Genesis Session 22 of 41 (Chapter 24) - A Comprehensive Commentary by Ron Matsen

[Music] [Music] so let's turn to the book of genesis chapter 24 in our study through the book of genesis we've pointed out a number of times of the fact that there are some really exciting types and shadows in the bible although we are reading about real people in real places doing real things which are in and of themselves very significant one of the things that we've also been able to understand and enjoy as we've been going through this study is to recognize that there are some exciting types and shadows there as we pointed out before abraham is a type of god the father and as i pointed out in our last study types and shadows do not mean an exact copy it means a fuzzy outline so just because abraham was unfaithful or abraham lacked in certain instances does not necessarily mean that that's an attribute of god but he does act in ways which are similar to god the father we see that sarah his wife is a type of israel she is the wife of abraham therefore the wife of god as israel is referred to in scripture and of course isaac their only begotten son he is a type of jesus christ and we dealt with that in some detail in the previous studies we see that abraham in chapter 22 offered his son isaac just as the father offers his son genesis 22 2 then he said take now your son your only son isaac whom you love and go to the land of moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which i shall tell you we see as abraham is preparing to do that and as he collects his son isaac and and takes him the final journey up to the top of mount moriah he actually utters a prophecy in verse 5 of chapter 22 abraham said to his young men those who are with him stay here with the donkey the lad and i will go yonder and worship and we will come back to you so although he was taking his son in obedience to god to offer him as a sacrifice the new testament tells us that he was doing that with the belief that if god would allow him to kill his own son because god's word uh cannot be uh changed god does not lie that god must raise him from the dead then so he was willing to just carry it right on out that if it's of god god will perform a miracle and so he takes isaac to the top of mount moriah and of course god provides a ram caught in a thicket and abraham offers that in his place but then we noticed in the text in chapter 22 that something happens to isaac we see at the end of the chapter verse 19 so abraham returned to his young men and they arose and went together to beersheba and abraham dwelt in beersheba what's interesting is that it would appear at this point that the holy spirit inspiring moses to write down this historical account has now edited isaac out of the text the two of them went up and it's obvious the two of them returned but post the sacrifice his name is not mentioned again he is with the father and that will become significant now as we turn to chapter 24. again in chapter 23 we saw that sarah at the age of 127 finally dies and this is symbolic of the nation of israel being set aside not being divorced but being set aside she's buried in the caves of macpalla these caves which are around the area of hebron near where abraham and sarah and lot and all of their servants staying there near the tiribanth tree of mamre uh he purchases this of course from a canaanite by the name of ephron and so in chapter 24 verse 1 we read now abraham was old well advanced in age and the lord had blessed abraham in all things so abraham said to the to the oldest servant of his house who ruled over all that he had please put your hand under my thigh and i will make you swear by the lord the god of heaven and the god of earth that you will not take a wife from my son from the daughters of the canaanites among whom i dwell but you shall go to my own country and to my family and take a wife for my son isaac as we look at this request of isaac he is sending his eldest servant to get isaac a bride who is this servant here notice his name is not mentioned but in chapter 15 we know who he is chapter 15 verse 2 abraham this is as the lord is announcing to him that he will bless him abraham says lord god what will you give me see i go childless and the heir of my house is eleazar of damascus now the hebrew name eleazar means god my help and in terms of types and shadows eleazar here is a type of the holy spirit we see in john chapter 14 verse 26 jesus saying about the holy spirit but the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that i said to you he is the helper he is the comforter he is the one that the father sends out to bring home a bride there in the greek the word helper is paracletus one who comes alongside and assists now notice here the servant is nameless he is named in chapter 15 but here as he's actually going to do something his name is not given like the holy spirit in john chapter 16 verse 13 we read however when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak of himself but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come he will not draw attention to himself a key issue with regards to real movement of the spirit within the church there are lots of things that are being done in the name of the holy spirit which i quite frankly think are not the spirit because they draw attention to themselves that which is of the spirit is transparent and draws people to jesus christ and we see that throughout the real ministry of the holy spirit in the new testament the emphasis of the preaching the emphasis of the services is to exalt jesus christ now abraham gives a two-part instruction to eleazar he says