followHIM - Genesis 24-27 -- Part 1 : Dr. Camille Olson

Episode Date: February 19, 2022

Was Rebekah particularly suited to counsel Isaac and what does this teach us about men and women working together? Dr. Camille Fronk Olson teaches the strength of complementary strengths in familial relationships, the strength of covenantal relationships, and how the Hebrew Bible demonstrates a need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/episodesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producers/SponsorsDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: MarketingLisa Spice: Client Relations, Show Notes/TranscriptsJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Rough Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Transcripts/Language Dept/French TranscriptsAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-pianoPlease rate and review the podcast.

Welcome to Follow Him, a weekly podcast dedicated to helping individuals and families with their Come Follow Me study. I'm Hank Smith. And I'm John, by the way. We love to learn. We love to laugh. We want to learn and laugh with you. As together, we follow Him. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Follow Him. I'm your host Hank Smith and I'm here with my cunning hunter co-host, John. That has a certain Esau ring to it, doesn't it? It does, yes. I was going to say plain man after Jacob, but I figured cunning hunter would be a little more, you'd feel a little more complimented if I said it that way. We are in Genesis again this week, Genesis chapters 24 through 27.

And John, we've been waiting for this interview for a while because both of us have ties to our guest. Can you tell everyone who's with us? We're so happy to welcome Dr. Camille Franck Olson. She had faith in me, so I am still teaching. Hank, she had faith in you, so you're teaching. And we were joking before. We know she'll be held accountable for that.

But Camille is a retired professor, former chair of BYU's Department of Ancient Scripture in Religious Education. She's a scholar who's written multiple books on the role of women in the scriptures, which is perfect for today. She's also spoken widely in various forums on Latter-day Saint beliefs, especially as they relate to women. She was born and raised in Tremont in Utah, served a mission in the France Toulouse Mission in Southern France. She has a bachelor's degree in education from Utah State University, an MA, and listen to this, in West Asian Studies and a PhD in sociology of the Middle East from BYU. She began her educational career as a full-time seminary teacher at a time when a few women held that position. She was then on the faculty of LDS Business College, and that's

been renamed Ensign College now, where she also served as the Dean of Students. She was a full-time member of BYU's Ancient Scripture Faculty in Religious Education. She's also served as a member of the Young Women General Board and as a professor at the BYU Jerusalem Center. And I was just going to hold this up because this is like one of the most beautiful books on my shelves behind me, Women of the Old Testament. I mean, the paper, the illustrations, Hank, they don't publish my books like this. I get recycled newsprint in my books. And these are gorgeous, beautiful, illustrated, but I love that she has done so much on women in the scriptures and in the Old Testament. And we're going to benefit from that today. So we're so glad to have you here, Camille, as a friend and as a respected colleague.

Thanks for coming. Thank you. Old Testament women, oh, they are so many and their stories are so unique and in such different time period. And by women of the New Testament, which is the same size and format, I've actually got four women of the Old Testament in that one to introduce it because this is the way Matthew introduced Jesus Christ. Yeah, so that's where you find Tamar and Rahab and Ruth and Bathsheba. Very interesting.

You cannot tell the story of God's people at any time without seeing women figure very prominently. John, Camille, today, Genesis 24 through 27. Maybe how do you approach ancient scripture differently than you approach other scripture? Old Testament versus New Testament, anything like that? Well, I think the Bible specifically, Old and New Testament, but probably even more Old Testament, it is just so critical to get the whole background story. It's so easy to just take these stories out of their context and place them in our 21st century elders quorum and relief societies and go immediately to modern day applications. And every time we do that, these people are stranger and do weirder things. And you just want to say, I can't do the Old

Testament. Let's just jettison. I wish I could time travel. And I would go back and just see life there. It would be fascinating. And we would be so impressed with their intellect and their hearts and their understanding of things that we do not understand today. But it is a very different culture. And the more we can understand that culture, the more we can appreciate what they dealt with, and maybe be less judgmental of some of the decisions that they made. And that is the Old Testament shows the humanness of all these individuals. I've often said, you cannot confuse the Lord with any of the other characters.

He stands out. The others have need for a Redeemer very clearly. I can discern between me and thee. Yeah, yeah. I mean, sometimes people in the Book of Mormon and you think they're doing pretty fine, they don't need an atonement. I mean, you know, we can make them into such heroes. And if we're not careful, we will do that to people, especially prophets in the Old Testament and the Book of Genesis, especially in these chapters we're in, these are imperfect people trying to do the best they can.

