GENESIS

ABRAHAM

The Death of Sarah and A Wife for Isaac

Genesis 23:1-24:67

INTRODUCTION

Now one of the major characters in Genesis passes away, Sarah. At the time of her death Sarah is 137 years old. What is interesting about this fact is not only was she 137 but that the Bible tells us her age. Why is that interesting? Because of all the women in the Bible, only Sarah's age is given. By mentioning her age, Moses is saying that in spite of her lapses she is still one of the great women of the Bible. People we would so readily write off actually become heroes in the Bible. It is true that she comes across as conniving at times and unbelieving at others times; HOWEVER, remember that when it is all said and done, she DID come to faith in God as evidenced by the fact that God did let her become the mother of the chosen seed, Isaac. We should not excuse our failures by pointing to Sarah. Remember she had only 11 chapters in the Bible to go by whenever God first dealt with her; yet she still did come to faith. That is the important thing--that she did come to faith. She might have come late; she probably should have come earlier, but the main point is that she did come to faith. God is so condescending that He will take us whenever He can get us.

THE DEATH OF SARAH (23:1-20)

Because of time we just want to discuss this passage briefly. Sarah has died at the age of 137. Abraham has no land of his own in Canaan, the land God promised to give him and his descendants as an everlasting possession. In this passage Abraham seeks to buy one plot of land to serve as a type of family burial plot. In fact not only will Sarah be buried there, but Abraham, Isaac, Isaac's wife, Isaac's son Jacob and Jacob's first wife Leah will be buried there. After a series of negotiating maneuvers, Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah and the plot of land before it from a Hittite named Ephron. There Abraham buries Sarah.

Now stop and think for a moment about what this is telling us. Up to this point in time Abraham has not owned even one square foot of the land of the Canaan, the very land God had promised to give his descendants as an everlasting possession. Yet now at the end, he does buy a small plot of land. It is as it were the beginning of Abraham and his descendants taking possession of the land; it's only a small beginning, but it is nevertheless still a true beginning. By buying this plot of land, Abraham is basically planting his flag in Canaan. Just like the early explorers planted the flags of their nations in the lands they discovered to show that this land was not theirs, so Abraham is planting his flag in Canaan to show that this land is truly his. Planting his flag there at the cave of Machpelah shows us that Abraham truly trusted God that He was going to fulfill His promise to make of Abraham a great nation.

At this point in the story Abraham is now 147 years old. He has been following God for the past 72 years, and yet what does he have to show for it? One son and a small plot of land to be used as a burial site. When it is all said and done, few if any of us would follow God for such meager benefits. Yet Abraham is looking to the future. Although he will not experience fully the benefits of his faith here on earth, future generations will benefit greatly because of his faith in God. His life is a tremendous testament of faith.

A WIFE FOR ISAAC (24:1-67)

Abraham's Instructions to His Servant (24:1-9)

Sarah's death creates a major vacuum in Abraham's household. Later events will show us that Isaac tends to be soft, almost excessively passive towards other people. Although Isaac may have felt the need for a wife before this time, the death of his mother creates an emotional vacuum in his life. Abraham now seeks to take steps to provide that wife for Isaac. (In the ancient world this was not an uncommon feature. In fact up until at least recently this practice has been carried on in Muslim and Hindu households.)

Where to get this bride? From earlier events Abraham has learned his lesson. He is not to scheme and connive in order to get a bride for Isaac. God has set certain parameters for Isaac and Abraham is not going to violate those parameters. What are these parameters? First, Isaac is NOT to marry one of the Canaanite women because they were pagan. Second, Isaac is NOT to leave the land of Canaan, even if it means remaining single the rest of his life. Abraham is giving specific instructions to the servant. If he can't get Isaac a bride by abiding by these instructions, so be it. These parameters are from God, and Abraham is NOT going to violate them. If obeying these instructions means that Isaac won't get a bride, then that's God's business. God is the one who set the parameters and God is the One who promised to make of Abraham a great nation. It's God's, not Abraham's, responsibility to make sure this promise is fulfilled. Abraham commands the servant to go north, to the city of Nahor where Abraham and his family lived before coming to Canaan, and get a wife from among his relatives. (The part of the family which did not come with Abraham to Canaan was still living in Nahor.)

This passage now builds upon the previous story. Abraham buys land in Canaan to bury his wife in order to lay claim to the land. Now he will give instructions to his slave in order to insure that hhis descendants don't leave the land God has promised them. Abraham makes his servant swear a bodily oath by having him place his hand under Abraham's hip and swear that he will obey these instructions. (Why under the hip? The hip in ancient thought was the source of strength and the seat of reproduction. These instructions will affect Abraham's seed; therefore, the oath is to be related to the seed by swearing this bodily oath.)

