Waiting at the Well for Guidance

Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and GOD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to the senior servant of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the ETERNAL, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac.” And the servant said to him, “What if the woman does not consent to follow me to this land, shall I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham answered him, “On no account must you take my son back there! The ETERNAL, the God of heaven—who took me from my father’s house and from my native land, who promised me on oath, saying, ‘I will assign this land to your offspring’—will send an angel before you, and you will get a wife for my son from there. And if the woman does not consent to follow you, you shall then be clear of this oath to me; but do not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore to him as bidden. Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and set out, taking with him all the bounty of his master; and he made his way to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city, at evening time, the time when women come out to draw water. And he said, “O ETERNAL One, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my master Abraham: Here I stand by the spring as the daughters of the townspeople come out to draw water; let the maiden to whom I say, ‘Please, lower your jar that I may drink,’ and who replies, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’—let her be the one whom You have decreed for Your servant Isaac. Thereby shall I know that You have dealt graciously with my master.” He had scarcely finished speaking, when Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The maiden was very beautiful, a virgin whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. The servant ran toward her and said, “Please, let me sip a little water from your jar.” “Drink, my lord,” she said, and she quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and let him drink. When she had let him drink his fill, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they finish drinking.” Quickly emptying her jar into the trough, she ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. The man, meanwhile, stood gazing at her, silently wondering whether GOD had made his errand successful or not. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring weighing a half-shekel,. and two gold bands for her arms, ten shekels in weight. “Pray tell me,” he said, “whose daughter are you? Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” And she went on, “There is plenty of straw, shredded straw, which normally was mixed with feed; cf. v. 32. and feed at home, and also room to spend the night.” The man bowed low in homage to GOD and said, “Blessed be the ETERNAL, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld steadfast faithfulness from my master. For I have been guided on my errand by GOD, to the house of my master’s kin.” The maiden ran and told all this to her mother’s household. Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man at the spring— when he saw the nose-ring and the bands on his sister’s arms, and when he heard his sister Rebekah say, “Thus the man spoke to me.” He went up to the man, who was still standing beside the camels at the spring. “Come in, O blessed of GOD,” he said, “why do you remain outside, when I have made ready the house and a place for the camels?” So the man entered the house, and the camels were unloaded. The camels were given straw and feed, and water was brought to bathe his feet and those of his entourage. But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have told my tale.” He said, “Speak, then.” “I am Abraham’s servant,” he began. “GOD has greatly blessed my master, who has become rich—giving him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah, my master’s wife, bore my master a son in her old age, and he has assigned to him everything he owns. Now my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’ And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not follow me?’ He replied to me, ‘GOD, whose ways I have followed, will send an angel with you and make your errand successful; and you will get a wife for my son from my ki

Genesis 24:1-20 records the moment when a faithful steward, entrusted with his master's most important earthly concern, deliberately paused to seek divine guidance before acting. His prayer at the well becomes a template for discerning God's direction in the major decisions of life.