In this Sunday school lesson, we investigate the account of Abraham’s servant acquiring Rebekah as a wife for Isaac in Genesis 24. As we observe, interpret, and apply this passage, we specifically consider how God demonstrated covenant kindness to Abraham and what that covenant kindness means for believers today.
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today but if you’re new this is our three-year Chronological Study Through the Bible from Answers in Genesis the goal of this study is to learn or multiple goals goals are to learn what the Bible says to become confident in defending what the Bible says and believing what the Bible says and then applying what the Bible says into our lives so that we are changed remember the Bible is designed to change us we’re called to become Sanctified become holy to become set apart and how does God do that he uses the scriptures and he uses his holy spirit giving us understanding of the scriptures to make us set apart to change us to remind you of where we’ve been so far in our study in the first quarter our theme was we can trust the Bible the Bible is God breathed it’s true it’s sufficient it’s always relevant we can and we must use it as our set of glasses for assessing all data and Truth claims that we encounter in the world furthermore the Bible gives us a clear outline of History which we divided into our seven C’s of History let’s see if we can remember those C’s what was the first creation and when did that take place yeah in the beginning but what BC do we estimate of four thousand four or four thousand BC and then what came next and what date corruption also around 4000 BC then the third C catastrophe that’s right the flood and what date was that no not four thousand no a little bit after three thousand yeah very good 2350 BC so about 1650 years after creation God judges the will with a flood soon after catastrophe we have our fourth C which was confusion confusion and that takes place around close not 21.50 21.75 closer 22 40 22 40. so about 110 years after the flood and then these are the C’s that we have talked about but there are three C’s we haven’t gotten to yet what’s the fifth C Christ right so we we move very move a long way forward and that would be around 3 BC and then Christ’s work on the cross is our sixth C and then what’s our last C the consummation which refers to a number of future events Christ um returned he’s setting up to the millennial Kingdom the final Rebellion final judgment all of those things those are our Seven Seas of History we saw that in the first quarter we also saw in the first quarter proper way to study the Bible which we broke down into three steps what are those steps yeah Craig yeah very good what does it say what does it mean and how do we do it or to say it another way observe interpret apply and just to fill that out one little bit step more observe means to notice the various details of the passage and then of the context to interpret means to collect those observations into conclusions and then apply translate your conclusions into changes in your own life you’re asking how does it work because it does work by the Bible’s showing you how it works you just have to see how it works in your life how it’s supposed to be applied in your life and we’re going to be practicing that of course moving forward that was all first quarter in the second quarter we saw that God is Creator and Redeemer we can trust the creation account given to us in Genesis as true as straightforward and as historical narrative even at the beginning of time also we saw after the fall God’s gospel was on display the sinning pair were promised that one would come from the woman’s seed who would crush their enemy The Serpent and that seed would only receive a temporary wound from The Serpent and this is of course the first foreshadowing of whom this is Christ this is the Messiah the promised one so we focused on Creation in the second quarter and in the third quarter our theme was God is faithful God was faithful to his good character to judge sin by sending a worldwide devastating flood God was faithful to honor his Covenant After the flood when he promised never to send a similar flood to judge the Earth and to preserve the Earth’s Cycles despite man’s continual wickedness God also chose to make a unilateral Covenant with Abraham it was undeserving just just a man a wicked man like all the rest but God called him out God made a covenant with him this Covenant also is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ because through Abraham Abraham has promised that through his seed all the families of the Earth would be blessed through Abraham all their families of the earth will be blessed and that again is a reference to Christ’s work we’ve seen where we’ve been what will we be looking at in this quarter well here’s a preview focusing a lot on what happens in Egypt first six lessons or yeah first six lessons more related to the other Patriarchs besides Abraham lesson six we’re going to talk a little bit about chronology once again so a little bit of referencing back to some of the things we talked about during the summer with Egyptian chronology and Mesopotamian chronology and how it Compares with the Bible and since Genesis takes a slightly different take than some of the scholars and archaeologists and the in the film that you watched that we watched but we’ll talk about some of those differences when we get there so the first six lessons about the Patriarchs and going down in Egypt and the final seven lessons are about coming out of Egypt focusing on The Exodus and coming into the promised land or at least arriving at the promised land we end with the spies and you remember how that turns out they don’t actually go in right away but that’s where we’re going to end our quarter and with some review questions about where we are going or where we have been okay well today we are examining Genesis 24 the historical account of Rebecca becoming Isaac’s wife so we’re continuing on with the Patriarchs after Abraham now what does this have to do with our fourth quarter theme I don’t know if I mentioned the fourth quarter theme but our fourth quarter theme is God is in control God is in control that’s our theme what does this lesson have to do with that God is in control well we’re going to start our class by doing an activity related to the timing of the events in chapter 24.
