Prayer in the Bible – the search for Rebekah
Abraham is one of the key figures in the Bible, having been mentioned 235 times! And as we read in Galatians chapter 3, even the law of Moses does not nullify the promise God made to Abraham, through which all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and which was fulfilled by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we read in the book of Genesis about the story of Abraham and his relationship with God, we come to understand how serious Abraham regarded this covenant God had made with him. He began by taking all his possessions and people and moving to a land he didn’t know, led only by God’s direction. Later, he showed his faith in God by being willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac, even though God had already told him that through Isaac his promise would be fulfilled.
In Chapter 24 Isaac is now fully grown, about 40 years old, and Abraham is addressing the matter of finding a wife for Isaac. There are a couple of reasons why Abraham would not want Isaac to marry a woman from the local area: it was customary in that time to choose a wife from one’s own “tribe”, but more importantly, Abraham must have recognized the importance of choosing a wife who would not bring pagan beliefs into the marriage and pull Isaac away from his relationship with God.
Abraham entrusts the matter to his senior servant, but he treats the matter so seriously as to place his servant under an oath. Although not named in this chapter, Abraham had referred to his servant as Eliezer of Damascus (Genesis 15:2), so these two may be one and the same.
There are two notable conditions of this oath: (1) if the woman was unwilling to be Isaac’s wife, the servant was released from the oath, and (2) Isaac must not travel back to their home country. We can see how seriously Abraham regarded his covenant with God. Since he was directed to come to this “promised land”, not even Isaac should return from it, lest the covenant be broken.
When the servant of Abraham reaches his destination and arrives at the well outside of town, he demonstrates both his faith in God, and his devotion to Abraham as he prays to God:
Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
Genesis 24:12-14
We learn that the servant’s prayer was answered “before he had finished praying”, and Rebekah appears with the other women of the town. She offers the servant water, and also offers to water his camels. When the servant learns that she is also the daughter of Abraham’s relatives, he realizes his prayers have been answered, and he immediately worships God:
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
Genesis 24: 26-27