Bible History Old Testament Vol 1 by Alfred Edersheim

Author:Alfred Edersheim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion & Spirituality
Published: 2012-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

15. GENESIS 24; 25:19-26:35

The Marriage of Isaac — Birth of Esau and Jacob — Esau sells his Birthright — Isaac at Gerar — Esau’s Marriage

THE sacred narrative now turns to the history of Isaac, the heir to the promises, still marking in its course the same dealings on the part of God which had characterized the life of Abraham. Viewed in connection with the Divine promises, the marriage of Isaac would necessarily appear a subject of the deepest importance to Abraham. Two things were quite firmly settled in the mind of the patriarch: Isaac must on no account take a wife from among the Canaanites around, — he must not enter into alliance with those who were to be dispossessed of the land; and Jehovah, who had so often proved a faithful God, and in obedience to whose will he now refused what might have seemed highly advantageous connections, would Himself provide a suitable partner for Isaac. These two convictions determined Abraham’s conduct, as they also guided that of “his eldest servant,” whom Abraham commissioned to execute his wishes, and who, in general, seems to have been deeply imbued with the spirit of his master.

Some time before (Genesis 22:20) Abraham had been informed that his brother Nahor, whom he left behind in Haran, had been blessed with numerous descendants. To him the patriarch now dispatched “his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that was his” — generally supposed to have been Eliezer of Damascus (Genesis 15:2), though at that time he must, like his master, have been far advanced in years. But before departing, he made him swear by Jehovah — since this matter concerned the very essence of the covenant — to avoid every alliance with the Canaanites, and to apply to his “kindred.” And when the servant put before him the possibility, that the execution of this wish might render it necessary for Isaac to return to the land whence Abraham had come, the patriarch emphatically negatived the suggestion, as equally contrary to the Divine will, while his faith anticipated no difficulty, but calmly trusted the result in God’s hands. In all this Abraham had no fresh revelation from heaven; nor needed he any. He only applied to present circumstances what he had formerly received as the will of God, just as in all circumstances of life we need no fresh communication from above — only to understand and to apply the will of God as revealed to us in His holy word.

The result proved how true had been Abraham’s expectations. Arrived at Haran, Abraham’s servant made it a matter of prayer that God would “prosper his way,” for even when in the way of God’s appointment, we must seek and ask His special blessing. There, as he stood outside the city by the well to which, according to the custom of the East, the maidens would resort at even to draw water for their households, it naturally occurred to him to connect in

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