Rebekah – Woman Of Faith

REBEKAH – WOMAN OF FAITH

GEN. 24

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: GENDER CONFUSION, THE TEXAS WAY

1. Outside the ladies and men’s rooms of a Texas steak house, I found a confused and anxious young woman who sighed with relief when she saw me.

2. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. “I was afraid to enter. I didn’t know if I was a steer or a heifer.” [Christine Looney, Alger, Michigan; Reader’s Digest]

B. TEXT

Abraham....2 said to the senior servant in his household....4 “Go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” 10 He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. 12 Then he prayed...“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.” 19 [Rebekah] said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you?”...24 “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 26 [The servant] bowed down and worshiped the Lord...50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord.... 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.” 55 “Let [Rebekah] remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.” 56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me....” 57 Then they....58 called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said. Gen. 24:1-58, NIV. (Abridged for brevity)

C. THESIS

1. Women hear from God too. Rebekah was a woman who walked with God and her life was guided by the Holy Spirit. This story mirrors the reality of the Holy Spirit being dispatched to go and find a chaste Bride and bring her to Christ. In a way, it’s a love story!

2. We’re going to look at Rebekah’s humility, all the reasons she should NOT have gone with Abraham’s servant, and then see the reasons she DID go.

3. The title of this message is, “Rebekah, Woman of Faith.”

I. REBEKAH’S HUMILITY

A. REBEKAH’S LIFE IN NAHOR

1. The town of Nahor was a neighboring town to Haran, a city in N.W. Mesopotamia that was on the main trade route connecting Nineveh, Asshur, & Babylon to the East, and Damascus, Tyre, and Egypt to the West.

2. This was the third generation of Terah’s family to live there and they were obviously prosperous and settled in this urban setting.

3. “Rebekah” means “a rope, noose,” as of “a maiden who ensnares by her beauty” [Unger]. She was given a captivating or alluring name by her parents, foreshadowing her beauty.

B. HER HUMILITY

1. It was first remarkable that she went out to get water at the well herself, for the Bible says she had multiple maids (24:61). If she’d been lazy, she would have sent them, but she went herself.

2. Next it was remarkable that she would even speak to foreign men who had just ridden into town. In John 4:9, the woman at the well thought it unusual for Jesus to ask her for a drink. We all tell our kids not to talk to strangers!

3. Next, that she would agree to water his 10 camels until they had finished drinking (24:10,19). Studies show that a thirsty camel can drink 30 gallons of water in 13 minutes (brainly.in). Rebekah knew this. She put herself on the line to carry as much as 300 gallons of water to these stranger’s camels.

4. Another thought: the bucket size and depth of the well. A 5-gallon bucket can be picked up by a strong man, but a comfortable weight for a woman would be 2-3 gallons. If we say it was 3 gallons, then Rebekah would have had to draw up 100 buckets of water, carry them to the trough, and pour them in for the camels. Even if the well were only 50 feet deep, this would a considerable feat of endurance!

5. Evidently Abraham’s servant knew such a thing would be unusual and would be a sign only God could cause to happen! So it shows how kind, generous, and humble she was – a person of excellent character.

II. HER DECISION TO GO: KEY FACTORS

There were many reasons that Rebekah should have said “NO” to the invitation to go and marry Isaac. Here are a few: