Marriage by Faith, Part 2

Genesis 24
Gregory Broderick | Sunday, August 28, 2022
Copyright © 2022, Gregory Broderick

This morning we preached from Genesis 24 about God’s will for Christian marriage, and we especially focused on Rebekah’s remarkable faith in leaving everything she knew to marry a man she did not know in a place that she had never been.  She could do so, we observed, because she knew with confidence that this was the will of God for her.  We looked at her remarkable Christian character as well.  She was a hard worker, she was generous, she was gracious, and she was hospitable.  And she was prepared by a holy life for many years before.  We noted also that she was ready on the day that God came and called her.

So she heard the call, she answered the call, and she completed the task that God gave to her—to leave her family, to leave her father’s house, and to go to a land that she did not know.  In this way, she is very similar to Father Abraham, who did the same thing.  And, of course, she was greatly blessed—blessed with a godly husband who loved her, with two sons, as a mother of a great nation, and as an ancestor of the Christ, the promised Messiah, and, of course, as a believer saved by grace and now in eternal glory.

May we all be like godly Rebekah.  Certainly, Christian women can look to her and emulate her, but so also Christian men.  We can learn what to look for in a Christian woman and in a Christian wife, but also how to exercise great faith ourselves.

This evening I want to focus on the three principal men in this story—Abraham, the servant, and Isaac—for each of them also demonstrates serious faith proven by their actions.  Let us examine and emulate these men as well, generally, of course, but also in our particular or similar roles.

1. The Faith of Father Abraham

Abraham was a great man of great faith and so it is no surprise that he brings this great faith to bear on the all-important matter of the marriage of his beloved son Isaac.  Recall, of course, that Isaac was the son of the promise, the son of their old age.  They had waited for him for many decades.  So this is a great gift of God to Abraham and Sarah.  He was also the son of the promise in another way, though—not just the promise to Abraham, but the promise to all of us.  The great salvation first mentioned in Genesis 3, later made more explicit in Genesis 17 and 21, would come through Isaac.  Genesis 21:12 says, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”  So Abraham was therefore very interested in whom this Isaac will marry, for the good of the Messianic line, for the good of his beloved son, and for the good of the future generations.

So Abraham gets involved in this situation.  By this point, Abraham is getting pretty old and he cannot go and select a wife for Isaac himself.  Genesis 24:1 says he was well advanced in years.  So he cannot go, but he sends his servant to his own family and his own relatives back in the old country to get a wife for his son Isaac (v. 4).  The idea here is not family first, but the idea here is to go and find a believing wife, a wife from among the people of God.  That is why  Abraham says, “not from the daughters of the Canaanites” (v. 3).  He understood what God would later make clear in the written word in Deuteronomy 7:3–4:  “Do not intermarry with [the Canaanites] . . . . for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you.”  So he understood this risk.  It would be written down later, but he understood at his time, probably revealed to him by God.

This is not some minor or marginal risk to take.  It happened over and over in the Bible.  Remember how the Canaanite women led the Israelites into sin under Balaam’s counsel, spoken of in Revelation 2:14, or after the battle in Numbers 31.  Or in 1 Kings 11 about Solomon.  He was a great man to whom God had appeared twice, and yet he violated God’s law by marrying many foreign women and holding fast to them in love.  And what happened to Solomon?  They led him astray.  They turned his heart after other gods.  Solomon followed these detestable false gods and did evil in the sight of the Lord.  God had appeared to him twice.  That is a lot when it comes to God appearing to you.  And yet he turned away to follow other gods.  The builder of God’s temple, Solomon, suddenly is building temples for Chemosh and Molech and every other false god, destroying himself and introducing foreign gods, pluralism, into Israel.

So Abraham understands that this is very important.  It is very important for Isaac, the son of the promise, to have a believing wife.  Second Corinthians 6:14 tells us, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”  First Corinthians 7:39 says that Christian marriage must be “in the Lord” only.  He must have a believing helpmeet to help him to walk with God and to raise godly offspring until the Messiah should come.  Remember, he doesn’t know when the Messiah will come.  The Messiah may come in a generation, or He may come in 2,000 years.  He doesn’t know when He is coming, but Abraham knows that his son needs a believing wife to raise up godly children and to continue to raise up godly children until such time as that Messiah should come.