you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the canaanites and you shall not go you shall go to my country and to my family because of that two-part instruction eliezer's responsibility is to take a wife for my son isaac verse 5 and the servant said to him perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land must i take i must i take your son back to the land from which you came but abraham said to him beware that you do not take my son back there now following this instruction of abraham and the acknowledgement of eleazar that this is going to be a tough thing to do abraham gives a warning again even in this warning there is a type and shadow within this conversation isaac is not to leave his father after his sacrifice you see i'm always suspicious when i hear people say to me especially now jesus appeared to me and said such and such why you say that isn't that possible well post the canonization of the new testament when the revelation of jesus christ is completed in jesus christ the testimony of jesus christ is completed in the canon of scripture and therefore what we see is christ seated at the right hand of his father in heaven now perhaps that which they experienced was something that they perceived as jesus but here we have a type and shadow where the the son is not leaving the side of his father until the bride is presented to him isaac of all the patriarchs is the only patriarch to never leave the promised land abraham of course goes down to egypt jacob of course goes down to egypt but not isaac he remains for his entire life in the promised land verse 7 the lord god of heaven who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family and who spoke to me and swore to me saying to your descendants i give this land he will send his angel before you and you shall take a wife from my for my son from there and if the woman is not willing to follow you then you will be released from this oath only do not take my son back there so the servant put his hand under the thigh of abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter now as abraham is giving this very specific direction to eleazar along with the warning do not take my son back there you'll notice that even within the conciliatory offer to eleazar there's another type in shadow the servant must convince the bride based on what he tells her the bride is not going to get any more insight into the groom then that which the servant brings her and the bride must be willing based solely on the testimony of the servant eleazar who was a type and shadow of the holy spirit she must not be forced this is a sign of her obedience because of love not because of a law that she is coming into a relationship and will obey because of love that she has not law so we continue in verse 10. then the servant took 10 of his master's camels and departed for all his masters good were in his hand and he arose and went to mesopotamia to the city of nehor and he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time and the time the time when women go out to draw water now as we consider these camels of eleazar again as i have pointed out nothing is insignificant not that we can necessarily understand the significance of everything but it is exciting to delve into every element of this we notice that he is taking within these camels these are beasts of burden typically each camel can carry over 450 kilograms that's more than a thousand pounds in weight they are beasts of burdens extraordinary animals they also when they drink can drink up to 120 liters of water 32 gallons of water they can drink that'll become significant later on you'll notice that there are 10 camels well seed your mind with some thoughts here 10 is the number of the law the law is is difficult and so perhaps even within this uh caravan of ten camels there is a type and shadow of the law that will come we continue in verse 12 then he said o lord god of my master abraham please give me success this day and show kindness to my master abraham behold here i stand by the well of water and the daughters of men of the city are coming out to draw water now let it be that the young woman who to whom i say please let down your picture that i may drink and she says drink and i will also give your camels to drink let her be the one you have appointed for your servant isaac and by this i will know that you have sworn kindness to my master now eleazar as he is there is wondering how am i going to know what's happening here who is going to be the woman that is right for my master's son he sets what literally is an impossible task think this through the water for 10 camels would be equivalent to 1200 liters of water not an insignificant task especially when you consider they are not simply going to a tap and filling a container the wells at this time did not necessarily even have ropes with buckets they were dug in the ground with spiral staircases going down to the water table where they would then take a container and dip into the water and then come back up the spiral staircase now let's just assume that she is very fast and she is able to carry four liters of water every minute that's a little over a gallon of water if you've ever been camping and you know how heavy just one gallon of water is let's assume she can carry four liters a minute it would take her five hours of working at a fever pitch to satisfy the thirst of ten camels so that's the daunting task that is before her and eliezer knows that anyone coming up to a man with ten camels it's gonna have to be a pretty extraordinary person for them to say hey here's a drink and by the way while i'm at it let me sort out you