Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall theme or thread: How to hear from God.

The longest chapter in Genesis is set in marriage, but it is actually the story of a servant who listens, prays, and obeys God at every turn.

English Standard Version (Chapter 24)

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.

I. Faith

Taking the oath put the burden on the servant to complete the commission.

If the woman he found was not willing to return with him, then he was free from the oath.

But by no means was he to take Isaac out of the land in the process.

Abraham was thereby ensuring that Isaac would be safe, both physically and in terms of perpetuating the covenant

It only says “servant” Jewish tradition says it is Eliezer who is identified in Genesis 15:2.

The servant is the hero of this story.

Abraham now acts as if the covenant is certain.

Isaac cant leave the promised land.

He kept good with the locals by treating them fairly, supplying them with goods, maintaining his integrity, and keeping out of their squabbles.

Taking one of their daughters in marriage would have erased that delicate boundary.

Marriage is sacred .

Marriage changes things.

Abraham is a CEO.

His family is a business.

Servants are employees.

Abraham picked up Eliezer in Damascus (Genesis 15:2) when his caravan was traveling to the promised land.

Eliezer was the Chief of Staff.

Second in command.

Highest manager.

“Watch yourself” is a warning.

“Be careful never to take my son there” Abraham saw danger in taking his son out of the promised land.

lesson 1: Heed the advice of godly parents.

I have rarely seen parents get it wrong when they are godly people who speak with pure motives.

Abraham had faith that God would work ahead of him

It is easy to assume that Abraham now had faith that God would always send an angel or show up when he was in need.

Someone would show him the way.

So the servant vput his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter

This is tied to the covenant of circumcision.

That God would bless them.

He is putting his hand as close to this promise as physically appropriate.

But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then uyou will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there

In other words, “I think I feel God’s guidance, but if I’m wrong don’t do anything hastily- God will have another plan.”

So the servant vput his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter

Weird notes: They place their hands under the thigh because it is the closest responsible place to swear on the covenant (the circumcision) and it is closest to the most valuable things a man owns.

English word testify comes from the word “tesitcle”.

It is a way for Abraham to bless the marriage in the event he can’t or he dies.

It is giving power of attorney

What do we want most for our kids: for them to be happy, smart, successful, or good?

At the heart you have to say good- that is to obey God.

Happiness, smarts, or success apart from goodness would be negative qualities.

The only reason you would say anything else is that you ALREADY believe they are good- so it goes unsaid.

29 And swhen the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now tI have found favor in your sight, uput your hand under my thigh and vpromise to deal kindly and truly with me.

wDo not bury me in Egypt,

The only other reference to this tradition

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.”

II.

Prayer

Camels were not common and made ideal pack animals for long journeys.

Each beast represented a small fortune.

Ten camels in Abraham’s day would have looked like a ten limousine entourage today.

Prayer: He had doubtlessly seen Abraham do this countless times before.

Lesson 2- Cover it in prayer

This would be way beyond for the woman.

These were not arbitrary.

He looked for a woman who had uncommon hospitality and was willing to work hard to serve.

Watering 10 camels is going above and beyond.

A camel can drink as much as fifty gallons in three minutes and he had 10.

Most jars at that time were about 5 gallons.

A five gallon jar is about fifty pounds.

She was about to haul five hundred gallons, five gallons at a time.

That is 100 trips.

If each trip takes 1 minute, she just added 2 hours of backbreaking work.

She set herself apart from the pack clearly.

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.

III.

Discernment.

He isn’t looking for a miracle, he only wants to see what God is actually doing.

Is God moving here or not.

Rebekah was Isaac’s 1st cousin once removed.

She would have worn clothing that identified her as unmarried and therefore a virgin.

Genesis 24:19–21 (ESV)

3rd principle: Look for true character.

He watched to see if she would do it.

It is possible others had said they would do it.

Her true character would be revealed by whether she would do it.

Rational Bible

Three mirrors.