A Wife is Found for Isaac

Well, good morning. It's great to see you this morning. Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Genesis. Chapter 24 for our time.

Of study in the word this morning. For those of you care groups that are meeting, we have discussion questions that are here on the front row. We would encourage you, discussion leaders to come up and, and grab those after, the service and if you would like to go to a care group. this weekend, just go over to the, care group, table after the service, and they'll be happy to connect you with the care group that you could attend.

Genesis chapter 24, we're continuing in our study through the book of Genesis, and as we continue in our study of this book, we come this morning to Genesis 24 and, this morning, we're gonna be looking at verses 1 through 27. And if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be a wife is found for Isaac. A wife is found for Isaac. I remember, a couple whose wedding I officiated about 15 years ago.

before their relationship began, they lived about 100 miles apart, and they knew, absolutely nothing of each other, but a, missionary couple that our church supports who knew the girl. They were visiting in Riverside at the time and, and they were talking to a couple in our church who knew the guy, and in the course of the conversation of these two couples, they began talking about this girl and guy that they each knew, and they realized that the two of them would be a good match for each other.

So each of these couples, ended up talking to their, friends, their single friends, and remi and encouraged them to go on a date, which they did. The date went well and the relationship seemed to take off for several months after that until one day the guy stopped dating the gal because he wasn't sure that she was the right one for him.

So the relationship fizzled. Then both the guy and the gal, unbeknownst to each other, created an account on eHarmony.com thinking, We're gonna move on and try to find someone else and to their amazement, eHarmony suggested them both as a match for each other. So it took some doing. The guy tried to ignore that for a while, but eventually he took the hint and started dating the girl again.

They got married and now they have 5 children. Everybody loves a good love story, right? Whenever Donna and I do premarital counseling during the first session with the engaged couple, we ask a million questions and what we want to know is how did the two of you meet each other? Was it love at first sight or did that come later?

And if not immediately, when did you realize that the other person was the one for you? We ask all of these questions and more. And we are greedy to know all the details. Because we love love stories, as you do also.

If you came to Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, and Rebecca, who later became his wife, and ask them to tell you their love story, Genesis 24 is the story that they would tell. The story that is told in Genesis chapter 24 is actually the most detailed matchmaking story in all of the Bible. It is actually the longest chapter. In the book of Genesis, and it is the longest and the most detailed telling of any single story in all of the book of Genesis.

Guys, more space is given in the book of Genesis to telling the story about how Isaac and Rebecca came to be married. Then is given to telling the story of how God created the world. In 6 days. Just think about that.

I believe it's 56 verses are given to the entire creation account in Genesis 1 and 2. 56 verses and 67 verses are given to telling the story of how Isaac and Rebecca came to be married. The question is why? Why is so much space given to the telling of this story?

And to answer that, I, I would encourage you to keep in mind what a slender thread God's whole plan of redemption is hanging on at this point. In the narrative of the book of Genesis, God made promises to Abraham that he would bless all the nations of the world through Abraham and give him many descendants that would outnumber the stars that could be seen in the heavens. God gives Abraham one son. Isaac, the Son of Promise, when Abraham is 100 years old.

And as the curtains open on Genesis 24, Abraham is 140 years old. And not sure how much longer he's going to live. And Isaac himself is 40 years old and still unmarried, living in the land of Canaan. With no marital prospects around him.

His dad won't let him marry a Canaanite gal, and his dad won't let him leave the land of Canaan. So where in the world is Isaac supposed to find a wife? On top of that, Sarah died 3 years prior. To the events of Genesis 24 and her death leaves a huge gaping hole in their family and in Isaac's heart.

the evidence from this chapter that we will see is that Isaac is still hurting from her death. He seems passive in this chapter and may not even be all that interested in getting married right now anyway. So imagine being Abraham. He's 140 years old and not getting any younger.

His son is 40 years old and somewhat depressed with zero prospects for a wife in the land of Canaan. Yet somehow through Isaac God is going to make a great nation. And carry forward his plan of redemption. Abraham figures out at this point as the chapter opens that it's time to act.

