Thank-you, Rebekah!

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Genesis 24:1-4, 57-66

REFLECTION

Thank-you, Rebekah!

Today we read about the calling of Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife. This is a very deliberate process and it is clearly shows God’s hand in choosing Rebecca to be part of salvation history.

While genealogies and much of the bible features men, make no mistake regarding the critical role of women in God’s story. Rebekah is called, ultimately by God, to move to a foreign land and become the wife of a man she never met. Wonderfully, Isaac and Rebekah have far more than an arranged marriage – they fall in love and become the parents of Jacob and Esau. Jacob then has a son named Judah whose ancestor is David, and ultimately Jesus. 

There are two genealogies in the New Testament (Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38) that trace Jesus lineage back to David – and Isaac and Rebekah. Some scholars believe that the genealogy found in Luke 3 is actually through Mary’s line while others believe both are through Joseph.  Regardless, there seems to be no disagreement that Mary was a descendent of David from the tribe of Judah, and therefore a descendent of Isaac and Rebekah. One proof of this is that Jewish law would not have allowed Joseph to marry outside of his own tribe. 

So here is Rebekah, following God’s call to be part of his glorious plan. Her obedience (“I will go”) ultimately leads to Mary’s obedience when the angel approached her in Luke chapter 1.  When Mary is confronted with the incredible news that she would be the mother of Jesus, “the Son of the Most High”, her response is found in Luke 1:38 – “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” 

What an incredible role Rebekah played in God’s plan. What an incredible role Mary played in God’s plan. And what an incredible role women continue to play in God’s plan! Single women, married women, and mothers are all called into God’s plan, just like Rebecca. The impact that they make on our world, our church, and certainly our families is evidence of God’s continued love for his children. 

Thank you Father for calling Rebekah into your wonderful plan of salvation. Thank you for all of the men and women you worked through to bring Jesus into our lives. Help us to be obedient to your call and to move the story of salvation forward to people who have not heard this “good news”.  Amen.