Bible in a Year, Day 17: Rebecca Says Yes and the Gospel Appears

Today's reading

Today's reading is Genesis 24, where Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac, and Rebecca answers when her family asks if she will go.

They called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”

(Genesis 24:58, WEB)

Reflection

Isaac was 40 years old and still single. Abraham knew his son needed a wife, so he sent his most trusted servant with one mission: go back to the homeland and find Isaac a bride. The servant stopped at a well outside the city and prayed a specific prayer, asking that the woman who offered water to him and his camels would be the one God had chosen.

Before he had finished praying, Rebecca appeared. She gave the stranger a drink, then watered all ten of his camels. Pastor Jack Graham points out that this was a lot of work, and that she did it with grace and strength. The servant knew right away that she was the answer to his prayer.

Then came the harder moment. Rebecca's family asked if she would go with this man, and she said yes. She left everything familiar to marry a man she had never met. Pastor Graham adds, "she was trusting God all the way." Meanwhile Isaac was out in a field at evening, meditating and praying, and he looked up and saw her.

Pastor Graham reads this as more than a romance. As he put it, "Isaac in some ways is a picture of Christ, the beloved son." Abraham sent a servant to find a bride for his son, and in the same way, "God the father sent the holy spirit to call out a bride for Jesus." That bride is the church. Paul says in Ephesians 5 that marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, with Jesus as the bridegroom and us as the bride.

Rebecca left her old surroundings to go to Isaac, and Pastor Graham says that when you come to Jesus, you leave your old life behind and are united with him. The Spirit is still calling, and the question Rebecca heard is put to us: "Will you leave everything to follow Jesus?"

If you are waiting on God right now, Pastor Graham offers this: "God is not slow in keeping his promises." He is sovereign, and "He's preparing you for a future with him." His timing, Pastor Graham says, is always perfect.

Take it with you

• Rebecca noticed a stranger's need and stepped toward it. Where might you do the same today?
• What would it mean for you to answer the call of Jesus the way Rebecca answered, with a plain yes?
• What are you waiting on God for, and how could you rest in his timing this week?

Prayer

Father, thank you for the story of Rebecca and Isaac, and for the greater love story it points to. Thank you for sending your Spirit to call us to Jesus. Give me the courage to say yes and to leave behind whatever keeps me from following him. Where I am waiting, teach me to trust that you keep your promises and that your timing is perfect. Prepare my heart for the day I see you face to face. Amen.