As we study the virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31, lets look to Rebekah in the Bible and what makes her such a desirable wife for Isaac.
She set her eyes on God
Rebekah had her heart set on the Lord while the world (Canaanites) had their eyes set on their own gods.
In Genesis 24, we find Abraham is seeking a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham cares so much for his son that he put his faith in the Lord through one of his trusted servants to find Isaac a godly future wife. He was also very specific in that he did not want Isaac marrying a Canaanite. So much so, that he did not even send Isaac himself to do searching. He knew that men go by what they see and Isaac could have easily been tempted along the way.
2 Corinthians 6:14 tell us “be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (KJV)
Rebekah was in the place she needed to be because she was focused on the Lord. She did not allow herself to be carried away with the desires of the world around her.
She was kind
Rebekah, in the Bible, fulfills the Lord’s will through her kindness. She is a perfect example of Proverbs 31:20 “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hand to the needy”.
This servant, who remains unnamed but played a vital role prays to the “God of my master Abraham”. The servant prayed that the Lord show kindness unto Abraham and quickly send him Isaac’s wife. Having brought 10 camels with him, he sat by a well. He went at the time which he knew that the women went to draw water.
He said that when he asks a young lady to let down her pitcher so that he may drink, and she offers to also feed his camels, that will be the wife for Isaac. You’ll see why this is so important soon. The Lord sent Rebekah before the servant was even done speaking.
He asks her for water and she draws water for him to drink.
Gen 24:19 “And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.”
Her kindness was the key sign to the servant that she would be the one for Isaac. The emphasis the servant placed on a kind heart when searching for a wife is to be noted.
She kept herself
Genesis 24:16 says she “was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her”.
When it says that she was fair to look upon, it speaks of her physical beauty; her outward appearance. She was put together and attractive every time she left her home. Even if it was just to go grab some water from the well! C’mon, she was about to go do a workout and still maintained her beauty!
This truly stuck with me because I remember when I was growing up, my mother would always put on a full face of makeup and get dressed up just to go the grocery store! I always thought it to be a little much, but she, like Rebekah in the Bible, was always well kept.
Rebekah also kept her purity. She was a virgin and had not given herself away to any man. Whoever she married would know and could be confident in that she was fully committed and devoted to him and him alone since before she even knew him!
She was beautiful and pure.
She was a diligent and hard worker
Gen 24:19-20 “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.”
Rebekah gave him water until he was satisfied. And “she hasted” and “ran” back and forth from the well to the camel’s trough to give the camels to drink until they, too, were satisfied.
Now here is what stood out to me. Camel can drink up to 20 gallons of water at once and your average camel can drink 53 gallons of water in 3 minutes! Multiply that by his ten camels and Isaac’s future wife served the camels anywhere between 200- 530 gallons of water!!
Its no wonder she was running back and forth!
And it isn’t as though she would not have known what she signed up for. In todays terms, it is as though if you offered someone to fill their tank of gas, and also their 10 closest friend’s tanks as well. She knew the cost but her kind heart led her to do it anyway.
Proverbs 31:31 says “…let her own works praise her in the gates”. These works of unconditional kindness and love are the works that will praise her in the gates!
Rebekah’s faithfulness stunned
The next part of her story is equally as amazing as running back and forth to feed 10 camels.
Genesis 24:21 “And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not”. Even the servant stood there in amazement at her works.
In the original Hebrew text, the word wondering is used this first and only time in the entire Bible. It means to stun; be astonished; to gaze.
Just let that sink in. Not a single other person in the entirety of the Bible has left anyone stunned the way Rebekah did.
He stood there stunned by her kindness, her diligent work ethic, and her faithfulness to her word of feeding the camels. I can imagine the servant thinking of how faithful she would be to Isaac and her vow to him.
Would you do it?
If it were me, I cannot honestly say that I would have even offered to give the camels water! And if I did, I may have given up half way through, or complained about the heat, paused for water breaks, asked for help or all of the above!
I hardly enjoy one-tripping the groceries inside with my weak arm strength. Imagine fetching for all that water with one pitcher!
I’d say that was truly a one of a kind, proverbs 31 virtuous woman, whose price far surpassed rubies…way to set the bar Rebekah!
So look at the characteristics that made her such a desirable wife for Isaac. Notice that her attractive qualities were more like character traits embedded in her heart. The Rebekah in the Bible is nothing like most women today. We simply do not encourage one another to serve others so diligently anymore. And honestly, its about time that changes!
So I want to encourage you to lovingly go above and beyond for someone else today. Leave them wondering at the Lord’s loving kindness that radiates from you!
Resources
I highly recommend using blueletterbible.org for a more in depth Bible study. They even have an app!
I also recommend the Strong’s Concordance for Hebrew and Greek dictionary references.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See full disclosure here.
Zoe
Very inspirational that we can greatly improve our character in really simple (not always easy) ways that leave the most impact. Such a great person to focus on in very precise and to the point examples! Love this article!