then we’re actually going to read observe interpret the sections of Genesis 24 and then we’ll conclude by asking ourselves how this account was written for our instruction that is how do we apply it how do we apply its principles into our lives let’s pray now great God great king great father we thank you for your word we thank you that we can trust it we thank you that you are faithful and thank you that you are the Creator and that you do sustain the Earth Lord instruct Us Now by giving understanding through your Holy Spirit on how you are so great and in control and so kind in your control and what how you are so faithful to your Covenant with your people Lord this is a delight this is a delightful passage I pray that the people would be encouraged that you’d help me to be able to explain it in Jesus name amen all right open your Bibles please to Genesis 24.
this is our section for today we will take quick glances to some of the passages around Genesis 24.
let’s acquaint ourselves a little bit with the literary context the last chapter that we studied together in Genesis was chapter 22.
where we saw Abraham was tested by God when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac Abraham obeyed God how because he believed God he trusted that God could bring Isaac who was the son of Promise who was the only way that Abraham was going to receive his promises Abraham believed that God would bring Isaac back from the dead if he had to because God was going to be faithful to his promises then God Vindicated Abraham’s faith and he provided a substitute for Isaac and Isaac was received back from the dead in a way notice though what appears at the end of Genesis chapter 22. just move back a page or two in your Bibles look down to verse 9 or verses 20 to 24.
scan that for a moment soon after this ordeal this test for Abraham what news does he receive and get some news what news does Abraham receive at the end of chapter 22.
yeah soon that’s right he heard that his relative had children and this is going to be important for some of the events in chapter 24 and a number of children there in chapter 23 Sarah dies that’s the main subject of that chapter or she dies and Abraham looks for a place to bury her in Canaan and he acquires some acquire some land from the Canaanites there that’s chapter 23. skip over chapter 24 for a second and Luke chapter 25.
scan verses 1 to 11. beginning of the chapter what two events are we told about in those verses what two important events two events involving Abraham Sarah has died and what does Abraham do yeah Julie that’s right you’re remarried he married another wife you know all the children that he had through this this wife he sent away there’s not going to be any confusion with who’s going to inherit Abraham’s inheritance all his possessions that’s all going Isaac well what’s the other thing that happens to Abraham it lives out the rest of his days and he dies let me see he’s buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael so that’s the the literary context that’s happening that’s what’s happening around Genesis 24 we’re going to be investigating the chapter of Genesis 24.
can we be specific though about the timing of Genesis 24. we’ve got it’s literary context what about its chronological context can we be specific well actually yes like a true historian Moses has again left a specific time details in a Genesis narrative so we can be pretty specific about when these when chapter 24 takes place we’re actually going to investigate this a little bit ourselves with an activity take a look at these three questions if you have the workbooks you can and look on page 11 the three questions are also there and you can answer the questions in your book but either by yourself or with a partner sitting next to you see if you can find the answers to these three questions by looking at your Bibles the first how old was Isaac at the time of his mother’s death the second how old was Isaac at his wedding to Rebecca and then the Third how long was it before Rebecca bore children according to Genesis 25 26 so we’re going to see that the details for answering these questions are actually in the Bible so please investigate this answer these questions give you about two or three minutes and then we’ll come back together and talk about it look up when you’re finished yes Carol it was not a sin that’s a great question Carol was it a sin for Abraham to take another wife it was not because his first wife had died and the Bible permits remarriage whenever whenever your spouse is no longer living so Abraham was okay to do that foreign take another minute okay if you didn’t find all the answers that’s okay we’ll talk about it together had to do a little bit of math here hopefully that wasn’t too strenuous how old was Isaac when Sarah died oh got something different I hear some people saying 37 everybody get something different 27.
36. okay well let’s walk through the calculation and maybe see if we’ve gotten off because I have 31. all right so Genesis 17 17.
um it tells us that when Isaac was born Sarah was how old 90 she was 90 years old and when Sarah dies it says that she lived 127 years okay I read 21 years so yeah I I was the one off but that’s good so she lives 127 years which means how many years had gone by since Isaac was born 37. so she would have been so Isaac must have been 37 when she died she was 90 127 minus 90 gives you 37.
very good 37 years old so how old was Isaac at his wedding to Rebecca what was it okay why do I have 40 here okay yeah Isaac was okay the text tells us that he was 40 okay yeah so that’s not based on the first calculation I was wondering if I had to change my answer so yes 40.
