The Sons of Isaac(13)
Early the next morning he sent for Keturah. Abraham thought that she might have some solution to the problem. Keturah wished she could say something that would relieve his anxiety.
“It’s difficult for the lad,” she said after reviewing the events of the visit to the palace. “There’s no one in our camp who would be really suitable for Isaac.”
“It’s all the more complicated than it may have seemed at first,” Abraham confided. “He says he has found the woman who can make him happy. Her name is Anatah.”
“I saw Anatah. She is a proud beauty with a saucy manner that could be quite flattering to any young man she was attracted to.”
Abraham groaned. “Where can we ever find a wife for him who is acceptable and who can make him forget someone like that?”
“He’ll want to go back,” she said, “and what will you say to that?”
“He must not go back. She has told him that since they have pledged themselves in front of the goddess, she will give herself to him even without her father’s permission.”
Keturah drew back and covered her mouth as though to stifle an expression of shocked disbelief. “In front of one of their images? He told you this?”
Abraham was silent. He felt embarrassment and shame that he hadn’t paid more attention to training his son in their beliefs. “It’s my fault. I assumed too much. He was the promised son. When I had to take him up on Moriah to sacrifice him, he trusted me and Elohim.”
“As I heard it from Sarah,” Keturah said, “he trusted you and you trusted Elohim. That is different. He loves you and will do anything you ask … but he knows very little of Elohim.”
“How can this be? All my life I have tried to do the will of Elohim. How can my son not know Him?”
* * *
Before the morning star blazed in the eastern sky, Abraham knew what he must do. First of all it was evident that he must send back to his own people in Haran to find a bride. A traveling merchant had brought word of Nahor’s family, saying, “By his wife, Milcah, he has eight sons and by his concubine, Reumah, he has four sons.” No mention was made of daughters, but undoubtedly there were girls in the family too.
It was true that many of his people still worshiped idols, but they did not engage in the hurtful, evil practices of the Canaanites or the Amorites. To indulge in human sacrifice or to offer young children to the fertility gods was not something his family had ever taken part in. Furthermore they were of the family of the old patriarch, Noah. They had descended from his son Shem, and it was Shem who had Noah’s special blessing.
No matter how hard it would be to carry out such a plan, it was the only choice he had. To give his son to one of those who did not have Noah’s blessing would be to somehow cheat him of what was due him. A blessing given by a man of God’s own choosing, such as Noah, was not lost or dissipated in one or two generations. It would carry down the years, bringing blessing to thousands of children yet unborn.
He wondered if he himself should go back to Haran to choose the bride. Then he thought better of it. He was no longer agile enough to travel so far. It would be better to send someone he could trust. Someone who knew just what was wanted and would be most sensitive to the bidding of Elohim. Immediately one man came to mind, Eleazar, his chief steward. He had never failed in any trust. He was also a man who listened to and knew the voice of Elohim and would not move without such guidance.
He had no doubt that Eleazar would agree to go, but far more difficult would be the persuasion of Isaac. He had trusted his father when they had climbed Mount Moriah, but would he trust his father and Elohim when it meant giving up the princess who had already captured his heart?
He hoped it wasn’t too late to find a bride for him who would blot out the memory of the princess of Gerar. This too he must put in the hands of Elohim. Only the creator God could know who was right for Isaac and lead them to her.
It was time to find such a bride.
After a sleepless night spent in prayer, Abraham walked out into the desert and sat down under an acacia tree to watch the sun come up. He felt as though a great burden had lifted. He didn’t know how it would happen, but he felt his prayers had been heard and an answer was on the way.
He walked back to camp with high expectations. As he neared the first tent, a young boy ran to meet him with the news that a messenger had come from the king of Gerar and that he was needed right away.
It was as the boy had said; the messenger carried a written parchment that was fastened with the king’s own seal. When Abraham arrived, the messenger stepped forward, broke the seal with a flourish, and read the formal message. To everyone’s surprise it announced the coming of the king’s steward. The king’s steward dealt only with the most serious business of the king’s realm and they wondered why he would be coming to visit them.