know your ten camels not an easy task and it happened you know let's pause there for a minute i love the fact that the proverbs tells us the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the lord and that we don't have to worry about coincidence in fact the rabbis say coincidence is not a a jewish term it's not a concept that they accept they see that god is the orchestrator of individual lives and so it happened before he had finished speaking i love that the new testament tells us that god has the capacity and often will answer us before we even finish our petition before he had finished speaking that behold rebecca who was born to bethuel son of melka the wife of nahor abraham's brother came out with her picture on her shoulder now the young woman was very beautiful to behold a virgin no man had known her and she went down to the well filled her picture and came up and the servant ran to meet her and said please let me drink a little water from your pitcher rebecca this incredible young woman her name means captivating now scholars especially jewish scholars say yes it means the word captivating but what it means is captivating by her beauty that she's just so beautiful that when people see her they're just captivated by her but literally her name means a rope with a noose to firmly tie something down that's there you go there's a name for you she's not just someone who just catches your glance it's somebody who just absolutely captivates you literally like a rope that ties something down she is the daughter of bethuel who his name means destroyed by god so as we look at this young woman we see that she is an image of the pearl of great price she is beautiful yet unclean in that sense we know in the parable in that recorded in matthew chapter 13 verses 45 and 46. jesus giving these seven kingdom parables speaks of a man who when he sees this pearl of great price he sells all that he has to buy the pearl of great price when you recognize a pearl is an unclean thing it comes from an oyster which is unclean it of course is a type and shadow of the gentiles within the church the pearl of great price so that's really what you have here is you have a person who is beautiful but her background is in one who has been destroyed by god in other words cursed by god therefore rebecca is a type and shadow of the bride of christ it all becomes very obvious as you get into this it's a beautiful story but it's also interesting just to note these types and shadows that are there you'll also notice that in terms of this interlude it is eleazar who makes the first move which is consistent with the work of the holy spirit jesus tells his disciples in john chapter 6 verse 44 no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and i will raise him up at the last day and the sense there is is that god is always the initiator of the relationship man is not the initiator through his own actions man responds to the uh the wooing of the father through the agency of the holy spirit so we continue in verse 18. so she said drink my lord then she quickly let down her picture into her hand and she gave him a drink and when she had finished giving him a drink she said i will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking now you understand the immensity of the task that she is attempting to undertake then she quickly emptied her picture into the trough ran back to the well to draw water and drew for all his camels at least four liters a minute you can imagine the immensity of this task and the man wandering at her as you would remain silent so as to know whether the lord had made his journey prosperous or not there is a willingness here on behalf of rebecca which i think is important for us to understand with regards to the bride of christ she is not put off by the challenge of the ten camels i.e the law that is associated with her ultimate master she's not put off by it you know there are many who when they consider what it is to be a christian oftentimes that which quote puts them off is the understanding that not only is there the opportunity for them on the one hand to gain great benefit but normally what puts them off is the fear that there will be some requirement put on them and so you're talking about the master the creator and sustainer of the whole universe who spans the universe with a span of his hand who sent his only begotten son to this world in the veil of human flesh to take upon himself all of my sins and transgressions so that all condemnation which is rightfully mine would rest upon him so that i could come by faith in his completed work into an everlasting relationship with the father who promises now to give me the inheritance of the son well i don't know if that's really worth giving up my rights you see when you stated in that sense it seems ridiculous but people make that choice every day why what drives them away not the thought that the creator and sustain of the universe would somehow act as a benefactor for them that's not what drives them away what drives them the way is the fact that standing before them or ten camels is an idea that are you willing to serve this one who is going to be your protector and your provider are you willing to do that and i'm astonished how many people you know they are they fail that very first test and we see here she's not put off by that which is a challenge before her first john 5 3 tells us for this is the love of god that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome so often i think erroneously as a mistake people in an attempt to try to solicit the interest of an individual to become a christian say wow god could really sort out