Titus 2 Men And Women

Rebekah
By Teddi Neevel

Genesis 22:22-23
Genesis 24:14-25

Background: Sarah had died and Abraham wanted a bride of their people for Isaac so he sent his servant to Nahor’s hometown to seek a bride. I find it interesting that Isaac was 40 years old and no one had been concerned about him having a wife until his mother died. Isaac may have been a mama’s boy. When Sarah died, Abraham recognized that Isaac needed a wife to comfort him in his grief and to keep him out of trouble.

Abraham’s servant went looking for a bride for Isaac, however he didn’t go with a list in hand. He didn’t have a specific plan of where he was going. He wasn’t going to ride up to the first farm and ask for a woman. As he traveled the servant prayed. He not only prayed…he prayed specifically. He told God his plan was to go to the well. Now that makes sense since water had to be drawn from the well and the women had the job of getting the water. The servant knew that just going to a place where the women would gather wasn’t enough. He wanted God’s direction so he prayed and told God what he wanted the right woman to say and do. There is nothing as exciting as knowing that God is directing your life because He answered a specific prayer.

Now let’s look at Rebekah personally. Rebekah was beautiful. Genesis 24:16

Rebekah was a hard worker. Going after water for the family was her job. Drawing water for a visiting man was a thoughtful thing to do. Water his camels was a “God Thing”. It was in fact the specific sign the servant had prayed for.

Besides being beautiful and a hard worker, I believe that Rebekah was greedy. Genesis 24:30 and Genesis 24:58

I believe that Rebekah was spiritually shallow. Through this passage and other that refer to Rebekah, I haven’t found any mention of her faith or desire to do something because of God’s leading.

Rebekah faced one heartbreak as a new bride, she was barren for 20 years. When faced with this loss the Bible doesn’t mention Rebekah praying to have children. It does mention that Isaac prayed for her. Genesis 25:21 and then she conceived twins. While carrying twins and feeling the babies moving she finally talked to God. And she complained. Genesis 25:22

After the babies were born Isaac and Rebekah made a horrible mistake. They each picked a favorite and then the sibling rivalry began. Genesis 26:34-35 At 40 years old Essau married a local girl which upset his parents. (Isaac was 100 years old and yet he had done nothing to procure a proper bride for his either of his sons.)

Essau was impatient and exaggerated things. Jacob was sneaky and willing to lie to get his own way. Rebekah played favorites between her sons. She helped her favorite son lie to and deceive his father, Isaac. She deceived her husband into encouraging her favorite son to go away for awhile until his brother got over being mad. While she saved his life, it cost her dearly because she never saw Jacob again.

It is very important for us as women to pray for our husbands and families. It is equally as important for us to remember that showing favoritism with our children causes tension, rivalry, tension, separation and grief. Children are people watchers and they will pick up your habits either good or bad!

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