Genesis chapter 24, and Abraham was old and
well stricken in age and the Lord had
blessed Abraham in all things.
Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his
house that ruled over all that he had,
put I pray thee thy hand under my
thigh.
So, Abraham is now seeking to extract a
promise from the servant and he wants it
to be a very strong covenant that he
makes with the servant.
Now, earlier the chief servant of Abraham was
named Eliezer.
Whether or not Eliezer was still alive is
not known at this time because he had
been Abraham's servant for a long time and
it is possible that by this point in
history Eliezer had already died.
But if indeed it is still Eliezer, it
makes the story that much more interesting because
Eliezer means God my help.
And in as much as we look at
this story of Eliezer going into the far
country to get a bride for Abraham's son,
in this particular story there is a beautiful
spiritual application.
For already we have seen Abraham as a
type of the father.
We have seen Isaac as the type of
the son Jesus Christ.
And Eliezer would become the type of the
Holy Spirit.
And thus his name would become significant, Eliezer
God my help.
For when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in
the 14th chapter of John, he said and
I will pray the father and he will
give you another comforter.
The Greek word is paracletus, which means one
to come alongside to help.
So here we have the name Eliezer God
my helper and the Holy Spirit being called
the comforter or one who comes alongside to
help.
And if you'll keep now in mind the
spiritual application as we are reading through the
story, it will become very significant to you
and no doubt the Holy Spirit will flash
on you certain bits of inspiration as suddenly
you see the real picture of the father
sending the Holy Spirit into a far country
or outside then of the Jewish realm to
get a bride for Jesus Christ and the
work of the Holy Spirit in convincing the
bride that she should go.
And so if you'll keep that in mind
as we go through the 24th chapter here,
you will get what I believe to be
the picture that God wants to receive from
this particular story in the scriptures.
So Abraham caused his servant to swear unto
him that he would not take a bride
for his son from the nations where they
were living, but that he would go back
unto Abraham's home and he would draw or
he would get there a bride for his
son.
So as we go on, and I will
make thee swear by the Lord the God
of heaven and the God of the earth
that thou shalt not take a wife of
my son from the daughters of the Canaanites
among whom I dwell, but thou shalt go
unto my country and to my kindred and
take a wife unto my son Isaac.
And the servant said unto him, peradventure the
woman will not be willing to follow me
unto this land.
Must I needs bring thy son again unto
the land from whence you came.
And Abraham said unto him, beware that you
do not bring my son there again.
The Lord God of heaven which took me
from my father's house and from the land
of my family and which spake unto me
that and that swear unto me saying unto
thy seed will I give this land, he
shall send his angel before thee and thou
shalt take a wife unto my son from
there.
And if the woman will not be willing
to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear
from this my oath, only bring not my
son there again.
So the servant put his hand under the
thigh of Abraham, his master, and swear to
him concerning that matter.
And so the servant wanted to be clear
in the instructions.
It was his duty now.
He was being charged with the duty of
getting a bride for Isaac, Abraham's son.
And he wants to make sure that he
has things straight and clear and an understanding.
If I go there and I find a
young girl, but she's not willing to come
to this land, then that is really asking
a young girl to take a chance.
Because you've never seen the fellow and he's
some 500 miles away.
And the chance of your returning home again
are very slim.
So she's being asked to take really a
venture in faith herself.
That she's going to love him.
That she's going to be happy there.
That he's going to be all that she
wants him to be.
And the chances of a young girl buying
such a thing as that is remote.
And the servant understanding that really probably questioned
in his heart if he could talk a
young girl even into coming back with him.
He surely foresaw the difficulties of such a
thing.
But Abraham, who believed God, had confidence that
such would be the case, that the young
girl would come back.
And thus he said, the angel of the
Lord will go before you and he'll set
things up.
But the big command was, don't take Isaac
there.
This is the land that God has promised.
Abraham is certain about that.
And Isaac is not to go back to
the land of Haran.
And if the girl doesn't come, then the
servant is freed from this vow that he
took.
And the vow became a sacred kind of
a charge or a trust.
It was something that he was obligated to
fulfill to his very best ability.
And so he is determining, before he promises,
he wants to know completely what he's promising.
He wants to get the terms of the
vow clear.
And so Abraham clarifies the issue concerning the
girl.
And thus he takes the vow that he
will go and seek to persuade a young
girl to come and be Isaac's bride.
And the servant took 10 camels of the
camels of his master and he departed for
all the goods of his master were in
his hand.
And he arose and he went to Mesopotamia
under the city of Nahar.
And he made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water
at the time of the evening, about that
time when the women usually went out to
draw water.
And then he prayed and he said, O
Jehovah God of my master Abraham, I pray
thee send me good speed this day and
show kindness unto my master Abraham.
Behold, I stand here by the well of
water and the daughters of the men of
the city come out to draw water.
Now let it come to pass that the
damsel to whom I shall say, let down
thy pitcher, I pray thee that I may
drink.
And she shall say, drink and I will
give thy camels drink also.
Let the same one be the one that
you have appointed for thy servant Isaac.
And thereby shall I know that you have
showed kindness unto my master.
So the servant of Abraham is sort of
setting up a fleece with God in a
manner of speaking.
He's setting up now a certain little thing.
Lord, I don't know where she is.
Now you've got one picked out here someplace.
And so in as much as I don't
know the one that you've got picked out,
let's make a deal.
When the girls come out here to draw
water, I'll go up to them and I'll
say, give me a drink.
Now, if one will give me a drink
and if she will respond to me and
say, oh, I'll get water for your camels
also.
Lord, let that be the one that you
have chosen.
Let that be the sign.
I'll know when she says that, that that's
the one you've chosen.
And so he's sort of setting now conditions
whereby he might know God's choice in this
matter.
Now it is interesting.
Sometimes it seems that it takes a long
time for our prayers to be answered.
Abraham had been praying for his son for
years before the answer came.
Sometimes our prayers are answered almost immediately.
Just as quickly as we can ask them
many times, the answer seems to be there.
Now, why is it that sometimes prayers get
immediate response and then other times it seems
that God isn't even hearing us and it
takes such a long time before our prayers
are answered?
Well, to me, it just shows that God
is in control of things.
