Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.
Blessed in every way? Yes please. This sounds like a pretty amazing way to sum up someone’s life. I mean, that would be a good way to be remembered, right?
“I want you to swear…that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country…”
Abraham knows that while this land is ultimately promised to his descendants, it doesn’t mean that they will inherit it by simply intermarrying with the current residents. One day his people will have to drive out the others, and take possession of God’s promise. In the meantime, his line must remain pure, so Isaac must be married to someone from his own country, from his relatives. However, Isaac is not to leave this land, and if the servant can’t get a wife to come back with him, he won’t be help responsible, but simply released from this oath.
“O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today…”
You know, I have a suspicion that this is possibly one of the most often-used prayers ever. Countless students place all their faith in this prayer on test days. I regularly use it as I begin my search for a parking spot. O LORD, give me success. It’s a plain, simple request. And yet, it hints at the most mind-blowing truth of all: that the God of the universe might just care enough about your life to personally step in and give you a little help.
Before he had finished praying…
And God does care. He is listening. And when a teacher is lenient with the grading and gives you points you don’t really deserve, or a car pulls out of a spot right in front of you, or the perfect woman comes walking up with a jar on her shoulder, maybe it was just a coincidence. Or maybe it wasn’t.
Without saying a word, the man watched her closely…
So, obviously Rebekah is busy running back and forth getting water for the camels, and they can’t exactly have an in-depth conversation, but still, surely it’s a little awkward for him to just be standing there watching. Of course, he probably had some other servants with him, since later we see that the family offers water for “him and his men to wash their feet,” so they could have been socializing with Rebekah during this time. This would then allow him to be watching how she interacted with them, to make sure she was the right one. After she has drawn the water, he then gives her some gold jewelry and asks about her family, which he is pleased to discover is that of a close relative.
Then the man bowed down and worshipped the LORD…
He asked for a pretty specific thing to happen to find the right woman, and it happened exactly as he asked, with a close relative. Pretty much, his mission is going perfectly so far.
As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets…he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD…”
So we see that Laban notices the jewelry immediately, and takes it upon himself to go welcome this guest. He greets him with the name of the LORD, so he is not completely oblivious to this name. However, later on we know he had many other gods in his household, so it is likely that he didn’t actually worship the LORD. In fact, it’s possible that he heard Rebekah mention this name as she was relating the story, and then used it simply to make this guest feel more welcome. As the savvy businessman he was, he recognized the value of the jewelry first given, and was certainly interested to learn more about this traveler, as wealthy friends are always good.
“This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.”
Whatever the beliefs of this household, they are amazed at the exactness of the story, and yield to the obvious workings of the LORD in keeping the family together.
“Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey.”
He’s excited to share the good news, and doesn’t want to keep his master waiting any longer than he has to. The quicker he can leave, the quicker he can get back.
So she became his wife, and he loved her…
And just like that we have the next main characters lined up, as Abraham’s part in the story is almost over, and it’s time for Isaac to play his part in passing down God’s blessing.
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