Quote:
Originally Posted by testallthings
In Matt. 1:2 it says that, " Abraham begot Isaac..... " The footnotes 1/4 indicates that Isaac was a type of Christ because he was obedient to his father even unto death and then "he took Rebekah, a Gentile woman, as his wife (Gen. 2:61-67)."
I agree on the first point. Regarding the second point, Was Rebekah a Gentile? Wasn't she the daughter of one of Isaac cousins?
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Getting back to this footnote about Rebekah being a Gentile, it appears that this is just another of Lee's "overlays."
The word "Gentile" comes from the Greek word "ἔθνος," (Strong #1484) or in English "ethnos," where we get the word "ethnic." It refers to a "people, a nation, a multitude of people of the same nature." (Vine) The New Testament variously translates this as nations, heathen, or Gentiles. Interestingly, when the Pharisees accused Jesus before Pilate, they said He "perverted our
nation," (Luke 23.2) using this same word to refer to Israel that is derogatorily used by them to describe all "heathen," especially Romans.
My complaint here is two-fold. Neither Jesus nor Isaac married "Gentiles." The Bible never says this. Jesus marries the believers, redeemed by the Lamb, who have made themselves ready. (Rev 19.7-9) They will be "
like Him" (I John 3.1-3) in contrast to the "world" which will "
not know Him" at all. Concerning Rebekah, we have already noted that she was not a foreigner to Isaac, but a relative of his, even his own cousin. Jacob, his son, likewise, did not take a wife from Caanan, as he also married his 2nd cousins. Esau, on the other hand, took a wife from among the "Gentile" locals.
I would guess that Lee drew from Brethren authors here who loved to draw comparisons such as this, whether accurate or not.