You see, if I were in control of
things, I would answer all my prayers immediately.
But the fact that God waits in some
issues only shows me that I don't have
the capacity to do it.
It's in God's hands and that he is
in control of the issues of my life
and the timing of those issues.
And I have discovered that it's best for
me that God is in control.
Because there were many things that I asked
for that later on I said, Lord, cancel
that request back there on June the 24th.
If it's all right, Lord, just forget that
one and don't answer it.
Because as I get down the road, I
see that I don't need it.
Or I see that it wouldn't be beneficial.
I see where it could actually be harmful.
And so I have put in the cancel
request on many of the earlier orders.
God is in control.
It's best that God remains in control or
else we've got chaos on our hands.
I believe that every right thing that you
have ever prayed for, God intended to give
it to you before you ever prayed.
And I believe that your prayer just opened
up the opportunity for God to give it
to you.
That he was intending to give it to
you all the way along.
That he being a wise and loving father
knew years ago what you were going to
be needing yesterday.
And those prayers that he answered for you
yesterday, he had intended to answer those all
the way along.
I believe that your father knows what you
have need of before you ever ask him.
And every right thing you've ever asked him
for, he has already intended to do for
you.
For I do not believe that prayer changes
the will of God.
That is not my concept of God at
all.
That I can get down and I can
really argue with him and give to him
reasons and logic and so forth.
And I can change the mind of God
by my persuasive powers in prayer.
I don't believe that.
I believe that every good thing that I've
asked God to give to me, he already
intended to give to me.
That is before I ever asked him.
John said, if we ask anything according to
his will, he hears us.
And if he hears us, then we have
received the petitions that we have asked of
him.
You say, oh, but there are some beautiful
promises.
If you ask anything in my name, that
will I do that the Father may be
glorified in the Son.
Henceforth, you've asked nothing in my name.
Ask that you might receive, that your joy
might be full.
And whatsoever things you desire when you pray,
believe that you receive them and ye shall
have them.
Whatsoever things, anything, whatsoever things, pretty wide open,
isn't it?
But let me ask you, who was Jesus
talking to when he said that?
Was he talking to the multitudes?
Go back and look.
The multitudes weren't around at all when he
said that.
Jesus was talking at that time to a
close-knit little group that were called his
disciples.
But what did it take to be his
disciple?
He said, if any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, take up his
cross and follow me.
So stamp that over all of those whatsoever
things and all things in all.
Stamp that over the top.
Because he's only talking to those persons who
have already denied themselves and have taken up
their cross and are following him.
They've already come to the cross in their
own life.
They're not looking for their own glory or
for their own welfare or for their own
benefit.
They're looking now only to glorify Jesus Christ.
They've made that total kind of a commitment
of themselves and their lives to him.
And for that person, whatsoever things you desire,
because the only things you're going to desire
are those things that are pleasing to God
and those things that God is wanting to
do.
So you can't just take these all things
and whatsoever things and if you ask anything,
you can't take those and make them blanket
promises to just a multitude of people.
Those are special promises to a specialized group.
So with a servant, he prayed and made
this little arrangement with God.
And it came to pass, verse 15, before
he was through praying, that behold, Rebecca came
out who was born to Bethuel, the son
of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother,
with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
Now, Milcah was the sister of Lot.
Their father died early.
When he died, Abraham took the boy and
his brother took the girl.
But his brother married the girl.
And so he actually married his niece.
And she then bore Bethuel, who was the
father of Rebecca and of Laban, who we
find figuring into the story quite prominently as
we get down the line.
And Jacob goes in his flight from his
brother Esau and comes against his uncle Laban.
But that's the family kind of tie in
here.
So, before he was even through with his
prayer, Rebecca came out with a pitcher upon
her shoulder and the damsel was very beautiful
to look upon.
And she was a virgin.
Neither had any man known her.
And she went down to the well and
filled her pitcher and came up.
And the servant ran to meet her and
he said, let me, I pray thee, drink
a little water of thy pitcher.
He'd put out the thing and now here's
this first chance to test it.
And he made this arrangement with God.
And so now he's putting the question.
Let me have a little drink of water.
And he waits in anticipation to see, you
know, here's a beautiful, oh my, wouldn't that
be nice?
You know, the first one along, she's pretty
and oh, let me have a drink of
water.
And watching now for the response.
And she said, drink my Lord.
And she hurried and let down her pitcher
upon her hand and she gave him a
drink.
And when she had done giving him a
drink, she said, I will draw water for
thy camels also until they are through drinking.
And she hurried and emptied her pitcher into
the trough and ran again to the well
to draw water and drew for all his
camels.
And the man wondering at her held her
peace.
But don't you know, his heart was pounding
at this point.
Man, Lord, that's fast.
She's so beautiful.
As he watched her, he thought, oh, could
this possibly be it?
And he, he just was holding his peace.
He, he was wanting to burst out, but
he, he, he held back.
And so the next question, as the camels
were through drinking, he took a golden, it
says earring, literally, it's a nose ring of
a half shekel weight.
Now, a half shekel weight would be about
a quarter of an ounce.
A shekel was about a half an ounce.
So about a quarter ounce, little nose ring
and two bracelets for her hands of 10
shekels weight of gold, or about five ounces
of gold.
And he said, whose daughter are you?
Question number two.
This is going to be the clincher.
Who's your father?
Whose daughter are you?
I pray thee.
Let me see.
Is there room in your father's house for
us to dwell?
And she said unto him, I am the
daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which
she bore to Nahor.
And she said, moreover unto him, we have
both straw and food enough and room to
lodge in.
And the man bowed down his head and
he worshipped the Lord.
Man, hit it right off the bat.
She's one of Abraham's relatives.
And, and, oh, you know, can it be?
I'm sure that his heart was just really
filled with excitement and anticipation and he worshipped
the Lord.
And he said, blessed be the Lord God
of my master Abraham, who hath not left
destitute my master of his mercy and truth.
So blessing the Lord for his goodness to
Abraham.
But then he said something that I think
is very significant.
I being in the way the Lord led
me.
I think that that is one of the
most important verses in the scripture for those
who are desiring to know how to be
led of God.
