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Genesis
24:1-67 “And
Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD
had blessed Abraham in all things. 2
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that
he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3
and I will make thee swear by the LORD,
the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife
unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4
but thou shalt go unto my country, and
to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. 5
And the servant said unto him,
Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the
land from whence thou camest? 6 And
Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. 7
The LORD
God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my
kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed
will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take
a wife unto my son from thence. 8
And if the woman will not be willing to
follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. 9
And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware
to him concerning that matter. 10 And
the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all
the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto
the city of Nahor. 11 And
he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the
time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
12 And
he said, O LORD
God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew
kindness unto my master Abraham. 13
Behold, I stand here by the well
of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: 14
And let it come to pass, that the damsel
of whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and
she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; let the same be
she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby
shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. 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. 16 And
the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man
known her: and she went down to the
well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. 17
And the servant ran to meet her, and
said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. 18
And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon
her hand, and gave him drink. 19 And
when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy
camels also, until they have done drinking. 20
And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher
into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for
all his camels. 21 And
the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD
had made his journey prosperous or not. 22
And it came to pass, as the camels had
done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and
two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; 23
and said, Whose daughter art
thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there
room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?
24 And she said unto him, I am the
daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. 25
She said moreover unto him, We have both
straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. 26
And the man bowed down his head, and
worshipped the LORD.
27 And
he said, Blessed be the LORD
God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy
and his truth: I being in the
way, the LORD
led me to the house of my master’s brethren. 28
And the damsel ran, and told them of
her mother’s house these things. 29
And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the
well. 30 And
it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands,
and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man
unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the
well. 31 And
he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD;
wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for
the camels. 32 And
the man came into the house: and he
ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to
wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him.
33 And there was set meat before him
to eat: but he said, I will not eat,
until I have told mine errand. And he
said, Speak on. 34 And
he said, I am Abraham’s servant. 35
And the LORD
hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and
silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. 36
And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to
my master when she was old: and unto him
hath he given all that he hath. 37
And my master made me swear, saying,
Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in
whose land I dwell: 38 but
thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto
my son. 39 And
I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. 40
And he said unto me, The LORD,
before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and
thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house: 41
Then shalt thou be clear from this
oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one,
thou shalt be clear from my oath. 42
And I came this day unto the well, and
said, O LORD
God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: 43
behold, I stand by the well of water;
and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water,
and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
44 and
she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom
the LORD
hath appointed out for my master’s son. 45
And before I had done speaking in mine
heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she
went down unto the well, and drew water:
and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. 46
And she made haste, and let down her
pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels
drink also: so I drank, and she made the
camels drink also. 47 And
I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel,
Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him:
and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. 48
And I bowed down my head, and worshipped
the LORD,
and blessed the LORD
God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s
brother’s daughter unto his son. 49
And now if ye will deal kindly and truly
with my master, tell me: and if not,
tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. 50
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and
said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. 51
Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be
thy master’s son’s wife, as the LORD
hath spoken. 52 And
it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped
the LORD,
bowing himself to the earth. 53
And the servant brought forth jewels of
silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother
precious things. 54 And
they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried
all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my
master. 55 And
her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few
days, at least ten; after that she shall go. 56
And he said unto them, Hinder me not,
seeing the LORD
hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. 57
And they said, We will call the damsel,
and enquire at her mouth. 58 And
they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59
And they sent away Rebekah their sister,
and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60
And they blessed Rebekah,
and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother
of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those
which hate them. 61 And
Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the
man: and the servant took Rebekah, and
went his way. 62 And
Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south
country. 63 And
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and,
behold, the camels were coming. 64
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when
she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 65
For she had said unto the
servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is
my master: therefore she took a veil,
and covered herself. 66 And
the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 67
And Isaac brought her into his mother
Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” Introduction: The Importance Of The 2nd Coming
Of Christ [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED532] “Genesis
chapter 24, the longest chapter in Genesis.
You know in some ways you might think ‘Well, Genesis 22 would be the
longest chapter in Genesis, because there we have a picture of Christ being
crucified, the Father giving his Son.’
But in a truth that moves in an interesting meter and pace, and is
brought before us vividly, but closes quickly.
It’s almost, as you read through the Gospels, it just says ‘And
they crucified him there.’ [Comment: In the New Testament far greater writing is
given to the last six days of Jesus Christ in the Four Gospels, and quite a bit
is given in each Gospel to the crucifixion.
A good portion of the four gospels are about or cover the last six days
of the life of Jesus Christ--Matthew 21-26 (just over one fifth), Mark 11-16
(one third of the book of Mark), Luke 19-23 (one fifth), John 11-21 (half the
book of John). see https://unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm] The great detail that we get [in Genesis] is
in chapter 24, where God himself slows down and gives us every detail, and the
meter of it is much different, and he’s laying things in front of us in this 24th
chapter, taking his time, the longest chapter in Genesis--because this is the
picture of the Bride being taken to the Son.