So Abraham knows that is important.  He doesn’t know all these other things I referenced in Scripture.  They haven’t happened yet.  But he knows, probably from God, that it is important, and so he rightly takes the matter very seriously.

First, notice that Abraham sends his very best man for this mission.  He is too old to go personally, so it says he sends his chief servant, his best man, loyal and long-serving, the one who had served as his COO over his household.  It is probably Eliezer of Damascus.  We are not really told that in our text here, but we can infer it.  It was probably Eliezer of Damascus who had previously been set to inherit all from Abraham when Abraham was childless (Gen. 15:2).  So this is the most reliable man he sends.

Second, Abraham makes that servant swear a sacred oath (v. 2).  This is an oath “by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth” (v. 3).  There is no higher authority, no greater way he can impress the seriousness of this matter onto the servant than to swear an oath in the name of the Lord God Almighty.  And the servant, of course, takes it very seriously.  He makes provision for what to do if there are problems.  Remember, he says, “What if I go and I cannot get this girl to come with me?” Abraham says, “Okay.  Then it is not your problem.  But don’t worry about it; God will take care of it.”  The point is, the man was not like, “Yeah, yeah, okay.  Whatever you say, Abraham.  I will go and give it a try.”  No, he took it very seriously.  He took this oath very seriously.

Third, Abraham makes it clear that Isaac is not to leave the Promised Land.  This is the land that God gave.  It is where God told them to settle, and so Isaac is to stay in it.  Perhaps that is an alternate reason why Abraham did not go himself.   But either way, he does not want Isaac to leave out of fear that Isaac may go and never come back.  Isaac may go and settle in that foreign land, as apparently happened with Abraham’s father on the way to the Promised Land in Canaan.  So we are going to keep Isaac in this land that God has promised to us.

Fourth, Abraham provides richly for the servant.  He wants to ensure maximum opportunity for success in this important mission.  The way Pastor Mathew puts it is, “Spend the money.”  So he spends the money.  He provides the man with ten camels (v. 10).  The camels themselves are of significant worth.  But he loads those camels with all kinds of good things (v. 10).  That is obviously to make the journey there and make the journey back, but also to have gifts to give the girl and her family and so on, as was customary at that time.  Abraham also sends a company of men along with the servant (v. 32).  This is to ensure safe passage, so the servant makes it there for the mission, but also safe return with the precious cargo of his son’s wife-to-be.

As parents, we have a key role in assisting our Christian children in the priority task of finding a godly spouse.  It is not merely for Old Testament times, or it is not simply a preference of the culture.  God assigns this role to parents generally, of course (Prov. 22:6).  We are to teach them and train them to marry in the Lord only.  That is part of raising up your child in the way he should go so that when he is old he will not turn from it.  So this is sort of part of the general mission.  But it is also part of God’s specific mission.  He makes it clear through specific assignments that we are to help our children to apply this teaching.  That is a job especially given to fathers, but to all parents.  Deuteronomy 7:3:  “Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.”  The same idea is expressed in Deuteronomy 22 and Exodus 22.

We are to help our children, both underage and adult, in every decision in life.  We do it all the time:   What college to attend.  What course of study and what career.  What job to take.  What promotion to seek.  Which car to buy.  What house to buy.  How to speak and behave properly.  What to wear, and sometimes more importantly, what not to wear.  So we help our children with all these decisions all the time as they grow up.  But having helped them in all areas of life great and small, why in the world would we absent ourselves from this most critical decision in their lives?  It is the most critical decision left in the life of a believer:  “Whom should I marry?” It would be foolish to do all those other things and then not this one thing of highest importance for our believing child.

The prevailing idea of our culture is, Well, just follow your heart and sort of muddle your way through and figure it out for yourself.  We don’t do that with education.  We don’t do that with careers.  You would end up with a bunch of ballerinas and artists with no jobs.  Many musicians, but not much income.  “Just follow your heart” is the foolish, godless philosophy of this world.  “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9).  It will lead you astray if you simply follow it.  If we don’t say that for anything else, we should say it least of all for the critical matter of Christian marriage.

