Episode B Rebecca When Doing Right Looks Wrong

The podcast episode focuses on the story of Rebecca in the Bible. Rebecca is introduced as the wife of Isaac and the daughter-in-law of Abraham and Sarah. The podcast discusses how Rebecca was chosen as Isaac's wife by Abraham's servant, who was sent to find a suitable wife for Isaac. Rebecca is described as beautiful and from a family of tricksters. She shows discernment and makes her own decisions by agreeing to marry Isaac. The podcast also highlights how Rebecca and Isaac share similarities with Abraham and Sarah, both in terms of hiding their marital status and being barren. Rebecca eventually becomes pregnant with twins, and God reveals to her that the older twin will serve the younger. The podcast ends by discussing the different natures of Rebecca's twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Hello there, welcome to the Who's Who Book Club podcast, where the book here is the Bible and the Who are the women written therein. Week after week, one woman's life, legacy, and lessons we can learn are examined. Who am I? I'm glad you asked. Cheryl Kenlock, your host. Hello there, welcome back to the book club where the book doesn't change, only the characters do. And today's woman in the spotlight is Rebecca, the wife to the promised son of Abraham and Sarah. You remember them, right? Well, there was a promised son named Isaac, and the Bible tells us that when Sarah died, Isaac was 37 years old. And at the time, his father thought it was time for Isaac to take a wife. You know, the Bible says, he who finds a wife finds a good thing. Well, Isaac did not go and seek this wife out, but Abraham had a servant to do so. So he told him where to go, what people to go to, to seek her. The servant said, what if I can't get anybody to come? Abraham said, then you're all off the hook. So that was the plan, to go and seek out a wife for this promised son. Well, the servant, he travels the direction that he has been directed to do so, and he gets to a well. And at the well, you know, people are busy. That's where they go to and fro, you know, drawing water. And so as he's standing by the well, the servant says to God, Lord, whoever would offer to water my camel, let me take her. And before he could finish speaking, so the Bible says, Abraham's wish, desire is met. Why? Because a young woman named Rebecca offers to water the servant's camel. Rebecca, the Bible tells us, was not only beautiful, but very beautiful. In her story, we learn that she comes from a family of tricksters. So let's see, who is she? So the servant gives her a gift for watering his camels. The Bible tells us it's two bracelets and a ring for her nose, made of gold. Of course, you know, she had to like that. We girls love our jewelry, right? He goes to her home where her parents are, where he introduces who he is and who he works for and why he's there. And they, the family, are being told these things. So Rebecca must not be in earshot of the conversation because the family says, well, let's ask her, her pigeon. How different is that? We know these arranged marriages, usually the children, the bride and groom-to-be, usually have no say in it. But this family said, let us ask her. And Rebecca said, yes, I'll go. That tells us something about Rebecca. That first of all, she had discernment. Two, she was sharp enough that she made a decision immediately. Immediately she made her own decisions. And we will see further how she is also pretty bold as a personality in the Bible. So not only did the servant give her a personal gift, the Bible says that he came with ten camels loaded down with gifts to give the family of whoever would have been the family to the girl that he would have picked. So he leaves these gifts with them. Ten camels full of gifts. They are not strangers to who Abraham is either for the fact that these people were the family of Abraham. Rebecca is the granddaughter to one of Abraham's sons. So they are aware of the uncle that left them. They are aware of the uncle who they're hearing rumors that he is becoming even more richer. They have an ideal. So when we talk about Rebecca saying yes immediately, it only lets us know that she was adventurous. She knows of this uncle, right? The stories of him. The Bible doesn't take the time to tell us that. But when you know the relationship, you can do some kind of critical thinking around about it. So she was adventurous. Adventurous and could make up her own mind, given the choice to make up her own mind. So they travel back to Abraham's place. As they travel back to Abraham's place, while she's on the camel, right? Whatever mode of transportation. She sees a man in the distance and she asks the servant, who is he? And the servant says, that's Isaac, my master's son. She immediately gets off of the camel. What does that say? That she had some type of attraction to him to not only continue to be ridden into the area that he was in, but she got down. An excitement that she would have about who she was seeing. She was still modest. She puts the veil across her face, so the Bible tells us. But she did not stay seated. She got down. The Bible says that it was Isaac at his prayer time. So she sees him in the distance. It doesn't say he recognizes her in the distance. We're talking about Rebecca, who was considered very beautiful, who became the wife to the promised son. Her personality and her features, the Bible's wording, give you some insight to who she is. So she meets Isaac and the Bible tells you that he takes her