This is a picture of what human history is all about. Human history is simply about God the Father
gathering a Bride out of human history for his Son in eternity. [The rest of human history is to teach
mankind, through hard experience, that Satan’s way doesn’t work, and that
ultimately they will learn that God’s way works, as the Millennial Kingdom of
God on earth will teach them. This ultimate
Plan of God is revealed in the prophetic meaning of God’s Holy Days, especially
as human history is wrapped up in the prophetic meaning of God’s Fall Holy Days
(see https://unityinchrist.com/E-Mails/June%2014/FallHolyDays-short.htm
).] And
certainly this chapter is a picture of that, it is the Father sending his
servant, Eleazar, the Comforter, one who comes alongside, to get a bride for
his promised Son, who was born of a miraculous birth, who offered himself
willingly on Moriah, to gather a Bride for his Son, to bring her to him. And it is such a picture of Christ and the
Church, so much a picture of what the Holy Spirit has done in all of our hearts
and all of our minds. Jesus said the
Holy Spirit will come to convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of
judgment, and to gather a people to God, for himself, the Bride of his
Son. It’s a very interesting picture, a
lot of history, a lot of tradition, a lot of wonderful things. But there seems to be, this other picture
that is interwoven that God the Father seems to just slow down and relish. The broadest subject by far in the New
Testament is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, over 300 separate texts
talk about the 2nd coming of Christ.
It comes out to about one of every ten verses, there is no broader
subject in the New Testament than the 2nd coming of Christ. Why is that?
Well if I was leaving, and I was leaving my wife, my bride, my children
in a world where there’s going to be war, where there’s going to be difficulty,
where there’s going to be an enemy constantly lurking, the thing that I would
constantly want them to know is ‘I’m coming, I’m coming, hold on, I’m
coming, I’m coming for you, I love you, I’m going to come and get you and carry
you across the threshold,’ it is the broadest subject in the New
Testament. So it’s fitting that this is
the longest chapter that we find in Genesis.
[Interesting, Genesis is the first Book of the Bible, and Revelation is
the last Book of the Bible, and Genesis 12-24 and the Book of Revelation are
book-ends, starting and finishing with the same subject.] ‘I
Do Not Want Isaac To Marry One Of Those Canaanite Women’ It
begins by saying “And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD
had blessed Abraham in all things.” (verse 1) 135,
140 years old. In Jewish tradition, 60
to 70, when you’re 60 to 70 years old, they called that the commencement of old
age. 70 to 80 they say are “the years of
the hoary head,” and anything over 80 they say is “well stricken in
years.” So Abraham here, certainly over
80, it says “he’s well stricken in years.”
And we’re three to four years after the last chapter, interesting
picture brought before us as we look here.
“And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house,” and we
know from chapter 15, verse 2, that’s Eleazar of Damascus, he’s not named here,
because he’s a picture of the Spirit, who doesn’t speak of himself, but only
speaks of the Son, we see that through the chapter, he’s the eldest servant of
his house, “that ruled over all that he had,” he says to him “Put, I
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:” (verse 2)
So Abraham is old, he’s laying there, calls in Eleazar, he says ‘put
your hand under my thigh, you’re going to make an oath now, to me, you’re going
to make a promise,’ and it’s in regard to the promised seed, in regard
to the Promises of God, certainly. “and
I will make thee swear by the LORD,
the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife
unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country,” over
500 miles “and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.” (verses
3-4) We will become more familiar
now with Isaac as we move forward. Isaac
is an interesting man. There’s not a lot
written about him in Scripture. But what
impact is there on your life, when you go through a situation like Moriah,
where you were willing to carry the wood in respect of your aged father, no
grumbling, no complaining. You arrive at
the summit of the hill and there’s no sacrifice, and Abraham begins to describe
to him what God had told him, and he allows himself to be bound. He allows his father to lay him upon the
alter, he quietly lays there, as Christ offered himself, and sees his father
raise the knife into the air. What is
flooding through his mind? Don’t tell me
his heart is not pounding. And all of a
sudden, does he hear the voice of the angel ‘Abraham! Abraham! Lay not thy hand upon the lad,’ does
he hear that? And as he comes back from
Moriah, how is he changed? I remember a
few years ago my wife, they thought she had ovarian cancer, and we saw a
gynecologist at Johns Hopkins, and I remember right before she went in surgery,
I said ‘Tell me what you think,’ and he said ‘It’s 50-50 Joe, we’ll
see, I can’t tell until I get in there.’
And of course she didn’t and we were thankful, but as she talked to
me afterwards, she said ‘You know, it was interesting, because the Lord was
saying to me, ‘Are you willing to let go of your husband, let go of your kids?’
and she was saying ‘No, no I’m not,’ and she said this went on and
on until she said finally the day before the surgery she said ‘Alright,
Lord, whatever you want, if you want me, if this is what you want.’ And she said, ‘I’ll never be the same
now, I can’t explain it to you, but because I relinquished everything, there’s
some part of me that can never be the same again.’ And that had to have happened in
Isaac. He’s a full-grown man, he’s 35 to
40 years old, what is it like for him to talk to his father? What was it like even now for Abraham in his
old age? Isaac, we’re going to find him
meditating, praying in the field, Isaac, we’re going to find him sitting by the
well Lahairoi, he seems to be a quiet, settled soul. You know, you’re born and your dad’s a
hundred years old, your mom’s 90, you have the benefit of the quiet years, you
grow up under that there’s a lot of peace and stillness and quietness
anyway. But going through the experience
he went through, there is something that burns in Abraham’s heart about his son
Isaac. I believe he loves him so deeply,
we’re going to read at the end of the chapter, that when Rebekah comes to him,
he takes Rebekah into his mother’s tent and loves her, and that she gives him
peace, because he’s still mourning the death of Sarah. He’s tender, he’s a very deep man, he’s an
interesting man, Isaac. And Abraham says
here, ‘I do not want my son Isaac, I see what God has done in him, I look
at him, I think of his experience on Moriah, I think of how God promises for
years, he was miraculously conceived, I don’t want him to marry one of these
Canaanite women.’ They were
immoral, they were pagan, they were worshipping the wrong gods, ‘I don’t
want this to happen.’ Now the
New Testament tells us that we should not be unequally bound together with
unbelievers either, you can read it for yourself in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 6, God doesn’t love you any less than Abraham loved his son. God loves you more than Abraham loved Isaac,
and God never tells us anything to injure us or to restrict us or to hurt us. And if you’re not married and you’re here, I
encourage you, don’t ever make that compromise.
