A wife for Jesus Christ, you and me.
The text in which we will meditate on today is one of the most beautiful stories we ever find in the Old Testament; a story of marriage, everlasting love and eternal life. Follow the text below where this wonderful experience of the protagonists Abraham, Eliezer, Isaac and Rebekah is found.
"The servant
said to him, “Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this
country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?” Abraham
said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there! The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me
from my father’s house, from the land of my family and my
birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will
give this land’—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will
take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here]. If the woman is
not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my
oath and blameless; only you must never take my son back
there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master,
and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his
master’s camels, and set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him;
so he got up and journeyed to ]Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and
the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother]. He
made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of
the evening when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please
grant me success today, and show loving kindness (faithfulness) to my master
Abraham. Behold, I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the
men of the city are coming out to draw water; now let it be that the girl to
whom I say, ‘Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,’ and she
replies, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’—may she be
the one whom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and
by this I will know that You have shown loving kindness (faithfulness) to my
master.” Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with
her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the son of
Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The girl was very
beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled
her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please
let me drink a little water from your jar.” And she said, “Drink, my
lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. When
she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your
camels until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar
into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his
camels. Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in [reverent] silence,
[waiting] to know if the Lord had
made his trip successful or not. When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer
took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands
weighing ten shekels in gold, 23 and said, “Whose
daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us
to lodge?” And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s
son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor.” Again she said to him, “We
have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge.” The man bowed
his head and worshiped the Lord. He
said, “Blessed be the Lord,
the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His
truth to my master. As for me, the Lord led
me to the house of my master’s brothers.” Then the girl ran and told her
mother’s household what had happened. Now Rebekah had a brother whose name
was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well. When he saw the ring
and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister,
saying, “The man said this to me,” he went to Eliezer and found him standing by
the camels at the spring. And Laban said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I
have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?” So
the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw
and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the
men who were with him. But when food was set before him, he said, “I will
not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.” So
he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has
greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given
him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels
and donkeys. Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she
was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him. My
master made me swear [an oath], saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son
from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall
[instead] go to my father’s house and to my family and take a wife for my son
[Isaac].’ Then I said to my master, ‘But suppose the woman will not follow
me [back to this land].’ He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk [habitually and obediently], will
send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a
wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; then you
will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give
her to you, you will [also] be free of my oath.’ “I came today to the spring,
and said, ‘O Lord, God of my
master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; please
look, I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden
[whom You have chosen for Isaac] comes out to draw [water], and to whom I say,
“Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar”; and if she says
to me, “You drink, and I will also draw [water] for your camels”; let that
woman be the one whom the Lord has
selected and chosen [as a wife] for my master’s son.’ “Before
I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water]
jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said
to her, ‘Please, let me have a drink.’ And she quickly let down her jar
from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your
camels’; so I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her,
‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom
Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her
arms. And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who
had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother to his
son [as a wife]. So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my
master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn
to the right or to the left [and go on my way].” Then Laban and Bethuel
answered, “The matter has come from the Lord;
so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it—we cannot interfere]. Rebekah
is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son,
as the Lord has spoken.”
When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground [in
worship] before the Lord. Then
the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of
clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother
and her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and
spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, “Now send me
back to my master.” But Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “Let the girl
stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go.” But Eliezer said
to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has
prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master.” And
they said, “We will call the girl and ask her what she prefers.” So they
called Rebekah and said, “Will you go with this man?” And she answered, “I will
go.” So they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse [Deborah, as her
attendant] and Abraham’s servant [Eliezer] and his men. They blessed Rebekah
and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become [the mother of] thousands of ten
thousands, And may your descendants possess (conquer) The [city] gate of those
who hate them.” Then Rebekah and her attendants stood, and they mounted camels and followed the man. So the servant took
Rebekah and went on his way. Now Isaac had returned from going to
Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in
the Negev. Isaac went out to bow down [in prayer] in the field in the
[early] evening; he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming. Rebekah
also raised her eyes and looked, and when she saw Isaac, she
dismounted from her camel. She said to the servant, “Who is that man there
walking across the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master
[Isaac].” So she took a veil and covered herself [as was customary]. The
servant told Isaac everything that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his
mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his
wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death."
In this text, Abraham is a representation of God the Father, who seeks a bride and wife for his beloved Son. Eliezer, who goes in search of the wife, is a typification of the Holy Spirit who seeks and leads the bride to the groom. Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, is represented in the figure of Isaac. And Rebeca? It is the bride; you and I.
Would you be willing to go with the Holy Spirit wherever He takes you? Say how Rebeca said: 'I want'. And be so eager to serve as Rebekah did who not spared any effort to even draw water for Eliezer various camels. Remembering that a thirsty camel can drink up to 100 liters (20 gallons) of water at a time and that water was removed from the well with a bucket!
God does not want us to return to the yoke of captivity, Egypt, Babylon to stay there, but as a loving Father he wants to rescue us and bring us to his beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, your Beer-lahai-roi or "the well of Him that lives and sees me", is waiting for you at the edge of His well from which He Himself will give you the water of life so you will never be thirsty again because He is that water gushing up to eternal life. Please, read John 4:1-15.
Do not be afraid to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He leads you. Just believe, trust in Him and you will be present on that day at the Lamb's wedding, which will be your own marriage to the Lord Jesus Christ forever. Amen
"Then the angel said to me, 'Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me [further], 'These are the true and exact words of God.'" Revelation 19:9
