Rebekah (44 page)

“I did love you. I do love you. I just didn’t see how much until now.” She pulled back from him, holding her breath, waiting. She searched his face.

He looked at her, and for a moment she thought he could see her. Perhaps he did, for a smile began that gently grew, encompassing her, drawing her in.

“I won’t let you go.” He pulled her close again, and she rested in his embrace. How good it felt, knowing she was loved.

They held each other in silence once more, their hearts beating as one.

“You were right about Jacob,” he said, surprising her. “God chose him to receive the blessing from the start.”

She stilled, the revelation settling over her. He believed her—that God had spoken to her. If only he had accepted this sooner . . . But she would not allow herself to finish the thought.

“I should have believed you from the beginning, beloved.”

“I should have trusted Adonai to show you in His good time.”

Silence moved between them once more, broken only by the sound of the birds and the whisper of God’s breath in the wind.

“We cannot live with regrets, beloved. What is past is gone.
Let us learn from our forefathers’ mistakes and not continue to repeat them.” He kissed her softly, and she knew he still tasted her tears. “We have the rest of our lives to make new ones.”

She laughed through her tears but quickly sobered at the guilt that still lingered within her. “But I have lost Esau in the process. He will never forgive me.”

“He will come around in time. He loves you more than he knows.”

She nodded though he could not see, comfortable in the silence, silence borne of a lifetime together, of knowing they were always meant to share their love.

“In the meantime, we have each other,” he said.

“Yes, we do.” She kissed his cheek.

And for now, that was enough.

Note from the Author

It is said that writing is hard work. A truer word could not have been spoken for me when it came to writing
Rebekah
. I stressed and prayed over every scene, certain I would never pull the story together.

At last that day came where the final scene trickled from my fingers to the page. I typed “The End” and breathed a sigh of relief. I had lived through this!

But through the relief, another thought quickly followed. I sensed God’s Spirit saying, “If I gave you the contract, I can give you the story.”

The words were humbling. I had been stressing rather than trusting.

Even in faith we can doubt. But I pray that I will not stress and doubt that way again. I do not claim my words are His, but He gives the grace to complete the work. I am in awe of a heavenly Father who used a difficult story to teach me much about Himself, about His character. May I never stop trusting Him.

I hope you have enjoyed reading Rebekah’s story. Please know that I have done my best to stay close to the story as
laid out in Scripture. Sometimes, where things like chronology were unclear and scholars more learned than I disagreed, I followed the path that made the most sense to me. One case in point is the placing of Keturah in Abraham’s life. The Bible does not tell us when he married her; it only says that he took her as a concubine and together they had six sons.

Some commentators suggest that Abraham married Keturah after Sarah’s death, which is possible. But it is equally possible that Abraham took her earlier. In Genesis 22, immediately after the binding of Isaac, the Bible says that Abraham stayed in Beersheba, but Sarah apparently lived in Hebron because Abraham went there to mourn for her when she died. So did they spend some years apart?

Some scholars suggest that Sarah died shortly after Isaac’s binding because of the shock of what Abraham nearly did to her son. How would she have felt upon hearing the news that her husband had offered her son on an altar? Appalled? Furious? Afraid? Shocked? It’s easy to imagine if we put ourselves in her place.

As for Rebekah and Isaac, this was a tale that was very hard to tell. The Bible gives us little to work with when compared to the great detail given to Abraham and Jacob. The story needed to have a relational rather than an action-oriented focus. In the end, I discovered a greater hero in Isaac than I expected. And in Rebekah, I saw the dangers of an overbearing mother/son relationship.

As always, any errors, as well as the fictional parts of this story where Scripture is silent or confusing, are my own. I hope you will turn to Genesis and read the story of the patriarchs in context. The truths hidden there are fascinating!

In His Grace,
Jill Eileen Smith

Acknowledgments

To the team at Revell—I am so grateful for each one of you! Special thanks there go to:

Lonnie Hull DuPont—I love working and laughing with you! I am honored to call you editor and friend.

Jessica English—I can’t imagine a better person to edit my work. You have a way of wording things that takes all the pain out of making changes!

Michele Misiak—I love your can-do attitude and laughing with you on the phone. Thanks for such great marketing advice.

Cheryl Van Andel—you wow me with your cover designs! Thank you for giving me a sneak peek at some of the behind-the-scenes choices! I LOVE this cover!

To my agent, Wendy Lawton—I am so blessed to know you and to work with you! Thank you for all you do!

To some special family and friends: Mom, Elaine, Jill Marie, Karen, Kathy K., Kathy K., Kathy R., Kathy F., Maureen, Robin, Joyce, Judy, Sue—thank you for being real and for our shared faith and friendship.

To my family: Randy, Jeff, Chris, and Ryan—life holds such joy and meaning because you’re in it. I could not have understood Rebekah’s story without knowing and loving you.

To the many family, friends, and influencers that for lack of space I did not name—please know you are thought of with gratitude and love.

Most of all, to
Yeshua HaMashiach
, Jesus, Messiah, my Deliverer, my Savior, the only true sacrifice for sin—thank You for doing what Isaac could not.

Thank You for loving me that much.

Jill Eileen Smith
is the author of
Sarai
, book 1 in the Wives of the Patriarchs series, and the bestselling Wives of King David series. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family—in person, over the webcam, or by hopping a plane to fly across the country. She can often be found reading, testing new recipes, grabbing lunch with friends, or snuggling one or both of her adorable cats. She lives with her family in southeast Michigan.

To learn more about Jill or for more information about her books, visit her website at
www.jilleileensmith.com
. You can also contact Jill at
[email protected]
. She loves hearing from her readers.

Books by Jill Eileen Smith

T
HE
W
IVES
OF
K
ING
D
AVID

Michal

Abigail

Bathsheba

W
IVES
OF
THE
P
ATRIARCHS

Sarai

Rebekah

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