Isaac was 40.
so he was 37 when his mother died and he was 40 when he married Rebecca last question how long was it before Rebecca bore children Isaac 20 years yeah Isaac was 60 when he bore Jacob and Esau as the as the latter part of Genesis 25 tells us but he was only 40 when they first got married so 20 years must have gone by that’s kind of a long time if you scan the passage a little bit in Genesis Genesis 25 you’ll notice that baroness or infertility was a problem for Isaac and Rebecca just as it was for Abraham and Sarah must not be very good genes or something but God was going to providentially use that in their lives just as he did for their parents or for Isaac’s parents Isaac and Rebecca prayed to the Lord regarding children and then God answered their prayer and Rebecca bore children by the way how old was Abraham when Jacob and Esau were born bonus question hopefully my math is not wrong here we know that he dies at 175.
in Genesis 25 tells us that and he was 100 when Isaac was born yeah so Abraham would have been 160 when his grandchildren were born which means he saw Jacob and Esau in fact he even got to see them become teenagers or I guess you could say adults they became young men Abraham got to see that God allowed him to see that so just kind of interesting so combining this information with the Chrono genealogies in Genesis 5 and Genesis 11. we can estimate Isaac’s marriage and the events of Genesis Genesis 24 to have taken place approximately at 1915 BC 1915 BC all right so again seeing how the Bible gives us these these details especially these first books that they are historical may have these time details just like a history just as you would expect from history but let’s start actually investigating the passage oh any questions about that activity because I know I kind of may have confused you a little bit with the the math confused myself on the math okay let’s actually investigate the passage it’s a big chapter so we don’t have time to notice every detail but we do need to make some observations of the passage I also won’t read through the whole thing but we’ll read through most of the beginning let’s start with verses one to eight so Genesis 24 verses 1 to 8 follow along with me as I read now Abraham was old advanced in age and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way Abraham said to his servant the oldest of his household who had charge of all that he owned please place your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord the god of Heaven and the god of Earth that you shall not take away from my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live but you will go to my country and to my relatives and take away from my son Isaac the servant said to him suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land should I take your son back to the land from where you came then Abraham said to him be aware that you do not take my son back there the Lord the god of Heaven who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth and who spoke to me and who swore to me saying to your descendants I will give this land he will send his Angel before you and you will take away from my son from there but if the woman is not willing to follow you then you’ll be free from this my oath only do not take my son back there I’ll actually read the next verse too so the servant placed his hand under the five Abraham is master and swore to him concerning this matter okay let’s make some observations two people in this passage Abraham and an unnamed servant even though the servant is unnamed we do get some details about him two of them what do we know about the servant yeah Julie that’s right he’s the oldest servant in the household and that’s right he had charge of all Abraham’s possessions he’s the top servant he’s the most experienced the oldest the most responsible servant Abraham calls him in this isn’t the first time though that Abraham’s top servant is mentioned in the bible back in Genesis 15 before Isaac was born Abraham confessed to God that his Heir was someone not of his bloodline he told god well maybe you remember whom did Abraham say was his heir what was it Eliezer Eleazar of Damascus Genesis 15 2 Oh Lord God what will you give me since I am childless in the air of my house is eliaser of Damascus at that time if you had no children you didn’t have any relatives nearby it was common for your heir to be the top servant of your household therefore Eliezer would have been his top servant provided the Eleazar had not died between Genesis 15 and Genesis 24 Eliezer would be the servant mentioned here in this passage he would be the old experienced servant that Abraham calls in for a mission but even if Eliezer had died the new top servant would be the new next in line for the inheritance after Isaac yeah Abraham commissions this next in line this top servant to act on behalf of Isaac in fact if the servant is successful in this Mission what will that do to the servants chances of receiving Abraham’s wealth it gets erases it if he’s successful for Isaac then there’s no way he’s going to receive Abraham’s inheritance Abraham tells his servant to place his servant’s hand under Abraham’s thigh what is going on there well the context should help us this act must be a sign of what trust pledge what’s happening here is really serious and even aside from this this gesture we know that things are serious because what does Abraham ask a servant to do exactly he asks them to take an oath and not just an oath but an oath in in light of God of Yahweh the Lord of Heaven and Earth and yahweh’s name is not to be trifled with and so we connect that with this gesture and we can also think about a little bit the area under one’s thigh is a very private area that’s a very intimate area and he says put your hand there and swear by the Lord to do what I command you and we don’t quite have a custom like this today thankfully but a somewhat similar costume probably the closest thing we have to it is swearing on the Bible it’s supposed to show that you’re super serious about what you’re about to do or what you’re about to say you’re going to fulfill your word same thing is happening here Abraham is sending his servant on a very serious mission and he wants his servant to swear before the god of Heaven and Earth to obey and to be careful to do everything Abraham commands now what charge charge is does Abraham give to a servant well first not to do something what must the servant not do well later he’s going to say do not take Isaac back to the land that I came from but before that he says You must not do this that’s right do not take a wife or my son from the Canaanites the people among whom I dwell you are not to do that what must the servant do instead he’s got to take away for Isaac but not from the Canaanites but from where yeah soon that’s right go to my relatives go to where they live to my old country go to my relatives and take a wife from my relatives for Isaac now look down at verse 10 for a moment where did