Ready, Set, Genesis!

[current book: Genesis]

Reading Genesis is such an adventure. Talk about some pretty major weirdness.

But also some pretty major beauty. I love, for example, the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24. Go read it if you haven't—it's gorgeous. And, as a friend of mine pointed out recently, it's filled with pictures of Christ.

Check this out:

1. An unnamed servant travels in the authority of his master Abraham to a far-off country seeking a bride for his master's son (Gen. 24:3-4).
2. The servant discovers Rebekah, a spotless virgin (Gen. 24:15-16).
3. Through prayer, the servant recognizes that Rebekah is God's chosen bride (Gen. 24:12-14).
4. He marks her with jewelry (Gen. 24:22).
5. He stays in her home (Gen. 24:23).
6. He testifies about his master Abraham and his master's son Isaac (Gen. 24:34-49).
7. Based solely on the servant's testimony, Rebekah leaves everything behind to love a man she has never met (Gen. 24:58).
8. The servant insists they depart immediately (Gen. 24:56).
9. Isaac receives Rebekah, loves her, and marries her (Gen. 24:67).

In the same way (!):

1. Just as the unnamed servant was sent by his master to a bride in a far-off country, so the Holy Spirit, who is the most "anonymous" member of the Godhead, has been sent by the Father into the world, to the Church (Rev. 4:6, Jn. 14:26).
2. Just as Rebekah was a virgin, so is the Church (thanks to the cross) a spotless bride (Eph. 5:25, 31-32).
3. Just as God chose Rebekah, so he chose the Church (Eph. 1:4, Rom. 8:29-30).
4. Just as the servant marked Rebekah with jewelry, so the Spirit is a deposit marking believers (Eph. 1:13).
5. Just as the servant stayed in Rebekah's house, so the Spirit dwells in believers (1 Cor. 6:19).
6. Just as the servant testified about Abraham and his son, so the Spirit testifies about God and his son (Jn. 16:33, 1 Cor. 2:10-12).
7. Just as Rebekah abandoned everything for a husband she had never met, so Peter says of the Church, "though you have not seen him, you love him" (1 Pt. 1:8).
8. Just as the servant that insisted Rebekah leave immediately, so the Spirit does not let believers tarry in the world: Christ is all or nothing (Mt. 13:44-45).
9. Just as Isaac took Rebekah in and loved her, so Christ has made the Church his everlasting bride (Rom. 8:38-39).

Isn't that wild??

On a side note, I really want to be like Isaac. As Rebekah approaches Isaac's tents for the first time, Isaac is out in a field "meditating." This is hearsay, but I heard once that while there is debate concerning the exact meaning of the Hebrew word here translated "meditating," many scholars believe that it implies prayer.

I love that. Isaac, lost in prayer, seeking God and not a spouse, chances to glance upward and sees his bride. May all God's blessings come like that.