He remembers a few years prior when he heard the news about his brother and his brother's family back in their homeland in Huron, and how God had blessed his brother with descendants among whom was Rebecca. The news about these relatives lodged in Abraham's mind at the time and now a few years later, Abraham realizes that this is where we're supposed to get Isaac's wife from. So Abraham decides to act and that's how our story begins today. Lord willing, what we're gonna do is spend 3 weeks in This chapter.

I don't think you want me to preach through 67 verses in one week. Right? can I get an amen? Amen.

so we're gonna spend 3 weeks in, in this chapter. Today, we're going to study verses 1 through 27 that essentially tells us the story of how the woman for Isaac is found. How it was discovered to be Rebecca, whom God had appointed to be Isaac's wife, and the way we'll frame things is seven developments in the story of how a wife is found. For, Isaac.

Development number one as the chapter opens, is that Abraham obligates his servant not to get Isaac's wife from the Canaanites. He obligates his servant not to get Isaac's wife from the Canaanites. Look at how the story begins in verse one. Say now Abraham was old, advanced in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way.

We know again that Abraham is 140 years old at this point because we're told in Genesis 25:20 that Isaac was 40 years old when he got married, which would make Abraham 140 years old. Here in verse one, we're told that the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way and indeed God has blessed Abraham in every way except With a daughter-in-law A wife for his son. So look at what Abraham does starting in verse 2. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live Before Abraham sends off his servant on this mission to find a wife for Isaac, he wants his servant in advance to swear an oath.

And he doesn't just want his servant to stand there and swear an oath. He says, please place your hand. Under my thigh. Literally, this should be translated, please place your hand under my loin.

How's that? For seriousness. This is where, guys, Abraham bears the mark of the covenant through circumcision. And it is from Abraham's loins that would come his descendants as vast in number as the stars of heaven.

And he is commanding his servant to place his hand under the origin of all of that, because what he is asking from his servant has every bit of bearing upon the covenant that God has made to Abraham, that from his own body, from his own loins, descendants would come, who would bring blessing to all the families of the earth. What is it that he wants his servant to promise? He says in verse 3, I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live.

It's fascinating to me to note that Abraham is wanting his son to have a wife very badly.

So much so that he's going to act and send his servant on a mission here, but what comes out of his mouth first. is where Isaac's wife should not and cannot be taken from. And that is from the daughters. of the Canaanites among whom I live.

These are the people in the culture that surrounded Abraham. He saw what they believed, he observed what, how they lived. He knew from God's promises that God was going to disinherit the Canaanites from the Land of Promise. So Abraham knows absolutely that Isaac should not have a Canaanite wife.

The truth is It would have been tempting. For Abraham to find a daughter. A Canaanite woman, a daughter of some powerful Canaanite ruler to marry Isaac, that would give Isaac leverage in the land of Canaan and provide Isaac with many practical advantages. But Abraham wants nothing to do with that.

His days of conniving for advantages and settling for half measures are over. He's trusting God. And he says, do not. Take a wife for my son from among the Canaanites among whom I live.

He also doesn't say to his servant, well, let's first of all see how things go. If we can't, let's try not to, but if we can't find A wife for Isaac from where we would want to find one, then maybe As a backup plan, we can be open to him marrying a Canaanite woman. No, Abraham is not into that either. He makes his servants swear in advance by Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth that he will not take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom they lived.

In fact, later we'll learn in Abraham's mind, I, he, he's saying I would rather my son remain single for the rest of his life. Than that he marry a Canaanite. So if Abraham's servant cannot find a Canaanite woman, As a wife for Isaac, then where is he to find a wife for Isaac? This leads us to the next development in the story of how a wife was found for Isaac.

Number 2, Abraham obligates his servant to take Isaac's wife from his home country relatives or from his relatives in his former country. Look where Abraham's servant is to go to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham says in verse 4, but you will go to my country and to my relatives and take a wife for my son, Isaac. Now, Abraham's original home country, as many of, is Ur of the Chaldeans.

but his secondary home country is Haran, which was the place that God had called Abraham out of in Genesis chapter 12. You guys remember that? Like 5 years ago, we studied that in Genesis 12. basically, Abraham is telling his servant to go to Haran, which is about 470 miles from where Abraham is living right now, making this About at least a one month journey to Harran and then a month's journey back.