And the Lord empowers them to do beyond their natural ability, even when they continue to stumble and fall. And that ought to be very encouraging to us. I mean, does the firstborn ever get a birthright or is that just a tradition that we talk about that never happens? It's much more fluid than I think. A lot of times we like to make things so simple and like they follow these rules and talk about dysfunctional families. I just think you look at Abraham's family tree and people that just kind of get upset when sometimes multiple marriages, premature deaths, adoptions, divorces, sibling rivalries, estranged members of the family. We get them all.

We get them all. We get them all. I think trying to understand and appreciate that they had laws and expectations in some ways different than we have opportunities today. And they can teach us. and personalities sometimes and trying to exonerate some or making others look so terrible so that we don't hurt somebody else. We forget the purpose of story is to bring us to Jesus Christ. And these stories are here to help us find him. Old Testament, he is the central, he's the focal point always. He must be. These men and women help us to see him better.

You know, one of the things I have really enjoyed about teaching the Book of Mormon was I noticed that the plan of salvation is, it's only called that three times. It's called about 15 times, the plan of redemption. And the idea of a redeemer and a need for a redeemer. And then I noticed the ones using the phrase were mostly Alma and the sons of Mosiah because they knew they needed a redeemer. And I'm looking at what you just said in the Old Testament. These folks were trying to exonerate them. We're trying to, but they all needed a redeemer. That's the point. Point us to Christ. That is, and it shows his power on every single page. One thing I've been impressed with, Camille, is that here's the Tower of Babel. The world has

gone bad. The Lord chooses Abram and Sarah to save the world. And he stays with them despite their, like you said, they stumble around. And he could say, you know what? Let's choose another couple. Back to the old drawing board. I may be messed up here. Yeah. But he stays with this family. Abram, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Rachel, and Bilhah, and all the rest.

He stays with them. He doesn't give up on them. That is right. What you're saying. I think that's the whole context. And we're talking mainly about Isaac and Rebecca and their immediate family here. I think we keep in mind this is a family and those generations are interconnected. You have to place Isaac and Rebecca and their sons, Esau and Jacob, in this larger context with not only Abraham and Sarah, but Hagar.

It's coming through in this story. And then the next generation with not only Leah and Rachel, but Bilhah and Zilpah. And it'll go on to the 12 sons and then the next generation with Manasseh and Ephraim and Joseph's wife, Asenat, you know, is there's something in that whole big picture that shows us that God's power and authority to pronounce his blessings was given through these heads of this extended family. But he trusted them. Also, they needed a matriarch or their wives to have a very significant position.

And they actively influenced the well-being of these families and created an environment where life could progress and achieve God's plan. They were very important. And the thing I find about these stories in Genesis, they're easy to do jokes with. And I think very often some of these stories have become kind of comedic that we diminish the roles of these women into just having children, how many babies they can have and the competition among them. And it's far greater than this. It underscores the importance of the entire family and God's plan from the beginning to do it through families. This is great. Yeah.

These women do not take backstage roles. They are receiving revelation and directing the course of the family. It's in the very end of section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants that we read that Sarah administered to her husband, administered. And I've just kind of gotten on to how much of the kind of an administrative role that all those women had in those generations, that the husbands needed them. We go clear back to Adam and Eve when Eve was called a help, meet for Adam. And these women needed help at a time where the husbands needed inspiration in their leadership. Let me just kind of, a big picture,

this is just getting us started, but just to kind of see this. Remember back in Genesis 21, God directed Abraham to hearken to Sarah's voice when it had to do with Isaac and Ishmael, turning them together. Hagar received the witness of an angel of the Lord concerning the important role of her unborn son. In Genesis 16, the Lord talked directly to her and sent her back. And as a result, both she and her son, when he's born, Ishmael received part of the covenant. And that's critical. God revealed to Rebecca, and we're going to see this in this time about before her children were born, that she was going

to have twins and that the younger one would serve, would be the leader. And despite all the tension between Leah and Rachel, it seems there's a moment that I just think is so powerful in Genesis 31, where Jacob is leaving. The Lord tells him he needs to leave that homeland of Leah and Rachel and leave their father Laban. And he brings those wives together and sits down and says, what shall I do? And they said, do what the Lord commanded you to do. It's a family decision. And Tamar saves Judah's bacon. I'm telling you. Chapter 38 of Genesis, we rarely talk about. Before the story of Tamar, Judah wants to kill his brother Joseph, sells him off to Egypt. I mean, he's a pretty rotten brother.