I being in the way the Lord led
me.
I believe that God expects us to step
out in faith.
And as we step out in faith, he
leads us.
I think that many times we make a
mistake by just lying back and saying, now,
Lord, lead my life.
And I'm just going to lie here, Lord,
until you lead me.
Chances are you'll never be led.
Stand up.
Start walking.
And then the Lord will lead you where
you should go.
Too many people take a very passive attitude
towards the leading.
Well, Lord, I'm available.
Here I am.
You can just lead me, Lord, wherever.
But you have a very passive attitude towards
God leading your life.
There is that necessity of stepping and I
being in the way the Lord led me.
Now, had he stayed back in Beersheba and
just prayed for months, Lord, now you lead
me to the one.
Lead me to the one, Lord.
You lead me to the one.
How could the Lord have ever led him
to Rebecca as long as he was in
Beersheba?
He had to get out.
He had to go.
When he went, then the Lord led him.
I being in the way the Lord led
me.
I think that one of the things that
we often make a mistake as far as
the leading of God is that we expect
God to lay out the whole picture.
Philip was in the midst of a great
revival up in Samaria.
Many people were believing and turning to the
Lord.
And the Lord said, Philip, get down to
the desert, to Gaza, the desert area there.
Now, the Lord would say that to half
of you.
You say, well, Lord, why do you want
me to go down there?
Are you sure, Lord, that that's where you
want me to go?
What do you want me to do, Lord?
What's what do you got in mind for
me down there?
Lord, there's a neat revival going on here.
A lot of people surely, Lord, what is
it that you want?
We want God to lay out the whole
picture.
But God doesn't always lay out the whole
picture to us.
Many times he just gives us one step
at a time.
And you're not going to get step number
two until you've taken step number one.
Why should you?
Why should God give you the second step
if you haven't followed the first step?
So Philip left Samaria, went down to Gaza.
When he got down to Gaza, he saw
a chariot heading towards Ethiopia.
And the Lord said, go up and join
yourself to the chariot.
Well, Lord, what do you want me to
do that for?
Why should I go join myself to the
chariot?
No, no questions.
Just he went and he ran up next
to the chariot.
You see, God leads us one step at
a time.
But I being in the way, the Lord
led me.
If I don't take step number one, I'll
never be directed to step number two.
I've got to step out in faith at
step number one.
And as I get in the way, as
I start moving, then God will lead my
movements.
I being in the way, the Lord led
me.
I love that because that's just how God
leads us.
When we have stepped out in faith, following
the directions of the Lord, then God will
lead us in the next steps that we
should take.
I being in the way, the Lord led
me to the house of my master's brothers.
Oh, how about that?
Five hundred miles and hit right on the
nose.
The Lord has led me to the house
of my master's brothers.
There were probably many wells that he could
have stopped at, but God led him right
to the right one.
Many young girls coming out to draw water,
but the timing was just perfect.
Rebecca was the first one.
After 500 miles, success.
And the damsel ran and she told them
of her mother's house, these things.
She ran home and said, oh, there's a
man there with 10 camels.
And he gave me these golden bracelets and
this nose ring and all, you know, and
he's just, he got all these servants and
all with him.
And Rebecca had a brother and his name
was Laban and Laban ran out unto the
man and to the well.
Now, as you will learn later in the
story, not tonight.
Laban was a fairly greedy fellow.
And the thing that really attracted him was
his sister coming home with these golden bracelets.
And so he's going to be a very
gracious, charming fellow.
And he comes running out, you know, man,
she made out with a couple of golden
bracelets.
Maybe I can get something out of this
deal.
He was always looking for what he could
get out of a deal.
And so he comes out, you know, just
charming, gracious host.
And Laban ran out to the man at
the well and it came to pass when
he saw the earrings, you see, and the
bracelets upon his sister's hands.
And when he heard the words of Rebecca,
his sister saying, this is what the man
spoke to me, that he came unto the
man and behold, he stood by the camels
at the well.
So the servant had stayed there at the
well in order that she might go home
and see if it would be all right.
You know, there's a man here with some
servants and they got 10 camels and they
want to know if there's room for them
to spend the night.
And so he said, come in, thou blessed
of the Lord.
Why should you be standing out here?
For I have prepared the house and room
for the camels.
He hadn't had time to do that yet,
but believe me, I'll do it.
You know, he saw the bracelets and the
whole thing.
And the man came into the house and
he unsaddled or ungirded the camels and he
gave straw and the camels and water to
wash his feet and the men's feet that
were with him.
And there was set meat before him to
eat, but he said, I don't want to
eat until I have told you my errand.
And so they said, speak on, go ahead,
tell us.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant and
the Lord has blessed my master greatly and
he has become great and he has given
him flocks and herds and silver and gold
and men's servants and maid servants and camels
and donkeys.
And Sarah, my master's wife, has born him
a son when she was old and unto
him hath he given all that he has.
And now we begin to see the picture
of the intercession of the Holy Spirit, as
he seeks to draw out a bride for
Jesus Christ.
And the Holy Spirit tells us the wealth
of the heavenly kingdom, the glories of God's
kingdom.
And in the word, we read the glory
of heaven, streets of gold, gates of pearl,
walls of precious stones, beautiful river, trees on
either side, crystal clear fountain of water, of
living water, of life.
And the Holy Spirit has revealed the glory
of God's kingdom, the world, the universe.
And God has a son and God has
given all things to the son.
He is the heir of all things and
God has put all things under him.
And so the Holy Spirit testifies to us
of the glory of the kingdom of God
and how that he has made his son
the heir of the whole thing.
And the son is looking for a bride.
The father actually is looking for a bride
for his son.
So that when the Holy Spirit has finished
his work in the testifying to us of
Jesus Christ, it's like Peter said, whom having
not seen ye love.
Holy Spirit's done a good job.
Though I haven't seen him, I love him.
And even though I don't see him yet,
I haven't seen him yet, yet in my
heart I'm rejoicing with a joy unspeakable and
full of glory at the anticipation of that
glorious kingdom of which I have become a
part as the bride of Jesus Christ.
I can hardly wait.
My heart is filled with longing and anticipation
of that glorious day when I will see
him face to face.