your life just come to jesus you know you need a job come to jesus you need your marriage sorted out just come to jesus you know you're not healthy come to jesus and we start making all these promises which god does not make and so we get them interested in the things that are on the master's table but we're ashamed or afraid to speak to them of the master himself the commandments of god the word of god obedience to god is part and parcel of our relationship no it is not through the keeping of the law that we find ourselves being justified before god but as we are justified before god our love for god will develop and propel us into a desire to do that which is pleasing to him which is to keep his word which is to understand his will and walk in his way and so she's not put off by this challenge she's willing to be a servant of the ten camels it's it it's an amazing insight into the willingness of this young woman and also an insight into the test put forth by eleazar la's are the test that is being put forward just like the test that you and i put forward as we are taking the gospel of jesus christ if they are offended and turn away at the commandments of god and they're not pierced with the commandments of god and seek for a savior then they have no part nor parcel in the kingdom of god we continue in verse 22 so it was when the camels had finished drinking that the man took a golden nose ring weighing a half a shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing 10 shekels of gold and said whose daughter are you tell me please is there room in your father's house for us to lodge eliezer now as a response to the willingness of this lady gives her gifts he gives gifts to the bride to be john 15 26 tells us but when the helper comes whom i shall send to you from the father the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father he will testify of me that as there is a willingness on the heart of rebecca to serve that which he doesn't really even know or understand it yet immediately eleazar begins to lavish upon her gifts the gift of a nose ring would be like an engagement ring it's a gift given in advance john 16 14 says he will glorify me for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you that's what the spirit begins to do as you respond to the call of the spirit then god responds by further opening up that revelation of who god is and his love for you so she said to him i am the daughter of bethuel malcolm's son whom she bored in ahorm moreover she said to him we have both straw and feet enough and room to lodge then the man bowed his head and worshiped the lord and said blessed be the lord god of my master abraham who has not forsaken his mercy his truth toward his master as for me being on the way the lord led me to the house of my master's brethren so the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things this girl is full of energy you notice she runs to water 10 camels and now she's going to run home she is a true bride to be she runs to tell others have you ever been around someone who has just got engaged isn't it exciting isn't it wonderful isn't it it just makes you smile when you go guess what and she holds the ring up see it i'm engaged could you imagine how you would feel if you walked into a room of a newly engaged young woman and she had her hand in her pocket and she was very shy about that which had just taken place what would you wonder you see like the samaritan woman at the well john chapter 4 verses 27 to 30 tells us there was another woman at another well at this point his disciples speaking of jesus and his disciples came and they marveled that jesus talked with a woman yet no one said what do you seek or why are you talking with her then the woman left her water pots and went her way into the city and said to the man come see a man who told me all the things that i ever did could this be the christ and so they went out of the city and came to him you see after jesus had this interlude with this woman she recognizes who he is and her natural response is to be excited is is is to want to to go and share with other people again i would be concerned with those who say they are a christian and they aren't excited about it do you really recognize what's ahead of you oh yes yes i'm a yeah a child of god yeah forgiven yeah everlasting eternity yeah sit on the thrones yeah yeah that's me yeah and what else should we talk about i mean if you i mean how can that be if you're really a bride-to-be there's excitement and you can't stop it it's not something you have to force it just flows out of you now rebecca had a brother whose name was laban and laban ran out to meet the man by the well and so it came to pass when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrist and when he heard the words of his sister rebecca saying thus saying thus the man spoke to me he went to the man now notice what he is interested in he is reacting to the jewels nose ring the bracelets on the wrist and there he stood by the camels at the well and he said come in oh blessed of the lord why do you stand outside for i have prepared the house and a place for the camels do you get a sort of an oily feeling at this point laban is an individual whose name means white interesting isn't it especially when you consider that laban as he will be continually revealed in the book of genesis is sort of like the pharisees in fact jesus said concerning the pharisees matthew 23 27 woe to you scribes and pharisees hypocrites for you are like white washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outward but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness you see even