And Abraham was old, [and] well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
1 9. Abraham’s Commission to his Servant
1. well stricken in age ] Cf. Gen 18:11. The Hebrew phrase means “going in days,” just as we should say “advanced in years.” Cf. Luk 1:7.
had blessed ] Cf. Gen 24:35.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
– The Marriage of Isaac
26. qadad, bow the head. shachah, bow the body.
29. laban, Laban, white.
In this circumstantial account of the marriage of Isaac, we have a beautiful picture of ancient manners in the East, the living original of which the present customs of that cradle of mankind are a striking copy.
Gen 24:1-9
Abraham binds the chief servant of his house to seek a wife for his son Isaac among his kindred. The first movement in this matrimonial arrangement is on the part of the father, who does not consult his son, but the chief manager of his household affairs. Abraham is now a hundred and forty years of age, and Sarah has been three years dead. Isaac seems to have been of an easy, sedate turn of mind, and was not in circumstances to choose a partner for life such as his father would approve. The promise of a numerous offspring by the son of Sarah is before the mind of the patriarch. All these considerations impel him to look out for a suitable wife for his son, and the blessing of the Lord encourages him to proceed. The person whom Abraham intrusted with this delicate task has a threefold designation. First, he is his servant or minister. Secondly, he is the old man, ancient, or elder of his house. Here the term elder approaches its official signification. In early times age was taken into account, along with good conduct and aptitude, as the qualification for services of trust. Thirdly, he ruled over all that he had. He was therefore a master as well as a minister. If this be Eliezer of mascus Gen 15:2, he was the steward of Abraham before the birth of Ishmael fifty-four Years ago. Under my thigh. The thigh was the seat of generative power, and the region of sacramental consecration, and to put the hand under the thigh was to acknowledge and pledge obedience to him who requires the oath.
Gen 24:3-4
The appeal is to God as Yahweh, God of heaven and God of the earth. Yahweh is the personal name of God, which is properly used by those who are in fellowship with him. He is the Author of all being, and therefore of heaven and earth; and hence the arbiter of the destiny of the oath-taker, both in spiritual and material things, both in this life and in what is to come. Not of the daughters of the Kenaanite, a race sinking fast into ungodliness and unrighteousness, doomed to extirpation, to whom the promised seed is to succeed. The kindred of Abraham were Shemites, Hebrews, and still retained some knowledge of the true God, and some reverence for him and his will. The experienced elder of Abrahams house does not wish to bind himself by an oath to what it may be impossible to fulfill. He makes the supposition of the unwillingness of the bride whom he may select, and obtains a quittance from his oath in that ease. The patriarch, however, charges him not to bring his son back to the land of his fathers, and expresses his confidence in the God of promise, that he will direct his servant to the suitable wife for his son. His angel Gen 16:7. This is the Lord in the function of an angel or messenger opening the way for the servant of Abraham. He does not make any appearance to the servant, though a superintending Providence is strikingly displayed in the whole affair. The faithful elder now understands and takes the required oath.
Gen 24:10-14
He proceeds on his journey. Took ten camels. These are designed for conducting the bride and her companions home to his master. All the best belonging to his master in his hand. This refers to the presents for the bride and her friends, and to the accommodations for her comfort on the journey. Aram-Naharaim. Aram was an extensive area, embracing not only the country west of the Frat and north of Palestine, but the northern part of Mesopotamia, or the country between the Frat and the Dijlah. The latter region is for the sake of distinction called Aram of the two rivers. It did not include the southern part of Mesopotamia, which was called Shinar Gen 11:2, and probably extended only to the Chaboras, Khabour. The part of it in which Haran was situated was called Padan-aram Gen 28:2. The city of Nahor. It is probable that Nahor accompanied his father, Terah, to Haran Gen 11:31. If not, he must have followed him very soon.
Gen 24:11
Made the camels kneel, – for repose. The time when the maidens that draw water come out. The evening was the cool part of the day. The simple maidens of primitive days attended personally to domestic affairs. The experienced steward might therefore naturally expect to see the high-born damsels of the land at the public well, which had probably given rise to the neighboring town. The prayer of the aged servant is conceived in a spirit of earnest, childlike faith. The matter in hand is of extraordinary importance. A wife is to be found for the heir of promise. This was a special concern of God, and so the single-hearted follower of Abraham makes it. He takes upon himself the choice of a maiden among those that come to draw, to whom he will make the request of a particular act of kindness to a stranger, and he prays God that the intended bride may be known by a ready compliance with his request. The three qualifications, then, in the mind of the venerable domestic for a bride for his masters son, are a pleasing exterior, a kindly disposition, and the approval of God.
Gen 24:15-21
The answer is immediate and direct. He had not yet done speaking, when the answer came. A damsel very fair to look upon, satisfying the taste of the old man, appears. He thereupon prefers his request, with which she promptly complies. The old man waits in wonder and silence to see if the Lords approval will follow.
Gen 24:22-28
Rebekah makes herself known in reply to his inquiries. A ring of gold. The single ring was worn in the nose, the side cartilage of which was pierced for the purpose. This is a custom of the East. A beka was half a shekel, somewhat less than a quarter of an ounce. Ten of gold in weight. Ten bekas would be about two ounces and a quarter. If shekels, however, be understood, the weight will be double. These were merely a reward for her kindness and courtesy to a stranger. Two questions are now asked by the stranger – the one relating to her kindred, and the other to the means and the inclination they had to entertain a stranger, when inns were not yet in existence. She announces herself to be the daughter of his masters nephew, and assures him of the requisite accommodation.
Gen 24:26-27
Bowed his head and worshipped. – The bowing of the head and of the body are here combined to indicate the aged servants deep thankfulness for the guidance of the Lord. The utterance of the mouth accompanies the external gesture of reverence. Her mothers house; those who were in the department of the females. We may imagine with what excitement and alacrity Rebekah would communicate the extraordinary intelligence.
Gen 24:29-33
The reception of Abrahams servant. Laban now comes on the scene. He is ready to run with his sister to find the man, and invite him, as a matter of course, to his fathers house. When he saw the ring. The presents to his sister assure him that this is the envoy of some man of wealth and position. Thou blessed of the Lord. The name of Yahweh was evidently not unfamiliar to Labans ears. He calls this stranger blessed of Yahweh, on account of his language, demeanor, and manifest prosperity. The knowledge and worship of the living God, the God of truth and mercy, was still retained in the family of Nahor. Being warmly invited, the man enters the house. And he ungirded the camels. Laban is the actor here, and in the following duties of hospitality. The mens feet that were with him. It comes out here, incidentally, as it was reasonable to infer from the number of camels, that Abrahams steward had a retinue of servants with him. The crowning act of an Eastern reception is the presenting of food. But the faithful servant must deliver his message before partaking of the friendly meal.
Verse 34-49
The servants errand is told. He explains his business in a singularly artless and pleasing manner. He then leaves the matter in the hands of the family. Given unto him all that he hath. His children by Hagar and Keturah were dismissed with portions during his life, and the main bulk of his property was conveyed to Isaac.
Gen 24:50-61
The servants return with Rebekah. So plain an interposition of Providence admits of no refusal on the part of those who revere the Lord. Bethuel now appears as a concurring party. Laban, as the full brother of Rebekah, has a voice in the disposal of her hand; but the father only has the power to ratify the contract. The patriarchs servant first bows in acknowledgment to the Lord, who had now manifested his approval of the choice he had made, and then proceeds to distribute costly gifts to the bride, and to her brother and mother. Now at length the thankful guest partakes of the fare set before him along with his entertainers, and after the nights repose requests to be dismissed. A few days; perhaps a week or ten days. The mother and brother naturally plead for a little time to prepare for parting with Rebekah. They could not expect the servant, however, to stay months.
Inquire at her mouth. This is the only free choice in the matter that seems to be given to Rebekah. Her consent may have been modestly indicated, before her family ratified the contract. It is plain, however, that it was thought proper that the parents should receive and decide upon a proposal of marriage. The extent to which the maidens inclinations would be consulted would depend very much on the custom of the country, and the intelligence and good feeling of the parents. In later times the custom became very arbitrary. Rebekahs decision shows that she concurred in the consent of her relatives. And her nurse. Her name, we learn afterward Gen 35:8, was Deborah. The nurse accompanied the bride as her confidential adviser and faithful attendant, and died in her service; a beautiful trait of ancient manners. The blessing consists in a boundless offspring, and the upper hand over their enemies. These are indicative of a thin population, and a comparatively rude state of society. And her damsels. We here learn, again, incidentally, that Rebekah had more female attendants than her nurse.
Gen 24:62-67
Isaac receives his bride. He had been at Beer-lahai-roi, the scene of the interview of Hagar with the angel of the Lord – a spot calculated to awaken thoughts of an overruling Providence. To meditate. This is a characteristic of Isaacs retiring, contemplative mood. Abraham was the active, authoritative father; Isaac was the passive, submissive son. To meditate was to hold converse with his own thoughts, to ponder on the import of that never-to-be-forgotten scene when he was laid on the altar by a fathers hand, and a ram caught in the thicket became his substitute, and to pour out his soul unto the God of his salvation. In this hour of his grave reflection comes his destined bride with her faithful escort upon his view. Rebekah lights off the camel. Doubtless the conversation by the way with the elder of Abrahams house had made her aware of their approach to the residence of her future husband.
She concludes at once that this must be he, and, alighting, asks if it be. On being informed by the servant that this is his young master, she puts on the veil, which covers the head, and hangs down gracefully both behind and before. The aged servant reports the success of his mission, and presents Rebekah. Isaac brings his cousins daughter into the apartments formerly occupied by his mother, and accepts her as his wife. The formalities of the interview, and of her presentation to Abraham as his daughter-in-law, are all untold. And he loved her. This is the first mention of the social affections. It comes in probably because Isaac had not before seen his bride, and now felt his heart drawn toward her, when she was presented to his view. All things were evidently done in the fear of God, as became those who were to be the progenitors of the seed of promise. We have here a description of the primeval marriage. It is a simple taking of a woman for a wife before all witnesses, and with suitable feelings and expression of reverence toward God, and of desire for his blessing. It is a pure and holy relation, reaching back into the realms of innocence, and fit to be the emblem of the humble, confiding, affectionate union between the Lord and his people.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Gen 24:1-9
Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of 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
Abrahams provision for the marriage of his son
I.
HUMAN PRUDENCE.
1. He accepts the fact that his time for making such a provision is short (Gen 24:1).
2. He is careful about the family from whence his sons wife is to spring (Gen 24:3).
3. He relies upon human faithfulness.
II. RELIGIOUS FAITH.
1. He gratefully recognizes the hand of God in all his past life (Gen 24:1).
2. He recognizes the supreme control of God over all things.
3. He acts upon the known will of God.
4. While he trusts in human faithfulness, he recognizes the importance of binding men by a sense of religious fear and duty (Gen 24:3; Gen 24:9). (T. H. Leale.)
Isaacs marriage
I. THE SELECTION OF THE BRIDE. Abraham gave this command–
1. Because the Canaanites differed from Isaac in their taste. They were steeped in vile sins and disgusting depravity.
2. Because a bad influence might be exerted on Isaacs mind.
3. Because the Canaanites were to be destroyed.
II. THE MEANS EMPLOYED TO ENSURE SUCCESS.
1. Human instrumentality.
2. Trust in God.
3. Self-renunciation.
III. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THIS MARRIAGE WAS CONSUMMATED.
1. In a modest spirit (Gen 24:65).
2. In a confident spirit (Gen 24:58).
3. In a loving spirit (Gen 24:67). (Homilist.)
How Isaac got his wife
I. THE CAREFUL FATHER.
1. Abrahams godliness (Gen 24:3).
2. Abrahams steadfast faith in Gods promises and Gods providence (Gen 24:7-8).
3. Abrahams prudent precautions.
II. THE PRAYERFUL SERVANT.
1. His prayer.
2. His patience.
3. His praise,
4. His prudence.
III. THE WISHED-FOR WIFE.
1. Her beauty.
2. Her graciousness.
3. Her energy.
4. Her resoluteness.
IV. THE ISSUE.
1. What Abraham desired.
2. What Eliezer prayed for.
3. What Isaac wanted. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Abrahams conduct in this matter
In this domestic concern of Abraham we see several of the most prominent features of his character.
1. His decided aversion to idolatry (Gen 24:3). Had Abraham then contracted a prejudice against his neighbours? This does not appear by what occurred between them in the last chapter. He does not complain of their treatment of him, but of his God. He has no objection to an exchange of civilities with them; but to take their daughters in marriage was a sure way to corrupt his own family. The great design of God in giving the land to Abrahams posterity was the eventual overthrow of idolatry, and the establishment of His true worship on earth. To what purpose, then, was he called from amongst Chaldean idolaters, if his son join affinity with those of Canaan?
2. His godliness. There does not appear in all this concern the least taint of worldly policy, or any of those motives which usually govern men in the settlement of their children. No mention is made of riches, or honours, or natural accomplishments; but merely of what related to God. Let not the woman be a daughter of Canaan, but of the family of Nahor, who had forsaken Chaldean idolatry, and with Milcah his wife had settled in Haran, and who was a worshipper of the true God.
3. His faith and obedience. The servant being about to bind himself by oath, is tenderly concerned he should engage in more than he should be able to accomplish. Peradventure, saith he, the woman will not follow me into this land: must I needs bring thy son again into the land whence thou camest? No; as Isaac must not marry a daughter of Canaan, neither must he leave Canaan to humour a daughter of Haran; for though Canaan! daughters are to be shunned, yet Canaan itself is to be chosen as the Lords inheritance bestowed on the promised seed. Nor do these supposed difficulties at all deter Abraham; The Lord God of heaven, saith he, who took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my kindred, and who spake unto me, and sware 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 thence. (A. Fuller.)
A worthy servant
Melancthons friends were astonished at his liberality, and wondered how, with his small means, he could afford to give so much in charity. It is said to have been principally owing to the care and good management of an excellent and faithful servant named John, a native of Sweden. The whole duty of provisioning the family was entrusted to this domestic, whose care, assiduity, and prudence amply justified the unbounded confidence reposed in him. He made the concerns of the family his own, avoiding all needless expenditure, and watching with a jealous eye his masters property. He was also the first instructor of the children during their infancy. John grew old in his masters service, and expired in his house amidst the affectionate regrets of the whole family. Melancthon invited the students of the university to attend the funeral of his faithful servant, delivered an oration over his grave, and composed a Latin epitaph for his tombstone.
A sympathetic servant
They that are in power should be extremely cautious to commit the execution of their plans, not only to those who are able, but to those who are willing. As servants and instruments it is their duty to do their best, but their employers are never so sure of them as when their duty is also their pleasure. To commit the execution of a purpose to one who disapproves of the plan of it is to employ but one-third of the man; his heart and his head are against you, you have commanded only his hands. (Colton.)
A marriage contracted in the Lord
I. Abraham, in this matter, is evidently guided by a higher wisdom than his own; although he is left apparently to consult and act for himself. Both Abraham and his servant regard the transaction in which they are now engaged as essentially connected with the covenant of which Isaac, or rather Isaacs seed, was to be the heir. They look upon the arrangement of this marriage as an important step in the way of the fulfilment of the covenant. And hence, by an appeal to the covenant and to its seal, they hallow it.
II. Such being the spirit in which this commission is given by the aged patriarch, and undertaken by his confidential servant–the execution of it is in entire harmony with its commencement. The preparation for the journey is simple; the execution of it is safe. He forms his plan of conduct–the most expedient and most likely to be successful that could well bedevised. He spreads it out before God. And he humbly seeks Divine countenance and co-operation.
III. It is a striking and singular thing that now presents itself. The incident at the well, &c.
IV. The preliminaries of this affair having passed off so auspiciously–so manifestly, as all the parties concerned acknowledge, under the immediate and supernatural providence of God–the negotiation proceeds happily to its issue, and the marriage-treaty is simply and satisfactorily concluded.
V. Thus, as to all that is essential to it, the treaty of marriage is fully ratified, according to all the usages of Eastern hospitality, and in a sense, too, with all the munificence of princely state. It is now merely a question of time and circumstance–as to when and how the treaty is to be carried out.
VI. And now the strange embassy is well ended. The journey back to Canaan is without adventure or interruption. The caravan, with its attendant camels and bands of servants, is drawing near to the place where Abrahams tents are pitched. What tumultuous thoughts are filling the bosom of the young stranger! Her venerable friend is not unmoved himself. The first glimpse of his masters encampment, in the distance afar off, stirs his soul to its warmest depths. He has right joyous news to impart to the aged pilgrim; he has a gracious daughter to present to him. And that daughter–may she not well be agitated as she approaches the unknown scene of the great crisis of her life, in profoundest darkness as to what the colour of that life is to be? What a meeting on that calm summers night! It is faith meeting faith–faith venturous and bold, meeting faith meditative and meek! (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)
A bride for the heir
On the mothers funeral there followed, after an interval, the wedding of her son. The sequence is according to nature. As one generation goes, the next succeeds; and life is made up of just such contrasts. There was no unseemly haste. With that leisurely disregard for time which characterized the age, three whole years were given to mourning. A connection can be traced, notwithstanding, between the funeral and the marriage. For one thing, the loss of his wife must have warned Abraham of the passing away of his own generation, and recalled him to the duty of providing for the permanence of the chosen line. Already Isaac was verging on the age of forty; yet he does not appear of his own accord to have contemplated marriage or taken any steps towards it. His placid and inactive temper seemed likely to cling to memories of the past rather than provide for the future. One can well believe how tender must have been Sarahs affection for a son long waited for, divinely bestowed, and worthy of her love. With not less warmth did the son return his mothers fondness. As the months grew into years, his grief for her loss seems to have grown more settled. There came to be some risk of its sapping the healthy vitality of his manhood. For Isaacs own sake, it was time to rouse him by a fresh interest, and fill up the blank over which he was disposed to brood. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXIV
Abraham, being solicitous to get his son Isaac property married,
calls his confidential servant, probably Eliezer, and makes him
swear that he will not take a wife for Isaac from among the
Canaanites, 1-3,
but from among his own kindred, 4.
The servant proposes certain difficulties, 5,
which Abraham removes by giving him the strongest assurances of
God’s direction in the business, 6, 7,
and then specifies the conditions of the oath, 8.
The form of the oath itself, 9.
The servant makes preparations for his journey, and sets out for
Mesopotamia, the residence of Abraham’s kindred, 10.
