IV ISAAC AND REBEKAH

BRAHAM had a son named Isaac. One time, when Isaac was but a little lad, he had a strange adventure in which he very nearly lost his life.

The people of that land believed that God wishes us to give Him the very best we have. And that is right, if we give Him our best by using it so as to please Him. But they said that the thing to do with our best is to burn it. So they would make a heap of stones, and put wood upon it, and place their best on the wood, and set fire to it, and the flame and smoke would rise into the sky. That was called a sacrifice. When they were very glad and wished to thank God, and when they were in great trouble and desired God to help them, they offered a sacrifice.

Now there was nothing in the world for which Abraham and Sarah cared so much as they did for their little boy Isaac. He was their very best. And so it came into Abraham’s heart that there was no way by which he could so plainly show God the greatness of his faith and love as to give Him Isaac. And early one morning Abraham wakened Isaac, and said, “We are going on a long journey to-day, my son.” And Isaac was glad, because he loved to go on journeys with his father.

So off they went, along the green road, and Isaac was very happy, but Abraham was very sad, and Sarah in her tent was crying as if her heart would break. At last they came to a hill, and Abraham cut a bundle of wood, and let Isaac carry it on his back; but Abraham carried a knife. Now Isaac had often seen the sacrifice of lambs, so as they climbed the hill he said, “Father, here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?”

And Abraham answered, “God will provide himself a lamb.”

But at the top of the hill, when the wood was piled upon the ground, Abraham with tears in his eyes took Isaac and tied his hands and his feet, and laid him on the wood.

Then suddenly there came a quick voice in Abraham’s heart, and the voice called, “Abraham! Abraham!” And Abraham said, “Here am I.” And the voice said, “Do not touch the lad. Behind you in the thicket is a ram. Take that.” So Abraham untied his little boy, and kissed him, and sacrificed the ram. Thus he showed how much he was willing to do for God, but Isaac was spared. And God taught Abraham that He does not wish for such a sacrifice as that. The best thing to do with little boys is to love them, and teach them, and bring them up to be obedient and useful.

So Isaac grew to be a fine young man, and his father thought that it was high time for him to be getting married. In their country the fathers and mothers attended to all that, but Isaac’s mother was now dead, so Abraham had to manage by himself. One day he sent for his steward, Eliezer, who attended to his most important business, and said, “Eliezer, I want you to go back to the old country, and find a wife for Isaac. Go to the place where I was brought up, and where my folks still live, and find a girl who will make him a good wife.”

So Eliezer took ten camels and a bag of presents of gold and silver, and away he went, across the Jordan and across the Euphrates. One day as the sun was setting he came to a well of water beside a little town. Women were coming out with pitchers on their shoulders to draw water. The well was a deep pool, with a cold spring at the bottom of it. There were stone steps leading down, and at the top of the steps was a trough for camels. There Eliezer made his camels kneel down, as camels do, and he said to himself, “I will wait till I see a girl whose looks I like, and I will ask her for a drink, and if she says, ‘Yes, and I will give your camels drink also,’ then I will tell her about Isaac.” So he stood and waited, and one came and another came. At last came a maiden named Rebekah, who was very fair to look upon. And Eliezer said, “Will you let me drink a little water from your pitcher?” “Yes,” she said, “and I will give your camels drink also.” Then Eliezer was very glad, and in his heart he thanked God, and out of his bag he took two bracelets of gold, one for each of the girl’s arms. And he said, “Whose daughter are you? Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

She answered, “My father’s name is Bethuel, and my grandfather’s name is Nahor.”

“What,” said Eliezer, “Nahor the brother of Abraham?”

“Yes,” said Rebekah, “and we have plenty of room for you and your men and your ten camels.”

So she ran home before him and showed her mother the bracelets, and her brother Laban ran out to meet the man, and brought him into the house; and supper was ready, and they asked him to sit down. But Eliezer said, “I must not eat till I have told my errand.” So they listened as he spoke of Abraham and Isaac and Rebekah.

“Now,” he said, “what will you do? Will you give Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife?”

And Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “This is the Lord’s doing. Take Rebekah, and let her be the wife of Isaac.”

Then Eliezer opened his treasures and took out jewels of gold and jewels of silver, and beautiful embroidered things to wear, and gave them to Rebekah and her mother. After that he sat down at the table, and they all had supper, and were very happy.

The next day, Eliezer said, “Let me go back now, with Rebekah, to my master.” But they urged him to stay. “Oh, let Rebekah wait,” they said, “a little while till we can get her ready. In a week or ten days, she may go.” But he said, “We ought to go at once.”

And they called Rebekah and said, “How shall it be? Will you go with this man to-day?” She said, “I will go.” So they bade her good-by, with many prayers and blessings, and sent her maids along to wait upon her; and her old nurse, Deborah, went with her.

Thus they rode away on camels, and they journeyed and they journeyed, till one day they saw in the distance a man walking in the fields, and he was coming to meet them. And Rebekah said, “Who is this man walking across the fields to meet us?” And Eliezer replied, “That is my young master, Isaac.” So Rebekah took a veil and covered herself, for that was the custom of the country. And Isaac brought her into his mother’s tent, and she became his wife. And he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.