And after Tamar, he's willing to give his own life for his brother Benjamin. And the way to understand that, it's Tamar. And she saves Judah's lineage who was intent on having the Canaanites more influence in his life. And Tamar changes that. So I think it's, yeah, it's a fascinating thing to read her as being in the lineage of Jesus Christ. I love it. Right. In Matthew 1, right? Yeah. And then, you know, if you even go as far as Moses, Zipporah, again, this is Joseph Smith translation, but the Lord is ready to take Moses's life. That's not a part of the story that we often look at. But you're reading the Joseph Smith translation.

He wouldn't, for some reason, wouldn't circumcise his son. Zipporah finds the rock and she says, I'll do it. And it saves Moses's life. These stories collectively and individually show that we are stronger when we work together, men and women working together using the talents and inspiration that God gives each one of us. And that's what shapes Israel. That's what is the foundation for all of Israel in concert with their husbands divinely appointed assignments these women establish a people who would pledge allegiance to the God of Abraham in a very polytheistic world it's um it's wonderful and maybe I could do just one other

just to kind of just see this all of this this in perspective, it is section 132 at the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 37, talking about plural marriage. Specifically, we'll get into with Isaac and Rebecca, but I'm just going to read that verse. Abraham received concubines and they bore him children. And it was accounted unto him for righteousness because they were given unto him and he abode in my law. So right there, we're saying again from the Doctrine and Covenants, what the Lord told Joseph Smith, these multiple wives, this family situation, he's well aware of. As Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded. And because they did none other things than that which they were commanded. And because they did none other things than that which they were commanded,

they have entered into their exaltation according to the promises and sit upon thrones and are not angels, but are gods. That tells us very specifically the future of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But we know from both that section and section 131, exaltation is not given individually. Can't you read in that? This includes Hagar and Zilpah and Bilhah, and they are all in there. And I think that is something helpful to remember before we just want to throw some of them that we don't really agree with under the bus. But the Lord's going to exalt them. It's very powerful.

That's a big picture overview that we need to have. We need to be able to place now this little story in the big story. Yes. Yep. Where it belongs. Okay. Main characters. Isaac and Rebecca here. And what is interesting in this generation, of force. And that already sets us

off as just being this like, oh, wait, that's not the way it should be. But I don't know if there is a couple that represents what we should be. They have different talents. And so I found this talk given in October 1972 General Conference, Elder Theodore Tuttle. He took it from a verse in Genesis 26, speaking of Isaac called Altar, Tent, and Well, because that's what Isaac built an altar, and he called upon the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent and dug his well. He gives a perspective that I think that sometimes we can miss because Isaac is quieter. We don't see him so dynamic in these chapters. And this is what he said.

Altar, tent and well. Isaac did not become an Abraham or a Jacob. He did not reach the heights of Abraham, called the father of the faithful, nor is he as impressive as his son Israel, father of the 12 tribes. Yet Isaac is loved and revered. He worshiped God, cared for his home, and pursued his work. He is remembered simply as a man of peace. The eloquent simplicity of his life and his unique ability to lend importance to the commonplace made him great. Alter, tent, and well,

his worship, his home, his work, these basic things of life signified his relationship to God, his family, and his fellow men. Every person on earth is touched by these three. Kind of a nice way to think about Isaac too. You don't have to be the gregarious out there commanding in all things. There's a peacefulness about Isaac. And then by contrast, here we have Rebecca, her individuality and vitality among the covenant people is striking in these stories. And we see her using that individuality and her agency to make choices and free to decide how she

will act to fit her perception of what's best for her family. And so this dynamic is what we're going to run into. Should we start here at chapter 24? We start out, Abraham was old and well stricken in age. We get in the next chapter, chapter 25, verse 7 and 8, he dies. Sometimes I've wondered if chapter 25 is perhaps a little out of context, if his death could have happened before Rebecca ever joins the family. And I'll tell you why I might think that. But we don't see Abraham after Rebecca comes back. We don't see any connection there. But Abraham is old. Sarah has already died, right?

The chapter before in chapter 23, verses one and two, Sarah has died. And it seems like, yes, the Lord has blessed Abraham in all things, except he's seen the end of his life. Remember how old he was when Isaac was born? So it's not surprising that here he's thinking Isaac hasn't married and Abraham was promised the sea, the sands of the sea. And it's looking pretty single kernel of sand-ish right now. Not exactly a beach yet. He's anxious to make sure that next generation is taken care of.

