Love requires submission. We often say that we love the brothers and sisters in the church, our parents, or our spouses, but have you experienced love in its truest and most practical application — in submission? In Genesis 24, Abraham sent his eldest servant back to Abraham’s home country to find a wife for his son Isaac. In this “love story,” we can see such an example of submission. Not only was Eliezer, the trusted servant, a person who knew his master’s heart and who communicated with, prayed to, worshiped, and was led by Jehovah, but also Rebekah was a person whose submission makes her part of the fulfillment of God’s promises on the earth.
Through Eliezer’s prayer to the Lord, we can see that Rebekah — “the one whom You have appointed for Your servant, for Isaac” — was someone who satisfied the Lord’s interest in a particular way (Gen. 24:14). This way is love’s expression, love’s action, love’s strength — which is submission. Indeed, believers who read beyond the black and white will know that Rebekah’s submission is not that of a shallow or passive bystander. Practically, we see the way she chose to leave her family and homeland to give herself to Isaac (v. 58) and the way she humbled herself to honor him in his presence (v. 65). What’s even more essential however, is what happened to Rebekah within: she saw a testimony of this powerful, called life, and she, too, was called to be a participant in God’s plan. Such a one to whom the Lord appeared for His purpose could drop all she had without struggle to follow Him, without delay. Abraham was the first example of a called one who responded to God’s need, and he sought this same kind of person for Isaac: someone who would come out from her background to worship God and to fulfill a divine marriage.
In the foreground, we have the human love story of Isaac and Rebekah, but the all-encompassing backdrop is God’s eternal love, who — processing Himself, sending the Spirit, and preparing us to meet Him — is waiting for us as our Husband. When Eliezer came to Rebekah, it was just like when the Spirit came to us. And Rebekah’s spontaneous response is our experience, too. Our submitting to the Lord does not come by our own will or strength; it is the fitting response of one who has met the Spirit, who was captivated by a grand love, and who has been called out of our own life to follow after Him. What makes us, the Church, beautiful to Christ is that we have no struggle when the Spirit comes to us — we submit to follow Him (1 Pet. 3:3-5). How did Rebekah, John, or Peter follow the Lord? There is a powerful calling and a subjective submission to that calling, for none other than God’s economy, His eternal purpose. What a Savior!
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 7/14/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)