to his mother's tent and they marry. But slow down a minute. Let's talk about that. One, I told you when the story started, he was 37 years old. At the time he marries Rebecca, the Bible says he's 40. So why should we put a pin right there for a second? Because love is a process. Love is a process. When I'm telling the story, if we didn't know these two ages, we could think this was an immediate thing. But no, Abraham as well as Isaac, they mourn for Sarah. Then a thought process had to be built as to what should they do further. We know Abraham, the Lord woke up his ability to father a child, children. But it stayed awake too because he married and had more children. But Isaac being 37, mourning his mother, 40 when he marries, he takes Rebecca to his mother's tent. What does that mean? It had to be other tents as well. We already spoke that this is a wealthy man. She now takes the place in a real way of his mother. He brings her into the world that his mother created within her tent. That's a beautiful thing. We know of many weddings where they represent whoever has left, a grandmother, a mother, someone that is precious to them. It lets us know that Rebecca was brought into Sarah's tent by way of Isaac to marry. So they do, they marry. So now Rebecca, let me speak on what she shares in common with Sarah. If you know anything about the story of Abraham and Sarah, you know how when they traveled, Abraham for fear would say Sarah was not his wife. He would say she's his sister. Because the Bible says she was so beautiful, he was always fearful that someone was going to kill him in order to take her from him. Well, it was the same regarding Rebecca and Isaac. Where do you think Isaac got that from? Well, he got it from his father. The Bible tells you that the same thing happened between them as they're traveling where Isaac tells Rebecca, do not say you're my wife, say you're my sister. And we know where Abraham and Sarah were stepsisters and brothers, this was not the case for Isaac and Rebecca. But they share that in common. Here's another thing that Rebecca shared with Sarah. Both women, beautiful and barren. Barren. God in many cases, he has something special in mind when women who are barren. Because he either wants to show up in your life and do something unique in regards to your children, or he wants you to live a life that you love on other people's children. But it's always special when a woman is barren. And when they don't know that, they're very sad. But this is something that Rebecca did not have in common with Sarah. The Bible didn't tell us that Abraham used to pray for Sarah's barrenness to be over. But we learned that Isaac would pray regarding Rebecca. He would pray that she would give birth. And so the Lord eventually answered that prayer. Rebecca, now this very beautiful wife of the promised son, she is also now turning the page for us. Because I want to ask you, have you ever done something right that looks so wrong? Because that's the case with Rebecca now. That her children are in the womb, and she's being told the nature of them. And when they come out, she does something right that looks wrong. Remember that as we go further on, that you and me, we can actually be doing something right, but it looks wrong to everyone else. The method of what's being done. So as Rebecca carries these babies in her womb, she's very uncomfortable. She's having a discomfort pregnancy. And so she asks the Lord herself, what is the deal? Why is it that I cannot get any rest, any peace carrying this pregnancy? And God tells her, the pregnancy is a set of twins. You're carrying two nations within you. The older child will serve the younger child. So that's the turmoil that she is experiencing. That's my next question I would ask you as women. When God gives you the nature of your child before the child is born, how can we as mothers start praying, guiding them based on what God has shown us? Every woman who has been pregnant cannot tell you that she was given ahead of time the nature of her child. But there are many of us who can. My own testimony is I have one child, one daughter, now 27. But two years before she was ever born, I'm given a dream. The very person she is today features I saw two years before she came in the world. My mother didn't get a dream, any directives regarding me, but I did about my own child. So I can relate to Rebecca understanding the nature of her children before they get out here on the earth, before they play on the floor that the Lord actually tells her while they're in the womb. So he tells her that. She ponders this. You know she can't go around telling everybody what God told her because this creates a problem. What's the problem? That day, that era, the oldest child is always given the heartier prayer, the most from the father. So there's a problem here. So we know this is something that she pondered in her and not shared. We know she didn't even share it with her husband based on what she ends up doing. All right? So they grow, these boys. They become very different, these boys. One, Esau, is a hunter. The one, Jacob, is more calmer. He's got a different nature than his brother. The Bible even describes them to us. Or Esau is a hairy man and reddish color is what you will learn as you study out Scripture. This was not the case for Jacob. So one particular day when Esau had hunted, he came home so hungry and starving, so he says, that he asked his brother to make him soup and he wanted some of that soup. Their father is dying, Isaac. So he is the one