10. Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24: 1 – 25: 18)

GenesisLesson #10

“Isaac and Rebekah,a Love Story”

(24: 1 – 25: 18)

Review

Lesson #9 explores the most complex and multi-layered story in Genesis: the Sacrifice of Isaac.

1. The story illustrates the complexity of biblical narrative, forcing us to abandon a simplistic, literal reading of the text and embrace a subtle, nuanced and deeper understanding of the story.

2. God “tests” Abraham and in doing so the story demands that we probe the psychology and motivation of God, Abraham, Isaac, and by omission, Sarah.

3. After Sarah’s death Abraham shrewdly negotiates a real estate deal for property in Hebron, the first property in the promised land that is legally transferred from it’s owner to Abraham.

PreviewIf God’s plan of redemption and his covenant with Abraham is to be fulfilled, Isaac needs a wife and children. But at 40 years old he is still single, living at home, a failure to launch. We need a plan—and we need one quickly!

This lesson sees the death of Abraham, bringing the Abraham/Isaac story to a close.

“Put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you

swear by the Lord . . .” 1. It is common in most cultures to swear an oath with one’s hand

on something valuable or sacred (e.g., swearing in a witness in court with one hand raised and the other on a Bible).

2. “Put your hand under my thigh” is a Hebraic idiom meaning “place your hand on my testicles!”

3. The Abrahamic covenant involves progeny “like the stars in the sky,” and progeny is directly related to Abraham’s “seed.”

4. The Latin word testis means “witness.” It derives from tre, meaning “three” and sta, meaning “stand,” perhaps recalling the requirement in Deuteronomy 17: 6 that a valid testimony requires two or three witnesses.

Finding a wife for Isaac in Aram Naharaim

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas.

The story of Isaac and Rebekah is the first

occurrence of a “betrothal” type-scene in the Bible.

1. Travel to a foreign land.2. Encounter the future bride at a well.3. Drawing water.4. “Hurrying” or “running” to bring news of the

stranger’s arrival.5. A feast at which the betrothal agreement is

concluded.

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Rebekah and her camel

Camels

1. A camel lives 40-50 years.2. A full-grown adult camel stands 6’ tall at the

shoulder and 7’ tall at the hump.3. Camels can run 40 mph in bursts (faster than

horses!) and 25 mph over long distances.4. Camels have oval rather than round red blood

cells that makes them better than other mammals at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water.

5. An adult camel can drink 50 gallons of water in three minutes!

Questions for discussion and thought

1. What does the story of the search for Isaac’s wife suggest about Isaac’s character?

2. What might you suspect from this story about Laban’s character?

3. What might we infer from this story about the relationship between Isaac and his mother Sarah?

4. Abraham takes another wife, Keturah, sometime either before of after Sarah’s death and she bears him 6 sons. How does Abraham protect Isaac from his half-brothers?

5. Surprisingly, Isaac and Ishmael bury their father Abraham. How did Ishmael know that his father had died?

Copyright © 2013 by William C. Creasy All rights reserved. No part of this course—audio, video, photography, maps, timelines or other media—may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval devices without permission in writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.