CHAYEI SARAH

"Before he had finished speaking, Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah the wife of Nahor Abraham’s brother, came out with her jug on her shoulder.”
Gen 24:15

In Hebrew, the word for a match between man and woman is called and SHIDDUCH, while the matchmaker is called a SHADKAN. With the events to follow between Isaac and Rebekah, Eliezer played shadkan. Since this was not a chore he was accustomed to, Eliezer found himself praying for success in Genesis 24:12. “He said, ‘ADONAI, God of my master Abraham, please let me succeed today; and show your grace to my master Abraham.’” Sent to find a wife for Isaac, the servant only wanted God’s choice as opposed to just any woman walking by. But in this passage is found one of my favorite verses. "Before he had finished speaking, Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah the wife of Nahor Abraham’s brother, came out with her jug on her shoulder” (Gen 24:15). I love this verse because it shows us how involved God is in our future and how active He is in our prayer life. For the servant, all that he had prayed and requested of God, he found Rebekah was and did. Unknowingly, she was the answer to the prayer.
When I read this portion I cannot help but have my eyes opened to just all this provision includes. Abraham's request of the servant, guaranteeing that he had found the right one, was that she would agree to come back with him. The servant had to find a woman, receive both her and her parent's permission for marriage, have her agree to leave her family, have her family agree to let her go, and then do all this on a blind date. Unlike today when we can at least see a picture when on-line dating, the servant had no picture to show Rebekah. But still, God not only provided, but prepared Rebekah and her family.
The message here is simple - God will supply. I can look back and see the many times that God has supplied for me. When my marriage went bad and I was asked to move out, God supplied furniture for me. When my car gave up, God supplied a car for me. When I was lonely, God supplied a friend for me. When I needed a little extra cash, God supplied overtime for me. When I asked for a wife, God brought one to me. I feel bad, because sometimes I take God for granted. But then I see stories like this and am reminded that because He loves me, He takes care of all my needs.
Another point to make here involves the Yiddish word BASHERT. This word means destiny. When the servant was praying, he also asked God that she be the one whom He had appointed for Isaac. He was praying for Isaac’s destiny, his barshert (Gen 24:14).
I am reminded also of Philippians 4:19 which reads, “Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to his glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua.” This word need, is the Greek word CHREIA, from the root word CHRAOMAI. The meaning encompasses employment, occasions, demands, requirements, businesses, lacks, uses, and wants. In truth, it is the furnishing of all that is needed. God will take care of everything; there is no reason for us to panic. As easily as He answered a prayer that was still in the process of being prayed, so He also can answer our prayers before we finish praying. God loves us enough to care for us. We won't always get what we want, but He will be sure to give us what we need. There is hope in this because this applies to all of life. I have learned to throw away my list of what I want in the future and begin to ask God to supply what I need. In trusting in Him, I will find myself in good hands.
But before we leave this account, I want to look at what happens in the end. When we find Isaac again in Genesis 24:62-63, we find him out in the field. In some translations it states that he was walking in the field, while others say he was meditating in the field. The word in Hebrew is SUWACH, meaning to muse pensively, or to meditate. But have you ever stopped to wonder what he may have been meditating on? With a probable knowledge of why the servant was gone, it serves right to assume that Isaac may have been praying or meditating on what his future wife looked like, should she have chosen to actually come.
It was while he was out there, though, that he saw the camels approaching. And she too saw Isaac. In fact, the Bible records that when she saw Isaac coming to meet her, she covered herself with her veil. As I was reading about this I found an answer to why she did this action. The writing states she covered herself for two reasons. First, it was customary in that time for the woman to cover her face in the presence of her fiancé just prior to her marriage. This amazed me when I read this because being the first recorded blind date in the Bible, Rebekah immediately considered herself engaged to Isaac. The second reason for her covering is stated in saying she wanted her inner beauty to grab Isaac’s attention rather than her outer beauty.
In no time at all the wedding bells rang, and Isaac escorted Rebekah into his mother’s tent where she became his wife. Taking her into his mother’s tent, which had been empty till now, symbolized the addition once more of an eishet chayil, a virtuous wife. The Bible records that just as Sarah had been loved by Abraham, so Genesis 24:67 records that Isaac loved his wife, Rebekah. This can be a lesson to us. Isaac did not marry out of love, but loved because he was married to her. How many of us base marriage on love, instead of love on marriage? How many of us can learn a lesson from Isaac's example? I know I can.