The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 12: Isaac and Rebekah (2024)

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

Today we read about story of Isaac and Rebekah's marriage and Fr. Mike reflects on God's constant providence in our lives, even when we don't see it. Today's readings are Genesis 24, Job 13-14, and Proverbs 2:16-19. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 12. Let's get started. Let's keep going.

Actually, man, oh man, this has been an incredible gift. I am reading today from Genesis chapter 24, just that one chapter from Genesis, and also from Job chapter 13 and 14. We're getting closer and closer to the middle of the book of Job, and that is going to be kind of a crux moment. We're also reading from Proverbs chapter 2, verses 16 through 19. I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version, the Catholic edition, and I'm using actually the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to follow along in your own Bible, whether it's the Great Adventure Bible or whatever Bible you have around, you can download your Bible in a Year reading plan by

visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Again, that's ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Again, that's ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also sign up. You can subscribe to this podcast. Just click that little subscribe button and you'll get an update every single day. You can also sign up for our email list by texting the word Catholic Bible to the number 33777. That's Catholic Bible to 33777. As I said, we are reading today from Genesis 24. We get to kind of follow new people. Abraham is still around, but Isaac is now around as well. And we get to see what his story is and how the

story unfolds that God had promised to bless the world through Abraham and his descendants. And so now we're going to meet some of the descendants. We go on to the story of the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis chapter 24. Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac. The servant said to him, perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land

from which you came? Abraham said to him, see to it that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth and who spoke to me and swore to me, your descendants, I will give this land. He will send his angel before you and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine. Only you must not take my son back there. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took 10 of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me success today, I beg you, and show mercy to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water

and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the maiden to whom I shall say, Please let down your jar that I may drink, and who shall say, Drink, and I will draw water for your camels, let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown mercy to my master. Before he had done speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar upon her shoulder. The maiden was very fair to look upon, a virgin whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her

and said, Please give me a little water to drink from your jar. She said, Drink, my lord. And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also until they have done drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw and drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not. When the camels had done drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half a shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels and said, Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's

house for us to lodge in? She said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. She added, we have both straw and food enough and room to lodge in. The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his mercy and his faithfulness towards my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsman. Then the maiden ran and told her mother's household about these things. Rebecca had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man to the spring. When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and when he heard the words of

Rebecca, his sister, thus the man spoke to me, He went to the man and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. He said, come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and that place for your camels. So the man came into the house and Laban ungirded the camels and gave him straw and food for the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, I will not eat until I have told my errand. He said, speak on. So he said, I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, men's servants and maid servants, camels and donkeys. And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has. My master made me swear, saying,

You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, but you shall go to my father's house and to my kindred and take a wife for my son. I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not follow me, but he said to me, The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with you and prosper your way. And you shall take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father's house. Then you will be free from my oath when you come to my kindred. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath. I came today to the spring and I said, Oh Lord, the God of my master Abraham,

if now you will prosper the way which I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the young woman who comes out to draw to whom I shall say, please give me a little water from your jar to drink. And who will say to me, drink, and I will draw for your camels also. Let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son. Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebecca came out with her water jar on her shoulder and she went down to the spring and drew. I said to her, please let me drink. She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, drink, and I will give your camels drink also. So I drank and she gave the camels drink also. Then I asked her, whose daughter are you? She said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, who Milcah bore to him.

So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me, and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered, The thing comes from the Lord. We cannot speak to you, bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her and go, and let her be the wife of

your master's son, as the Lord has spoken. When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord, and the servant brought forth jewelry of silver and of gold and raiment, and he gave them to Rebekah, and he also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, Send me back to my master. Her brother and her mother said, Let the maiden remain with us a while, at least ten days. After that she may go. But he said to them, Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way.

Let me go that I may go to my master. They said, We will call the maiden and ask her. And they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man? She said, I will go. So they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, Our sister, be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gait of those who hate them. Then Rebekah and her maids arose and rode upon the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way. Now Isaac had come from Beer-le-Hi-Roy and was dwelling in the Negev.

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening, and he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebecca lifted up her eyes. And when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel and said to the servant, who is the man yonder walking in the field to meet us? The servant said, it is my master. So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent and took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Job chapter 13 and 14. Behold, my eye has seen all this. My ear has heard and understood it. What you know, I also know. I'm not inferior to you, but I would speak to the Almighty and desire

to argue my case with God. As for you, you whitewash with lies. Worthless physicians are you all. Oh, that you would keep silent and it would be your wisdom. Hear now my reasoning and listen to the pleadings of my lips. Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him? Will you show partiality toward him? Will you plead the case for God? Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him as one deceives a man?

He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality. Will not his majesty terrify you and dread of him fall upon you? Your maxims are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay. Let me have silence and I will speak. Let come on me what may. I will take my flesh and my teeth and put my life in my hand. Behold, he will slay me. I have no hope, yet I will defend my ways to his face. This will be my salvation, that a godless man shall not come before him. Listen carefully to my words and let my declaration be in your ears. Behold, I have prepared my case. I know that I shall be vindicated. Who is there that will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die. Only two things grant to me. Then I will not hide myself from your face.

