“And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her:…”
Genesis 24:67 KJV
The most detailed account of the processes leading up to marriage in the Bible is found in Genesis 24. It narrates the sequence of how Rebecca came to be Isaac’s wife. There are 67 verses in there, one of the longest in the Bible, and not once was ‘Love’ mentioned before Isaac married Rebecca. Per this, could we go on to infer that ‘Love’ isn’t a requirement in choosing who you settle with? It certainly wasn’t for Rebecca and Isaac and their marriage didn’t fare too shabbily all things considered. They even have a nation named after their offspring. Not too shabbily at all.
Love did eventually make its way into the narration but notice when it came in the anchor scripture. It was after Rebecca became Isaac’s wife. Love may not have brought them together but it certainly was what kept them together. Love is not butterflies in your stomach. Love is not going on a spontaneous trip with her to Dubai or him flying halfway across the globe to surprise you. Love is much more than a feeling. Besides Love being a person (1 John 4:8); Love is also a duty; a responsibility to seek the wellbeing of someone other than yourself even when it costs you. Before Paul would tell husbands to love their wives, Isaac knew it. So in an era where polygamy was accepted, and where a man’s female slave was perceived as property and could produce children for him, Isaac stayed faithful to Rebecca. In the face of 20 years of barrenness, not once did the Bible record a discussion about a second wife or a concubine. That marriage could not fail because love fails not.
How is it that, we who claim to marry for love have a high divorce rate? Is it possible to then suggest that we really don’t know what love means? Because, how can the Bible tell us that love fails not and then we go on to have failed marriages with the one we claim to love? One of us is lying and it certainly isn’t the word of God! Love is not a fleeting emotion that vacillates based on changing circumstances. Up today, down tomorrow. No, that’s not love.
The Bible says these three remain: faith, hope and love. Love remains despite the situation. Love gives without expecting anything in return. It’s not transactional: do this and I’ll do that. It’s instructive that the commandment to love went to the husband and the example to follow in how to love was the standard Jesus showed. How did Jesus love? While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. There was no guarantee that we would accept Him as Saviour but He still gave up His life anyway. Suffice it to say, if he doesn’t know Christ (different from a church attendee mind you), you’ll be submitting to an onion basically.
It wasn’t love that brought Isaac and Rebecca together. There were other things in the preceding 66 verses of Genesis 24 that did (I wrote about some here). However, after they got married, Isaac’s foremost duty as a husband, was to love his wife and that was what kept their marriage because LOVE fails not; LOVE remains; and LOVE is the greatest!
JeruWrites 
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