"When
God Provides"
(Genesis
24:1-28,52-58,62-67)
By Dr. Peter
Barnes
At First Presbyterian
Church
October 13,
2002
Introduction
Whenever I have the privilege of doing premarital
counseling with a couple, the first questions I ask them
are, "How did you meet? How did you fall in love?
And how did he ask you to marry him?" I love hearing
the stories of romance and especially the clever ways couples
have gotten engaged.
One couple went to a museum, which was something
he didn't usually like to do. As they were looking at the
various exhibits, she noticed a shining object in a box
in one of the displays. When she went over to see what
it was, she discovered it was a diamond ring with a piece
of paper that read, "I will love you forever if
you just say 'yes.' Taylor, will you marry me?"
Everyone around them was staring at the couple and smiling.
Taylor responded, "Of course, I'll marry you!"
Another couple went to the Victoria and Albert's
restaurant while they were at Disney World. During the
meal the waiter brought a vase of a dozen red roses to the
table, and then he presented her with a covered silver tray.
When the cover was removed, a glass slipper containing a
ring was revealed. On the glass slipper were engraved the
words, "Will You Marry Me?" He got down
on his knee, professed his love for her, and asked her to
marry him. She said, "Yes!"
When Lorie and I got engaged we went to 7 Central,
our favorite restaurant on the north shore of Boston, and
we were seated at our favorite table near the fireplace.
It was the evening of Easter Sunday in 1978. In the middle
of the meal, I slipped Lorie a piece of paper that had a
poem I'd written on it. The last line of the poem read,
"Will you marry me?" Her eyes welled up
with tears, and she said, "Yes!"
Don't you love romantic stories?! People will
do elaborate things to profess their love and propose marriage.
In the passage before us this morning we read of another
proposal of marriage, but while it, too, was an elaborate
proposal that involved a journey of ten days by camel, the
question was popped in a rather unusual way by today's standards.
As we consider Genesis chapter twenty-four, there are three
matters I want you to notice with me: 1) Abraham's charge;
2) the servant's mission; and 3) God's blessed provision.
I. Abraham's
Charge
"Abraham was now old and well advanced
in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He
said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge
of all that he had, 'Put your hand under my thigh. I want
you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God
of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but
will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife
for my son Isaac'" (Gen. 24:1-4).
In the ancient near east, it was the responsibility
of the parents to arrange marriages for their children.
This may sound strange to us here in the west in the twenty-first
century, but it was the common practice of antiquity, and
it is still practiced in some cultures around the world
today. As a friend of mine from the Far East once said
to me, "You in the west marry the ones you love,
but we in the east love the ones we marry!"
There is wisdom to that saying, and the divorce rates are
not as high in eastern cultures as in ours here in the west.
By this time in the book of Genesis Abraham was
very old; Sarah had died, and Isaac was nearly forty years
of age. Abraham longed to see his son suitably married
before he passed away, too. Although his faith never doubted
that God would fulfill His promise of an heir, still Abraham
wanted to wrap his arms around the second link between him
and his descendants. Therefore, he asked his chief servant,
probably Eliezer who is also mentioned in Genesis chapter
fifteen, to swear an oath that he would not take a daughter
for his son from among the Canaanites with whom they lived,
but rather that he would travel back to Haran, to the land
of Abraham’s relatives and find a wife for Isaac and arrange
for a marriage as was the custom of the day. Abraham went
on to ask the servant to swear that he would also not allow
Isaac to return to the land of Abraham's relatives, the
land the patriarch had left at the call of God. Abraham
was convinced that the Lord would give the promised land
to his descendants if they were faithful to stay in the
new country. The servant agreed, and he swore an oath to
his master.
Why was it so important to Abraham that Isaac
not marry any of the daughters of the Canaanites and only
marry "in the family", so to speak. I believe
the primary reason was because the Canaanites did not share
Abraham's belief in the one true God. Their religion was
polytheistic, and at various times they engaged in fertility
rites and child sacrifice as acts of worship to appease
the gods and secure their favor. Abraham did not want his
son to marry into such a spiritual environment, and so he
went to great lengths to ensure that Isaac married someone
who shared his same spiritual values and commitments.
