Title Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24:61-67)
Contents The family is the bastion of stability and happiness for the nation and the individual. (J.A. Houlland) Therefore, the most important success in life is the success of family life.
Among the characters in the Bible, Isaac was more successful in his family life than anything else. In other words, he is the most successful representative of the couple's affection, love, and devotion. He had never had the same great faith adventure as his father Abraham. He lived a prosperous life like his son Jacob, and did not have 12 brothers. He was not a great savior who saved the nation and nation like his grandson Joseph. However, he was a successful man who enjoyed peace and happiness at home.
What is the secret of Isaac and Rebekah's beautiful family?
1. It was a religious meeting, a personal meeting.
(1) The beginning of the family begins with the healthy union of a man and a woman. The first step in this union is meeting. The most beautiful meeting that the Bible shows is a religious meeting and a personal meeting. This is indeed a beautiful and mysterious encounter. We discover the ideal process of meeting through the meeting of Isaac and Rebekah. The bridegroom Isaac met the bride Rebekah while meditating and praying. And the bride Rebekah meets the bridegroom Isaac with a humble and respectful attitude (Genesis 24:63-65).
(2) Abraham, the father of faith, sought a wife for his only son, Isaac. He did not seek a wife from among the Canaanites, but went to Haran, his second hometown, where his own people lived, to find a wife for Isaac. This was to preserve the purity of the lineage and the purity of the faith. Rebekah was Isaac's niece (daughter of a cousin brother). She was a good and good-natured woman who appeared with answers to prayer, a hardworking and diligent woman, and a woman with understanding and determination. There was a virgin with a beautiful face. (Genesis 24:16,18-20)
(3) The meeting between the two was a very religious, personal, and mysterious meeting from the very beginning. The meeting between the groom and the bride is not a relationship of superiority and slavery or subordination, but a supplementary relationship as a partner ordained by God. Therefore, "matchmaker" means "appropriate." That is, it is the complement of imperfect personality, faith, and life. Therefore, if we are to become builders of a happy family, we must first change our attitude toward the partner who has been sent for our life. In other words, we must view it as the greatest blessing and the gift of grace that God has given us (Proverbs 18:22, 19:14).
2. Integrity to do our best for only one person.
(1) Verse 67 says, "Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of her mother Sarah, and took her and took her as his wife, and loved her, and she was comforted after her mother's superiors." There are many couples in the Bible. However, in any case, such an expression is not found. Here, "I love you" is the Hebrew word for "Eyehabeaho," which means pure, pure, unchanging and unconditional love. This was the secret to Isaac's family's happiness and the source of his victory.
(2) King Solomon was a person who received unprecedented blessings. He was a person who enjoyed more wealth and glory than any other person in the world. He had seven hundred concubines and three hundred binaries. However, this caused him to make many mistakes (1 Kings 11:1-4). However, in the last years of his life, he realized a great truth. Therefore, it was the secret of Isaac's family's happiness and the source of victory.
(3) The most important thing in marriage is a person who can sincerely take responsibility for each other. Dr. Norman Wright said, "Marriage is the total commitment of a man and a woman to make a covenant with their whole person in order to spend their entire lives together in Christ." Indeed, Isaac loved only one woman. This may be the most difficult and difficult task. However, you must realize that this is the most important secret to creating a happy family.
3. It was a constant prayer to solve life's difficulties.
(1) Genesis 25:20-21 says, "When Isaac was forty years old, he took Rebekah and took her as his wife. ... Isaac prayed to the LORD for her because she was barren, and the LORD heard her supplication, so she His wife Rebekah conceived and..." Isaac's family had no children until 20 years after they were married. God promised Abraham, "I will make the children of Isaac like the stars in the sky, and like the sand on the seashore, and your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies" (Genesis 17:19, 22:17). However, contrary to the promise, they did not have a single child until their marriage with Rebekah was closer to 20 years. However, Isaac waited and prayed patiently for 20 years like a day.
(2) Every family has problems. There are two ways to solve that problem. The human way and the divine way, the worldly way and the spiritual way. If we use human and worldly methods, the problem will become more and more serious. But when we use God's method, the divine method, the problem will be completely solved. What God wants is to pray before God, who is the solver of the problem.
(3) God listened to his request and finally gave birth to twin sons at the age of 60. (Genesis 25:26) As a result, Isaac became the most successful person in resolving the family crisis. Sidney Smith said, "Marriage is like scissors. They often move in different directions, but they cut through any obstacles that get in between them, and they are firmly connected so that they do not fall apart." In the end, couples who are connected by true love will overcome any obstacles and difficulties that stand in their way through faith.