who says, bring me the soup that I like and I want to give you boys the blessing, my final blessing. This is when opportunity meets whatever the issue is that Rebecca has in her mind. So immediately she cooks up a plan, making the stew, disguising Jacob that he may look like his brother, feel like his brother in order to get that blessing. The issue is Esau, he is so hungry that he signs over his birthright. He says he doesn't care what's happening. I'm hungry. So these two things are working together. The mindset of Esau, the timing of the father's blessing, and the thing that Rebecca does to bring all this together. You know, as you learn about Rebecca, her brother is one that we learn later on tricks their son, Jacob, when he goes to look for a wife. Well, it lets us know that Rebecca comes from a family that are a family of tricksters, right? We learn what she does first before we ever learn what happens to Jacob by way of his uncle, which is the brother of Rebecca. So Rebecca disguises Isaac, excuse me, disguises Jacob in order to get the blessing from his father. And that's exactly what happens. It creates an enemy between the two brothers. Esau is not only hating what happened to him, but he threatens to kill his brother. And his mother, their mother, Rebecca tells Jacob, leave and do not come back because he will do what he says. The nature of Esau was one that was problematic for Rebecca and Isaac. But it didn't stop him from being the one who would have gotten the blessing. Why do I say his nature was problematic? Well, he would marry who they didn't want him to marry. His disposition was one that was troubling to his parents. We never hear God said it's troubling to him. But his way of doing was troubling to his parents. So Rebecca is a mother that not only gives birth to twins where it creates an issue of order, but she's also a mother that understands the differences in the children she has. You know, favoritism is an ugly thing when it comes from a parent indifference about their children. Right? They should be loved the same, cared for the same. And yet I'm told all the time that if you are a parent of more than one child, you minister to the child based on the child's nature, their needs, who they are. And so for me, like I said earlier, I am the mother of one child. So Rebecca, like many mothers can relate to, that you love them, yes, but it can seem like favoritism based on the nature of each child. So all these years that we have heard the story told of how such an ugly thing Rebecca did, she seemed to love Jacob more. The question is, was Esau really doomed from the womb? Or is it that Rebecca did something right, but he looked wrong? So these boys who become enemies, who put one son on the run, he is distant from the family, trying to protect his life. He's afraid of the brother, all because of what the mother did, with the mother knowing something that the rest of them did not know. Well, thank God for God, because he knew something that they did not know as well, that he and Jacob would wrestle that he get this change that God is looking for. And when that change comes with Jacob, that when he would meet up with his brother Esau, that they could become friendly, that the anger would dissipate. That's what happened. You know, they had to rejoice Rebecca to know this thing that was so ugly that it was smoothed out. Doing right when it looks wrong is truly an issue. Rebecca, a trickster, it doesn't tell us how she becomes a trickster, about her father or her mother being a trickster, but we do know that she and her brother know how to trick. So the thing is, doing right when it looks wrong, if you, though woman or man of God, if you're really sure you have heard from the Lord regarding your circumstance, he will give you the opportune time to function as you should. He will even give you the way to do it. All the elements will come together. It took Esau being hungry so much that he would give up his birthright on the day that the father was giving the final blessing. These are elements that came together. When God is in control, we have to be of the mindset to pay attention that we may know that this is the time to go forward, to do what needs to be done. Rebecca, the wife to the promised son, beautiful, barren, brainy, adventurous, bold. We could learn lessons from Rebecca. to be the best we can be in order to understand when this is the time to strike. This is the time to do a thing. Working with God can look strange to other people, but it should not look strange to you. I am Cheryl. This is the Who's Who Book Club Podcast. Every week, one woman, we look into her lessons. We look into the legacy of her. How can we, being contemporary women, understand what they went through and how can it help us? I say it often. A life lived is worth being examined. Today, we brought you Rebecca. Last week, we brought you Rehab. Rehab. So, join us every week that you may see for yourself that there is an in-depth study about the women written in the Bible, named as well as them who are unnamed to us. We can learn. Sarah dies. Isaac, 37. Isaac marries at age 40. The woman for the job, Rebecca. Are you the woman for the job? Until next week, remember you do not have to live a life to learn from it. I'm Cheryl. Ciao for now. Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the discussion. Thanks for joining me. And remember, a life lived is worth examining. I'm Cheryl Termois, your host for the Who's Who Book Club Podcast. Meet you here next week. Ciao for now. www.mooji.org