Withdraw your hand far from me and let not dread of you terrify me. Then call and I will answer. Or let me speak and do reply to me. How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy? Will you frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff? For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

You have put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths. You set a bound to the soles of my feet. Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a garment that is moth-eaten. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and withers. He flees like a shadow and continues not. And do you open your eyes upon such a one and bring him into judgment with you?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with you and you have appointed his bounds is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that cannot pass, look away from him and desist, that he may enjoy like a hireling his day. For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die

in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud, and put forth branches like a young plant. But man dies, and is laid low. Man breathes his last, and where is he? As water falls from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, so man lies down and rises not again, till the heavens are no more, he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. rises not again. Till the heavens are no more, he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol, and that you would conceal me until your wrath be passed, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me. If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait till my release should come. You would call,

and I would answer you. You would long for the work of your hands. For then you would number my steps. You would not keep watch over my sin. My transgression would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover over my iniquity. But the mountains fall and crumble away and the rock is removed from its place. The water wears away the stones. The torrents wash away the soil of the earth, and so you destroy the hope of man. You prevail forever against him, and he passes. You change his countenance and send him away. His sons come to honor, and he does not know it. They are brought low, and he perceives it not. He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself. Proverbs chapter 2 verses 16 through 19.

You will be saved from the loose woman, from the adventurous with her smooth words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house sinks down to death and her paths to the shades. None who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. God of heaven, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for sharing your heart with us through your scripture. And we ask that you please help us always to see with your eyes and to love always sharing your heart with us through your scripture. And we ask that you please help us always to see with your eyes and to love always with your heart. In Jesus' name we pray.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. You know, it's so interesting how powerfully we rely upon God's grace or how necessary our dependence is upon what God does in our lives. The story of the servant of Abraham finding Isaac, a bride, is all about God's providence. It's all about the depth of our need. I mean, imagine this servant who is going to a far off land where he knows literally nobody. And he has this prayer. The prayer is, but Lord, without you, I can't do anything, but without you, I I'm just wandering in the darkness. I'm wandering in a complete unknown. Everything, everything is simply just me on my own and me on my own is not enough. And yet God is present. You know, it's interesting because

one of the things we are confident about is when we can see God's providence working. So we have the story, right? In retrospect, we have the story of Isaac and Rebecca becoming husband and wife, and they're going to later on become, you know, the mother and father of Israel, of Jacob and Esau, of course. And in retrospect, we can see God's providence and how this worked. And, you know, the prayer of the servant was answered and it's clearly Rebecca is, you know, intended for Isaac and it seems so neat and seems so clear and we can praise God when we understand

and we can see his providence and get it because we see him being active. We know that he's there, but we have to understand that God's providence is always working even when we don't see it, even when we're unaware of it, even when we don't understand it, but God we're unaware of it, even when we don't understand it.

But God's providence is working in every single situation. The one thing about reading these stories of our forefathers, our ancestors in the faith, is it all seems so neat. It all seems so tidy. It seems so clean. And yet their lives on either sides of this day where Isaac and Rebecca meet was just like our lives, where they're walking in faith, where they're walking in trust, walking, not knowing, is this the right decision?

Is this the right direction? Am I doing the right thing? And yet God's providence is at work always. When we don't necessarily understand what he's doing in any given situation, to continue to give him praise then is the invitation. That is the challenge. That's what we're called to do this day and every day. Of course, our lives can often resemble the life of our friend Job, where he just keeps

coming back to the Lord and just speaking to the Lord from the heart and saying, God, I would get it. I would understand if I had done something wrong. That makes sense, but this doesn't make sense. It just seems like you don't care. Coming back to that refrain, God, do you not care? Are you fighting against me? Are you fighting for me are you fighting for me that's one of the reasons why it's so important for every one of us and every day to let our eyes our heart our attitude be shaped by scripture because we realize that it is one thing to praise god when we see his presence it's one thing to praise god when we understand his work his providence but it is another thing to say i am in the darkness i do not get this and yet you're another thing to say, I am in the darkness. I do not get this.

And yet you're calling me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. My brothers and sisters today, that's what God's calling. One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. Maybe today's a day where you can see his work. You can see his presence. You can understand his providence and give God glory for that. But maybe today's a day where you just have to keep walking forward in the darkness. And we never forget in the darkness what we knew was true in the light. We walk with Isaac and Rebecca. We walk with Job and we walk in faith. Please know, if we keep praying every single day, this community of people walking through the Bible together, this Bible in a year is going to be, it is an adventure,

it's going to be an incredible, maybe you would say great adventure, great adventure for all of us. If you're just joining us now, you can get updates by texting the word Catholic Bible to 33777. You can also download the Bible in a Year reading plan

if you go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Be sure to subscribe and please be sure to pray for each other. None of us can do this alone. We're on this journey. We've started. We have so far to go, but we are well on our way.

We have each other and we do have the grace of God, which we absolutely need right now and in every moment of our lives. My name is Father Mike, and I am praying for you. Please pray for me. See you tomorrow. God bless.