Arrives at a well near to the place, 11.
His prayer to God, 12-14.
Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother,
comes to the well to draw water, 15.
She is described, 16.
Conversation between her and Abraham’s servant, in which every thing
took place according to his prayer to God, 17-21.
He makes her presents, and learns whose daughter she is, 22-24.
She invites him to her father’s house, 25.
He returns thanks to God for having thus far given him a
prosperous journey, 26, 27.
Rebekah runs home and informs her family, 28;
on which her brother Laban comes out, and invites the servant
home, 29-31.
His reception, 32, 33.
Tells his errand, 34,
and how he had proceeded in executing the trust reposed in him,
35-48.
Requests an answer, 49.
The family of Rebekah consent that she should become the wife of
Isaac, 50, 51.
The servant worships God, 52,
and gives presents to Milcah, Laban, and Rebekah, 53.
He requests to be dismissed, 54-56.
Rebekah, being consulted, consents to go, 57, 58.
She is accompanied by her nurse, 59;
and having received the blessing of her parents and relatives, 60,
she departs with the servant of Abraham, 61.
They are met by Isaac, who was on an evening walk for the purpose
of meditation, 62-65.
The servant relates to Isaac all that he had done, 66.
Isaac and Rebekah are married, 67.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIV
Verse 1. And Abraham was old] He was now about one hundred and forty years of age, and consequently Isaac was forty, being born when his father was one hundred years old. See Ge 21:5; Ge 25:20.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He was one hundred and forty years old, comparing Gen 21:5, with Gen 25:20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. And Abraham was old . . . take awifeHis anxiety to see his son married was natural to hisposition as a pastoral chief interested in preserving the honor ofhis tribe, and still more as a patriarch who had regard to the divinepromise of a numerous posterity.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Abraham was old, [and] well stricken in age,…. Being now one hundred and forty years of age, for as he was an hundred years old when Isaac was born, and Isaac was forty years of age when he married Rebekah, which was at this time, Abraham must be of the age mentioned, see Ge 21:5;
and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things; with all kind of blessings, with temporal and spiritual blessings; the former seems chiefly designed here, because of what follows; God had blessed him, as Aben Ezra observes, with long life, and riches, and honour, and children, things desirable by men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After the death of Sarah, Abraham had still to arrange for the marriage of Isaac. He was induced to provide for this in a mode in harmony with the promise of God, quite as much by his increasing age as by the blessing of God in everything, which necessarily instilled the wish to transmit that blessing to a distant posterity. He entrusted this commission to his servant, “the eldest of his house,” – i.e., his upper servant, who had the management of all his house (according to general opinion, to Eliezer, whom he had previously thought of as the heir of his property, but who would now, like Abraham, be extremely old, as more than sixty years had passed since the occurrence related in Gen 15:2), – and made him swear that he would not take a wife for his son from the daughters of the Canaanites, but would fetch one from his (Abraham’s) native country, and his kindred. Abraham made the servant take an oath in order that his wishes might be inviolably fulfilled, even if he himself should die in the interim. In swearing, the servant put his hand under Abraham’s hip. This custom, which is only mentioned here and in Gen 47:29, the so-called bodily oath, was no doubt connected with the significance of the hip as the part from which the posterity issued (Gen 46:26), and the seat of vital power; but the early Jewish commentators supposed it to be especially connected with the rite of circumcision. The oath was by “ Jehovah, God of heaven and earth,” as the God who rules in heaven and on earth, not by Elohim; for it had respect not to an ordinary oath, but to a question of great importance in relation to the kingdom of God. “Isaac was not regarded as a merely pious candidate for matrimony, but as the heir of the promise, who must therefore be kept from any alliance with the race whose possessions were to come to his descendants, and which was ripening for the judgment to be executed by those descendants” (Hengstenberg, Dissertations i. 350). For this reason the rest of the negotiation was all conducted in the name of Jehovah.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Abraham’s Charges to His Servant. | B. C. 1857. |
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And 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: 3 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 unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. 5 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 thou camest? 6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. 7 The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware 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 thence. 8 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 thither again. 9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
Three things we may observe here concerning Abraham:–
I. The care he took of a good son, to get him married, well married. It was high time to think of it now, for Isaac was about forty years old, and it had been customary with his ancestors to marry at thirty, or sooner, Gen 11:14; Gen 11:18; Gen 11:22; Gen 11:24. Abraham believed the promise of the building up of his family, and therefore did not make haste; not more haste than good speed. Two considerations moved him to think of it now (v. 1):– 1. That he himself was likely to leave the world quickly, for he was old, and well-stricken in age, and it would be a satisfaction to him to see his son settled before he died; and, 2. That he had a good estate to leave behind him, for the Lord had blessed him in all things; and the blessing of the Lord makes rich. See how much religion and piety befriend outward prosperity. Now Abraham’s pious care concerning his son was, (1.) That he should not marry a daughter of Canaan, but one of his kindred. He saw that the Canaanites were degenerating into great wickedness, and knew by revelation that they were designed for ruin, and therefore he would not marry his son among them, lest they should be either a snare to his soul, or at least a blot to his name. (2.) That yet he should not leave the land of Canaan, to go himself among his kindred, not even for the purpose of choosing a wife, lest he should be tempted to settle there. This caution is given v. 6, and repeated, v. 8. “Bring not my son thither again, whatever comes of it. Let him rather want a wife than expose himself to that temptation.” Note, Parents in disposing of their children, should carefully consult the welfare of their souls, and their furtherance in the way to heaven. Those who through grace have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, and have brought up their children accordingly, should take heed of doing any thing by which they may be again entangled therein and overcome, 2 Pet. ii. 20. Beware that you bring them not thither again, Heb. xi. 15.
II. The charge he gave to a good servant, probably Eliezer of Damascus, one of whose conduct, fidelity, and affection to him and his family, he had had long experience. He trusted him with this great affair, and not Isaac himself, because he would not have Isaac go at all into that country, but marry there by proxy; and no proxy so fit as this steward of his house. This matter is settled between the master and the servant with a great deal of care and solemnity. 1. The servant must be bound by an oath to do his utmost to get a wife for Isaac from among his relations, v. 2-4. Abraham swears him to it, both for his own satisfaction and for the engagement of his servant to all possible care and diligence in this matter. Thus God swears his servants to their work, that, having sworn, they may perform it. Honour is here done to the eternal God; for he it is that is sworn by, to whom alone these appeals ought to be made. And some think honour is done to the covenant of circumcision by the ceremony here used of putting his hand under his thigh. Note, Swearing being an ordinance not peculiar to the church, but common to mankind, is to be performed by such signs as are the appointments and common usages of our country, for binding the person sworn. 2. He must be clear of this oath if, when he had done his utmost, he could not prevail. This proviso the servant prudently inserted (v. 5), putting the case that the woman would not follow him; and Abraham allowed the exception, v. 8. Note, Oaths are to be taken with great caution, and the matter sworn to should be rightly understood and limited, because it is a snare to devour that which is holy, and, after vows, to make the enquiry which should have been made before.
III. The confidence he put in a good God, who, he doubts not, will give his servant success in this undertaking, v. 7. He remembers that God had wonderfully brought him out of the land of his nativity, by the effectual call of his grace; and therefore doubts not but he will succeed him in his care not to bring his son thither again. He remembers also the promise God had made and confirmed to him that he would give Canaan to his seed, and thence infers that God would own him in his endeavours to match his son, not among those devoted nations, but to one that was fit to be the mother of such a seed. “Fear not therefore; he shall send his angel before thee to make thy way prosperous.” Note, 1. Those that carefully keep in the way of duty, and govern themselves by the principles of their religion in their designs and undertakings, have good reason to expect prosperity and success in them. God will cause that to issue in our comfort in which we sincerely aim at his glory. 2. God’s promises, and our own experiences, are sufficient to encourage our dependence upon God, and our expectations from him, in all the affairs of this life. 3. God’s angels are ministering spirits, sent forth, not only for the protection, but for the guidance, of the heirs of promise, Heb. i. 14. “He shall send his angel before thee, and then thou wilt speed well.”
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
GENESIS – CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Verses 1-9:
Three years after the death of Sarah, Abraham instructed his servant Eleazar concerning a wife for Isaac. Two unchangeable provisions were: 1) under no circumstances was Isaac to marry a Canaanite; and 2) under no circumstances was he to leave the land and return to Mesopotamia to seek a wife. Eleazar was Abraham’s most trusted servant, in complete charge of all Abraham’s household affairs. He was given the further responsibility to return to the land of Abraham’s kinsmen and there secure a bride for Isaac. He suggested the possibility that the woman so chosen might be unwilling to accompany him, and inquired if he should return to get Isaac and take him there in person. Abraham absolved him of any further responsibility in the unlikely event either of these events occurred.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. And Abraham was old. (1) Moses passes onwards to the relation of Isaac’s marriage, because indeed Abraham, perceiving himself to be worn down by old age, would take care that his son should not marry a wife in the land of Canaan. In this place Moses expressly describes Abraham as an old man, in order that we may learn that he had been admonished, by his very age, to seek a wife for his son: for old age itself, which, at the most, is not far distant from death, ought to induce us so to order the affairs of our family, that when we die, peace may be preserved among our posterity, the fear of the Lord may flourish, and rightly-constituted order may prevail. The old age of Abraham was indeed yet green, as we shall see hereafter; but when he reckoned up his own years he deemed it time to consult for the welfare of his son. Irreligious men, partly because they do not hold marriage sufficiently in honor, partly because they do not consider the importance attached especially to the marriage of Isaac, wonder that Moses, or rather the Spirit of God, should be employed in affairs so minute; but if we have that reverence which is due in reading the Sacred Scriptures, we shall easily understand that here is nothing superfluous: for inasmuch as men can scarcely persuade themselves that the Providence of God extends to marriages, so much the more does Moses insist on this point. He chiefly, however, wishes to teach that God honored the family of Abraham with especial regard, because the Church was to spring from it. But it will be better to treat of everything in its proper order.
(1) Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, (Gen 21:5,) and Isaac was forty years old when he was married, (Gen 25:20.) This makes Abraham’s age a hundred and forty years. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
ABRAHAMTHE FRIEND OF GOD
Gen 11:10 to Gen 25:10.
ONE week ago we gave this hour to a study in Genesis, our subject being, The Beginnings. The birds-eye view of ten chapters and ten verses brought us to Babel, and impressed upon us the many profitable lessons that come between the record of creation and the report of confusion.
Beginning with the 10th verse of the 11th chapter of Genesis (Gen 11:10), and concluding with the 10th verse of the 25th chapter (Gen 25:10), we have the whole history of Abraham, the friend of God; and while other important persons, such as Sarai, Hagar, Lot, Pharaoh, Abimelech, Isaac, Rebecca and even Melchisedec appear in these chapters, Abraham plays altogether the prominent part, and aside from Melchisedec, the High Priest, is easily the most important person, and the most interesting subject presented in this inspired panorama. It may be of interest to say that Abraham lived midway between Adam and Jesus, and such was his greatness that the Chaldeans, East Indians, Sabeans and Mohammedans all join with the Jew in claiming to be the offspring of Abraham; while it is the Christians proud boast that he is Abrahams spiritual descendant.
It is little wonder that all these contend for a kinship with him whom God deigns to call His friend. The man who is a friend of God is entitled to a large place in history. Fourteen chapters are none too many for his record; and hours spent in analyzing his character and searching for the secrets of his success are hours so employed as to meet the Divine approval.
The problem is how to so set Abrahams history before you as to make it at once easy of comprehension, and yet thoroughly impress its lessons. In trying to solve that question it has seemed best to call attention to
THE CALL AND THE COVENANT.
Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).
Did you ever stop to think of the separations involved in this call?
It meant a separation from home. From thy fathers house. How painful that call is, those of us who have passed through it perfectly understand; and yet many of us have gone so short a distance from home, or else have made the greater journey with such extended stops, that we know but little how to sympathize with Abrahams more effective separation from that dear spot. To go from Chaldea to Canaan in that day, from a country with which he was familiar to one he had never seen; and from a people who were his own, to sojourn among strangers, was every whit equal to William Careys departure from England for India. But as plants and flowers have to be taken from the hot-bed into the broad garden that they may best bring forth, so God lifts the subject of His affection from the warm atmosphere of home-life and sets him down in the far field that he may bring forth fruit unto Him; hence, as is written in Hebrews, Abraham had to go out, not knowing whither he went.
This call also involves separation from kindred. And from thy kindred. In Chaldea, Abram had a multitude of relatives, as the 11th chapter fully shows. Upon all of these, save the members of his own house, and Lot, his brothers son, Abram must turn his back. In the process of time the irreligion of Lot will necessitate also a separation from him. In this respect, Abrahams call is in no whit different from that which God is giving the men and women today. You cannot respond to the call of God without separating yourself from all kin who worship at false shrines; and you cannot make the progress you ought and live in intimate relation with so worldly a professor of religion as was Lot.
We may have marvelled at times that Abraham so soon separated himself from Lot, but the real wonder is that the man of God so long retained his hold upon him. No more difficult task was ever undertaken than that of keeping in the line of service a man who, in the lust of his eyes and the purpose of his heart, has pitched his tent toward Sodom. It is worthy of note that so soon as Abraham was separated from Lot, the Lord said unto him,
Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place that thou art, northward and southward, and eastward and westward, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever (Gen 13:14-15).
The men of the broadest view in spiritual things, the men upon whom God has put His choicest blessing, have been from time immemorial men who have separated themselves from idolaters and pretenders that they might be the more free to respond to the call of God, and upon such, God has rested His richest favors.
This call also involves separation from the Gentiles. The Gentiles of Chaldea and the Gentiles of Canaan; from the first he was separated by distance and from the second by circumcision. Gods appeal has been and is for a peculiar people, not that they might be queer, but that He might keep them separatedunspotted from the world. God knows, O so well, how few souls there are that can mingle with the unregenerate crowd without losing their testimony and learning to speak the shibboleth of sinners. Peter was a good man; in some respects greater than Abraham; but Peter in that porch-company was a poor witness for Jesus Christ, while his profanity proved the baneful effect of fellowship with Gods enemies. The call to separation, therefore, is none other than the call to salvation, for if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.
But Gods calls are always attended by
GODS COVENANTS.
As this call required three separations with their sacrifices, so its attendant covenant contained three promised blessings. God never empties the heart without filling it again, and with better things. God never detaches the affections from lower objects without at once attaching them to subjects that are higher; consequently call and covenant must go together.
I will make of thee a great nation. That was the first article in His covenant. To the Jew, that was one of the most precious promises. This ancient people delighted in progeny. The Psalmist wrote, As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. If our Puritan fathers, few in number and feeble as they were, could have imagined the might and multitude of their offspring, they would have found in the prospect an unspeakable pride, and a source of mighty pleasure. It was because those fathers did, in some measure, imagine the America to come, that they were willing to endure the privations and dangers of their day; but the honor of being fathers of a nation, shared in by a half hundred of them, was an honor on which Abraham had a close corporation, for to him God said,
I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall also thy seed be numbered.
If the heart, parting from parents and home, is empty, the arms into which children have been placed are full; and homesickness, the pain of separation, is overcome when, through the grace of God, one sits down in the midst of his own.
This covenant contained a further promise. I will . . . make thy name great. We may believe that the word great here refers not so much to empty honors as to merited praise. The Jewish conception of such a promise was expressed by Solomon when he said, A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. And, notwithstanding the fact that our age is guilty of over-estimating the value of riches, men find it difficult to underrate the value of a good name.
Years ago, Jonas Chickering decided to make a better piano than had ever appeared on the market. He spared neither time nor labor in this attempt. His endeavor was rewarded in purity and truthfulness of tone as well as in simplicity of plan, and there came to him the ever-attendant result of success. His name on a piano was that instruments best salesman.
A Massachusetts man, seeing this, went to the Massachusetts legislature and succeeded in getting them to change his name to Chickering, that he might put it upon his own instruments.
As Marden said when referring to this incident, Character has a commercial value.
And, when God promised Abraham to make his name great, He bestowed the very honor which men most covet to this hour.
But the climax of His covenant is contained in this last sentence, In thee shall all the families of the earth be blest. That is the honor of honors! That is the success of all successes! That is the privilege of all privileges!
When Mr. Moody died some man said, Every one of us has lost a friend, and that speaker was right, for there is not a man in America who has not enjoyed at least an opportunity to be better because Moody lived. No matter whether the individual had ever seen him or no; had ever read one of his sermons or no; yet the tidal waves of Moodys work have rolled over the entire land, over many lands for that matter, and even the most ignorant and debased have breathed the better atmosphere on account of him. George Davis claims that Moody traveled a million miles, and addressed a hundred million people, and dealt personally with 750,000 individuals! I think Davis claim is an overstatement, and yet these whom he touched personally are only a tithe of the multitudes blessed indirectly by that evangelism for which Moody stood for forty years. If today I could be privileged to make my choice of the articles of this covenant, rather than be the father of a great nation, rather than enjoy the power of a great name, I would say, Give me the covenant that through me all the nations of the earth should be blessed. Such would indeed be the crowning glory of a life, and such ought to be the crowning joy of a true mans heart.
In the next place, I call your attention to
ABRAHAMS OBEDIENCE AND BLUNDERS.
His obedience was prompt No sooner are the call and covenant spoken than we read,
So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him (Gen 12:4).
In that his conduct favorably contrasted with the behavior of some other of the Old Testaments most prominent men. Moses was in many respects a model, but he gave himself to an eloquent endeavor to show God that He was making a mistake in appointing him Israels deliverer. Elijah at times indulged in the same unprofitable controversy, and the story of Jonahs criticism of the Divine appointment will be among our later studies. I am confident that Abraham brings before every generation a much needed example in this matter. In these days, men are tempted to live too much in mathematics and to regard too lightly Gods revelations of duty. That is one of the reasons why many pulpits are empty. That is one of the reasons why many a Sunday School class is without a teacher. That is the only reason why any man in this country can say with any show of truthfulness, No man careth for my soul. If the congregations assembled in Gods sanctuary should go out of them, as Abram departed from his home in Haran, to fulfil all that the Lord had spoken unto them, the world would be turned upside down in a fortnight, and Christ would quickly come.