The Servant Discovers Rebekah (24:10-60)

The servant in compliance with Abraham's instructions takes some servants and 10 camels loaded with riches and heads north for the village/city of Nahor. When he enters the city, he prays that God direct him to the right girl to be Isaac's wife. He asks God to have the right young lady to offer to water his camels after he asks her for a drink for himself.

As evening approached, the young ladies of the town head for the village well to fill their containers with water to take back home. Abraham's servant approaches Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, Abraham's nephew, and asks her to give him some water to drink. Not only does she agree to give him water, she also offers to water his camels! The very thing he had asked as a sign from God. As a true servant of Abraham and as a true servant of God, he worships and thanks God for answering his prayer.

The servant wisely doesn't betray his hand. Instead he first showers her with gifts, a gold nose ring and gold arm bracelets, and then asks if she and her family can shelter him and his entourage for the evening. Rebekah now heads back home to make certain that this would be OK with her brother, Laban, and her father, Bethuel. Laban, who will figure prominently later in the story of Jacob, Rebekah's son, perks up when he sees the lavish gifts which the servant has showered upon Rebekah. (Even at this early stage in the game we see that Laban likes wealth. It will prove to be his undoing later on in the Jacob stories.) Laban rushes out to escort Abraham's servant to their home.

When the family sets food before him, the servant refuses to dine until he has revealed to them the purpose of his coming. He informs them that Abraham has sent him to find a bride for his son, Isaac. He then recounts the events leading up to his choosing Rebekah to be Isaac's bride: her offering to give not only him but also his camels water. Both Laban and his mother (with Bethuel's approval) agree to an arranged marriage between Rebekah and Isaac. (When the father got older, the oldest son normally took care of family business, with the father's blessing though of course.) Abraham's servant responds by showering gifts upon the rest of the family, including Laban. Abraham's servant and entourage are housed that night by Laban and his family.

Up to this point Rebekah has been pretty passive about the whole situation. The next morning sheds new light upon Rebekah. The servant informs Laban and the family that he would like to leave that very day for Canaan and for Abraham's tents. Laban and the family naturally ask for a 10-day delay. The servant though has accomplished his purpose and is anxious to return to Canaan. Laban puts the matter before Rebekah. Rebekah's response? She agrees to leave immediately. She knows that this thing is of the Lord and does not want to hestitate in fulfilling God's purpose.

Up to this point in Genesis women have not been faring all that well. Eve has royally blown it; Hagar is a disaster; Sarah is a "wash" at best. On the other hand, Rebekah comes through with flying colors. Upon the call of God, she is willing to leave her country, home, and kin immediately. Does any of this sound familiar? Yes. She is following in the footsteps of another great person in the Bible who left country, home, and kin upon the call of God, Abraham. One OT commentator calls her "the female Abraham." In this story we are seeing God reinforcing some of the major themes of the life of Abraham. When God calls us, He calls us to a life of abandonment, all of us, not just Abraham, but all of us. The fact that the same is demanded of Rebekah shows that this is not unique to Abraham--it is imperative that ALL of God's people abandon! The fact that God calls REBEKAH to abandonment shows that men are not the only ones to abandon all for the sake of Christ. The same call goes out to women to:

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and sisters,
yes, and even his own life,
he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Rebekah Returns to Canaan (24:61-67)

At this point Rebekah returns with Abraham's chief servant to the tents of Abraham. The way Moses describes this scene makes it one of the most romantic scenes in the Bible. As Rebekah and the servant approach their destination, Isaac happens to be out in the fields meditating. He had just recently returned from Beer-La-Haroi [the site where the Lord first appeared to Hagar (16:7-16)]. Maybe he was meditating upon the fact that at Beer-lahai-roi the Lord had promised to make of Ishmael his brother a great nation. Maybe he was wondering when God was going to fulfill His promise to make of ISAAC himself a great nation. Maybe he was looking up at the heavens and thinking that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. Whatever he was thinking, Moses says that at the same moment that he lifts his eyes and sees Rebekah, she too sees him. It is love at first sight. She asks the servant who the man is. When he replies that it his master Isaac, Rebekah veils her face, an act of modesty the new bride performs before marrying her groom. Isaac takes Rebekah to his tent to be his wife.

Moses writes that she was so wonderful that Isaac was comforted about his mother's death. The transition is almost complete. Rebekah replaces Sarai. The promise continues to be be fulfilled. It is just a matter of time now before God replaces Abraham with Isaac to complete the transition. Whatever else is true about this story, it does show us that whereas the characters in the drama may change, the story continues, God's purposes will not be thwarted. The people change, but the God behind all of this does not.