Based on Abraham's instruction, his servant is to swear an oath that he will go back to Abraham's home country in the region of Harran and go to Abraham's relatives who are still living there, which would mean Nehor, Abraham's brother, and his descendants in the line of Shem. And it is from these relatives that Abraham's servant is to take a wife for Isaac. Fair enough. But what if Abraham's servant travels all of this distance.

And finds a gal in the region of Harran who is among the relatives of Abraham's brother. Yet, She's not willing to travel away from home, 475 miles back to Canaan to marry a man that she's never met before. Perhaps Abraham's servant finds a perfect match for Isaac, and perhaps she even says, I'm willing to marry this guy, but he needs to come to Huron. If he wants to marry me.

If that happened, what should Abraham's servant do? He finds the gal, she doesn't want to come to Canaan. She's insisting that Isaac comes to Haran to marry her. So what should the servant do if that were to happen?

This brings us to the next development in The story of how a wife was found for Isaac, and that is that Abraham obligates his servant not to take Isaac back to his former country for marriage. Look at what the servant says in verse 5. The servant said to him, suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land. Should I, if that were to happen, take your son back to the land from where you came?

That's a great question. Look at Abraham's response in verse 6. Then Abraham said to him, beware, literally watch yourself. Be careful what you're saying is what Abraham is.

Responding with, beware, watch yourself that you do not take my son back there. What he's saying is under no circumstances are you to take Isaac from the land of Canaan and take him back there to Huron to marry a wife. You will not do that. I will not let you do that.

The question is, why is Isaac? Not to be uprooted from Canaan. Why is he not allowed even to go with his servant to find a wife? Look at what Abraham says in verse 7.

He says, the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth and who spoke to me, and who swore to me saying to your descendants, I will give this land, he will send his angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. This is why Abraham will not allow Isaac to move to Iran in order to marry a gal there. He's giving 3 reasons basically as to why he won't allow this to happen. Number 1, because God called me out of Haran, Abraham is saying, and out of of the Chaldeans where I was born.

These are places God has called me from. I don't want my son going back there. Number 2, because God swore to me, telling me that he was giving this land of Canaan to my descendants, which would include Isaac. And number 3, Abraham is saying, you won't need to take Isaac back to Haran in order to marry because God is going to send his angel before you and you're going to succeed in this mission of finding a wife for Isaac, whom you will be able to bring back in order to marry my son.

In other words, this is Abraham's way of saying, the Lord will provide. The Lord will provide a wife for my son from among my brother's relations. And because of this, you will not have to compromise on following my instructions. Abraham is an old man now, but his faith is still More vibrant than ever.

But what if for some reason things don't go as Abraham thinks they will go? Look at what Abraham says in verse 8. He says, but if the woman is not willing to follow you, so you find a woman that seems like a great match for Isaac, but she's not willing to follow you back to Canaan. Then you will be free from this, my oath, only do not take my son back there.

You see, Abraham wants his son living. In the land of promise that God had called Abraham to. And he, Abraham, would rather Isaac remain unmarried than for Isaac to betray the call of God to go back to the place that God had called Abraham out of. You want to know something sad?

Abraham's words that you see in the text in verses 7 and 8. are the last words we hear Abraham speak. On the pages of scripture. And in this final speech of Abraham, we find The promise of God on his lips and the sternest of warnings that his son never be taken back.

To the land from which God had called Abraham. It's interesting to compare the first words that God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12:1 where the words go forth from your country. And Abraham's last words in our passage today are the words, do not take my son back there. Abraham very much wants Isaac to carry on the legacy and to live inside of the legacy that of faith that Abraham has provided for him and to continue living in the land to promise that God has promised he will one day give.

To their descendants. So anyway, the servant now has, I think, everything he needs. He has direct instructions, explicit prohibitions, what he can and cannot do. He even is being given by Abraham freedom to fail within certain parameters.

So look at what the servant does in verse 9. So, the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. Determining in advance what he will and what he will not do in this venture of finding a wife for Isaac. And upon swearing this oath, Abraham's servant embarks on his quest to find a wife for Isaac, and this brings us to the next development in the story of how a wife for Isaac is found.