within his name he's he he sees the nose ring he sees the bracelets he hears the thing and it's like hey i gotta go meet this guy and what does he do he goes out and starts to put on airs as though he has done something and as we have already pointed out it's rebecca who's doing all the work she's the one who's being earnest he just simply sees the jewels and goes hey i gotta go meet this guy a type and shadow of laban well he's a type and shadow of those who are interested in the perks of christianity they love the map the la masters table without loving the master that's who laban is then the man came to the house and he unloaded the camels and provided straw and feed for the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him food was set before him to eat but he said i will not eat until i have told about my aaron and he said speak on so abraham so he said i am abraham's servant the lord has blessed my master greatly and he has become great and he has given him flocks and herds silver and gold male and female servants and camels and donkeys and sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when he was old and to him he has given all that he has now my master made me swear saying you shall not take a wife from my son from the daughters of the canaanites and whose land i dwell but you shall go to my father's house to my family to take a wife from my son and i said to my master perhaps the woman will not follow me but he said to me the lord before whom i walk will send his angel with you and prosper your way and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house you will be clear from this oath when you arrive from my father for if they will not give her to you then you will be released from my oath now notice at this point we have a complete almost verbatim recital of that which we've already read it's accurate without embellishment and i think that again is a type and shadow of the witness of the holy spirit the holy spirit is a faithful witness he speaks that which he hears and there is no embellishment and in fact as he continues in this telling he is completely repeating what we've already read no embellishment no ads no subtracts and this day i came to the well and said o lord god of my master abraham if i go if if you will now prosper the way in which i go behold i stand by the well of water and it shall come to pass that when the virgins come out to draw water and i say to her please give me a little water for your pic from your pitcher to drink she says to me drink and i will draw for your camels also let her be the woman whom the lord has appointed for my master's son but before i had finished speaking in my heart there was rebecca coming out with her picture of on her shoulder and she went down to the well and drew water and i said to her please let me drink and she made haste and let her picture down from her shoulder and said drink and i will give your camels also a drink also so i drank and she gave the camels a drink also then i asked her and she said who's and said whose daughter are you and she said the daughters of uh bethuel nahor's son whom milka bore to him so i put a a nose ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists and i bowed my head and worshiped the lord and blessed the lord god of my master abraham who had led me in the way of the truth to take the daughter of my masters brother for his son 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 eliezer puts a very straightforward question he is very direct he has witnessed the demonstration of the miraculous and he recounts that in the hearing of the parents of rebecca he just simply rehearses it for them repeats it to them even in the demonstration of the miraculous there's a decision to be made and so there is the sense that says isn't that interesting but now let's do something about it you know here's an area of evangelism that most people cower at they may be willing to directly or even sometimes indirectly give witness to jesus christ but they're unwilling to bring people to a place of making decision he says tell me and in the sense is is it yes or no what are you going to do with the information i've just given you a miracle has happened what are you going to do with that information you know there's an incident in the life of joshua after leading the children of israel miraculously into the promised land joshua chapter 24 verse 15 as joshua stands before the children of israel he says to them if it seems evil to you to serve the lord choose for yourself this day whom you will serve whether the gods of which your fathers serve that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the amorites in whose land you dwell but as for me and my house we will serve the lord you see joshua wasn't interested in a popularity contest at this point he's allowed those who are with him to witness the miraculous but what's the point of witnessing the miraculous if you don't compel those who witness into making some kind of a decision if you sort of go isn't that nice yeah that was amazing that's remark you know you show them things from the bible you show them about the love of god you show them about the sacrifice of jesus christ and the totality and the completeness of it as god's way of atoning for your sins and they go yeah that's that's wow that's amazing you're absolutely right but then so often we find ourselves just saying and i'll just kind of leave that with you for a while we need to be careful that we don't find ourselves backing away from that very crucial moment of saying as joshua did choose you this day whom you'll serve not being afraid to say so what i've told you you would