Rebecca (Rebekah) is the daughter of Bethuel, the well-loved wife of Isaac, mother of the twins Jacob and Esau, and the sister of Laban. The name Rebecca literally means to tie up, a noose, or frequently translated “secured”. While she displayed a gentle spirit in the early recordings in the Bible, there is much questionable behavior in the later recordings as you will see. She appears on the Biblical Timeline Chart between 1754-1704 BC.
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Rebecca Became Isaac’s Wife
In Genesis 24 you can read the story about the servant of Isaac being sent to find him a wife. He was led by God to Rebecca. The servant had asked the Lord to allow him to know the right girl for Isaac by allowing her to willingly provide him a drink and offer to water his camels as well. This was labor intensive work and any woman voluntarily doing it would have a spirit of servitude. The servant told the family how the Lord had led him to Rebecca to become his master’s wife. Bethuel and Laban both agreed that this was from God. The servant presented many gifts to Rebecca and her family and then escorted Rebecca back to Isaac where she was married. Rebecca married Isaac when he was forty. She was barren for the next twenty years approximately. In those days barrenness was looked upon with great disdain. Then Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife and she became pregnant according to Genesis 25:19-21, 26.
Rebecca Had Twins
After her twenty years of barrenness, Rebecca’s pregnancy was trying. Even while in the womb, these two boys jostled around much. This caused Rebecca to ask the Lord for an explanation as to why this was happening to her. In Genesis 25:23, “The Lord said to her, ‘Two Nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’” Rebecca and Isaac had twin boys Esau and Jacob, who would later be the fathers of two conflicting nations.
Rebecca’s Part in the Big Deception
When Rebecca’s husband Isaac neared the end of his life and he decided that it was time to pronounce the birthright blessing upon his eldest son, Rebecca overheard his intentions and took action. She encouraged Jacob to dress like his brother Esau and covered his hands and neck with goatskin so he would appear to be hairy like his brother. When Jacob hesitated because he feared a curse if his father found out, Rebecca invited the curse upon herself should this happen. Because Isaac’s eyes could no longer see well, the plan worked as Rebecca and Jacob had hoped. As parents Rebecca and Jacob showed great favoritism toward their sons. While there are not many other details regarding their parenting skills, they even continued that partiality when their children were grown adults. The details of this account can be found in Genesis chapter 27. After her significant part in the ploy against her husband and oldest son, Rebecca then encouraged her son Jacob to flee to her brother’s home to escape the anger of his brother Esau. Her husband also encouraged Jacob to do this. Rebecca died and was buried in a cave at Machpaleh at an undisclosed time according to Genesis 49:31. Remember at their birth the midwife foretold that the elder would serve the younger. Is this inspiration or deception?
Elsewhere in the World
During the time of Rebecca’s life on earth, the following events at various locations around the world are recorded: Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon. Emperor YU ruled China. Intermediate Kingdoms existed in Egypt Hittites take over the area now covered by Turkey.
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Waooow very inspirational The Lord is good all the time
Yeah, Rebecca, yeah.
These women are fascinating, thinking, women… trying to ‘help’ God… both Sarah and Rebekah… beautiful lessons… for our admonition and ensamples…
Huge impact…close call…key items ..Rebecca took judgement….goat skin…pointer to the cross
Rebecca deceived her husband and had her favorite son. As women of God we should do our best to never deceive our husband or favor one child more than the other.
As women of God, we must put our Trust in God and stop leaning on our own understanding. God will direct our path. Beautiful story of Rebecca. Thanks:
She was a deceiver, she was guilty of favoritism, she plotted against her eldest son… She is amongst the worst mothers, truly a detestable character inside a very bad story. It is almost as if this story was written to distance people from God.