Abraham’s relatives live they lived in Mesopotamia so you remember Kanan this is a right on the western side of Palestine Mesopotamia would be to the Northeast you have to kind of go up and then over and then you have that area of Mesopotamia and specifically they lived in the city of nehor nehor is probably close to where Abraham’s family initially traveled whenever Tara moved from herb which would be the southeast portion I guess the southeast portion of Mesopotamia and traveled Northwest up to haran they’re not living in Iran anymore but they’re living in a city called nehor which is named after one of Abraham’s relatives so it’s probably close by to haran in Northwest Mesopotamia now how just exactly how far of a trip is it from Canaan well probably about 400 to 500 miles one way so that’s going to be in a thousand mile trip or 800 to A Thousand Mile trip altogether that’s a big trip even by today’s standards to give you a little bit of an idea this about be the distance of or from New York City to Columbus Ohio we might be able to do it in one day but we have carbs back then they were using camels or other animals so it was going to be a decently long journey there and back it’s not going to take years or months but it’s going to take a while that’s a long way and at this charge at this charge to go get a wife from his relatives in Mesopotamia the servant anticipates a problem potential problem what might happen yeah Eric that’s right there you might find a proper wife from his relatives but she says I’m not leaving I don’t want to go back with you and what might this interested woman however suggest instead bring him here I mean he can either live here or at least I can see him and then I’ll decide whether to go with you or not so the servant asks should I take your son with me to this land but Abraham’s reaction is very poignant how would you characterize his reaction it doesn’t just say no it’s emphatic right beware that you do not take my son back there under no circumstances will that be a good idea he’s very emphatic don’t take my son back to that land Abraham then says two things to reassure his servant don’t worry about this problem that you’re thinking of what two things does Abraham tell him to reassure the servant what’s one of them you don’t have to worry because yeah Julie that’s right the Lord is going to send his Angel before you the Lord’s going to make this happen and also what does he also say okay Eric exactly just to make you feel better if she refuses to come you’re free from your oath but she’s going to come because the Lord’s going to send his Angel before you now the servant places his hand under Abraham’s thigh and he swears to do as Abraham commanded let’s pause here we’ve made some observations let’s ask some interpretive questions now two main ones first why doesn’t Abraham want Isaac to marry one of the Canaanite women I mean it’s pretty obvious to him that he does not want that to happen why is he so against that that’s right bill I think you said it well they will most likely lead him away from God this is all about protecting Isaac from Marrying an idolater and we’re not told this specifically but I think this is this is an inference that we can make based on other scriptures in the later books of the pentateuch Moses says speaking for God or I’m not going to quit it specifically but Moses warns Israel not to intermarry with the people of the land don’t do this well why is it because the people of the land were inferior or impure in race no not at all listen to what Deuteronomy says Deuteronomy 7 1-4 when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it and clears away many nations before you the Hittites and the gurga sites and the amorites and the Canaanites and the parasites and hivites and jebusites Seven Nations greater and stronger than you and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them then you shall utterly destroy them you shall make no Covenant with them and show no favor to them furthermore you shall not enter marry with them you should not give your daughters to their sons nor shall you take their daughters for your sons four they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will quickly destroy you so it has not has nothing to do about with ethnicity it’s about idolatry marrying a pagan will cause a snare to a person yeah that’s a great Point Bill thanks for mentioning that some may say that this is something about protecting the purity of the messiah’s bloodline just repeating your comment bill but we know that not everyone in the bloodline in the Messiah was Jewish in fact the principle is if one of these peoples either from around Israel or even within the land that Israel was conquering if they became a true follower of Yahweh then a Jew could marry them because we actually see that we see that was the situation for Rahab Rahab and Jericho she’s a Canaanite but she becomes a follower of God she fears the Lord and she becomes part of the line of the Messiah and then as Bill alluded to Ruth the moabite this would be one of the Pagan peoples outside of Canaan she marries Boaz that was a permitted marriage that was a celebrated marriage why because she was a follower of Yahweh the Bible consistently prohibits intermarrying or inter-worshiping with those who deny to the true God and savior and this is said in the New Testament as well you know the verses do not be bound together with unbelievers what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness what Fellowship has light with Darkness or what Harmony has Christ with Belial or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever or what agreement has the temple of God with idols yes Roy yeah that’s another great Point Roy I’ll mention that I repeat your comment great example of this scenario in action is Solomon because they’re specifically told it’s because he married many wives but particularly wives that were not followers of God that his heart was turned away from following God he did not follow the lord wholeheartedly and God of course had to chasten Solomon because of that yeah really the Abraham and The Prompt actually inherit the land yeah that’s another great Point Steve to repeat your comment a little bit I think that’s another consideration in all this is that marrying and Kane and I would have confused God’s promise God’s covenant with Abraham because it’s like well are they the indigenous peoples who God said he was going to take the land away from them and give it to Abraham now they’re kind of there too they’re kind of inheritors too or at least they have a claim on it because they’d be intermarrying into into um the line of Abraham so I think that’s there too but certainly one of the main considerations is he’s he doesn’t want he knows it’s very important to not let his son marry someone who’s going to drag him down in idolatry now another question and perhaps related why is him so much against his servant taking Isaac to Mesopotamia why at all costs as you say don’t let that happen