Genesis 22-24
What I Noticed Today (Genesis 22-24)
Genesis 22
Genesis 22 describes God’s test of Abraham when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.
In verses 1-19, Abraham’s faith is tested when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac:
- God tells Abraham to take his son that he loves and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
Note: This is the first use of the word “love” in the Bible.
- So the next morning, Abraham got up, saddled the donkeys, and took with him two young men and Isaac.
- He split wood for the offering, gave it to Isaac to carry, and set out for the place God told him about.
Note: The Bible does not tell us exactly how old Isaac was when this event unfolded. However, since he was able to carry the wood, it is likely Isaac was a teenager, if not a young man.
- Abraham travels three days to get to the site where he is to sacrifice Isaac.
Note: The site is Mount Moriah. It is about 50 miles from Beer-sheba. It is also the future site of the temple mount (2 Chronicles 3:1).
- He tells his servants, the boy and I will be back.
Note: Abraham’s confidence and faith in God, saying to the men, “we’ll come back.” He believed God could raise Isaac back from the dead to fulfill His promise that his line would be through Isaac.
- When Isaac asked where is the lamb for the sacrifice, Abraham told him the Lord would provide the sacrifice.
- Abraham prepared the altar, the wood, and Isaac, and is just ready to sacrifice him when the Angel of the Lord called to him and told him not to harm the boy.
- Just then, Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket for the sacrifice.
- Abraham got the ram and offered it on the altar in place of his son.
- Abraham named that place, “The Lord Will Provide.”
- Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time and said because he had done this, the Lord will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars, your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my commands.
Note: The angel conveys the message of the Lord in the first person, as though it was the Lord himself speaking.
- Abraham went back to his men, and they returned to Beer-sheba, where Abraham settled.
In verses 20-24, Abraham receives a report regarding his brother, Nahor’s, family:
- Abraham received a report from the east that his brother (see Genesis 11:27-29) Nahor’s family had grown. Several sons were born to Milcah. Bethuel, one of Nahor’s sons, had fathered a daughter named Rebekah. Four other children were born to Nahor by his concubine, Reumah.
Note: The insertion of this short passage about Nahor’s family almost seems out of place at the end of the account of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice. But it makes sense once we get to chapter 23 and 24 because this Rebekah is the Rebekah who becomes Isaac’s wife.
Genesis 23
Chapter 23 records Sarah’s death and burial:
- Sarah died at the age of 127 years old in Kiriath-arba (Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Note: Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age at her death is recorded. Isaac was 37 years old at the time of her death (Genesis 17:17).
- Abraham mourned for Sarah and then went to the Hittites, where he lived and asked for a piece of land in which he could bury Sarah.
- The Hittites recognized that Abraham was God’s chosen, so they offered him any site he chose.
- With that, Abraham asked them to ask Ephron, the son of Zohar, to sell him the cave at Machpelah, which is at the end of his field.
- Abraham offered to pay the full price for the property.
- Ephron offered to give Abraham not only the cave but also the field that went with it.
- Abraham offered again to pay for the field, and Ephron finally said it was all worth 400 shekels of silver.
- Abraham weighed out 400 shekels of silver in front of the witnesses, and the field and cave at Machpelah became Abraham’s.
- After this, Abraham buried his wife, Sarah in the cave.
Genesis 24
Genesis 24 describes the search for a wife for Isaac:
In verses 1-9, Abraham commissions his chief servant to find a wife for Isaac:
- Abraham calls his chief servant (Eliezer, Genesis 15:2) and makes him swear an oath that he will not take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites, but travel to the land of his family and get a wife for him there.
- Abraham warned the servant not to take Isaac back to the family land from which he came because the Lord had promised to give him this land.
- Abraham said an angel of the Lord would guide you to where you will find a wife for Isaac.
- If the woman refuses, then you are free of the oath, but do not let my son go back there.
Note: Abraham is 140-years old at this point, and his son, Isaac, is 40 years old.
In verses 10-27, the chief servant sets off on his journey to find a wife for Isaac:
- The chief servant took ten camels loaded with all kinds of goods and set out for Aram-naharaim, where Abraham’s brother, Nahor, lived.
Note: The distance from the Negev to Aram-naharaim is about 500 miles and would take about two weeks by camel.
- When he arrived, he had the camels kneel down beside a water well in the evening when women came out to get water.
- The chief servant prayed to the Lord to give him success in finding a wife for Isaac, and that He would receive a sign when the right woman appeared.
- Before he had finished praying, Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah (Nahor’s wife), came with a jug for water.
- The chief servant ran to meet her after she had filled her jug with water and asked for a drink.
- She quickly gave him a drink and then offered to draw water for the camels as well.
Note: 10 camels could drink a lot of water after a long journey, so this was a very gracious offer by Rebekah, and a lot of work!
In verses 28-60, The chief servant negotiates a marriage contract with Laban for Rebekah:
- After she finished giving water to the camels, the chief servant gave her a gold ring and two bracelets and asked if there was room in her father’s house for him to stay.
- She answered she was Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah. There was plenty of straw and room to spend the night.
- The chief servant bowed down and worshipped the Lord.
- Rebekah ran home to tell her mother’s household. Her brother, Laban, went out to meet the man at the spring.
- Laban greeted the servant brought him to the house, took care of the camels, and brought water to wash their feet.
- As they sat down to eat, the servant explained why he was there, giving the history of Abraham and Sarah and the oath he swore to find a wife for Isaac from among his people.
Note: This speech by the chief servant in verses 34-49 is the longest speech of a servant recorded in the Old Testament.
- He explained that he had prayed to the Lord for a sign, and Rebekah had appeared even before he finished praying.
- When he finished explaining how Rebekah had given him water and then given water to the camels, the servant asked if they would consider his request from the Lord, and if not, he would move on.
- Laban answered this is from the Lord. Take Rebekah and go, and let her be a wife for your master’s son, just as the Lord had spoken.
Note: In this society, a brother, in this case, Laban, was responsible for negotiating a marriage contract for a sister
- When the chief servant heard this, he bowed down before the Lord, and brought out gifts and gave them to Rebekah and her family.
- The next morning the chief servant wanted to start back, but Laban wanted to have Rebekah stay ten days and then go. The servant asked not to be delayed. They asked Rebekah, and she was willing to go.
- So they sent her away with a blessing that she be the mother of thousands and tens of thousands, and her offspring possess the gates of their enemies.
In verses 61-67, Rebekah journeys to the land of Abraham to become Isaac’s wife:
- Rebekah and her servants left and followed the chief servant back to the Negev region, where Abraham lived.
- In the evening, Isaac was in the field and saw camels coming, and Rebekah saw Isaac in the distance. She covered herself with a veil.
- Abraham explained to Isaac everything he had done.
- Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and Rebekah became Isaac’s wife, and he loved her very much.
Note: Sarah had died about three years earlier when Isaac was 37 years old.
Some additional thoughts for consideration:
- In this short passage of chapter 22, we see Abraham’s love for his son, his faith in God’s promise, and his trust in God to provide.
- What an incredible parallel to when God gave us his one and only son, Jesus whom he loved, as a sacrifice to fulfill a promise of eternal life if we just have faith in Him!
- How often do we make promises to God and then not do what Gods ask of us? We disobey and wonder why things don’t work out the way we had hoped. Perhaps if we obeyed more, and prayed more, our prayers would be answered according to God’s promises!
- The choice of a bride for Isaac was God’s. The sign at the spring confirmed it. Laban recognized this was from God. Rebekah complied with God’s plan.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
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Tomorrow: Genesis 25-27
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