Women Of Genesis 6

You are required to read the entire book of Genesis while completing this course.

Introduction: Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel who was the nephew of Abraham.

Definition: There are varied definitions for the name, Rebekah, also Rivkah, Hebrew רִבְקָה,
Modern Rivqa, Tiberian Riḇqāh, "to tie; to bind; captivating; beautiful; ensnarer."

I. Rebekah was a beautiful, kind, young woman who was a virgin until the time of her marriage to Isaac. (Gen 24:16)

Click picture to see genealogy.

Wedding allusions in modern Jewish weddings. (The following excerpt is taken from Wikipedia online.) "Some of the events leading up to the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah have been institutionalized in the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. Before the bride and bridegroom stand under the chuppah, they participate in a special ceremony called badeken (veiling). The bridegroom is led to the bride by two escorts and, seeing her, covers her face with a veil, similar to the way Rebecca covered her face before marrying Isaac. Then the bridegroom (or the father of the bride , or the officiating rabbi) recites the same blessing over the bride that Rebekah's family recited over her, "Our sister, may you come to be thousands of myriads, and may your offspring inherit the gate of its foes."¹² (cf Gen 24:60 & 65)

The Jewish perception of Rebekah.
According to Rabbi Telushkin, "Rebecca, the second of the Matriarchs, is characterized by her extraordinary kindness."⁽¹³⁾
1. Obviously this is based upon the first mention of her in the Bible where she showed kindness to the chief servant of Abraham who was searching for a proper wife for Jacob. (Gen 24)
2. Although the Bible does not mention the name of that servant, the Jewish Rabbis believe that the servant was Eliezar by name.⁽¹³⁾

II. Rebekah was a faithful wife to Isaac.
	A. She was a comfort to him. (Gen 24:67)
	B. She protected Isaac in the matter of Abimelech by going along with the subterfuge that she was Isaac's sister. (26:1-11)
	C. She faithfully bore children to Isaac.
		1. She was barren for twenty years. (25:20, 21 cf :26)
		2. But then the Lord blessed her with conception in answer to her husband’s prayer. (25:20-27) She gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob, who struggled within her just as they would, according to the Word of the Lord that came to her, strive one against the other after their birth.


III. Rebekah was a concerned and caring mother to her children.
	A. It grieved her when her oldest son took two heathen women for wives. (26:34-35)
	B. She separated her sons when the situation turned violent and her eldest son, Esau, sought to kill her youngest son, Jacob, over the theft of the patriarchal blessing from their father, Isaac, by subtilty. (27:34-45)
	C. She wanted her youngest son, Jacob, to take a wife of their own kin and convinced her husband to send him to Padanaram to find a wife. (27:46 - 28:5)
		1. One reason for sending Jacob away was to protect him from the wrath of Esau.
		2. The other reason for sending Jacob away was to prevent him from taking a heathen wife like his brother Esau had done.


IV. The shortcomings of Rebekah.
	A. She showed extreme partiality to one son over the other. (25:28)
	B. She could be manipulative and deceiving. (27:1-17)
	C. In the matter of the two sons, she was disobedient to her husband and unfaithful to his wishes concerning them.
		1. Isaac wished to bless Esau. (:1-5)
		2. But she deceived him into blessing Jacob, her favorite. (:12-13)
	D. Her actions drove a wedge between her two sons and caused Esau to conceive a plan of Cainish murder against his brother Jacob because of her manipulations. (:41-42)
	E. Her actions also, on the other hand, caused Esau to try to placate his father by taking a wife of their own people as Abraham had told Jacob to do. (28:6-9)
		1. Esau had already taken two Hittite wives, who were idol worshippers, which grieved his father and mother. (Gen 26:34-35)
		2. After Jacob had left to find a wife among their family, Esau took also a wife of their own family. Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth. (Gen 28:6-9)

V. In spite of Rebekah's actions, God’s will was still accomplished.
	A. God had told her father-in-law Abraham that He would bless him and his posterity; and this was accomplished through Jacob’s son Joseph who protected Abraham's progeny when they came into Egypt. After settling there, the children of Abraham then became slaves for four hundred years, exactly as was told to Abraham when God gave him the promise. (Gen ch. 15)
	B. Rebekah did wrong to try to do right.
		1. She knew her sons and she knew that Esau would not make a good leader for the family. Her deception of her husband was wrong but her motives seemed to be pure- make sure that the next leader of the family would be someone fit for the job. 2. However, it did not work out the way she planned. When Jacob had to leave because of his brother's rightful anger, which could have easily led to his death at the hands of his brother Esau, then Esau became the head of the family in spite of Rebekah's scheme to replace him with Jacob. Jacob and his, by that time extensive, family did not return to the family but moved on after Jacob returned and made peace with his brother Esau. 3. It is never right to do wrong to do right. God's plan will come to pass in spite of our misplaced attempts to help Him. Many times we don't even know what God's plan really is. In the case of Rebekah and her sons, God's plan was never for Jacob to assume the place of the oldest son and become the head of Isaac's family. Instead, God's plan was that the oldest son, Esau, would take his rightful place as head of the family and that Jacob would leave and become the head of his own family and through that new family be the instrument of God to save Isaac's descendants. This was accomplished through Jacob's son Joseph who brought about the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Abraham.

The meeting of Isaac and Rebekah

Isaac blesses Jacob

The lesson from Rebekah is that even good people can do wrong things even though they may have the best of motives. It is never right to do wrong to do right. Deception and manipulation and unfaithfulness to the wishes of the husband, the authority that God has placed over the wife, will lead to grief. However, although that grief comes upon all of those around the woman, it cannot change the will and direction of God. He will keep His promises no matter what manipulations are perpetrated by the Rebekahs of this world.

God is sovereign and no person can challenge His sovereignty. Our meddling can, and usually will, cause grief to ourselves and all of those around us; but those who try to challenge Him are destined to fail in their attempt.