In his obedience Abraham was steadfast also. There are many men who respond to the calls of God; there are only a few who remain faithful to those calls through a long and busy life. There were battles ahead for Abram. There were blunders in store for Abram. There were bereavements and disappointments to come. But, in spite of them all, he marched on until God gathered him to his people. I thank God that such stedfastness is not wholly strange at the present time. When we see professors of religion proving themselves shallow and playing truant before the smaller trials, and we are thereby tempted to join in Solomons dyspeptic lament, All is vanity and vexation of spirit, it heartens one to remember the history that some have made and others are making. Think of Carey and Judson, Jewett and Livingstone, Goddard and Morrison, Clough and Ashmoremen who, through long years, deprivations and persecutions, proved as faithful as was ever Abraham; and so, long as the world shall stand, stedfastness in obedience to the commands of God will be regarded highly in Heaven. Why is it that we so much admire the company of the apostles, and why is it that we sing the praises of martyrs? They withstood in the evil day, and having done all, stood.
Again, Abrams obedience was inspired by faith.
When he went out from Chaldea to come into Canaan, he was not yielding to reason but walking according to revelation. His action was explained in the sentence, He believed in the Lord. Joseph Parker commenting on the world believed as here employed says, This is the first time the word believed occurs in the Bible. * * * * What history opens in this one word. Abram nourished and nurtured himself in God. * * * * He took the promise as a fulfilment. The word was to him a fact. The stars had new meanings to him, as, long before, the rainbow had to Noah. Abram drew himself upward by the stars. Every night they spoke to him of his posterity and of his greatness. They were henceforward not stars only but promises and oaths and blessings.
One great need of the present-day church is a truer trust in God. Oh, for men who like Columbus can let the craft of life float out on the seas of thought and action, and look to the starry heavens for the guidance that shall land them upon newer and richer shores! Oh, for men that will turn their ears heavenward to hear what God will say, and even though His commissions contain sacrifice will go about exercising it! Such men are never forgotten by the Father. We are not surprised to hear Him break forth in praise of Abraham, saying,
Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, m blessing 1 will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of the enemy, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.
No sacrifice made in faith is ever forgotten, and when Gods rewards for service are spoken, good men always regard them more than sufficient. If you could call up today the souls of Carey, Judson, Livingstone and Morrison, and assemble Clough, Ashmore, Taylor, Powell, Clark, Richards and a hundred others worthy to stand with them, and ask them the question Has God failed in any particular to keep with you any article of His covenant? they would answer in a chorus, No. And has God more than met the expectations of your faith? they would reply without dissent, Yes. As He was faithful to our father Abraham, so He is faithful to the present-day servant.
And yet Abraham, the obedient, was
GUILTY OF BLUNDERING.
Twice he lied, and the third time he approached the utmost limits of truth. He told Sarai to say she was his sister. She was his half-sister, and so he thought to excuse himself by dissembling and keeping back a part. But a lie is not a question of words and phrases! It may be acted as easily as spoken! When God comes to make a report upon your conduct and mine, dissembling will be labeled falsehood, for God does not cover up the sins of men. Somebody has asked, Do you suppose, if the Bible had been written by some learned Doctor, revised by a committee of some eminent scholars, and published by some great ecclesiastical society, we would ever have heard of Noahs drunkenness, of Abrams deception, of Lots disgrace, of Jacobs rascality, of the quarrel between Paul and Barnabas, or of Peters conduct on the porch? Not at all. But when the Almighty writes a mans life, He tells the truth about him.
I heard a colored preacher at Cincinnati say, The most of us would not care for a biography of ourselves, if God was to be the Author of it. Yet the work of the Recording Angel goes on, and as surely as we read today the report of Abrams blunders, we will be compelled to confront our own. Let us cease, therefore, from sin.
But Abrams few blunders cannot blacken his beautiful record. The luster of his life is too positive to be easily dimmed; and like the sun, will continue to shine despite the spots. Run through these chapters, and in every one of the fourteen you will find some touch of his true life. It was Abraham whose heart beat in sweetest sympathy with the sufferings of Hagar. It was Abraham who showed the most unselfish spirit in separating from Lot and dividing the estate. It was Abraham who opened his door to strangers in a hospitality of which this age knows all too little. It was Abram who overcame the forces of the combined kings and snatched Lot out of their hands. It was Abraham whose prayers prevailed with God in saving this same weakkneed professor out of Sodom. It was Abraham who trusted God for a child when Nature said the faith was foolish. It was Abraham who offered that same child in sacrifice at the word, not halting because of his own heart-sufferings. It was Abraham who mourned Sarahs death as deeply as ever any bereft bride felt her loss.
The more I search these chapters, the more I feel that she was right who wrote, A holy life has a voice. It speaks when the tongue is silent and is either a constant attraction or a continued reproof. Put your ear close to these pages of Genesis, and if Abraham does not whisper good to your heart, then be sure that your soul is dead and you are yet in your sins.
There remains time for but a brief review of these fourteen chapters in search of
THEIR TYPES AND SYMBOLS
Abrams call is a type of the Church of Christ. The Greek word for Church means the called-out. Separation from the Chaldeans was essential to Abrams access to the Father, and separation from the world is essential to the Churchs access to God and also essential to its exertion of an influence for righteousness. I believe Dr. Gordon was right when, in The Two-Fold Life he said, The truest remedy for the present-day naturalized Christianity and worldly consecration is to be found in a strenuous and stubborn non-conformity to the world on the part of Christians. With the most unshaken conviction, we believe that the Church can only make headway, in this world, by being loyal to her heavenly calling. Towards Ritualism her cry must be not a rag of popery; towards Rationalism, not a vestige of whatsoever is not of faith; and towards
Secularism, not a shred of the garment spotted by the flesh. The Bride of Christ can only give a true and powerful testimony in this world as she is found clothed with her own proper vesture even the fine linen clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints.
Isaacs offering is a type of Gods gift of Jesus. He was an only son and Abraham laid him upon the altar of sacrifice. And, if one say that he fails as a type because he passed not through the experience of death, let us remember what is written into Heb 11:17 following,
By faith Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, *** accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him, in a figure.
It might be written in Scripture, Abraham so believed God that he gave his only begotten son, for Gods sake. It is written in Scripture, God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Melchisedec is a type of our High Priest, Jesus Christ. His record in Gen 14:18-20 is brief, but the interpretation of his character in Hebrews 7 presents him as either identical with the Lord Himself, or else as one whose priesthood is the most perfect type of that which Jesus Christ has performed, and performs today for the sons of men.
In Sodom, we find the type of the days of the Son of Man. Of it the Lord said,
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me.
Jesus Christ referred to that city and likened its condition to that which should obtain upon the earth at the coming of the Son of Man, saying, As it was in the days of Lot, they did eat; they drank; they bought; they sold; they planted; they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all, even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
The newspapers some time ago reported great religious excitement in a Southern city through the work of two evangelists. Doctors said, We will prescribe no more liquor for patients, druggists said, We will sell no more liquor as a beverage; gamblers gave up their gambling; those called the toughs of the town turned to the Lord; the people of means put off their jewels, changed their frivolous clothes to plainer style; and wherever one went he heard either the singing of hymns or the utterance of prayers, and a great newspaper said this had all come about because the people in that little college town expected the speedy return of Christ. You may call it fanaticism, if you will, and doubtless there would be some occasion, and yet call it what you may, this sentence will remain in the Scriptures, Therefore, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES.
Gen. 24:1. And Abraham was old.] He was now in his hundred and fortieth year. (See ch. Gen. 25:20.)
Gen. 24:2. Eldest servant of his house.] Heb. His servant, the elder of his house. This term denotes office, not length of servitude. This confidential head servant or steward may have been Eliezer of Damascus, who was Abrahams steward sixty years before this. (Ch. Gen. 15:2.) Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh. In these words is euphemistically described a practice of making an oath binding by touching that part of the body which symbolises power and continuance. For the Jew a farther sanctity was imparted to this confirmation of an oath by that member being the recipient of Gods covenant of circumcision. The practice is found besides in ch. Gen. 47:29, only. (Alford.) The thigh is the symbol of posterity; in Israel the symbol of the promised posterity, with the included idea of the promise. (Gen. 46:26; Exo. 1:5.) Elieazer and Joseph thus must swear by the posterity; the promise and the hope of Abraham and Israel. (Lange.)
Gen. 24:3. By the Lord.] By Jehovah. The redemptive name of God, as most appropriate, in dealing with those who are in fellowship with Him. It is not an ordinary marriage which is here about to be made, which would fall under the providence of Elohim, but a marriage which concerns the kingdom of God, and therefore Jehovah appears in the whole narrative. (Keil.)
Gen. 24:4. Unto my country, and to my kindred.] His country was Mesopotamia, where Abraham had dwelt for a time after leaving Ur of the Chaldees. His kindred were Shemites, who, though they preserved the knowledge of God, yetas we learn from the instance of Laban, (ch. 31),retained some vestiges of idolatry.
Gen. 24:7. The Lord God of heaven.] Heb. Jehovah, the God of the heavens.
Gen. 24:9. Abraham his master.] Heb. His lord. Sware to him.] Heb. Was sworn to him. The passive voice is used in Heb. to convey the idea that one is adjured by another.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 24:1-9
ABRAHAMS PROVISION FOR THE MARRIAGE OF HIS SON
The death of Sarah had left a sad breach in Abrahams family. He had now been mourning for her three years. But in the sorrows of bereavement he must still think of the duty which lies before him, and how he may fulfil the purpose of God so clearly made known to him. He knew that Isaac was the son of promise, in whom his house was to be enlarged and to take its destined place among the family of nations. He naturally, therefore, seeks a wife for his son, exercising due care and circumspection in so important a matter. In the provision which he now makes for his sons marriage, we note two elements.
I. Human Prudence. Abraham is apparently left to act for himself in this matter, to use the wisdom which the experience of ordinary life had taught him. He appears to have no distinct revelation from God on the subject. He does not act as a fanatic who vaguely trusts in some divine power and neglects the use of suitable means. Not such were the saints whose lives are recorded in the Bible. They were all men of faith and devotion, but they were rational and human in all features of their character. Abraham sets about this work as a prudent man would do.
1. He accepts the fact that his time for making such a provision is short (Gen. 24:1). He was now an old man and nigh unto the close of his mortal day. His time for all human effort and labour would soon be at an end. A solemn duty was imposed upon him, and he must discharge it in the narrow space which now lay between him and the grave. It is wise thus to look the sad facts of life in the face, for in human affairs death closes all opportunity.
2. He is careful about the family from whence his sons wife is to spring (Gen. 24:3). He had seen enough of the wickedness of the Canaanites among whom he dwelt to convince him that no great nation could arise from any alliance with them. Their wickedness grew increasingly from generation to generation until they had now reached a rank maturity of corruption. The law of inherited tendencies is a sad fact of human nature, and tends in an enormous degree to spread and intensify the power of evil in the world of mankind. Abraham must look for a goodly seed, for a purer channel through which the life of his sacred nation is to flow.
3. He relies upon human faithfulness. The eldest servant of his house that ruled over all he had (Gen. 24:2) was, probably, Eliezer of Damascus who for fifty-four years had been Abrahams faithful steward. He had been the confidential head servant to whom was entrusted the most sacred and important affairs of the family. There are occasions in life in which man must repose great trust in his fellow man. The time comes when we have to arrange for a future which will unfold itself when we are hidden in the grave and can no longer take our part in the things of this life. Our power to do good and to act well our part in the world would be greatly crippled if we could not rely upon human faithfulness. In all these things Abraham acted upon the highest principles of human prudence.
II. Religious Faith. But with Abraham it was more than mere human prudence. It was the strength of his character that he believed in God. He is acting in a history which throughout all its course is overshadowed by a greater and a higher world than this.
1. He gratefully recognises the hand of God in all his past life (Gen. 24:1.) He does not ascribe his success to his own skill and prudence, but to the favour of God. God had blessed him in all things. He had first trusted the bare word of God, and then faith was a supreme effort. But now through many years of blessings from above his faith had received due encouragement and support. Memory would now serve to stimulate faith and hope. God had blessed him in the past, and therefore he would trust Him for the future.
2. He recognises the supreme control of God over all things. He says, the Lord God of heaven took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my kindred. He knew with a distinct and certain knowledge that it was God who shaped his life and guided him through the wanderings of many years. Ever since he was first called he had felt the leading of a Divine hand. Living faith looks not to forces inherent in matter, but trusts in the living God who controls all times, agents, and events.
3. He acts upon the known will of God. It was enough for him that God had spoken, promised His blessing, and the land for an eternal possession. He had faith in Gods holy covenant. In seeking a suitable wife for Isaac, he is but working from one great truth revealed to him. He knew that God who had promised to make him a great nation would accomplish his promise and prosper every work of his hands, and guide it to the best results. He used all proper human means, but he acted in faith that, in this matter, the choice would still be Gods.
4. While he trusts in human faithfulness, he recognises the importance of binding men by a sense of religious fear and duty. He binds his servant by an oath (Gen. 24:3; Gen. 24:9.) Human morality must rest upon a religious basis, which alone can render it constant and safe. Independent morality is too apt to be influenced by the temper of the age or passing expediency, so that we cannot trust it at all times as an unchanging standard. To morality, therefore, we must add Godliness if we would give any real and lasting strength to human obligations.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 24:1. Old age, with its growing infirmities and sure decay, is sad to look upon; but the blessing of God imparts a beauty to it, for He will never leave nor forsake those whom He has blessed. Their hoary head is a crown of glory, for the light of heaven has touched it.
Abraham had a good grey head, as it is elsewhere said of him; hence so honoured, not only at home, but of the Hittites (ch. 23). God bids us to honour the face of the old man (Lev. 19:32); for the hoary head is a crown, so that it be found in the way of righteousness. God is called The Ancient of days; and, because holy, therefore reverend is His name, as saith the Psalmist (Psa. 111:9).(Trapp.)
Abrahams life, since he received the Divine call, was not exempt from many troubles and sorrows; yet the blessing of God fell even upon these in all things.
The Gospel promises that blessing which Abraham enjoyed. To faithful believers in every age, all things still work together for good.
Gen. 24:2. The person whom Abraham entrusted with this delicate task has a threefold designation. First, he is his servant or minister. Secondly, he is the old man, ancient, or elder of his house. Here the term elder approaches its official signification. In early times age was taken into account, along with good conduct and aptitude, as the qualification for services of trust. Thirdly, he ruled over all that he had. He was therefore a master as well as a minister.(Murphy.)
To put the hand under ones thigh was probably a form of making oath, or giving most solemn pledge to another. We do not read of it elsewhere, except only where Jacob requires the same of Joseph (Gen. 47:29). The thigh is the part on which the sword rests, and thus it expresses dominion. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. It is also the seat of generation, and so it might refer to the covenant of circumcision. The servant sacredly swore subjection and obedience to his master, by this formal act, with reference to the Divine covenant.(Jacobus.)
Gen. 24:3. Abrahams appeal to Jehovah.
1. His name. Jehovah is the personal name of God, and therefore a proper one to be employed by those who were in fellowship with Him. It is His redemptive name, most fitly employed with designed reference to the Covenant of Grace made with Abraham.
2. His dominion. He is the author of all being, and therefore rules and possesses heaven and earth. He is, therefore, the sole arbiter of the oathtakers destiny, not only in this life but also in that which is to come.
3. His concern for the purity of His servants. Abraham well knew that God loved righteousness in those who professed to serve Him: therefore he took the needful steps to secure the purity of his family.
In these prudential arrangements for the prosperity and honour of his family, we see Abrahams true character as a spiritual man just as much as we see it in his most heroic acts of faith.
1. His determined aversion to idolatry. He will make his servant swear by Jehovah alone. His neighbours were idolators. He was on friendly terms with them and would go far to please them but in this solemn matter he must declare for the true God. The great purpose of that early revelation of which he formed so important a part, was to teach the doctrine of the Divine unity. The voice to the chosen people, rising above all others, ever spake thus, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. The land was given to Abraham in order that idolatry might be overthrown.
2. His godliness. In seeking a wife for his son he is not guided by motives of worldly policy. He makes no mention of riches, honours, or personal attractions. He is only concerned that his son shall form an alliance worthy of his high calling of God. He had learned to look at every circumstance of human life in its Godward relations.
3. His distrust of human nature without the safeguards of religion. He well knew that it was more likely that his sonthough he had received such a pious trainingshould be corrupted by an idolatrous wife, than that such a wife should be won over to the true faith by her believing husband. And even should Isaac maintain his integrity, there would still be some hazard for his family. Deriving its origin partly from heathen nations, and with idolatrous practices everywhere prevailing, such a family must degenerate. Abraham knew the frailty of human nature too well not to surround the pure faith of his seed with the strongest possible safeguards.
How admirable a pattern is this for parents in reference to the forming of matrimonial connections for their children. Unhappily, great numbers even among the professors of godliness bring nothing but worldly considerations to this all-important subject. The outward advantages of fortune, rank, or personal attractions are the only things regarded. But what comparison can these bear to the internal qualities of sound principle, good sense, amiable temper, and meek devoted piety? What permanent happiness can we promise ourselves in connection with one who cannot understand our views, or enter into our feelings; to whom we cannot speak of religion so as to be sympathised with, advised, or comforted; with whom we cannot take sweet counsel on the things of all others most interesting and absorbing to our souls? No wonder that in such unions comfort and serenity of spirit are banished from our abodes. No wonder that there arise estrangements of affection, diversity of pursuits, contrariety of will, domestic jangling, mutual accusations and retorts, and all that embitters or poisons the springs of love and peace. Whether, therefore, we are choosing for ourselves in this matter, or sanctioning the device of others, let the example of this holy man have its due weight in governing our conduct. Let us learn from him to subordinate everything to the one great concernthe interests of the soul. Let every plan and purpose entertained, every connection formed, express our firm and unvarying conviction of the reality, the importance, the preciousness of those interests which infinitely transcend all others.(Bush.)
Abraham does not forget his relation to the kingdom of God. This marriage is not a private and individual matter, but one affecting countless millions who are to be blessed in his seed. Isaac has to sustain a peculiar and a sacred character. He has to inherit and transmit, not simply a family name, importance, or worldly possessions merely, but the hope and promise of salvation. His marriage is significant as pointing to the purity of the kingdom of God, and also to the importance of woman in that kingdom.
