For the most part, we have probably all heard the story of Rebekah and Isaac and how Rebekah was a trickster who helped make sure her favorite son would inherit Isaac’s blessing. We’ve heard about how Rebekah’s sons wrestled even in her womb and how Jacob usurped his brother’s birthright even down to grabbing onto Easu’s heel to try to make it out of the womb first.
That’s where this scripture today has led us… we are reminded yet again of the wrestling in the womb, the fierce sibling rivalry, and we are again told, “Isaac loved Esau because he was fond of game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” And if you remember, you might know that eventually, Rebekah helps Jacob to deceive Isaac into giving him the family blessing instead of the firstborn Esau.
It is because of this help that the name Rebekah has come to mean “trickster” or one who deceives. However, in Hebrew, the name Rebekah means “Secured”…and that is the part of this story I really want to focus on with you today.
Rebekah had a very important role in the biblical narrative, and we often gloss over her story in favor of the intrigue of Jacob’s deception and ultimate status as a great leader. But, if we skip Rebekah’s story, then we miss out on one of the most interesting little twists in Genesis. Now, I don’t just say this because Rebekah is my namesake and one of my favorite women in the whole of scripture. I say this because Rebekah’s story often gets mistold or misunderstood, and I think it’s important for us all to know that It is BECAUSE of Rebekah that the future nation of Israel is secured and the blessing is passed on to the chosen leader.
So let’s back up a little bit…
When Rebekah was just a girl, she went to the well to get water for her family. At the well she met a man—a servant who had a mess of camels and a lot of riches. This servant happened to be on a mission from Isaac to find him a wife and had prayed for a sign from God. So, Rebekah offered water to him and his camels and because of that, the servant knew that Rebekah was the woman God had chosen for Isaac. It’s a little complicated, and perhaps a little like the biblical version of those e-harmony commercials we see on tv all of the time, but this was a match that was meant to be.
After some intense negotiations and planning, Rebekah indeed goes home with the servant to marry Isaac, but before she goes, she is given a blessing by her family. She is told, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes”.
Now this might sound like a typical biblical goodbye, but here’s the thing…this blessing was anything but typical. It’s a VERY special blessing…this was the same blessing God had given Abraham. Isaac never received this blessing, therefore the blessing wasn’t really his to pass on. The blessing of the next generation and the ordination of the next patriarch was firmly placed in Rebekah’s hands. It was HER responsibility to ensure that God’s chosen leader was prepared to be the parent of many nations. The future of Israel was in Rebekah’s hands, and ultimately, the future Israel himself was in Rebekah’s womb.
And that puts us right back where we started…Rebekah has two nations wrestling in her womb. She had even grown so worried by the constant warring in her belly that she had visited a prophet who had told her that there were two nations fighting in her belly and that they would always be fighting with each other and that the older would serve the younger. This prophecy combined with the blessing Rebekah had received likely weighed very heavily when the twins were born and the younger came out grasping the older’s heel.
So the responsibility of securing the future of Israel fell to Rebekah. She was the one who had received the blessing—she was the one who was chosen by God to ensure that the right son had the birthright and that the right son carried the blessing forward. Rebekah was faced with the difficult task of doing things that might have appeared deceitful or wrong to ensure the future of an entire nation. I imagine this was not an easy task for Rebekah…she was not the expected recipient of the blessing nor was she the typical person responsible for carrying on a patriarchal blessing.
But patriarchy is a human construct, not a godly one. God chooses people not based on gender or sexual identity or place in society or looks or wealth or health. God chooses based on who God has decided is the best person for the job. In this case, God chose Rebekah. God chose a young girl who had left her family and married a much older man. God chose a WOMAN to do the work of ensuring the future of an entire nation. God didn’t get caught up in race or gender or politics…God just chose the best person for the job.