Number 4, Abraham's servant prayerfully applies a test. To find God's appointed wife for Isaac. Look at how the journey goes for Abraham's servant, verse 10. Then the servant took 10 camels from the camels of his master and set out with a variety of good things of his masters in his hand, and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nehor, which would have been the city of Haran.

After traveling for about 475 miles over the length of a month or so, Abraham's servant at long last arrives at the city of Haran and once arriving at the city, Abraham's servant takes a particular action. Look at verse 11. He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time. The time when women go out to draw water for their families.

Once he parks his camels. Outside the city by the well, he then says a prayer to the Lord and listen to this prayer that he prays. Verse 12, he said, oh Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show loving kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

Now, may it be that the girl to whom I say, please let down your jar so that I may drink, and who answers, drink, and I will water your camels also. May she be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. And by this, I will know that you have shown loving kindness. To my master.

This is what we would call the camel test. To use in finding. A spouse. It's fascinating to me that Abraham's servant does not ask around for Nehor's house and then go to his house and then start his search for a wife.

Instead, even before he meets up with any member of Nehor's family, he decides to implement a test, a character test. But before he does so, he prays and ask God to show him through this test, the woman. Look at verse 14, who is the one whom you have appointed for your servant, Isaac. So here's the test, whichever woman gives him a drink of water at his request, and who then voluntarily says, and I will water or give drink to your 10 camels also, that will be the woman.

whom God has appointed for Isaac. Notice that Abraham's servant seems to know that there is, in fact, a particular woman whom God has appointed to be Isaac's wife. He's asking God to bless this means of determining who it is that God has appointed to be his wife. It's important to realize, guys, that this This test, like Abraham's servant is not testing the Lord here.

this is not some random test. Abraham's servant doesn't say, Lord, whichever woman is wearing a red dress and has a blue band in her hair, that's the one who will be Isaac's wife. Now, this is a meaningful test. A character test.

A woman who does what Abraham's servant is describing and praying about here is a noble woman of virtue. A woman who is hospitable to strangers, a woman who shows extraordinary initiative in serving others, and a woman who doesn't find it beneath her dignity to come and draw water for her family in the first place. Clearly, Abraham's servant is looking for a woman of great virtue that he would be able to present to Isaac for a wife. Anyway, before Abraham's servant could even finish his prayer, God begins to answer and this leads us to the next development in the story of how a wife was found for Isaac.

Number 5, Rebecca surpasses the test, showing that she is God's chosen wife for Isaac, there is such a thing as passing a test. There's also such a thing as surpassing a test, which is exactly what Rebecca will do, as we will see. Look at what happens in verse 15. Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebecca, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Mila, the wife of Abraham's brother Nehor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

Abraham's servant sees her, he doesn't know right away that she is Abraham's relative, descended from Nehor, Abraham's brother, but he is able to observe some things about her. First of all, Abraham's servant observes that the girl was very beautiful. The Hebrew here is the same expression found in Genesis 12:14 to describe Sarah. it's the words Tov meod.

Very good, very good looking, very beautiful. It's the same expression that is used to describe God's opinion of his creation at the end of day six of creation, God looked upon all that he had made and behold, it was Tov Meod. And here Abraham's servant. Looks at Rebecca and observes that she is Tove Mao.

Gals, if a guy ever comes to you and says you Arto Mao. That's a compliment. thank him for that. Compliment.

Rebecca is very beautiful, but she's not just very beautiful, she is also a virgin, and no man had had relations with her. In other words, no man had known her sexually. These two expressions together, a virgin and no man had had relations with her. these two expressions together mean that she was of marriageable age, yet she had never been sexually intimate with a man.

Abraham's servant certainly does not know this. Watching her coming to the well, Moses is saying, I'm gonna insert this right now because I want you to know this upfront right now about her before the narrative gets any further. Nowadays, our world does not place much of a premium on a girl being a virgin before getting a getting married. In fact, it's often looked down on.

And scorned, but in the eyes of God. Sexual purity is a wonderful and a beautiful thing. It's God's plan, it's God's command. It's God's ideal.

It's what God wants. The Bible teaches that people who engage in sex outside of marriage and who do not repent of that will not enter the kingdom of God. They will be judged as fornicators. The Bible also teaches wonderfully.