Now I look through the glass darkly, then
face to face, but joying now with this
unspeakable joy as I just anticipate the glories
of that eternal kingdom of God of which
I am to share a part, the bride
of Jesus Christ.
And so the servant begins to tell of
the wealth of his master, all that he
has, the servants, the camels and the gold
and all and everything that he has, he
has given unto his son.
And my master made me swear saying that
I would not take a wife for his
son from the daughters of the Canaanites in
whose land he dwells, but that I should
go unto his father's house and to his
family and to take there a wife for
his son.
And I said to my master, what if
the woman will not follow me?
And he said to me, the Lord before
whom I walk will send his angel with
thee and prosper thy way.
Abraham's faith and belief that God would prosper
it and make it a successful journey.
And you will take a wife for my
son, from my family and of my father's
house.
Then thou shall be clear from this oath
when you come to my family.
And if they will not give you one,
thou shall be clear from my oath.
And so I came this day unto the
well and I said, oh Lord God of
my master, Abraham, if now thou do prosper
my way, which I go, behold, I am
standing by the well of water and it
shall come to pass that when a virgin
comes forth to draw water and I say
to her, give me, I pray thee a
little water of thy pitcher to drink.
And if she say to me, both drink
you and I will also draw for your
camels, let the same be the woman whom
the Lord has appointed out for my master's
son.
And before I was done speaking in mine
heart, behold, Rebecca came with her pitcher.
Now here to me is an interesting thing
and that is that God hears the prayers
of our heart.
It isn't necessary that prayers be verbalized.
So often we think we haven't prayed if
we haven't spoken out.
But God knows the prayers of your heart.
The servant wasn't out there with hands raised
and saying, now Lord God of my father,
Abraham.
You know, had he been doing that, then
all of the girls around there thinking, ooh,
look at all the loot and you know,
they'd all be running to get water.
I think that many times our loud prayers
are answered just because people are tired of
hearing our cries and they say, you know,
anything to shut them up, you know, and
they'll respond to our needs because I've let
them really be known before man.
Jesus said, go in your closet, shut the
door.
Your father that sees in secret will reward
you openly.
And prayer doesn't have to be uttered.
Now, I find that it's good for me
to verbalize.
I don't have to, but I find it's
good for me if I do.
Or if I kneel down next to the
bed and put my head on the bed
and just begin to pray to the Lord
in my heart, it isn't long before I
am resting in the Lord.
So for me, it's good to verbalize because
it keeps my mind on what I'm praying.
If I'm just praying in my heart, so
often my heart will run off into something
else.
And I find my mind is wondering, I'm
back in Hawaii again all of a sudden.
And so my mind has a tendency to
wonder when I'm just praying in my heart.
Now, I do a lot of praying just
in my heart.
There are some things that I just don't
want to utter and they're just prayers of
my heart.
But then I do find it necessary to
verbalize my prayers.
It keeps my mind on what I'm saying
and on my prayer and on my conversation
with God.
But it isn't necessary that prayers be verbalized.
God knows the cry of our heart.
And to me, it is very interesting that
he was just praying in his heart as
he was there.
It's just, his head was bowed perhaps and
not even necessarily.
But in his heart, he was just thinking,
oh Lord, now let it work out like
this.
And it was just a prayer that was
going on in his heart.
When I was done speaking in my heart,
behold, Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on
her shoulder and she went down to the
well and drew water.
And I said to her, let me drink,
I pray thee.
And she made haste and let down her
pitcher from her shoulder and said, drink and
I will give thy camels drink also.
So I drank and she made the camels
drink also.
And I asked her and said, whose daughter
art thou?
And she said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's
son, whom Melchah bear unto him.
And I put the earring upon her face
and the bracelets.
Now, as I told you, it's a nose
ring.
That's why he put it on her face.
It'd be hard to put an earring on
your face.
And the bracelets upon her hands.
And I bowed down my head and worship
the Lord and bless the Lord God of
my master Abraham, which had led me to
the right way to take my master's brother's
daughter unto his son.
And now, if you will deal kindly and
truly with my master, tell me, and if
not, tell me that I may turn to
the right hand or to the left.
Now I'm here and that's the issue.
Now tell me, are you going to let
her go or not?
No, let me know.
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, the
thing is proceeding from the Lord.
We cannot speak to the bad or good.
Behold, Rebecca is before thee.
In other words, what can we say?
The thing is obviously from God.
Behold, Rebecca is before thee.
Take her and go and let her be
thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath
spoken.
And it came to pass that when Abraham's
servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord,
bowing himself to the earth.
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver
and jewels of gold and raiment and gave
them to Rebecca.
And he gave also to her brother and
to her mother precious things.
And they did eat and drink, he and
the men that were with him.
And they tarried all night and they rose
up in the morning.
And he said, send me away unto my
master.
Now notice as soon as the arrangement was
made, then he came forth with gifts.
As soon as Rebecca was committed, then he
brought forth the gifts of gold and silver
and beautiful raiment and all, began to just
load her down with gifts.
As soon as we have committed our lives
to belong to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit
begins to give to us the glorious gifts
of the Spirit.
Begins to just give unto us gifts of
peace and joy, love, gifts of power.
He begins to really work in a special
way within us.
So in the morning, he said, send me,
I pray, back to my master.
But her brother and mother objected and they
said, oh, wait a minute, that's so fast.
Let the girl abide with us for a
few days at the least, ten.
After that she shall go.
And he said unto them, don't hinder me
seeing the Lord has prospered my way.
Send me away that I may go to
my master.
And they said, we will call the girl
and inquire at her mouth.
And so they called Rebecca and they said
unto her, will you go with this man?
And she said, I will go.
Now it became Rebecca's decision.
He is wanting to go right away in
order that he might hurry back with the
good news that his journey has been prosperous
and successful.
Her mother and brother naturally are objecting.
They are willing to give her, but oh,
they wanted to spend at least a few
last days with her because they know that
they'll probably never see her again.
And the servant is insisting, no, I want
to go now.
Well, let's ask her, will you go with
the man?
And the beautiful response, I will go.
Even as we must by choice and we
must exercise that choice to be a part
of the family of God.
So the exercise of Rebecca's own choice.
