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34 So he said, "I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. 37 Now my master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.' 39 And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me.'" 40 But he said to me, "The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. 41 You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath." 42 And this day I came to the well and said, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, 43 behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, 'Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,'" 44 and she says to me, "Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son. 45 But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink." 46 And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, "Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also." So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. 47 Then I asked her, and said, "Whose daughter are you?" And she said, "The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him." So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 48 And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. ~ Genesis 24:34-48
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 24 where we are witnessing how to go about finding a life mate.
In v.34-35 of today's passage we read, "34 So he said, 'I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.'"
The servant of Abraham was very careful to make it known to Bethuel's family who sent him to Mesopotamia. In addition, the servant of Abraham was quick to give credit to YHWH for the success of Abraham. And, as mentioned before, the servant of Abraham provides for us a picture of the Holy Spirit who according to John 15:26-27, He faithfully tells all willing enough to listen about the Lord Jesus. And, He also brings to the believer in Christ spiritual gifts. In the same way, the servant of Abraham had been sent on the behalf of the son carrying all the gifts needed to accomplish the mission.
In v.36-38 of today's passage we read, "36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. 37 Now my master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.'"
Sarah was the cousin of Milcah, Bethuel’s mother and Laban’s grandmother. Laban's family was Abraham and Sarah's family. And, they surely marveled at the miraculous nature of Isaac’s birth since they knew Sarah's age. And, due to the fact that the Lord had blessed Abraham so much, Abraham's servant was quick to let them know that all that belonged to Abraham belonged to his son. Isaac was the heir and his bride would therefore enjoy all that was the son's.
What a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son, and us His bride. In 2 Peter 1:3 we read, "By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence."
In v.37-48 we read, "37 Now my master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.' 39 And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me.' 40 But he said to me, 'The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. 41 You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.' 42 "And this day I came to the well and said, 'O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, 43 behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, 'Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,' 44 and she says to me, 'Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,'—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.' 45 "But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, 'Please let me drink.' 46 And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.' So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. 47 Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 48 And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son."
One way that we arrive upon the veracity of a story is its consistency when retold. This is the case here with the retelling of Abraham's story by his servant. It is this type of consistency that authenticates the Bible as the Word of God. The best-selling book in history remains revered by Christians as God's Holy Word. The Bible spans centuries of history, contains a variety of literary styles and culminates in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as the God who redeemed sinful man. The Bible is not a book that arrived in complete form at one point in history. Instead, the Bible was written over a period of some 1,500 years by 39 different writers.
We have copies of thousands of manuscripts of the Bible and throughout history these copies show that the Bible has been transmitted accurately. Despite common skeptical claims that the Bible has often been changed through the centuries, the physical evidence tells another story. There are minor differences in manuscripts, called variants, but none of these variants impact or change key Christian beliefs or claims. Other physical evidence includes archeological finds. No archaeological find has ever proven the Bible to be less than the Word of God.
Although the Bible is viewed as one book, it’s actually a collection of many books. God worked through everyday people, inspired by Him, to record what we have now in this wonderful book. Every good engineer knows that having their project design completed is not enough. The final product’s design is important and necessary because it shows where the project is headed. But it doesn’t explain how to get there. A good engineer knows how to draft a design and how to create the steps to making it a reality. In other words, a good builder or engineer or architect knows how to create the end and the means to that end.
God’s end goal for Abraham was that his family would be a nation living in the land of Canaan, blessed so that they would be a blessing to all the families of the earth. That was God’s design. God ordained this plan, and He also ordained the means of its fulfillment. Like a good builder, God designed the end and the means. The final product and all the steps to complete the final product prove that this was God’s idea. He was the one working all the details and decisions in this story together toward the glorious end of fulfilling His promises to Abraham. And, the fulfillment of all of that yielded the greatest story of all time: God solved sinful man's awful dilemma by becoming a part of His creation in order to redeem His creation.