agree makes sense and is pretty good yeah yes and what you've currently been believing and living your life according to kind it doesn't make sense you would agree yeah yeah now's the point folks tell me what are you gonna do with it what are you going to do with that i'm not saying you've got to twist their arm up their back and say make this decision what you need to do is at least ask the question that's what he's doing he's at least asking the question what are you going to do about this we see the same thing take place with elijah elijah this prophet who lived in the nation of israel during the time of ahab and jezebel he challenges the prophets of baal to a duel basically come up to mount carmel and in first kings chapter 18 verse 21 elijah came to all the people and said how long will you falter between two opinions if the lord is god follow him if baal follow him but the people answered not a word you see we can't make people answer but we have an obligation to at least ask the question what are you going to do with it and if they are like the people before elijah and don't answer a word at least you brought them to that point where the conviction of the holy spirit can work on the evidence you just delivered to them but if you get them to that point and you go now isn't that some interesting information now just take that away and go think about that for a while scripture would indicate to me practice would indicate to me that you're using the very power of the word of god to deliver truth to an individual but you're not at least asking them a question as eleazar asks the family of rebecca so tell me you've you've heard it you've seen it i'm here tell me do we go further here or do is it over this is going to be a very short conversation tell me he says then laban and bethuel answered and said the thing comes from the lord we cannot speak to you either bad or good in other words they can't deny yes okay i give it is miraculous here is rebecca before you take her and go and let her be your master son's wife as the lord has spoken and it came to pass when abraham's servant heard these words that he worshipped the lord bowing himself to the earth then the servant brought out jewelry of silver jewelry of gold and clothing and gave them to rebecca she also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother eleazar now he just he has no end of gifts you wonder what's on those ten camels gifts gifts you see after that full commitment is made the master's wealth is further revealed there's a further revelation of the wealth of god there's a further revelation of the wealth of abraham the type and shadow is that of god paul ryan of ephesians chapter 2 verse 4 to 7 says but god who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he has loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us to get alive together with christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in christ jesus that in the ages to come he might show his exceeding riches of his grace and kindness towards us in christ jesus that ought to send chills up your back if you're a bride of christ if you're expecting that place where jesus will bring you into that everlasting relationship with him that you are a joint heir with jesus christ if you are one like rebecca who is responding to the call of a eleazar to come and be the wife of my master's son then it's appropriate for you to be excited about that which god is willing to lavish upon you the riches of his grace and kindness towards us in christ jesus verse 54 and and he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night and they rose in the morning and said send me away to my master. but the brother and her mother said let the young woman stay with us a few days at least 10 after that she may go now here we go laban here is the guy who's interested in the things on the masters table but not the master you see he wants the relationship without the responsibility his interference is trying to seek to delay rebecca and you know what there are people like that in the world today who are seeking to delay people's obedience unto god in genesis chapter 29 when we get to that chapter we'll see that laban will try this again a number of times with jacob when jacob comes to laban and his two daughters laban agrees uh that he will allow jacob to marry his daughters but even when he is ready to depart laban is the one who's saying oh no no no no these are my children you must respect the fact that as a father i love my daughters and my my grandchildren please stay here and eventually jacob of course as we'll see when we get to chapter 29 he has to he has to steal away he has to secretly uh break fellowship with his uh with his father-in-law there are people in life who are like laban they like to surround themselves around christian things they like to be around christian people but they just don't want christians to get too serious about a relationship with jesus christ and all the obedience that is involved in that relationship there's danger in these hindering influences like laban more than willing for the relationship to take place but not real ready for the responsibility that's associated with the relationship paul tells the church in corinth second corinthians chapter six he says don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers for what fellowship hath uh righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness or what accord has christ with below or what part of a believer with an unbeliever when you consider that analogy that he uses unequally yoke two oxen together that if you have one that is pulling in one direction it's difficult