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If You Want Something Done Right, Do It Yourself.

Genesis Chapter 24

Abraham is old, "and well stricken in years." Abraham is the patriarch of three great religions. He is partriarch to the Jews, to the Christians, and to the Muslims. The Muslims look back to Abraham through his first son, Ishmael, while the Jews and Christians look back to Abraham through his second son, Isaac.

In some cultures the whole of the father's estate passes to the first son. This is done so as to retain the strength of the estate rather than risk dissolution by dividing the estate between several, or many, heirs. In these cases, the estate and the family name are inseparably linked. Abraham's estate should have passed through his firstborn son, Ishmael, the son of the servant, Hagar. But, Jewish and Christian sacred writings tell us that God made a covenant with Abraham and that under that covenant, the estate, and all Abraham's blessings, were to be passed to Isaac, Abraham's second son, and the son of his wife, Sarah. In the generations that follow Abraham, this jumping of the first son will happen again, more than once.

We return to Abraham, who is old, his wife, Sarah, Isaac's mother, has passed on, and Isaac is a well grown man. It is time for Isaac to have a wife, but she must be a proper wife -- from the old country. Herein lies a snag. Abraham is too old too old to make the trip back to his boyhood home, Haran, where most of his family still resides. Abraham is also leery to send his son Isaac to Haran for fear that his family will take Isaac in and exploit his strength to build their own fortunes rather than show concern for Abraham's legacy. (Don't be too quick to call Abraham suspicious. In the next generation this is exactly what happens.)

Abraham's solution is to send his oldest and most trusted servant to find the perfect wife for Isaac. Who is this servant? We're not told his name. Perhaps that is part of the lesson we might learn from this chapter. We don't know his name, but we do learn a little bit about him. 

The plan is that the servant will lead an expedition to Haran with instructions to find a wife from among Abraham's extended family. The servant will lead a train of camels on the journey. On the way out, the camels will carry supplies and gifts for the bride and her family. On the way back, the camels will carry the bride and all that she will need to last her the rest of her life because it will be a one way trip for the young woman. To succeed, the servant must find Haran. He must find in Haran, the family Abraham left many decades ago. And the servant must find the bride who will abandon all she has ever known and strike out across the vastness of the Middle Eastern desert to take up with the son of a man she has only heard of by legend. 

The wise servant asks Abraham what he shall do if all this doesn't unfold as Abraham believes it will: if the bride does not step forward, or if the family objects to her leaving. Abraham tells the servant he is excused from the oath, that Abraham demands from him, should things not pan out. Abraham is not giving the servant an out. Rather, Abraham trusts both the servant and the promise of God to see the plan come to fruition. The servant departs.

After a journey filled with sights, sounds, smells, and challenges we don't hear about, the servant arrives at the walled city of Haran. Outside of the city is the well and it is at the well that the servant pauses to water his animals, himself, and his companions. And it is at the well that a beautiful young woman shows up, greets the weary travelers, waters their animals, and promises food and lodging for all. The servant asks and the young woman, Rebekah, tells him that she is "the daughter of  Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor." 

Nahor! Nahor is Abraham's brother. The servant praises God and says, "Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren." 

Whoa, instead of listening to that old saw -- If you want something done right, do it yourself. -- Abraham trusted God, and his servant, and won the perfect bride for his son.

Rebekah became one of the most famous and loved people in the history of the world. And she did become the mother of uncountable multitudes as God had promised Abraham she would. There was a slight hitch, though. Soon after they were married, Isaac found that his wife was barren. She could not conceive children. This, however, turned out to be a temporary issue and cleared up twenty years later when Rebekah bare not one son, but twin sons to Isaac. 

I hope the servant lived to see that happy day because I guess sometimes it's a good idea to get some help and sometimes it's good to be patient.