The Oak of Weeping

One of the great love stories of the Old Testament. Deborah, the lifelong friend and nurse to Rebekah, is the witness to the singular marriage of the beautiful and adventurous young Rebekah as she leaves her home only one day after learning that the Most High God, the God of Abraham her uncle, has chosen her to be the bride of her forty-year-old cousin Isaac. Isaac, a son of God's promise to be a father of nations by whom all men will be blessed, struggles to understand the faith of his father in a God who tested Abraham and Isaac to the point of offering the boy Isaac as a sacrifice to God. The Bible assures us that Isaac loved Rebekah and he is unique among the patriarchs, his eyes never wandered, he never took another wife or concubine. Their marriage faced many trials. Rebekah remained barren for twenty years before God fulfilled his promise to her of twin sons. It was a promise with a prophecy which she never forgot and one which put her at odds with Isaac in the ugly competition between Jacob and Esau. More than a helpmate, Rebekah completed Isaac, the two being one husband and wife as God intended in the Garden of Eden. Deborah was the lifelong servant, beloved friend and a constant reminder of God's love for Rebekah and Isaac as they lived lives that God called them to. The Bible tells little of the life of Deborah but how she was mourned tells us of the powerful impact that her remarkable love made upon the patriarchs. Her story is a lesson in our calling by God to first love God and then love our neighbor.