Abraham's concern is similar to the one Paul expressed
in his admonition in 2 Corinthians chapter six where he
wrote, "Do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.
For...what fellowship can light have with darkness? "
(1 Cor. 6:14,15). The point Paul was making was that
believers should be careful not to form binding relationships,
especially marriage, with unbelievers because it might weaken
their Christian commitment, the integrity of their convictions,
and their standards for life. The mismatch would result
in lessening their commitment to Christ and perhaps lead
them to a place of spiritual compromise.
If Abraham was concerned about these things, we
who are Christian parents should be as well. We should
make it our aim not only to raise our children in the ways
of God but also to do everything we can to influence them
in the direction of choosing another Christian for a mate
when they decide to get married. Since our children were
born, Lorie and I have been praying with regularity for
the wives our boys will one day marry. We have asked God
to be preparing these young women for our sons, to lead
them to a saving knowledge of Himself, and to protect and
guide them as they grow in grace. Lorie and I want to do
what we can to ensure that our boys will also marry "in
the family", so to speak, as well.
In the ancient near east, the responsibility for
arranging family marriages belonged to the parent. Abraham
believed he must find a wife for Isaac who would share the
same faith as he had in the same God, and so the patriarch
charged his servant with a holy task. The servant agreed,
and he set out on a mission.
II.
The Servant's Mission
In the story that unfolds before us, we see a faithful
servant heeding his master's charge, and with great prayerfulness
he goes on his mission. To travel from Hebron to the town
of Nahor was a journey of about five hundred miles, and
it would take ten days to get there by camel. This was
no small undertaking on the part of the servant. There
are several things I want you to notice about this faithful
servant and his unique approach to his mission.
A. The influence of a godly man. With
the exception of Abraham's intercession on behalf of Sodom
in Genesis chapter eighteen, this is the first recorded
prayer in the Bible. Where did this servant learn to pray
like that? Evidently he learned how to pray from Abraham.
When the servant arrived at Nahor, he prayed to God, "O
LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and
show kindness to my master Abraham" (Gen. 24:12).
The servant emulated the faith and the prayer life of
Abraham because of a lifetime of observing the patriarch
and his walk with God. The faithful servant had come to
trust in the God of his faithful master. Abraham's prayer
life was contagious.
Do you realize that you and I have an impact for
good or for ill on how people view God and whether or not
they will put their faith in Christ because of the way we
live our lives? You are a witness for Christ whether you
realize it or not, and either you are a good witness or
a bad one. Even when you are not aware of it, people take
notice of your walk with Christ.
David Howard, one of the great missionary statesmen
of our time and brother of Elizabeth Elliott, tells a remarkable
story concerning his father and himself. His dad was always
up by 5:00 a.m. every morning so that he could spend time
with God, in the Word and in prayer. One of the great efforts
of all five children in the Howard household was to see
if they could get up before their father. One morning David
got up so early that he just knew that he was going to arise
before his father for the first time. He got out of bed
and tiptoed down the stairs and walked quietly to his father's
study and peered through the door. There, to his chagrin,
was his father on his knees praying over a list of people
and things. His back was to David, and he did not notice
his son. Quietly David tiptoed up to his father and peered
over his shoulder, and he looked at the list of things for
which his dad was praying. There at the top of the page,
he saw his own name written - "David".
His father was praying for him, right at the top of the
list. David tiptoed back to his room that morning, but
he never forgot that experience. It was one of the things
that motivated him to go into the ministry years later.
Truth is as much caught as it is taught. That was true
for David Howard, and it was also true for Abraham's servant.
B. The pattern of the servant's prayer.
Abraham's servant had never read Paul's admonition in 1
Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray continually," but
he clearly understood the principle, and he practiced it
faithfully. The immediacy and fervency of the prayer recorded
in this passage indicates to me that this man prayed at
every turn, and he sought the Lord's direction and blessing
in all his endeavors. I also find it interesting that as
he prayed the servant also made a plan, and he went to the
spring to water his camels at the end of the day - the time
when all the women came out to draw water for their families.
If you want to catch a fish, go to where the fish are.
This reminds us that prayer should never be a substitute
for action.
