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A Match Made In Heaven

© Charlotte Crowder

Isaac was devastated when Sarah, his mother died. (Gen. 24:67) Abraham knew it was time for him to marry. The story of Isaac's bride is a wonderful example of God's love for each man individually and his intricate involvement in each decision of their lives. The notion that God is some distant higher power who put things in motion and then sits back to see what happen is shown to be a myth. Abraham sends his servant, Eliezer, to find a wife in his father's house. Abraham's father was Terah of Ur, who died in the city of Haran (also the name of Abraham's deceased brother and Lot's father) on their way to Canaan. The only surviving brother was Nahor who had two grandchildren we know: Laban and Rebekah. Eliezer set out to the home of Nahor, with the strong warning against taking Isaac. Isaac, under no circumstances was to return to Ur (the place where God had called his father out of). Eliezer was not the chief servant for nothing. The scripture tells us he was a devout and faithful man of prayer like his master Abraham. The first thing he did was to seek God's counsel and ask for God to show him the woman who God had for Isaac. (Gen. 24:12-14)

The sign which Eliezer asked was very specific. "When the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water, let the one that I will ask to get me a drink from her pitcher give me a drink and then offer to get some water for my camels also. Then I will know that she is the one for Isaac. Then I will know that you have showed kindness to Abraham. The Bible says that before he was done speaking Rebekah came to the well. The conversation proceeded just as Eliezer had prayed it would, but now came the hard part: explaining to her and her father how God had sent him to her and that she should leave this land and her family and go to a man and a land who she did not know. Laban's family graciously took him in, and when he told them the story of how He had asked God for the sign, and God had answered him Laban said, "This thing came from God, we can not say good or bad." Rebekah agreed to go right away as Eliezer requested.

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