It wasn’t just about being chosen; it was about who he was. The text tells us, in Legends of the Jews, that all the blessings showered upon him weren't undeserved. He was “clean of hand, and pure of heart, one that did not lift up his soul unto vanity." A pretty high bar, wouldn't you say?
But it goes even deeper. He supposedly fulfilled all the commands that were revealed later – even Rabbinical injunctions! Can you imagine? The text specifically mentions the limits of a Sabbath day's journey. And what was his reward for this anticipatory obedience? God disclosed to him the new teachings He expounded daily in the heavenly academy! Talk about divine access!
Now, Abraham had it all, right? Blessings, divine connection, a son. But something was missing: a wife for Isaac. And this is where things get really interesting.
So, Abraham calls his old servant, Eliezer, to him. Now, Eliezer wasn’t just any servant. He resembled his master not only in appearance, but also spiritually. He possessed full power over the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, and was an adept in the law, just like Abraham. Imagine the trust Abraham must have had in this man!
Abraham tells Eliezer, "I am stricken in age, and I know not the day of my death. Therefore prepare thyself, and go unto my country, and to my kindred, and fetch hither a wife for my son." According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, this request stemmed from a resolution Abraham made right after the Akeidah, the binding (or sacrifice) of Isaac on Mount Moriah. He realized that had the sacrifice been completed, Isaac would have gone hence childless.
He was even considering choosing a wife for his son from among the daughters of his three friends, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, because he knew them to be pious. Bloodlines and aristocratic stock? Apparently, those weren’t Abraham's priorities. Piety was key.
But then, God intervenes! "Concern thyself not about a wife for Isaac," God says. "One has already been provided for him." And it was revealed to Abraham that Milcah, the wife of his brother Nahor, who had been childless until Isaac's birth, had then been remembered by God and made fruitful. She bore Bethuel, and he, at the time of Isaac's sacrifice, begot the daughter destined to be the wife of Isaac – Rebekah.
What a beautiful, intricate tapestry of divine planning and human action! The story reminds us that even in our most proactive moments, there's often a larger, unseen hand guiding events. And sometimes, the solutions we seek are already in motion, waiting for the perfect moment to be revealed. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, about the unseen forces at play in our own lives?