Wells, A Place to Meet

(Genesis 24:10-27; 29:1-11; Exodus 2:15-19; John 4)

After the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, he concentrated on the future of his son Isaac. He sent away his trusted servant, Eliezer of Damascus, who ruled over all that he had, to look for a wife for his son. He gave him specifics where to go to find him a wife. Eliezer in agreement, as was their custom, put his hand under the thigh of Abraham and swore to him concerning the matter (Gen. 24:9).  He departed with ten camels, some treasures and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor (Abraham’s brother) (Gen. 24:10).

Eliezer made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water and there he prayed: “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray You, cause me to meet with good success today and show kindness to my master Abraham.  See, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming to draw water.  And let it so be that the girls to whom I say, I pray you, let down your jar that I may drink, and she replies, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also – let her be the one whom You have selected and appointed and indicated for Your servant Isaac; and by it I shall know that You have shown kindness and faithfulness to my master” (Gen. 24:11-13).  One thing to note here is that Eliezer directed his prayer to Abraham’s God for the sake of His promise given to Abraham.  The success Eliezer was after had nothing to do with him. He was serving only as a middle man; he was very much out of the picture in God’s fulfilling His promise to Abraham.  In other words, with or without Eliezer, God was going to do what He had promised.  Eliezer needed a well, as it was the custom for a sojourner to wait at a well for a drink.  But he was waiting for the right woman to appear through whom God would answer his prayer.

Rebekah came into the picture and did according to Eliezer’s prayer.  Not only did she serve water to his men, but she volunteered to water the animals also. Rebekah was the perfect fit for all the requirements Abraham set before Eliezer: She was also Abraham’s brother descendant and she was willing to go along with Eliezer when she was asked if she were willing to go with him. (Gen. 24:4,8, 58).  So we see that Rebekah fulfilled all three requirements and confirmed that she was to be the bride of Isaac.  No doubt that the meeting at that particular well brought success to Eliezer in finding a wife for his master’s son, because he started his journey depending on God’s guidance to the right place at the right time.  His visit to the well was perfectly timed in God’s calendar and He blessed Isaac through Eliezer’s faithfulness.

Twenty years later God blessed Isaac and Rebekah with twin boys after Isaac prayed much to the Lord for a child.  Esau was the first born; he was red all over like a hairy garment.  His name means hairy.  Jacob came out grasping Esau’s heels.  His name means supplanter. Esau however, under the pressure of hunger, sold his birthright to his brother, who would not let him have some of his food, unless he sold his birthright to him.  So for a bowl of lentil soup he lost his birthright.  Jacob, in another occasion, by pretending to be Esau, stole his birthright and received Esau’s birthright’s blessings.  At the anger of his brother he was encouraged by his parents to flee to Haran, where his mother’s brother lived.  Isaac blessed him and sent him away.

Haran was a city in Mesopotamia, today part of Syria.  Jacob’s trip from Beersheba to Haran was approximately 450 miles.  In that long journey Jacob had a lot of time to ponder over his deceiving actions in relationship to his brother’s birthright, starting with the trade of his lentil soup, when his brother was very hungry.  The Bible registers that even when in the womb of their mother they struggled together.  Discomforted, Rebekah went to inquire of the Lord and He answered her saying, “Two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:22-23).

That was a long and lonely road for Jacob to travel.  But he too was going to find a well that would change the course of his life.  On his journey, the Lord God appeared to him several times assuring him of His blessings, for it was through him that God was going to fulfill the promise to Abraham.  “As he looked, he saw a well in the field and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well the flock were watered” (Gen. 29:2).  The refreshing time came to him when he saw Rachel, daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his uncle. . . He kissed Rachel and he wept aloud; he told Rachel he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son.  She ran and told her father.  Laban ran to meet Jacob, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house (Gen. 29:10,11-13). There was quite a celebration at that well!  The future sparked in their lives and God was pleased.  Jacob spent twenty years living with his uncle Laban in Syria.  All his sons were born in Syria, with the exception of Benjamin and daughter, Dinah.  From his sons the nation of Israel was born.

Moses, an adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, found himself running away for his life, after having killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers.  He fled from Pharaoh’s hand and found refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well (Exodus 2:15).  The Midianites descended from Midian, one of Abraham’s sons through his wife Keturah (Gen. 25: 1-2).  The distance between Egypt and Midian was about 200 miles.  The Midianites dwelt in the Sinai Peninsula (Exodus 3:1).  As Moses sat at the well waiting for someone to come, the seven daughters of Midian priest came to draw water for their father’s flock. Meanwhile the shepherds drove them away, but Moses noticing it, stood up to help them to water their flock (Exodus 2:15-17).  He was invited to eat bread with the family as a reward and was given the oldest daughter for a wife.  He remained in Midian forty years before the Lord called him out.  The well in Midian, served as a connection place for Moses.  He had been a fugitive and disconnected with his world, but through the well he became connected with a family, who blessed him with a family of his own.  God had never forgotten Moses; instead He was preparing him for a task he never expected.  Those forty years of his life in that desert were years of lessons how to be a leader in the school of life.