Preschool - Gifts for a Bride

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Gifts for a Bride

By Rev. Kurt Horigan Asplundh

Does your mother have a beautiful ring on her finger? She may have two on the same finger. Ask her to show you. Do you know where she got these rings? And when? Perhaps she will tell you.

The rings are precious gifts. One is usually called an “engagement ring.” She received this first, when she agreed to marry her husband. The other is her wedding ring or band. She received this at her wedding. The rings are precious, not only because they are made of gold and precious stones like diamonds or rubies, but especially because of what they mean. They are signs or tokens of her husband’s love for your mother. They are signs of their promise to be married and to live together as husband and wife. They make this promise to each other and to the Lord.

The tradition of giving gifts to a bride is very old. We even read about it in the Word. I will tell you one of these stories.

The story is about a young man named Isaac. Isaac was very special to his father and mother, Abraham and Sarah, because he was born when they were very old and was their only son. But Isaac was not married.

Abraham and Sarah lived in Canaan, surrounded by foreign countries, so they sent their faithful servant to the land where they came from to find a suitable wife for their son. Abraham said to his servant: “You shall go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

The servant carried precious gifts with him to give to the woman who would be Isaac’s wife. The gifts were packed on top of camels. The servant did not know how he would find a wife for Isaac, and he did not know if the woman he found would be willing to go back with him to live in Canaan. He had to trust that the Lord would lead him to the right person.

When he came to the country where Abraham used to live, the servant made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water. It was evening, the time of day when women came out of the city to pull water out of the well. In those days, they didn’t have taps to turn on to get water like we do. The servant prayed to the Lord to help find a wife for his master’s son. He asked the Lord for a sign. He said, “Let the woman be the one who will say, when I ask for a drink of water, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.’ ” This is how he would know the right woman for Isaac to marry.

Just then, Rebekah, a very beautiful young woman who was not yet married, came to the well to fill her pitcher. The servant ran to meet her and asked for a little water to drink. When she had given him a drink, Rebekah said, “I will draw water for your camels, also.” The man remained silent, amazed, realizing this was the lady whom the Lord had provided to marry Isaac.
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Rebekah would be a perfect wife, but the servant did not know if she or her family would agree to the marriage. Since Isaac was not there to speak for himself, the servant had been sent to speak for him and offer gifts for him. He quickly took a special gold ring and two gold bracelets out of the camel’s pack and gave them to her. Taking these, Rebekah ran to her house to tell her family what had happened. Then her brother ran back to the well to invite the servant to their house. The servant told the family of his journey and why his master, Abraham, had sent him. He explained how the Lord had shown him that Rebekah was the one in such a wonderful way. Then he asked if the family would let her marry Isaac.


“Yes,” they said. How could they say no? It was the Lord’s doing. “Here is Rebekah before you,” they said. “Take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.” Then they asked Rebekah herself, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”

The old servant, in his joy, bowed down to worship the Lord, thanking Him for the success of his journey. Then he brought out more gifts for Rebekah, signs of the promise that Isaac would marry her. He gave her jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. He also gave precious things to her family. The next day Rebekah and the servant began their journey back to Canaan.

After a long journey, the servant and Rebekah arrived at the tents of Abraham and Sarah in the evening. Isaac had gone out into the field. Looking up, he saw the camels coming. Then Rebekah saw Isaac in the field, walking to meet them. The servant told her that it was Isaac, the man she was to marry. Rebekah got down from her camel and covered herself with a veil, which was the custom of a bride in those days. Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent; he married her and she became his wife, and he loved her.

When you see the precious rings on your parents’ hands, think about the promise they made to each other and to the Lord.

This story is part of the Early Childhood Religion Program from the General Church Office of Education. For more information about this program, email oed@newchurch.org or call 267.502.4949. 
 

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