Isaac Walks in the Field as Rebekah Arrivesby KalebRosendahl

Genesis 24:63

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.

At eventide Isaac went out to meditate in the field while awaiting the messenger's return from Haran with his future wife, and lifting up his eyes he saw the camels coming bringing Rebekah. He had been attending the flocks in the country around Beersheba where Abraham dwelt and had returned to his father's tent to await that return. His meditation was prayer, and the fields at evening are thus a place for worship and fellowship with God, where Christ met and communed with him.

The verse belongs to the account of Isaac's marriage, which entrusts the choice of his wife to God's direction in order to preserve the worship of the true God. Isaac had been taught to obey God and was obedient and willing to trust God to direct him in choosing a wife. At forty he accepted and submitted to his God-fearing father's judgment and arrangement to have his father's servant choose a wife for him, believing God would direct the choice, rather than making the choice independently. His obedience followed a training that taught him to love obedience.

The meeting begun at the sight of the camels led to his marriage to Rebekah, which brought him lasting love and comfort after his mother's death. His course is a case set down for later generations to imitate. It teaches young people and children who profess to fear God to seek divine guidance and to have their affections and choice of a companion guided by and respectful of the judgment of God-fearing parents, rather than treating the choice as wholly beyond parental guidance.