In Genesis chapter 24, we see the beautiful story of how Isaac met his wife Rebekah. In the midst of the frustration of trying to meet the woman a man would call one day his wife, we see the hope and beauty of love as it forms. From our attempt of looking for love from personal ads, the church, bars, parties, nightclubs, the grocery store, or the laundromat, we now see that there is a chance that we can somehow find that someone to love and marry and make the marriage last. The day when we find that someone is a different question altogether. However, I have come to realize now that I will someday find her and run into her as I go around and do the words of Jesus and the will of God in my life. Does this mean that I sit around and expect her to just show up? No. I go about my daily business as the future wife goes about her daily business looking and praying for her. Like the cars that collide together in an earlier paragraph, in due time, the man and woman will meet and if it the will of God for that man and woman to be married, then God will perform the miracle like the miracle has already done by directing their pathways together to bring the man and woman into covenant with each other.

I would post the entire chapter of Genesis 24 in this article but this is a very lengthy chapter consisting of 67 verses. But I will do an analysis of this chapter and publish verses that are key to the topic of this article. In verses three and four of Genesis 24, we see that Abraham sends his servant out to find a wife for Isaac. However, Abraham mandates one condition that the servant must obey per verses three and four where it states; "3and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac." Here we see Abraham's concern of the core values of the wife for his son Isaac. Abraham wanted Isaac to have a wife that had the same core values as Abraham and Isaac. Where the text in Genesis 24 was directed at a spiritual realm where the Canaanites were idol worshippers, we see this in today's society as the equivalent of a father wanting a Christian wife only for his son. The desire to find a wife for Isaac from "my country and to my family" is by today's standards the desire to find a wife from God's people, Christians, the 'family' of God. The words of Abraham do not carry a racist overtone of skin colors nor a nationalistic overtone of different nations, but of a spiritual overtone of being equally yoked and of a like mind in Christ Jesus.

We see a concern on the part of the servant that he may not be able to fulfill the desires of the master. Abraham provided an out to the vow on the condition that the woman would not agree to be Isaac's wife. In verses ten through fourteen, we see the servant begin his journey to Nahor where he stops at a water well. The servant asks God to fulfill a specific sign concerning the acquisition of water for him and the camels.

In verses fifteen through twenty-one, we see a woman appear to the well as the servant is still praying to God. We learn that this woman's family was from the same family as Abraham. We also see in verse sixteen that "16Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her". Here we see physical beauty but the most important quality was the sexual purity of being a virgin. By being sexually pure, the woman had not slept with anyone else nor was she used as a sacrifice in the temple prostitution rituals to idols known to be practiced by the Canaanites. God desires sexual purity for both the man and woman before marriage and during the marriage. A single Christian man need to practice sexual purity and retain his virginity as true love and respect to himself and also to the woman to show commitment and faithfulness to where no extra baggage and pain is carried into the marriage covenant. Abraham was so concerned about his son's sexual purity that he told the servant back in verses six and eight to 'do nnt take my son back there'. Abraham loved his son so much that he did not want his son fall to the diverse lusts and temptations of the loose morals of the Canaanites nor participate in the sexual rituals offered up to idols. In this realm of sexual purity, there is forgiveness in Christ for the person who was not sexually pure before marriage. Even though you may no longer be a virgin in the physical realm, you can be a spiritual virgin through the forgiveness of your sins and the cleansing of your sins by the blood of Christ to make you white as snow.

We see the first conversations between the servant and the woman made in verse seventeen when the servant asks for water to drink. The woman complies with the servants request in verse eighteen and fulfills the prayer of the servant in verses nineteen through twenty two when Rebekah fetched water for the servant's camels to drink. We now see another quality trait of this woman. The hospitality, domestic, diligence, servitude, and 'going the extra mile beyond the call of duty' features manifest. Therefore, this woman showed a work ethic that deemed her out to be a great housewife. It was after the camels finished drinking the water that the servant broke out expensive gifts and gave them to the woman asking about her family. We see in verse twenty-four that the woman tells of her family which turns out to be the same descendents of Abraham. Also, the woman denotes that she has enough straw and feed, and room at the house for the servant and the camels. We see another trait of the woman appear here, sharing, giving, and generosity. The woman and her family had plenty and then some to share for those in legitimate need. The servant then bowed down and began to worship and thank the Lord for answering his prayers exactly as prayed.

Rebekah ran back to her home and told the family everything about the servant of Abraham. Laban, her brother went to man at the well and he then saw the gifts on Rebekah and heard the words of his sister. It was at this point where Laban invited the servant to the house and acknowledges the servant as "The Lord's blessed". The house and a meal was prepared but the servant refused to eat until he told of the errand that Abraham sent him forth on. We see in verses thirty-four through forty-nine the servant repeat the story from Abraham's vow to the fulfillment of the servants prayer. It was after this re-telling of the previous events that Rebecca's father and son in verses fifty through fifty-one agree to let Rebekah go. It was after this that the servant worshipped the Lord and presented more gifts to Rebekah and to the family. Here we see something that needs to be addressed before a marriage proposal and if not, before the marriage takes place, positive interaction with the future in-laws. When friction exists within the person about to be married and their in-laws, the added stress comes as an attack to the cohesive unity of the marriage. Distinct lines that are erased when marriage occurs when the man and wife becomes one are attempted to be drawn again. If friction exists, the in-laws will try to dictate the happenings within the marriage instead of the couple making their own choices. There is a natural concern with the parents for the well-being of their child but the line is drawn and the line crossed is when the parents enter their child's marriage and attempts to dictate policy.

The servant stayed overnight and in the morning, the servant desired to leave with Rebekah and Laban attempts to 'trick' the servant into staying longer. We see Laban's scheming for the first time as he later on schemed his nephew Jacob twice for two brides. The servant asks again to leave and Laban forces the choice on Rebekah to which Rebekah says yes.

We then see in verse fifty-nine Rebekah prepare to leave to meet her groom. We also see Isaac meditate in the fields at night. The servant and his party comes with the bride and we see the groom and the bride come together in covenant as man and wife. Many commentaries depict this as Christ coming for his spotless bride. However, I wish to state that this story shows the qualities of a father concerned for his son, the qualities of a generous and industrious woman, and the qualities of a son who like solitude and meditation after a hard days work. Some people have gone as far as to state that this chapter dictates that we should go back to a system where the parents fetched the spouse for their child. However, we should clearly see here that there is a God who cares about our need for companionship and intimacy so much that he would go to the distant lands in order to bring one person to their future spouse. Not only would he bring the one person to their future spouse, but he will take care of the issues such as core values, Christian walk, compatibility, etc. before marriage takes place.

Please Click here for part five of this article.