for you to pull in the other you're yoked together laban is attempting to influence rebecca and he's trying to force her to delay her obedience and her calling and he said to them do not hinder me since the lord has prospered my way send me away so that i may go to my master and so they said we will call the young woman and ask her personally then they called rebecca and said to you will you go with this man now isn't this a strange conversation the brother and the father have already made the commitment for the daughter but because elias are saying make the decision okay we'll make the decision the decision is yes good i'm taking her now who don't know if i want that can we go slowly slowly here so as he says look don't hinder me they say okay we'll call the young woman and ask her personally and she said i will go rebecca is making a lifelong choice here she's called to make it personally and that personal choice is going to alter the course of her life for the rest of her life she is not allowed to delay delay is not an option you know those people who think they are doing non-believers a favor by trying to slowly slowly slowly cajole them over time are actually doing them damage in my opinion i will tell you why because you are never closer to salvation than today for as we have seen throughout scripture the person who delays just continues to develop as it were a hardened heart with every day that passes there is a further callousing of the heart to the calling of the lord we'll see that dramatically demonstrated within the heart of pharaoh as the children of egypt are being called out children of israel are being called out of egypt pharaoh we are told hardens his heart hardens his heart hardens his heart until eventually it says and god hardened his heart so the longer we allow people to say to not even be asked the question i'm not saying you can make the decision for them i'm saying you have a responsibility at least ask the question the longer you delay in asking the question the harder you are making it for the person you are trying to share the lord with delay is not an option eleazar says don't delay me who will speak to the girl personally and he speaks to her and she says i will go isaiah 55 6-7 tells us seek the lord while he may be found call on him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts let him return to the lord and he will have mercy on him and to our god for he will abundantly pardon seek the lord why may be found just let that soak in your mind as you think of sharing the lord with individuals who you're afraid to at least ask the question how will you feel if you had this 10-year witnessing plan that says over 10 years i'm going to just slowly you know take them forward and then eventually it'll just become patently obvious to them the problem with that is of course that's not the way anyone in the bible is ever called to the lord there's the evangelist there's the person who says choose you this day whom you'll serve make a choice seek the lord way may be found but how about you in your 10-year plan if all of a sudden at year two and a half the person gets run over by a bus drops dead of a heart attack where's your 10-year plan then again please understand what i'm not saying is that we have a responsibility to make them say yes but i think we have a responsibility through the power of the holy spirit to at least pose the question respect the answer okay i got that one i just i just want to ask you no mom i told you no dad no sweetheart okay wait all right just thought i'd ask but if you don't ask they'll never be compelled to answer we need to ask now you'll notice that rebecca's response is based on a trust that she has in the witness of eleazar she has never met isaac how many women today would allow someone to come and arrange a marriage to someone they've never seen their only witness their only understanding is that which is brought to them by the servant you know after the resurrection of jesus christ thomas who sometimes is referred to as doubting thomas who was unfortunate in that he was not with the disciples when jesus appeared the first time and therefore when they told him about his resurrection thomas says i won't believe until i can see some evidence jesus later appears to the disciples thomas is in the room jesus does not rebuke him for that request but rather goes over to him and tells him now take your fingers and place them in my hands and take your hand and put it in my side thomas responds my lord of my god and jesus said to him thomas because you have seen me you have believed blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believed that's what the church does all that we know of our bridegroom is that which the holy spirit reveals to us and as with rebecca the more that we are interested the more that we are excited about that the more the servant of the father will unveil to us the riches of his son verse 59 so they sent rebecca away their sister and her nurse and abraham's servants and his men and they blessed rebecca and said to her oh s our sister may you become the mother of a thousands of thousands of ten thousands and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them then rebecca and her maid arose and they rode on the camels and followed the man so the servant took rebecca and departed now let's just get something again as a perspective haran is between the tigris and euphrates river the journey from haran to canaan is more than 500 miles even within this journey i believe there is a type and shadow and that is choice requires endurance having made the choice now rebecca needs to endure 500 miles on camelback