The Marriage of Isaac - Birth of Esau and Jacob - Esau sells his Birthright - Isaac at Gerar - Esau's Marriage

(GENESIS 24; 25:19-26:35)

THE sacred narrative now turns to the history of Isaac, the heir to the promises, still marking in its course

the same dealings on the part of God which had characterized the life of Abraham. Viewed in connection

with the Divine promises, the marriage of Isaac would necessarily appear a subject of the deepest

importance to Abraham. Two things were quite firmly settled in the mind of the patriarch: Isaac must on no

account take a wife from among the Canaanites around, - he must not enter into alliance with those who

were to be dispossessed of the land; and Jehovah, who had so often proved a faithful God, and in

obedience to whose will he now refused what might have seemed highly advantageous connections, would

Himself provide a suitable partner for Isaac. These two convictions determined Abraham's conduct, as they

also guided that of "his eldest servant," whom Abraham commissioned to execute his wishes, and who, in

general, seems to have been deeply imbued with the spirit of his master.

Some time before (Genesis 22:20) Abraham had been informed that his brother Nahor, whom he left behind in

Haran, had been blessed with numerous descendants. To him the patriarch now dispatched "his servant, the

elder of his house, who ruled over all that was his" - generally supposed to have been Eliezer of Damascus

(Genesis 15:2), though at that time he must, like his master, have been far advanced in years. But before

departing, he made him swear by Jehovah - since this matter concerned the very essence of the covenant -

to avoid every alliance with the Canaanites, and to apply to his "kindred." And when the servant put before

him the possibility, that the execution of this wish might render it necessary for Isaac to return to the land

whence Abraham had come, the patriarch emphatically negatived the suggestion, as equally contrary to the

Divine will, while his faith anticipated no difficulty, but calmly trusted the result in God's hands. In all this

Abraham had no fresh revelation from heaven; nor needed he any. He only applied to present circumstances

what he had formerly received as the will of God, just as in all circumstances of life we need no fresh

communication from above - only to understand and to apply the will of God as revealed to us in His holy

The result proved how true had been Abraham's expectations. Arrived at Haran, Abraham's servant made it

a matter of prayer that God would "prosper his way," for even when in the way of God's appointment, we

must seek and ask His special blessing. There, as he stood outside the city by the well to which, according

to the custom of the East, the maidens would resort at even to draw water for t heir households, it naturally

occurred to him to connect in his prayer a mark of that religious courtesy, hospitality, and kindness to which

he had been accustomed in his master's house, with the kindred of Abraham, and hence with the object of

his journey. His prayer was scarcely finished when the answer came. "Before he had done speaking" (Comp.

Daniel 9:20, 21) Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came to the well by

which the stranger stood with his camels. Her appearance was exceedingly prepossessing ("the damsel was

very fair to look upon"), and her bearing modest and becoming. According to the sign on which he had fixed

in his own mind, he asked her for water to drink; and according to the same sign, she exceeded his request

by drawing for his camels also. But even so Abraham's servant did not yield to his first impressions; only at

the literality of the answer to his prayer, "the man wondering at her, held his peace, to know whether

Jehovah had made his way prosperous or not."

Before asking further who her kindred were, and seeking their hospitality, he rewarded her kindness by

splendid presents. But when the answers of Rebekah showed him that Jehovah had actually led him straight

"to the house of his master's brethren," the man, fairly overcome by his feelings, "bowed down his head,

and worshipped Jehovah."