That does not mean that we are to choose the spouses for our children.  But it means that we have a role, and we are to be involved.  We are teaching them as they sit at home and walk along the road what kind of man or what kind of woman they should look for.  We are teaching them expressly with our words, but we are also teaching them by our actions.  We are guiding them as they apply that teaching in their lives:  this one or that one.  And all, of course, in accordance with biblical principles.  We are not looking for money or reputation or height, but we are looking at the heart.  First Samuel 16:7:  “Man looks at the outside but the Lord looks at the heart.”  We are not to be domineering, imposing our idea of what is best on our children, but we are to guide them and to counsel them by the word.  With clear eyes and unburdened by the emotional attachment that may cloud their vision, we as parents can help them see the right path to take, always, of course, focused on the key question: not “What is my preference or your preference?” but “What is the will of God in this situation?  What is the will of God for this relationship or for my marriage?”  Parents, and especially fathers, I want to say:  Don’t spiritualize your passivity or your fear by saying, “I don’t want to interfere,” or, “That is for the elders to do.”  No, it is your job.  Do your job.  Give them your best counsel for their best, especially on this most critical decision.

And speaking of the faith of Father Abraham, notice Abraham’s supreme confidence that this will all work out just fine.  It is not a very good plan, if you think about it:  “Take some camels and some stuff and go to this place and find a wife for my son.”  Any other  parameters?  No, no.  You will figure it out on the way.  It is not a very well-drawn up plan.  But Abraham is doing God’s will in seeking a believing wife for his son Isaac, and so he trusts that God will work it out, God will answer that prayer.

Abraham says nothing about what is to be the girl’s appearance.  He does not say anything about how old she is to be or how much dowry she should bring.  He does not mention her family’s prominence or wealth as a factor that the servant should consider.  He just tells the man—he  actually tells him very little other than, “Go and get a believing wife.  God will help you on the road.”  That is not much guidance.  But it is enough.  Abraham is doing God’s will, seeking that believing wife for his son, and so he has no doubt that the journey will succeed.  “What God commands by His word He enables us to do by His Spirit.”

So in Genesis 24:7 Abraham declares, “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send an angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.”  You see, Abraham has experience with this God.  He has walked with God for many years.  He has implemented much less-developed plans than this, such as,  “Go to the land I will show you.  That is all the information you are going to get up front.”  Abraham has that experience and so he has the confidence, and likely this servant has that experience and this confidence as well.  So Abraham is just reminding him: Remember how God helped us all those times before?  He is going to help us again.  We went down to Canaan.  Remember that?  We went down to Egypt.  We were in a war.  We were in the land of Abimelech.  Isaac was born after all those years.  Remember, we took Isaac and had to sacrifice him on the altar, and God provided.  I don’t know how God is going to work this out, but God will take care of us.  Don’t worry, servant.  He will help us again.  So don’t sweat the practical obstacles.  Just go in faith, and God will go with you.  He will give us success because it is His will that we are doing.

That was Abraham’s faith from the positive perspective, but I also want to look at Abraham’s negative faith.  Abraham not only exercised that faith by what he did, but also by what he did not do.  He did not marry Isaac off to a local Canaanite princess to form a military alliance.  Now, surely this was the common thing at the time.  It was certainly common later, by 1 Kings 3, when Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter.  And it may well have been quite an offense to say “No” to those other kings who probably wanted an alliance with Abraham.  Abraham had become a powerful person in that area.  He had probably around 1,000 people living in his household.  He was able to muster a force and go out and fight five kings and win.  So my guess is that, at least if I were going to be making alliances, this man would be on my list as someone to go and visit.  And how do you do it?  You marry your daughter to his son.  Likely, Abraham had such offers but said “No.”  He did not marry Isaac off to the daughter of a local king or prominent merchant to gain financial advantages.  And those were probably temptations—the commercial or the political and military.  But Abraham trusted God to protect and trusted God to provide.  He probably thought, “I don’t have to take these measures to protect myself because I am doing God’s will, and He is going to protect me.  I don’t have to take these godless measures to provide for myself.  I am doing God’s will; He will provide for me.”  God said, “Marry a believer,” and God is faithful to those who obey Him.  Therefore, Abraham must have reasoned, “God will not burn me for turning down military or trade alliances through an improper marriage of my son.”

