We meet Rebekah at a well, offering water to a stranger and then to his ten camels (Gen 24:14-20). That is a lot of water. She is quick, generous and strong. When asked if she will leave her family to marry a man she has never seen, she answers in three words.
Later, the same decisiveness goes sour. She knows God said the older son would serve the younger (Gen 25:23). When Isaac moves to bless Esau, she does not pray or wait. She plans a deception, and it costs her. Scripture never records her seeing Jacob again.
“
I will go.
Name means
Uncertain; often linked to a Hebrew root about tying or binding
Home
The city of Nahor in Mesopotamia, then the Negeb of Canaan ()
Role
Wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau
Read in
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Rebekah's story
The deception
Beginning
At the well
She gives a stranger water and draws for all his camels. Without knowing it, she is the answer to his prayer.
High point
“I will go.”
Asked if she will leave with Abraham's servant, she says yes. Her family blesses her and she sets out.
High point
Twins and an oracle
After twenty years of barrenness, Isaac prays and she conceives. Troubled by the struggle inside her, she asks the LORD, and he tells her the older will serve the younger.
Low point
The deception
She dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes and goat skins to fool blind Isaac. She tells Jacob, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice.”
Ending
Sending Jacob away
Esau plans to kill Jacob. She sends Jacob to her brother Laban for a while. Scripture does not record that she saw him again.
Starts as a generous girl at the well. Ends as a mother who secured the blessing and lost her son.
Where Rebekah lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Rebekah is wired
The Helper
Enneagram 2, Achiever wing
She wants to be needed and to secure good for the ones she loves.
Scripture doesn't give us much here, so treat this as a best guess.
At their best, toward 4 Under stress, toward 8
Why we think so
1
She serves without being asked. She offers to water ten camels for a stranger and runs to do it. ()
2
Her love is focused. Scripture says plainly that she loved Jacob. ()
3
She acts for her favorite. She carries the whole plan for Jacob, from the meal to the disguise. ()
The 3 wing shows in her drive to make things happen and her skill at managing outcomes. ()
The Individualist. At her best she is honest about her inner life before God. She asks, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” and goes to inquire of the LORD. ()
The Challenger. Under pressure her care turns controlling and forceful. She overrides Isaac and takes Jacob's curse on herself. ()
The case for 8
Her decisiveness, her command of the household and her readiness to take risks could suggest a Challenger. She tells Jacob, “only obey my voice” ().
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Genesis.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Warm, quick, and in charge.
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Rebekah
Generosity and hard work (). Courage to leave home (). She brought her trouble to God and asked him directly ().
Where Rebekah struggles
Favoritism toward Jacob (). Willingness to deceive her husband to get the right outcome (). Treating God's promise as something she had to secure.
What Rebekah wanted most
To see God's word about Jacob come true, and to protect the son she loved ().
God's choice of Jacob did not depend on Rebekah's scheme, and the gospel does not depend on ours.
God told Rebekah the older would serve the younger before the twins were born. Paul says this was so God's purpose of election might continue, “not because of works but because of him who calls” (). Rebekah's deception did not create the blessing and could not stop it. Grace came to Jacob, and comes to us, as a gift.
Questions to sit with
1
Rebekah believed God's word and still felt she had to make it happen. Where do you trust God's promise but not his methods?
2
Her quick “I will go” set her whole life in motion. What made that kind of yes possible for her?
Study Rebekah with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
