Welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann.
Today we are beginning part 9 of the series titled, When God Speaks to Women. Last week we finished up our study of Hagar, and I challenged you to find ‘Rebekah’ in the Old Testament and ‘Rebecca’ in the New. Let’s dig in!
There are 29 results for Rebekah in the Old Testament:
- Genesis 22:23
- Genesis 24:15, 29-30, 45, 51, 53, 58-61, 64, 67
- Genesis 25:20-21, 28
- Genesis 26:7-8, 35
- Genesis 27:5-6, 11, 15, 42, 46
- Genesis 28:5
- Genesis 29:12
- Genesis 35:8
- Genesis 49:31
There is only 1 result for Rebecca in the New Testament:
- Romans 9:10
You should read Genesis chapters 22 – 25 to get all the details of Rebekah’s life. For this study, we will focus on the main events concerning her and the account of God speaking to her.
We are given an introduction to Rebekah and her family.
Genesis 22:20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor: 21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
Milcah and Nahor are both mentioned in Genesis 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abrams’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
Milcah is Abraham’s niece, the daughter of his dead brother, Haran. She married her uncle Nahor, her father’s brother. There was no law prohibiting the marriage of near kin at this time. If you are interested, see my series on Thy Kinswoman, where I discuss this matter.
Bethuel is Milcah and Nahor’s eighth son. Not only is 8 an important number in the Bible, associated with new beginnings, but it gives us another time reference. It seems Abram and Nahor took wives about the same time. During the past 25 years of Abraham’s and Sarah’s marriage, they were childless, while Milcah and Nahor have had 8 children and at least two grandchildren; Aram and Rebekah.
📓 NOTE: This Aram is known to be the name from whence the Aramaic language is derived. A few Old Testament scriptures and many New Testament names were spoken and written in Aramaic.
OVERVIEW
Genesis chapter 23 records the death of Sarah at age 127. She is the only woman in scripture whose age is given. This also gives us a time stamp. Isaac was born when Sarah was 90 years old, so Isaac is now 37. When Sarah dies, Abraham purchases a field in “Hebron in the land of Canaan” to bury Sarah. This is important because it indicates to us that the land is still considered to be “the land of Canaan” and not yet in possession of Abraham as God promised him.
In Genesis chapter 24, Abraham sends his servant to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac from his kindred.
I greatly appreciate the courtesy given to the will of Rebekah in this account. In Genesis 24, verses 5 and 58; God records the necessity of her willingness.
Genesis 24:5 And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land:…
Genesis 24:58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
Genesis chapter 25 begins with the account of Abraham marrying Keturah and having 6 more sons, grandsons and even great-grandsons! Even though he has so many children, the Bible says,
Genesis 25:5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
Abraham lived to be 175 years old. When he died, Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the plot of land that he had purchased in which to bury Sarah.
Genesis 25:20 tells us And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padam-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
Now we begin to learn more about ‘Rebekah’.
Genesis 25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
There is a gap of 20 years between verses 20 and 21, for we are told in Genesis 25:26 that “Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.”
There is a theme of barrenness in the scriptures that I plan to do a future study on. Lord willing, I hope I am able, and I hope you will join me.
After another small gap of less than 9 months between verses 21 and 22, we come to the account of God speaking to Rebekah.
Genesis 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
“If it be so” is found only one other time in scripture, Daniel 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
“If it be so” has to do with God’s word. If God has spoken or written to make His will known, it is so! In the case of the three Hebrew children, God had said to the children of Israel not to worship other gods. In Rebekah’s situation, she had been barren for 20 years and God answered Isaac’s entreaty on her behalf. She knew it was so, that her conception was of God. But now something challenging is happening to Rebekah, as is often the case, even when living in the will of God.
Now we hear God speak to Rebekah.
Genesis 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, And two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: And the one people shall be stronger than the other people; And the elder shall serve the younger.
As with Eve and Hagar, now Rebekah is given a prophecy concerning her seed.
PROPHECIES:
- Eve’s seed would bruise the serpent’s head.
- Hagar’s seed would be a wild man.
- Rebekah would bare two nations and two people. One would be stronger. The elder nation and people will serve the younger.
This is the first of 18 times that the word ‘stronger’ is found in your King James Bible. It is an interesting study that you might like to do.
Q: How and why would one people be stronger than the other?
A: By God and for accomplishing His will and purpose.
Let’s consider a few verses to shed some light on the word ‘stronger’.
Job 17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
2 Samuel 3:1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.
Psalm 105:24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.