It is difficult enough in this world for a born-again on fire Christian
man and a born-again on fire Christian woman to survive in a marriage, because
every voice in the media, every voice on television, every voice everywhere
tells you it’s ok to throw in the towel, ok to have an affair, it’s ok to do
this or that, the world is filled with Canaanites. And Abraham says ‘I do not want my son
to marry one of those Canaanites.’ Now
teenagers, I hear teenagers say ‘I just need my own space, they never let me
alone, they don’t give me my own space.
Ya, they pay the gas bill, they pay the electric bill, they buy me
clothes, but they don’t give me my own space.’
Here’s Isaac between 35 and 40 years old and dad is still an
influence in his life. Not because he’s
forcing it, but because he’s observed enough of Abraham’s genuineness that he
actually admires his father, and his opinion weighs something, his opinion
matters. And Abraham says ‘I don’t
want my son married to one of these Canaanite women, I don’t want it to happen,
I want you to go, and I want you to get a wife from my own kindred, my own
family, and bring her to be the bride of my son.’ Eleazar’s
Amazing Prayer To God “And
the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow
me unto this land: must I needs bring
thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?” (verse 5) you have to
understand what Abraham’s saying, Abraham says ‘Load up some camels, head
out, 500 miles, go to my old neighbourhood, and find a woman from my family to
marry my son.’ So Eleazar is
going to ask a question, ‘Ah, what if I load up the camels and take a
two-month journey and ride into your old neighbourhood and say does anyone want
to marry Abraham’s son, and I get no takers?
And I find a girl and she says ‘You’re crazy, you came from where and
you want me to jump on a camel and ride 500 miles with you and marry some guy I
didn’t see on the Internet, what are you talking about?’ That’s the question he’s going to
ask. “And the servant said unto him,
Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the
land from whence thou camest?” (verse 5)
‘If I get there and nobody’s being cooperative should I come back
and take Isaac there?’ “And
Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.”
(verse 6) In other words, Canaan was
the Land of Promise, do not take him out of this land. “The LORD
God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my
kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed
will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take
a wife unto my son from thence.” (verse 7)
Now I get the idea Abraham’s been
praying about it, and the LORD
said get Eleazar and send him home and get a wife there, because he sounds very
confident. “And if the woman will not
be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.” (verse
8) ‘If it doesn’t work
out, then there’s no young woman that’s willing to come with you, you’re off
the hook. Don’t come back and take Isaac
there.’ “And the servant put his
hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that
matter. And the servant took ten camels
of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were
in his hand: and he arose, and went to
Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.” (verses 9-10) Now ten camels by the way, speak of
wealth. In your mind, because if any of
you go to Israel with us, you can get camel rides, but there were donkeys and
burros, but camels were not as common as you might think. And to have ten camels to leave with, out of
a bigger group of camels, speaks of a great wealth that Abraham had come
to. And the servant took ten camels
of the camels of his master and departed; for all the goods of his master were
in his hand: and he arose, and went to
Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.” (verse 10) Now between verses 10 and 11 there’s a 500
mile journey with no details, boom, we’re there. “And he made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the
time that women go out to draw water.” (verse 11) You see, evening time, gals, was when you
all took a stone jug and balanced it on your shoulder or on your head, and you
went to the well, and you hiked down the steps to the well and you filled up
the stone jug, and brought it home. And
if your husband said in the middle of the day ‘I’m thirsty,’ she said ‘Honey,
no sweat I’ll go carry 50 pounds of water, I’ll be right back.’ The jug was made of stone, however much
the water weighed in there, you’ve come a long way baby. There was no plumbing, they went at the end
of the day because it was cooler then, but it was the lady’s job go get the
water, and to bring it back. So, knowing
that, Eleazar is there by the well, probably figures it’s a great place to
start his hunt. He doesn’t know which
way to look, he comes into a strange neighbourhood, he doesn’t know who his
master’s relatives are, they don’t have photographs, they didn’t have cameras,
he didn’t say ‘Did you see this one?’ he couldn’t call on the cell-phone
thank goodness. So he just goes there,
and he’s there, and because he doesn’t know where to look, Eleazar looks up,
always a great place to look when you don’t know where to look. “And he said, O LORD
God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew
kindness unto my master Abraham.” (verse 12) We’re going to find him worshipping the LORD
too, Eleazar’s also a believer. “Behold,
I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the
city come out to draw water: And let it
come to pass, that the damsel of whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray
thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels
drink also; let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy
servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my
master.” (verses 13-14) Ever try
anything like that? That’s a remarkable
prayer, for a number of reasons. Now
we’re going to find this out as we get further into the chapter. He didn’t say this out loud, he’s just saying
it in his heart. Ever do that? Kind of in a situation, and you kind of just
in your heart you say ‘Lord, let this happen,’ and then ‘Boom!’ it
happens, and then like me, you sit there and say ‘Lord, is this you?’ You’re sitting there thinking ‘Lord,
let an eagle swoop down, and pick up a coke bottle, and drop it and let it hit
the electrical wire, bounce off and hit that cat, let the cat jump on the back
of the dog,’ and it happens and you say ‘Lord, is that you?’ [laughter] You have to understand that a camel, camel’s
don’t drink very often. He’s got ten of them.