And what was very common, arranged marriages in that day. He's in the land that God has given him as an inheritance. And he sends his servant back to where he came from to see if there's some covenant people up there. Or I should say, you know, believers that he could find, the servant could find a wife for Isaac. He doesn't want them to marry among the Canaanites that surround him. I've often thought, you know, Melchizedek was around not long ago, right? Not far that Abraham paid tithes to him, but it does appear from the Joseph Smith translation that he and his people have gone to meet the city of Enoch.

And so I thought that would have been convenient to find Isaac, a wife there among those people. But he sends him back to his own country. He has his servant make this oath with him. And you've seen this in verse two, I pray thee thy hand, put thy hand under my thigh, which is kind of a quirky kind of way of making an oath. Is this a Joseph Smith translation to a hand clasp? A covenant of some kind that way? Yeah.

I don't know. Yeah, I think it would make sense to us a hand clasp. That's how we would do it. But they might have had a way of doing this back then that was different. The idea is we don't need to get hung back then that was different. The idea is, we don't need to get hung up on that. It's the idea that they had an agreement. We think this could be Eleazar because that's the servant of Abraham's that he's so close to, but it never says his name specifically there. But I do always wonder if that's who it is. He trusts him and he sends him up with all these camels and a lot more men. But notice in verse five, the servant is concerned

saying, what if she won't come? I mean, you know, you think about this, this is going to a land and he'll be bringing a woman that'll never return to her homeland again. It is quite a remarkable marriage negotiation, perhaps different from some of the others because of the distance that's involved here and not knowing the family that this daughter is going to marry into except by reputation perhaps if they are really connected and so the servant is worried and verse 7 I love this Abraham says to him the Lord God of heaven which took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred and said to me, look at the end of that verse, unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. He's confident the Lord is going to do that. And then

verse eight, if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from my oath. Only bring not my son hither again. Don't take him up there. If she won't come, we got to pause there. He allows the woman to have a say in this. There's consent and agency. Yes, it's very important. And I think sometimes when we talk about patriarchal era, because this is a time where people lived in families, in family clans, and there's not a city government over them. It is family, patriarchal, that we think women had no say. And we see it in this story many times, the agency of Rebecca. Verse 10, they takes his 10 camels. And it says in verse 10, all the goods of his master were in his hands. Well, we know very well his master is exceptionally wealthy, right?

And we just think of the number of servants he has alone. But could this be perhaps a document that kind of outlines Abraham's assets. Yeah. All of that. And how impressive it is, because he's going to need to show that to the bride's family to show this family can take care of your daughter. I didn't have that when I got married. I didn't have a list of assets.

But I just show you my balance sheet. Yeah, yeah. If you want to go out with me or not. And yet that was part of the negotiation that a family would not put their daughter in a situation where she wasn't taken care of. And so there would have been gifts or a bride price that the servant would have taken up. I mean, 10 camels, what are you taking up there? There's some stuff that they're going to leave up there for the bride's family, because they're going to take her away. And she's very valuable. I mean, this tells you how valuable daughters were to her work, her contribution to

the family to the clan would be important. And this is compensation for that. So he goes up, it's up in Mesopotamia. This is like we see later in these chapters, Padam Aram. Aram is another name that we refer to as Syria. It could be as much as like 800, 900 miles. I mean, it's a distance and taking all of this stuff. So he gets up there and not surprising, end of verse 11, it's evening. And where does he know the women will be in the evening? Women draw the water. And morning and evening are the times you're going to need the water. And so he goes to the well and here's his prayer.

You know, first thing, the steps he takes, he knows he cannot succeed without the Lord. And the Lord is with him all the way here. Oh, Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day. Can you imagine the responsibility to find the right woman who is going to be the matriarch in this companionship to secure and guard and protect the covenant for the next generation. For millennia after, too. Yeah, yeah. I can say, Camille, I know a little bit of the pressure of finding a woman who can, who

would be willing to take on a huge project. But could you think of doing that for your son or for someone else? And for Abraham, you know what Abraham's been promised and you have to go, I can't get this wrong, Lord. You got to help me. And I think he's seen and watched Sarah and saying, we got to have someone that can be strong like Sarah. It reminds me a little bit of the brother of Jared, where he comes up with the plan and then said, hey, will this work? And this is the way the Lord asks us a lot of times, isn't it?