yes Steve reiterates that promise that This Land is What God gave us yeah I think you’re right Steve again we’re not told this specifically but I think we can make a good influence here there’s the potential if Isaac leaves Canaan and goes to Mesopotamia that he’s going to be distracted from the Covenant Promises of God he will be distracted from following God or may miss out on the blessings of the Covenant that God has made with Abraham because consider and Abraham even repeats this when God called Abraham Abraham in haran what did he specifically tell Abraham to do leave your family leave the land that you’re living in now and go to Canaan so having Isaac go to Mesopotamia would have been a step backwards going back to the family that God called him out from going back to the land that God called him out from and Isaac might even be persuaded to stay in that land it’s worth noting that Abraham himself is not willing to make the journey now he’s old but I don’t think we should say he’s infirmed because he lives for another 35 years it’s unlikely the reason he didn’t go was infirmity it was more I think a commitment to God’s covenant it doesn’t want to be distracted from that I think there’s also parallel to the Israelites here because they were attempted to often go back to where they came from right or at least on their way to the promised land we should go back to Egypt Roy yeah hmm that’s a that’s another good point Roy some of these warnings that were that we’re seeing from Abraham we’ve actually seen them play out the Next Generation Esau Mary’s Canaanites and it says that his parents are really grieved at that but another thing is we see Jacob actually goes to live in Mesopotamia he goes to live with Layman and it leads to a bunch of problems like some of the Rivalry that you were just discussing Roy maybe Abraham was aware of that and and wisdom he says I don’t want him to be put in that situation where the family might there might be some rivalry over over wealth over inheritance yeah that’s a good point so we have some some good reasons to infer as to why Abraham did not want these things to happen why it was important not to take away from the land and not to travel to Mesopotamia or not to have Isaac travel in Mesopotamian let’s read on though let’s see what happens chapter 24 let’s look at verses 10 to 14. the servant makes the journey then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master and set out with a variety of good things of his Masters in his hand and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of nehor it made the candles kneel down outside the city by The Well of water at evening time the time when women go out to draw water he said oh Lord the god of my master Abraham please grant me success today and show loving kindness to my master Abraham behold I am standing by the spring and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water and it may be that the girl to whom I say please let down your jar so that I may drink and who answers drink and I will water your camels Also may she be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac and by this I will know that you have shown loving kindness to my master stop there for a second let’s make some more observations the servant and his Entourage he’s got other men with him we see that later in the passage they arrive outside the city of nehor it’s been a long journey it’s toward evening time and he prays to God now for what does the servant ask God generally what does he ask at first he’s going to ask for something more specific but first he just asked for success grant me success and he also comes up with a plan it’s incorporates this plan into his prayer he asked God to point out the right woman by when he asked the question the woman responding by offering him a drink and by offering to water all his camels now normally How likely was it to occur that a woman would respond in this way hi Carol um no this is not Miriam here this is Rebecca Miriam is that’s what Moses and exodus but How likely was a woman to do what what he has in mind very unlikely why it’s not an easy task that’s a lot of work now perhaps if you said could you grant me a drink of water she might permit him a drink I mean it’s not too much water and the Springs right there if he drinks a lot she could just fill it up again relatively easily that politeness wouldn’t cost too much but watering 10 camels camels can drink a lot that means a lot of drawing water from the spring taking it out pouring it into the trough and then going back to the spring this is not something that could be done quickly it’s going to take a lot of time it’s going to take a lot of work it’s going to take a lot of sweat and she doesn’t even know this guy therefore there’s little chance that the average woman would do this much less offered to do this without being asked but what kind of woman might actually do it regular women wouldn’t do this yeah yeah a woman who has a servant’s heart a very hospitable woman a generous woman a compassionate woman would do this you could say or maybe just God would simply move her maybe she’s not like that normally but if we’re just if we go past the miraculous if she was a compassionate generous woman she would do this and that kind of woman would make a good wife so the servant asked God to point out the woman by having her display this extravagant and rare generosity to him a stranger now was this the only way that the servant could have identified a wife for Isaac well if we think about it no in fact remember Abraham’s directions were merely to go to his relatives the servant could have asked around the city for the relatives of nehor or Beth you well and then found their dwelling place and then checked to see if any of their daughters were unmarried this has been a much more normal and perhaps more practical way to fulfill the command the oath from Abraham so why does the servant ask God for something more extraordinary well notice how the servant ends his prayer he says by this I will know what will he know yeah Magna that’s right I will know that you have shown loving kindness to my master I will know that this is your special loving kindness to him remember Abraham had said to his servant the Lord will send his Angel before you So based off of that promise the servant asked God for something special if you will it God do something unexpected to confirm your loving kindness to Abraham do something extraordinary may it even be that the woman I speak to at this spring who shows great Hospitality be the relative that I was sent to get I think that’s what’s going on here as we see later in the passage the servant is ready for God not to do this when he ends up meeting with the family he says can I take her back as wife for Isaac if not let me know so I know which way to turn so he’s ready he’s ready to for God not to do this but through this prayer the servant gives God opportunity to demonstrate special Covenant kindness let’s read what happens verses 15 to 27.
