Isaac #3 - Genesis 24:29-61

Genesis 24:29–61 KJV (WS)

29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. 30 And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. 31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. 32 And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. 33 And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. 34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant. 35 And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. 36 And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. 37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: 38 But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son. 39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. 40 And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house: 41 Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. 42 And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: 43 Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink; 44 And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son. 45 And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. 46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. 47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. 48 And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. 49 And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. 50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. 52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. 53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. 54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. 55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. 56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. 57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. 58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. 61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

Introduction

Laban runs out to meet Abraham’s servant.

From the way this is described, I imagine that Laban is not overly thrilled with this stranger trying to drag his sister across the desert to marry some supposed long-lost family member.

The text tells us that “when he saw” the gifts that the servant had given Rebekah, his whole demeanor changed.

It seems as though Laban has a change of heart.

This pretty much fits with what we know about Laban from the rest of scripture.

He was always looking to advance his own agenda.

Having seen the fine jewelry that his sister was wearing, Laban launches into a flowery invitation for the servant to come to his house.

I can’t help but read Laban’s words and not feel like he is being overly cheesy, and hyper-pleasant.

Laban is a schmoozer and the sight of wealth has caught his eye.

If he had come down to the well to shoo the servant away, he had quickly changed his mind.

Now he offers to show the man great hospitality.

Contrast this with the hospitality that Rebekah had shown the servant prior to receiving the precious gifts.

In vs 32, Abraham’s servant follows Laban to the family home.

His camels are taken care of.

He is provided with water for washing his feet.

Food is prepared and brought out to him.

Abraham’s servant though, is too engrossed in the seriousness of his mission.

Before he can allow himself to eat, there is something he must do.

The servant recounts the story of how and why he had come to this point.

We aren’t going to work through all of this ground that we just covered.

He tells them about Abraham and Isaac.

He tells them about his prayer for God to reveal the woman.

He tells them about the hospitality that Rebekah showed him.

I do want to point some things out about the servant’s testimony.

The story he tells, is not his story.

He does not make himself the hero of the story.

He points them to God and to his master, Abraham.

He is not the master who acquired all the riches.

He is not the son to whom Rebekah will be married.

He is just the servant delivering the message.

As he concludes his story, the servant ends with a call to action.

Having heard the whole matter, will they allow Rebekah to accompany him back to Canaan?

Remember, the servant is under no obligation to convince them.

He need only make the offer.

If they agree, he will usher Rebekah back to Isaac.

If they refuse, he is free of his oath and may return unashamed.

For the servant this is a matter of free will.

Here is the offer.

Take it or leave it.

Rebekah’s family responds to all that has happened.

They act as though they do not have a choice in the matter.

In fact this is what they say.

They recognize that God has already done so much to bring them to this point.

What value is there in either their agreement or disagreement.

To disagree would be foolish, God is obviously behind this.

To agree is to just go along with what God is already working.

They see no real choice in the matter, so they submit to the servant’s request and tell him to take Rebekah.

Isn’t this an interesting interworking?

The plan of God with the free will of men.

It was certainly within their power to resist God’s plan.

But, they recognized that God was working and submitted to the servant’s request.

Abraham’s servant again worships the Lord.

He bows himself to the earth.

This position of humility is an expression of gratitude for the work God had done to lead him and prepare the way before him.

The servant wanted to obey and please his master.

God had made it possible for him to do that.

He pays the dowery that Abraham had sent with him.

Again it is important to point out that the price that was paid for the bride was provided by the master.

The servant did not have the ability to redeem a bride for the son.

Only the father could do that.

They spend the night celebrating together.

In the morning, Laban and his mom attempt to delay the departure.

They ask for at least 10 days before they send Rebekah away.

Some have tried to read sinister motives into this request.

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this was a well-intentioned request.

They have no idea if they will ever see Rebekah again.

They would typically have planned big community celebrations for their daughter’s marriage.

She is moving far away, surely she would want to spend some time with her friends and family before she leaves possibly forever.

The servant is not on board with this request, he sees no reason in delaying their departure.

Speed is of the essence for this servant.

Abraham is old.

Time is running out for him to see his will accomplished.

Remember, part of the servant’s prayer was for speed.

God has blessed his mission up to this point, why would he hesitate now?

Rebekah’s family says they will ask Rebekah and let her decide.

It seems a little bit humorous to me that they seemed ready to send her off without asking her opinion on the matter when it meant getting paid.

But, when it came to letting her go before they were ready, they’re all like, “we’ll have to ask her and let her decide.”

I don’t know what the significance of that would be, but I did want to point it out.

Rebekah agrees with the servant, there is no use in delaying, she will leave with him immediately.

She has seen for herself the manner in which God had orchestrated these events.

She had seen the evidence of the good life that awaited her.

She was ready to make the jump.

Can you imagine the faith required to entrust yourself to someone you had never met.

All she had was a small demonstration of Isaac’s wealth and the testimony of someone who knew Isaac.

It was enough for her to leave the home and family she had known to be married to Isaac and added to the family of Abraham.

As she leaves, her family sends her off with a blessing.

May she be the mother of millions.

May her children defeat those that hate them.

With that she is gone.

Next time we will look at what happens when she actually meets Isaac.

Let’s look at some interpretation for m this passage.

First, we see the dedication of the servant.

He is on a mission to find a bride for his master’s son.

Having found the girl by God’s guidance, it would seem like his mission was complete.

He must still pay the price for this girl according to ancient custom.

Would her family allow her to accompany him?

He would not rest until he knew the answer.

Next, we see the testimony that the servant shares.

He speaks not of himself, but of his master and his God.

There is no use in making himself the hero of the story.

He is, after all, only a servant.

The focus must be placed on the father and the son whom he represents.

Third, we see the convergence of sovereignty and free will.

Laban and Bethuel sense that God’s will is working.

They feel that however they respond it is inconsequential.

Yet, it was within their power to reject the servant.

Abraham had even prepared him for how he was to respond should they reject him.

Ultimately, it came down to Rebekah’s decision.

Fourth, we see the price that was paid for the son’s bride.

There was a cost.

Isaac would not have a bride for free.

There was a dowry that must be paid.

Thankfully, it was not up to the servant to provide this payment, his master had already made provision for that.

Finally, we see a temptation to delay.

The temptation need not be nefarious.

If it delays the decision, it opens the door for the original purpose to never be realized.

What might have happened during those ten days, had Rebekah delayed?

Application

I want us to take this interpretation and reapply it to the picture of the marriage that is to come.

How do we do that? Simple.

If you’re a believer tonight, I invite you to take another look at the servant.

We need to exhibit the same dedication of the servant when it comes to fulfilling the will of our master.

We also need to make sure our testimony in word and deed points people to our master and not to ourselves.

If you’re a believer you need to remember the price that was paid to purchase your soul.

If you are not a Christian tonight, then I invite you to take another look at Rebekah.

There is no good reason to delay placing your faith in Jesus.

Not even for 10 days.

The Bible says not to boast ourselves of tomorrow.

We don’t even know wha tomorrow will hold.

Today is the day to place you faith in Jesus.