“Is that all?” Rebekah asked.
“No,” Eleazar answered. “It seems you will pull every bit of the blessing out and examine it before you even meet your intended groom.”
“I must know it all. The good and the bad. Was there nothing bad predicted for them and their descendants?”
“Nothing bad but something even stranger. Something we have all pondered from time to time.”
“Tell me,” she said. “I must hear everything before we arrive.”
Eleazar looked around at them all, and when he spoke there was a break in his voice as though it were such a precious thing that merely speaking of it moved him deeply. “The angel said, ‘in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.’ His name had earlier even been changed from Abram to Abraham, father of a multitude.”
A great silence followed as everyone pondered the meaning of the angel’s words. Finally the handmaids rose and silently went about their work. Then Deborah followed them to make a last check of the tent and sleeping arrangements before retiring for the night. Only Rebekah remained by the fire. Eleazar, glancing at her, noticed tears in her eyes and knew she could not speak. “I understand,” he said at last. “You are the one who will bear the child who will fulfill all these promises made to Abraham. It’s not a simple thing to have been chosen for such a purpose.”
It was a long moment before Rebekah could speak. “I’m but a simple, ordinary maid, not one to be responsible for such glowing promises.”
For the first time Eleazar understood how overwhelming all of this must seem to her, and a great compassion filled his heart. Rebekah was so beautiful and had such a confident air, he had not thought of her as being overwhelmed by any situation. Now he realized that she could be very vulnerable. “I rather think Elohim knew just exactly what He was doing when He chose you to be Isaac’s bride.”
“I … chosen?” she asked.
“Of course. Were you not the one who gave me drink and then also watered my camels?”
“That was but a simple thing.”
“Were you not the one who agreed to come with me on such short notice?”
“Yes … but …”
“That was the sign I asked for, so that I would know whom Elohim had chosen.”
Nothing more was said between the two, and after a while when the night breeze grew strong enough to make the fire flare up, the tents billow, and the tethers creak and groan, they each rose and went quietly to their own place for the night. Eleazar went quickly to sleep, but Rebekah lay awake long past the moonrise pondering all that she had heard.
* * *
When they reached Jericho, Eleazar told them it would be only a short time before they would arrive at their destination. He also told them he had made arrangements for them to visit the famous bath where Rebekah would be prepared and anointed for her wedding night. There were women who were clever at arranging the hair, decorating the fingernails with small flowers done in kohl, and rubbing fragrant spices into the skin. The perfumes were rare and costly, but Eleazar had a whole purse, which he gave to the attendant, admonishing her to spare no expense. “This is to be the bride of my master’s son and my master has ordered me to do this.”
While the women were involved in preparations for the meeting of Rebekah and Isaac, Eleazar took care of some of his own business. The most important bit of business was to find a lad who would carry a message to Abraham’s camp telling of their arrival. He could not tell the day, but he could report on where they were and when they would leave. This would give Abraham’s men some idea of what day they would arrive.
When it came time to leave Jericho, Eleazar came with the camels and his retainers to pick up the women. He could see that Rebekah was not only impressed with all that had been spent on her but was a bit frightened. He realized that she was just now beginning to face the reality of her situation. Undoubtedly she was fearful of meeting this stranger who was considerably older but was to be her husband. He tried to think of something that would reassure her, help her to understand that only happiness lay ahead for her in the camp of her uncle Abraham.
“You are indeed lovely,” he said.
“Will my husband be happy with me?” she asked.
Eleazar hesitated only a moment and then he said, “Isaac, as you know, means laughter, and he is one who makes it his business to be happy. He will indeed be pleased with you.”
But Rebekah couldn’t help but wonder.
Isaac had counted the days it would take for Eleazar to make the journey to Haran. He knew it was hazardous and long, taking about twenty-five to thirty days. He had estimated by the moon’s fullness and then its fading that enough days had passed for Eleazar to have arrived at his destination. Then when it occurred to him that he had no way of knowing how long it would be before he would start back, or if his trip had been successful, he stopped counting.