Gen. 24:4. The conditions might seem to be irreconcilable. On the one hand, Isaac must contract no alliance with the daughters of the land; and, on the other hand, he must not leave the land to seek a bride elsewhere. The former is essential to the preservation of the holy seed, pure and uncontaminated from all intermixture with strange and idolatrous nations. The latter is indispensable to his succeeding his faithful father, not only in his ultimate inheritance of the promised country, but also in his preliminary pilgrimage meanwhile, as a stranger and sojourner in the land. For Isaac is to share his fathers trial as well as his reward. He is to walk by faith in an inheritance to comeliving and dying in the land destined to be his; but without a portion of it that he can call his own, except his grave. Hence he must continue among the people, from whom he is not at liberty to select a wife; nor may he go in search of one to the ancient seat of his race.(Candlish.)
The kindred of Abraham were Shemites, Hebrews, and still retained some knowledge of the true God, and some reverence for Him and His will.(Murphy.)
It would have been natural prudence in Abraham to have sought a wife for his son among the Canaanites. This would have tended to secure protection and good will for Isaac, and would have greatly contributed towards the possession of the land by his family. The fact that Abraham acted contrary to what worldly prudence would suggest shows that he was under the guidance of God.
In the Old Testament we see marriage as a natural institution; in the New it is brought before us in a religious light, for we are shown its spiritual significance, it is there likened to Christ and the Church. Now, what is remarkable here is, that the union of Christ and the Church is not illustrated by marriage, but marriage by this spiritual union, that is, the natural is based upon the spiritual. And this is what is wanted; it gives marriage a religious signification, and it thus becomes a kind of semi-sacrament. Now there are two points in which this illustration holds good: first, in the nature of the union, for in marriage, as in the union between Christ and His Church, like is joined to unlike. The other point of resemblance is in the principle of sacrifice, for as no love between man and wife can be true which does not issue in a sacrifice of each for the other, so Christ gave Himself for His Church and the Church sacrifices itself to His service. The only true love is self devotion. Thus we see how all, even the every day affairs of married life, must fail without this principle of the cross of Christ.(Robertson.)
Gen. 24:5-6. The servant, when the commission is first proposed to him, sees the difficulty. He is not to marry his masters son to any daughter of the Canaanites; neither will he be allowed to take Isaac back to the land from whence Abraham came. And yet he may be unable to persuade any woman of the country and kindred to which Abraham limits himany daughter of Terahs familyto leave her hometo commit herself to the care of a stranger, and to share the fate of an unknown husband. In these circumstances, he will not bind himself by an absolute and unconditional oath. Nor is it until he is not only encouraged by Abrahams strong expression of his faith in the guidance of Jehovahbut relieved also by the arrangement, that, in the contingency he apprehended, he is to be free from his vowthat he consents to undertake, under so solemn a sanction, so responsible a mission. His scruple is reasonable and honourable. It is of such a nature as may well increase his masters confidence in him. It marks his conscientious sense of obligation, and his sacred reverence for an oath.(Candlish.)
He swears cautiously, he doth not rashly rush upon his oath; he swears not in jest, but in judgment. So must we (Jer. 4:2), duly considering the conditions and circumstances; as the nature of an oath, the matter whereabout, the person by whom, and before whom, the time, the place, our calling and warrant thereunto. Be not rash (Ecc. 5:2.) Swear not in heat and choler, as David did when he was going against Nabal; but soon after blessed Abigail for better counsel.(Trapp.)
In our dealings with even the best of men we must sacredly preserve the sense of our own individual responsibility.
Gen. 24:7. Abrahams expectation of success.
1. Founded upon what God is. The God of heaven and earth, and therefore controlling all things and events, and thus accomplishing His will. The thing hoped for was not impossible with God, and it was well in accordance with His known will.
2. Founded upon what God had been to him. God had called him from his fathers house, and from the land of his kindred. He had been blessed in all things. He had been guided in every step of his way, hitherto; surely he might trust for the next step. Every past favour is a pledge of a future one. Thou hastThou wilt, is a Scripture demonstration.
3. Founded upon the Word of God to him. It may be that Abraham had no distinct word of revelation to direct him in the choice of a wife for Isaac. But God had promised him the land, and assured the greatness and perpetuity of his family. He, therefore, reasons from the truths already made known, justly infering that his pious wish would be realised, and that the angel of God would guide his servant on this solemn embassy. One thing was clearthat which he desired was right in itself. With the full confidence of faith he leaves the question of means to the disposal of that Providence which had guided his life hithertoto that Infinite Wisdom which had spoken to him words of large promise. Thus the Word of God is not to be regarded as merely a definite portion of truth, but as a seed ever growing into more abundant life.
We should so enter upon every work as to be able to promise to ourselves the presence and blessing of God.
The term angel in Scriptural usage is employed not only to denote those personal agents whom the Most High may see fit to make the executors of His will, but also in an impersonal sense, implying in many cases merely a dispensation of Providence, whether in a way of mercy or of judgment. The phraseology, indeed, but rarely occurs in respect of the ordinary incidents of life; but extraordinary operations of Providence, or events fought with momentous consequences, though accomplished by natural means, are in Scripture spoken of as angels. Thus the destruction of the first-born in Egypt is attributed to an angel, because such an event was extraordinary and memorable in the highest degree. In like manner the destruction of Sennacheribs army is ascribed to angelic agency. We suppose the angel to be the personification of a special Providence. God would send His angel before the servant in the sense of preparing his way, of removing difficulties and objections, and fully reconciling the minds of his kindred to the step.(Bush.)
Gen. 24:8. Abraham here releases the steward from the oath, in case the supposed difficulty should occur; for in no case would he consent to have his son taken to that land, to dwell outside of the land of promise. This oath implies that if Abraham should die this steward would have an influential position towards Isaac.(KurtzJacobus.)
This second time he lays charge on his servant not to do it. Better no wife than displease God, than violate conscience. He purchaseth his pleasure at too dear a rate that pays his honesty to get it. He hath less of the ballast and more of the sail, makes more haste than good speed, that thus speeds himself.(Trapp.)
Gen. 24:9. The servant was enjoined by oath to undertake his masters commands. This was allowable in Judaism; but Christ says, Swear not at all. Our nay is to be nay, and nothing else but nay, and our yea, yea; the word of the Christian is to be so true that no oath could add to its security. But what Abraham meant to express was this, that he would hold the man firm to his word by religious fear and duty. There are two ways of speaking truth: many a man may be true from expediency, and this may last so long as he sees he shall gain by being true; but as soon as an opportunity appears for winning something by falsehood without any immediate evil consequences, then his truth is at an end. Truth, to be constant, must lean upon a religious basis.(Robertson.)
This servant obeyed the voice of a man to whom he believed God had spoken. Such is our position in regard to the sacred writers. We believe through their word.
The call and exaltation of Rebekah, her position in the kingdom of God, all depended upon the oath between Abraham and his servant. She was ignorant all the while of the great things which were preparing for her. So God works for His children far away out of their sight,preventing them by the blessings of His goodness.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
2. Provision of a Wife for Isaac (Gen. 24:1-67)
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3 and I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4 but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac. 5 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 thou camest? 6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. Jehovah, the God of heaven, who took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my nativity, and who sware unto me, and who swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again. 9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning this matter.
10 And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, having all goodly things of his masters in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water: 14 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 thy 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. 15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcab, the wife of Nahor, Abrahams brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. 16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher. 18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she basted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. 19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. 20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man looked steadfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not. 22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, 23 and said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy fathers house for us to lodge in? 24 And she said unto him, 1 am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. 25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. 26 And the man bowed his head, and worshipped Jehovah. 27 And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken his loving-kindness and his truth toward my master: as for me, Jehovah hath led me in the way to the house of my masters brethren.
28 And the damsel ran, and told her mothers house according to these words. 29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the fountain. 30 And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sisters hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he was standing by the camels at the fountain. 31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of Jehovah; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. 32 And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him. 33 And there was set food before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. 34 And he said, I am Abrahams servant. 35 And Jehovah hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and asses. 36 And Sarah my masters wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. 37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: 3 8 but thou shalt go unto my fathers house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son. 39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. 40 And he said unto me, Jehovah, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my fathers house: 41 then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give her not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath. 42 And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: 43 behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and let it come to pass, that the maiden that cometh forth to draw, to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher to drink; 44 and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my masters son. 45 And before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain, and drew: and I said unto her. Let me drink, 1 pray thee. 46 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. 47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahors son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. 48 And I bowed my head and worshipped Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my masters brothers daughter for his son. 49 And now if ye 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.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from Jehovah: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy masters sons wife, as Jehovah hath spoken. 52 And it came to pass, that, when Abrahams servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah. 53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. 54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. 55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. 56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away that 1 may go to my master. 57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. 58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abrahams servant, and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them.
61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. 62 And Isaac came from, the way of Beer-lahai-roi: for he dwelt in the land of the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel. 65 And she said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my master: and she took her veil, and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 6. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarahs tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mothers death.
(1) Abrahams steward commissioned (vv. Gen. 24:1-9). After the death of Sarah, Abraham returned to the region around Beersheba. He was now in his declining years: well-stricken in age must, by way of contrast to Gen. 18:11, emphasize that the infirmities of age were becoming more and more evident. Hence, there was a most important matter for the patriarch to attend to without delay, namely, to arrange a marriage for his son Isaac. There is nothing here to indicate that Abrahams death was imminent. Evidently the need for taking steps along this line had been suggested by Sarahs death and by the fact that the patriarch felt the need of attending to this duty while he was still well enough physically and mentally to do so. He felt, too, that the step was necessary lest, in case he should die, Isaac might take a wife from among the idolatrous Canaanites (Gen. 24:3-4). (The Canaanitesa term used collectively here as in many other places for any number of different ethnic groupswere heathen given over to destruction and so very improper to be matched with Isaac (cf. Gen. 26:34-35, Gen. 27:46. Exo. 34:16, 2Co. 6:14-15), but Abrahams friends in Mesopotamia worshipped the true God, although they also served their idols: (Gen. 24:31; Gen. 24:50; Gen. 31:19; Gen. 31:30). The fathers sole initiative in this direction and the entire passivity of Isaac on the occasion are to be accounted for by the fact that, first, it was primarily the function of parents to provide for the marriage of their children in those days; and, in the second place, Isaac was by character and disposition much inclined to be passive and unaggressive EG, 656). Abraham was induced to provide for this [Isaacs marriage] in a mode in harmony with the promise of God, quite as much by his increasing age as by the blessing of God in everything, which necessarily instilled the wish to transmit that blessing to a distant posterity (BCOTP, 257).
What follows here is one of the most idyllic stories in all human literature. The chapter is one of the most perfect specimens of descriptive writing that the Book of Genesis contains. It is marked by idyllic grace and simplicity, picturesque elaboration of scenes and incidents, and a certain epic amplitude of treatment, seen in the repetition of the story in the form of a speech. These artistic elements so predominate that the primary ethnographic motive is completely submerged. It may be conjectured that the basis of the narrative was a reinforcement of the Aramean element in the Hebrew stock, as in the kindred story of Jacob and his wives. But if such a historical kernel existed, it is quite lost sight of in the graphic delineation of human character, and of ancient Eastern life, which is to us the main interest of the passage. We must also note the profoundly religious conception of Yahwes providence as an unseen power, overruling events in answer to prayer (Skinner, ICCG, 339340).
Abrahams steward, his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, is usually taken to have been the Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2), who some sixty years previously was regarded as the heir presumptive to Abrahams house. However, it seems a rather rare case that one servant should be in another mans employ for such a length of time. In fact, it would seem that Eliezer must have been in Abrahams employ more than twenty years to arrive at a position of such influence as he held according to Gen. 15:12. That would necessitate by the time of this chapter eighty consecutive years of service! Still and all, this man of ch. 24 had the complete management of Abrahams household; he was the one ruling all that Abraham had. Surely this indicates ripe experience and great trust-worthiness!
(2) The Oath. Abraham put the steward under oath in order that his wishes might be inviolably fulfilled, even if he (Abraham) should die in the interim. He made the steward swear that he would not take a wife for his son from among the daughters of the Canaanites, but would bring back a wife from his (Abrahams) native country and his kinsfolk. Put thy hand under my thigh, etc. This custom, which is only mentioned here and in chap. Gen. 47:29, the so-called bodily oath, was no doubt connected with the significance of the hip as the part from which the posterity issued (Gen. 46:26), and the seat of vital power; but the early Jewish commentators supposed it to be especially connected with the rite of circumcision (BCO TP, 257). (Cf. Gen. 35:11, Exo. 1:5). For the Jewish view, note the following: When one swears, he takes a sacred object in his hand, such as the Scroll of the Law or the phylacteries. The circumcision was the first precept of God to him [Abraham], and had also come to him only through great pain; hence it was particularly precious to him, and so he ordered his servant to put his hand upon it when taking the oath (Rashi). This is done when a superior adjures an inferior, such as a master his servant or a father his son who also owes him obedience: cf. Gen. 47:20 (Rashbam). It was the custom in those days for a servant to take an oath in this manner, placing his hand under his masters thigh, the latter sitting upon his hand. This signified that the servant was under his masters authority. It is still the practice in India (Abraham Ibn Ezra) (SC, 122). The same gesture as in Gen. 47:29; contact with the genital organs is intended to make the oath inviolable (JB, 41). A reference to an oath by the genital organs, emblems of the life-giving power of deity (IBG, 652). The symbolism of this act is not clear. At any rate, the pledge thus elicited was evidently a most solemn one, for it carried with it a curse or ban in the event of non-compliance. Since sons are said to issue from their fathers thigh (Gen. 46:26, Exo. 1:5), an oath that involved touching this vital part might entail the threat of sterility for the offender or the extinction of his offspring. The only other instance of the same usage in the Bible, Gen. 47:29, is linked, like the present, to a mans last requestalways a solemn occasion (ABG, 178). Note passages such as Gen. 46:26, Exo. 1:5, Jdg. 8:30. Consequently, this form of oath has particular regard to the descendants and is taken in reference to them. But we cannot stop short with this correct statement. For when we consider how eagerly from the time of Adam believers looked forward to a Savior that was to be born, and also how Abraham (Gen. 12:3) knew and believed that from his own line such a Savior was to follow, we cannot but accept the orthodox view held by the church fathers from days of old, that this oath was administered in view of the Savior to come from Abrahams line. The whole course of procedure builds upon this prominent fact. This same form of oath is found besides only in Gen. 47:29. Consequently, we do not find here a remnant of some old custom now no longer understood, nor is this a remnant of some phallic cult, nor was this an oath by the membrum virile, for the hand was placed under the thigh, nor are the present-day analogies referred to by commentators as still obtaining among Arabs and Egyptians a good illustration or parallel. Here was a godly oath by a godly man taken and administered in the light of his greatest hope, the coming Savior. Yahweh, as the covenant God, is most appropriately referred to as the one by whom the servant is to swear (EG, 659).
(3) The God of heaven and the God of the earth, Gen. 24:3. This phrase is an affirmation of the Divine omnipotence. It is especially in keeping with the spiritual theme of Gods providence which pervades the narrative throughout. We must understand that it was not because the people in Canaan did not wish to give their daughters in marriage to Isaac that Abraham sent his servant to Mesopotamia; Abraham was a wealthy man and could have made any marital arrangement for his son that he desired. He simply did not want the covenant-heir to become entangled with a Canaanite woman and her idolatrous background. He was looking toward the protection of the purity of the Seed (Gal. 3:16). Scripture tells us that he had all things, wealth, honor, long life and children, and now he lacked only grandchildren. Being old and wealthy, he feared that in the event of his death someone might bribe Eliezer to select an unfit wife for Isaac; hence he had to adjure him (SC, 122). The motive is a natural concern for the purity of the stock. We surely have here evidence of the exalted conception of God prevailing among the patriarchs.
Gen. 24:5-8. It was necessary that the steward should know the full meaning of the oath before he took it (Jer. 5:2, Pro. 13:16). The servants fear seems to be, not that he would fail to find a bride for Isaac, but that the maiden selected might not be willing to be separated such a distance from her relatives; in the event of such a development, he asked, would the patriarch want Isaac to be returned to the land of his fathers? Would the oath bind him to take Isaac back to Haran? The suggestion elicited from the patriarch a last utterance of his unclouded faith in God, Yahwe, said Abraham, had taken him from his fathers house and had promised him and his seed under oath that they should have the land (Canaan) for a possession. He also discharged the servant, in case of failure to procure a bride and bring her back willingly to his place of sojourning, from the oath he had taken, being fully assured himself that Yahwe, the God of heaven, would send His angel to providentially guide events in such a way that the Divine promise would be fully actualized. There was no doubt in Abrahams mind that the servant would bring back the bride-to-be, because all this was Gods doing in fulfilment of His eternal purpose. God had ordered Abrahams departure from Mesopotamia; it was therefore improper that either he or his son should return thither, where they would be tempted to a partial idolatry (SIBG, 251). To sum up Abrahams faith: on no account, said he, must Isaac leave the land of promise, because such a move would be a final act of unbelief and disobedience, Gen. 24:8. Whereupon the servant, understanding clearly the nature of his mission, and feeling satisfied in all matters that impinged on his conscience, put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning the matter, Gen. 24:9.
(4) The Servant at the Well, Gen. 24:10-15. Taking ten camels to bring home the bride-to-be and her attendants and all goodly things sent by his master to be presents to the bride and her relatives, the steward of Abrahams house traveled to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, evidently Haran (Gen. 11:31, Gen. 12:4). where Nahor dwelt. (Note the Hebrew for Mesopotamia, Aram-naharaim, i.e., Aram of the two rivers. This was Central Mesopotamia, originally the region within the great bend of the Euphrates. The area was also known as Paddan-Aram, field of Aram (Gen. 25:20, Gen. 28:2). Some authorities think that the city of Nahor was a town near Haran, with slightly different spelling in Hebrew from Nahor, Abrahams brother, Gen. 24:15). On arriving at his destination, the servant made his camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water (Gen. 24:11). Note his prayer for a sign, again evidence of dependence on the leading of Yahwe (cf. Jdg. 6:36-40, 1Sa. 14:8 ff.) All authorities are agreed on the fidelity of this picture to Eastern life.
