Genesis 24
Notes
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Background
Last week we witnessed the death of Sarah, and Abraham’s interactions with the pagan sons of Heth in the purchasing of land in order to bury his dead.
Today’s going to be done a bit differently. We will be reading large chunks of Scripture in order to make it through the entire chapter. It is a historically important story, so we don’t want to skip any of it. There isn’t a natural break in this storyline, so it ought to be read as one piece.
1 Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way.
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,
3 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,
4 but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?”
6 Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there!
7 “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.
8 “But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there.”
9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
Abraham had just recently lost his wife Sarah, and now in his old age, his concern is for his son, to have a wife and continue on the legacy and fulfill the promises God had given him. He summoned the eldest of his servants, who was also his steward, to go and find a wife for Isaac.
This man was a trusted servant for an extremely important task. Abraham intended to send a servant whom he knew had his master’s best interest at heart, and not his own.
It’s entirely possible, but not known, that this was Eliezer of Damascus.
2 Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
There is an interesting oath taking place here in this chapter, and is only seen one other time in Scripture, at the end of Genesis.
There is lots of speculation as to the importance of its meaning:
Pagan ritual, not thigh but reproductive area, circumcision, promise of posterity by God...
I think the best understanding is to both emphasize the importance of and trustworthiness needed for this assignment, and also recognition of the status of the one making the oath.
There is also some thought that this sign signifies that if the oath were to be broken, the children born to Abraham would avenge him.
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
It is important to note that Abraham is making his servant swear by his God. The servant would understand that Abraham’s God is both real and powerful.
The servant needs some clarification and further instruction, and Abraham points him back to the covenant.
Why from his ancestry? Abraham knew the condition of the pagans he was living around. He knew their future judgments, and sought to continue the line from which he came. He also knew his kinsmen and their faithfulness.
God uses man to accomplish His will in the world.
God uses man to accomplish His will in the world.
Note Abraham’s faith - God will send His angel ahead to ensure the success of the errand.
10 Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
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.
12 He said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.
13 “Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;
14 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 lovingkindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.
16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.”
18 She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.
19 Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.”
20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
21 Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,
23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father’s house?”
24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”
25 Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.”
26 Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord.
27 He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness 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.”
28 Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
It was not unusual for the servant to take so many camels, and the goods that he did. In those days, taking a wife required a dowry to be paid.
MAP
MAP
29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.
20 Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21 Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram
22 and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.”
23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
The servant sought wisdom and direction from the God of Abraham, whom he had been told was going before him.
The servant asks God for a sign, that he may know whom God has chosen in advance.
There is nothing wrong in seeking a specific sign to reveal God’s plan. There are several biblical instances where this takes place, and God honors the request.
Moses, Gideon, Saul, Jonathan, David, etc.
What is important is that the ask must be for God’s will, not our own.
Rebekah is revealed even before the servant finishes his request. As he sees her getting water, he puts out the test he made for God’s will. Sure enough, it comes to pass.
When the servant sees the fulfillment of his request, he moves forward in fulfilling his oath. He must seek the father of Rebekah to give the dowry.
Hospitality was a part of that.
The servant reveals what his mission is, and Rebekah goes and tells her mother.
29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.
30 When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.
31 And he said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?”
32 So the man entered the house. Then Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
33 But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have told my business.” And he said, “Speak on.”
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
35 “The Lord has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
36 “Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him all that he has.
37 “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 live;
38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’
39 “I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’
40 “He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house;
41 then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’
42 “So I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful;
43 behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”;
44 and she will say to me, “You 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 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’
46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels 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’; and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.
48 “And I bowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.
49 “So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.”
Laban is an important secondary figure in Jewish history, and his relation should be remembered for future study.
Also recognize that the servant’s wealth is what was noticed. Laban took the initiative to offer hospitality.
The servant was faithful and would not enjoy refreshment until he relayed his purpose.
The household would know who Abraham and Sarah were, being relatives.
The servant acknowledges God’s hand at work in the events that play out.
He also asks directly if they will honor the request.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter comes from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.
51 “Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the Lord.
53 The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.”
56 He said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”
57 And they said, “We will call the girl and consult her wishes.”
58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”
59 Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men.
60 They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.”
61 Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Abraham’s relatives recognize his God as well, and honor the request. The dowry is paid, and all appears to be moving forward well.
In the morning, the servant was ready to move on, but the family wanted to delay.
This also should be remembered for Laban in the future.
It was not an unusual request for the delay, but the servant felt this was a pressing matter and insisted. He invoked the Lord so that they would release Rebekah.
We must not allow the world to distract us from accomplishing what God has for us to do.
We must not allow the world to distract us from accomplishing what God has for us to do.
Rebekah was asked at this point, not before, and she was ready and willing to go.
Rebekah is blessed by her family before she goes, and them they leave.
62 Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev.
63 Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
64 Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.
65 She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself.
66 The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Isaac sees them coming, and is told of what took place. He realizes that his future bride is standing before him, and takes her to become his wife.
The bride was typically taken into the matriarch’s home, but in this case Sarah was already dead.
Isaac’s comfort reveals that the events of ch. 23 are recent. This is confirmed by information in ch. 25, that only 3 years had passed.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
God uses man to accomplish His will in the world.
We must not allow the world to distract us from accomplishing what God has for us to do.
Next week, we will continue through the book of Genesis.