When God provides against the odds (Gen 24:1-15)

In the early nineties, I visited Israel on a tourist trip, and dearly wanted to go back for a gap year. I felt God saying that I would be back, but opportunities seemed scarce. The only option I knew of was to volunteer in a kibbutz.[1] However, I was working through some faith questions and was reluctant to cut myself off from Christian fellowship for a year. Finding information about Christian organisations in Israel was difficult. The internet was in its infancy, and there were few foreigners, let alone Christians, in Hungary. Yet God has His ways. One day, I visited a Christian bookshop in Budapest and an American engaged me in conversation. He brought up Israel and mentioned a missionary couple he knew who ran a Christian youth hostel in Haifa with an outreach to tourists. This seemingly chance encounter led me to work there as a volunteer a few months later. God honoured my desire not to allow my faith to be eroded and provided an environment that turned out to be transformative for my walk with God beyond anything I could imagine.

Finding a bride for Isaac

Reading Abraham’s story, I am reminded how God can provide against the odds. Abraham’s dilemma is that Isaac needs a wife to continue the family line, but, as Walton points out, intermarrying with the Canaanites would inevitably cause the family to assimilate into the local context.[2] Since God indicated that he was going to move out the current tenants because of their sinful ways and give the land to Abraham’s descendants (Gen 15:16, 18-20) such mixing with the locals would make a distinction between the two groups difficult and put God’s promise at risk. Marrying within one’s tribe and clan was common practice in many ancient societies, but here geographical distance is an added complication: what if the bride is unwilling to leave her own country and family (Gen 24:5)? There is no chance for her to do a ‘quick visit’ to check out the place and then decide, as we might do today. While arranged marriages were the norm at the time, usually the parents would have met the prospective groom. Committing blind to a foreign place as well as an unknown and unobserved bridegroom is indeed a steep proposition.

Abraham’s faith: God will provide

Despite the complications, Abraham will not compromise on his convictions: Isaac is not to return to the original homeland (Gen 24:6-8) because it would mean giving up on God’s promises. Rather, Isaac’s bride will have to make the same momentous decision to leave family and homeland to become part of the promised people of God, just like Abraham. The patriarch is, in fact, convinced that because this is in line with God’s will, He will make a way (v.7). The God who provided so many times against the odds, will do so again. Indeed, the Lord honours Abraham’s faith and his servant’s prayer and the request for a sign is barely made before the right girl from the right family turns up (Gen 24:15)! I shall return to the details in my next post, but it is worth pausing here.

Faithfulness in our convictions

Abraham’s story teaches us the importance of not compromising our convictions of what is right even when it looks like limiting our options. For a Christian friend, called to overseas mission, this meant breaking up with a boyfriend who did not want to leave the UK or be invested in Christian ministry. While it was hard, she felt she could not jeopardise God’s call. She is now a missionary and the Lord has even provided for her a husband who shares the same commitment and is also involved in ministry. While such a provision (marriage) cannot automatically be expected, God does honour our willingness to put His will first and provides what we need. For others, the principle involves saying no to a well-paying job that creates too much pressure for family life or requires the kind of cut-throat attitude that a Christian may not find acceptable. Whatever situation calls for a choice for God’s way and the risk of shutting down our opportunities, may we always remember that the Lord honours our faithfulness and will provide against all odds.

[1] Kibbutzim used to be primarily agrarian communes dating back to the early days of Jewish immigration in the twentieth century. Typically, they are settlements in the countryside, away from cities, and volunteers who stay there help out in the kitchen, do cleaning, fruit picking, etc. 

[2] John H. Walton, Genesis, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 529. Later, Israel and Christians recognised in this a wider principle motivated by the need to preserve a faithful walk with God (Deut 7:3-4; 1 Cor 7:39). While Abraham’s perspective may sound dangerously like ethnic purity of the chosen line, we should not read our modern history and racism into this ancient account. Endogamy (marrying within one’s clan) is often preferred in traditional cultures, and this makes good sense, since a common culture and ways of living would have eased the transition of two people learning to adjust to each other in marriage.

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