The Sons of Isaac(48)

She went over in her mind the names she had heard for this God of her husband. Isaac referred to Him as El Shaddai when he talked about His power and strength and El-Elyon, or the most high God, when explaining that He was above all angels and powers of the air. She had heard Him also called Jehovah-Jirah, the God who provides, and Elohim, the creator God. She must think first of all what name she would call Him if she was to do this unusual thing.

As the days passed she decided she would feel more comfortable talking to Him as Elohim, creator God. She had been reminded that He had made the flowers she loved and had caused the sheep to birth the little lambs. He had made the water that flowed by in the brook Besor and even the sun and the moon with all their beauty. All of nature began to take on a new aspect to her. She was coming to know the creator God by the beauty He had created, and she felt a growing wonder and love for Him she had not thought possible.

Finally on a day in early spring, while out looking for fresh herbs, she came upon a lovely sight. She had grown tired and wandered off from the others. She was about to sit on a projection of rock when she saw flashes of bright red on the northeastern slope of a rocky hillside. Upon investigation she found a cluster of tulips. They were a brilliant red and were known by the shepherds as bloody tulips.

Isaac had pointed out the plant when it was but a single thin waving leaf. “In three or four years,” he had said, “if conditions are favorable, the plant will put out three leaves. Soon after that a single spike will begin growing from the center, and in a very short while there will be the most beautiful red tulip.”

She had often seen the thin waving leaf but never the tulips Isaac had described to her. Now she knelt to see the lovely, delicate flowers more closely. She sat back on her heels and marveled. It was such a lovely sight. Several were open, but others were still closed. They were not to be picked, as they would soon die and the bright petals fall. She could hardly contain the wonder of the moment. It had taken these little plants three or four years to produce these bright beauties. How much like herself, she thought. This little plant had taken so long to come to this moment of fulfillment and it had been fashioned that way by Elohim. How very strange and wonderful.

Isaac had said his father often told him there was a pattern in nature. It was left up to man to learn the patterns and not waste time begging Elohim to change the pattern. This little flower would come in its season and not before. Isaac accepted this and was not bothered by periods of waiting that so disturbed her.

As she sat looking at the delicate red flowers, she understood that she too was being fruitful at the appointed time, when the conditions were right. A great joy filled her heart. She felt that Elohim had let her find the lovely bright flowers just to give her this message. “Then why,” she asked, “am I in this torment? Why, if this is Your plan, should I have no peace?”

She had not expected an answer, but to her surprise she heard a voice speaking to her. It was distinct and the message was concise. “Two nations are in your womb,” the voice said. “The one people will be stronger than the other, and the elder will serve the younger.”

The voice ceased but the words “the elder shall serve the younger” echoed in her mind over and over as she pondered what it might mean.

Slowly she got to her feet and hurried to find Deborah and her other maidens. She didn’t join in the happy banter and didn’t even ask what herbs they had found. She was totally preoccupied with what had happened to her and the message she had been given.

When she finally arrived at her tent, she entered the cool darkness and sank onto the cushions completely exhausted. Almost immediately, her small serving maid, Tesha, came, and she sent her to find Isaac. She could hardly wait to tell him all that had happened to her. Elohim had spoken just as Abraham had suggested, and the message was strange and wonderful.

She had expected Isaac to be as excited as she was, but to her chagrin, she found him paying very little attention to the message. Instead, he was mainly pleased that she was no longer anxious. “But what does it mean?” she asked. “The elder shall serve the younger?”

Isaac puzzled over it a moment. “Are you sure that is what you heard?” he asked hesitantly. “It doesn’t sound right. To have twins would be unusual, but it would be against all tradition and custom for the elder to serve the younger.”

Rebekah looked down at the cushion and fingered the fringe. “I was so sure … but …”

Isaac hugged her. “It’s going to be all right. Everything’s going to be all right,” he said. “Whether you have one child or two doesn’t matter; you are going to have a child and that is what is important.”