Gems From Genesis - The right wife for Isaac
Summary so far:
We have spend the last four Mondays following the life of Abraham
In the first week, we looked at the call of Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees travel 2000 miles to the Promised Land.
In the second week we saw him hijacked from the Promised Land to Egypt and how he came back to Canaan
The following week we saw how God promised him a son and what happened when Abraham and Sarah tried to give God a helping hand
Last week we read how Abraham faced the Ultimate test and passed with flying colours.
This week we see Abraham making sure that his son Isaac has the right wife to enable Isaac to continue with his walk with God. As he approaches the end of his life, Abraham provides for Isaac’s future when he is gone.
The Right Wife for Isaac
How wisely the Teacher in the book of Ecclesiastes said
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Eccl. 4:9-12)
And of course in a Christian marriage the third strand is God.
This evening’s passage is the story of Abraham’s choice of Isaac’s wife.
Read: Genesis 24: 1-57
We have seen how Abraham’s faith has grown and how he has come through the various trials with a stronger faith
Abraham has had a special relationship with his son Isaac. He is the special promise of God.
1. What do we know about Isaac?
1. 1. His faith in God
Last week, we saw how Isaac must have adopted Abraham’s faith in God for himself because he was willing to submit to the Ultimate Test that Abraham had to go through.
Abraham is concerned to provide the right helper for Isaac who will help to keep Isaac walking with God, when Abraham has gone.
1.2. His trust in his Father
And Isaac is prepared to trust his father in that big decision of life.
We don’t read of Isaac telling Abraham that he will find his own bride – thank you very much.
Compare this to Isaac’s son Esau who brought Rebecca and Isaac much grief by marrying Canaanite women.
After our commitment to God, the second most important decision we make is our choice of partner
Abraham sends his servant as the Scripture records
"to Abraham’s country and relatives to find a wife for Isaac (Gen 24: 4) and makes him promise to find a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s own family.
Quite rightly, the servant asks Abraham, what if the girl who he finds will not come to Canaan. After all there is no running water in the toilets in Canaan!
What should he do if she refuses to come to Canaan? Should he take Isaac back there?
Abraham’s response is emphatic:
”Beware lest you take my son back there. The Lord the God of heaven who took me from my father’s house and the land of my birth and who spoke to me and swore saying: To your descendants I will give this land He will send an Angel before you and you will take a wife for my son from there. If the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from my oath, only do not take my son back there.” (Gen 24: 7-8)
2. Why was Abraham so emphatic in his instructions?
2.1 The need for the wife to share her husband’s vision
Isaac’s wife had to buy into God’s vision for herself. And God’s call for Isaac and therefore his wife was in Canaan and not back in Haran (I guess that is where “Abraham’s country and kindred were” - though the Scripture does not say).
Surprisingly Bethuel, Rebecca’s father and her brother actually give her a choice in the matter: “Will you go with this man.” (they asked) and she said: I will (Gen 24:58).
Story: My call to the ministry: Maddy had to not only agree but also have her own calling from God for my call to go into the Church to be confirmed.
2. 2 The wife too had to leave the idolatrous background that Abraham left
There is no evidence that Bethuel and Laban shared the same values as Abraham. In fact the way that Laban cheated Jacob later on would certainly support this.
Rebecca had to break family ties to start a new one:
Note the responsibilities of marriage in Gen 2
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife and they become one flesh. (Gen 2:24)
No longer do the husband and wife have responsibilities to their family, they now have it to one another.
2.3 The charge was that the wife had to be one of God’s people
As an aside: Do you remember when Terah and Abraham set off on their journey – Gen 11:29 records Nahor, Abraham’s brother’s wife as Milcah leaving Ur and going with Terah to Haran.
I thought that was strange– since women were not usually counted as important enough in Biblical times to record and she plays no part further in the story.
Until I read Gen 24: 15, where Bethuel was the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor. Why not Nahor’s son? Well perhaps he wasn’t and Milcah had married again.
Abraham’s charge to his servant to find a wife for his son within God’s own people is one that we find throughout the Old Testament – and indeed many of the religious Jews hold to it today.
And I think there is a lot to commend it, if we wish to continue in our walk with God and continue to serve the Lord.
Principles for a Christian partner
I believe that Christians should look for a husband or wife who will help them in their Christian faith.
Story: I became a Christian at 17 and I made it a principle never to go out with a girl who wasn’t a Christian – so that we would have the same base line to work from.
The marriage relationship is so close that we can only really serve the Lord when our partner is with us in this. Otherwise there is a potential source of conflict – where husband or wife puts God before that partner.
Also when you are both Christians you can support one other when you are having hard times.
3. The Servant
I would like to spend a few moments looking at Abraham’s servant, because there is something quite attractive about him.
What can we deduce about him?
1. Commitment to God
He obviously had the same commitment to God as his master Abraham. We see him praying for success in the city of Nahor (v 12-14) – and his prayer is answered in the way he asks it
2. Loyalty
If he was Eliezer of Damascus, who would have inherited all of Abraham’s wealth – his loyalty to his master is even more commendable. Reminiscent of John the Baptist stepping back to allow Jesus to take pride of place.
3. Devotion to his employer
We see “his quiet good sense, his piety and his devotion to his employer” (see Genesis – An Introduction and Commentary Kidner p. 146)
Conclusion
Why have we been studying the life of Abraham?
Because Abraham’s life is a picture of the Christian life, which too is a journey.
God calls us out of our “Ur of the Chaldees” - that is to give up our old life of sin.
He calls us to journey to the Promised Land. Remember how Jesus said: the Kingdom of God is upon us – that Kingdom which is our new life in Christ.
And, like Abraham, we too go through trials and temptations that try to hijack us from the Promised land and we have to be strong not to not get hijacked to our Egypt.
God also calls us to put Him first in our lives –and there will be times when we are called to lay our Isaacs on God’s altar.
And God calls us too to teach our children (whether our literal or spiritual children) how to walk with God and provide for them when we are no longer there.
Abraham taught Isaac how to walk with God – and how to trust God in all things. You will recall how Peter told us that Isaac was at least 14 years old and would have had the strength to have resisted Abraham binding him on the altar.
And this week we see Abraham making provision for the partner to keep Isaac walking with God. One who had bought into the vision that God had given Abraham. A wife who could keep Isaac on the straight and narrow!
