He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:20
PRINCIPLE: Trust God. He will always give you the best if you obey him.
Through the Bible for Children
Lesson #23, Genesis 23:1-28, How to Get a Wife Download Craft
Sarah was one hundred twenty seven years old when she died. Abraham mourned and wept for his beloved wife. Then he bought land from the children of Heth so that he could bury her. The place where Abraham buried Sarah was called the cave of Machpelah. That place is known today, and people can go there and see where Sarah and Abraham are both buried.
After Sarah’s death, Abraham was getting quite old, he began to plan for a wife for Isaac. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things and he was a very wealthy man. He said to his eldest servant, the one that ruled over all that Abraham had, “Make an oath to me, and share by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you will not get a wife for my son Isaac from the Canaanite people where I live. But, you must travel to my old country the place where all my relatives live, get a wife for Isaac there.”
The faithful servant said to Abraham, “Maybe the woman will not be willing to follow me here, should I bring Isaac to her there?”
Abraham answered to the servant, “Be sure that you do not take my son back to the land where I came from. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house and from my relations, who spoke to me, and promise that he would give this land to my descendants, he will send his angel ahead of you, and you will get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from promise that you have made to me.”
The servant made the promise to Abraham that he asked for. Then he took ten camels from his master Abraham, and left to go to the land of Abraham’s family, the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia.
When he arrived a the city, the servant made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water. It was evening, the time when the women came out of the city to draw water from the well.
The servant of Abraham prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray you to give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Here I stand by this well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. If she says, “drink, and I will give your camels water also. Let her be the one that you have chosen for your servant Isaac for a wife. Then I will know that you have showed kindness to my master.”
Before the servant had even finished speaking to the Lord, Rebekah, came to the well. She was the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. She was carrying a pitcher for water on her shoulder Rebekah was very beautiful, and a pure, unmarried young woman. She went down to the well and filled her pitcher with water, and then came back up.
Abraham’s servant ran up to her and said, “Please let me have a drink of water form your pitches.”
She quickly let down her pitcher and gave the man water to drink. Rebekah said, “Drink, my lord.”
Then when the man had finished drinking she said, “I will draw water for your camels to drink also.”
The man watched her in amazement as she went about filling the trough for camels, wondering whether the Lord had given him success in finding a wife for Isaac or not.
When the camels were finishing drinking also, the man took a golden earring and two golden bracelets and gave them to Rebekah. He said, “Who’s daughter are you? Is there a place for me to stay at your father’s house?”
Rebekah answered, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare to Nahor. We have both saw and food enough and a place for you to stay.
Then the man bowed his head and worshipped the Lord. He said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not left my master’s family.”
Then Rebekah ran to her parent’s house and told them all what she had heard.
There is much for us to learn when it comes to finding the right person marry, from this lesson in God’s word. Abraham trusted that the Lord would provide just the right woman for his son Isaac, if he Abraham was obedient to the Lord. Even though it looked impossible to find a wife in this way, and there would certainly have been plenty of young women to marry in Canaan. Abraham did things God’s way, and God chose the one he wanted to continue the line of blessing.
If Christian today would as God’s help and then obey his guidelines for choosing a mate, the young people leaning on their parents for wisdom, how much better things would be for Christian young people when choosing life’s partner.