And they sent away Rebecca, their sister and
her nurse.
So evidently they were wealthy too, for she
had her own private maid and Abraham's servant
and his men.
And they blessed Rebecca and said unto her,
thou art our sister.
Be thou the mother of thousands of millions.
Oh boy.
They want her to be the mother of
a billion people and let thy seed possess
the gate of those which hate them.
And Rebecca arose and her damsels, plural, and
they rode upon the camels and followed the
man.
And the servant took Rebecca and went his
way.
And Isaac came from the way of the
well, Lahairoi.
Now you remember Lahairoi means uh, the well
of him that lives and sees it was,
uh, at this well that, uh, Hagar was
weeping.
Uh, she didn't see the well and, and
Ishmael was dying from dehydration.
She put him under a bush and went
over a ways cause she didn't want to
see him die.
And, and she was crying out to the
Lord and Ishmael was under the bush, crying
out to God and praying.
And the Lord said, what ails you?
And she said, ah, you know, I'm dying
and I don't want to see my son
die and all.
The Lord said here, behold, there's a well
of water.
And so she went over and got the
water and gave him a drink and he
was refreshed and revived.
Well, she called the name of the well,
the Lord sees me.
So now Isaac is, is taken up residence
near this particular well.
And this well comes into the story, uh,
a couple more times as we find that
it is the area where Isaac had moved.
Isaac came from the way of the well,
the high Roy, for he dwelt in the
South country and Isaac went out to meditate
in the field that even tide.
And he lifted up his eyes and saw
and behold, the camels were coming.
Now it is interesting that there is much
spoken to us concerning the faith of Abraham.
Very little is spoken to us concerning the
faith of Isaac or concerning the relationship of
Isaac to God that is directly.
But here is a indication of the, of
the spiritual kind of a depth that Isaac
had meditating in the evening.
I have found that one of the greatest
places to meditate is in the evening time.
I love it about the time of twilight
sun, just going down and it seems like
it's just a neat time.
If you're out in the desert or when
I was just a little guy, we used
to live near the beach.
And one of my favorite things is it
was to just go down there and sit
in the sand all by myself, watch the
sunset.
And, and the seagulls and the sandpipers and,
and just to meditate upon God and the
greatness of God.
And, and it was just a, a childhood
memory that really lingers.
It's just a beautiful experience, meditation at evening
time.
And so here is Isaac engaged in meditation
at evening time.
And he looked up and behold, he saw
the camels coming.
All right.
Now at this point, he doesn't know if
he leaves there or if the servant has
been successful or not.
And Rebecca lifted up her eyes.
And when she saw Isaac, she lighted off
the camel for she had said to her
servant, who is this man walking in the
field to meet us?
And the servant said, it is my master.
Therefore she took a veil and covered herself.
And the servant told Isaac all of the
things that he had done.
And Isaac brought her into his mother, Sarah's
tent and took Rebecca and she became his
wife and he loved her.
And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Then in chapter 25, we find that Abraham,
after Sarah's death, took another wife.
Her name was Keturah.
The name means mother of us all.
And she bare him Zimram, Jokshem, Medan, Median,
Ishbak, Shua and Jokshem begat Sheba and Dedan.
The sons of Dedan were Esherim and Latushim
and Leumim.
And the sons of Median, Ephaph and Ephur
and so forth.
And the names mean nothing to us and
probably never will.
As I told you so often, it'll follow
a line just for a generation or two
and drop them.
That's the end of it.
Because this line has nothing to do with
Jesus Christ.
It'll follow it for a generation or so.
Pop, that's it.
Whatever happened to them, where they went, who
they became, nobody knows.
It's just, they're not significant to the story.
The story is about Jesus Christ.
Back here in Genesis, the story is about
Jesus Christ.
And we're going to come on down the
line that's going to lead us to Jesus
Christ.
We're going to let the others go.
We might follow them for a generation or
two, but we're going to let them go.
They're not important.
The whole story centers around the person of
Jesus Christ.
We say His story.
What is history?
It is His story, the story of Jesus.
That's what history is all about.
And so that's what this record is all
about.
It's all about Jesus.
And it's only going to center in the
one person, Jesus.
It'll let the others go, go quickly.
We'll have a name or two thrown in,
and then that's the end of it.
We're going to let them go because we
want to center in, we want to concentrate
on the central person of history.
So, follow out the rest of Abraham's children
for just a ways.
And Abraham, this is the important one, verse
five, gave all that he had unto Isaac.
Isaac's the son of promise.
All that he had went to Isaac, but
unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham
had, Abraham gave gifts, gave gifts to them,
but everything that he had went to Isaac.
And he sent them away from Isaac, his
son, while he yet lived eastward to the
east country.
So, he gave gifts to them, sent them
away.
Isaac is the one in whom the story
is going to center, because Isaac comes in
the line that's going to bring us to
Jesus Christ.
Now, these are the days of the years
of Abraham's life, which he lived a hundred
and seventy-five years.
Then Abraham gave up the ghost or his
spirit, literally, and died in a good old
age, an old man full of years.
And he was gathered to his people, a
hundred and seventy-five years old, and Abraham
died.
That is, he gave up his spirit.
In reality, what happened is that his spirit
moved out of this old tent, because this
old tent just couldn't manage it anymore.
It was worn out.
Once a tent is worn out and has
no more value, doesn't keep out the rain
or wind, rips, and it just constantly needs
patching and repairing, it's time to move out
of the tent.
And so, Abraham moved out of his tent.
Now, this was before Jesus Christ made access
into heaven.
So, Abraham did not go into heaven, but
he went into the grave, into Hades, where
he became the master comforter of all of
those who went into Hades waiting for the
promise of God.
So, in the 16th chapter of Luke, we
find Abraham in Hades comforting Lazarus, and
we find the rich man talking to Abraham,
and Abraham responding to him.
Now, when Jesus died, before he ascended into
heaven, he first of all descended into the
lower parts of the earth, and he preached
to those souls that were in prison, the
spirits, Abraham's spirit down there in prison.
Jesus preached to him and to all of
those who with Abraham were waiting for the
promise of God, the Messiah, to come.
