10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” 18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” 26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” 28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.
I've always felt quite sorry for this servant of Abraham, being sent off on this errand without much guidance, and expecting to suddenly meet “the woman of your boss’ son’s dreams.” Imagine your boss telling you, "Go off to Bukit Panjang and get a wife for my son!", and being a good servant, you head out on the blue line and hang out at the MRT station, looking for this unidentified woman. (Caveat: this is neither endorsement nor condemnation of Bukit Panjang as an inappropriate place to look for a wife.)
However, when we look closely at the passage, we see a few clues that this servant was not as unprepared as we might have imagined.
In the first instance, Abraham sent a trusted servant - he had all kinds of precious goods from Abraham meant as bridal gifts for the girl's family, which meant that this servant could be trusted with his master's gifts, not to run away with them. So the servant must be someone who has earned that trust of Abraham - enough to be tasked with finding Isaac’s wife.
In the second instance, we see that his first stop was the non-alcoholic version of our modern bar: the well outside town, at the time when women were drawing water. If we assume that this servant was a smart man, he must have decided to take the camels and hung out where a higher population of women might be, and where the possibility of him meeting this illusive “wife” might be higher.
However, that was where his (earthly) plans probably ended. He probably felt like every other reluctant party-goer - I'm here, now what?
This is where my sympathy for this servant of Abraham turns into admiration when I see what he did next. While we are not told if the servant was an Israelite, we hear from his first prayer that we can tell that he believes in the power of the "Lord, God of my master Abraham."
What an amazing testimony to Abraham's faith, that his servant, someone outside of God's people, would go on this errand journey, and as a natural next step, call on the God of his master to help him fulfil his master's will! What kind of household must Abraham have run, that his faith would rub off on his servant like this? Was it because Abraham ran a household where a non-Israelite could be a servant elevated and trusted to run an important task such as finding a wife for the master's son? How did it come about that this servant was determined to get the kindest bride - one who would let him drink, and water his camels too - for his master's son?
Dear brothers and sisters, how are you demonstrating God's sovereignty over your life, to the people around you? Can the people around you see that God is in charge of your life, and that this power is limitless, and importantly - open to everyone who is willing to acknowledge him? In your journal, list down some practical ways which you can remind yourself to demonstrate God's presence in your life to others around you.
