Rebekah was given to Isaac and became one flesh with him (cf. Gen. 2:24). Thus, Isaac was comforted (Gen. 24:67), and Rebekah enjoyed all the riches that Isaac inherited from his father (Gen. 25:5). This signifies that the church is given to Christ and becomes one with Christ to be His counterpart, bringing satisfaction to Him and enjoying all the riches that He has inherited from God the Father (John 16:15).
Rebekah gave birth to twins. The older one, Esau, was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, and the younger one, Jacob, was a quiet man who dwelt in tents (Gen. 25:27, lit.). Rebekah’s love was partial toward Jacob (Gen. 25:28). Thus, when Isaac was about to bless the firstborn son, she taught Jacob how to cheat his father (Gen. 27:1-17) in order to obtain the blessing. This sowed the seed of hatred between Jacob and his brother, Esau. Eventually, Rebekah had no alternative but to send away the son whom she loved in partiality, that he might flee to her brother’s place (Gen. 27:41-45). For this she found an excuse and manipulated her husband, asking him to send Jacob to the place where she came from, that he might take a woman for his wife (Gen. 27:46—28:2). She probably never saw her beloved son again for the remainder of her life. All these things constitute a negative model. This model shows that the sisters who are mothers should not have a partial love toward their children or teach them to cheat their fathers in order to obtain blessings, thus bringing discord to the family life. It shows also that sisters who are wives should not try to find an excuse to manipulate their husbands; such manipulating might cause the children to leave home and wander about.
Both Sarah and Rebekah came from the idolatrous land of Chaldea to the place of God’s promise. One became the mother-in-law and symbolizes the new covenant of grace; the other became the daughter-in-law and symbolizes the church of the New Testament. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and Hagar, Abraham’s concubine, symbolize two covenants. Hagar symbolizes the old covenant of law, which brings forth children unto slavery; Sarah symbolizes the new covenant of grace, which is free and which brings forth children of God that they might be His heirs. This woman, Sarah, as the wife, symbolizes the new covenant, the grace of the new covenant, the Jerusalem above, and our mother. These six items are all matters of the spiritual life relating to the union of the Triune God with man to produce the believers for the constituting of the church. Sarah is a positive, spiritual model in the matter of submitting to her husband, but she is a model on the negative side in the matter of proposing that her husband take Hagar as a concubine. Rebekah symbolizes the church, which is produced by grace. In her we can see that the church, which she symbolizes, has the following four characteristics: the church was chosen for Christ out of the fallen people through God the Father’s sending of the Holy Spirit to the place of fallen men; the church receives the Holy Spirit and the gift of life from the Holy Spirit and enjoys the riches of Christ; the church is willing to be separated from its relatives in the flesh and from the world; and the church is given to Christ to be His counterpart, bringing satisfaction to Him and enjoying all the riches that He has inherited from God the Father. In her partial love toward Jacob, in teaching him to cheat his father in order to obtain the blessing, and in finding an excuse to manipulate her husband, asking him to send Jacob to the place where she came from, Rebekah is a model on the negative side.