lovely hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 tells us therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has set down at the right hand of the throne of god you see the parallel there abraham offering isaac on mount moriah isaac now waiting with his father having sent out his servant eleazar the servant eliezer comes bears witness to rebecca she having had that small revelation says yes i'll go and now there is this endurance that is before her and she is able to endure that because there is the hope of the wedding day verse 62 we read now isaac came from the way of bear lahai roy for he dwelt in the south abraham and isaac are dwelling in this southern portion of what we know as israel today his dwelling place is not without significance bear lahai roy it was named by hagar in genesis chapter 16 verse 13 you remember hagar the handmaiden of sarah who when she was driven away from sarah she came to this place and the lord appeared to her and encouraged her telling her that her son would not die and that he would become the father of many nations then she called we read in verse 13 then she called uh the name of the lord who spoke to her you are the god who sees for she said i have also seen him who sees me therefore the well was called bear lahai roy observed it is between kadesh and bered the meaning of that word that she gives is the well of the living ones who sees me is that an indication of jesus christ the well of the living one seeing me another type and shadow of jesus christ those who are thirsty come unto jesus christ drink from the well of living water he is the living one so he doesn't come out of beersheba or come out of hebron or anyplace else the point at which he is revealed to his coming bride is when he is being revealed as the from the well of the living one seeing me and isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening he lifted his eyes and looked and there the camels were coming then rebecca lifted her eyes and when she saw isaac she dismounted from her 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. so he took a she took a veil and covered herself now in the subtlety of that response and reaction of rebecca there are two items that i want to underscore here that the hebrew text gives us more insight first of all simply saying she dismounts doesn't really do the text justice or the passage justice it literally means she leapt off the camel and fell to the ground prostrate if you've ever ridden on a camel as you go as a tourist to israel for certain there are these camel drivers out in the in the uh especially in the west bank and and tourist buses sometimes will pull over and and the various tourists will get on these camels they get down you can get on the back of them and they stand up and it's they're quite gangly and and it would be difficult to get off the idea is not that there was an orderly dismount the idea is this as soon as she saw kim she fell prostrate before him the same reaction john has when he enters in revelation chapter four he falls down on his face it's an act of worship and she covers herself with a veil which is an act of humility a recognition that she is not worthy to even behold her master and the servant told isaac all the things that he had done then isaac brought her into her mother's sarah's tent and he took rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her so isaac was comforted after her her mother's his mother's death as we finish the chapter we see that isaac is now ready to accept this woman who has brought been brought to him by eleazar rebecca being a type of the church is then taken into the tent of sarah who is a type of israel we as a church are the wild olive branch that is grafted into the nation of israel same sort of relationship rebecca is taken into the tent of isaac's mother now when we look in in reflection at this wonderful character rebecca the text reveals some interesting insights into how she prepared herself for isaac even before meeting him first of all we see that she was a virgin very important secondly she was eager to serve without knowing she was eager to serve the masters ten camels she was willing to follow the master's servant and she was ready to endure a very long journey if necessary and she was really excited about being engaged to isaac you see i think all of those aspects are the aspects of really the heart of an individual who is seeking after god the bible tells tells us that if we seek god with our whole heart we will not may we will find him there has to be an earnestness on the part of the seeker there needs to be a diligence on the part of the messenger but certainly there has to be an eagerness and a willingness on the heart of the recipient let's pray father we're grateful for your word thankful father for the example of rebecca lord this beautiful woman who by her actions showed what faith she had in you lord willing to even do that which on the surface would seem utterly ridiculous and impossible yet lord the very actions that she took revealed the real beauty of her nature and so father we as members of the bride of christ if we have accepted him as our lord and savior in like fashion with rebecca lord are excited about all that you have for us may we run with endurance the race that is poor before us looking at a jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith for it's in his name we pray amen

Channel: Koinonia House

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Keywords: jesus, christ, koinonia, house, khouse, institute

Id: nCLT4HduZBo

Length: 63min 30sec (3810 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 28 2021