The Unnamed Servant (Eliezer)

Genesis 24

Over the last few weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at some lesser known characters in the Bible and gleaning from their lives. When it came to my turn to pick a character in this series, my heart immediately went to this man here in our text.

In Genesis 24, this servant remains unnamed throughout the whole chapter, but there is reasonable evidence to suggest that this is Eliezer, who was Abraham’s “steward of his house” back in Genesis 15. Whether this servant in our chapter is in fact Eliezer we will never know for sure, but whomever he is, he is definitely someone we should know by the way he carries out Abraham’s request. It is also important to note that this is the longest chapter in Genesis, and this servant is the “main character” within the story.

Abraham is getting near the end of his life and while he knows that God has promised to bless his seed, he also knows that that cant happen unless Isaac finds a wife. So, Abraham tasks his servant with going back to Nahor to find a bride for his son.

So what makes this servant someone worth knowing?

I. He was a man who desired and obeyed God’s Will

Faithful to His Master’s Desires

When Abraham gave him the task of finding a wife for Isaac, the servant did not change anything about the instruction that was given to him. When he made his vow of obedience, he meant it and kept it.

He was instructed to go and find a woman from a specific family in a specific place and he was to trust God to find the right woman.

God expects complete obedience. Only doing part of what He says is not just incomplete obedience, it is sin!

He understood that he was going to have to give an account to his master about how he carried out this task

All of us will give an account to the Lord for how we lived our Christian lives. We should want to give Him a good report!

Dedicated to His Master’s Desires

The servant then immediately makes the trek from Canaan all the way back to the city of Nahor with 10 camels full of gifts for the family of the bride.

This was a 900 miles trip one way! On camelback this would have taken around 6-8 weeks to travel this distance!

This is a long way to travel for something that could be seen as “not a guarantee”. But this servant trusted God and trusted his master’s instructions. He was going to do what he was told and leave the rest up to God!

This is something that we should all strive to emulate. An attitude of “I’m just going to do what my Master has told me to do no matter what. The journey may be long and arduous, but I’m going to keep my eyes on the task ahead and keep going until I reach it”

Obedience to His Master’s Desires (v. 21-23)

When the servant meets Rebekah, he is no doubt in amazement of how God has answered his prayers and brought this woman to him so quickly. But, notice that he was not impulsive or hasty with his decision to choose this woman. Everything seemed like it was lining up but then he asks the question in v.23 that would be the determining factor of whether this was God’s Will or not

“Whose daughter art thou?” AKA “Which family do you belong to?”

Abraham’s request was specific. This woman would have to come from the right family. Regardless of whether or not she met all of the servant’s requests, the most important thing was if she met the Master’s requirements!

“Something can be good but not be right!” - Kenny Kuykendall

At the end of the day, God’s Will for us is not about what is most appealing to us or what we think is good for us, God’s Will is about what God desires.

The servant requested that the right woman for Isaac would be the one that would not only offer him a drink, but also offer to give water to all 10 camels. Camels can drink between 20-40 gallons of water each. He requested that this woman be generous and hard working, but at the end of the day, the question that was most important — the deal breaker so to speak — was if she was from the right family!

She checked all the boxes that the servant had laid out for her, but he still waited for confirmation from the Lord that this was right

II. He was a man who prayed and sought God’s Guidance

He Prayed Specifically (v. 12-14)

When he arrived in Nahor, the very first thing he did was kneel down and pray for God’s guidance in his mission. But he didnt pray some generalized “christianese” prayer, he prayed some very specific requests unto the Lord to help him find the right woman

I believe he was so careful and specific with his request because he so badly wanted to get this right. He did not want to let his master down.

If we are truly concerned with getting God’s Will right for our lives, then we will do what the servant did… pray and pray specifically!

Our God is a God that answers specific prayers. The more specific we get with them, the more of the glory God gets when He answers, because only He knows the details and only He could get every detail right.

He Prayed with a Purpose

He didnt pray a half-hearted prayer because it was what was expected of him. He prayed because he knew he needed God’s help. He understood that without God’s help, he wouldn’t be able to find the right person that Abraham was looking for!

The requests he made all were good things in a person that would have benefitted Isaac as a help meet, but once again, his ultimate goal was not to find a good person for Isaac, but the right person!

He Prayed with Faith

When this servant prayed, he prayed with faith! He prayed believing God would prosper his efforts and lead him to the right person to bring back home for Isaac!

God honored this faith by answering him before he even finished his prayer!

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Prayers made to God without faith and confidence that He wants to answer and CAN answer get nowhere with Him. When we come to Him we must come believing that He will answer!

The servant was concerned with pleasing his master and pleasing God, but it wouldve been impossible to do either if he didnt have faith!

III. He was a man Who was Alert to what God was Doing

He was sure to Give God Praise (26-27, 52)

This servant literally stopped what he was doing, in the middle of the conversation, to give God praise for leading him to the exact right person!

He gave God his worship

It would do all of us good sometimes to just stop what we are doing and just worship the Lord for Who He is and what He’s done!

He acknowledged God’s blessings (mercy and truth)

Let us all be careful to not forget to be thankful for God’s blessings

He recognized God’s leading (I being in the way, the Lord led me)

It is hard to steer a parked car. Often times we ask God for His guidance while we are sitting still and not moving. God wants to give us His guidance, but He also wants us to “get moving”. We can’t expect God to lead us in the right direction if we aren’t moving at all.

We start walking in the way God has told us to walk (obeying what we know God wants us to do), and then He’ll “steer” us in the right direction to go.

He was serious about God’s Good Pleasure (32-33)

The servant refused to eat anything until he let the family know how God was working.

He was more concerned about God’s working than his own comfort and pleasure. Think about how tired and hungry he must have been!

Rebekah’s family realized that this was all from God. They could not refute the evidence! (50)

Notice his urgency. The very next morning, the servant is eager to get back to his master (54-56)

The guy has traveled 900 miles over 6-8 weeks without stopping and has been in the city for less than 24 hours — probably only for 12 hours or so — and is already eager to make the long trek back

The family wanted him to stick around for 10 days to give them time to say their goodbyes, but the servant understood that obedience to God was immediate, he needed to act right now!

The longer we wait to act in obedience, the more likely we are to not follow through

Tomorrow is the devil’s word! When God asks us to act, He almost always wants it to be immediate. There’s no time to waste!

Conclusion

May each of us strive to be like this unnamed servant

Desiring God’s Will and being Willing to obey it

Prayerful and seeking God’s guidance

Be alert to what God is doing in our lives