Rebekah

by MUTIMER, G. H. | Category: Types And Shadows In Genesis | Aug 1955

What joy Abraham's faith in, and obedience to, the divine purpose must have given to God! We have already seen from a previous article in this series that this noble soul was ready, out of love to his God, to do His will at all costs, even to the offering up of his son Isaac.

It is delightful too, to dwell on the ready co-operation of Isaac in that supreme act of faith. Before father and son left that sacred mount, Jehovah-Jireh, God's joy is reflected in the words spoken

"By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore" (Genesis 22.16, 17).

Now for the fulfilment of this promise it was necessary, of course, for Isaac to become possessed of a wife. For the promise was clear

In Isaac shall thy seed be called." With unwavering, patient faith; Abraham, having attained the age of 140 years, called his servant, the elder of his house, and charged him with the work of securing for Isaac a divinely chosen bride. The delightful story is told in entrancing detail in Genesis 24. Because the woman must be of Abraham's kindred of the line of Shem, Abraham strictly enjoined his servant that the bride must not be from the daughters of Canaan. This involved a long and wearisome journey, not only for the servant, but it would also impose a very severe test on the love of any woman. However, in the confidence that God would prosper his way, the servant set off, and how wonderfully his faith was honoured, for he was guided to the well of the city of Nahor, just as the divinely chosen bride for Isaac came out to draw water! Quite unconscious of the test being imposed, Rebekah, for such was the maiden's name, with simple grace and dignity, fulfilled all that was expected of her, by her kind attention to the needs of Abraham's servant and his party. Soon the identity of each was revealed and with great joy the parents of Rebekah listened to the servant's story and mission. All that eventually remained was to obtain Rebekah's consent. "Wilt thou go with this man? " she was asked. Her answer was delightful in its forthrightness and sincerity, "I will go!

On the morrow, under the escort of Abraham's servant, Rebekah began the 700 mile desert journey to meet the man she loved, but had never seen. Albeit on the journey she would hear from the lips of the faithful servant more and more of the worth and wealth of the man, who had won her heart. At last just as the were nearing the journey's end, Isaac, who had gone who had gone out in the eventide to meditate, perceived the train of camels arriving. Rebekah, on being informed of his identity, hastily dismounted and veiled herself according to eastern custom in anticipation of her meeting with her beloved. Reverently and tenderly Isaac brought his bride to the tent of honour lately occupied by his mother. The delightful story concludes with the words, "He loved her ... and was comforted" (Genesis 24.67).

That Isaac is a type of the only begotten and dearly loved Son of the eternal Father, who gave Him to be the promised Lamb of God at Calvary, is clear. It also follows that Rebekah is a type of the Church, the Bride of the Lamb, who is being won for Christ by the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit, as, in the Gospel, He reveals "the unsearchable riches of Christ." His work will not be consummated until the glad moment when Christ comes to "present the Church to Himself, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5.27). It is an entrancing thought indeed that God, who has made His Son to sit at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule, has decreed that the Church which is His Body shall be "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1.20-23).

Here we must leave the story of Rebekah as a type of the Bride, for all human types are partial, but before passing on to her history we can apply certain thoughts proper to the Church as a whole to those individuals who compose that Church. The Holy Spirit knocks at the heart's door of a sinner until the answer is, " I will go with this Man! " It is He who then seeks to lead the believer onward, revealing day by day more and more of the things of Christ (John 16.13-15). The believer lives in hope of that blissful meeting with the One, "whom not having seen ye love: on whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1.8). All this, and more, Mrs. Bevan has beautifully expressed in her delightful hymn :-

Midst the darkness, storm and sorrow

Long the blessed Guide has led me

One bright gleam I see,

By the desert road;

Well I know the blessed morrow,

Now I see the golden towers,

Christ will come for me;

City of my God.

Midst the light and peace and glory

Of the Father's home,

There made ready are the mansions,

Christ for me is watching, waiting,

Glorious, bright and fair;

Waiting till I come.

But the Bride the Father gave Him

Still is wanting there.

Oh, the blessed joy of meeting,

He, who in the hour of sorrow

All the desert past!

Bare the Cross alone;

Oh, the wondrous words of greeting

I, who through the lonely desert

He shall speak at last!

Trod where He had gone:

He and I together entering

He and I in that bright glory

Those bright Courts above:

One deep joy shall share,

He and I together sharing

Mine to be for ever with Him,

All the Father's love!

His that I am there.

But the Scriptures have yet a little more to say concerning Rebekah, as a woman, not in any way now a type. When, as the result of Isaac's intreating the LORD, his wife was granted conception, her joy was mingled with feelings of apprehension, because of the struggle that was going on between the unborn babes. It is recorded that "she went to inquire of the LORD" (Genesis 25.22). In answer, the LORD enlightened her as to the future of the two nations that were to issue from her womb, and how, in His determinate purpose, the elder was to serve the younger. The subsequent characters of the two babes were soon revealed. Esau, the elder, became a keen, cunning hunter with a sensual appetite. He was loved by Isaac. "because he did eat of his son's venison." Jacob, however, developed into a quiet man, with a keen spiritual appetite, evidenced in his purchase from the profane Esau of his birthright. To Rebekah's credit it is recorded that she loved Jacob so entering into the divine purpose already declared to her, and even' as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Romans 9.12, 13). True, it is sad later to read of Rebekah stooping to practise deceit and encouraging Jacob also to lie, in order to secure the divine blessing. But it is sadder still to read of Isaac's unwillingness to share his wife's desire to see the divine purpose outworked, that drove her thus to deceive him. Without Rebekah's schemings the LORD was well able to perform His will, even in the face of Isaac's obstinacy. This accomplished, however, it is Rebekah who further appreciates the purpose of God in her son Jacob not being linked in marriage with the daughters of the land. In this matter it is good to see Isaac in full agreement.

How vita] it is then, beloved, that we wait upon God to learn and do His will today, for how far reaching shall be its good effect upon ourselves and upon our children! God help us to profit by the worthy, though imperfect, example of Rebekah's faith and purpose; but above all by looking unto Jesus our beloved, "the Author and Perfecter of Faith" (Hebrews 12.1, 2).

MUTIMER, G. H. | Aug 1955
Types And Shadows In Genesis