Finding a Wife for Isaac

One of the most important decisions you will ever make is to be married. You should ask your Mom and Dad how they knew it was right for them to be married. They will probably have a wonderful story to tell you of God’s guidance so that they were sure they should marry each other.
Marriage is God’s will for people to live together and have children. God has commanded it and God will bless it. But it needs to be with the right person. To be married to the wrong person is unthinkable. You should pray about whom to marry even while you are young and never marry someone outside of God’s will. But you may be asking, How will I know who is the right person to marry? God will guide you!
Today’s story from Genesis chapter 24 is about how God guided Abraham and his servant in the right way to find a wife for Isaac.
Abraham was becoming very old. Sarah had died, and still Isaac had no wife to comfort him in his sorrow. So one day Abraham called his chief servant, who most likely was still Eliezer, who had served Abraham for so many years.
Abraham told Eliezer he was not to take a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites for the Canaanite people worshipped idols and did not know the true and living God. And Eliezer was not to seek a wife who was just beautiful on the outside. She needed to be a believer in the true God and willing to serve Him.
Abraham insisted that Eliezer, his servant, go to the land of Syria to Abraham’s people to find a wife for Isaac. So, Eliezer swore with a special promise by putting his hand under Abraham leg stating clearly that he would do exactly as Abraham said.
So, Eliezer took some servants, 10 camels and some presents to set out to for the city of Nahor in the land of Syria. Eliezer was smart. He parked his camels at the well that was used by the people of the city of Nahor. He waited near the well until the young women came out to draw water in the evening. Then Eliezer prayed a long, strong prayer for God’s guidance.
He prayed that the young woman whom he asked to give him water out of the well would do it, and that out of her own desire she would also offer to water his ten camels. The girl’s extra kindness to water the camels would be the proof that she was the special one to become a wife for Isaac.
Immediately after Eliezer had prayed there at the well, a young woman called Rebekah came out from the city with her pitcher to draw water for her family. Eliezer ran to meet her and asked her to give him water to drink out of the well. That’s all he asked.
And lo and behold, Rebekah said to the man who was a complete stranger to her, I’ll give you water and I’ll also give your camels water. And she did. She kept on giving them water until they could drink no more, and camels can drink a lot of water! So, Eliezer knew that Rebekah was the one to marry Isaac. He gave Rebekah a golden earring and two golden bracelets as a thank you for the water, but also to create a strong friendship with Rebekah, who was young, never married and very beautiful.
Then Eliezer bowed in prayer to thank God for guiding him so wonderfully. He was excited to get to know Rebekah. He asked her, Whose daughter are you? She told him that her father was Bethuel. Now Bethuel was a nephew of Abraham. What a marvellous blessing from God to be so guided and to be so sure that Rebekah was the right person to marry Isaac. But was she willing to become Isaac’s wife? That would have to be discovered.
Eliezer asked Rebekah if there was a place to lodge in her father’s house. He would have to meet her father and her family to explain that he was sent by Abraham and that God had led him to find their daughter Rebekah.
Rebekah was very sure it there would be a place to lodge at her family home and that there would be straw for the camels. So, they went to her house.
The first person to meet them was Rebekah’s brother, Laban. He saw the golden earring and the bracelets Rebekah was wearing and immediately invited Eliezer, his men, and his camels to lodge with his family.
Rebekah’s family invited the men to eat with them. They were so kind and so friendly, but before dining together, Eliezer had to tell them the reason he came to their home. He couldn’t eat until he told them all about Abraham and his riches, about Isaac and how he was sent to find a wife for Isaac. He went on to tell Rebekah’s family how God had guided him by Rebekah’s offer to give him drink and his camels drink also. To Eliezer this was proof that Rebekah was the one to marry Isaac. But would her family be convinced? That was the moment to hear what Rebekah’s family thought.
Eliezer’s story was so convincing that Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, and her brother said, “The thing proceedeth from the LORD…” Take her and go.
Then again Eliezer was so happy and so blessed that he bowed to give the Lord his thanks and praises for the wonderful way in which God had led to provide a wife for Isaac. It was going to be a story of God’s match-making for all time!
Eliezer was so happy for his master Abraham and for Isaac that he wanted to leave the very next day. But what about Rebekah? Was she willing to go with this man Eliezer to become Isaac’s wife? Her father asked her that question, “Wilt thou go with this man?” She immediately replied, “I will go.”
Soon there was a happy marriage and a happy couple. Isaac and Rebekah were man and wife in the very centre of God’s will. That’s where you want to be when you get married.
In that account in Genesis chapter 24 there is a gospel picture. Similar to he way Abraham sought a wife for Isaac, God seeks out sinners to become a bride for His son, the Lord Jesus.
The people of God are married to the Lord. Just as a young woman leaves her family to become a new wife to her husband, sinners are called to leave the world and its sins to be united to the Lord Jesus. Believers become the bride, Christ is the bridegroom. God calls sinners to be saved and brings them to know and believe in His Son.
A Christian, then, is a person who is willing to leave the world and go out to be married to the Lord Jesus. Just as Rebekah was willing to go with Eliezer to be married to Isaac, Christians are willing to be saved to become the Lord’s beloved bride.
So, the question comes to you, “Wilt thou go with this man?” The Holy Spirit is calling you to become a Christian, to be married to the Lord Jesus as your Saviour.
You have a very big decision to make. I hope you are ready to leave the world and be saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus as your husband and Saviour.
Every earthly marriage is a picture of God’s Son and His church. God chose a bride for His Son. The apostle Paul wrote of marriage between one man and one woman in Ephesians 5:32 stating, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” 
This story of Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac is in the Bible to show you how God makes no mistake when He calls you to be saved and how He will work in powerful ways to unite you to His Son in order to bless you for evermore with eternal salvation.
Come then and be saved. Do not fear to seek Him. When you are seeking the Lord you will find that He is was already seeking you.
Pastor Ian Goligher Posted Jan. 31, 2021

To listen to the audio of this story click here.