This is a hard thing for us to wrap our heads around. It’s hard for us to understand that the person God has chosen for a certain job might not be the person we would have chosen ourselves—or might not do the job in a way that we can understand or appreciate. But, there is a reason God has chosen them and put them in that position.
Take Rebekah for example—God had chosen her to ensure the blessing was passed on to the right son and that the future nation would be secured. But for years, history has painted her as a trickster and a game player. For years, Rebekah and Jacob have been portrayed as villains in this story and we are left with “poor old Isaac—poor Esau”. But, Rebekah was doing what she had to do to make sure that God’s plan was followed.
Let me say that again. Rebekah was doing what she had to do to make sure that God’s plan was followed. This was not about Isaac. This was not about Esau. This was not even about Rebekah or Jacob…This was about God.
See, God is all about using the least expected person to do something completely extraordinary. God chose Moses—a stuttering basket case to be the person to tell Phaorah to free the Israelites. God chose Esther, a teenage girl, to save the Jewish people. God chose David- a very small boy with just a slingshot to be the one to defeat the Giant goliath. And God chose Mary—an unwed teenage mother to give birth to the savior of the world.
There’s a song by Ginny Owens, that I’ve quoted before. But it bears repeating. In this song, e God speaks to those people chosen for amazing challenges. God says, “There’s a bigger picture you can’t see. You don’t have to change the world just trust in me. I am your creator and I’m working out my plan. Through you I’ll show them… I am.” God’s big picture may be beyond our own vision, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t something bigger and better in the works.
When we are confronted with people who are working out God’s call in ways that we might not understand or appreciate, we are tempted to dismiss them. It’s so easy to get caught up in the things we don’t like about people, the things that make us uncomfortable, the things that make us question their calling. But, when we get caught up in ourselves and what WE think, we fail to see God in action. We fail to see the bigger picture. We become so blinded by our own concerns that we cannot see the bigger story unfolding right before our eyes.
So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?
Just because we don’t like the way someone is doing God’s work, doesn’t mean they aren’t called to do it. Just because we don’t understand the way someone is doing God’s work, doesn’t mean they aren’t called to do it. Just because we don’t like the way people go about living into their calling, does not in any way negate the fact that they are indeed called!
God called Rebekah for a reason. God knew that she had the power and presence to ensure that the right son went on to receive the blessing and carry on the promise. And at the end of the day, God calls each of us for a reason. God knows better than we do what we are capable of and what we can do. The hard part isn’t just living out our callings, but getting out of the way so that other people can live out theirs as well.
So let’s return to Rebekah’s story for a moment. We have a young girl who unknowingly gets pulled into God’s plan by being at the right well at the right time. Before she leaves home to become the wife of a man at least twice her age, she is given a blessing—a blessing that ends up being very important. And then she travels hundreds of miles from home to be with a man she has never met and eventually bears him two sons…sons that had such a fierce sibling rivalry that they even fought in her womb. And despite her knowledge of the prophecy—that one would serve the other—Rebekah never shared this information with Isaac. She simply knew what had to be done.
She knew that Jacob was called to a specific purpose. She knew that God’s plan was for Jacob to carry forward the blessing that she had received. She simply had to make sure that no one got in the way of God’s plan—especially Isaac or Esau.
Rebekah answered God’s call on her life by helping to ensure that Jacob could answer God’s call on HIS life. Were her methods orthodox? No. Were they even honest? No. But she did what she had to do to make sure God’s plan was realized in Jacob. And ultimately, God’s plan was realized. Jacob would become Israel and his sons would become the leaders of Israel’s twelve tribes. The whole of the eventual biblical narrative could become fulfilled because Rebekah simply refused to allow God’s work to be impeded.
If only we could each be more like Rebekah—no not playing tricks or sneaking around, but doing whatever it takes (within reason and the law of course) to ensure that God’s calling and plan goes on uninterrupted. And what’s more…we could each stand to realize that God’s plan might involve people and methods that we would otherwise dismiss.