15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
Rebekah came to the wells daily; she drew water daily. And because she spent time at the wells daily, therefore, she could be found by Abraham’s servant and be united in marriage with Isaac.Do you think these are tales and that the Holy Spirit tells stories in the Scripture? This is instruction for souls and spiritual teaching which instructs and teaches you to come daily to the wells of the Scripture, to the waters of the Holy Spirit, and always to draw water and carry home a full vessel just as also holy Rebekah used to do. Otherwise he could not have been joined to so great a patriarch as Isaac, who “was born by promise.” It is only by drawing water and by drawing so much that she could give a drink not only to those who are at home but also to Abraham’s servant, and not only to the servant. She also had such an abundance of water that she drew from the wells that she could also water the camels “until,” the text says, “they stopped drinking.”2
All these things that are written are mysteries. Christ wishes to espouse you also to himself, for he speaks to you through the prophets, saying, “I will espouse you to me forever, and I will espouse you to me in faith and in mercy, and you shall know the Lord.” Because therefore he wishes to espouse you to himself, he dispatches that servant to you in advance. That servant is the prophetic word. Unless you have received it first, you cannot be married to Christ.
Know, however, that no one untrained and inexperienced receives the prophetic word, but he who knows how to draw water from the depth of the well, who knows how to draw in such quantity that it may be sufficient also for these who appear irrational and perverse, whom the camels represent. [So that person] may be able to say, “I am a debtor to the wise and to the unwise.” … So therefore Rebekah, which means “patience,” when she saw the servant and contemplated the prophetic word, “puts the water jar down” from her shoulder. For she puts down the exalted arrogance of Greek eloquence and, stooping down to the lowly and simple prophetic word, says, “Drink, and I will water your camels.”
But you say perhaps, if the servant represents the prophetic word, how is he given a drink by Rebekah, to whom he rather ought to give a drink?Consider therefore whether it may be as follows. Although, on the one hand, the Lord Jesus is “the bread of life,” and he himself feeds the hungry souls, on the other hand, he admits that he hungers when he says, “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat.” Again, on the one hand, although he is “the living water” and gives drink to all who thirst, on the other hand, he says to the Samaritan woman, “Give me to drink.” So also, although the prophetic word gives drink to the thirsting, it is nevertheless said to be given a drink by these when it receives the exercises and vigilances of the zealous. A soul such as this, then, which does all things patiently, which is so eager and is undergirded with so much learning, which has been accustomed to draw streams of knowledge from the depths, can be united in marriage with Christ.
Unless therefore you come daily to the wells, unless you daily draw water, not only will you not be able to give a drink to others, but also you yourself also will suffer “a thirst for the Word of God.” Hear also the Lord saying in the Gospels, “Let him who thirsts come and drink.” But, as I see it, “you neither hunger nor thirst after justice,” and how will you be able to say, “As the deer pants after the fountains of water, so my soul pants after you, O God. My soul has thirsted after the living God; when shall I come and appear before his presence”?
Now, dearly beloved, let us briefly see, as far as we can, what these facts mean. When blessed Abraham directed his servant to take a wife for his son, he portrayed an image of God the Father. Just as when he offered the boy as a burnt offering, he then presented an image of God the Father, so also his servant signified the words of prophecy. For this reason Abraham sent his servant into a distant land to take a wife for his son, because God the Father intended to send his prophetic word throughout the world to search for the Catholic church as a spouse for his only-begotten Son. Just as through Abraham’s servant a bride is brought for blessed Isaac, so by his prophetic word the church of the Gentiles is invited to Christ the true bridegroom from distant lands. But where is found that spouse who was to be joined to Christ? Where, unless near the water? It is true, dearly beloved: If the church had not come to the waters of baptism, it would not have been joined to Christ. For this reason Rebekah found Abraham’s servant at the well, and the church finds Christ at the sacrament of baptism.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 24:15
All these things that are written are mysteries. Christ wishes to espouse you also to himself, for he speaks to you through the prophets, saying, “I will espouse you to me forever, and I will espouse you to me in faith and in mercy, and you shall know the Lord.” Because therefore he wishes to espouse you to himself, he dispatches that servant to you in advance. That servant is the prophetic word. Unless you have received it first, you cannot be married to Christ.
Know, however, that no one untrained and inexperienced receives the prophetic word, but he who knows how to draw water from the depth of the well, who knows how to draw in such quantity that it may be sufficient also for these who appear irrational and perverse, whom the camels represent. [So that person] may be able to say, “I am a debtor to the wise and to the unwise.” … So therefore Rebekah, which means “patience,” when she saw the servant and contemplated the prophetic word, “puts the water jar down” from her shoulder. For she puts down the exalted arrogance of Greek eloquence and, stooping down to the lowly and simple prophetic word, says, “Drink, and I will water your camels.”