes, she was the recipient of special blessings: the well water rose up to her, the dough she kneaded was blessed, the cloud was visible over her tent shading her from the sun, and her Sabbath candles burned from one Sabbath eve to the next. The same had been said of Sarah, thus showing that Rebekah continued in the way of Sarah. For Rebekah joined Abraham’s family as Sarah began to get weaker.
Rebekah’s family tried to get Eliezer to delay leaving so Rebekah would have time to say her farewells to the whole family. But Rebekah was eager to leave and go to her new home and husband. Who could blame her having been raised in such a family?
Tradition also represents Rebekah as a prophet since God revealed to her that she would have twins and that the elder twin would become the servant of the younger one. And there are numerous stories of Rebekah’s youth showing how each step of the way God was preparing Rebekah for her destiny and her honored place within Abraham’s family and the history of our faith. She was Issac’s only wife, unlike his father who had three, Esau who had 3-6 wives (imagine having so many wives that folks could not count them accurately), and Jacob who had 4.
It is no wonder that these stories were told and preserved portraying God as a force in our lives that guides, protects and shapes our futures. These stories are not found in scripture, but they have inspired people of faith for thousands of years to see God’s Will and workings in our lives.
When I look at my own life I see God’s loving hand over and over again. It was not always obvious at the time, but in looking back I could see the gears of God’s Will working. Folks who know me now would never recognize the reserved young man of 15 that walked into North Cobb High School to enter the 10th grade as a new student having just moved to Georgia from Connecticut. I had quiet dreams of becoming an astronaut and being an engineer like my father. I was also a bespectacled, skinny, 6’2” bean pole who always sat in the back of the room and rarely spoke to anyone. I had registered for the mechanical engineering class but when I arrived the first day and checked my schedule it was missing. In its place was “Speech and Drama” of all things. I was equally upset and petrified. I went to the Guidance Counselor, Miss Charlotte McClure, to register my bewilderment. Miss Charlotte (in who’s honor McClure Middle School is named) was an old school southern lady who spoke with a drawl right out of Steel Magnolias. She informed me that my first choice had filled up before I had requested it. She had decided I needed the drama class instead. When I asked why, she replied with all the Southern charm she could muster, “Oh, Child. You’re just too shy, Honey!”
Needless to say, that class transformed me. It redirected my life and started me on the path toward ministry in the ranks of the UMC clergy. For better and/or worst, I was no longer a wall flower. Instead I became the person many of you know today. I will let each of you fill in the blanks on that one.
My prayer for you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is for the Holy Spirit to help you see God’s hand in your lives and in the lives of those you love. I would also encourage you to share that wisdom with others so that God may be glorified through the blessings God has bestowed upon you.
Blessings and Joy,
Jim McGrath