Notice also that Abraham did not fear Isaac or indulge Isaac’s desire, as the parents of Samson seemed to do.  Abraham did not fear Isaac and his whims about who he might want to marry, but he feared God.  Now, we are not told that Isaac had any such temptations, but it is possible that it happened.  After all, by this point, Isaac is no mere kid.  He is probably in his thirties by this time.  He seems to have assumed a prominent role in the operation as Abraham was getting on in years and very old.  Isaac may even have had his eye on a local girl.  That is speculation.  It is not in the Bible, but it is possible.  Or perhaps he might have wanted to go to Haran and pick out the bride for himself.  That is what Jacob would later do.  But Abraham loved the boy enough to do what is right and to say “No.  Get a believing wife in the will of God, and you stay here in the land.”

As parents, we can sometimes operate in fear of our children’s reaction.  If I say “No,” this one may run off, like the prodigal son, or marry a Canaanite just to annoy me, as Esau did in Genesis 28.  Or they may “hate” me or it may damage our relationship.  Now, probably not.  My experience thus far is that when you bring the difficult word to your children, they will appreciate it after a suitable interval of time—sometimes a long interval of time.  So probably not, but maybe.  Maybe Isaac would have been very upset with Abraham.  It does not matter.  We can never operate in such fear.  We must  love our son or our daughter enough to say “No.”   We must love them enough to say “No” even when it may harm our relationship.  I must love my son or daughter enough to set aside my own deep desire for a close relationship in the short term and do what is right for his or her eternal soul and even their temporal life instead.  Did you catch that?  I put my desire for relationship aside for your good.

Christian parents, let us operate in faith like Abraham.  He literally and figuratively put Isaac, his beloved son, on the altar.  Abraham guided Isaac in this most important matter and made provision for it, spending the time and spending the money, and making it a major priority.  Abraham did his job.  He trusted in God and he was blessed. (GTB)  That is the story of, the picture of, Abraham’s life, but also in this specific matter.  He was greatly blessed, and we will be also.  That is the faith of Abraham.

2. The Faith of the Servant

Although we suspect that this servant is Eliezer of Damascus and with good cause, the truth is that we don’t really even know this man’s name.  But what we do know for sure is that he was a man of faith.  We first suspect it because he was chosen by Abraham for this key mission.  Abraham is a serious man, a man of serious faith.  He is probably not going to send some unbeliever to go and do this work.  This man is sent as Abraham’s delegate.  This is a high, high degree of trust.  As I said, it seems unlikely that Abraham would send an unbeliever to find a believing wife for Isaac.  How would the unbeliever know the difference?  We receive further hints from Abraham’s charge, or oath, requiring the man to invoke the name of the Lord, and from the man’s immediate obedience and diligence in carrying out the word.  This man’s character is consistent with that of a believer.

Any doubt that we might have about this man’s faith is removed by his actions.  He shows his faith by what he does (James 2:18).  As soon as he arrives near the town where Nahor lives, he prays (Gen. 24:12).  Prayer is a matter of first importance for this important mission.  He goes and he prays to God before he gives it a try.  He doesn’t even go into town and look around to see if the job is easy enough to do without  prayer.  He stops and he prays.  And I will bet you that he prayed all along the way.  The only thing you can do is pray.  You don’t know how you are going to do this.  You don’t know what the parameters are.  You don’t know where to go.  I have to stop and pray.  So he probably prayed all along the way, and surely Abraham back at home was praying for the servant and for the future wife during this trip.  And we notice the servant’s prayer is a prayer of faith:  “O Lord, God.”  That is how it starts.  “O Lord, God.”  Correct acknowledgment as Lord and God.  Then he prays for the mission (v. 14).  Listen to how he prays for it:  “Let her be the one you have chosen.”  Not, “Give me something to take back that is passable,” but, “Let her be the one you have chosen.”  The idea is that God is to choose.  It shows that he not only believed in God, but he also trusted God to make this critical choice.

