The Servant's Prayer: Genesis 24:1-27

Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

Sarah was dead. Isaac was unmarried. The promise of descendants hung on finding a wife for the son of promise—but not just any wife.

He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac."

The oath was solemn—hand under the thigh, the ancient gesture of covenant binding. The mission was clear: no Canaanite bride. The wife must come from Abraham's own people, from the family left behind in Mesopotamia.

The servant loaded ten camels with all kinds of good things from his master and set out for Aram Naharaim, toward the town of Nahor.

Ten camels loaded with wealth. A caravan of gifts crossing hundreds of miles of desert. The servant carried the weight of the promise on his shoulders.

He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

Evening at the well. The social hour in ancient villages, when women gathered to draw water and exchange news. The servant positioned himself and prayed.

Then he prayed, "LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

A specific sign. Not just hospitality but extraordinary hospitality—watering ten camels was no small task. Each camel could drink twenty-five gallons after a long journey. The woman who offered to do this would be volunteering for hours of labor.

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.

Before he finished. The answer was already walking toward him before the prayer ended.

She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her.

Beautiful, pure, and—though the servant did not yet know it—family. Abraham's own great-niece.

She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

"Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink."

The exact words. The precise sign. She did not know she was fulfilling prophecy.

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.

Quickly. Ran. The verbs show her energy, her willingness, her generous spirit. This was not grudging hospitality but joyful service.

Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.

He watched. He waited. He let the sign complete itself before drawing conclusions.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.

Expensive gifts. The nose ring and bracelets were a down payment, a signal that this was no ordinary traveler making an ordinary request.

Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"

She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

Bethuel. Nahor. The names confirmed everything. She was family.

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

Right there at the well, the servant dropped to his knees. The prayer had been answered before it ended. The sign had been fulfilled exactly. The journey that had seemed impossible was already successful.

God had not abandoned his kindness. God had led every step. The bride for Isaac had been found.