Genesis 24:1-28: "1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, 'Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.' 5 And the servant said to him, 'Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?' 6 But Abraham said to him, 'Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, "To your descendants I give this land," He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.' 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 Then he said, 'O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, "Please let down your pitcher that I may drink," and she says, "Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink"--let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.' 15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, 'Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.' 18 So she said, 'Drink, my lord.' Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, 'I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.' 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. 22 So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, 23 and said, 'Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?' 24 So she said to him, 'I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor.' 25 Moreover she said to him, 'We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.' 26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. 27 And he said, 'Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.' 28 So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things."
This evening we get to meet Rebekah, Isaac's future wife for the first time. The servant of Abraham takes an oath to find for Abraham's son a wife from his own people, and not from among the Canaanites. One might wonder, "why not?" This is most likely due to the Canaanites worshipping false gods and idols. However, the hometown of Abraham, would likely have a woman who was raised to believe and worship the One True God.
This is seen in the young maiden Rebekah. Not only does she willing help a stranger, but also was willing, and even offered without any prompting to water the strangers camels until they had had enough to drink. Keep in mind, that this servant of Abraham could have easily drawn water for himself, and his camels. But the actions of Rebekah show a self-less heart, a heart eager for helping others. Rebekah embodies the fulfillment of the second table of the Law. Love thy neighbor as thyself.
If one loves themselves, they are going to care of themselves. Case in point, we feed ourselves, we clothe ourselves, we put shelter over our heads, we find companionship for ourselves, in other words, we do good things for ourselves, because we care about ourselves. Our Lord God, commands us to love our neighbors, that is, our fellowman, in the same way that we do ourselves. We are required to treat everybody else, in the same way that we treat ourselves.
Clearly, none of us live up to this standard. Most of us our self-serving, and not selfless. Think about it, would we have acted in the same way that Rebekah acts, if some stranger asked us to take time out of our busy day to give them some of the water that we drew for ourselves, and we can assume her family? If we are honest, the answer is probably no. But Rebekah even goes a step further, in that she offers to give water to this strangers camels, without him asking. Would we do likewise? More than likely not.
We can see in this narrative an example of our Lord's words when He says that if someone asks for our tunic, we should give him our cloak as well, or when someone asks us to walk a mile with him, to go two miles with him. In other words, a heart that is truly full of love and grace, will not just do the minimum asked of it, but will gladly and willing do more than asked. How many of us can say the same is true of us?
In Rebekah's actions, we see a picture of the Good Samaritan, who not only helps someone who is a stranger, but by all accounts an enemy. The Good Samaritan is a picture of our Lord, who bandages our wounds that we received through sin, and gives us to the innkeeper, that is, the minister, to take care of us until He returns.
Rebekah is the perfect woman, for she is the picture of our Lord Jesus. In her selfless acts, she prefigures our Lord whose selfless acts of suffering and death freed us from the bondage of sin and death, so that we might enjoy forgiveness of our sins. Our Lord's death, burial, and resurrection is the living water for our souls, for it nourishes and comforts us, it relieves us from the hard journey through the desert and wilderness of this earthly life. Therefore, we come to the Church to hear this good message, in order that we might be given this refreshing water, to relieve us of our thirsty sin-parched lives.
May this water of life, comfort and refresh you, as you come to the Lord's house to hear His holy Word, and receive His Blessed Sacraments.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
This is seen in the young maiden Rebekah. Not only does she willing help a stranger, but also was willing, and even offered without any prompting to water the strangers camels until they had had enough to drink. Keep in mind, that this servant of Abraham could have easily drawn water for himself, and his camels. But the actions of Rebekah show a self-less heart, a heart eager for helping others. Rebekah embodies the fulfillment of the second table of the Law. Love thy neighbor as thyself.
If one loves themselves, they are going to care of themselves. Case in point, we feed ourselves, we clothe ourselves, we put shelter over our heads, we find companionship for ourselves, in other words, we do good things for ourselves, because we care about ourselves. Our Lord God, commands us to love our neighbors, that is, our fellowman, in the same way that we do ourselves. We are required to treat everybody else, in the same way that we treat ourselves.
Clearly, none of us live up to this standard. Most of us our self-serving, and not selfless. Think about it, would we have acted in the same way that Rebekah acts, if some stranger asked us to take time out of our busy day to give them some of the water that we drew for ourselves, and we can assume her family? If we are honest, the answer is probably no. But Rebekah even goes a step further, in that she offers to give water to this strangers camels, without him asking. Would we do likewise? More than likely not.
We can see in this narrative an example of our Lord's words when He says that if someone asks for our tunic, we should give him our cloak as well, or when someone asks us to walk a mile with him, to go two miles with him. In other words, a heart that is truly full of love and grace, will not just do the minimum asked of it, but will gladly and willing do more than asked. How many of us can say the same is true of us?
In Rebekah's actions, we see a picture of the Good Samaritan, who not only helps someone who is a stranger, but by all accounts an enemy. The Good Samaritan is a picture of our Lord, who bandages our wounds that we received through sin, and gives us to the innkeeper, that is, the minister, to take care of us until He returns.
Rebekah is the perfect woman, for she is the picture of our Lord Jesus. In her selfless acts, she prefigures our Lord whose selfless acts of suffering and death freed us from the bondage of sin and death, so that we might enjoy forgiveness of our sins. Our Lord's death, burial, and resurrection is the living water for our souls, for it nourishes and comforts us, it relieves us from the hard journey through the desert and wilderness of this earthly life. Therefore, we come to the Church to hear this good message, in order that we might be given this refreshing water, to relieve us of our thirsty sin-parched lives.
May this water of life, comfort and refresh you, as you come to the Lord's house to hear His holy Word, and receive His Blessed Sacraments.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
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