And the man prays a specific prayer.  I don’t know if I would have faith to get this detailed on the matter.  He did not pray some vague, general prayer.  He did not hedge his bets: “Lord, send the girl and make it clear who it is going to be.”  He prays a specific prayer.  He wants a clear answer and only God’s will.  He doesn’t have any other agenda.  He doesn’t want to make any mistake.  So he prays with specificity.  He prays for the clear answer and notice that he is not willing to settle for anything else except the one that God chooses.  He did not say, “Make her  pretty so that I can go home and show that I did a good job,” or “Make her rich,” or make her anything else.  He just prays, “Lord, the one that you would choose.”  And, of course, that specific prayer of “Let her be the one who says, ‘I will give you a drink and I will water all your camels also.”

Notice also that he acts on the prayer of faith.  As soon as the girls begin to come out, he goes out to test and to see which is the one that God will have.  This shows that he expected God to answer that prayer.  He did not sit by passively in defeatism.  He went and tested out:  “Is it you?  Is it you?  Is it you?” He seems to have nailed it on the first try, but perhaps not.  Perhaps he had talked to other girls first.  But this shows great faith—in fact, more faith than we often exercise—by expecting God to answer the prayer.  He watched her closely to see if God would make clear that this is the girl.  So he did not jump at the first positive sign:  “Yes, here is a drink for you.”  Okay, good enough.  No, he waits.  He watches her closely to see if this is really the one that God has picked.  And then after he sees it is the one that God has picked, he stops and goes with God’s choice.  He doesn’t sit there and say, “Let’s see what comes out the rest of the day.  This one is pretty good, but let’s see if there is a prettier one or a richer one” or whatever the characteristics.  He does not try to improve on God’s answer to prayer or hold out for something “even better.”

Then when God answers the prayer, when it is clear that this is the girl that God has chosen, what is the first thing he does?  He worships the Lord (v. 26).  He gave all praise and glory to God (v. 27).  He goes about the matter properly.  He doesn’t just throw her on the camel and take off.  He goes to her family and her home and presents the matter in a proper way (v. 32).  The idea is, he trusts God completely and so he trusts God to complete that work, and he does not fear man’s interference.  If this is the one God has chosen, no one is going to stop it.  There is no need to cut corners or to do things in a backhanded way when you are doing the will of God.  You can go about things in the proper way.  This servant speaks the whole truth to her family, testifying to God, testifying to God’s provision, and testifying to God’s miraculous answer to prayer without shame (vv. 34–38).  Remember, he does not know these people at all, so he doesn’t know what their reaction is going to be.  He could just say, “I am the servant of a very prominent man.  We have the camels out here.  We would like to take your daughter in marriage.  What do you say?” That is not what he does.  He goes and says, “God . . . God . . . God . . . God . . . God.”  He gives all glory to God and he testifies to God.

Then the servant boldly puts her family to the test:  “Tell me if you will let the girl go and become the wife of my master’s son.”  Then when they consent, what does he do?  He worships the Lord again (v. 52).  He is eager to complete the mission (v. 54b):  “Please let me go.”  He is bold to say, “Send me on my way” when they try to delay him.  He says, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted me success.”  He had achieved a major step in the mission, but the work is not done yet.  He found the girl, but he has to take her home and marry her to Isaac.  So he is eager to complete the work.

He acts faithfully and properly towards Rebekah all the way home, guarding her life and her purity, even though she was very beautiful, and they were in the middle of nowhere (v. 63).  He was not tempted to sin.  He reports immediately to Master Isaac when he gets home, testifying to all that God had done.  Verse 66 says he goes to Isaac and tells him everything that God had done.

So this servant is a man of extraordinary faith, and we ourselves should have such faith and exercise such faith.  We should be such faithful servants to those God has put over us.  Certainly, we should be such faithful servants to God, but we should also be such faithful servants to those God has put over us: our parents, our pastors, our husbands, our bosses, and so on.  We should all strive to be like this servant.  And when God’s delegates give us a tough task, may we believe God, may we obey them in the task given, and may we pray in faith, act in faith, and be bold and complete all the work, as this man did.

