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One-sentence summary: Sarah dies, Abraham is tested by proving his willingness to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice to God, and a wife is found for Isaac.
God tells Abraham to take his son, "his only son," and offer him up as a burnt offering to God on a mountain. Abraham doesn't hesitate to obey. He takes Isaac and some servants with his donkey and goes where God shows him. As they near the place, Isaac asks his father where the lamb is for the offering, and Abraham answers that God Himself will provide it. He puts Isaac on the wood of the altar and raises a knife to him, but the Angel of the Lord calls to him from heaven and tells him not to harm the boy, and that he has proven his fear of God by not withholding his only son from Him. God provides a ram for the offering. Abraham names the mountain "The Lord Will Provide."
The Angel of the Lord calls to Abraham a second time out of heaven and swears by Himself, saying that because Abraham has done this act of not withholding his only son from God, God will surely bless and multiply him and make his descendants like the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore, and that they will "possess the gates of their enemies." He says, "In your Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
Sarah lives 127 years, and then she dies. Abraham buys a field from the people in Canaan, and buries her in a cave.
Abraham is old and knows he might not live much longer, so he asks his servant to make an oath that he will find a wife for Isaac from his own people and not from Canaan, but that he will make sure that Isaac lives in Canaan, the land God has promised to give him and his descendants. If the woman refuses to come, the servant will be released from the oath, but Isaac is not to go back to the land of Abraham's family.
The servant travels to Mesopotamia and stops at a well in the evening, when all the women are out getting water. He prays and asks the Lord for favor and success. He asks God for a sign, saying that if one of the women offers water to him and his camels., he will know she is the one It comes to pass with a beautiful woman named Rebecca. The servant asks Rebecca if he can lodge with her family, and when she says yes, he worships the Lord.
Rebecca runs to tell her family, and her brother Laban comes out to meet the man, inviting him in. A feast is prepared, but the servant insists on telling the reason for his coming before eating. He relays the whole story, how Sarah had Isaac in her old age, the promise he made with his master, the sign he asked of God, and what Rebecca said. He asks Rebecca's family to tell him right away if they will allow her to come. They respond by saying that "this thing is of the Lord; we cannot answer good or bad." Gold and silver and other gifts are given to Rebecca and her family.
The next morning, the servant insists on leaving, but Rebecca's parents ask if she can stay with them for at least 10 more days. The servant says he wants to leave immediately, so they ask Rebecca, who says she will go. They bless and say, "May you become the mother of thousands and ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them."
Isaac goes out to meditate in a field in the evening, and as he looks up, he sees Rebecca coming on a camel. She sees him coming and, finding out who he is, covers her face and goes to meet him. He takes her into his mother's tent, and they are married. He "loved her, [and] so he was comforted after his mother's death."
Thoughts/Questions:
Are we willing to offer up anything to God, just because He is God and has a right to ask whatever He wants? (Later in Scripture, it says Abraham believed God would make a way for Isaac to be given back to him.)
Do we trust in God's providence to provide all things for us?
Are you praying to God about your love life? You can!
What are your thoughts on this passage?