before he had finished speaking behold Rebecca who was born to bethewell the son of milka the wife of Abraham’s brother nehor came out with her jar on her shoulder that girl or the girl was very beautiful a virgin and no man had had relations with her and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up and the servant ran to meet her and said please let me drink a little water from your jar she said drink my Lord she quickly lowered her jaw to her hand and gave him a drink now when she had finished giving him a drink she said I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking so she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw and she Drew for all his camels meanwhile the man was gazing at her and silence snow whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not when the camels had finished drinking the man took a gold ring weighing a half shackle and two bracelets for her wrists weighing 10 shekels in gold and said whose daughter are you please tell me is there room for us to Lodge in your father’s house she said to him I am the daughter of bathwell the son of milka whom she bought a nehor again she said to him we have plenty of both straw and feed and room to Lodge in then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord he said blessed be the Lord the god of my master Abraham who was not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master as for me the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my Master’s Brothers this is amazing let’s make some observations how quickly did God answer the servant’s prayer immediately before he had finished speaking the woman is coming towards the spring Rebecca does exactly as the servant prayed she gives him a drink and then offers to water to give water for all his camels and did you notice how she did it what stands out to be about the weight or what stands out about how she did it yeah Dwayne yeah twice it uses the word quickly and it also mentions that she ran she quickly lowered her jar quickly entered into the trough and ran back to get more water that is not half hearted generosity this is sincere and notice verse 16 it says that she went down to the spring and then came up down two and came up imply what about the location of the spring it’s at a lower elevation which means that she would have to get to it by going down a hill or by taking some stairs whatever was nearby and then she would have to ascend back that direction so not only is she running and moving quickly but she’s doing incline and decline work while carrying a jar sometimes full of water not only is this woman generous and she is hard working but she is probably physically fit as well because she’s demonstrating some athleticism here and what is the servant doing while all this is happening yeah I’m pretty sure he’s amazed I like MacArthur when he talks about this passage he’s like it says he was sitting there in silence but he probably had his jaw dropped open too because this was pretty amazing but yeah he’s just watching just watching his silence now we might expect that he would have immediately been like ah the Lord answer my prayer but there’s something he doesn’t know yet what doesn’t he know yet doesn’t know if she’s from the right family so he sees what looks like an answer to his prayer but he wants to see it confirmed he needs to find out a little bit more information but right now or while she’s doing it he’s just watching amazed when she finishes he gives her a nose ring and two gold bracelets the servant asks two questions to which family do you belong and can you give us lodging well she then reveals that she is Abraham’s relative and not only do they have lodging for him and his men but they also have food and places for all of his animals so even more generosity being outpoured here even more Hospitality being shown here and she still doesn’t know precisely who this man is she may have maybe a little bit idea that he’s he’s an okay guy because of the the gifts that he gave her showing his intentions were good but this is a lot of generosity for a guy you don’t know and how does he react to the to those statements from her yeah he just stops everything bows down and worships the Lord and praises the Lord he pronounces a blessing on the Lord and conform confirms out loud that the Lord has answered his prayer shown loving kindness to his master because he brought him to exactly the right woman to the the relatives that he was sent to fine and what a woman consider what we’ve learned about her so far that makes her just an amazing Bride for Isaac she’s hard-working she’s generous she’s strong she’s of the right household and we also learn she’s very beautiful she’s unmarried and she’s a virgin this is this is better than he could have asked for this is like a Proverbs 31 Woman he couldn’t have asked for a better bride from God for Isaac and so what he acknowledged is that this is God’s covenant kindness on display toward Abraham and to his descendants we won’t read the next section of this chapter but I’ll summarize it for you Rebecca now that she knows that this servant serves her Kinsmen she runs back to tell her family Laban who hears it labens her brother he runs out continues the outstanding Hospitality urging the servant and his men to come in and Lodge they go to the house the ten animals are all provided for a meal is set before the servant and his accompanying men but he refuses to eat he has to explain his mission he relates to the family Abraham’s situation and all that had transpired and he asks if they will allow him to take Rebecca back to be the wife of Isaac family confesses that what has happened is clearly of the Lord and they consent the servant again bows and worships the Lord it says wow God’s loving kindness is so much on display servant then unloads the Caravan of camels and gives many Treasures to the family or in other words he pays the bride price well why a bride price well remember in those days losing a family member due to marriage was losing