3. The Faith of Isaac

Isaac’s faith also shines forth in this account.  Isaac trusted in God who had spared him and provided a ram for the sacrifice in his stead.  We haven’t heard that much about Isaac personally yet in the Genesis account other than his time being born and his time as the potential sacrifice.  But Isaac has developed his own personal and strong faith.  He trusted that God, who spared him as a sacrifice, would also provide a wife in due time.  What did Abraham tell him at the time of the sacrifice?  Jehovah Jireh.  So he knew Jehovah Jireh in this situation as well.  Isaac trusted in God to wait for God’s woman for him.  As I said, Isaac was likely in his thirties by this point.  He was born when Sarah was ninety.  Sarah dies around a hundred and twenty-seven years old, and it seems that her death and his marriage take place in relatively close proximity.

Marrying in your thirties seems relatively old for this culture.  Yet we are not told of any other wife that Isaac had.  We are not told of any other concubine that Isaac had.  We are not told of any other children that Isaac sired with the Canaanite women or with the ladies in the camp of Abraham.  No, he trusted in God to wait for the one that God had chosen.  He trusted in God directly, but he also trusted in God by trusting Abraham, believing Abraham’s word:  “not from the Canaanite women, but one from among our people.”  He trusted Abraham:  “You do not choose, Isaac.  God will choose the woman for you and via our servant.  You don’t even get to go.”  Isaac may not even have been consulted on this matter.  He might not even have known that this was going on.  Verse 62, towards the end of this chapter, indicates that Isaac may have been living apart at least for a time out in the Negev, perhaps tending flocks.  So maybe he went out to tend the sheep, and maybe this is the first thing he hears about it.  Getting nervous, young men?

But Isaac knows God.  He knows God’s man Abraham.  He knows his father Abraham loves him and cares for him.  So he trusts and obeys God by trusting and obeying Abraham.  And remember, this is part of a lifelong pattern for Isaac.  He was put on the altar and offered as a sacrifice.  He was bound.  He did not appear to fight it then, and he does not appear to fight it now.

Isaac, of course, proves his faith by marrying Rebekah and right away.  Verses 64–67:  off the camel, into the tent, and married right away.  Now, I came to this church in March, I got saved in April, I got engaged in May, and I got married in September.  I thought I was fast, but I was positively dithering compared to Isaac.  There does not appear to have been any “getting to know you” or “evaluation” period for Isaac, no dating to see if they were compatible, no “praying about it,” delaying to see “whether I would come around.”  It seems he did not even see her face.  So she did not even know his name, but he did not even see her face.  It says she got down from the camel and covered herself with her veil.  Verse 65:  “She took her veil and covered herself.”  Now, to marry a girl without seeing her face is living by faith.  And she is probably not wearing tight clothes that show her figure, but rather something more flowing and appropriate.  Is she fat?  Is she thin?  Is she pretty?  Is she plain?  No clue.  He knows almost nothing of her personality, of her wealth, or of her family.  He knows a little.  Eliezer, or whoever the servant was, told him everything that had happened.  So he has some indication of her character, but he does not know that much about her.  So why did he do it?  Why did he go and marry her right away?  How did he do it and marry her right away?

It is the same reason as her.  He knew it was the will of God.  Verse 66:  “The servant told Isaac all he had done.”  He told him about the prayer.  He told him how God miraculously answered that.  He told him all that happened.  Surely, he told all about the journey and God’s miraculous  answer.  And so surely Isaac agreed with Rebekah and the godly servant and everyone else:  “This is the will of God for me.”

Isaac did not need any additional information.  There were no additional considerations of her height or weight or appearance or personality or wealth.  “It is God’s will for me, so I will do it, and I will do it right now.”  No further questions.  Those other factors—her looks, her personality, etc.—are no longer relevant to the critical question:  “What is the will of God for me?” Those other things are sometimes relevant when we are trying to figure out what the will of God is.  But once you know what the will of God is, you don’t need that other information.  Once God’s will is clear, any other known information is irrelevant, and any unknown information is not a risk.  The unknown is not a danger, but rather things to be learned and enjoyed as we unwrap the great gift that God has sent us.  And Isaac did just fine.  Remember, she was very beautiful.  He knew enough.  He knew that it was God’s will.  This was a godly woman of godly character per the servant’s report.  So lock that one down in marriage before she gets away.

We should approach all of life and especially key issues of Christian marriage and household order in the same way.  Seek God’s will only.  Execute God’s will immediately upon learning what it is.  Be greatly blessed.

