Image above: “Who’s that man out there in the field?”
“Well, that’s your new husband, ma’am.”
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Genesis 24 (selected verses):
Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household… “Go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac…” Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town. It was toward evening; the time the women go out to draw water.
Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah (a relative). The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink…”
When the camels had finished drinking, the man asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel… We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, “Praise be to the Lord… (who) has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives…”
So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded… Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said (Rebekah’s brother).
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy… (My master said to me) ‘Go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son…’” (The servant told them what happened at the well.) “Then… I bowed down and praised the Lord who had led me on the right road… Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah. Let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed…” Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
So they sent Rebekah on her way (and they blessed her)…
Now Isaac was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. She took her veil and covered herself.
Then the servant told his master all he had done, and Isaac married Rebekah. She became his wife, and he loved her.
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A WEDDING SERMON
Mike and Connie, the text I have chosen for your wedding is from the story of another wedding, the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24. Isaac’s father, Abraham sent his servant on a long journey, back to Abraham’s hometown, in order to find a suitable wife for Isaac. The servant prayed for guidance, was led to Rebekah, and brought her home to Isaac— who did not yet know any of this, even though he was about to be married.
Beginning a marriage this way is risky business. The bride and groom had never laid eyes on each other until the day the servant got back with Rebekah and she asked, “Who’s that man out in the cornfield?” and Abraham’s servant replied, “Well, that’s your new husband, ma’am.”
These days, a woman would shriek at the thought of such an arrangement. And what young man would like the idea of some guy from his father’s office staff picking out his bride? Yet to this day, many Chinese, African, and Indian parents talk to other parents and arrange for the marriages of their sons and daughters with partners they have never met.
I have told my confirmation classes that I think this method of parents arranging for their children’s marriage is just as good as the way we do it, with both methods having certain advantages and disadvantages. The kids would get all upset and say, “Are you crazy? That’s too risky! How can you marry someone you don’t even know!” They would all argue that marriage is too serious a matter to enter into like that, with parents in charge. What about shared dreams and goals, what about common interests, what about dating and getting to know each other, what about love, for Pete’s sake— what do parents know about any of that? “You just can’t have parents making those kinds of decisions for you!” these wise 8th graders would all say. (continued…)
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