24 1-28 Dating, Marriage, And God
liberty bible church 3/2/08 P.M.
By Tom Zobrist
“Dating, Marriage, and god”
Does God have a plan?
Genesis 24:1-28
introduction
Illus. of different methods for finding spouses. The spectrum runs from our current dating system which includes multiple “trials” and even living together to make sure they’re the right one to antiquated systems as we saw in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” READ lyrics. And then his brothers kidnapped their wives. There’s got to be a balance. What is the Biblical method? What does God want us to do?
OPEN to passage.
Prop. In this passage, we see what spiritual attributes can be helpful in finding the spouse that God wants for us.
Open in PRAYER.
PREVIEW the passage. Sarah has now passed away and Abraham is advancing in age. His thoughts turn to his son Isaac and his future as the one who would carry the promises of God on. Obviously, if Abraham’s descendants were going to become as numerous as the sand on the sea shore, Isaac would need to find a wife. Since he could not marry a woman from the pagan peoples of Canaan, Abraham had to become proactive in his search for “the one.” Within this chapter, we see some attributes that can help us find the “gal” or “guy” that God wants for us. The first one that will help us find God’s plan is…
i. faithfulness to god’s will vs. 1-9
Illus. of “Practical Present” Many times we want guidance to find God’s specific will for us when it comes to finding a spouse and we aren’t even faithful to follow God’s general will in specific areas of our lives in which we know we are disobedient; practical areas. God only reveals His will to those that He knows will be faithful to it. Faithfulness is a key concept in this passage. The word hesed is used several times and it refers to “loyal love” or “loyalty to the covenant.” Abraham is faithful, his servant is faithful, and Rebekah is faithful, not to mention God who is faithful in providentially guiding Abraham’s servant to the bride He wanted Isaac to have. How does God do that?
a. the call
V 1-2 1. Abraham had been blessed over his many years. But, there was one matter to which he had to attend. He had to find a wife for Isaac. For some reason, he doesn’t call Isaac to do this task, but he calls his oldest, most trusted servant, Eliezer. Cf. 15:2 To put one’s hand under another’s thigh is to say that if the oath is not carried out, then the descendants of Abraham could avenge the servant’s unfaithful ness. It was a very serious commitment, as marriage is. So, what is Abraham asking him to swear to?
V 3-4 2. Isaac was not to marry a Canaanite woman. She was to marry someone from Abraham’s family in the old country, as it were. This was 450 miles away. No small task for an older man. That’s Abraham’s call. How would the servant respond?
b. the commitment
V 5 1. Usually the groom goes for the bride. What if she won’t come? Should Isaac go there?
V 6-8 2. This is not an option. Isaac is not to go there. God gave us this land and he must remain here. If we are faithful to God’s will for us to be here, He will send an angel to guide you and you will find a wife for him there. If she won’t come, you are released from the oath. But, under no circumstances are you to take Isaac there. If she won’t follow you, she isn’t the one.
V 9 3. Eliezer makes the oath and is ready to go.
Trans. Abraham is willing to be FAITHFUL TO GOD’S WILL and Eliezer will be as well. Second, we must show…
ii. obedience to god’s way vs. 10-21
Illus. of talk of following God is cheap. Eliezer now had some work to do. He begins with…
a. prayer for guidance
1. Actually, he begins by moving forward. For God to guide us we have to be moving forward.
V 10 2. He takes a show of wealth for Isaac’s future bride and her father and brother. He had authority over Abraham’s goods so could take other men as well as animals if necessary. The city of Nahor was named after Abraham’s brother, so he knew where to find his family.
V 11 3. He arrives and goes where the women are. The women fetched the water. And he begins to pray.
V 12 3. “kindness” is hesed. He is asking God to be faithful to Abraham; to be faithful to His covenant promises. Eliezer was counting on the guidance of God.
V 13- 4. He asks for God to make it clear which girl it is to be. He throws down a fleece of sorts, not recommended
14 today, and waits for God to lead. “kindness” at the end of verse 14 is hesed again. “loyalty” After his prayer, all he has to do now is…
b. walk through the open door
V 15 1. This is a quick answer to prayer. Before he is done, here comes his answer. This was Abraham’s great niece, a cousin to Isaac. She comes to draw water.
V 16 2. She fit the bill perfectly, at least from a physical perspective. He was to soon find out how perfect she was.
V 17- 3. Remember the request. Cf. v 14 The first have half of his request is being fulfilled. Now what about the
18 second?
V 19- 4. Chaching! This is the one. God has providentially worked to bring all these specific details together so that the
20 servant would know that this is the girl for Isaac. This would have been a lot of work to provide water for ten camels.
V 21 5. He just watched as all this came to pass. He wanted to make sure.
Trans. Abraham is willing to be FAITHFUL TO GOD’S WILL and Eliezer is willing to be OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WAY. Lastly, he offers…
iii. worship for god’s (PROVISION OF A) wife or husband vs. 22-28
Illus. of when was the last time you worshipped God for your spouse. It is something that we should do frequently, even when they aren’t perfect. That’s what Eliezer does here. But first he…
A. honors the wife or future wife
V 22 1. He gives her gifts. Expensive gifts.
V 23 2. He seeks shelter for himself and his companions.
V 24 3. She revealed who her family was which was great news.
V 25 4. She offered housing and care for him and his animals. For this, Eliezer was extremely grateful. So, he…
b. worships god
V 26 1. He was humbled at God’s leading and faithfulness to Abraham and began to worship.
V 27 2. The word for “mercy” is hesed. God’s faithfulness to the covenant. God lead Abraham’s servant right to Abraham’s brother’s grand-daughter.
V 28 3. So, Rebekah goes and reports all these events to her family. And we end here tonight.
conclusion
Abraham is willing to be FAITHFUL TO GOD’S WILL and Eliezer is willing to be OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WAY. Lastly, he offers WORSHIP FOR GOD’S (PROVISION OF A) WIFE OR HUSBAND. So, you see, when it comes to dating and marriage, God really does have a plan. But, how does this translate to our culture? Once again, faithfulness is the key.
1. Whether married or unmarried, we are to be faithful to God’s will. His plan for marriage is given in the Scriptures. The way we are to care for one another, forgive one another, love one another. If you’re unmarried and want to be, your focus should be on strengthening your relationship with God so that He can lead you to where He wants you to find your future spouse. Faithfulness is key. God demonstrates faithfulness to us in the promises He has fulfilled in Jesus. GOSPEL
2. We need to be obedient to God’s way. It is clearly marked in His Word. If we are faithful to his general will revealed there, His specific will for us, like who we are to marry will become clear to us.
3. We need to worship or praise God for our spouses. Even the ones that aren’t perfect.
Illus. of our culture of finding spouses is a little different than the one we studied tonight. Many fundamental Christians have rebelled against that and have gone to courting and other less orthodox methods. But these same principles must be applied to any one of these methods or to any marriage.
If we seek to be as faithful as God is to us and as was Abraham and Eliezer, we will be successful is all relationships, especially the ones in our homes and our young people will find the spouses God has planed for them.
pray
liberty bible church 3/2/08 P.M.
By Tom Zobrist
“Dating, Marriage, and god”
Does God have a plan?
Genesis 24:1-28
introduction
In this passage, we see what spiritual attributes can be helpful in finding the spouse that God wants for us.
i. faithfulness to god’s vs. 1-9
a. the __________________________
b. the __________________________
ii. obedience to god’s vs. 10-21
a.
b.
iii. worship for god’s vs. 22-28
A. honors the ______________________________________
b. __________________________ god
conclusion
How does this translate to our culture? Once again, ___________________________ is the key.
1.
2.
3.