Matchmaker
Genesis 24:1-27
How did you choose your spouse?
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer 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.” Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder. The girl was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me sip a little water from your jar.” “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, and said, “Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” She added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place to spend the night.” The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 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 on the way to the house of my master’s kin.” - Genesis 24:1-27
We say that some matches were made in heaven, but do we believe the person we choose to be our life partner is heaven-sent?
Most who have had a wonderful relationship with their spouse will probably say, “Yes, of course.”
Others, whose marriages ended in divorce, may think otherwise.
Not all marriages last. In fact, more than half of them don’t, so is God involved in the selection or just the blessing of the marriage?
In today’s reading, He is definitely involved in the selection process. Abraham conveys an elaborate plan to acquire a wife for his son, Isaac. In an age when marriages were arranged by the fathers for strategic purposes, this selection process is somewhat unique.
Abraham is trusting God to show his servant whom Isaac should marry. And it is clear that the servant is pleased that God brought him Rebekah. He could not go back empty-handed.
So, did God provide, or did He simply point Abraham in the direction and let the chips fall where they may?
I like to think that God plays matchmaker for us, but that would go against our free will, so maybe God has another way of orchestrating the perfect match.
In my case, a whole sequence of events had to take place to align the stars perfectly for me to meet my future wife.
God knew I was struggling in my relationships, so if He wanted to intercede, He could have been more direct. But chance meetings are too cliche for many romance novels, and God knows I like to craft complex storylines in my writing, so what transpired in my life resulted from a sequence of unrelated events that placed me in the right place at the right time.
Thank God.
In the end, it is up to us to make the connection. Rebekah had to be welcoming and offer water for the camels as well as the servant for her to be considered as the right one for Isaac.
Now, I won’t get into whether or not Isaac was the perfect candidate for her. That’s not how this culture worked. Love was not the key factor in deciding who one should marry back then.
Love was a byproduct. And love shouldn’t be confused with lust. Ask David about that.
Anyway, God may play a role in helping us be in the right place at the right time. He may use events to our benefit, rather than create the events solely for us.
That’s how it was for me. My father was sick, but he wouldn’t go to the doctor as I demanded, until I got a job, since I was unemployed at the time. So, I applied for the first job I saw that looked interesting, knowing I was underqualified, and I got it. That’s when I met her. We shared an office.
Coincidence?
Sure. That explains it. But I prefer to think He had something to do with it. I like to think it was His Holy Spirit who guided me to the one with whom I would fall deeply in love.
What do you think? Does God help you find the true mate? Or is it all left to chance?
I believe it is both, and the work is ours to do.
More to come...