Like Rebekah, Isaac was ready when God called.  He did not hesitate.  Now, maybe he had advanced notice that Abraham was getting into this, or maybe he did not.  But as soon as she came, and as soon as he learned that this was God’s will, he moved.  He went into action.  Verse 67:  “Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah.  And so she became his wife.”  What a man, and what a man of faith—eager to grow up, eager to step up, eager to be a husband, eager to commit, eager to get married in the will of God.  Not lost in worry, not seized with analysis-paralysis, but confident that God would enable him to lead the godly woman that God had chosen and brought for him.  He did not go wobbly in the key moment.

Now every man may doubt himself, especially in regard to Christian marriage.  He may wonder, “Can I do it?” He may think it is a lot of responsibility, and he is right about that:   husband; head; provider; to be the prophet, the priest, and the king in the house; to wash her with water through the word.  To love her just as Christ loved the church.  That does not sound like a job description anyone should be eager to sign up for nor confident that they can do in their own strength.  So you may doubt yourself, but do not doubt God Almighty.  He calls you to that task, young men, and He will make you able.

So young men, live by faith.  Grow up!  Step up!  Be ready for the woman that God chooses for you.  Seek her out.  Seek God’s will, if this is the one for you, and then marry her.  If you date one who is not the one God chose for you, then act also.  Let her go and move on.  Get rid of your idea of what she must be.  And ladies, you get rid of your idea of what he must be.  Seek and find the one that God has for you to marry.

Next point about Isaac’s faith:  Isaac loved her.  Verse 66:  “So she became his wife, and he loved her.”  There is an interesting order of operations there: she became his wife, and he loved her.  Love is not merely a feeling.  Love is a commitment.  Oh, emotions will follow and be enhanced by such a commitment.  But love fundamentally is based on commitment and expressed in commitment.  It is a command of God:  “Love your wife.”  So Isaac loves her.  He does not begrudgingly do God’s will in this situation and just put up with her.  He is in it heart and soul, and he loves her as God said to do.  He is wholehearted in his obedience and his devotion to God, and so he gives himself wholeheartedly to his God-ordained marriage.  He becomes a husband to God’s woman, and then he becomes a father.  He is not afraid to grow up and do the next hard thing.  Isaac is not perfect (Gen. 26).  Rebekah is not perfect (Gen. 27).  But they trusted in God, and they loved one another as God ordained.  That led to some good outcomes for them, and that will lead to good outcomes for you.

In reflecting on Genesis 24, we see all these lived by faith—Rebekah, Abraham, Isaac, and the servant—and all were blessed.  Let us do the same, especially in the key matter of Christian marriage.  Let us look for a godly spouse of godly character.  Let us seek and find the one that God has chosen for each of us and set aside all other factors or ideas about that person, about myself, about the time frame.  Let us seek out the person at the time that God says.  And let us receive with joy the one that God gives us in answer to our prayers.

Young people, you should pray for a godly spouse.  You should be praying for that from a young age.  I know your parents are probably praying for that from a young age and perhaps even from before the time that you were born.  Prayer is an important factor, but when God comes and answers that prayer, don’t reject what God has sent you.  Instead, seize what God has sent you.  Imagine after all that specific prayer, had the servant said, “I am going to see what else comes along.”  Do you think God would have blessed that approach?  No.  He moved at the time that God said with the one that God said.

Let us never reject God’s good gifts, but let us instead cherish them, especially by living according to God’s order in relation to them.  So marry them, lead them, love them, or wives, submit to them, and so on.  Let us purpose to build strong Christian families for the glory of God and as a light to the lost world.  And, of course, let us build strong Christian families for our good.  There are some pretty good husbands around this place.  There are some pretty good wives around this place.  And you have blessed one another.  This is a blessing.  This is not some dreary assignment.  If you are a young man or young woman and you are worried about marriage, it is a good time.  It is not a dreary assignment.

Let us unite in Christian marriage with Christian spouses and produce Christian children, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, to create a future generation that may yet praise the Lord.  A future generation who may testify to him for a thousand generations until he comes again with glory.

Christian marriage is an indescribable gift of God, second only to being the bride of Christ, our salvation.  So let us seek it, find it, do it, appreciate it, and be blessed by it.  Amen.