“Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came
out with her jar on her shoulder.” [1]
(Gen 24:15)
An entire
chapter of Genesis is concerned with the actions of a single unknown man. We do not know his name, or where he came
from, or how old he was, or where and when he was born or where and when he
died. Yet he directly contributed to the
canon of Scripture, and his voice is recorded for us verbatim.
Abraham was
getting old. His son Isaac was now 40
years old, and no doubt growing weary of listening to his father dictate that
he must not get a wife from the people groups around them. Abraham purposed to see to it that Isaac had
a wife of his own lineage. To do that,
he called his chief servant and had him swear to get a wife for Isaac from
Abraham’s clan.
It is this
servant’s story that is all of Genesis 24.
While many details of the story are given, at the core of it is this
man’s prayer. Verses 12-14 record, “Then he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master
Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13
See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the
townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I
say to a girl, ‘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.” [2]
As v15
points out, before he finishes praying, God sends the answer to his
prayer.
The story doesn’t end there, though. Even after everything he prayed for seems to be provided, the Word says, “Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.” [3] Read that again. He watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. That’s astonishing. He asked God that a girl might show up, that she might hear him ask for a drink, and that she might then not only answer positively to that request, but generously offer to water his camels. This is exactly what happens, and yet he still doesn’t assume that the Lord has answered him. “He watched closely to learn…”
Sometimes
after we’ve prayed, circumstances begin to line up and we assume that the Lord
is giving us exactly what we asked for.
Then when it all falls apart later we’re hurt and upset, and we blame it
all on Satanic attack or the disobedience of those around us. Meanwhile, it is our own rush to jump to a
conclusion that is truly to blame. God’s
answers are firm, and they stand up to questioning. It is not wrong to carefully and prayerfully
consider what appears to be an answer.
Indeed, the
servant’s pause here suggests that he was praying again in his heart. Not without reason, it turns out – as the
rest of the chapter reports, Rebekah’s brother gives the servant a bit of a
runaround before agreeing to let her go.
The servant was wise enough to realize that just because the sign was
given didn’t mean the deal was closed.
She’d have to be able (that is, to get permission first), and she’d have
to be willing first, to go. Even when
the Lord grants the request in answer to the servant’s prayer, it is his wise
and tactful handling of Rebekah’s family and their hesitation that ultimately
results in success. The answer was hinted
at in circumstance, but the answer is realized in prayerful and thoughtful action.
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