Will You Marry Me?Sample

She Says Yes 

There’s so much amazing imagery found in the story of Isaac and his betrothal to Rebekah. We can really see the Jewish wedding customs at play here. 

To recap, Abraham sent his servant to find his son Isaac a Jewish bride. His servant was extremely prayerful, asking God to show him the right woman. Rebekah was Jewish and a distant relative of Abraham. She was said to be very beautiful and a virgin. 

The servant spotted Rebekah by the well and she immediately offered him a drink of water from her water jar. How did God make it clear that Rebekah was the right choice? She not only gave him a drink—she went on to water all 10 of his camels. This girl was a total overachiever! 

To appreciate the full gravity of this task, it’s important to note one camel can drink 53 gallons of water in 3 minutes. It could have amounted to 530 gallons of water to satisfy these thirsty camels, so this would have required a lot of work on her part going back and forth gathering water for them. It was a true act of sacrifice. 

Rebekah went above and beyond to serve a man she didn’t know without expecting anything in return. We see so much of her amazing character revealed in the way she treated a stranger. 

I can assure you that based on this evaluation, I would not have been chosen. I get stranger danger, plus camels scare me. I think they’re cute, but I don’t want to pet them. They smell. (Moving on.) 

As Abraham’s representative, his servant discussed the wedding contract, bride-price, and wedding gifts with Rebekah and her family. She had a choice in this process—and she accepted! 

Let’s now look at the many parallels between this bride, Rebekah, and the bride of Christ. 

First, the father chose the bride, just as our heavenly Father chooses us. Jesus will return for a pure bride made new in Him. 

Rebekah was found to be faithful, going above and beyond with a servant’s heart. Her heart was pure and God blessed her for her hospitality. Let this be a reminder to us all to remain faithful to God right where we are. We never know when a divine assignment is on its way! 

The servant found her at a well, which we learned yesterday holds rich symbolism of life. He then paid a bride-price for her, just as Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. 

Rebekah had the choice to become betrothed to Isaac, a man she had not yet seen. As believers, we haven’t yet seen Christ, but we choose Him by faith and become betrothed to Him when we say yes. 

Finally, the servant showered Rebekah and her family with gifts, just as Jesus gives us the gift of His Spirit and covers us with a garment of salvation. 

Isn’t the symbolism in this story so amazing? There are so many parallels between this betrothal and our relationship with Christ. I love how God gives us glimpses throughout His Word that apply to our spiritual life with Him. 

We’ll pick back up and explore the ending of this betrothal scene tomorrow!