They drink, when they do drink, five to ten gallons. That’s what I said [loud laughter] So, we rehearsed that. So Eleazar says this, ‘LORD,
I don’t know the locals here, you’re the God of my master Abraham, and I’m
here, I don’t know, this is like finding a needle in a haystack. So I’m going to sit here, and I’m going to
look around at these girls, when I see one that’s pretty, you know, I’m not
going to take the wrong one home, I’m going to say to her ‘Do you mind if I
have a drink of water?’ and instead of her
saying, ‘Go down and get your own water, you lazy bum, let her say ‘Sure,
drink until you’re satisfied, and please let me water your camels also,
I’d love to bring up 50 to 100 extra gallons.’ [loud laughter]
that’s what this says, so that there would be no mistake, when it happens. I mean if she’s got a two gallon jug, how
heavy is that? and that’s 50 journeys up
and down the steps to get water, dumping it out for the camels, they keep
drinking and drinking and drinking, ‘Let it happen that way LORD,
please I need your help.’ God’s
Amazing Answer To Eleazar’s Prayer “And
it came to pass, before he had done speaking,” don’t
you like it when it happens like that? “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.” (verse 15) “Behold, Rebekah” Rivka in the
Hebrew, Rivka, I know a girl named Rivka.
It means “to tie,” it means “a noose” in the noun form. I have a Hebrew commentary with origin of
names, it means “to be fettered by her beauty,” to be bound or brought into the
noose, to be drawn in by her beauty. You
just don’t name your daughter “hangman’s noose,” that’s not the idea,
Rebekah. “And the damsel was
very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her
pitcher, and came up.” (verse 16) I
like this, she’s beautiful, her father’s a Sheik in the town, wealthy, and
she’s not spoiled. She’s not at home
saying ‘I want my Lexus,’ she grows up in a wealthy home and her dad is
sending her to get the water, she has a work ethic, there’s just good stuff
going on here. “And the servant ran
to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy
pitcher. And she said, Drink, my
lord: and she hasted, and let down her
pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water
for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into
the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all
his camels.” (verses 17-20) So she’s
running back and forth, not walking, she’s running back and forth, ‘Poor
thirsty camels,’ you know, she needed a pitcher after she’s done, I’m
sure. She runs back and forth with the
water, “and drew for all his camels.”
This is remarkable, “And the man wondering at her held his peace,
to wit whether the LORD
had made his journey prosperous or not.” (verse 21) I would be too,
he’s just scratching his head, he’s just wondering at her. So he’s watching it, she’s running up and
down to get the water for the camels, he’s saying ‘LORD,
this is you? Could this be you’ve
answered my prayer?’ Isn’t it funny, we’re like that, aren’t
we? You know, he stoops down, he listens
to us, he never wants us to tempt him or test him in a negative sense, but he
cares for us, we’re his children, and we can cast all of our cares upon him,
he’s the same God. “I am the LORD,
I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today
and forever.” He cares about the things we think are too
small for him to care about. Camel
Morgan said once a woman in his church said “I only bring my big things to
God,” he said “Mam, your big things are all little things to God.” 😊 So no sense wondering what’s big or little in
your life, to walk with him, to pour out our hearts, to know that he cares,
it’s the journey of our life. Christian
perfection again, not the perfection of performance but a perfection of
relationship, Oswald Chambers says. “And
it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden
earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels
weight of gold; and said, Whose daughter
art thou? tell me, I pray thee:
is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the
daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.” (verses
22-24) Now this is Abraham’s
brother’s granddaughter, that’s what he’s hearing. “She said moreover unto him, We have both
straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and
worshipped the LORD.”
(verses 25-26) Imagine this, a 500 mile journey, does it take
a month and a half, two months, pulls up with his ten camels and some other
servants with him, has no idea where to go, what to do. So he gets by the well, maybe because Abraham
was living by the well in Beersheba, he just in his heart, draws up to the
well, makes the camels kneel down, and he just thinks ‘OK LORD,
what do I do now? How about if you help
me find a girl, just a beautiful one, that’s what Isaac would want, I’m sure,
and let her come up and say, Ya, you can drink, and let me water all your
camels.’ SNAP! ‘Who are you?’ ‘I’m Abraham’s brother’s granddaughter, and
there’s plenty of room in our house for you, and he worships, he worships.’ I bet he did.
“And he said, Blessed be the LORD
God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy
and his truth:” notice this please, “I being
in the way, the LORD
led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” (verse 27) Now she hears for the first time. No doubt the family had talked about Abraham,
he had gone through the desert, he had headed west, and they hadn’t been
updated for maybe many years and hadn’t heard anything about him. Now she hears this story, and she had
wondered, she had no doubt never been out of this small town, and now her mind
is filled with wonder, no doubt as she hears this. I like the fact that Eleazar says this, “being
on the way, the LORD
led me” You know, if the Lord is encouraging you to do
something, don’t just sit there, because if you’re in the way, you’re easier to
steer. It’s much easier to steer a
moving car than one that’s stuck in the mud.