To suggest. So here's the servant's plan. I stand here by the well of water and the daughters of the men of the city come to draw water and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, let down my pitcher, I pray thee that I may drink. And she say, drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that has been appointed for my servant, Isaac. Because there's all these women. How do I know? Don't you love it? Verse 15, and it came to pass before he had done speaking. Oh, yeah. The Lord is fast. And suddenly, here comes Rebecca. We're told this, and we're even told her lineage. And see,

the servant doesn't know this yet, but it is so good. She's the daughter of Bethuel, who's the son of Milcah, who's the wife of Nahor, who's Abraham's brother. She's coming with her pitcher on her shoulder. Oh, this is just too good. And but all the servant sees is, oh, here's this damsel who's very fair to look upon. In some ways, I want to say at that age, young women all are beautiful. And when she is also God-fearing and honest and true, she is. You can almost see there's just kind of a glow about her. She's a virgin. Neither hath any man known her.

Go down to the footnote, known the like unto her. Oh, Joseph Smith translations, she just stands out. You can see a little light just kind of glowing around Rebecca. He notices her. And verse 17, he's not waiting around. Watch this. He ran to meet her. I love the verbs in this story. And he says, let me, I pray thee drink a little of thy pitcher. And she said, drink my Lord. And then how does she respond? She hasted. I mean, she's going fast and she gave him to drink. And then she says, almost before he can finish drinking, it seems like I'll give water to thy camels also until they have done drinking and

she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water and drew for all his camels i mean some have tried to figure out how many gallons of water should be drying for 10 camels and i don't know how far we go into this, but the idea is you can see she has energy. She's not afraid of work. There's a hospitality and service orientation about her. It's not like this is the first time she's ever done this. She knows what she's doing. I think she's got some serious muscle. She doesn't have to go to the gym. She's got it. She's there. And the man wondering at her held his peace. He's just in awe. Talk about easy.

The Lord's made this so easy. And so that fast in verse 22, as the camels had done drinking, the man took out this golden ring or earring. Just come over here. Let's see verse 47. We get a little bit more about that earring. I put the earring upon her face.

In the Hebrew, I love to point this out because it gets you right there. This is perhaps a different culture. This is clearly a nose ring that he gives her. She has it on her face, just a little ring that goes on the one nostril. And so I love the details. You start visualizing. And then he gives her these two bracelets. And these, the weight of this jewelry, it's heavy. This is serious gold here.

And two bracelets is a typical kind of a wedding gift or for a bridal gift because it represents man and woman creating a new family, the two bracelets. And so he's already moving on this. If you notice, he's starting giving away the presents, the gifts. And he asked, whose daughter art thou? Is there room in your house that I might be able to stay?

And then she tells him what we already know about her lineage. And tells also in verse 25, yep, we have plenty of room if you'd like to stay. You know, this servant is as God fearing as his master Abraham. As he finds that out, look, that immediately, verse 26, the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord.

And he says, blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who was not left destitute, my master of his mercy and his truth. I being in the way the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. Can I just do an insert just as I read that? I want to do shout out to Elder Uchtdorf's General Conference talk last October, October 2021. Especially with the footnotes, he starts out talking about the way. And if you follow those footnotes, it just hit me. Christ is the way. Think of what he taught in the New Testament. I am the way, the truth, and the life. It is his way. It is him. Lehi's path. Now, I just got thinking of this, that path leading to the tree of life. There's Christ at the tree of life. There's Christ with the fruit of the tree of life. But he's the path. He's the iron rod. He's the way. And so every time

now I run into where it says the way I put Christ in there. I got that from Elder Uchtdorf's general conference talk on the way. This is one of the reasons I love my last name. BTW, I do too. I was holding my scriptures once over my thumb, you know, the personalized and it was covering everything but the way. And I was like, oh, you know, my name tells me to be by the way. Jesus is the way. So I joke about it a lot, but I love that I have the way in my name. That is good. Camille, I feel like I've had these moments before where I am shocked at how things worked out.

Right. Just are you kidding? And I think you see that in these stories. And when you see these in these stories, it reminds you to look at your own life. And you see he has been there to show us the way as well. Yeah. He says, I stopped at a well and I found the right girl. And this is just amazing, right? I love those moments of amazement that things have worked out. And you know,

he knows immediately this is the Lord's doing. He's not taking credit at all. And look at verse 28. I think reading between the lines, does Rebecca, is she kind of cluing into this? Is she feeling, does she have any emotion about what's going on? And the damsel ran. Oh, she's fast. And told them of her mother's house, these things. I mean, I think she's excited. She has a clue of what's happening or she's got the jewelry and I think she's excited but the negotiations haven't happened and you ought to also pick up whose house is she running to her mother's house that is very unusual we know her father is Bethuel but but with one little side reference over here in verse 50 it's the only time we read of him there. I would like to suggest that Bethuel might have passed away already. Because all the negotiations, it's the mother and Rebecca's brother Laban. And it's her house. But it also then underscores her leadership. She is chief of the house. It hasn't fallen to Laban's house. It's not my brother's house. It's my mother's house.

