Isaac and Rebekah
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
How has God grown your faith? I’ll give you a second to think about it. Watching the faith of believers in Ukraine and the hope that springs from their faith has encouraged me in mine.
After the death of Sarah, at 127 years.
Abraham’s life has been long and full of faith. He knows the importance of God’s promise continuing with Isaac. But he also knows that God is the one who keeps the promise. “By myself, I have...” said the Lord.
1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 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,
3 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,
4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 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?”
6 Abraham said to him, “See to it 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 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.
8 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.”
9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 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.
11 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.
12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.
13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14 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.”
15 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.
16 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.
17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”
18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.
19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”
20 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.
21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
22 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,
23 and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”
25 She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.”
26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord
27 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.”
28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
Before we look at anything else from this text, let us see this: Before he finished praying, the answer was walking up. God had prompted the prayer and prepared the answer at the same time. He still does.
Preparing the next generation - after spending 10 days with first generation Christians in Ukraine the need to prepare for the next is evident.
Setting the example
This is the ‘do’ of preparing for the next generation. There is action to be taken. Attitude and mindset to develop.
Obedience - Abraham’s servant was given specific instructions to go to a specific place for a specific purpose.
Urgency - not so much to be fast, but to know the importance of… The servant needed to know this was the most important thing. Dont dawdle. And to know the importance of doing it as instructed. There were specifics.
The way we treat God’s word in obedience and with urgency sets the example for the generation to follow. We cannot be a people who says do as I say, dont do as I do. We have to take as our own the words God penned through Paul:
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
When we have the peace of God, we have set the example. GREAT self-assessment: Have I passed along the peace of God? Does the next generation see, KNOW, the peace of God in me?
Setting the expectations
Boundaries - Abraham’s boundaries protected Isaac. That’s what boundaries do. The white and yellow lines on the highway. The fences people build around the backyard here and the front yard in Ukraine. Having boundaries is for our good. Taking those boundaries away makes us fearful. Let me tell you how I know: Those Ukrainian roads...
Temptations - the temptation for Isaac seemed to have been to take a wife from the people among whom he lived AND/OR to return to the land of his father. Although he had never lived there he may have had a nostalgic sense about it as surely Abraham had told him of his family.
Setting the expectations for the next generation means we deal with temptations. By deal with I mean resist. Be aware of. Be on guard against.
Setting expectations in boundaries and temptations are ‘dont’. Treat it like the the foul lines on a baseball field. Keep it between those lines and you’re good. But you can hit it as far as you can! The further the better.
Allowing God to handle the details
12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.
“You pick”
When we trust God with the details, the answer to our prayer is coming before we even ask.
21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
He watched and let God speak!
When God had revealed His will, gratitude/thankfulness poured out of this servant!
TELL THE STORY
It creates thankfulness in you v52
It creates awe/respect/fear in them v50
It glorifies the Father!