What is your prayer life like? How continuous
are you in your prayers? Do you seek the Lord's will for
your life at every turn, with every decision, involving
the little things of life as well as the big ones? Do you
pray like this servant, looking for God to answer?
C. The use of signs. The servant wanted
to find the bride of God's choosing for Isaac, but how was
he to know who would be the right one? He knew some of
the qualities she must have - she must be from Abraham's
people, she must be a godly, virtuous person and, hopefully,
she'd be attractive. But suppose there were several young
women who fit these qualifications? How would he know which
was the right one?
The servant asked God to give him a sign. He
asked that when he requested a drink from a young woman,
if she said, "Drink, and I'll water your camels, too,"
let her be the one God has chosen for Isaac. Perhaps he
asked for this sign because to make this kind of offer would
mean that the young woman was strong and healthy, she was
industrious, and she was gracious and considerate of others.
The request was no small favor to ask and it may have been
somewhat unrealistic, because the average camel drinks twenty
gallons of water, and the servant had ten camels! He was
asking God to prompt the right woman to draw two hundred
gallons of water for the servant's camels if she was the
one for Isaac!
Some have asked, "Is it appropriate to ask
God for signs? Isn't this like Gideon and his fleece, and
wasn't that an indication of Gideon's lack of faith?"
I believe the situations are actually very different. Gideon
was afraid to do God's will; the servant was eager to do
it. Gideon's sign involved a miracle; the servant's sign
involved generosity. The servant's test was appropriate
to the task at hand, and it showed that he had thought out
his plan very carefully.
I believe it is appropriate in some instances
to ask God for a sign to determine His will in a matter,
but we need to be careful that we are pure in our motives
and that we are not trying to manipulate God in the situation.
We can't be like the man who was on a diet but asked God
if he should stop by the donut shop and get some goodies
for his co-workers at the office. He asked God for a sign
and said, "If you want me to stop by the donut shop,
then have a parking space open for me right in front of
the store." And sure enough, on the eighth trip around
the block, there the parking space was!
Do we expect too little of God? Why are we not
bolder in making requests of the Lord? Surely we do not
want to be presumptuous, but I think God wants us to step
out in faith more than we do. He wants us to risk a bit
and attempt great things for the Lord. If we do, we just
might be amazed at God's blessed provision to our requests.
III.
God's Blessed Provision
The passage tells us that God answered the servant's
prayer, and right away. Rebekah appeared before the servant
had finished praying, and after their brief conversation,
she immediately proceeded to fulfill the condition just
placed before God. Not only that, but Rebekah was also
one of Abraham's relatives. Everything was falling into
place. Rebekah took the servant to meet the rest of the
family, and he proceeded to present them with gifts (notice
the nose ring Rebekah got!) and tell them the amazing story
of God's answer to his prayer. When they asked Rebekah
if she was willing to go with the servant and travel to
Hebron to be Isaac's wife, she said, "I will go."
Her response was immediate, and the next day they were on
their way making the ten-day journey back to Hebron. The
text tells us that when they arrived, Isaac took her as
his wife, and he loved her.
Nothing in the recorded history of Rebekah so
places her in the true spiritual line of Abraham as much
as her decision here to leave her family and go to be Isaac's
wife. Whenever Abraham was asked to do something by God,
he obeyed immediately and without hesitation. Rebekah did
the same. She had probably never been away from home in
her entire life, but if God was calling her away, she wanted
to respond in faithful obedience immediately. The next
day she and the servant were off on their journey.
When God clearly shows you a new direction, don't
hesitate to follow His call. Be swift in your response to
do His bidding and fulfilling His request. Be adventuresome
like Rebekah and strike out on the new journey. A glorious
blessing awaits you at the other end. Leaving all that
is known and dear can be very frightening, but God is with
you every step of the way, and He blesses the faithful response
of His servants.
That was the kind of person Rebekah was, too,
and God's blessed provision - for Rebekah, for Abraham,
for the servant and for Isaac - was the result of her faithful
obedience to the call of God. Where is God calling you
to follow Him this day?
Seeking to do God's will, whether that involves
marriage or any other major decision in one’s life, is the
highest calling of the Christian disciple. We have seen
in this passage that prayer, determination, wisdom and obedience
are all key in the matter of following God's will for our
lives.