Again, Christians will do that, ‘I know the Lord wants me to have a
job,’ ‘Are you looking?’ ‘No, I’m trusting the Lord in faith.’ ‘Oh really?
Are you making calls?’ ‘No, the phone will ring, if the Lord wants me to
have a job, it’s going to come.’ Now,
I noticed you got up and made a ham sandwich, you didn’t say ‘If the Lord
wants me to eat the refrigerator will open, the ham’s going to float out, the
roll’s going to come over here, the sandwich is going to go together, and the
Lord’s gonna stick it in my mouth.’ Isn’t
it funny, we don’t apply that across the board.
He says ‘in the way, as I was obedient, as I was moving, as I
stepped into this plan in obedience to my master, as I was doing the Father’s
will, he directed me, in the way, he led me.’ “And the damsel ran, and told them of
her mother’s house these things.” (verse 28)
and I bet she did, amazing she’s got any energy left after watering
all those camels. “And Rebekah had a
brother, and his name was Laban:
and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.” (verse 29) We’re going to spend some time with him
before we get through Genesis. Why did
he run? We’re told here, “And it came
to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets” this is Laban, he sees the
gold and he’s on the way “upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the
words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came
unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.” (verse 30) It
says when Laban sees the gold, he’s motivated.
“And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD;
wherefore standest thou without?” bring your gold,
“for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw
and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet
that were with him.” (verses 31-32)
So we’re not told how many men Abraham had sent with Eleazar. “And there was set meat before him
to eat: but he said, I will not eat,
until I have told mine errand. And he
said, Speak on.” (verse 33) more important to him than his daily bread. “And he said, I am Abraham’s
servant. And the LORD
hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and
silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my
master when she was old: and unto him
hath he given all that he hath.” (verses 34-36) Now imagine Rebekah is sitting, listening to
this. And I’m sure it wasn’t that
condensed, ‘this is what has come, I’m Abraham’s servant,’ and
there must have been some dialogue back and forth, ‘Yes, it’s been many
years, God has blessed them, you wouldn’t believe the herds and the flocks and
the gold and the silver, how God has blessed them, and at a hundred and when
Sarah was ninety God finally opened her womb and rejuvenated their youth and
granted them a son, his name is Isaac, and I’m here at the behest of my master
to bring a bride for his son.’ Rebekah
must be amazed as she’s listening to the servant Eleazar, telling about this
son, born miraculously, raised, offered on Moriah, back from the dead as it
were. “And my master made me swear,
saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the
Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: but
thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto
my son. And
I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. And
he said unto me, The LORD,
before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and
thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house:”
(verses 37-40) The story of the Bible, as it were. “Then shalt thou be clear from this
oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one,
thou shalt be clear from my oath. And
I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD
God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: behold,
I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin
cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a
little water of thy pitcher to drink;
and she say to me, Both drink thou, and
I will also draw for thy camels: let
the same be the woman whom the LORD
hath appointed out for my master’s son. And
before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her
pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray
thee.” (verses 41-45) The
Silent Prayer In Your Heart--‘Are You Willing To Go?’ Now
take notice of that, he said he prayed, now he’s saying he’s praying in his
heart. We know, we often codify prayer,
and we do the same thing with devotions [Calvary Chapel uses the term
“devotions” for what amounts to what we in the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God
call “prayer & Bible study” which spells out a little bit more clearly what
“devotions” means. I go for the more
literal term of “prayer & Bible study,” myself], ‘I gotta go do my
devotions,’ devotions are great and I pray you do them, but what God cares
about is devotion. Devotions can be part
of that, but devotions [prayer & Bible study] without devotion are just the
Law, it’s just nothing. And prayer is
not just sitting in a certain position.
You know, certainly there are times to get alone, Paul said ‘For
this cause I bend my knee before God the Father,’ there is something
about bowing on our knees before the Father, and it’s healthy and it’s
wonderful, and it puts things in perspective.
But you don’t want to drive with your eyes closed in traffic, everybody
around me seems to be doing that, you don’t want to do that. And there are times when prayer is just what
we’re saying before the Lord in our heart.
“Let the words of my mouth” David said, “and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD,
my redeemer.” Sometimes
it’s just that, ‘Lord, could you just let this happen,’ and snap! it
goes, because he hears our hearts. He
says here it was in my heart, I asked her, “And she made haste, and let down
her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy
camels drink also: so I drank, and she
made the camels drink also.” (verse 46) Laban’s thinking ‘Good Sis, good! Get the guy with the gold!’ “And I asked her, and said, Whose
daughter art thou? And she said,
The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the
bracelets upon her hands. And
I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD,
and blessed the LORD
God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s
brother’s daughter unto his son. And
now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the
right hand, or to the left.” (verses 47-49)
‘Let me know, are you going to do
this? Does this sound right to
you?’ “Then
Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her,
and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the LORD
hath spoken. And
it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped
the LORD,
bowing himself to the earth. And
the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment,
and gave them to Rebekah: he gave
also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And
they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried
all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my
master. And
her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few
days, at least ten; after that she shall go.” (verses 50-55) ‘You
know, it’s tough, you showed up yesterday, you’re going to take my daughter,
just give us a few days,’ “And
he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD
hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. And
they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And
they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.” (verses 56-58) You have to understand the picture here
that’s being brought in front of us.
