The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-03-22
fRY WILLIAM T. ELLIs.)

now building. has got all the way 10
Babylon, we may be sure tnat passe in
gers from Europe Will show more IN
terest in the stop at Haran and Re
bekah's Well, which is there. than IN
many of the ruined cities OF antquity
passed on the way. About Repekah ;
Well fingers the spirit of the eternal
romance. 1t has a touch of the hu-
man that means more to people than
the vast movements OF anclent EN-
pires. The guide-books Will give more
space to Rebekah's Well than to the
tomb of Sennacherib. For the beautl-
full idyl of Rebekah is dear to the
heart of all who read.
This twenty-fourth chapter OF Cen
esis which is one of the most 1ntrin-
sically beautiful and interesting stories
in the Bible, does not deal with fabie
or fiction. Every line of it attests It's
human reality. In some form or 9TH
err il is being lived over again in every
part of the world. Older than the
Well which the traveller through Meso-
potamia still may see. is the sentiment
which it represents; the quest OF
life for it's complement
Since the race began, Rebekahs
have been going to wells. ana ABOUT
the other humdrun daily tasks,
dreaming beautiful dreams OF a pos
sfble lover from out of the west. There
is a bit of moral in passing in the fact
that it was while about. her days du-
ties and not when arrayed IN festai
finerv or displaying company man
ners." that Rebekah commenced her-
self to the representative of Isaac;
seeking a wife. Nobody knows around
what corner fate awaits. At the most
unexpected time and place there may
be the meeting which determines all
of ones future.
How One Woman Got a Husband.
The best things in life come by IN
direction. The person who goes moon
ing through the days, longing for
lover, is likely to fail of the searcn
and to become pltlable- ana sliiS
ST
1ife's highway, busy about the usuaI
duties, taking time for the great
Dreams find that life's richest bless
ings are met by the way. NeI1H 11ea
happiness nor husbands come for the
seeking Rebekah, like uncounted
millions of young women before ana
since was doing her share of the ram
ilv work by filling the water jars at
the village well.
How many times l have seen the
young women of Mesopotamla' anu
other parts of the Near East, on TINS
daily pilgrimage to the we'll, chattlns
socially as they travelled, or as they
gathered waiting one another's turn:
1t is no light task, this carrying OF
a huge water jar on the head OF
shoulder. The eastern woman is tralh-
ed to bear burdens.
Rebekah went blithely of an even
ing to the well outside Haran- me
day did not seem different from otner
DAYS She little dreamed, when she
nut the empty water jar on her head, |
that destiny was sitting on the Well
curb waiting for her The Wayfafer |
who wanted drink was not dlffereht
from other travellers whom she had
often obligingly served she COM
mended herself to Ele1zer, VINO nau
been commissioned to find VINE TOT
Isaac. because of her quick helpful
mes and wholesome good nature. He
saw that this ready and efficient wo-
man was the verv wire lot ms liase0i'
Going Wife-Hunting.
Let us not cry shame upon isaac
that he did not do his own woo1ng |
Aside from the fact that he was not |
that sort of man, being of a temper |
that lets other people do for MN, II
was the usage of the land ana the |
time-a usage which still persists in |
the same region-for marriages TO De |
arranged by Intermediates. The |
'.shadchans'' of the East side of New |
York are still engaged in the same
business The wife for Isaac was OF |
his fathers providing. We may be
sure that he would accept whatever
was given to him, for he was mega |
tive character, whom somebody mas
called a "a valley between two nils,
a mere link between Abraham ana
Jacob.
When Abraham was dying he COM
missioned his servant to find wife !
of his own people for his son Isaac
The long years, and the wisdom that
comes from quiet communion with i
Cod had taught Abraham that wise
marriages are made within the faith /
and within ones own racial group.
He would not thwart the plans OF
God by mixing the blood of the chosen
people with the heather of Canaan.
That way always comes trouble The
persistence of the children OF Abra-
ham in pure Jewish strain through
out the centuries since is one of the |
marvels of time. The truth thus ear
ly taught by Abraham has been We'll
learned by his descendants.
Wife or a Mission? |
knowing somewhat of human ma
ture, and feminine nature at that, the
canny servant Eleizer raised ques-
ton with his dying master. What II
none of the daughters of Abraham's
kindred up in Mesopotamia should
be willing to make the long journey
south to the land of promise? Should
Isaac return to Mesopotamia? The
answer was clear; the family mission
came before the wife. Isaae's work
in the world was to carry out the
covenant of his father with Jehovah.
and to possess the land of promise.
If the wife would not share that lot
with him, then she should not be his
wife. The divine call and commits
sion take precedence of all human re-
1ationships.
The problem is an ever-recurring
one. What if a woman will not
marry a man because she has decid-
ed not to be minister's wife, or not
to go to the foreign mission field?
There is but one course open. 1t is
as clear as Scripture. She may stay
behind, but the man must go. No
woman is fit to be wife who will not
share her husbands life, going
wherever his call leads him.
In a remote village along the In
land Sea of Japan, l one time ran
across one of the common tragedies. |
The man was in the employ of a
great American corporation. He had
been promoted to a position of re-
sponsibility. His feet were on the
ladder and mounting upward. But
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