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59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: "Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them." 61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. 62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. ~ Genesis 24:59-67
Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 24 where we see the Trinity illustrated. In this chapter we see pictured God the Father in Abraham, God the Son in Isaac and God the Holy Spirit in Abraham's servant. In the narrative Abraham sent his main servant to Mesopotamia to find a wife for his son from among Abraham's relatives. And now, we will watch as they travel some 600 miles back to the father and the son.
In v.59-61 of today's passage we read, "59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: 'Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.' 61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed."
Unbeknown to Rebekah just a couple days before, she was about to embark on the most exciting adventure of her life. In just a matter of two weeks and the distance of about 600 miles, she was about to travel west to meet the husband she had never seen. Along with Rebekah traveled some maids and a nurse, a lady named, Deborah whose name comes from the Hebrew word meaning "word." In Psalm 19 we read about the word of God which is "sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." Deborah had raised Rebekah and she decided to go along with her in her new life picturing for us the role of the Word of God in our lives. You see, this is the way it works: The more we expose ourselves to God's Word, the sweeter our faith in Him will become. And, it is most important that the believer in the God of the Bible feeds upon His word because the worth and excellence of a soul is measured by the object of its love.
The first blessing in the Bible discovered is found here when the family of Rebekah pronounced upon her their desire that she "become the mother of thousands of ten thousands." These words of Rebekah's family were a prophecy fulfilled in the pages of the Bible both in the world of physical reality and in the spiritual one as well.
As Rebekah was a virgin, the Bible likens believers in Christ as such. Believers in Christ are not literal virgins. Having been guilty of spiritual adultery, we, through the blood of Christ have been made virgins in a spiritual sense. It is the perfection of Christ applied to the believer that has made us sinless. In fact, believers in Christ are so sinless that Isaiah said we are whiter than snow. This miracle has been rendered in the believers life due to the fact that we are shaped and fashioned by that which we love.
In v.62-66 of today's passage we read, "62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, 'Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?' The servant said, 'It is my master.' So she took a veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done."
At the end of the two week trip, Abraham's servant's caravan arrived in Canaan. When they arrived a man was spotted by Rebekah. The man was Isaac who is for us a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before Isaac and Rebekah met, Isaac traveled from the area of Beer Lahai Roi which means "Well of the One who lives and sees me." Beer Lahai Roi was first mentioned in Genesis 16 when God had first promised Abram children. Many years had passed before Isaac was born. Isaac pictured her for us the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, the One who died and yet rose from the grave. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who lives and sees His bride.
Just before this, Isaac had gone out into a field to pray in the evening. Through the object lesson of Beer Lahai Roi, we are made aware that the Living God sees our plight. When we were enslaved by sin and under the sentence of death, He saw us and He had pity on us. It was the God Who Sees us who has done everything necessary to save us, coming to us in a manger, and then going to that awful cross. But, the story didn't end there for He glorious arose from the dead, and in so doing, He conquered for us sin and death.
It was then that Isaac noticed the caravan of his dad's servant. The exhilaration that must have surged through Isaac's veins in that moment had to have been incredibly great. In like manner, the Lord Jesus is waiting for a bride as well and although He already knows the future, we don’t. The Bible tells us that He right now awaits the words of His Father to go and get His bride. And, with the Lord Jesus we wait for the trumpet sound since we have trusted only in His finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin.
This is the seventh time the term "lift eyes" was employed in the Bible. These two words are an idiom which means to look up or to look out intently. It doesn’t just mean to look physically, it also includes seeing with our spiritual eyes as well. In the previous verse, Isaac lifted his eyes in anticipation of the arrival of his bride. Now Rebekah lifts her eyes in the anticipation of seeing her bridegroom for the first time.
As soon as Rebekah learned that it is Isaac, she covered herself with a veil. This is the first of only 3 times this word is used in the Bible, all in Genesis. When Rebekah saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel. The word means to fall. She jumped off the camel in great anticipation. And, after the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done, we read in v.67, Isaac brought her into his mother’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death."
First came the commitment then the love. Every successful marriage begins with being fueled by commitment. It is when we build the marriage on attraction and the feelings that come with that attraction that we find ourselves in the greatest danger. It is out of commitments made that our marriages are preserved and established. This is when we enjoy the feelings that follow. Isaac and Rebekah made a decision that day to declare an act of their wills and they loved each other til death did them part.
The first time the word "love" appears in the Bible is in Genesis 22 where we saw the father loving his son. In this passage today we see the second usage of the word "love" and it is used to describe the son's love for his bride. This is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ tucked away in the book of beginnings. We do well to begin our every day right here in the love of the Father for His Son and the love of the Son for His Bride.