(5) The Servant and Rebekah, Gen. 24:15-27. Gen. 24:14This token the servant asked not from presumption or distrust, but as directed by the Spirit of God: Jdg. 6:17; Jdg. 6:37; Jdg. 6:39; 1Sa. 6:7-9; 1Sa. 14:8-10; 1Sa. 20:7; 1Sa. 12:17; Isa. 7:11-14; Isa. 38:7-8; Exo. 4:2-9). The personal humility and fidelity displayed by this aged servant are only less remarkable than the fervent piety and childlike faith which discover themselves in the method he adopts for finding the bride. Having cast the matter upon God by prayer, as a concern which specially belonged to him, he fixes upon a sign by which God should enable him to detect the bride designed for Isaac (PCG, 301). The matter in hand is of extraordinary importance. A wife is to be found for the heir of promise. This was a special concern of God, and so the single-hearted follower of Abraham makes it. He takes upon himself the choice of a maiden among those that come to draw, to whom he will make the request of a particular act of kindness to a stranger, and he prays God that the intended bride may be known by a ready compliance with his request. The three qualifications, then, in the mind of the venerable domestic for a bride for his masters son, are a pleasing exterior, a kindly disposition, and the approval of God (MG, 354). And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that the answer came, in the form of a damsel, very fair to look upon, a virgin, then as if to emphasize this last-stated fact, the added statement, neither had any man known her, Gen. 24:16, (This was of great importance, of course, in guaranteeing the ethnic purity of the promised seed, and hence of the Messianic Line.) Thus did the maiden satisfy the first criterion demanded by the servant. The damsel, we are told, and she herself confirmed the fact (Gen. 24:24; Gen. 24:47), was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor by Milcah, and the sister of Laban (Gen. 24:20, also Gen. 11:27-29, Gen. 22:20-24). Cf. Gen. 29:5, Laban, the son of Nahor: Laban is called by Jacob the son of Nahor, that is, his grandson, with the usual latitude of relative names in Scripture, cf. Gen. 28:13, MG, 391). Rebekah went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. In Eastern wells there were steps down to the surface of the water. The servant was watching her in silence, no doubt delighted by her modest and gracious demeanor; then he ran to meet her and presented his request with which she complied at once, giving him water to drink from her pitcher. But she did even more: she graciously drew water for the camels until their thirst was fully slaked. The servant must have been waiting in wonder and silence as he took note of the ample fulfilment of the sign. This maiden presented a pleasing exterior, and a kindly disposition, and in everything she did was manifesting the approval of Yahwe. He then presented the maiden with the nose-ring of gold (Eze. 16:11-12) and the bracelets, not as the bridal gifts but as a reward for the service she had rendered. He wants to know who her kindred were and whether they had the means and the inclination to entertain a stranger (as inns were not yet in existence). Whereupon she introduced herself as the daughter of his masters nephew and assured him of the hospitable accommodations which were at his disposal. And the old man, overwhelmed, bowed his head and praised God for all the manifestations of His providence. Rebekah, in wonderment herself, reported the startling news to her mothers house, i.e., tent: the daughters course naturally tends to the mother when such startling news is to be communicated; besides, the women had their separate compartments, as we gather also from Gen. 31:33 f.a separate tent (EG, 672). (Such notions as that this was a relic of a matriarchy, or that the father was dead, are entirely gratuitous.)
(6) The Servants Narrative, Gen. 24:28-49. Laban now apparently takes over the formalities of hospitality, inspired by the selfish greed for which that worthy was noted in tradition. Laban was better known through his grandfather (Nahor) than through his father Bethuel. It may also be that Bethuel was of little account, as we find Laban answering before him, cf. Gen. 24:50 (SC, 168). When Laban saw the presents which the steward had given his sister, he recognized that the envoy was from some man of wealth and position and became almost obsequious in his attentions. He invited the servant (whom we believe to have been Eliezer) into his house, unmuzzled the camels, gave straw and provender for them, and then washed the feet of the servant and the feet of the men who were with him. The crowning act of hospitality in an Eastern household was the presentation of food to the visitors. In this case, however, the faithful servant insists that he must deliver his message before partaking of the friendly meal with his host. It should be noted that Laban addressed Eliezer with the words, Come in, thou blessed of Jehovah, etc. Evidently the name of Jehovah was not entirely unfamiliar to Labans ears: the knowledge and worship of the living God, the God of truth and mercy, was still retained in the family of Nahor (MG, 355), or at least it would seem so. Or, it is possible that Laban addressed Eliezer as the blessed of Jehovah, as a result of hearing the words of the latter, who had called Abrahams God Jehovah.
The servant now discharges his commission before partaking of the food set before him. Beginning with the account of his masters possessions and family affairs, he describes with considerable minuteness his search for a wife for Isaac and the success which he had met with thus far. Then, Gen. 24:49, he pressed his suit, emphasizing the providential guidance which Yahwe had seen fit to give him, even to the granting of the sign which was to him proof that Rebekah was the desired bride, both desired and divinely identified. Laban and Bethuel also recognized in all this the guidance of God, saying, we cannot speak unto thee bad or good, that is, we cannot add a word, cannot alter anything (Num. 24:13, 2Sa. 13:22). That Rebekahs brother Laban should have taken part with her father in deciding, was in accordance with the usual custom (cf. Gen. 34:5; Gen. 34:11; Gen. 34:25; Jdg. 21:22, 2Sa. 13:22), which may have arisen from the prevalence of polygamy, and the readiness of the father to neglect the children (daughters) of the wife he cared for least (KD, BCOTP, 260). Gen. 24:52After receiving the assent of Laban and Bethuel to the union, the servant bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah (Gen. 24:50-52). He then gave all the presents to Rebekah and her kinsmen which Abraham had sent; then, when this ceremony was all finished, they partook of the feast provided by the host.
(7) Rebekahs departure, Gen. 24:50-67. Obviously the matter is settled in accordance with custom. In the gifts for Rebekahs relatives, it has been said that we could have a survival of the practice of purchase-price of a wife (Gen. 34:12, Exo. 22:16, 1Sa. 18:25); in this narrative, however, what is done takes place from a more refined idea of marriage, from which the notion of actual purchase has all but disappeared (ICCG, 346). In Islam, we are told, these customs have come to be synonymous with the dowry.
The next morning Eliezer expressed his desire to set off at once on the journey home. The relatives, however, wished to keep Rebekah with them for a few days, at least ten. But when the maiden herself was consulted, she decided to go without delay. So they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, Be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, etc., that is, of an innumerable offspring, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them (cf. Gen. 22:17). Thus did Rebekah and her damsels start the long journey back to the Land of Promise, escorted by Eliezer and his accompanying retinue of male servants. The long trip from the city of Nahor back to Hebron and evidently on to the region of Beer-sheba must have taken a month at least. When the caravan arrived in the vicinity of the land of the South (the Negeb), Isaac was just returning from a visit to the well Be-er-la-hai-roi (Gen. 15:14); and at the eventide (the coming on of the evening), we are told, he went out in the field to meditate, Gen. 24:63. Had he been to the well of Hagar which called to mind the omnipresence of God, and there, in accordance with his contemplative character, had laid the question of his marriage before the Lord? Or had he merely traveled to that region to look after his flocks and herds? Certainly the purpose of his going into the field to meditate must have had something to do with his marriage and subsequent future life. Just at a certain moment of time, the caravan from Mesopotamia arrived at the very spot where Isaac was meditating; and Rebekah, as soon as she saw the man in the field coming to meet them, hastily descended from her camel to receive him, according to Oriental custom, in the most respectful manner. Certainly her premonition had been that this must be her future husband, and verifying her insight by actual inquiry and identification, she immediately enveloped herself in her veil, as became a bride when meeting the bridegroom (BCOTP, 261). The servant then related to Isaac the result of his journey; and Isaac conducted the maiden into the tent of Sarah his mother, and she became his wife, and he loved her, and was consoled after his mother, i.e., for his mothers death (ibid., p. 261). It seems obvious (from Gen. 24:67) that Sarahs death had affected Isaac deeply. Rebekahs arrival proved to be a source of solace and strength. (As a matter of fact, subsequent events show that the wife was the stronger willed of the two: to say that Isaac was not characterized by aggressiveness is putting it mildly: it would be more nearly right, we think, to speak of him as henpecked.) It seems that out of respect for Sarah, her tent remained dismantled after her death until Rebekah came (SC, 132).
Dr. Speiser again calls our attention to the fact that the details recorded about Isaacs marriage can no longer be regarded as doubtful; any notion that the story was invented, he says, should be dispelled by what we know today about Hurrian marriage practiceswhich were normative in the region of Haranwhen the brother acted in place of the father. The pertinent marriage contract would then come under the heading of sistership document. A composite agreement of this kind would embody the following specifications: (a) the principals in the case, (b) nature of the transaction, (c) details of payments, (d) the girls declaration of concurrence, (e) penalty clause. A close study of Gen. 24:50 ff. should show that what we have there is virtually a restatement, in suitable literary form, of such a sistership document. For principals we have this time, on the one hand, Abrahams servant as the spokesman for the father of the groom, and, on the other hand, Laban as the responsible representative of the prospective bride. The transaction is thus necessarily of the sistership type, since it is the girls brother who acts on the request. The emissary gives presents to the girl, but does not neglect the gifts for her brother and mother, which must cover the customary bride payment. Most significant of all, in view of the detailed evidence from Nuzi, is the statement that Rebekah herself should be consulted (57); her reply is in the affirmative, I will go (58). The Nuzi text says in similar cases . . . myself and my brother (agree to this marriage) . . . or (I do this) of my own free will. The only thing, then, that is missing is the penalty clause, which would surely be out of place in a literary transcript (ABG, 184185). This author takes the position, of course, that there can be little doubt that Bethuel was no longer alive at the time, which is why Laban was free to exercise his prerogatives as brother. The evidence cited to support this view, by way of contrast with those suggested above, is (1) that in Gen. 24:50, the listing of the father after the son is irregular; (2) that what is worse, no gifts for the father are mentioned in Gen. 24:53, although Rebekahs brother and mother are mentioned as recipients; (3) similarly, in Gen. 24:55, it is again her brother and her mother who ask that the prospective bride postpone her journey, whereas nothing is said about the father. Various genealogical references to Bethuel (Gen. 24:15; Gen. 24:24; also Gen. 22:22-23, and Gen. 15:20) present no difficulty, however. Speiser concludes: The inclusion of Bethuel in Gen. 24:50 is due either to a marginal gloss inspired by the genealogical references, or to some textual misadventure (ibid., 184). We have tried to present all aspects of this problem: the student may draw his own conclusions. It should be kept in mind that in any and all such trivia no question of the fundamental integrity of the Bible is involved.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXIV.
MARRIAGE OF ISAAC AND REBEKAH.
(1) Abraham was old.As Isaac was thirty-seven years of age when Sarah died (Gen. 23:1), and forty at his marriage (Gen. 25:20), Abraham, who was a centenarian at Isaacs birth, would now be nearly 140. As he lived to be 175 (Gen. 25:7), he survived Isaacs marriage thirty-five years, and lived to see Esau and Jacob nearly grown up.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Well stricken in age Hebrews, gone into days; that is, far advanced in years . Being ten years older than Sarah, he was one hundred and thirty-seven at her death. And yet thirty-years of life are before him. Comp. Gen 25:7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things.’
This is a brief summary of Abraham’s life which is now coming to its end. It deliberately emphasises that the future is now with Isaac. The blessings were now to begin on him.
We would not gather from this that after the death of Sarah Abraham would remarry, would beget six sons, and would see them live to sufficient maturity to be sent away to live lives independently of the tribe (chapter 25). But that is only incidental to the main record and the maintaining of the covenant line. Before that is introduced the covenant succession must be made clear.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Abraham Takes a Wife for His Son Isaac Gen 24:1-67 tells the story of how Abraham sent an unnamed servant to the city of Nahor to take Rebekah as a wife for his son Isaac. Some scholars suggest that this story serves as an allegory of how the Holy Spirit has been sent with gifts from Heaven by God the Father to take the Church as His bride. Rebekah would represent the Church. The unnamed servant would represent the Holy Spirit.
Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:1
Gen 17:17, “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?”
Gen 25:20, “And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.”
Gen 25:7, “And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.”
Gen 24:2 And 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:
Gen 24:2
Gen 15:2, “And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?”
Gen 24:7 “Unto thy seed” Comments – Note the use of the phrase “unto thy seed” in Gal 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
Gen 24:19 Comments – Abraham’s servant brought ten camels with him on his journey to the East. A camel can travel long distances without water. Although the amount of water they drink per day varies according to temperature and physical exertion, a large, thirsty camel can drink up to fifty-three gallons of water per day in hot weather. [215] If these camels drank half of this amount after a day’s journey, perhaps twenty gallons, this means that Rebekah would have to draw two hundred gallons of water from the well. If she was using a jug of perhaps five gallons, this meant drawing from the well forty times and then making forty trips to the watering trough. If each draw from the well with a trip to the trough took three minutes, then she would have to work for two hours.
[215] Anne I. Dagg, “Camel,” in The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 3 (Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1994), 78.
Gen 24:27 “I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren” – Comments – In the early 1980’s, I had a similar experience, just as Abraham’s servant had in this passage of Scripture. A man whom I had attended junior high school with had been put in the Panama City jail for manslaughter charges. His mother found out that I was pastoring a church in town and she asked me to visit him in this prison. So, on a Sunday morning, I met with a group of believers, who assembled each Sunday at 8:00 a.m. for prayer before dividing up and visited the prisoners in this county jail. I quietly attended the gathering, and each person was assigned a certain floor to go to in order to minister the Gospel. I told no one why I was there, nor who I was looking for. They probably would not know Dallas any way. I was assigned to visit the sixth floor. We all went to the elevator, and climbed in. Somehow, I accidentally got off on the third floor, without intending to do so. The first cell I walked up to was large, with about a dozen men in it. I then wandered down the corridor, found a fellow believer, and stood with him while he shared the Gospel with a prisoner. But something moved me to go back to this first cell that I had encountered. I went back, looked in, and to my amazement, there I saw Dallas Self, sitting at a table in this cell. I called him over, and shared with him for a short while about serving Jesus. He appreciated my visit. I saw God’s hand of providence in this encounter. I had found the person I need to see, without even wondering how it could be possible.
Gen 24:28 And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.
Gen 24:29 Gen 24:28-29
“‘They,’ says she, ‘call me Rebeka; my father was Bethuel, but he is dead ; and Laban is my brother; and, together with my mother, takes care of all our family affairs, and is the guardian of my virginity.’” ( Antiquities 1.16.2)
aster.
Gen 24:56
Gen 24:59 “and her nurse” Comments – We will later read in Gen 35:8 that Rebekah’s nurse was named Deborah.
Gen 35:8, “But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.”
Gen 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
Gen 24:61 Gen 24:62 Gen 24:62
Gen 16:13-14, “And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.”
Gen 24:63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
Gen 24:63
Gen 24:67 Comments – Some scholars suggest that Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah can be interpreted as a type of Christ’s marriage to the church. Isaac is of the seed of Abraham, as Jesus Christ is of the same seed. Rebekah is from another place, like Christ providing salvation to the Gentiles.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Ten Genealogies (Calling) – The Genealogies of Righteous Men and their Divine Callings (To Be Fruitful and Multiply) – The ten genealogies found within the book of Genesis are structured in a way that traces the seed of righteousness from Adam to Noah to Shem to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob and the seventy souls that followed him down into Egypt. The book of Genesis closes with the story of the preservation of these seventy souls, leading us into the book of Exodus where we see the creation of the nation of Israel while in Egyptian bondage, which nation of righteousness God will use to be a witness to all nations on earth in His plan of redemption. Thus, we see how the book of Genesis concludes with the origin of the nation of Israel while its first eleven chapters reveal that the God of Israel is in fact that God of all nations and all creation.
The genealogies of the six righteous men in Genesis (Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) are the emphasis in this first book of the Old Testament, with each of their narrative stories opening with a divine commission from God to these men, and closing with the fulfillment of prophetic words concerning the divine commissions. This structure suggests that the author of the book of Genesis wrote under the office of the prophet in that a prophecy is given and fulfilled within each of the genealogies of these six primary patriarchs. Furthermore, all the books of the Old Testament were written by men of God who moved in the office of the prophet, which includes the book of Genesis. We find a reference to the fulfillment of these divine commissions by the patriarchs in Heb 11:1-40. The underlying theme of the Holy Scriptures is God’s plan of redemption for mankind. Thus, the book of Genesis places emphasis upon these men of righteousness because of the role that they play in this divine plan as they fulfilled their divine commissions. This explains why the genealogies of Ishmael (Gen 25:12-18) and of Esau (Gen 36:1-43) are relatively brief, because God does not discuss the destinies of these two men in the book of Genesis. These two men were not men of righteousness, for they missed their destinies because of sin. Ishmael persecuted Isaac and Esau sold his birthright. However, it helps us to understand that God has blessed Ishmael and Esau because of Abraham although the seed of the Messiah and our redemption does not pass through their lineage. Prophecies were given to Ishmael and Esau by their fathers, and their genealogies testify to the fulfillment of these prophecies. There were six righteous men did fulfill their destinies in order to preserve a righteous seed so that God could create a righteous nation from the fruit of their loins. Illustration As a young schoolchild learning to read, I would check out biographies of famous men from the library, take them home and read them as a part of class assignments. The lives of these men stirred me up and placed a desire within me to accomplish something great for mankind as did these men. In like manner, the patriarchs of the genealogies in Genesis are designed to stir up our faith in God and encourage us to walk in their footsteps in obedience to God.
The first five genealogies in the book of Genesis bring redemptive history to the place of identifying seventy nations listed in the Table of Nations. The next five genealogies focus upon the origin of the nation of Israel and its patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
There is much more history and events that took place surrounding these individuals emphasized in the book of Genesis, which can be found in other ancient Jewish writings, such as The Book of Jubilees. However, the Holy Scriptures and the book of Genesis focus upon the particular events that shaped God’s plan of redemption through the procreation of men of righteousness. Thus, it was unnecessary to include many of these historical events that were irrelevant to God’s plan of redemption.
In addition, if we see that the ten genealogies contained within the book of Genesis show to us the seed of righteousness that God has preserved in order to fulfill His promise that the “seed of woman” would bruise the serpent’s head in Gen 3:15, then we must understand that each of these men of righteousness had a particular calling, destiny, and purpose for their lives. We can find within each of these genealogies the destiny of each of these men of God, for each one of them fulfilled their destiny. These individual destinies are mentioned at the beginning of each of their genealogies.
It is important for us to search these passages of Scripture and learn how each of these men fulfilled their destiny in order that we can better understand that God has a destiny and a purpose for each of His children as He continues to work out His divine plan of redemption among the children of men. This means that He has a destiny for you and me. Thus, these stories will show us how other men fulfilled their destinies and help us learn how to fulfill our destiny. The fact that there are ten callings in the book of Genesis, and since the number “10” represents the concept of countless, many, or numerous, we should understand that God calls out men in each subsequent generation until God’s plan of redemption is complete.