That people who repent of their fornication will find mercy. And forgiveness. With God As many in our congregation have found. But Moses wants us to know.

that Rebecca is sexually pure. She has never given herself to any man before. And she's not living in Mayberry. The society around her is an incredibly wicked society given over to the worship of the moon god, full of decadence and idolatry.

Yet here is Rebecca, a woman who is not conforming to the culture around her, neither does she give in to her own hormones. She has never been intimate with a man before, and Moses says, I want you to know this about her. Before the story continues. And look at what Rebecca does as Abraham's servant is watching her verse 16, and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

The fact that the text says she went down to the spring and that she came up indicates that the well was in a recessed area, and she would have gone down some steps to get to the well and then come back up the steps when she was done. Drawing the water Well, Abraham's servant sees her. Drawing this water and then coming back up the steps, and he seizes the moment, look at verse 17. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, please let me drink a little water from your jar.

Rebecca responds in verse 18. She said, drink, my lord. And she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. Notice that she speaks to this stranger with respect.

Calling him my lord. Notice also that she doesn't just lower the jar from her shoulder, but she quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder to her hand. And I would encourage you to mark the word quickly, and I'll tell you why in a moment. And then she says to him, drink, my Lord.

It's then that the fateful moment arrives. Look at verse 19. Now, when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking. This is an amazing offer for Rebecca to make here.

Abraham's servant, as we see, has not even asked her to do this, yet she sees the need and she volunteers to do this for him. And notice, guys, that she's doing more than what the servant had prayed about. She's not just offering to give his 10 camels a drink of water. Abraham's servant in his prayer was simply wanting the woman of God's choosing to offer to water or to give drink, something to drink to his 10 camels.

But Rebecca is offering more than that. Look at the text, she's offering to draw water for the camels until they have finished drinking. And guys, that's a bodacious offer. It's one thing to offer to give a camel.

Something to drink. It's another thing to offer to give them water until they are finished drinking. And to promise that for 10 camels. Keep in mind that these camels have come a long way, they're likely thirsty.

Camels can very easily drink up to 40, even 50 gallons of water in a half hour period. So let's be very, very conservative and just simply say that each camel is only wanting to drink 10 gallons of water. That means that Rebecca will be drawing at least 100 gallons of water over the next hour or so. This is a monstrous undertaking that would have taken a considerable amount of time.

And energy and probably about 50 trips to the well. And back And I think we're being very conservative. In our estimations here. But this is what Rebecca offers to do.

And before Abraham's servant can even respond or answer, Rebecca swings into action and becomes a whirlwind of activity. Look at what she does in verse 20. The text says, so she quickly, underlined that word quickly, emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw and she drew for all of his camels. Again, notice the word quickly.

Once again, and also the word ran, if you want to mark the word ran. You could do that as well. So we have quickly, quickly and ran. Describing the way that she acted in this moment towards this stranger.

And being hasty and running to the well to draw water for the camels. And moving so quickly, Rebecca is demonstrating that she is all in on this task. She serves quickly and runs to serve this man. And his camels.

And we'll see as the story unfolds that she actually completes the task that she volunteered to do, which means that she was a woman who was true to her word. Some people, as, will volunteer to do big things for you, but then they don't complete the task. They get bored, they get tired, and they pull out of the job. They promise much.

But they cannot be depended on to complete what they have offered to do. But this is not the case with Rebecca. She volunteers to give the camels water to drink until they're done drinking. That's what she said that she would do, and she actually carries through on this task all the way through to its completion.

In fact, this is what Abraham's servant is actually very interested to observe. Look at verse 21, says, meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. Evidently, Abraham's servant doesn't let himself be persuaded right away after he sees that Rebecca is very beautiful. A lesser man would have seen her beauty and said, yep, the search is over.

I have found the right woman, but he doesn't do that. Evidently he's not fully persuaded after she offered to give him something to drink in response to his request, and evidently, he's not even allowed himself to be persuaded. After she offered to give his camels water to drink, even though that was the test. He's here watching her in silence.

Watching her actually execute and carry to the finish what she had offered to do. We learn in verse 22 that she kept giving the camels water to drink until the camels had finished drinking. So it was probably once he sees her complete her task that he then decides, yes. This is God's appointed woman for Isaac.

