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This week’s parasha is entitled Chayei Sarah, meaning “The Life of Sarah” and covers Genesis 23:1-25:18. In this parasha we see God’s plan to continue His promises through Abraham’s son Isaac, and a teaching for us on what it means to be servants of the Lord.

Our parasha opens with the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah at age 127. Abraham mourns her passing, and then negotiates with the Hittites who live near him the purchase of a cave and field to bury his wife. He purchases this cave from Ephron the Hittite.

Now Abraham was a wanderer in the land of Canaan and this cave would be the only land he owned. The Lord had promised him the entire land, but he would not see it accomplished in his lifetime. Yet, Abraham remained faithful that the Lord would fulfill His covenant with Abraham’s descendants.

In chapter 24 an elderly Abraham calls his oldest and most trusted servant Eliezer to his side and makes him swear an oath to find a wife for his son Isaac.

We find this oath in verses 2–9 where he makes Eliezer swear not to take Isaac out of the Land and not to find a wife among the Canaanites.

Abraham was a righteous and wise man, he knew that he needed a proper wife for Isaac to continue God’s promises of redemption for mankind. He knew not to go to the pagan Canaanites, and he knew that it was not Isaac’s place to go back to the land they had been called out of.

Abraham assured his servant that Adonai would be with him, and his servant swore the oath immediately, departing with 10 camels to the city of Nahor, where Abraham’s brother lived.

After arriving at the city’s well, Eliezer prayed to Adonai to reveal a wife for Isaac. His prayer was that the woman who would come and offer to draw water for him and his camels would be the one God had chosen for Isaac. This was a task that would require hours of work but would demonstrate true kindness and humility. Before Eliezer had even finished praying, the Torah records his prayer was answered.

Rebekah appeared and fulfilled his prayer perfectly, and he knew that she was the one chosen by God for Isaac.

He accompanied her to her father’s house and told them about Abraham, his oath, and how God had fulfilled his prayer. He then asked to take Rebekah back with him. Her family understood this was God’s will but left the decision up to Rebekah. In what took great faith, she agreed to go. After spending the night, he was immediately ready to depart, but Rebekah’s mother and brother wanted her to wait 10 days before leaving. Eliezer knew that this was the Lord’s will and urged them not to delay him.

We should remember this was a man Rebekah had met only yesterday, sent by an uncle she had never met, an uncle who years ago left her family to follow the voice of God and go where He would show him. Yet without any hesitation about leaving her homeland and family she again agreed to go, demonstrating the same kind of trust that Abraham had shown years earlier. The chapter concludes with Isaac falling in love with Rebekah and marrying her.

Eliezer, Abraham, and Rebekah are great examples for us today. First, in Eliezer we see a true servant of God. When he was commanded to do his master’s will, he immediately complied. At the right time he offered to God a righteous prayer which was then answered. At every point where he could have dragged his feet or given up, he kept moving forward. Eliezer demonstrates for us faith in action. We can learn from Eliezer that when the Lord calls us, we should be quick to respond. When obstacles or uncertainties cross our path, we should pray to the Lord to make His will known to us and then press on.

Second, Abraham was insistent that his son not marry a woman from the pagan Canaanites or go back to where they had been called from. Abraham trusted in Adonai’s covenant and knew that the Lord would once again provide for him. He exhibited that definition of faith we find in Hebrews 11 – being assured of things he hoped for, and confident of things he did not see. Abraham’s sincere faith comes from a right understanding of who Adonai is. Like Abraham, we should have faith in the Lord’s promises, made today through Messiah Yeshua.

Finally consider Rebekah, God’s chosen bride for Isaac. She is described with many positive qualities including beauty and a servant’s heart, but her greatest attribute was her faith in the Lord. Like Abraham, she left her family and her land to fulfill the calling of God. She was seeking out that better country described in Hebrews 11.

Like Abraham, she showed no hesitation in trusting in Adonai’s will, though she was not given all the details. Like Eliezer, she was quick to respond to God’s call, and stood up to her family to accompany him immediately back to Abraham’s land. Three very different people – and yet in one important way they are the same. They were willing to trust in Adonai and act through genuine faith.

The lessons of this parasha are very relevant for us today. We live in a day where it is very easy to ignore God’s will for our own. To defy His will for our lives or refuse to trust in His promises. To the world it is foolish to lean on anyone’s understanding but our own. But as Proverbs 3:5-6 teaches us, when we submit to His will, He leads us down better paths than we could possibly imagine.

Everyone in this parasha was blessed because of their faithfulness to the Lord’s will and not their own. How much more will we be blessed if we are willing to set aside our own sinful desires to follow the perfect will of Messiah Yeshua?

I pray that each of us have a genuine faith in the Lord. May we all be willing to follow His will over our own every day. May each of us fulfill the call of the Lord for our lives as good and faithful servants.