A wife for Isaac
key words
biblical reference
Genesis 24
lesson objective
To help the children learn to trust in God when they need help.
memory verse
“And the people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and obey him’” (Joshua 24:24, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
Your children are increasingly independent and have the ability to do many things on their own. In their eagerness to become independent, they may turn their eyes away from authority figures. However, even in this stage of “I can do it myself,” they welcome the help of an adult if they have already tried to do something on their own and did not succeed.
They must understand that they can always turn to God when they need help. Also, they should know that you as an adult also depend on God’s help. He is much more than a father or a teacher, and is always willing to help us.
Through the story of Abraham’s servant Eliezer, teach your group to seek God’s help and guidance in their daily lives.
biblical commentary
Read Genesis 24:1-67. The story of the search for a wife for Isaac is the longest chapter of Genesis. This story marks an important transition, for from that point on; it was Isaac who continued God’s plans for his people.
God had fulfilled his promise with the birth of Isaac. However, for that promise to continue, Isaac needed a wife who believed in God. Abraham did not want his son to marry a Canaanite woman who followed pagan customs. Therefore, he commissioned his servant Eliezer, who took a solemn oath that he would go to Abraham’s land to seek a wife for Isaac. Abraham trusted that God, faithful to his promise, would give the best wife to his son.
Arranged weddings were a common tradition in biblical times. However, Eliezer prayed asking God to help him in the search, and God answered in an extraordinary way by sending Rebecca to the well.
Abraham believed in God and obeyed him, and taught Isaac to do the same. With Abraham’s example, the servant Eliezer also learned to worship and trust Almighty God.
introduce the lesson
A wedding!
Show your children pictures of different weddings. Ask them to describe what a wedding is like and what is done in it. Explain that in many places most people now choose for themselves whom they will marry, but this was not true in today’s story.
In the time of Abraham, the parents usually chose the people with whom their sons and daughters would marry. The father of the man spoke with the lady’s parents and they agreed. If everything was favorable, the parents of the bride received gifts from the parents of the groom.
In today’s story, we will see what happened when it came time to find a wife for Isaac.
teach the lesson
A wife for Isaac
Abraham was sitting under his tent. It had been many years since his son Isaac had been born, and Abraham was already very old and getting tired more and more.
His servant Eliezer took care of him and his belongings. Abraham loved him very much and trusted him as if he were his own son. One day Abraham said to him, “Eliezer, I want you to promise me that you’ll help me find a wife for Isaac. I do not want her to be a woman from this country. Go to my land and find a woman from my people.”
Eliezer promised Abraham that he would find the right woman for his son. So he began packing special gifts and some food. After putting everything on ten camels, he started the trip. The desert was a very hot place and Eliezer was worried, because he did not know where to find a good wife for Isaac.
After several days of travel, Eliezer arrived in Nahor. There he found a water well and prayed, “God, I beg you to help me find a wife for Isaac. I ask that the woman who comes to draw water from the well and share it with me and the camels will be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac.”
Before Eliezer finished praying, a beautiful young woman approached the well with a jar to carry water. When Eliezer saw that she had filled the jar with water, he asked for some, and she said, “Drink, sir. I will also get water for your camels to drink.”
God had answered Eliezer’s prayer, sending the woman he wanted for Isaac to the well!
Eliezer went to Rebekah’s house and spoke with her father and her brother Laban. He told them that Abraham had sent him to find a wife for his son Isaac. Then, he handed the gifts to Rebecca’s family.
They agreed to the wedding, and preparations began for the return trip. Rebecca said goodbye to her father, her brother Laban and her other relatives, and along with Eliezer, took the road to Canaan. Isaac and Rebecca soon got married. Eliezer knew that God had helped him find the ideal wife for his master’s son. God’s promise to Abraham would now continue through his son.
connect the lesson
Trust and obey
Hand out Student Activity Sheet #205-A. Instruct the children to join the points according to the numbering to find the figure of Eliezer. Then, give them time to color the drawing.
As they work, briefly review what they learned in the Bible story.
Psalm 32:8
Going to Student Activity Sheet #205-B, ask your children to complete the verse, adding the missing words to the blank lines. Then, read Psalm 32:8 as a group. If you wish, ask them to say their name before reading the verse. Tell them: “This verse is a promise from God. He wants us to trust and obey him always. God wants to instruct us to do the right thing, because he knows what is best for us. When we allow ourselves to be guided by God’s hand, we learn to obey Him and our life prospers.”
practice the memory verse
To review the memory verse, write the words of Joshua 24:24 on a piece of poster board or another board. Read it several times all together. Then, delete a word and read it again; cover/ erase a second word and so on, until the board is blank, and they can say the memory verse by memory.
wrap-up
Pray
Ask the children to tell their prayer needs. Pray, asking the Lord to take control of their lives and their decisions. Intercede for the sick and remember those who missed the session.
Encourage
Allow time for your children to pick up and organize the materials they used, and get their belongings. Sing a joyful song or chorus before saying goodbye.
Invite
Invite them to the next meeting to study the last lesson of this unit. Tell them to think of friends who could attend the lessons with them.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™