Scripture Daily

Context No. 887 of 4322 · Tobit

Context · Reflection

Tobit 8:13-21: in context

13So the maidservant opened the door, and went in, and found them both sleeping, 14and came out, and told them that he was alive. 15Then Raguel blessed God, saying, “Blessed are you, O God, with all pure and holy blessing! Let your saints bless you, and all your creatures! Let all your angels and your elect bless you forever! 16Blessed are you, because you have made me glad; and it has not happened to me as I suspected; but you have dealt with us according to your great mercy. 17Blessed are you, because you have had mercy on two that were the only begotten children of their parents. Show them mercy, O Lord. Fulfill their life in health with gladness and mercy. 18He commanded his servants to fill the grave. 19He kept the wedding feast for them fourteen days. 20Before the days of the wedding feast were finished, Raguel sware to him, that he should not depart till the fourteen days of the wedding feast were fulfilled; 21and that then he should take half of his goods, and go in safety to his father; and the rest, said he, when my wife and I die.

This is the morning after in the book of Tobit. Sarah has lost seven previous husbands on their wedding nights to a demon, and her father Raguel, fearing an eighth death, has quietly dug a grave overnight so he can bury Tobias before word gets out. He sends a maid to check; she finds the couple alive and asleep. Raguel breaks into blessing: blessed are you, O God, you have dealt with us according to your great mercy, you have had mercy on two only children. He orders the grave filled in, and throws a fourteen-day wedding feast.

The detail that stays with you is the grave dug in the dark. Raguel so expected another death that he prepared the burial before he knew the outcome, hoping against his own preparations. His faith was real but braced for disaster; he blessed God, but he also dug the hole. And then the morning comes and the fear is undone, and the same man who dug a grave at night fills it in by day and blesses God for a mercy he did not dare assume. There is something deeply human here, the believer who prays and prepares for the worst in the same breath, and the God who turns out kinder than the fear. Notice too that Raguel's joy is not I was worrying for nothing but blessed are you, you have dealt with us according to your mercy. He gives the good outcome back to God as gift, not luck. The grave he dug in fear he fills in with thanksgiving.

What grave am I quietly digging in the dark right now, braced for the worst, and can I trust God with the outcome before I know it?

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