We can even examine the meanings of each of their names in order to determine their destiny, which was determined for them from a child. Adam’s name means “ruddy, i.e. a human being” ( Strong), for it was his destiny to begin the human race. Noah’s name means, “rest” ( Strong). His destiny was to build the ark and save a remnant of mankind so that God could restore peace and rest to the fallen human race. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning, “father of a multitude” ( Strong), because his destiny was to live in the land of Canaan and believe God for a son of promise so that his seed would become fruitful and multiply and take dominion over the earth. Isaac’s name means, “laughter” ( Strong) because he was the child of promise. His destiny was to father two nations, believing that the elder would serve the younger. Isaac overcame the obstacles that hindered the possession of the land, such as barrenness and the threat of his enemies in order to father two nations, Israel and Esau. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, which means “he will rule as God” ( Strong), because of his ability to prevail over his brother Esau and receive his father’s blessings, and because he prevailed over the angel in order to preserve his posterity, which was the procreation of twelve sons who later multiplied into the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus, his ability to prevail against all odds and father twelve righteous seeds earned him his name as one who prevailed with God’s plan of being fruitful and multiplying seeds of righteousness.
In order for God’s plan to be fulfilled in each of the lives of these patriarchs, they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply. It was God’s plan that the fruit of each man was to be a godly seed, a seed of righteousness. It was because of the Fall that unrighteous seed was produced. This ungodly offspring was not then nor is it today God’s plan for mankind.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Generation of the Heavens and the Earth Gen 2:4 to Gen 4:26
a) The Creation of Man Gen 2:4-25
b) The Fall Gen 3:1-24
c) Cain and Abel Gen 4:1-26
2. The Generation of Adam Gen 5:1 to Gen 6:8
3. The Generation of Noah Gen 6:9 to Gen 9:29
4. The Generation of the Sons of Noah Gen 10:1 to Gen 11:9
5. The Generation of Shem Gen 11:10-26
6. The Generation of Terah (& Abraham) Gen 11:27 to Gen 25:11
7. The Generation Ishmael Gen 25:12-18
8. The Generation of Isaac Gen 25:19 to Gen 35:29
9. The Generation of Esau Gen 36:1-43
10. The Generation of Jacob Gen 37:1 to Gen 50:26
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Genealogy of Terah (and of Abraham) The genealogies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have a common structure in that they open with God speaking to a patriarch and giving him a commission and a promise in which to believe. In each of these genealogies, the patriarch’s calling is to believe God’s promise, while this passage of Scripture serves as a witness to God’s faithfulness in fulfilling each promise. Only then does the genealogy come to a close.
Gen 11:27 to Gen 25:11 gives the account of the genealogy of Terah and his son Abraham. (Perhaps the reason this genealogy is not exclusively of Abraham, but rather of his father Terah, is because of the importance of Lot and the two tribes descended from him, the Moabites and the Ammonites, who will play a significant role in Israel’s redemptive history.) Heb 11:8-19 reveals the central message in this genealogy that stirs our faith in God when it describes Abraham’s acts of faith and obedience to God, culminating in the offering of his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. The genealogy of Abraham opens with God’s promise to him that if he would separate himself from his father and dwell in the land of Canaan, then God would make from him a great nation through his son (Gen 12:1-3), and it closes with God fulfilling His promise to Abraham by giving Him a son Isaac. However, this genealogy records Abraham’s spiritual journey to maturity in his faith in God, as is typical of each child of God. We find a summary of this genealogy in Heb 11:8-19. During the course of Abraham’s calling, God appeared to Abraham a number of times. God reappeared to him and told him that He would make his seed as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen 15:5). God later appeared to Abraham and made the covenant of circumcision with him and said, “I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”(Gen 17:2) After Abraham offered Isaac his son upon the altar, God reconfirmed His promise that “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” (Gen 22:17). The event on Mount Moriah serves as a testimony that Abraham fulfilled his part in believing that God would raise up a nation from Isaac, his son of promise. Thus, Abraham fulfilled his calling and destiny for his generation by dwelling in the land of Canaan and believing in God’s promise of the birth of his son Isaac. All of God’s promises to Abraham emphasized the birth of his one seed called Isaac. This genealogy testifies to God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise of giving Abraham a son and of Abraham’s faith to believe in God’s promises. Rom 9:6-9 reflects the theme of Abraham’s genealogy in that it discusses the son of promise called Isaac.
Abraham’s Faith Perfected ( Jas 2:21-22 ) – Abraham had a promise from God that he would have a son by Sarai his wife. However, when we read the Scriptures in the book of Genesis where God gave Abraham this promise, we see that he did not immediately believe the promise from God (Gen 17:17-18).
Gen 17:17-18, “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!”
Instead of agreeing with God’s promise, Abraham laughed and suggested that God use Ishmael to fulfill His promise. However, many years later, by the time God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, he was fully persuaded that God was able to use Isaac to make him a father of nations. We see Abraham’s faith when he told his son Isaac that God Himself was able to provide a sacrifice, because he knew that God would raise Isaac from the dead, if need be, in order to fulfill His promise (Gen 22:8).
Gen 22:8, “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”
Heb 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”
The best illustration of being fully persuaded is when Abraham believed that God would raise up Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill His promise. This is truly being fully persuaded and this is what Rom 4:21 is referring to.
What distinguished Abraham as a man of faith was not his somewhat initial weak reaction to the promises of God in Gen 17:17-18, but it was his daily obedience to God. Note a reference to Abraham’s daily obedience in Heb 11:8.
Heb 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”
Abraham was righteous before God because he believed and obeyed God’s Words on a daily basis. A good illustration how God considers obedience as an act of righteousness is found in Genesis 19. Abraham had prayed for ten righteous people to deliver Sodom from destruction. The angels found only four people who hearkened to their words. These people were considered righteous in God’s eyes because they were obedient and left the city as they had been told to do by the angels.
Abraham’s ability to stagger not (Rom 4:20) and to be fully persuaded (Rom 4:21) came through time. As he was obedient to God, his faith in God’s promise began to take hold of his heart and grow, until he came to a place of conviction that circumstances no longer moved him. Abraham had to learn to be obedient to God when he did not understand the big picture. Rom 5:3-5 teaches us that tribulation produces patience, and patience produces experience, and experience hope. Abraham had to pass through these four phases of faith in order to develop strong faith that is no longer moved by circumstances.
Let us look at Abraham’s history of obedience to God. He had first been obedient to follow his father from Ur to Haran.
Gen 11:31, “And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.”
He was further obedient when he left Haran and went to a land that he did not know.
Gen 12:1, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”
He was further obedient for the next twenty-five years in this Promised Land, learning that God was his Shield and his Reward. Note:
Gen 15:1, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
God called Himself Abraham’s shield and reward because Abraham had come to know Him as a God who protects him and as a God who prospers him. Note that Abraham was living in a land where people believed in many gods, where people believed that there was a god for every area of their lives. God was teaching Abraham that He was an All-sufficient God. This was why God said to Abraham in Gen 17:1, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” In other words, God was telling Abraham to be obedient. Abraham’s role in fulfilling this third promise was to be obedient, and to live a holy life. As Abraham did this, he began to know God as an Almighty God, a God who would be with him in every situation in life. As Abraham fulfilled his role, God fulfilled His divine role in Abraham’s life.
God would later test Abraham’s faith in Gen 22:1 to see if Abraham believed that God was Almighty.
Gen 22:1, “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.”
God knew Abraham’s heart. However, Abraham was about to learn what was in his heart. For on Mount Moriah, Abraham’s heart was fully persuaded that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill His promise:
Heb 11:19, “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”
Abraham had to die to his own ways of reasoning out God’s plan. He had taken Eliezer of Damascus as his heir as a result of God’s first promise. Then, he had conceived Ishmael in an attempt to fulfill God’s second promise. Now, Abraham was going to have to learn to totally depend upon God’s plan and learn to follow it.
The first promise to Abraham was made to him at the age of 75, when he first entered the Promised Land.
Gen 12:7, “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.”
This first promise was simple, that God would give this land to Abraham’s seed. So, Abraham took Eliezer of Damascus as his heir. But the second promise was greater in magnitude and more specific.
Gen 15:4-5, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
This next promise said that God would give Abraham this land to Abraham’s biological child and that his seed would proliferate and multiply as the stars of heaven. So, Abraham has a son, Ishmael, by Hagar, his handmaid in order to fulfill this promise.
The third promise, which came twenty-five years after the first promise, was greater than the first and second promises. God said that Abraham would become a father of many nations through Sarah, his wife. Abraham had seen God be his Shield and protect him from the Canaanites. He had seen God as his Reward, by increasing his wealth (Gen 15:1). But now, Abraham was to learn that God was Almighty (Gen 17:1), that with God, all things are possible.
It was on Mount Moriah that Abraham truly died to himself, and learned to live unto God. In the same way, it was at Peniel that Jacob died to his own self and learned to totally depend upon God. After Mount Moriah, Abraham stopped making foolish decisions. There is not a fault to find in Abraham after his experience of sacrificing his son. When Abraham was making wrong decisions, he had the wisdom to build an altar at every place he pitched his tent. It was at these altars that he dealt with his sins and wrong decisions.
At Peniel God called Jacob by the name Israel. Why would God give Jacob this name? Because Jacob must now learn to totally trust in God. His thigh was limp and his physical strength was gone. The only might that he will ever know the rest of his life will be the strength that he finds in trusting God. Jacob was about to meet his brother and for the first time in his life, he was facing a situation that he could not handle in his own strength and cunning. He has been able to get himself out of every other situation in his life, but this time, it was different. He was going to have to trust God or die, and Jacob knew this. His name was now Israel, a mighty one in God. Jacob would have to now find his strength in God, because he had no strength to fight in the flesh. Thus, his name showed him that he could look to God and prevail as a mighty one both with God and with man. After this night, the Scriptures never record a foolish decision that Jacob made. He began to learn how to totally rely upon the Lord as his father Abraham had learned.
After Mount Moriah and Peniel, we read no more of foolish decisions by Abraham and Jacob. We just see men broken to God’s will and humble before God’s mercy.
Obedience is the key, and total obedience is not learned quickly. I believe that it takes decades, as we see in the life of Abraham, to learn to be obedient to a God whom we know as Almighty. This is not learned over night.
Abraham had a word from God before he left Ur. When he reached Canaan, he received a promise from God. Don’t mess with a man and his promise. Pharaoh tried to mess with this man’s promise and God judged him. King Abimelech tried to take Abraham’s promise, but God judged him.
Like Abraham, we may start the journey making some poor judgments, but God is greater than our errors.
We will first know God as our shield and our reward. He will protect us throughout our ministry. He will reward us. He will prosper our ministry. As we learn to be obedient, we will come to know our God as the Almighty in a way that we have never known Him before.
Do not mess with a man who has laid Isaac on the altar. I have heard Gen 17:17 taught as the laugh of faith.
Gen 17:17-18, “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!”
I see very little faith in Abraham’s words in these verses. On the other hand, I have heard other preachers criticize Abraham for his lack of faith at these times in his life; yet, I do not see God criticizing his faith. Abraham was not fully persuaded at this point, but he did not fail God. Abraham simply continued being obedient and living holy until the faith grew in his heart. Every wrong decision that Abraham made brought him that much closer to the right decision. We call this the school of hard knocks. As a result, faith continued to grow in his heart. By Genesis 22, Abraham was fully persuaded and strong in faith that God was Almighty.
Watch out, lest you criticize a man learning to walk in his promise. He may look foolish at times, but do not look on the outward appearance. You either run with him, or get out of the way, but don’t get in the way.
When I left Seminary and a Master’s degree, I was given a job driving a garbage truck while learning to pastor a Charismatic church. I was learning to walk in a promise from God. I will never forget riding on the back of these garbage trucks in my hometown, while the church members who had given money to send me to Seminary watched me in disbelief.
God does not measure a man by the size of his ministry, but by the size of his heart. When Jimmy Swaggart fell into sin, Alethia Fellowship Church was one of his partners, so this church was receiving his monthly ministry tapes during this period in his ministry. In a cassette tape immediately after his fall, he gave a testimony of how he told the Lord that he had failed. The Lord replied to him that he had not failed; rather the Lord had to get some things out of his life. [170] That word from God gave him the courage to go on in the midst of failure. You see, God was more pleased with Jimmy Swaggart living a godly life in fellowship with Him than preaching in great crusades while living in sin.
[170] Jimmy Swaggart, “Monthly Partner Cassette Tape,” (Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, February 1988), audiocassette.
Joyce Meyer said that if God measured our success by the way the world measured us, He would have called us “achievers” and not “believers.” [171] Abraham was justified by faith and not by his works. Our work is to believe, not to achieve.
[171] Joyce Meyer, Life in the Word (Fenton, Missouri: Joyce Meyer Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.
Many of my church friends and relatives criticized me as a failure. However, I knew somehow that the walk of faith was obedience to the Word of God, and not a walk of pleasing man. I obviously did not spend much time with people who thought that I was nuts. Instead, I spent so much time in my bedroom studying my Bible that I looked dysfunctional. Yet, the Lord strengthened me. I will never forget, after riding the garbage truck during the day, and hiding in God’s Word in the night. One night, I laid down about 1:00 a.m. and the glory of God filled my room until 5:00 a.m. in the morning. It was during these most difficult times that the Lord strengthened me the most.
The Lord strengthened Abraham in the midst of his questions and errors. If you will just stay obedient, God will see His Word come to pass through you, as did Abraham learn to see God as Almighty.
Gen 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Gen 11:28 Gen 11:28
“And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year [1681 A.M.] thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ora, the daughter of ‘Ur, the son of Kesed, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Seroh, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. And ‘Ur, the son of Kesed, built the city of ‘Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness.” ( The Book of Jubilees 11.1-5)
Gen 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Gen 11:29
Gen 20:12, “And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”
Compare the comments in Gen 11:29 where Nahor, Abraham’s brother, took his niece, the daughter of Haran, as his wife.
Gen 11:29 “and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah” – Word Study on “Milcah” Gesenius tells us that by Chaldean usage the Hebrew name “Milcah” “Milkah” ( ) (H4435) means “counsel.” Strong tells us that the name means, “queen.” PTW tells us it means, “counsel.” She is daughter of Haran and sister to Lot and Iscah. She married her uncle named Nahor and bare him eight children. She is first mentioned in Gen 11:29 in the genealogy of Terah. She is mentioned a second time in Scripture Gen 22:20-24, where Nahor’s genealogy is given. Her name is mentioned on a third occasion in the chapter where Isaac takes Rebekah as his bride (Gen 24:15; Gen 24:24; Gen 24:47). She is mentioned no more in the Scriptures.
Word Study on “Iscah” Gesenius says the Hebrew name “Iscah” “Yickah” ( ) (H3252) means, “one who beholds, looks out” from ( ). Strong tells us that it comes from an unused word meaning “to watch.” PTW tells us it means, “Jehovah is looking” or “who looks.” Iscah was the sister to Milcah and Lot. Nothing more is mentioned of this person in the Scriptures, her significance being her relationship to her siblings, of whom Lot is the best known.
Gen 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Gen 11:30
Gen 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Gen 11:31
“And Terah went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of Haran, and Abram dwelt with Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years.” ( The Book of Jubilees 12.15-16)
However, Act 7:1-4 says that it was Abraham who moved out from Ur due to a Word from the Lord.
Act 7:1-4, “Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.”
Gen 11:31 Scripture References – Note:
Jos 24:2, “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah , the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.”
Gen 11:32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Gen 12:1-3
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Calling of the Patriarchs of Israel We can find two major divisions within the book of Genesis that reveal God’s foreknowledge in designing a plan of redemption to establish a righteous people upon earth. Paul reveals this four-fold plan in Rom 8:29-30: predestination, calling, justification, and glorification.
Rom 8:29-30, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
The book of Genesis will reflect the first two phase of redemption, which are predestination and calling. We find in the first division in Gen 1:1 to Gen 2:3 emphasizing predestination. The Creation Story gives us God’s predestined plan for mankind, which is to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with righteous offspring. The second major division is found in Gen 2:4 to Gen 50:25, which gives us ten genealogies, in which God calls men of righteousness to play a role in His divine plan of redemption.
The foundational theme of Gen 2:4 to Gen 11:26 is the divine calling for mankind to be fruitful and multiply, which commission was given to Adam prior to the Flood (Gen 1:28-29), and to Noah after the Flood (Gen 9:1). The establishment of the seventy nations prepares us for the calling out of Abraham and his sons, which story fills the rest of the book of Genesis. Thus, God’s calling through His divine foreknowledge (Gen 11:27 to Gen 50:26) will focus the calling of Abraham and his descendants to establish the nation of Israel. God will call the patriarchs to fulfill the original purpose and intent of creation, which is to multiply into a righteous nation, for which mankind was originally predestined to fulfill.
The generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob take up a large portion of the book of Genesis. These genealogies have a common structure in that they all begin with God revealing Himself to a patriarch and giving him a divine commission, and they close with God fulfilling His promise to each of them because of their faith in His promise. God promised Abraham a son through Sarah his wife that would multiply into a nation, and Abraham demonstrated his faith in this promise on Mount Moriah. God promised Isaac two sons, with the younger receiving the first-born blessing, and this was fulfilled when Jacob deceived his father and received the blessing above his brother Esau. Jacob’s son Joseph received two dreams of ruling over his brothers, and Jacob testified to his faith in this promise by following Joseph into the land of Egypt. Thus, these three genealogies emphasize God’s call and commission to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their response of faith in seeing God fulfill His word to each of them.
1. The Generations of Terah (& Abraham) Gen 11:27 to Gen 25:11
2. The Generations Ishmael Gen 25:12-18
3. The Generations of Isaac Gen 25:19 to Gen 35:29
4. The Generations of Esau Gen 36:1-43
5. The Generations of Jacob Gen 37:1 to Gen 50:26
The Origin of the Nation of Israel After Gen 1:1 to Gen 9:29 takes us through the origin of the heavens and the earth as we know them today, and Gen 10:1 to Gen 11:26 explains the origin of the seventy nations (Gen 10:1 to Gen 11:26), we see that the rest of the book of Genesis focuses upon the origin of the nation of Israel (Gen 11:27 to Gen 50:26). Thus, each of these major divisions serves as a foundation upon which the next division is built.