She has passed the test and she's actually done more. Than what the test entailed. Before we move on, young people, there's a lot for you to learn from Rebecca's example, right? When your parents ask you to do something, you can actually respond to their request in a variety of ways.

You can disobey them and not do it. And tell them you're not going to do it. You could agree to do it, but with a bad attitude. Or you can get up and do it when you get good and ready.

In other words, you can do what your parents tell you to do, but you do it slowly, and in your heart that doing it slowly is a way of saying, I'm not all in on this. And it's a passive aggressive form. of rebellion. Or you can say, sure, mom, sure, dad, I will happily do this and serve you with all my heart, and then begin with the task, but then give up halfway through because you're bored or tired of the task or you have found something more interesting to do.

Or You could do what Rebecca does. You can do what you're asked and actually volunteer to do more. You can say, mom, I, I know that you're asking me to wash the dishes here, but I've noticed that the floor needs swept. Would you like for me to sweep the floor for you as well?

And then you get to the task before she even answers your question. That would be amazing Right? Parents? By the way, young person, if you actually do that to your mom, you'll have another chore to perform.

The chore of picking up your fainting mother from off the floor. So, I guess think twice before you do this. But this is, this is what Rebecca does for Abraham's servant, a complete stranger. And I love the fact that Rebecca has no clue.

What's going on yet. What I love about Rebecca here is she's not looking for a husband. She's just being faithful to do her daily chores. And while doing her chores, whatever she was doing that day, someone in the family asked her to go fetch some water, and Rebecca agrees to go draw water from the well.

And while she's there, a stranger asks her for a drink and she quickly gives him something to drink. She sees 10 thirsty camels, so she offers to give water to the camels until they are finished drinking. And then she actually executes the task all the way through to its completion. Until none of the 10 camels wanted to drink.

Anymore. Little does Rebecca realize it, but inside of her faithfulness of service in these mundane ways, she is going to find her destiny. Her destiny And the destiny of millions of people. Including us in this room.

Turns on this remarkably mundane hinge of her faithful doing of chores. And showing of kindness to a stranger on this particular day of her life. And in watering these camels, little does she know that she's actually watering one of the very camels that will carry her on its back to her future groom. And to the destiny that Awaits her Learn this lesson well.

If you want to discover your future destiny, you will find it inside of faithfulness to today's tasks. Those tasks that are large and small. Epic and mundane. Well, Abraham's servant observes Rebecca doing all of this, and now he's ready to act, and this brings us to the next development in the story of Abraham's servant finding a wife for Isaac.

Number 6, Abraham's servant pursues acquaintance with Rebecca's family. He pursues acquaintance with Rebecca's family. He's seen enough, his search is over. Look at what he does in verse 22.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her wrist weighing 10 shekels in gold, and he gives them to her. At the very least, this is an expression of his thanks to her for her service to him and his camels, but it is probably also a token of the fact that she is God's appointed. Woman for Isaac. Although she would not have understood that just yet.

And while he's giving her all this bling, he speaks to her in verse 23, and he says, whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house? Notice that he says us, room for us to lodge in your father's house. He's not just referring to himself and to his camels, but he's also referring to the men who had come with him, which is something we learned about later in verse 32.

He's asking her two questions. Whose daughter is she? And is there room for them to lodge in her father's house? I love the fact that Abraham's servant immediately wants to meet Rebecca's family before he goes any further.

As one commentator says, now that Abraham's servant has found the woman for Isaac, he does not hoist Rebecca onto one of the camels and head back to Canaan. He doesn't do that. The Lord has made it clear to him that she is the one for Isaac, yet rather than carrying her off, he wants to meet her family. He could have stood there and explained everything to Rebecca.

Here's a test I did and you're the one and he doesn't even do that in this setting. He wants to meet her family and process this with her family. And have the family confirm the Lord's hand in all of this. This is exactly what any man should do who's interested in a woman.

One of a man's questions to a girl early on in the relationship should be, whose daughter are you? And is there a way that I can meet Your parents, your family. Well, Rebecca answers his first question in verse 24. Look at her answer.

She said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Mila, whom she bore to Nehor. Keep in mind, Abraham's servant has no clue. About her relationship to Abraham and his brother at this point until she gives this answer. And I am sure that Abraham's servant is beside himself at this point.