And that tells us something else about this patriarchal era as well. How can we emphasize this more? He got this idea for this, I'll stop by the well and the right person will come out. Yeah, usually you don't tell the Lord what kind of sign to give you, but I love that he was so eager to get it right. There are times we say, I've got to get this right. And I've got to be able to know, can you help me? This is one way I could recognize it.

Of course, he doesn't have to do it that way. But oftentimes, he likes us to think it through and maybe come up with something, especially like in the decisions about marriage, that we have a feel that we connect with it. And it's not just saying, very coldly, there's a person, go marry that person. And no emotion in it at all. That we might say, if I can feel this, or if this can happen, there is just something that I think the Lord can bring it into a way that we could recognize and understand. And you don't get the idea that the Lord is upset that he's made this suggestion. Love verse 50, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. It's like, then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. It's like, then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. He's made it obvious. We don't want to get

in the way of the Lord's will here because he has made it clear. And that verse 50, I think that's an important, that tells you where this family of Bethuel is coming from. Are they believers? And that's critically important as well. this is not just because they've got the right lineage and they've got some wealth and they've raised their daughter up well to be a good hard worker and she's beautiful they're believers and she runs a lot yeah and she runs a lot let's not forget that she's one fit cookie yes the cross The cross country team of Syria there. Rebecca had a brother, verse 29, and his name was Laban. We're going to see Laban the next generation because he's going to have two daughters that come into this family as well.

Right. Same Laban. And Laban ran out unto the man. When he saw this, he can't wait for the servant to get there. He runs out to meet him. This is just too good. You know, he got a little hint of the wealth when he saw the jewelry on Rebecca. They bring him in. They're ready to feed him and, you know, wash his feet, all the hospitality. And look at the end of verse 33. The servant says says i will not eat until i have told you mine errand i mean he's got to say i don't want to mess this up let's me finish and make sure this is going to work i can't relax and have a dinner yet you have got to hear this yes it sounds like that too and

he just goes on you get the whole story again he tells it and i said yeah, I was promised an angel would be there. Verse 40, the Lord before whom I walk will send his angel before thee and prosper thy way. He quotes Abraham. That was an important part of what he was doing there. I want to just point out though, as we're going through this, he continually calls Abraham his master. Keep that in mind. So then, oh, they're just going, this is good. This is good. And before I had done speaking, he repeats that part again in verse 45. Oh, yeah. I mean, he's got the details. He was telling, this is his testimony. I know this is what's supposed to happen. He gives verse 48, I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham.

Rebecca's family is saying, yep, this is from the Lord. Again, verse 52, he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. Every step, he's remembering the Lord. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebecca. And he gave also unto her brother and her mother. Again, you see, it's the brother and the mother. The father isn't there, it doesn't seem. And then they're eating and drinking and it is so good. And end of verse 54, he says, okay, send me away. Let's go. Verse 55, her brother and her mother said, oh, can't she stick around 10 days?

Stay for just a little while longer. Yeah. I'm not ready for her to leave. That's us. Yeah. I have a daughter right now who's about ready to go to college and I can see that. Well, don't. Don't. Let's not let her.

Don't. Yeah. And the servant saying, hinder me not. Seeing the Lord has prospered my way. Let's don't mess this up. Let's don't get anything that could happen. Maybe another man could come into town and I don't know, whatever. But here's the solution.

Very first 57. Her family says, I love this. As a woman, I love this. We will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. What does she think? Let her make that decision. I think we've already seen Rebecca likes the idea. And verse 58, they called Rebecca and said unto her,

Wilt thou go with this man? Oh, this next words I've got so highlighted. She said, I will go. I can almost cry as I read that. My friends, my friends, my friends, I will go. I can almost cry as I read that. My friends, my friends, my friends, I will go. We sing songs, we've memorized scriptures about a young man, not much different from Rebecca's age that said, I will go and do the things which the Lord commanded. Nephi is a hero, but I think about what Rebecca is saying, I will go for. And she's not coming back.

It's not just a month trip back to get some plates. It's kind of dangerous. But it is giving her life in this family and trusting in the Lord. Okay, I'm changing the mood a little bit. I brought you a little surprise today, my friends, because I was working with young women a few years ago when they had the theme from first Nephi 3, I will go and do the things which Lord had commanded. I go, I got to teach these young women. There's a young woman who has that example of I will go. And so I took the liberty of writing my own lyrics to the song of Nephi's courage.

