"Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. – Genesis 24:6

Today's Scripture Reading (August 22, 2021): Genesis 24

We live in a mobile society. Some of us move farther and more often than most of our ancestors would have dreamed. But some still live out their entire lives within a few square miles from the place where they were born.

In High School, I spent some time working with a local veterinarian. It was quite an experience. When we were called out, I never knew when we would be back in town. One day, we left mid-afternoon, and that day's trip was to an area of the county that I didn't even know existed. It was like stepping back in time to the way things were long before I was born. The houses were scattered over the countryside, and most homes seemed to be in ill repair. Running water was a rarity, and outhouses were everywhere. Mechanical inventions seemed to be unknown. It was a disconcerting experience for someone who was essentially a city boy. I remember working that day far from modern conveniences and even delivering a calf in less than optimum circumstances. These people never ventured far from their homes and hadn't for generations.

In a culture where living their entire lives within a few kilometers from home, Abraham moved two thousand kilometers to the west. But he didn't want his son, Isaac, marrying one of the local girls. Abraham wanted to find a girl from home. Abraham was almost a hundred years old when Isaac was born, so as Isaac reaches a marriageable age, Abraham is not sure how much longer he has left on this earth. He is much too old to make the trip to the town of Nahor himself, and so he sends his servant instead. But Abraham also needs to make himself clear. By the time his servant returns, he might not be alive. So he leaves the instructions. "Do not take my son to Nahor. It would be better for Isaac to remain unmarried than to go back to Nahor." In Abraham's mind, God had promised that the land where Abraham lived would be given to his descendants. Abraham was afraid that if Isaac left, he might never return, and God's promise would be discarded onto a trash heap. So Isaac could not leave Canaan.

It is a drastic solution. But it is likely aimed more at the servant than Isaac. The servant needed to succeed in his quest and bring back someone for Isaac. All of Abraham's dreams for Isaac were now dependent on a servant and the task that Abraham was giving to him, and that Abraham needed him to complete, even if the completion didn't take place until after Abraham had passed away.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 25