He has struck gold. Rebecca happens to be in the exact family that Abraham had insisted on. Keep in mind that Mila. was the daughter of Abraham's brother Haron.

After Haron died, Abraham's brother Nehor married Mila. And then she gave birth to Bethuel, the father of Rebecca, which means, guys, that Rebecca actually has descended from both of Abraham's brothers. Abraham's servant has struck double gold. Then she answers his second question, verse 25.

Look at what she does. Again, she said to him, we have plenty of both straw and feed and room to lodge in. Clearly, she and her family are well to do. They have enough provision for these 10 camels and the men who were with Abraham's servant, and clearly she is as hospitable as they come.

Notice though that she doesn't go all the way and invite this man to their house. She will, we'll see in the coming verses, run to her family and let them do the inviting. Observe how Abraham's servant responds at this point. This brings us to the final development in this story of how a wife was found for Isaac.

Number 7, Abraham's servant blesses the Lord for directing him to Rebecca and her family. Verse 26, then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. He assumes the humblest of postures before Rebecca, and then he speaks as he's worshiping, not her but the Lord. Look at verse 27.

He said, Blessed be the Lord, Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master, as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers. First of all, he blesses the Lord here. He then confesses God has not forsaken his loving kindness or his covenant faithfulness. And his truthfulness toward Abraham.

And he's not just cherishing God's faithfulness toward Abraham, but even God's goodness to him, a humble servant. He's saying, ask for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers. What he's really praising God for. is for helping him to find a wife for Isaac.

But he's not saying that just yet because Rebecca is listening. But he will say it to Rebecca's family when he gets to their house. What I love about his example, guys, is that earlier we see him praying and surrendering this whole thing to the Lord and asking God to direct and to help. And now that God has, the servant is careful to take a moment to thank God and praise him for his help.

Oftentimes we pray, we cry out to God, please help me, and then God helps us. And we don't stop. And with equal passion, praise the Lord for having helped us. We're already looking ahead to the next problem that needs to be solved.

But Abraham's servant. is worshiping the Lord and thanking Him here. He worships and blesses God and Rebecca hears every word of it and probably is wondering what in the world is going on here. And she'll find out soon enough.

And we'll get to that next week. We'll stop here for today. there's been a number of things for us to learn as the story has unfolded, this morning. Let me just highlight a few things here.

In the first place, guys, I, I love the fact that Abraham already evidently had made some prior commitments before the journey of looking for a wife. For Isaac had even started. He already knew that Isaac's wife would not come from among the daughters of the Canaanites. He already knew that he would not allow Isaac to be lured away from the land of God's promise simply in order to have a wife.

Abraham was willing Honestly, to have his son remain single than for either of these two things to happen. Abraham has already decided in advance and he wants his servant to swear in advance, to decide in advance and swear in advance before he embarks on this journey of finding a wife for Isaac. And I would urge all of you young people. When it comes to finding a spouse.

To determine in advance the person that you will marry and the person that you will not consider to be fair game. In your quest for a spouse. Don't just wait and say I'll see how things go and I'll make my decisions then. No, why not establish your standards in advance?

Determine in advance that you will not give your heart away to or marry a non-believer. Make that decision ahead of time. The Bible tells us that we're not to be unequally bound together or yoked together with non-believers, and there's no more important yoke. In life than the yoke of marriage.

Don't marry a nonbeliever. Don't give your heart away to a nonbeliever. In 1 Corinthians 7:29, Paul gives a single woman freedom to marry anyone she wishes, but Paul says he must belong to the Lord, and that is the word of God. And it's up to us to ask, will I obey God?

Or will I disobey? Determine these things in advance. It'll save you a whole lot of heartache if you don't determine these things in advance. You may find yourself in a future day.

So caught up in a relationship that you make the wrong decision and violate your conscience and disobey the Lord. And injure your own soul, or maybe in that later day, after you're deep in the relationship, somehow you're gonna have the grace to make the right decision, but your heart's gonna be torn in pieces. God is fighting for your pleasure. When he calls you to marry in the faith.