Rebekah willing to begin a journey, guided by Eleazar, to meet the promised
son, sight unseen, it says ‘Whom we love with joy unspeakable, though we
haven’t seen him, born a miraculous birth, this son, heir of all things,
offered himself on Moriah,’ and Rebekah’s saying ‘I will
go.’ Eleazar, a picture of the
Holy Spirit, coming, giving a token of the treasures of the Father’s house,
saying ‘the Father wants to gather you to his Son, and you need to make
this journey, and it has to be your decision, and no one’s going to force
you. This son was born a miraculous
birth, offered himself on Mount Moriah, are you willing to go?’ Same question tonight, are you
willing to go? God the Father has sent
his Son to die on the cross in your place, the Holy Spirit will give a token to
your heart of the wealth of the Father’s house, he will bear witness. “Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for
those who love him, but by his Spirit he has made those things real to
us.” Are you willing? And here’s the interesting thing, you know,
that when Rebekah climbed on those camels and they headed off, it was a two
month journey, she asked Eleazar a thousand questions, ‘Tell me again, how
tall is he? Is he tall, dark and
handsome? What’s he look like? What is his hobby, how do I know he’s going
to love me? What if I get there and he
doesn’t find me attractive? What if I
get there and he doesn’t want me? What
if I’ve invested all of this time in the journey, and it’s not everything you
said it was when I finally get there?
What if I finally go to cross into the father’s house, and I’m not
accepted?’ Isn’t it interesting,
when you and I come to Christ, we come by faith, we know so little of him the
day we get saved. But we say ‘I will
come.’ And it is in the journey that
we ask a thousand questions, and the Holy Spirit speaks to us and bears witness
of the Son. Jesus said he [the Holy
Spirit] won’t speak of himself when he comes, but will take the things that are
mine and reveal them to you. What a
picture. No wonder God the Father slows
the pace down and reiterates, and then tells the story over again. And as he’s looking at this remarkable,
remarkable scene, the son having offered himself on Moriah, we don’t see Isaac
again until the Spirit, until Eleazar the servant, brings the bride to the
father’s house, that’s the next time Isaac is back in the picture. What a wonderful scene is brought before us
here, the servant bringing the bride to the son. One of the most oldest and beautiful love
stories no doubt in literature anywhere.
“I will go.” Part
Of The Abrahamic Birthright Promise Is Bestowed On Rebekah “And
they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and
his men. And
they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her,
Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of
millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.”
(verses 59-60) it was a blessing in those
days. [Comment: But notice, this blessing is in total harmony
with the promised birthright blessing that had been coming onto Abraham from
Yahweh-God, expanding from Genesis 12 through 22, where in Genesis 22:17-18 God
said to Abraham “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I
will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is
upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou
hast obeyed my voice.” We will
learn later in Genesis 35:9-12 this “gate of his enemies”
is repeated as the birthright promise is passed on to Jacob, which would
ultimately come onto “a nation and company of nations,” which Genesis
48 shows this birthright promise is pronounced by Jacob on Joseph’s two sons,
one prophecied to become a great nation and the other a great company of
nations, both possessing “the gates of their enemies,” which is
part of the birthright promise. Those
two boys, Ephraim and Manasseh, become two tribes and form part of the 10
northern tribes of Israel, which became lost historically after their
deportation in 721BC at the hands of the Assyrian Empire. But a clue to their modern identity is found
in this little noticed phrase “gates of their enemies” which is part of the
birthright promise. More on this
later. But don’t forget, Israel was
composed of 13 tribes, with the priestly tribe of Levi not being counted as a
tribe, but was indeed a tribe, so the early nation of Israel under Saul and
David on through Solomon was composed of 12 tribes, the Jews, or Judah only
being one tribe out of 12 other tribes.
Ask yourself, “what is “a gate of your enemy?” In reality, it is a military choke-point,
such as the Suez Canal, Aden, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Panama Canal, etc.] “be thou the mother of thousands
of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.”
you know, let your family be victorious and stand. “And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and
they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his
way.” (verse 61) “followed the man” who guided on the journey, by Eleazar,
to a father’s house, to a son that they had not seen, “and the servant took
Rebekah, and went his way.” Now
again, between verses 61 and 62 the journey is skipped again. That goes by, if you don’t mind, in the
twinkling of an eye, that’s how fast we find the Bride before the Son. Now verse 62, we’re back, “And Isaac came
from the way of the well Lahairoi;” (verse 62a) “the well of him that
liveth and seeth,” please note, we’re going to find Isaac in a relationship to
wells, very remarkable. He unstops the
wells of his father, Abraham, he unclogs them.