And so, the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Jesus
Christ is that he would open the prison
doors to those that were bound.
That's the prison doors of death, where these
people were bound.
And he opened the doors so that when
he ascended, he led the captives from their
captivity.
So that now, as a child of God,
when my spirit leaves this tent, because of
the way that Jesus Christ has made for
me, when my spirit leaves this tent, it's
going into a new house that is not
made with God, not made with hands, a
building of God eternal in the heavens.
I'm moving out of this old tent into
a new house that the Lord said he
had gone to prepare for me, for he
said, I'm in my father's house, there are
many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have
told you, I'm going to prepare a place
for you.
He's preparing me a new body.
It is a building of God.
It's not made with hands.
It's eternal.
This one is temporary.
It'll never see the number of years that
Abraham's body saw.
That would be the, that would be to
me, the worst thing that could ever happen
to me, it would be to live to
175.
In fact, I don't want to even see
the 75.
If God so wills it, fine, but I
don't think I'll ever see it.
Because as this tent wears out, the Lord's
already prepared a new building for my spirit,
a new house, not a tent anymore.
I'm getting sort of tired of the tent.
The tent's getting sort of tired too.
Tent's good for a while, but after a
while you begin to realize that they're just
not the conveniences in a tent that you'd
like to have.
You get longing to move into a house.
And one of these days I'm going to
move into a brand new house.
A building of God, not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
That's why Paul said, we who are in
this body do often groan, earnestly desiring to
move out.
Not that we would be unembodied spirits, but
that we might be clothed upon with a
body which is from heaven.
For we know that as long as we're
in this body, in this tent, we are
absent from the Lord, but we would choose
rather to be absent from this body and
to be present with the Lord.
One day, Abraham gave up the ghost, or
his spirit left his body after dwelling in
it for a hundred and seventy-five years.
Good old age, an old man, full, and
he was gathered to his people.
And his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, notice they
are joined together now for, you know, there
was that animosity that existed between them.
But it seems that at least at their
father's death, they were brought together.
And at their father's death, they joined together.
Ishmael is still there.
And they buried Abraham in that cave of
Meppelah, the field of Ephron, the son of
Zohar, the Hittite, which is there before Mamre,
that field which Abraham purchased in that, you
know, cultural thing that we got into last
Sunday night.
Now, these are the generations of Ishmael.
And so, we'll follow Ishmael for just, you
know, a little ways, and then we're going
to drop him because Ishmael isn't important to
the story.
And so, he gives us the names of
Ishmael's descendants, and they are no more important
to you as are the descendants of Abraham's
concubines.
And so, I'm not going to wrestle with
those names.
You can wrestle with them if you want.
Verse 16, it says, And these are the
sons of Ishmael, and these are their names
by their towns and their castles, twelve princes
according to their nations.
And these are the years of the life
of Ishmael.
He lived to be a hundred and thirty
-seven years.
And he gave up the ghost and died
and was gathered unto his people.
And they dwelt from Hevelah to Shur, and
that is before Egypt, as you go towards
Assyria.
And he died in the presence of all
of his brothers.
And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's
son.
Now, we come to the one that's important,
the one we will follow.
Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac was forty years
old when he took Rebekah to wife, the
daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian of Paninarum, the
sister of Laban, the Syrian.
And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife
because she was barren.
Now, he married her, but yet she was
unable to bear children.
And so, Isaac prayed for her that God
would heal and allow her to bear children.
It is interesting how many children we have
running around Calvary Chapel that are answers to
prayer.
Couples that could not have children who came
to the elders and were prayed for, and
God blessed them.
And now, we have so many little children
running around here that are really just true
answers to prayer.
They're little miracle babies that God has given.
And it is scriptural that Isaac entreated the
Lord for his wife.
And the Lord was entreated of him, and
Rebekah, his wife, conceived.
And the children struggled together within her.
And she said, why am I thus?
And she went to inquire of the Lord.
Man, there was just all kinds of...
She was pregnant.
Man, it was more than just a baby
kicking or moving.
This was a real fight going on in
there.
And this fight was to continue after they
were born.
How much consciousness does a child have in
the womb?
We really don't know because we can't remember.
How much consciousness did you have during the
first year out of the womb?
You really don't know.
You can't remember.
Now, that a child is conscious out of
the womb, I have no doubt.
For out of the womb, during the first
year, a child is capable of expressing feelings
of contentment, happiness, anger, being upset.
And yet, none of you can remember that
first year of your life outside of the
womb.
The fact that you can't remember it doesn't
mean that you didn't have feelings.
So, we have no proof at all that
a child doesn't have emotions and feelings within
the womb.
Maybe some of those movements that you feel
are those of anger.
The little kid gets mad at the position,
he kicks you, you know.
Tired of this position.
We don't know what feelings they may have
prenatally.
Now, it is quite possible that these two
little guys in the womb were angry with
each other and were going at it.
They were struggling in her womb.
And when they were born, as soon as
they were born, the one little guy reached
out and grabbed the other guy's heels, still
struggling with him.
Fight still going on.
And it really never did stop.
So, she was concerned with all of this
movement.
And so, she prayed about it.
Lord, what's going on?
And the Lord said unto her, two nations
are in your womb, and two manner of
people shall be separated from their birth, or
from your bowels, and the one people shall
be stronger than the other people, and the
elder shall serve the younger.
Now, this is before they were ever born,
before they ever did anything.
How is it that God could already make
this prediction?
Is there fairness with God?
Is it fair for God to say, well,
the elder's going to serve the younger before
they were ever born?
Paul takes this up in Romans.
The sovereignty of God in election.
But we must always remember that God's election
is always premised upon his foreknowledge.
Whom he did foreknow, those he did also
predestinate, that they should be conformed to the
image of his Son.
So, God chose while the children were still
fighting in the womb.
Two nations are fighting.
Nations that are going to be different from
each other.
One is stronger.
And so, the two nations, Israel and the
Edomites, who never did really get along.
Now, the Edomite nation has come to the
end.
The last known Edomite was the family of
Herod.
Who was the king at the time of
Jesus and still then, he destroyed all the
Jewish boys trying to get rid of the
Messiah.
The Edomites remained antagonistic towards the purposes of
God.