Okay, are you ready? I'm not going to sing it, but I'll give them to you. And Rebecca has three syllables and Nephi only has two. So you have to do a little, but you know, the Lord commanded Rebecca to marry Sarah's son son trusting in a servant who far away had come knowing should never again her home a spy rebecca was courageous this was her reply i will go i will do the things the lord commands i know the lord prepares a way he wants me to obey i'll go i will do the things the lord commands i know the lord prepares a way he wants me to obey. I'll go. I will do the things the Lord commands. I know the Lord prepares a way. He wants me to obey. So I didn't stop there. I did one from each of the books. So try this. An angel commanded Mary to mother God's own son. Mary had a question. How

could this be done? Trembling and fearful, she did not ask him why. Mary was courageous. This was her reply. She said, Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy will. But that is basically, I will go, I will do the things the Lord commands. I know the Lord prepares a way he wants me to obey. The Lord commanded Lehi to leave Jerusalem. Saria was obedient and gladly followed him. She began to murmur when she feared her sons were dead. Then she was courageous and voiced her faith instead. I will go, I will do the things the Lord commands. I know the Lord prepares a way. Then my last verse, the Lord commanded women to teach his word at home.

He gave to us his promise. We'll never be alone. At times we are discouraged and ask, why should I try? Then we turn courageous. And this is our reply. I will go. I will do the things the Lord command. We're all asked to do challenging things.

And these women can be our example. Remember General Relief Society President Mary Ellen Smoot back in the May 2000 Ensign. Her talk that she gave at the women's meeting just prior in April, she gave Rebecca as an example in this very setting. She was talking about telling us as women, do we ever say to ourselves, what will I create of my life, my time, my future? And the first thing she suggested, go where the Spirit directs, be still and listen. Your Heavenly Father will guide you as you draw near to Him. Immerse yourselves in the holy word of the prophets, both ancient and modern, and the spirit will speak to you. But her second point was, don't be

paralyzed from fear of making mistakes. Thrust your hands into the clay of your lives and begin. I love how Rebecca of old responded to Abraham's servant who came in search of a wife for Isaac. Her answer was simple and direct. I will go, she said. Rebecca could have refused. She could have told the servant to wait until she had a proper send off, a new wardrobe, until she'd lost a few pounds or until the weather was more promising. She could have said, what's wrong with Isaac

that he can't find a wife in all of Canaan? But she didn't. She acted and so should we. The time for procrastination is over. Begin. Don't be afraid. Do the best you can. Of course, you will make mistakes.

Everyone does. Learn from them and move forward. I like that little quote from Sister Smoot. That's wonderful. I could have waited until the weather was a little better. Let's give it a month. Yeah, lose a few pounds so I can look better in my wedding dress. Yes, okay.

She's leaving. This is sayonara. You can miss the emotion. Yes. If you're not careful. Yeah, it sounds like it's for a long time, right? They may never see her again. Yeah, and in fact, they not careful. Yeah, it sounds like it's for a long time, right? They may never see her again. Yeah.

And in fact, they don't. Yeah. Rebecca's going to send her son Jacob up there, but she doesn't go. A matter of, it sounds like 24 hour period almost. How long is this when the servant of Abraham shows up and she leaves? How much time is there? It seems like it's as short a period as you possibly can have to take care of his business. Wow.

Your life can change in a minute. There's a little bit of an Emma Smith feel to this, that she leaves Harmony and never sees her family again, right? This both feet in, full dedication to God's work. Yes. And it is, it's the women most frequently that are the ones asked to leave and they join the family of their husbands and we don't give them credit for that sacrifice often enough. I had a question about verse 61, Rebecca arose and her damsels. She took people with her? Yes.

In fact, up in verse 59, she got to take her nurse. And we're going to run into that nurse later. She's like taking care of Rachel when Rachel gives birth. I wonder if she's with all Jacob's wives as they give, you know, you wonder. So she might have gone back with him. I don't know, but we see Deborah. Her name is Deborah. We learn her name, the nurse's name. And so she probably brought, yeah, other people. She would have brought her dowry. She would have been sent

with a lot. Those 10 camels are probably going back laden again, coming back. Who is this speaking in verse 60? They blessed Rebecca. Is this the people she's leaving? Yes. This is her brother and her mother. Yes. And this is their, this is tender. It is. And it's, it's kind of like, this is their greatest gift. They can give that you be this mother of thousands of millions. That's a phrase you don't see very often. No. Millions. People would call that a curse too often today, but back then that was the best blessing ever.