part of the family’s Workforce so it was customary for the husband’s family to pay money or give gifts to offset that Financial loss so Abraham’s servant is doing just that giving various gifts to Rebecca’s family articles of silver articles of gold garments other precious objects now this is a very happy time now for the the family there Rebecca has just secured a great marriage with a wealthy man and a Kinsman and the family has been handsomely compensated but the next morning the servant asks if he may leave with Rebecca the family had not expected this they not expected such a quick departure they’re like we’re never going to see Rebecca again then perhaps they have some some celebration plans so they asked for 10 more days with Rebecca but the servant ever committed to his master’s will and not his own request that this God blessed Mission not be slowed down the family decides to ask Rebecca what Rebecca would like to do and Rebecca says that she’s ready to leave now so the family blesses her sends her on her way with her nurse and a number of other maids and the Caravan then sets out on the 500 or so mile trip back to Canaan let’s read the last verses of the chapter verses 62 to 67.
now Isaac had come from going to Bear Lehi Roy for he was living in the Negev Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening and he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold camels were coming Rebecca lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel she said to the servant who is that man walking in the field to meet us and the servant said he is my master then she took her veil and covered herself the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and he took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her this Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death this is just really amazing what amazing history here it’s like a it’s like a Disney princess story this hard-working beautiful girl living with her family doing normal everyday tasks and suddenly a servant arrives and tells her that a rich prince wants her to be his bride let’s ask just a few more interpretive questions or let’s ask a few more interpretive questions the first being the most important what’s the point of all this what is the point of this passage I mean it is interesting and all but why did Moses write this why did God have him write it and include it in the Book of Genesis yeah Magda yeah it’s definitely emphasizing that God is in control what else it’s not simply that God is in control but Pepe because he’s in control you can trust him to be good to you right because I think the servant is the one who really Clues us into what Abraham’s servant really Clues us into I think the takeaway from this passage he says that this is how God determined to show loving-kindness to Abraham all this was written down for us I believe for us under to understand more about our covenant God look at the way he keeps his promises just look at how he shows care for those in Covenant with him he provided Abraham with a servant who was delighted to do his master’s will and sought his master’s benefit even if it meant personal loss for the servant or the foregoing of various comforts that’s what God provided God also provided an exceptional wife for Abraham’s son and arranged circumstances in such a way that Not only was the wife available but she was ready and willing to come to Canaan this is the kind of God Moses would have been telling the Israelites this is the kind of God that you are covenanted with you’re going into Israel you’re going into this unknown situation but you can trust God to be in control and to always be doing good for you you can trust that he’s going to honor his Covenant and he’s going to continue to show you Covenant kindness look what he did for Abraham he will also do likewise for you this would have been encouraging to them to believe the Lord’s promises to obey him to trust him well what about us let’s talk now about our own application isn’t this message also important for us to hear perhaps you’re wondering if God will keep his promises to you whether he will honor his Covenant to take care of you in every way giving you your daily bread giving you people to help you through hard times helping you to endure through suffering and persecution or yes even providing you with a spouse will God take care of me will God keep his promises well what is God’s message to you through Moses here in this passage you can trust God he is in total control of everything he knows your needs and he Delights to do you good because of the Covenant that he made with you a unilateral Covenant look at how he provided for Abraham and Isaac extravagant loving kindness the same God if you truly know him if you’re part of his Covenant we’ll show you such kindness therefore don’t doubt his wisdom don’t doubt his ability don’t doubt his love believe and watch how the Lord provides now I’m not saying that the Lord won’t allow difficulties as we already saw later on baroness is going to be a big problem for this couple that was good though God was going to use that to refine them just as he allows difficulties to refine us he’s still doing us good and neither am I saying that God will provide for you the exact same way he provides for someone else you might not have the exact same provision as Abraham and Isaac In this passage but it will be of the same kind it will still be with that powerful Covenant kindness of God does something unique with each person but we see his faithfulness and therefore we can believe promises like Psalm 84 11. for the Lord God as a son and shield the Lord gives Grace and Glory no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly you say well I don’t have this the other person has that but it’s not good for you because he doesn’t withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly and Romans 8 28 and we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose God is a god of Covenant love and kindness if you’ve been