The servant recognized God's sovereign answer when Rebekah fulfilled the exact sign he had prayed for.
The servant asked that the woman who would say, "Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also," be the one appointed for Isaac. Rebekah came to the well, gave him water, and hastened to water his camels. This precise fulfillment showed him that God had led him to the right house.
Genesis 24:14 — This verse records the servant's prayer, asking for the specific sign that would identify Isaac's wife.
In Genesis 24, the servant of Abraham stopped at a well and prayed, asking the LORD to show kindness to his master. He then set a specific sign: the woman who responded to his request for water by also offering to water his camels would be the one appointed for Isaac (Genesis 24:14). The biblical account shows that Rebekah came out with her pitcher, gave him a drink, and then said, "I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking" (Genesis 24:19). She hastened to water all his camels, fulfilling the sign exactly.
Les Feldick describes the servant's request as a 'fleece' that he was putting out before the Lord. He emphasizes that the very first girl the servant encountered turned out to be the one, and that the servant was amazed at how perfectly everything fell into place (Clip 2). Les teaches that this was the sovereign working of God, not mere chance. He also stresses that Rebekah was willing, and God, in His foreknowledge, knew she would be willing (Clip 1).
The servant prayed that the damsel who would say, "Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also," would be the one appointed for Isaac. Les refers to this as the fleece the servant was putting out; when the right girl answered that way, the servant would know (Clip 0).
Les points out that the servant had no sooner asked God for the sign than the very first girl who came along was the one. He emphasizes that God had His hands on the whole situation and that everything kept falling into place (Clip 2). Yet Les also says Rebekah was willing, and God's foreknowledge saw that willingness (Clip 1).
The Servant's Prayer For a Sign
The servant asked God for a specific fleece: that the girl who offered him water and also offered to water his camels would be the one. He would know the right girl when the sign was fulfilled.
God's Sovereignty and Rebekah's Willingness
Les teaches that Rebekah's coming at the right time was the sovereign working of God, but she was also willing; God chose her because He knew she would be willing.
The First Girl Was the One
The servant had only just asked God for the sign when the very first girl he encountered fulfilled it exactly, showing that God had His hand on the whole situation.
The Birthright Explained: Why God Chose Jacob Over Esau
He takes Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian, and years go by, and the first thing you know, Rebekah conceives, and she's with child in verse 22, they're twins. And the children struggled together within her, and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord answered, Now mark this down, because I know that when we go on in our study, and w…
Jacob & Esau: The Sovereignty of God in the Birthright & Blessing | Genesis 25-27
So anyway, what Rebekah is doing here is taking that special designated cloak of Esau's, which showed that he was the eldest, and she puts it on the youngest. Now, do you see that? Again, in the energy of the flesh, but God doesn't stop it, because He had mandated in the beginning that this is the way it should be. And so we can't jump on Rebekah and Jacob too hard.
The Birthright Explained: Why God Chose Jacob Over Esau
Now it's time for Isaac to have a wife. He's 40 years old. But contrary to the behavior of Ishmael, who married Canaanite women, I imagine God laid it upon the heart of Abraham and Terah that Isaac has to have a wife from the place of their forebears, which was up in Syria.
The Birthright Explained: Why God Chose Jacob Over Esau
He begat Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian, of Padam Aram the sister to Laban the Syrian. Now for those of you who are not acquainted with all of this in the Old Testament, remember that when Abraham first left Ur of the Chaldees, he went up the Euphrates River near the headwaters in what is now more or less eastern Turkey or Syri…
Hagar, Ishmael & The Everlasting God: Genesis 21 Bible Study
A well. See the difference? And isn't that always the way? Oh, you know, we depend on the arm of the flesh, and that's all it is. It's just a little drop in the bucket that's soon gone. But oh, God has got wells of living water in every respect. Then verse 18. Arise, I'm sorry, 19.
Genesis 24:14: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
The servant's prayer reveals the exact sign that identified Rebekah.
Genesis 24:18: And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
Rebekah's immediate response fulfilled the first part of the sign.
Genesis 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 voluntary offer completed the sign the servant had prayed for.
He asked that the girl who offered him water and then offered to water his camels would be the one appointed for Isaac (Genesis 24:14).
The very first girl who came to the well met the conditions exactly. Les teaches this was not chance but God's sovereign working, confirmed by the perfect fulfillment of the sign (Clip 2).
Watch the Teaching: Is It Luck or God? Divine Sovereignty vs. Free Will