They appreciated children. Elder Pace down at BYU, he said that they were in a beat up station wagon going to church with a sticker on the back that said families are forever and people didn't know if it was a boast or a complaint. As a father of a wonderful daughter, I find verse 60 kind of tender. It is.

Yeah. Saying goodbye. I have put the focus a lot here on Rebecca, but you're feeling it, the family behind. There goes my little girl. They love her and she has made contributions. You know how hard she works. They're going to miss her work. She's always running around. And she's doing good. It's an interesting thing that with Abraham willing to sacrifice Isaac that we've talked

about already, there's often the parallel between Isaac and Jesus Christ. Isaac is a type of Christ. And as Isaac marries Rebecca, we know the bride of the bridegroom is symbolically the church. So I've oftentimes considered also looking at Rebecca and her attributes and responses to a type of us as members of the church and how we respond to our Savior when He gives us direction. That running around has new meaning to me. Be quick, quick to respond. And running about doing good. Yes, yes. She's not hesitating. She's not hoping the command will change by the time she gets there. She's not hesitating. She's not hoping the command will change by the time she gets there. She's acting.

And I suppose we could say that her willingness to say, well, let me take care of your camels also was an insight into her character, her service orientation. I'll do that too. Take care of your camels. little hint about what kind of contribution she's going to make in the clan of Abraham, Isaac's now, which is where we're coming. Well, first, verse 62, we notice where Isaac is living. And you notice that well name, Lehehua. This is the one that Hagar named. This is the well where Hagar, when she ran off and she thought everyone had forgotten her, that the Lord sends an angel to speak and she names it, the God who sees me. That's what it is. Oh, and obviously the family has not forgotten. That place has become important to the entire family. And we'll see them a couple of times living there. Isaac is there meditating in the field. We always wonder what he's meditating about.

And he looks up and here come the camels. And Rebecca sees him afar off. And verse 65, she had said unto the servant, what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, notice the wording here. It is my master. Now, did you notice something? Who has been his master before this? And we don't hear about Abraham. So this is one of those that I have sometimes wondered if perhaps he could have died prior to this. Before Rebecca came back. While the servant was gone. And just kind of glancing while we're right there, just go right across the column where Abraham does die. End of verse 8.

This is good. This is chapter 25 now. End of verse 8. He dies. Old age is saying it lightly. And was gathered to his people. That's an interesting phrase. Does that suggest understanding of the spirit world?

And that you will be with family there. Gathered to his people. Reunited with his wife. Uh-huh. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. We can just glance by that, but I'm going to argue that Abraham never forgot or lost where Hagar and Ishmael ended up living. They were in contact. And they're here together. I'm going to stand up as Ishmael as a covenant son. He's not the leader of the covenant, but I'll get there.

He was circumcised. They went back and lived there with Abraham. And part of my reasoning, let's go back and just fill in where I just skipped. Chapter 25, verse 1. And again, chronology in section 132, it says Abraham married his wives and concubines, plural. She's called a wife. Abraham took a wife and her name was Keturah. Here's a third wife of Abraham. And she has six sons by Abraham. So his numbers are kind of growing faster and more than we sometimes remember. We go through the names of those sons and then grandsons,

and then you know there are daughters and granddaughters. But one of the sons that we really click into is fourth one, whose name is Midian. That becomes important, right? And why? Who's Midian? Jethro's father-in-law is a Midianite, right? He's a Midianite. And why is Jethro so important to Moses?

Not just because he's got a daughter, Zipporah, that Moses marries. But what does Jethro do for Moses? Does he ordain him? He ordains him to the Melchizedek priesthood. Yes. Yeah. And so what does that tell you about Midian? There was priesthood there. These are covenant sons.

It's not just Isaac. I think there's more happening here. And this covenant, they're blessed. Those other sons, he sends them off, but he gives them gifts. Verse six, the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, he gave them gifts and sent them off. What I understand about this, like sons of concubines, the law didn't require that, but he gets them something to really make a good life for them

and then sends them off so that they make their own clans. But they've taken priesthood, could I even suggest that? And knowledge of the covenant and knowledge of God and their worship. But he's, verse five, Abraham gave all he had unto Isaac. Isaac is the one who's going to succeed him in leadership and with birthright, with the bulk. This is his estate, so to speak. Please join us for part two of this podcast.