Paul the apostle reveals the four phases of God the Father’s plan of redemption for mankind through His divine foreknowledge of all things in Rom 8:29-30, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Predestination – Gen 1:1 to Gen 11:26 emphasizes the theme of God the Father’s predestined purpose of the earth, which was to serve mankind, and of mankind, which was to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with righteousness. Calling – Gen 11:27 to Gen 50:26 will place emphasis upon the second phase of God’s plan of redemption for mankind, which is His divine calling to fulfill His purpose of multiplying and filling the earth with righteousness. (The additional two phases of Justification and Glorification will unfold within the rest of the books of the Pentateuch.) This second section of Genesis can be divided into five genealogies. The three genealogies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob begin with a divine calling to a patriarch. The two shorter genealogies of Ishmael and Esau are given simply because they inherit a measure of divine blessings as descendants of Abraham, but they will not play a central role in God’s redemptive plan for mankind. God will implement phase two of His divine plan of redemption by calling one man named Abraham to depart unto the Promised Land (Gen 12:1-3), and this calling was fulfilled by the patriarch. Isaac’s calling can also be found at the beginning of his genealogy, where God commands him to dwell in the Promised Land (Gen 26:1-6), and this calling was fulfilled by the patriarch Isaac. Jacob’s calling was fulfilled as he bore twelve sons and took them into Egypt where they multiplied into a nation. The opening passage of Jacob’s genealogy reveals that his destiny would be fulfilled through the dream of his son Joseph (Gen 37:1-11), which took place in the land of Egypt. Perhaps Jacob did not receive such a clear calling as Abraham and Isaac because his early life was one of deceit, rather than of righteousness obedience to God; so the Lord had to reveal His plan for Jacob through his righteous son Joseph. In a similar way, God spoke to righteous kings of Israel, and was silent to those who did not serve Him. Thus, the three patriarchs of Israel received a divine calling, which they fulfilled in order for the nation of Israel to become established in the land of Egypt. Perhaps the reason the Lord sent the Jacob and the seventy souls into Egypt to multiply rather than leaving them in the Promised Land is that the Israelites would have intermarried the cultic nations around them and failed to produce a nation of righteousness. God’s ways are always perfect.
1. The Generations of Terah (& Abraham) Gen 11:27 to Gen 25:11
2. The Generations Ishmael Gen 25:12-18
3. The Generations of Isaac Gen 25:19 to Gen 35:29
4. The Generations of Esau Gen 36:1-43
5. The Generations of Jacob Gen 37:1 to Gen 50:26
Divine Miracles It is important to note that up until now the Scriptures record no miracles in the lives of men. Thus, we will observe that divine miracles begin with Abraham and the children of Israel. Testimonies reveal today that the Jews are still recipients of God’s miracles as He divinely intervenes in this nation to fulfill His purpose and plan for His people. Yes, God is working miracles through His New Testament Church, but miracles had their beginning with the nation of Israel.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Preparation for the Journey
v. 1. And Abraham was old and well stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. v. 2. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, v. 3. 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 unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell; v. 4. but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. v. 5. 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 thou camest? v. 6. And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again! v. 7. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware 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 thence. v. 8. 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 thither again. v. 9. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Gen 24:1
And Abraham was old and well stricken in age:literally, [lone into days (cf. Gen 18:11), being now about 140 (vide Gen 25:20)and the LordJehovah] not because the chapter is the exclusive composition of the Jehovist (Tuch, Bleek, Kalisch), but because the writer aims at showing how the God of redemption provided a bride for the heir of the promise (Hengstenberg)had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2-4
And Abraham said auto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had,literally, to his servant, the old man, ancient or elder, of his house, the ruler over all which (sc. belonged) to him. The term (an old man) is in most languages employed as a title of honor,cf. sheikh, senatus, , presbyter, signor, seigneur, senor, sir,and is probably to be so understood here. Eliezer of Damascus, upwards of half a century previous regarded as heir presumptive to Abraham’s house (Gen 15:2), is commonly considered the official meant, though the point is of no importancePut, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: and I will make thee swear. This ancient form of adjuration, which is mentioned again only in Gen 47:29, and to which nothing analogous can elsewhere be discovered,the practice alleged to exist among the modern Egyptian Bedouins of placing the hand upon the membrum virile in solemn forms of asseveration not forming an exact parallel, was probably originated by the patriarch. The thigh, as the source of posterity (cf. Gen 35:11; Gen 46:26; Exo 1:5), has been regarded as pointing to Abraham’s future descendants (Keil, Kalisch, Lange), and in particular to Christ, the promised seed, and the oath to be equivalent to a swearing by him that was to come. By others the thigh has been viewed as euphemistically put for the generative organ, upon which the sign of circumcision was placed, and the oath as an adjuration by the sign of the covenant (Jonathan, Jarchi, Tuch). A third interpretation considers the thigh as symbolizing lordship or authority, and the placing of the hand under it as tantamount to an oath of fealty and allegiance to a superior (Aben Ezra, Rosenmller, Calvin, Murphy). Other explanations are modifications of the above. By the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth (a clause defining Jehovah as the supreme Lord of the universe, and therefore as the sole Arbiter of human destiny), that thou shalt not take a wife unto my sonnot investing him with authority to provide a wife for Isaac in the event of death carrying him (Abraham) off before his son’s marriage, but simply explaining the negative side of the commission with which he was about to be entrusted. If it evinced Isaac’s gentle disposition and submissive piety, that though forty years of age he neither thought of marriage, but mourned in devout contemplation for his mother (Lange), nor offered resistance to his father’s proposal, but suffered himself to be governed by a servant (Calvin), it was also quite in accordance with ancient practice that parents should dispose of their children in marriage (cf. Gen 28:2)of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. Being prompted to this partly by that jealousy with which all pastoral tribes of Shemitie origin have been accustomed to guard the purity of their race by intermarriage, and partly no doubt by his perception of the growing licentiousness of the Canaanites, as well as his knowledge of their predicted doom, though chiefly, it is probable, by a desire to preserve the purity of the promised seed. Intermarriage with the Canaanites was afterwards forbidden by the Mosaic legislation (Exo 34:16; Deu 7:3). But (literally, for, i.e. the former thing must not be done because this must be done) thou shalt go unto my country (not Ur of the Chaldees, but the region beyond the Euphrates generally), and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. Though enforced by religious considerations, this injunction to bring none but a relative for Isaac’s bride “was in no sense a departure from established usages and social laws in regard to marriage”.
Gen 24:5
And the servant said unto him (not having the same faith as his master), Peradventure (with perhaps a secret conviction that he ought to say, “Of a surety”) the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Prima facie it was a natural and reasonable hypothesis that the bride elect should demur to undertake a long and arduous journey to marry a husband she had never seen; accordingly, the ancient messenger desires to understand whether he might not be at liberty to act upon the other alternative. Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? In reply to which the patriarch solemnly interdicts him from attempting to seduce his son, under any pretext whatever, to leave the land of promise.
Gen 24:6-8
And Abraham said, Beware thouliterally, beware for thyself, the pleonastic pronoun being added by way of emphasis (cf. Gen 12:1; Gen 21:16; Gen 22:5)that thou bring not my son thither again. Literally, lest thou cause my son to, return thither; Abraham speaking of Isaac’s going to Mesopotamia as a return, either because he regarded Isaac, though then unborn, as having come out with him from Mesopotamia, cf. Heb 7:10 (Wordsworth), or because he viewed himself and his descendants as a whole, as in Gen 15:16 (Rosenmller). The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the house of my kindred,vide Gen 12:1. This was the first consideration that prevented the return of either himself or his son. Having emigrated from Mesopotamia in obedience to a call of Heaven, not without a like instruction were they at liberty to returnand who spake unto me,i.e. honored me with Divine communications (vide supra)and (in particular) that sware unto me,vide Gen 15:17, Gen 15:18; the covenant transaction therein recorded having all the force of an oath (cf. Gen 22:16)saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. Here was a second consideration that negatived the idea of Isaac’s return,he was the God-appointed heir of the soil,and from this, in conjunction with the former, he argued that the Divine promise was certain of fulfillment, and that accordingly the mission for a bride would be successful. He shall send his angel before thee,i.e. to lead and protect, as was afterwards promised to Israel (Exo 23:20), and to the Christian Church (Heb 1:14)and thou shalt take a wife unto my Ben from thence (meaning, thy mission shall be successful). And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then shalt thou be clear of this my oath (i.e. at liberty to bold thyself as no longer under obligation in the matter; thy responsibility will at that point cease and determine): only bring not my son thither againor, observing the order of the Hebrew words, only my son bring not again to that place; with almost feverish entreaty harping on the solemn refrain that on no account must Isaac leave the promised land, since in that would be the culmination of unbelief and disobedience.
Gen 24:9
And the servant (understanding the nature of his mission, and feeling satisfied on the points that impinged upon his conscience) put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matterto be true to his master and his mission, and to the hope and promise of the covenant.
HOMILETICS
Gen 24:1-9
A bride for the heir.-1. Abraham and Eliezer, or the mission for the bride.
I. THE TRUSTY MESSENGER.
1. His designation.
(1) From official position, a servant.
(2) From venerable age, the old man or ancient of the house.
(3) From superior dignity, the steward or ruler over Abraham’s property.
2. His qualification.
(1) Obedient, as became a slave or servant.
(2) Faithful, as was required of a steward.
(3) Prudent, as might have been expected of age.
II. THE IMPORTANT COMMISSION.
1. The purport of it. “To take a wife for Isaac.” A step of greatest moment for the happiness of Isaac, the fulfillment of the promise, and the onward development of the Church.
2. The reason of it.
(1) Abraham’s advancing years. The patriarch was “gone into days,” and had no time to waste if he desired to see Isaac well married before he followed Sarah to Machpelah.
(2) Abraham’s prosperous estate. “The Lord had blessed him in all things,” left nothing that his soul could desire to complete the cup of his terrestrial happiness, except the wedding of his son to a godly partner.
(3) Isaac’s obvious disinclination to seek a wife for himself, his placid and pensive temperament disposing him rather to cling with mournful tenderness to the memory of a beloved mother than to anticipate the felicities of conjugal affection.
(4) Eliezer’s admirable fitness for the contemplated mission.
III. THE SOLEMN ADJURATION.
1. The motto of the oath. “Put, I pray thee, thy band under my thigh.” For the significance of this ancient ceremony consult Exposition.
2. The power of the oath. This was derived from the character of the Divine Beingthe Lord God of heaven and of earthin whose presence it was taken, to whose witness it appealed, and whose wrath it invoked in case of failure to perform what was vowed.
3. The tenor of the oath.
(1) Negativenot to marry Isaac to a daughter of the Canaanites, an already doomed race; and
(2) positiveto seek a wife for Sarah’s son among his kinsmen in Padan-aram, amongst whom as yet the knowledge of the true God was retained.
IV. THE REASONABLE APPREHENSION.
1. Natural. A priori there was little probability that a modest girl would consent on the invitation of a stranger to leave her home and kindred, accompany him into a distant land, and wed a man (even though a relative) whom she had never seen; and in a similar way reason can make out a case against almost every step in the distinctly Christian life as being unlikely, improbable, imprudent.
2. Unbelieving. The aged ambassador’s anxiety was not shared in by the patriarch, whose faith had already reasoned out the successful termination of the contemplated expedition. And so again in the Christian life, difficulties which to sagacious reason appear insurmountable, to simple-minded faith cease to exist.
3. Unnecessary. When discovered and interrogated, the maiden was quite willing to become Isaac’s bride. Many of the saint’s fears are of his own making, like this of Abraham’s servant, and in the end are found to have been superfluous.
V. THE RESOLUTE PROHIBITION. “Beware that thou bring not my son thither again.” To do so would be
1. To reverse the Divine call which had brought the patriarch from Mesopotamia.
2. To endanger the inheritance by exposing Isaac to the temptation of remaining in Mesopotamia, should his wife prove unwilling to return.
Learn
1. The interest which should be taken by pious parents in the marriage of their children.
2. The care which should be exercised by those who marry to secure pious partners.
3. The lawfulness of imposing and taking oaths on important occasions, and for sufficient reasons.
4. The clearer sight which belongs to faith than to sense and reason.
5. The folly of anticipating difficulties that may never arise.
6. The danger of taking any step in life without Divine guidance or instruction.
7. The sin of renouncing one’s religion for the sake of a wife.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY
Gen 24:1-67
The unfolding of the Divine purpose.
I. THE EXPANDED BLESSING. The first line of the web of sacred history stretches itself out to Mesopotamia. The aged patriarch, blessed of Jehovah in all things, is fading from our sight. We must look on a new generation and see the blessing expanded.
II. THE DIVINE GUIDANCE. The angel shall be sent before Isaac, and he will overrule the events and wills which seem to stand in the way. The marriage of Isaac was a matter of most solemn moment. The earthly bonds are blessed only when they are held up by the Divine covenant.
III. MAN‘S FAITH REWARDED BY SPECIAL DIRECTION. The servant prayed for good speed, because it was in the spirit of dependence upon Jehovah that the whole errand was undertaken. We have no ground for expecting supernatural indications of the future, but when we commit our way unto the Lord we may ask him to show it. If it be well for us to see it beforehand, which it sometimes is not, he will send us “kindness“ both in the occurrences and persons we meet.
IV. EARTHLY RELATIONSHIPS ARE UNDER HEAVEN‘S SUPERINTENDENCE. The fair Mesopotamian is a suitable companion for the heir of the patriarch. She is full of graciousness and activity, free from pride, gentle, unsuspicious, generous, patient, self-sacrificing, benevolent. Such characteristics are what the children of God desire to transmit to their descendants. In the sight of so much that was lovely both in person and character, the servant held his peace with wondering thoughtfulness, waiting for and already anticipating the blessing of the Lord.
V. THE TRUE PIETY WATCHES FOR GOD AND WORSHIPS. On receiving the simple answer to his inquiry, and perceiving how the hand of the Lord had been guiding him, he bowed his head, and worshipped (Gen 24:26, Gen 24:27). Those who wait for “the mercy and the truth” will not be left destitute of it. Oh to be able at every step and stage of life to say, “Blessed be the Lord!“ to hear the salutation rendered us, “Come in, thou blessed of the Lord!“
VI. GOD IN HISTORY. The kingdom of God had its points of connection from this moment with the throned of human affection, sanctified by the grace of God, uniting them together. The house of Abraham, the house of Bethel, are widely separated from one another in the measurement of space, but closely bound together henceforth by the spiritual ties of a common faith and obedience in the name of Jehovah. The same Divine purpose which directed the servant’s way moved the heart of the damsel. “She said, I will go.” She went out of the midst of pure family affections; she was welcomed by one who saw her coming when he was “meditating in the field at eventide,” doubtless in the spirit of prayerful expectation; and who took her to his mother Sarah’s tent, where she might be sure one who so tenderly mourned the loss of a mother would know how to cherish a wife sent of God to comfort him. “He loved her.” Religion is the only true guardian of domestic happiness, the only deep soil in which the affections flourish.R.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY
Gen 24:6
No turning back.
“And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.” Abraham’s care to prevent the leaven of idolatry entering his family (cf. Exo 34:16; 1Co 15:33; Jas 1:27). Worldly wisdom would have led him to seek a wife for his son among the families of Canaan, so as to give him a firmer footing in the land; but he solemnly charged his steward, in sending him on a marriage embassy, not to do this (cf. 1Ki 11:3; 2Co 6:14). A wife was to be sought from his brother’s family. Out of the earnestness of this godly desire came the trial of his faith. An obvious difficulty; what if the damsel should not be willing to follow a stranger? There had been little intercourse between the families. The news is Gen 22:20 was plainly the first for many years. Must Isaac go in person to take a wife from her father’s house? Much might be urged in favor of this. If the presence of Isaac were of importance, might he not return for a little, though Canaan was his appointed home? Was it not hindering the very thing Abraham desired, to refuse to do so? Was it not unreasonable to look for a blessing and yet to neglect obvious means for obtaining it? Not for a moment would Abraham listen to the suggestion. At God’s call he had left Mesopotamia forever. To send his son back would he contrary to the principle of his whole life. It would be to put expediency above faith, to distrust God’s promise, to think his will changeable (cf. 1Ki 13:19). Contrast the faithlessness of the Israelites in their wilderness journeys. Abraham would not allow even a temporary return. They “in their hearts turned back again into Egypt” (cf. Luk 9:62).
I. IN A GODLY LIFE THERE IS OFTEN A TEMPTATION TO TURN BACK FOR A LITTLE. With a laudable aim, some step which seems likely to lead to it is not quite what in itself we know to be right. To gain the means of doing good, some little departure from truth may seem almost necessary. In the eagerness of some plan of usefulness the time for prayer can hardly be found, or the ordinary daily duties of life seem to interrupt the greater and higher work; or, to gain an influence over the gay and worldly, it may seem the course of wisdom to go, a little way at least, with them. And is not a Christian, under the law of liberty, freed from strict observance of the letter? Does not that savor of the spirit of bondage? Nay, “to obey is better than sacrifice.” Always danger when men seek to be wiser than God (Pro 14:12). We cannot foresee the difficulties of returning.
II. TRUE FAITH POINTS TO IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE. Can we not trust God to order allnot only the ends towards which he would have us strive, but the means to be used? We are to live by every word of God, not by some special saying only. Promise and precept, instruction and direction, are alike his words, by which every step should be guided. It is want of faith which leads to departure from obedience; want of full trust in God which leads to ways of fancied wisdom. We have to do -with efforts, not with results; these are in God’s hand. Where obedience is not in question we rightly use our judgment; reason was given us to be our guide, but not to take the guidance out of God’s hands.M.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 24:1. And Abraham was old, &c. A hundred and forty. Compare ch. Gen 21:5 with Gen 25:20.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
TWELFTH SECTION
Abrahams care for Isaacs marriage. Eliezers wooing of the bride for Isaac. The theocratic founding of a picous bride-wooing. Isaacs marriage
Gen 24:1-67
1And Abraham was old, and well stricken [come in days] in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2And Abraham said unto his eldest servant1 of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3And 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 unto my son, of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. 5And the servant said unto him, Peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land; must I needs bring thy son again into the land from whence thou camest? 6And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again.
7The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware 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 thence. 8And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this thine oath: only bring not my son thither again. 9And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
10And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master [with every kind of costly goods] were in his hand: and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. 11And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water, at the time of the evening, even at the time that women go out to draw water. 12And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed2 this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. 13Behold I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: 14And 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 be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master.