The Philistines had clogged them up, the world had clogged them up. I’ll tell you this, you and I live in a
generation where we so desperately need to unclog the wells of our fathers, of
Moody and of Spurgeon and of Whitfield, of Jonathan Edwards, and of Finney [and
of George Mueller], the great revivals that took place and changed the course
of this nation, the wells have been clogged with nonsense and with dirt and
with rubbish. Isaac is a very
interesting picture as we journey through we’ll take more time and look at
that. “And Isaac came from the way of
the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. And
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide:” the
King James says “to meditate,” the gloss in your column there should say “to
pray in the field at eventide,” isn’t it interesting, meditative man goes in
the evening, dusk, to be alone, to seek the LORD,
an interesting man, “and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the
camels were coming. And
Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac,” King
James says “she lighted off the camel.” (verses 62-64) The Hebrew indicates “she fell off
her camel,” first impressions. “For
she had said unto the servant,” to
Eleazar, “What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?” after
500 miles, “And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil,” evidently she
let go of the horn on the saddle on the camel and tried to cover her face real
fast with the veil, therefore she took a veil “and covered herself.” (verse 65) because
didn’t want Isaac to see her without her veil, but he saw her laying on the
ground next to the camel instead, she tried to cover herself up real fast…“And
the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.” I don’t have to tell you, we’ve been
through it twice, ‘I got there, I said LORD,
how about this, let a girl come, let her do this,’ and
Isaac said ‘Are you kidding, we got a good strong woman, water camels, good,
and pretty, ooh [speaking with a Russian accent], “And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s
tent,” who had gone home to be with the LORD,
“and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
(verses 66-67) and notice, “and Isaac was comforted after his
mother’s death,” the son of their old age, born when your mom is 90, God giving
her strength again, again, settled with all of the years of experience, growing
up under Abraham and Sarah. Again,
people say ‘Would you love to be 20 again?’ Ya, if I could know what I know now I’d love
to be 20. Well they got to do that. That got to be young again knowing what they
knew, so just imagine having the energy to raise up a toddler at 92, you
know. He was comforted after his mother’s
death. She’s been gone for a number of
years, Sarah’s been dead now about 20 years.
You’re not in a rush, are you?” Genesis
25:1-11 “Then
again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2
And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan,
and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. 3
And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and
Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And
the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of
Keturah. 5 And
Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 6
But unto the sons of the concubines,
which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son,
while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. 7
And these are the days of the
years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen [175]
years. 8 And
Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of
years; and was gathered to his people. 9
And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried
him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the
Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10
the field which Abraham purchased of the
sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried,
and Sarah his wife. 11 And
it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and
Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.” Abraham
Died In A Good Old Age, Satiated “Then
again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.” (verse 1)
Abraham’s between 135 and 140, he’s getting married again, and he’s going to
have six more sons. Now look, Sarah’s
been dead for 20 years, Abraham did not go and find someone else, he was more
concerned about Isaac and the promises of God and that’s what he gave himself
to. At this point Isaac has his own wife
and has kind of stepped out of Abraham’s life, he’s alone in many ways. And Keturah no doubt is someone who had been
in the camp, she’s not somebody he’s unfamiliar with. Her name means “incense,” and she was
probably that to Abraham, he’s going to live about 35 more years. And she must have been that to him in his old
age, a token, aroma, something sweet and comforting to him in his old age. He’ll live 35 years or so after he marries
her. “And she bare him Zimran, and
Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian,” who will become a perennial enemy
of Israel [and the tribe from which Moses marries into when he marries
Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian] “and Ishbak, and
Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and
Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were
Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and
Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All
these were the children of Keturah.” (verses 2-4) Now something interesting happens from verse
5, really from 7 to 11, the Holy Spirit slows down and kind of dwells on the
passing of Abraham. But what other man,
in one sense, in all of the Old Testament was called “the friend of God”? It’s an interesting picture. Notice, “And Abraham gave all that he had
unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the
concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from
Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.” (verses
5-6) And believe me, the sons of
Isaac these days wish Abraham had sent them eastward, because the rest of them
have all of the world’s oil reserves at this point in time [now these mostly
would be the sons of Ishmael, with the sons of Keturah mixed into them in some
ways we won’t be able to sort out until after Jesus’ 2nd
coming]. So he sent them eastward, Saudi
Arabia, Iraq. “And these are
the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore
and fifteen [175] years.” (verse 7)
Isn’t it interesting, “these are the days of the years” because you live
your life in days, not in years, you live your life in days. In Israel there was the morning and the
evening sacrifice, every day. They
started their day seeing the smoke rise from the sanctuary, and a little lamb
was being offered for them, it’s the way they started their day. And they ended their day with the evening
sacrifice. That’s the way you and I
should live, every day, wake up, God’s given you another day, remembering first
thing in the morning Jesus died for your sins, you have a day, this has been a
good day, busy day, been a good day. And
remembering when you lay your head down at night ‘Lord, you died for me,
shed your blood for me.’ “these are
the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore
and fifteen [175] years. And Abraham
gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of
years; and was gathered to his people.” (verses 7-8) If you have a King James you’ll notice “of
years” is in italics, “and was gathered to his people.” What it says is this, Abraham gave up the
ghost [the “spirit in man” cf. 1st Corinthians 2:9-13], he was done,
he yielded it, it was time to go. He was
happy to go, he had been looking for a city whose builder and maker was God for
years. He’s been in the Land of Promise
since he was 75, he’s been a pilgrim and a sojourner for 100 years. And it isn’t just how we begin, it’s how we
finish. Abraham is finishing well. Abraham finishes well. It says that he gives up the ghost, he’s not
fighting, he’s yielding, he dies in a good old age. I read a book today, the guy in the book said
‘Satan has no happy old men or happy old women.’ Louis, I talked to him when he was 86, he
was dying of cancer, he said “Joe, getting old ain’t for sissies.” I happened to be in last ten days with
three people, World War II generation, all three of them have gone on to be
with the Lord since I saw them in the last ten days. None of them were striving, all of them were
at peace, I laughed and talked with all of them, ready to see Jesus, ready to
go. Abraham gave up the ghost, he died
in a good old age, an old man, and it just says in the Hebrew, “and full”
there’s no “of years.” The word is
“satisfied.” One translator said it
could be translated “satiated,” he’s filled, he dies, gives up the ghost,
filled with years, all the days of his years, walking with the LORD,
and he dies “satisfied,” he’s full. I
mean, he has to say to Isaac ‘Isaac, I couldn’t live another day, look at
what God has done, he called me from Ur of the Chaldees over a hundred years
ago, think of what’s taken place, think of what he’s done, think of how you
were born when I was 100 years old. Look
at what he’s done, look at the promises he’s made.’ He’s dying at a 175 years old.
