Genesis 24:1-67 | A Wife for Isaac

LESSON OVERVIEW FOR ADULTS

In Genesis 24:1–67, Abraham is nearing the end of his life and knows the legacy of faith must continue through his son Isaac. Rather than choosing from the local women who did not follow the Lord, Abraham sends his trusted servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac from among his own people. Through prayer and divine guidance, Rebekah is revealed as the one God has chosen. Her willing heart and her family’s faith pave the way for a union built on trust in God.

This story highlights the importance of shared faith in marriage. For young children, it lays the foundation for understanding that the people closest to us should help us love God more. Abraham’s commitment to God extended to his desire for Isaac to marry someone who shared that devotion. Children begin to grasp that who we choose to spend time with influences our walk with God.

OPENING ACTIVITY 6:00–6:15 | Camel Paper Bag Puppets

Items Needed

• Paper Bag
• Camel Template
• Brown Crayons
• Glue

Have each child color their camel template. Glue the pieces onto the paper bag. Use the puppet during the Bible Story. Let them know in our story today, we will learn about a lady at a well who gave water to a camel.

SONG 6:20–6:30

PRAYER 6:30–6:40

Sing: “Whisper a Prayer”

Form a prayer circle and pray:
“Dear God, thank You for helping Abraham find someone who loved You for Isaac. Help us choose friends who love You too. Amen.”

BIBLE STORY 6:40–6:50

Question 1: What book of the Bible is this story in? (Genesis)
Question 2: Is Genesis in the Old or New Testament? (Old Testament)

Story Text (Preschool Version):
Do you remember Abraham? He loved and followed God with all his heart. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and as Isaac grew into a man, Abraham wanted to help him find the right person to marry—someone who also loved and worshiped God.

But there was a problem. Abraham didn’t want Isaac to marry a woman from the land of Canaan, where people worshipped false gods. And he didn’t want Isaac to travel far away, either. So Abraham had a wise idea: he would send his most trusted servant to go back to his hometown and find a wife for Isaac from among his own family.

The servant was ready to obey, but he wasn’t sure how he would know which woman was the right one. He packed up ten camels and loaded them with beautiful gifts—jewelry, clothes, and treasures for the woman who would marry Isaac.

Then he began a long, dusty trip across the land. As he traveled, he prayed to God. “Lord, please help me find the woman You have chosen for Isaac.”

At last, he reached a town called Nahor, Abraham’s old home. Outside the town was a well, where the women came every day to get water. The servant had an idea! He said, “God, if a young woman comes and I ask her for a drink, let her give me a drink and then also offer to get water for all my camels. Then I will know that she is the one You have chosen for Isaac.”

Just then, a kind and beautiful young woman named Rebekah came to the well. She was carrying a jar on her shoulder. The servant asked, “Please, may I have a drink of water?”

Rebekah smiled and said, “Yes, of course!” Then she looked at the servant’s camels—ten thirsty animals!—and said, “I will get water for your camels, too.”

She worked hard, running back and forth from the well until every single camel had enough to drink.

The servant knew right away, this was the one! He took out two shiny gold bracelets and a golden nose ring and gave them to Rebekah. Then he asked, “Who is your father? And can we stay at your house tonight?”

Rebekah said, “My father is Bethuel, and we have room for you and your camels.” She ran home to tell her family what had happened.

At her house, the servant met Laban, Rebekah’s brother. He told the whole story of how he had prayed, how Rebekah had come, and how God had answered. When they heard it, Rebekah’s family was amazed. They said, “This is from the Lord!” They were so happy!

The next morning, the servant asked if Rebekah would go with him. Rebekah said, “Yes, I will go.” She was brave and trusted God.

Rebekah climbed on a camel and began the long trip back to Isaac.

Right away, Isaac and Rebekah got married, and the Bible says Isaac loved her very much.

Theological Questions:

1. Who helped the servant find the right wife? (God)
2. Why did Abraham want Isaac to marry someone who loved God? (So their family would keep loving God together)

Life Application Questions:

1. How did Rebekah show kindness? (She gave water to the camels)
2. Can you pray like the servant did? (Yes! God listens to our prayers)

Prayer:
“Thank You, God, for helping us make good choices. Help us be kind and love people who love You.”

Bible Story Game 6:50-7:00 | A Dress for Rebekah

Items Needed

• Rolls of Toilet Paper

Help Rebekah get ready for her wedding day by making her a wedding dress out of toilet paper.

Optional: Kids can be divided into two teams and given rolls of toilet paper. Kids will pick a “Rebekah” for each group and race to wrap her in her toilet paper wedding dress.

BIBLE CRAFT 7:00–7:10 | Bracelets for Rebekah

Items Needed

• Pipe Cleaners
• Gold and Silver Pony Beads

Children twist and decorate bracelets like the ones Rebekah received.

SNACK TIME & COLORING 7:10–7:25

Items Needed

• Coloring Page
• Crayons
• Snack

Children color a picture of Isaac and Rebekah while enjoying a snack.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (KJV) | Genesis 24:1-67

24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. ² He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. ³ I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, ⁴ but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”

⁶ “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. ⁷ “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring^[a] I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim^[b] and made his way to the town of Nahor. ¹¹ He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

¹² Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

¹⁷ The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. ²¹ Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka^[c] and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.^[d] 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

²⁶ Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, ²⁷ saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸ The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. ³¹ “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

³² So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. ³³ Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”

“Then tell us,” Laban said.

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. ³⁷ And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸ but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’

³⁹ “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’

⁴⁰ “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. ⁴¹ You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. ⁴³ See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’

“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, ⁴⁸ and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.

When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you^[e] may go.”

⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” ⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,” she said.

⁵⁹ So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you increase
    to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
    the cities of their enemies.”

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ He went out to the field one evening to meditate,^[f] and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

PARENT TAKE HOME SHEET

Today’s Key Takeaway: Marry someone who loves God

What I Learned Today:

• Abraham wanted Isaac to marry someone who loves God.
• Rebekah was kind and helped the servant.
• God helped them find each other because they trusted Him.

Questions to Ask Me:

Theological Questions:

1. Who helped the servant find Isaac a wife? (God)
2. Why did Abraham not want Isaac to marry a Canaanite? (They didn’t believe in God)
3. What did the servant pray for? (To find the right wife for Isaac)
4. How do we know Rebekah was the right choice? (She gave water to the camels)
5. Why is it good to marry someone who loves God? (So you can follow God together)

Life Application Questions:

1. How can you be kind like Rebekah? (Help others)
2. Can you talk to God when you need help? (Yes!)
3. Who in your life helps you follow God? (Parents, teachers, friends)
4. What do you do when someone asks for help? (Try to help them)
5. How does it feel when God answers a prayer? (Happy!)