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1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac." 5 And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?" 6 But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there." ~ Genesis 24:1-8
Today, we transition into Genesis 24 which gives us the details of the story about how Isaac married Rebekah. One thing that we must understand in order to really grasp the teaching within this chapter are the roles of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each are prefigured in this chapter.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things."
In this passage, 140 year old Abraham was a picture of God the Father. The next chapter informs us that Isaac was married at age 40. Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac when they were 100 and 90 years old respectively. Sarah died when she was 127. So, this passage took place 3 years after Sarah’s death and it was the year 2149 BC. In his old age, Abraham was blessed by YHWH in all things. We already know from Abraham’s life that he was a very wealthy man and in a few verses we’ll see that he will use his immense wealth in the process of obtaining a bride for his son Isaac.
In v.2 of today's passage we read, "So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh."
As Abraham was a picture of God the Father, the head servant of Abraham's house was a picture of God the Holy Spirit. Abraham called out to the oldest servant of his house who made all the decisions and directed all the people in Abraham's family. Eliezer, Abraham's servant, was the most trusted person in Abraham’s life. Earlier some 55 years, we saw in Genesis 15 that this was Eliezer of Damascus who was the chief steward of the house. He spoke not on his own authority, but on the authority of the one whom he served. This is exactly how the Lord Jesus described the Holy Spirit in John 16. Eliezer means "God is Help." The Lord Jesus not only called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of Truth" but He also called Him "the Helper" in John 14.
In those days, when promises were made, since the thigh was the strongest muscle, covenants were established through the object lesson of placing one's hand under the another's thigh. Since the servant was being dispatched to find a wife for the son, he placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham. Throughout this passage Abraham's servant remained unnamed even though we learned of his name back in Genesis 15. He was a picture of the unassuming Holy Spirit whose role is to draw our attention to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.3-4 of today's passage we read, "3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
We’ve already seen that YHWH walked in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were there, and He walked up to Abraham as he sat in a tent. We will also learn, from both Old and New Testaments, that YHWH is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The mystery of the Godhead and the mystery of the incarnation are only understood by those who seek out the person of our God with the greatest of intensity.
It was by YHWH, who is the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that Abraham made his servant swear that he would not take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom he dwelt. The word Abraham used for "dwell" has the same numerical value as the name of the chief servant, Eliezer. Both of them numerically equal 318. What we are being told here is that Abraham, who is a picture of God the Father, is sending his helper Eliezer, who is a picture of God the Holy Spirit, to conduct a particular task which was his responsibility of finding a wife for Isaac. To this day this reveals the role of the Holy Spirit who is yet wooing all who would believe in the Son as Savior.
Abraham remembered that God cursed Canaan, Noah’s grandson in Genesis 9. He also knew that God said that the Amorites, or the people in Canaan, were marked off for judgment because of their sin in Genesis 15. Knowing this about the Canaanites surely gave Abraham great pause about forming marriage alliances with them. So while God didn’t tell Abraham explicitly to not take a wife for his son from the Canaanites, Abraham had been so defined by the word of God that he knew what to do.
In v.5 of today's passage we read, "And the servant said to him, 'Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?'"
Before swearing the oath, the servant asked an obvious question because it’s something that if he didn’t get an answer for in advance, it could get him into trouble later. He asked, "What if I can’t find someone willing to follow me back here? Shall I take Isaac there?" This question revealed that he assumed he would find someone but that she may want to see Isaac first, before actually agreeing to marry him. If this happens, then would it be right to take Isaac back to Mesopotamia to meet her?
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "But Abraham said to him, 'Beware that you do not take my son back there.'"
Isaac was not to be taken back to the land where his bride was residing just as the Lord Jesus will not return to the land where we are now. Instead, we will meet him in the clouds for the first time when we meet Him at the Rapture. Without seeing the Lord Jesus, we must first be convinced that He is the One in whom we will place our trust and our hope. If we aren’t willing to, by faith, receive what He offers, then we will have no part at all with Him. Just as the choice was given to the bride of Isaac, the choice is also given to all who choose Christ as Savior.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there."
Since God is sovereign over all of creation, Abraham trusted that in the way that God led him to Himself, God would do the same for his servant. In the same way, we can trust God to work things out in our lives in different ways at different times and fulfilling different roles in the process.
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there."
Abraham already knew the outcome of what he requested. God had promised him that he and his descendants would possess the land. He also knew that one of the Canaanites would not be a suitable wife for Isaac. Since Abraham had been told these things, he told the servant that he would be released from the oath if the woman would not come back with Him. They would know that she was the one if there was the willingness on the part of the bride to return with the servant. What a picture of our salvation is this that she had to accept the deal by faith and not by sight. Isaac was to remain in the Promised Land while the servant sought out a bride for him. In the same way, the Lord Jesus remains in heaven until the Holy Spirit has made His bride ready for Him. Just like Rebekah, we must be willing to live by faith, and by faith alone, in what God has promised.