Jacob and Esau are 15 years old at this point in time, they’ve both been
born by now. Eber, from Genesis 10:24,
the grandson of Shem is still alive, he is 460 years old at this point in
time. We’re going to find, if you look
in verse 9, his sons, Isaac, notice, and Ishmael buried him. Imagine.
That’s why it says he was satisfied, from his deathbed he must have
looked and saw his boys together. You
know, he had sent Hagar and Ishmael away at the behest of Sarah, and God had
said ‘Listen to your wife.’
And here as he is breathing his last, in his last days it seems Ishmael
and Isaac are together again. There’s no
hatred, there’s no animosity, what a way for a father or a mother to leave the
world, full, satisfied, yielding up the ghost, God blessing so incredibly. “And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him
in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,
which is before Mamre; the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of
Heth: there was Abraham buried, and
Sarah his wife.” (verses 9-10) they lay him next to his sweetheart, who was
no doubt dust and bones by now. They are
still there in the same place, waiting for the King of kings to come, and to
raise them, and fulfill all of the promises he longed for [cf. 1st
Corinthians 15:49-54], they are laying side by side today in Hebron, in
Israel What a good old age, what a great
life, blessed, not fighting at the end, Isaac’s married, Esau and Jacob are
born, the boys, Isaac, Ishmael together, no animosity, Abraham being laid in
the cave of Machpelah next to his sweetheart, what a remarkable, remarkable
story. We’re out of time, so was Abraham
[laughter]. We will pick up in verse
11 next week, “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God
blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.” that’s a good
place for us to pick up. Let’s have the
musicians come, we’ll sing a last song.
We’re going to pray, look, if you’re here this evening and you don’t
know Christ, if you want to come up during the last song and stand publicly we
encourage you to do that. You know, the
question was put to Rebekah, ‘Will you go? will you go?’ and she
said ‘I’m going to do it.’
And you know it’s interesting because Scripture tells us that God’s love
is set on us in such an incredible way, that it effects his heart. This is Rebekah, which means “one who fetters
by her beauty,” she chains somebody by her beauty. [Be careful, I was chained by a gal’s beauty
who would have been horrible for me, gotta look beyond mere beauty, for as
Pastor Joe has also said, ‘Beauty is skin deep, but ugly can go clear to the
bone.’ So use wisdom.] In the Song of Solomon the LORD
says ‘Turn your eyes away from me, you’ve taken me like an army takes the
enemy, you’ve taken my heart,’ the LORD
says. [And we are the Lord’s Rivka, the
Bride of Christ] I don’t know what you
think of yourself this evening, if you’re unsaved and think ‘The Lord can’t
love me, the sin on my resume’ is way too much,’ you’re absolutely wrong,
he’s in love with you, he’s paid the price already for your ticket to heaven
[actually, to eternal life in the Kingdom of God, which will end up on earth
where the New Jerusalem will reside forever (cf. Revelation 21:1-23)]. And all he wants you to do is to come and to
take it. Your part of the deal is
repenting, saying ‘I’m willing to turn away from my sin, and I’m willing to
turn to you and accept your forgiveness through your blood shed on the cross, I
believe tonight you died in my place, the Holy Spirit has come like Eleazar,
and tonight I’ve realized some of the treasure of the Father’s house, I’ve got
a foretaste of things that I don’t want to miss out on. If this is all true, and I believe it is, I
want to know when I close my eyes in this world that I’m forgiven, I’m going to
go to heaven.’ If that’s you this
evening, as we sing this last song, I’d encourage you get out of your seat and
come down and stand here and let us pray with you. When the service is over, if you want prayer
for anything, I’d just encourage you to, the pastors and elders will be down
here, we’d love to pray with you. But
let’s stand, let’s pray together, let’s lift our voices and our hearts in
worship, and let’s give opportunity if the Lord would bring someone this
evening, or two, I don’t know. He does
that work…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Genesis 24:1-67 and
Genesis 35:1-10, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia,
13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
19116] related
links: Human
history is simply about God the Father gathering a Bride out of human history
for his Son in eternity. And the rest of
human history is to teach mankind, through hard experience, that Satan’s way
doesn’t work, and that ultimately they will learn that God’s way works, as the
Millennial Kingdom of God on earth will teach them. This ultimate Plan of God is revealed in the
prophetic meaning of God’s Holy Days, especially as human history is wrapped up
in the prophetic meaning of God’s Fall Holy Days, see https://unityinchrist.com/E-Mails/June%2014/FallHolyDays-short.htm Audio
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