Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Genesis 24:67
I took a break from this blog for a chunk of 2022. I did not intend for the silence to last so long. What happened? I got married!
Please welcome Sara to the team! We got married in August and have been adapting to married life.
Isaac Loved Rebecca
The passage quoted above ends a long chapter about Abraham’s servant going to fetch a wife for Isaac. When the servant reached a well, he prayed for a sign for the right woman. Rebekah came out and did as he had just prayed. He could clearly see God orchestrating the events. When Rebekah arrived at Isaac’s camp, he married her soon after meeting her.
Notice the order of the words in the verse: he married her and then loved her. Love is not a feeling in the Bible. It is an action. I have not known Sara for long. Yes, we “fell in love,” but the feelings early on are the easy part. The hard work is learning to love her every day. It involves sacrifice.
When God Married His People
Marriage is one of the images God uses to describe his relationship with his people. The Hebrew Bible describes God taking Israel as his bride (e.g. Isaiah 54:5). It also accuses them of being unfaithful and going after other gods. This is why they should not worship other gods – they are his alone.
In the same way, the New Testament describes the church as the bride of Christ (e.g. Ephesians 5:22-33). Just as Jesus gave up his life for his bride, the church, so husbands should sacrifice for their wives. It is a tall order to live up to this expectation!
To Ponder…
What does the idea of God marrying his people indicate about his love for us? How does his sacrificial example help us better understand how marriage is supposed to work? If you are married, how can you learn to love your spouse better?
As we jump into 2023, we have a variety of ideas in the works. Stay tuned!
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.
Ephesians 5:25-30