brought into the Covenant through Christ’s Saving Grace then you are an object of God’s constant love this constant Covenant kindness and let these truths be a fortress to you when your flesh tries to tell you otherwise because it will it will say hey look at your circumstances God obviously doesn’t care about you anymore his loving-kindness has stopped well we look at this passage and we say no I know the kind of God that I’m in Covenant with don’t miss out on another important aspect of this text what was it that caused Abraham’s servant to see God’s Great Covenant kindness in an astounding way what was it that the servant did Edwin he prayed he prayed there’s a lot of application to hear about prayer do you want to see God displaying his kindness and glory in your life then pray and as God answers your prayers respond just as Abraham’s servant did respond and worship one final question kind of like on the side should we pray for specific signs of God’s choice like the servant did here well in some ways the answer is yes if you are for example trying to discern whether a certain person is good for you to pursue in marriage it is good for you to pray to the Lord for observable evidence of that person’s character to see if she he or she really lines up with what the Bible says you ought to look for in a spouse asking for the ability to see clearly in a situation is good that’s a good thing to pray for but on the other hand we should not ask for miraculous or seemingly miraculous signs to know God’s will remember the difference between prescriptive and descriptive writing in the Bible it’s because someone does it does not necessarily mean that you should too because God sometimes is doing something special with a particular person and he certainly was doing something special with Abraham Abraham’s servant and Rebecca God’s angel had specifically gone ahead of Abraham’s servant there was a special promise here this was a special Act of God we should not expect God to be working in the exact same way for us today as I’ve said before God has not promised to speak to us through circumstances vague feelings dreams or visions all of these are highly interpretive and ultimately unverifiable but God has promised to speak to us through his word through his scriptures so if you want to know God’s will about whom you should marry what profession you should pursue what church you should attend where you should live or whatever it is into God’s word pray for understanding and then apply its principles it’s God’s will for you to learn and then practice wisdom questions or comments about what you’ve heard today hmm yeah thank you thank you for sharing that bill I’m trying to distill the the main points what you just said can you just repeat the main ideas yeah yeah yeah that’s good let me repeat your comment so even when we are looking forward to apply wisdom in certain situations and we’re looking for the the guidance the Holy Spirit we’re looking for the the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to be applied it’s never going to contradict what’s what’s declared in the Bible holy spirit’s not going to contradict himself so whatever we do it should not contradict or whatever we believe or whatever would however we act it’s always got to be in line with what has already been revealed in the scriptures other questions or comments well we’ve covered the workbook applications questions in the lesson today so we’re not going to revisit those let me end today by showing you our new memory verse I recall that our answer’s Bible curriculum has two memory verses a quarter and therefore the same for all age groups to learn so if you want to encourage your kids to learn their memory verse and you want to be a good example to them well then please memorize this with me in the previous quarters I had a day at the end of the quarter or in the middle of the quarter for reciting memory verses I’m not going to do that going forward this is simply for you this is for your own edification this is for your children’s edification if you want to do it great please do our first memory verses quarter fits with the theme of today’s lesson God continually shows Covenant kindness to his people even through what seems like evil circumstances and difficulties we’ll talk more about the specific circumstances surrounding these verses in our coming lessons but you probably already know this is Joseph speaking after he’s been exalted to the highest position in Egypt so our verses Genesis 50 verses 19 to 20 . we’re going to try and memorize in the new King James Version keep it consistent with the classes and the handouts that we have for this curriculum I’m just going to read it and then we’ll close in prayer Joseph said to them do not be afraid for am I in the place of God but as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive let’s pray God you are great your constant Covenant kindness is just so mind-blowing God this what you accomplished for Abraham and Isaac is just astounding yeah God I think we can testify in our own lives just other examples of your astounding kindness but I think many many of us Mary can can say the same things about our spouses just wow God I can’t believe you provided such an amazing spouse for me and Lord just other things with our with our situations or with this church or with the the people around us Lord you have provided so greatly your kindness has been so on display and even with the hard things that we go through God later when we when we are thinking clearly and we’re reflecting on the principles of your scripture we say wow God is being so kind to me and God I can think about that for my own life and I know many people here can as well just the way that you train us and the way that you discipline us God you were being so kind thank you for being such a kind God whose loving kindness is Everlasting Lord show allow us to Revel more in that today in this worship service and allow us to encourage one another in this in Jesus name amen