When the children of Israel were coming out
of the land of Egypt and wanted to
pass through their land in order that they
might come to the land that God had
promised, the Edomites came out to meet them,
to fight them, to keep them from coming
through.
Again, seeking or showing themselves antagonistic to the
purposes of God.
This is the characteristic of the Edomites from
the beginning.
Esau was that way.
He really didn't care about God or the
things of God.
He was a very natural man.
He was the typical natural man.
Interested in manly kind of things to be
sure, but not interested in godly things.
And God, knowing in advance his disposition and
his despising of spiritual things in advance, chose
the younger one to be the heir and
the one through whom the Messiah would eventually
come.
So, the younger one is chosen by God
over the elder while still in the womb.
And when her days to be delivered were
fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
The first one came out all red, all
over like a hairy garment.
So, just a little kid covered with hair.
And so, appropriately, they called his name Harry.
That's what Esau means.
And that was very common in those days.
You would name your child after a circumstance
of his birth.
After that came his brother out.
And he took, and his hand took hold
on Esau's heel.
And that was probably exciting.
He said, oh look, he grabbed his brother's
heel.
And someone said, well then call him heel
catcher.
And Jacob literally means heel catcher.
That's the literal interpretation.
It came to mean surplanter.
But the literal meaning is heel catcher.
And Isaac was 60 years old when she
bared them.
So, they went 20 years without any children.
They were 40 when he was married, 60
before the children were born.
So, they're 20 years.
And he prayed and God gave her children,
gave her twins.
And the boys grew.
And Esau was a cunning hunter, a man
of the field, an outdoorsman.
But Jacob was a plain man dwelling in
tents.
Now, I'm afraid that the translators have done
Jacob a bad turn in translating this a
plain man.
The word that they translated was the Hebrew
word tam.
They translated it plain.
The word other places in the Old Testament
has been translated perfect.
You remember when God said to Satan concerning
Job, have you considered my servant Job a
perfect man?
It's the same Hebrew word tam.
Concerning Job, it was translated perfect.
And so, the translators have done Jacob sort
of a bad turn calling him a plain
man.
The scripture is actually saying he was a
perfect man or a complete man.
But he dwelt in tents.
Now, we have a tendency to really put
Jacob down.
And I have to confess that I have
done my share of putting this guy down
because of some of the tricks that he
pulled.
But in reality, he was the man that
God had chosen.
And the interesting thing is that God never
put him down.
And so, about the last time I put
him down, the Lord spoke to me and
said, hey, how come you keep putting him
down?
I said, oh man, look at those horrible
things he did.
He said, hey, where did I put him
down?
And I looked and I couldn't find where
God put Jacob down.
So, I quit putting Jacob down.
For Paul said, who are you to judge
another man's servant?
Before his own master, he either stands or
falls.
And yes, God is able to make him
to stand.
And God made Jacob to stand.
So, who am I to put him down?
If Jacob were my servant, then I would
have dealt with him, as I feel that
maybe he should have been dealt with.
But he isn't my servant.
He doesn't have to answer to me.
He is God's servant.
Now, if that is true about Jacob, then
it is true also about each other.
Who am I to put you down when
God is lifting you up?
Who am I to judge you?
You're not my servant.
If you were my servant, then I could
judge you.
You're not serving me.
You're serving God.
And thus, I have no right to judge
your servants.
Oh, you're a rotten servant.
Oh, I have no right to make that
kind of a judgment concerning you.
That's God's judgment.
That's for him to judge you because you're
serving him.
And it's for him to judge me because
I seek to serve him.
So, Jacob was not a plain man.
He was a tam man.
Perfect, actually, or a complete man.
And he dwelt in tents.
His brother outdoors, Jacob, loved the tent life.
And Isaac loved Esau, but for base reasons,
because he ate his barbecued venison.
Now, that's no reason for loving one son
above another.
It's because the guy's a good hunter and
can bring in venison.
You get hooked on venison.
And so, he loved Esau because he ate
the venison.
But Rebecca loved Jacob.
So sad, but true.
With the parents, there was a displaying of
favoritism among the children.
And Jacob was fixing some pottage.
And Esau came in from the field and
he was faint.
And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I
pray thee, with some of that red pottage,
for I'm faint.
And therefore, his name was called from then
on, Red.
Edom means red.
And his descendants were called the Edomites because
he wanted this red pottage.
He was hungry and fainting.
And Jacob said, sell me this day thy
birthright.
And Esau said, hey, I'm at the ready
to die.
What profit is a birthright to me?
He was very flippant about it.
Hey, man, what about the birthright?
I'm ready to die.
I want your pottage.
But Jacob pressed the point.
And Jacob said, swear to me then this
day.
And he swore unto him.
And thus, he sold his birthright to Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau the bread and the
pottage of lentils, which he did eat and
drink.
And they rose up and went and he
rose up and went his way.
Thus, Esau despised his birthright.
He didn't really care about the birthright at
all.
He wasn't interested in spiritual things.
He could care less about birthright.
He hated it.
He wasn't interested in it.
And thus, he despised his birthright.
Now, there was a famine in the land
beside the first famine that was in the
days of Abraham.
And like father, like son.
Isaac went to Abimelech, the king of the
Philistines, and to Gerar.
Now, it was to Abimelech that Abraham went,
but certainly not the same one that Isaac
went to, because this is a hundred years
later, more than a hundred years later.
So, Abimelech was sort of a title of
the king of the Philistines.
And so, Isaac went unto the land of
the Philistines and the Lord appeared unto him
and said, don't go down to Egypt.
Dwell in the land which I will tell
thee of.
Now, this is God's direct command.
Don't go down to Egypt.
Dwell in the land I show you.
Sojourn in this land and I will be
with thee and will bless thee.
For unto thee and unto thy seed, I'm
going to give these countries and I will
perform the oath which I swear to Abraham
thy father.
And I will make thy seed to multiply
as the stars of heaven.
And I will give unto thy seed all
these countries and in thy seed shall all
of the nations of the earth be blessed.
And so now God visits Isaac as he
is going over to the land of the
Philistines.
God comes to him and visits and reiterates
to Isaac the promise that he had made
to Abraham.
