Rebekah Provides Water for Abraham’s Servant and His Camels
Genesis 24:15–20
15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
President Elaine L. Jack said:
“In the scriptures, we find many examples of women whose daily efforts reflected charity. With their hearts filled with the pure love of Christ, they responded to needs quickly and effectively.
“Rebekah, who eventually became the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau, was just such a woman. In the normal pattern of her daily tasks, she was kind to Abraham’s servant who was visiting her village on the dramatic mission to secure a wife for Isaac.
“The Lord knew Rebekah’s heart; He knew how she would respond when she observed a need. He answered the servant’s prayer that the young woman who was to become Isaac’s wife would offer him water.
“In Genesis we read, ‘Behold, Rebekah came out . . . with her pitcher upon her shoulder’ and went down to the well (Gen. 24:15). You know that story. The servant asked for a drink. Whole family trees hung in the balance of her answer.
“She said, ‘Drink, my lord,’ and then added, ‘I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
“‘And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels’ (Gen. 24:18–20).
“Her brother Laban invited him to lodge, and not until the servant was introduced did she discover he was the servant of her uncle. Her charitable response to this stranger was automatic. She did not stop to think, I am giving service, nor did she consider the station of the one in need. She hastened to serve water—to camels.
“Respectfully, she offered an act of service, a simple one, and from that act was born a family of great influence for whole dispensations. Rebekah loved with worthiness and willingness as a daughter of God. Remember the question, Who can gauge the reach of our goodness?
“From her we learn that charity, though often quantified as the action, is actually the state of the heart that prompts us to love one another. She offered water. It was in the offering that charity was manifest.”
(“Strengthened in Charity,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, 92.)
