The Hand of Providence
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Tonight we are going to look at a rather long story and it is long because it is repetitive in nature. This repetition is meant to draw our minds to something though and to help us see the reality of what is happening here in the passage.
Being a longer section I want to break this text up into chunks and walk through explaining it as we go. What I want you to be thinking of is what is this text pointing us towards, especially in the repetitive sections.
Start with me in Genesis 24.1-9
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.
At the start here Abraham is old and he has not gone out and found a wife for Isaac yet so he commissions his oldest servant in his household. This is possibly Eliezer of Damascus but here it is never stated because the attention it not put on who this is. This servant is sworn it to go and act on behalf of Abraham to find a wife for Isaac. He is given very clear instructions and he even ask questions and gets clarification so that he completely knows his mission. He then swears to Abraham that he will do just as he asked him to.
Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
This servant goes out with a large group of camels and gifts and heads to the place that Abraham commanded him to go. When he gets here he immediately turns to God in prayer. He ask God to make it clear who is to be the wife of Isaac, who the woman he is here looking for is.
What he wants the sign to be is that she will give him water and his camels. It is not a big deal to give a guy a drink and it would take little to no work for her. To water all those camels though would take a lot! This is a sign of great hospitality which points to her being prime wife material. This is more than just a test to see who it will be from God, it is a test of her character.
Lets now look and see who comes to the well. Genesis 24.15-28
Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
Before he even finished his prayer Rebekah enters the scene! We first hear of Rebekah in Genesis 22:23 where it says “(Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.” When Abraham was told how his family was doing he heard of the birth of Rebekah. Now she comes out to this well and fulfills every detail of the servants prayer.
The servant is obviously excited and then he ask her about her family to see if those requirements are met. He is thrilled to hear that they are and he lets out a praise to God. Part of this love is focused on the steadfast love that God has towards Abraham. This is the hesed love that we see in the Old Testament, it is the deep loyal, covenantal, steadfast love that God shows to him.
Rebekah then runs home to tell her family about all of these things. That is where we pick up in Genesis 24.29-49
Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.”
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. 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. 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, but you shall go to my father’s house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house. Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’
“I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say 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.’
“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
Here a guy named Laban comes out and brings the servant into the house and prepares him to eat. Laban will become very important in the life of Isaac’s son Jacob. Before the servant eats though he must tell them all that is on his heart and all that has happened first. This is where we see a very detailed telling of all of what we saw happening.
Why do you think there is such a detailed retelling of all of these events? Why didn’t Moses just say that the servant told them all that just happened?
We see the answer here in the next verse Genesis 24.50-51
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”
This has come from the Lord. This repetition and the great detail in this story all point us to seeing how God is at work and completely in control all throughout this story. God is working his providence in this story. This is not just about a story about a marriage, it is a story about God unfolding his plan to bring about his elect line through Isaac and Rebekah.
This whole story is about the power of God to work things out for his purposes.
When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” But 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.” They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you become
thousands of ten thousands,
and may your offspring possess
the gate of those who hate him!”
Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.
Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
The journey ends with the servant taking Rebekah back to be with Isaac. Before he goes though her family blesses her and says may she have many offspring, little do they know that she is entering into the covenant line that God has planned and that God has promised Abraham to have descendants as numerous and the sands on the seashore or stars in the sky.
When they arrive back to the camp Isaac meets her and and they are married and Isaac is comforted.
Providence
Providence
I want to end tonight with a short discussion on providence. What providence can be defined as God’s purposeful sovereignty where God is completely successful. Lets break that down a little bit.
First sovereignty is the attribute of God where he has complete control over all things. This goes from the smallest of details in our lives to the largest events in all of history.
Secondly is purposeful. Gods control is not random or without aim. It is always moving towards his wise, good, and ultimate purposes.
So when we think of providence it is God actively governing and guiding all things to fulfill his purposes.
When reading the Bible you will begin to see that there are examples of God’s providence all throughout. Tonight’s story is an example of this in the narrative of Genesis. The repetition and all of the details just goes to show us how God is in control and is acting to accomplish his purposes in the elect line. This family line that will eventually lead to Jesus. God is not passive in this waiting for just the right person to come along, no he is orchestrating it all from the very beginning.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This theme of providence stretches all throughout history and we see it ever present in the life of Jesus. It was God working through his providence to make a way for us to be forgiven of our sins. It is also through his providential work that he saves us.
Sin is the great problem that we have because it separates us from God. Jesus came and he was not just at the mercy of these bad guys but God worked providentially in his life so that he could be the sacrifice for our sins and make a way for us to be forgiven.
Tonight God may be working on your heart and guiding you just like the servant in our story. Respond to his call, put your faith in Christ and accept the forgiveness that he offers.