And to determine that in advance. Learn from the example here and be helped by it. This is the love of God for you to give us this example. In the story, we also see God being faithful to lead Abraham's servant to Rebecca so that Isaac can have a wife, so that the lineage of promise could continue so that descendants would come, so that The Messiah, Jesus Christ would eventually come descending from Isaac and Rebecca, who will bring salvation to the world, including to us.

You see, guys, this is not just a love story about Isaac and Rebecca. This isn't just their story. This is your story and it's mine. It's a part of the big love story of how God made it happen throughout history that a savior would one day descend from Isaac and Rebecca and bring us the salvation that we need.

Things are hanging by such a slender thread at this point from a worldly human standpoint, but God is faithful here to provide a wife for Isaac and continue to push his plan of redemption forward for our good. God is at work in this chapter. For our good, thousands of years later. And finally, I have to say that I, I, I cannot look at Rebecca and the way that she acts in this story and not appreciate her descendant Jesus and how he is just like Rebecca.

We might look at what happens to Abraham's servant and be envious of how wonderfully things worked out for him. But consider your situation if you are a believer. Imagine having said to God, Lord, please show me the savior whom I should believe in. Lead me to the right savior.

What would you ask? From any potential savior to determine if he's the right one for you. Abraham's servant asked, Give me a drink of water. To determine if she was the right one for Isaac, what would you ask of any potential savior?

To see if he's the right savior for you. Before she was sure who Jesus was, the Samaritan woman in John 4. Said to Jesus, Lord, give me this water to drink. This water you speak about.

Could you give me a drink of this water? That's the question that she asked as she's trying to figure out is this. Who is this man and is he the one for me? That's all she asked for, and Jesus gave her so much more.

Than what she asked for just as he does with all of us. We come to him and say, give me this water to drink, quench my thirst, and he looks at the entirety of our need and he springs into action, does not even wait for us to ask. He comes to earth. He fully obeys God for us.

He takes up his cross and gets crucified on that cross to provide atonement. For all the ways we've sinned against God, He lets himself be buried in a tomb and then he gets raised from the dead. He takes his seat at the right hand of God. He sends His Holy Spirit, he pours out.

Countless gifts upon us. He forgives us of our sins and he makes us children of God. He prepares a home in heaven for us and he will one day say to us, come in to my Father's house forever. I have provided a place for you and there is more than enough for all that you need, for all of eternity.

And all the Samaritan woman asked for was a drink. Water to drink Abraham's servant asked for a drink and he receives a whirlwind of kindness and generosity from Rebecca and something even greater has happened to us. God through Christ has done to us exceeding abundantly beyond all that we could have ever asked or thought through His Son Jesus. And what guys, it's this fact about God, the goodness of the heart of God that enables us to trust him.

When he gives us prohibitions and when he asks hard things of us. God is a good God. Abraham's servant came to Rebecca saying, could you give me a drink of water? She gives it to him, little realizing he's actually there to give her something.

To lavish amazing kindness on her and to give her a spouse, a husband. But it started with him asking for a drink. Little did she know. That was just the prelude to a whole ton of generosity and kindness from him toward her.

If you've never come to Jesus and said to him, Jesus, give me a drink of the water you give, I urge you to do that today. He will give you so much more than what you asked for. Jesus says, if you drink of the water I give, water will flow from. Your being in this life and in the life to come, it'll overflow from you.

That's the savior that Jesus is, which makes it so not surprising. That he descended from this woman, Rebecca. And we've met In our story today. With God's help, Abraham's servant finds Rebecca and we by God's grace.

I found her descendant. Jesus. And may God be praised for directing our path to Him. Amen.

Let's pray together. Lord, you are a good God, and we marvel at your ways as you have worked down through the centuries. Moving the plan of redemption forward. For our good.

And thank you for telling us this part of our story here in Genesis 24. May we see the goodness of your heart in this passage. And whenever you give us any command that we're like, I I can trust this God. And I will obey what he tells me.

Any commands, any prohibitions, I know that those commands and prohibitions are coming from the generous heart of an amazing God who is fighting for my pleasure and for my ultimate good and for his glory. Give us hearts to trust you. And be taken, Lord, by the love. Of our Savior Jesus.

We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you. At this point in our service, receive what we give, Lord, and bless what we give. For the furtherance of The gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation through Him. We surrender ourselves to you as well, in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said,