We can see from these verses that God has a choice and a purpose according to His will; in order to accomplish it, He makes whomever He will stronger.
Let’s continue reading about Rebekah.
Genesis 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
The meaning of the name Esau is not completely agreed upon, but from its use here, we can guess that it means hairy and/or red. By the end of this chapter when Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red pottage, his name is established as Edom (v.30), again associated with the color red. In the next chapter we get a clear description of Esau as a hairy man (Genesis 27:11)
Jacob’s name means to supplant or to take the place of. That is another theme that runs through scripture. We see the climax of that theme in Jesus Christ, the descendant of Jacob who takes our place on the cross.
Rebekah is mentioned again in Genesis chapter 25.
Genesis 25:28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Love in the scripture means to choose. Isaac loved Esau for carnal reasons; the scripture does not tell us why Rebekah loved Jacob. Perhaps it was because God had spoken to her and told her that Esau would serve Jacob; and Jacob, though appearing physically weaker, would be the stronger son.
In Genesis chapter 27 Rebekah helps Jacob steal Esau’s blessing from Isaac. She then instructs Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Syria because Esau has sworn to kill Jacob. Rebekah then gets Isaac to send Jacob unto her brother Laban to get a wife from Rebekah’s kin by reminding him of the grief of mind Esau has caused Isaac and Rebekah by choosing wives from the Hittites, the daughters of the land of Canaan. (Genesis 26:34-35; 27:46; 28:5)
Rebekah is mentioned lastly in Genesis 49:31 when we are told she was buried in the same plot of ground in Hebron where Abraham and Sarah were buried.
New Testament ‘Rebecca’
Romans 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done and good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth); 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
We saw this account in Genesis 25:23.
We began to cover this passage in Romans chapter 9 two weeks ago in our lesson on Sara. Remember that Romans chapters 9-11 is about Israel.
Paul is using the account of Sara and Rebecca to prove that not every son of Abraham (including those who were part of the everlasting covenant of circumcision) is considered God’s children. Isaac was chosen over Ishmael to be his “only begotten son”. And Jacob was chosen over Esau to receive the blessings and promises first made to Abraham and then to Isaac.
The point is that it is God’s choice!
“Not of works but of Him that calleth”. God can choose whom He will. When God chose Abraham out of all the men of the earth to accomplish God’s purpose on the earth, there was nothing that any man could do to withstand that choice. When God choose Isaac over Ishamael, no man could make God change His mind. And again, God chose Jacob over Esau to accomplish His purpose (Romans 9:11).
In the same way that God had mercy on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; God chose to show mercy to the Gentiles through Israel’s fall. Today God is showing mercy to Israel through the Gentile plan of salvation, by faith alone in Christ alone. No man can change God’s plan and purpose.
Romans 11:11 I say then have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their [Israel’s] fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them [Israel] to jealousy.
Many wrongly try to make this chapter about God predestinating every little detail of every person’s life, but that is not what Paul is trying to prove in this passage. We know that because we can read the conclusion of the matter.
Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all [all mankind as proven in Romans 3:9] in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
God temporarily set Israel as a nation aside with all their promises and covenants in order to have mercy upon all mankind. Just as we read in 1 Timothy 2:4 [God] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
God does not predestinate anyone to hell. Do not let the error and tradition of John Calvin blind you to the truth.
The passage in Romans goes on to say,
Romans 9:13 As it is written Jacob have I loved, but Eau have I hated.
This is a quote of Malachi 1:2-3, which you would do well to read and study it. The point of the passage is that GOD CHOSE JACOB. It will greatly help you to understand the Bible when you understand that to love means to choose. It implies free will.
We can understand that God chose Jacob over Esau to accomplish His purpose of reconciling the Earth to himself by raising up the nation Israel, which will one day rule the Earth. We can also understand that God called Paul and gave him new revelation for the Body of Christ that will one day reconcile the Heaven, and reign with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10).
This concludes our study of the book of Genesis and the Old Testament accounts of When God Speaks to Women. I will pick up this study in the New Testament beginning in January of 2022.
Meanwhile, I have a Women’s Bible study that I anticipate sharing in the near future on Foot Washing, as it is associated with women in both the old testament and the new. Lord willing, I will also share a study on Barrenness.
Thanks for participating in this series. I hope it has helped you to understand your Bible a little more, get to know God a little better, and edify you as you walk in the spirit.
I look forward to seeing you in the next Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge.
The material in the Blog can be found in this YouTube video:
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