Genesis 24:54-67
54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”
56 And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”
57 So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” 58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”
And she said, “I will go.”
59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:
“Our sister, may you become
The mother of thousands of ten thousands;
And may your descendants possess
The gates of those who hate them.”
61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Here we see how the message of ‘do not delay’ came to Abraham’s servant to bring the bride to Isaac his son. The parents of Rebekah did not want to lose her among them, akin to the picture of the world not wanting to let us go when we become part of the bride of Christ. They pleaded with the resolute messenger of Abraham’s good news to her by attempting to hold her there longer, but with the persistent insistence of the messenger they then asked her if she was willing to go to be united with Isaac. The message was clear to not hinder or delay the call to be united as the LORD had arranged. This is again part of the picture of messengers of the gospel calling us to salvation in uniting with Christ as His bride and not allowing anyone or anything to hold us back from that union and desire to follow Him. We are like Rebekah when called by the Lord Jesus Christ as we separate ourselves from previous attachments of the world to become one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17) in union with our Savior. When the Lord prospers the way of the messenger (Romans 10:14-15) who is used to call us to believe in the one proclaimed to us, we listen as called out ones to follow Him and be united as His Bride (John 3:29) in eternity. We hear the call and believe it is from God, we respond like Rebekah with the resolute response, “I will go.” John 6:68-69 echoes in our soul as we know there is nowhere else to go and nobody else we desire to go to for eternal life in union with He who is God’s own and only Son. Just as Rebekah was blessed with the verbal reminder that she would be one of many descendants to follow, so we make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:2) after our own kind by God’s call and faith which the hearers of we messengers respond to by following in union with Him. We see Him coming and say, ‘it is my Master,’ and then cover ourselves as Rebekah here and as Adam and Eve had done in Eden (Genesis 3:7-8), but then the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:15-17) as we see His forgiveness and grace to allow us to partake of His righteousness that alone makes us worthy of all acceptance in the Beloved (Song of Solomon 2:16, Ephesians 1:6)! We anticipate the day when we shall be wed to the Bridegroom who is our Lord and divine Master and find everlasting comfort from the sorrows of this world Revelation 7:17, 21:4) that tries in vain to keep us in its grip and not agree to receive and follow Him (Revelation 12:11, 17) until that day. May we be both like the faithful Rebekah and the faithful messenger calling us to our Master as His bride, the church of Jesus Christ. Do not delay or hinder His call!
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