Rebekah and the Camels

“And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not” (Genesis 24:17-21).

When Abraham was old, he called his servant Eliezer and sent him to find a wife for Isaac. The servant prayed for God to send his master’s son a wife who was willing to serve others. He did not pray for her to be beautiful, though it turns out that she was. Instead, he asked God to send a woman who was happy to work hard to water his ten camels.

It was late in the afternoon when the Eliezer asked her for a drink of water. Rebekah did not hesitate in giving him a drink, and drew water for his camels as well. Many wells in the Middle East are deep, with a bucket on a line. Others have a rope to which your pitcher can be attached. She would have had to drop the bucket or pitcher many times and pull it up while Eliezer and his camels watched and waited. An average camel can drink between 20 to 40 gallons in one sitting, so she had her work cut out for her. She would have had to pull up between 1,600 and 3,200 pounds of water, one pitcher at a time. Nevertheless, she drew water for all of the ten camels, and was no doubt exhausted with aching back muscles when Eliezer revealed who he was, and who he worked for.

Rebekah could have politely told the rich stranger to draw his own water, or to only give him water but not his camels. However, due to her servant’s heart, she was showered with jewels and soon riding one of those very camels in honor back to the holy land. She married Isaac, and became one of the revered matriarchs of the Israelites.

This story teaches us to always ask God for guidance when faced with a difficult task. Eliezer knew that he needed God’s help to choose the right wife for Isaac. He was in an unfamiliar land, so he relied wholly on the God of Abraham to lead him. The story also teaches us that our greatest opportunity may show up in our lives unexpectedly, and disguised as tiring, menial work. What was probably an otherwise normal day changed her destiny at nightfall because she was willing to draw water for a thirsty man and his ten camels.

Rock well in the mountains near Jerusalem. Beside it is the stone trough that the local shepherds still use to water their flocks. Even though it has a rusty iron lid now, in ancient times it would have been covered by a rock. Photo by John Buckner