Now, watch the servant as he goes out
to get a bride for Isaac.
And the servant took ten camels, of the
camels of his master, and departed.
For all the goods of his master were
in his hand, and he arose, and went
to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
Now, may I stop just to make this
comment.
I make the statement that there weren't just
three wise men that came in on three
camels to Jerusalem.
That wouldn't have created a stir in the
city.
I believe there were nearer 300 camels that
came in, and 300 wise men.
And the scripture would seem to bear that
out.
There's no number given, of course.
The number of gifts, that is, the kind
of gifts, three kinds of gifts, but that
doesn't confine it to three wise men.
But you'll notice here, even the servant that's
going to Mesopotamia, to get a bride for
Isaac, he takes ten camels along, and that
means somebody had to ride them.
He took along quite a retinue of servants.
Now, notice what he does.
He says here, and he departed, for all
the goods of his master were in his
hand.
In other words, he had charge of all
of the chattels and all the possessions of
Abraham.
And he arose, and he went to Mesopotamia,
unto the city of Nahor.
And he made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water
at the time of the evening, even the
time that women go out to draw water.
Now, that may seem strange to you that
the women came out to draw water, but
they were the ones that did the watering
of the camels in that day.
Very frankly, women did lots more work in
those days, friends, than they do today.
I mean by that hard work, the women
were the ones that watered the stock and
took care of them.
Now, the men were supposed to be out
trading, of course, and they were supposed to
be out doing other work.
Now, they were not always loafing by any
means, but it's interesting to note this was
the custom of that day, even the time
that women go out to draw water.
Now, this servant was waiting.
It was not the proper thing for him
to water his camels, a stranger, before others
came there that lived in that community.
And he said, now notice this servant that's
depending on God, and you find Abraham also
put all of this in the hands of
the Lord.
And now the servant, listen to him, he
prays, he said, O Lord 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, and
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 the camels drink also.
Let the same be she that thou hast
appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall
I know that thou hast showed kindness unto
my master.
Now, his prayer is something like this.
The daughters of the men of the city
will be coming out.
I do not know, that is, I'm speaking
for this servant.
Now, that servant would say, I do not
know which one to choose.
And so it's just left up to me
to pick one of them.
Now, I pray that the one that I
pick might be the one that God picks.
In other words, he calls upon the Lord
to lead him in making the right choice.
Now, who do you think he's going to
pick?
Well, he's a man.
He's going to pick the best-looking when
he comes out.
And you can be sure of one thing,
Rebecca was a good-looking woman.
We need to emphasize that today.
The Puritans had an idea that beauty was
of the devil.
Well, the devil is beautiful.
He's an angel of light, by the way,
but he doesn't have it all.
God, after all, is the Creator, and you've
never seen a sunset.
I looked in a beautiful flower that he
didn't make it, and he makes women beautiful.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
And this man's going to pick the beautiful
one.
He's to be a pretty poor servant if
he didn't, I'll say that.
And I'm sure he picked the best-looking
one that came out.