The Pairing God Made: Genesis 25:19-21

When Rebekah and Isaac get together, a pairing of people who need each other’s perspective to become complete is formed.  No person is complete on their own.  We all have flaws and weaknesses.  We all have growing edges and people who can help us grow.  We become better when we work with people whose strengths compliment our weaknesses.

Isaac is forty years old when he marries Rebekah.  He is sixty years old when his sons are born.  While it isn’t as long as Abraham and Sarah endured, it is still long enough.  One of the themes of the stories of the patriarchs is God’s timing doesn’t necessarily line up with our timing.

Imagine this from Rebekah’s perspective.  She was a young girl living in her own home until a stranger came and promised a role in God’s plan.  She eagerly bought in, left her family, and married a quiet nomad.  For twenty years, she lived with Isaac, grew closer to him, watched their family status increase, but never got pregnant.  I wonder how often she doubted her decision to leave the family estate.

This thought process illustrates the difference between temporal beings and God.  We are not blessed with knowing the future.  We are not even blessed with understanding the present.  Doubts are normal because we cannot know.  Hope is often strong, but we all have moments of weakness. 

I’m not trying to excuse doubting.  I’m not trying to give permission for doubting God.  I am saying doubts are a forgivable offense.  It is never right to doubt God, but He understands why we doubt Him.

Assuming for a moment they had doubts, Isaac and Rebekah handled their doubts the right way.  They – the Bible technically only specifies Isaac – go to God in prayer.  God grants their prayer.  Rebekah conceives.

Isaac and Rebekah had God’s promise.  Abraham told Isaac he would be the next in the line of God’s promise.  Isaac knew his child would follow.  For Isaac and Rebekah, it was a matter of trusting God until His promise became reality.

One thing we can say about Isaac is he is consistent and steady.  He makes his share of mistakes, but he is reliable.  You know what you get with Isaac.  Faced with a deep matter of trust, he takes it to God and rests his faith on solid ground.  He doesn’t go off to fight many wars.  He doesn’t even go to a foreign land to find his own wife.  Yet Isaac knows where his foundation resides.  Isaac knows he rests in God’s hands.

This is why Rebekah and Isaac are a beautiful couple.  Rebekah is the decision maker, and her decisions help make her to be who she is.  Isaac is ready to trust in God’s provision, and his reliance upon God makes him to be who he is.  When Rebekah and Isaac get together, a pairing of people who need each other’s perspective to become complete is formed.