The land is going to be yours.
I'm going to multiply your seed.
But then the heart of the thing is
through thy seed shall all of the nations
of the earth be blessed.
Not plural, but singular referring to Jesus Christ.
So, the promise of the Messiah to come
down through Isaac and thus reiterated the promise
that he had made to Abraham.
Now that same covenant and promise is passed
on to Isaac at this particular time in
his life.
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept
my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my
laws.
So, really it is because of Abraham that
the promises come and Isaac is the beneficiary
even of his father's faithfulness.
And Isaac dwelled at Gerar.
Now the men of the place asked him
about his wife and he said, like I
said, father like son, she's my sister.
For he feared to say she is my
wife lest he, the men of the place,
would kill me for Rebecca because she was
still beautiful to look upon.
And it came to pass when he had
been there a long time that Abimelech, the
king of the Philistines, looked out of a
window and he saw and behold Isaac was
sporting with Rebecca, his wife, making love.
And Abimelech called Isaac and said, behold of
a surety she's your wife.
How is it that you said she is
your sister?
And Isaac said to him, because I said
lest I die for her.
And Abimelech said, what is this that you've
done to us?
One of the people might lightly have laid
with your wife and you should have brought
guiltiness upon us.
And Abimelech charged all of his people saying,
he that touches this man or his wife
shall surely be put to death.
Then Isaac sowed in the land and received
in the same year a hundredfold and the
Lord blessed him.
So the king put out a protective custody
over him saying no one was to touch
him or his wife.
And Isaac went out and sowed and planted
and God blessed it and he reaped a
hundredfold from his planting.
And Isaac waxed great and he went forward
and grew until he became very great for
he had a possession of flocks and a
possession of herds and a great store of
servants.
And the Philistines envied him for all of
the wells, which his father's servants had digged
in the days of Abraham.
The Philistines said, stop them and fill them
with earth.
Then Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us
for thou art much mightier than we.
So the same thing that happened to Abraham,
they saw the blessing and the work of
God upon his life and they became fearful
of Abraham.
And now Abimelech is doing the same thing
concerning Isaac.
Seeing the fact that God's hand is so
much upon him and the greatness of his
wealth and all, they became fearful and they
asked him to leave.
And so Isaac departed from there and he
pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar
and he dwelt there.
And Isaac digged again the wells of water,
which they had digged in the days of
Abraham, his father, for the Philistines had stopped
them after the death of Abraham.
And he called the names after the names,
which his father had called him.
And Isaac's servants digged in the valley and
they found there an artesian well.
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with
Isaac's herdmen saying the water is ours.
And so he called the name of the
well strife because they strove with him and
he digged another well and they strove for
that also.
And so he called it contention.
And so he removed from there and he
digged another well.
And for that one, they did not strive.
And so he called it roominess for he
said, the Lord has made room for all
of us and we will be fruitful in
the land.
So he went up from there to Beersheba.
And the Lord appeared unto him in the
same night and said, now again, God is
appearing to him just like he appeared earlier.
I, as he returned now though, I am
the God of Abraham, thy father.
Fear not for I am with thee and
will bless thee and multiply thy seed for
my servant Abraham's sake.
Fear not for I am with thee.
The presence of God in our lives should
be sufficient to dispel all fears.
We only get frightened when we forget that
God is with us.
If you get all filled with fear and
just all shook and upset, it means one
thing.
You've forgotten that God is with you.
Fear not God said for I am with
thee.
How many times that God made that the
basis of dispelling fear.
Fear not for I am with thee.
Be not dismayed for I am thy God.
I will help thee.
I will strengthen thee.
Yea, I will hold thee by the right
hand of my righteousness.
The Lord is my helper.
David cried, of whom shall I be afraid?
Fear not.
I am with thee.
And for Abraham's sake, I'm going to bless
thee.
And so Isaac built an altar there and
called upon the name of the Lord and
he pitched his tent there and there Isaac's
servants digged a well.
And then Abimelech came to him from Gerar
with Ahuza, one of his friends and Phicol,
the chief captain of his army, which is
the title of the army general.
And Isaac said unto them, hey, why have
you come to me seeing you hate me
and you kick me out?
And they said, we have seen that the
Lord is certainly with you.
And we said, let us now make a
treaty between us, a covenant with you that
you will not hurt us for we didn't
touch you and we have done nothing to
you but good.
And we have sent you away in peace
and now you're blessed of the Lord.
And so he made them a feast and
they did eat and drink and they rose
up in the morning and swore one to
another and Isaac sent them away and they
departed from him in peace.
And it came to pass the same day
that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning
the well which they had dug and they
said, we have found water.
And so he called it Sheba.
Therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba
unto this day.
And Esau was 40 years old when he
took a wife, Judah, the daughter of Beri,
the Hittite, and Bathshemeth, the daughter of Elon,
the Hittite, which were a grief in the
mind unto Isaac and Rebekah.
So Esau, 40 years old now, and he
married a couple of girls of the Canaanites
from the Hittites tribe.
And these girls were just a heartache to
Rebekah and to Isaac.
Probably were so imbued with the customs of
their own culture and all, and probably their
own gods that they worshiped that it was
just a heartbreak for Rebekah and Isaac.
There wasn't really good fellowship with these daughters
-in-law.
There was just too much diversity for them
to be close and to have a close
fellowship.
And so they became sort of a burden
and a heartache to Rebekah and Isaac.
And that is why one of the reasons
why they encouraged Jacob to go back and
to get his bride from the family of
Abraham back in the area of Haran again,
because Isaac's brides, they were just a mess
and brought no joy or all to...
Esau's wives, rather, just brought no joy to
Isaac or Rebekah.
We're going to leave off here and next
Sunday night we'll start in chapter 27 and
we'll just move as we are able through
the book of Genesis.
Some nights taking more, some nights taking less,
but let's strike out for five next Sunday
night.
The 27th chapter is a fairly long chapter,
and so we'll let it go until next
Sunday evening where we'll pick up the study
again.
Chapter 27 and we will go through, we'll
read through chapter 32, study it, and then
next Sunday night we'll see how far we
can get as we move along in this
story of the ancestry of Jesus Christ.
Shall we stand?