15And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abrahams brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. 16And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin; neither had any man known her; and she went down to the well and filled her pitcher, and came up. 17And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water from thy pitcher. 18And she said, Drink, my lord; and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. 19And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. 20And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21And the man, wondering at her, held his peace [waiting to know], to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. 22And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ear [nose] ring, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, of ten shekels weight of gold, 23And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy fathers house for us to lodge in? 24And she said unto him, I am the 25daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. She said, moreover, unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. 26And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord. 27And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my masters brethren. 28And the damsel ran and told them of her mothers house these things.
29And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban [the white]: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. 30And it came to pass, when he saw the ear [nose] ring, and bracelets upon his sisters hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man, and behold, he stood by the camels at the well. 31And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
32And the man came into the house: and he [Laban] ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for his camels, and water to wash his feet, and the mens feet that were with him. 33And there was set [as the imperf. Hoph. of ] meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat until I have told mine errand. And he [Laban] said, speak on.
34And he said, I am Abrahams servant. 35And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, 36and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my masters wife, bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. 37And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell. 38But thou shalt3 go unto my fathers house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son. 39And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. 40And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and will prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred and of my fathers house. 41Then shalt thou be clear from this mine oath [the oath given by me] when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. 42And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: 43Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher [, bucket; a jug similar to a pail or bucket, of wide mouth] to drink: 44And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my masters son. 45And before I had done speaking in my heart [in myself], behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water; and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. 46And 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. 47And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahors son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the ear [nose] ring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. 48And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way, to take my masters brothers daughter unto his son. 49And now if ye will [are ready to] 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. 50Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord; we cannot speak [in our own choice] unto thee bad or good. 51Behold Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy masters sons wife, as the Lord hath spoken. 52And it came to pass, that, when Abrahams servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. 53And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. 54And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. 55And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days [a circle of days], at the least ten [a decade]; after that she shall go. 56And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away, that I may go to my master. 57And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. 58And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abrahams servant, and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister; be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them [enemies].
61And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. 62And Isaac came from the way of [visit to] the Well Lahai-roi [of the livinganimating, quickening-vision]; for he dwelt 63[had his station] in the south country. And Isaac went out [now northwards] to meditate in the field [the northern field-region] at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. 64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes; and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 65For she had said4 unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil and covered herself. 66And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarahs tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mothers death.
GENERAL REMARKS
To the chapter upon the sepulchre and the burial of the dead, there follows now a chapter upon the wooing of the bride. The former has greater strength of expression, grounded in the last need, death and the care for the dead; the latter has greater richness and life, and glows in all the freshness and fulness of a sacred, biblical idyll, the first pearl in that string of pearls, in the religious glorification of the human bridal state which runs down through the wooing of Rachel by Jacob, the little book of Ruth, to its culmination in the Song of Songs. Abraham was warned by the death of Sarah, to set the concerns of his house in order, to seek a bride for Isaac, and thus to provide for his descendants. The narrative joins one beautiful trait to another, until the circle is complete; the spirit of his master Abraham, who had instructed him, is clearly reflected in the faithful and prudent bridal journey of his servant, and Rebekah appears from the beginning as the glorious, lovely and boldly-determined maiden, peculiarly fitted for the quiet, patient Isaac. Humanly speaking, the following history belongs to the most attractive portions of the first book of Moses; we are tempted to call it a biblical idyll. Everything in these verses, down to the most minute part, is finished and elaborated with inimitable beauty. Schrder. Delitzsch refers to the excellent treatment of this narrative by F. C. V. Movers. The fundamental thought in the narrative is the providence of God in Isaacs marriage. It appears in Abrahams believing foresight and care for Isaac, in the faithfulness and prudence of his servant, in the happy meeting of Rebekah and the servant, in the forming of the life and character of Rebekah, in the hospitality and the pious spirit of her house, even in the self-interested conduct of Laban, in the meeting of Isaac and Rebekah, in the movement of her heart, and in his love. It is thus through the providence of God that Rebekah became the wife of Isaac, and an ancestress of the people of Israel. Knobel. The documentary hypothesis falls into perplexity here, since, according to Genesis 23 and Gen 25:19, the fundamental writing must have related this marriage. It relieves itself with the conjecture that the brief Elohistic narration has been displaced by this longer Jehovistic narrative. Knobel finds in the fact that the mission proceeds from Abraham, and the report is made to Isaac, although he has no real ground for the conjecture, as also in similar cases, the traces that the narrative is not genuine. [Which is much the same as if he had said, since the narrative is not constructed as I think it should have been, it cannot be genuine.A. G.] It may be divided into the following particular portions: 1. The arrangement of the theocratic journey for the bride, the spiritual image and character of the bride (Gen 24:1-9); 2. the journey for the bride, and the choice of the bride (Gen 24:10-21); 3. the entrance into the house of the bride (Gen 24:22-33); 4. the wooing of the bride (Gen 24:34-49); 5. the rewards for the bride (Gen 24:50-54); 6. the bridal journey (Gen 24:54-61); 7. the meeting of the bridegroom and the bride (Gen 24:62-67).
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The arrangement of the theocratic journey for the bride (Gen 24:1-9).And Abraham.The motives for his arrangement: 1. After Sarahs death his age warned him to provide for Isaacs marriage. 2. the blessing of Jehovah warns him, he must now through the marriage of his son, do his own part, that the blessing might be preserved. His faith and his acts of faith must correspond to the promise of blessing of Jehovah. Isaac could not marry a Canaanitess, but only a Shemitess, one who was of equal birth in a theocratic point of view. It might possibly be from his own ancestral home, and the account which he had received of the home of Nahor, favored his hope. He could not think of Lots daughters.Unto his eldest5 servant.It is usually inferred from Gen 15:2, that Eliezer of Damascus is here meant. Gerlach says it is not probable, because he is not named. For the same reason the CalwerHandbuch concludes that he is intended, because otherwise the servant would be named in so important a mission, and this inference is just. Eleazer was peculiarly fitted for this mission, as an old man in the school of Abraham (more than 60 years had elapsed since Gen 15:2). Eleazer thus stands for all time as the type of all pious and prudent bride-wooers. He is a steward or ruler of the whole house, thus a trusted servant. [The word servant like the word elder, is an official title. Bush refers to Gen 40:30; Exo 12:30; Deu 34:5; Heb 3:5; and for elder to Gen 50:7; Rth 4:2; 1Ti 5:17.A. G.] Still the present mission of Abraham is so important, that he lays him under the obligations of an oath.Put thy hand under my thigh.This usage in the oath is referred to only in one other place (Gen 47:29). The person who took the oath, was to place his hand under the thigh of him to whom it was given. Some refer this rite to a heathen idea or imagination. It points to the generating member, which, as the organ of the generative strength of nature had a kind of sacredness among the ancients, and in the Phallus (or Bacchus) worship, had a kind of religious honor (Arnob. advers. Gent. 5), e.g.: among the Egyptians (Herod., ii. 48; Plutarch; Theodoret), among the Syrians (Lucian), at times even among the Hebrews (1Ki 15:13?). It is recorded of the Egyptian Bedouin in modern times, that in a solemn asseveration or oath he places his hand upon the generative organ (Sonnim.: Travels, ii. p. 474). Knobel. According to the Jewish idea (which the Targums, Jonathan, Jarchi, Tuch, etc., follow), the rite relates to the generative member in its relations to God, by virtue of circumcision. Von Bohlen, Gesenius, Knobel, bring together these two ideas or explanations. The explanation of the ancients, that Abraham, with reference to the promise of the covenant, had in his mind the promised seed of the covenant, the future Christ, is a mystical and Christian idea, not improperly adduced here, remarks Delitzsch, although the thought is usually regarded as belonging to the New Testament (see Strippelmann: The Christian Oath, p. 22). It is doubtful whether and , testari and testiculus, stand in a relation referring back to this custom. Since the hand in the oath has always the signification of pledging oneself, we must inquire first of all, what rite-forms of the hand in the person who takes the oath, usually appear. But now Abraham, when he takes the oath (Gen 14:22), raises his hand to heaven, before those around him, when he worshipped the El Eljon, the heavenly exalted God (comp. Rev 10:5-6). According to Eze 20:5, the object of the hand is generally to mark the subject in respect to which the obligation is taken. In this idea the Christian oath is taken upon the gospel, or even upon a chest of relics. When, therefore, Eleazer and Joseph give the oath, in that they place their hands upon the thigh of the one swearing them, the act had a special meaning. The thigh is the symbol of posterity; in Israel the symbol of the promised posterity, with the included idea of the promise, Gen 46:26; Exo 1:5. Eleazer and Joseph thus must swear by the posterity, the promise and the hope of Abraham and Israel.6 This promise should be changed into a curse for them if they did not regard the oath. This oath was required in Eleazer because he did not belong to the house of Abraham, in Joseph, because, as a prince in the land of Egypt, he might be tempted to be false to the faith of the promise. It is sufficient to regard the thigh as the symbol of the whole posterity, the generative organ as symbolical of the immediately succeeding generation.By Jehovah [It is not an ordinary marriage which is here about to be made, which would fall under the providence of Elohim; but a marriage which concerns the kingdom of God, and therefore, Jehovah appears in the whole narrative. Keil, p. 183.A. G.], the God of heaven.Eleazer knows the God of Abraham, and the faith of the promise. He should swear by the God of the promises, the God of Abraham, and with this the rite of laying the hand upon the thigh corresponds.That thou shalt not take a wife.Eleazer does not appear as the guardian of Isaac, now forty years old, after the death of Abraham (Knobel), but the negation in his oath designates only the negative side of his mission. Since Abraham had appointed him to gain a bride for Isaac, he might easily, as an old man, have given free play to his own opinion, and viewed a brilliant match in Canaan as advantageous for Isaacs future. Abraham himself certainly exercises a patriarchal and guardian-like care over the patient and yielding Isaac, who, although forty years of age, appears not to have thought of marriage, but mourned his mother in earnest, devout contemplation. It involves also the decisive patriarchal and theocratic union under the providence of Jehovah.Peradventure the woman will not be willing.The servant has not an equal measure of faith with Abraham. Since the journey to Mesopotamia for a Shemitic bride is thus strongly enjoined, and Isaac must not marry a Canaanitess, it appears to him that it may easily happen that he must take Isaac back to Mesopotamia, if he should indeed be married.Beware thou.Abraham opposes him. As the father of faith upon the promise, of the people of the future, he had the watch-word, never backward. To the syllogism of the reflecting and calculating servant, he opposes the syllogism of faith. Its major premise: Jehovah had brought him out of his fatherland into a strange land; its minor: he had promised to his seed the land of Canaan; its conclusion: therefore he will crown the mission of Eleazer, through the leading of his angel, with a successful issue. In this assurance he can easily quiet the sworn servant with the explanation, if the otherwise proper wife will not follow him from Mesopotamia, he should be clear from his oath.
2. The journey for the bride, and the choice of the bride (Gen 24:10-21).And the servant took.The ten camels, and the accompanying train of servants, must, on the one hand, bear the presents and represent the riches of his master; and on the other hand, are already carefully prepared, and destined for the caravan of the bride and her maidens. He provides himself, in case of success, with every kind of jewels from the treasures of his master, which came later into legitimate use. He could take of every kind which he wished, they were all at his disposal; Abraham risking all upon the issue of this journey.To Mesopotamia (Aram,7 of the two rivers.)Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and Tigris, Padan-Aram (Gen 25:20), according to Knobel, an Elohistic expression; upon Egyptian monuments, Neherin = Naharaina.To the city of Nahori.e., to Haran (see Gen 11:31; Gen 12:4).By a well of water at the time of the evening.As the arrangement of the stately caravan, so also the encampment here reveals the master-servant. The lions find the gazelles by the springs of water. Eleazer would here, in a peaceful way, find the bride of Isaac. The camels lie down at the well of water without the city, at evening, not to rest for the night, but to rest temporarily, and during the delay. (When the camels kneel down they are unloaded, since their burden lies upon the ground.)Even the time that women go out to draw water.The maidens and women in the East still bring the water they need from the well at evening (Von Schubert, ii. p. 401; Robinson, Palestine, ii. p. 351).8 They held their female conversations at the wells, as the men did in the gate.O Lord God of my master.He had done his part, but knew that the result depended upon the blessing of God. In humility he calls upon Jehovah, the God of his master Abraham, for whose sake he would hear him.Send me good speed (grant that it may come to meet, anticipate me), i.e., what he wished, Keil adds. The usual explanation, however, seems more significant, the success appointed by God cannot be secured by force; Jehovah causes that it shall meet the pious. We emphasize, the coming to meet. Now he determines the sign for the discovery of the bride destined by God for Isaac. The sign consists in this, that she should go far beyond his request, in her friendliness and readiness to serve him. His request merely expresses the desire that he might sip a little water from her pitcher; her trial consists in this, that she should give him to drink fully, and in addition, with voluntary friendliness, give to his camels also. This proof of love was, on the one hand, certainly not usual, but on the other, it was not unheard of, nor prohibited by any custom. Niebuhr (Travels, ii. p. 410) has still experienced the same or similar volunteered service (comp. Robinson, Palestine, ii. p. 351). But we should recollect that many things of the kind to-day, are imitations of the partriarchal tradition, as e.g. also, the previously mentioned oath of the Bedouin, with the hand upon the thigh.Before he had done speaking.She came already, to the surprise of the narrator himself.Behold Rebekah.She is no other than Rebekah, the grandchild of Nahor, the legitimate daughter born to Bethuel, son of Milcah. She had thus the quality of theocratic descent in an eminent degree. [On both sides, maternal as well as paternal.A. G.] Then she was very beautiful, as Sarah before, and Rachel after her, a tender maiden, pure from contact with any man. And how politely (my lord,), how graciously (she hasted and let down), with what animation (she hasted, ran), and how cheerfully she fulfilled all the conditions of the sign chosen and determined.The Kad upon her shoulder is rather a bucket, or wide-mouthed jar, than a pitcher, otherwise it would not be fitted to give the camels drink. [This jar was sometimes borne on the head, and sometimes strapped upon the shoulder. The is the same term used for the vessels borne by the men of Gideon, and which were broken with a blow, Jdg 7:20 : and differs from the , the term for bottle in the narrative of Hagar.A. G.]
3. The sojourn at the home of the bride (Gen 24:21-33).Wondering at her, held his peace (waiting).Knobel prefers the explanation of by Gesenius: attentive look, view, following the Septuagint and Vulgate. Delitzsch and Keil prefer the explanation, wondered, was astonished. The following phrase, held his peace in order to know, is in favor of the latter explanation.9 The attentive, inquiring look was not limited through the silence, but through the astonishment. He restrained himself in his astonishment. She had indeed fulfilled the sign, and as to his prayer all was clear, but as to his reflection the question now first arose, was she a Shemitess? was she single? would she be willing to go with him?The man took a golden ear-(nose) ring.The present which he now makes her could not have been a bridal present, but simply a friendly recognition and reward of her friendly service (although the nose-ring is now the usual engagement present among the Bedouins.) Delitzsch. The conviction that the right person was found here truly finds expression, otherwise he would have been rewarding her at too lavish an expense. At this moment Rebekah had even somewhat disconcerted the aged Eliezer. The ring was a golden nose-ring, worn from the central wall of the nose, of about a half shekel in weight. The two bracelets of gold, worn upon the wrist, were each of about five shekels weight (see Winer, art. Schmuck, Isa 3:18 ff.). Eliezers heart knew well what would rejoice the-the heart of even a pious maiden, and with this present, the choice of which expresses his assurance, introduces his question as to her family. The question as to entertainment in her house is an utterance of the full assurance of his hope. It reveals the working of his mind, in so far as he asks the second question, without waiting for the answer to the first. Rebekahs answer accords entirely with his wish. She answers also his second question, but as the prudent Rebekah, with the reservation which became her, for it did not belong to her expressly to invite the strange man in. But Eliezer knew enough, as is evident from his profound bowing before Jehovah, and his praise and thanksgiving. [ is the free grace, with which Jehovah had given the promise to Abraham, the faithfulness and truth with which he fulfils the promise. The two words often occur in the Scriptures. Baumgarten, p. 243.A. G.] For Rebekah the prayer is a mysterious, joyful announcement from the home of Abraham, and beautiful is the contrast that she thereupon hastens away, while the servant completes his prayer. Of her mothers house.Bethuel was living, and therefore the maiden-like presentiment of a love-suit reveals itself as she hastens to her mothers confidence.And Laban ran.As the first mention of Rebekah (Gen 22:23) prepares the way for this narrative, so here we make beforehand the acquaintance of Laban, who later exerts so important an influence upon the history of Jacob. Still the narrator has motives also for this allusion in the present history. His invitation of his own accord to Eliezer, to come into the house of his father, and the prominence which he has in the engagement of Rebekah, with and before his father, prove the great influence which he had in his parental home. His sister Rebekah appears also with similar energy in comparison with Isaac. There was, doubtless in the very arrangement of the patriarchal home, special room for the dynamic efficiency of a strong personality, in contrast with the retiring nature of the more receptive character. Laban appears always to have led his father Bethuel, as Abraham led his son Isaac: and Rebekah exercises a stronger influence upon the history of her house than Sarah or Rachel upon theirs. The sacred writer now appears to go back and bring up the narrative.And it came to pass, when he sawbut purposely, to bring into prominence this motive with Laban, since he places the gold ornaments in the first rank, and the words of Eliezer, which Rebekah reports, in the second. We have here evidently a trait of that covetousness which appears so prominently in the later history of Laban. There may be also a characteristic of the courtly accommodation and exaggeration in the religious expression he uses, when he invites Eliezer, as the blessed of Jehovah, i.e., in a name of God which was not usual with him, and which he probably learned from the form of expression which the servant had used (although this cannot be asserted with certainty, since the calling upon Jehovah had already its beginnings in the house of Therah). But there is no more necessity, on account of these features, of misunderstanding the real central thing in Labans state of mind, than, on account of similar traits, of misunderstanding the character of Lot10 (see Gen 31:24). His words of invitation have been made the foundation of an Advent song: Wherefore wilt thou stand without, etc.And the mens feet.The servants who accompanied Eliezer are here mentioned for the first time. That Laban took care for them also completes the expression of his polite hospitality.I will not eat.No one had asked him as to the object of his journey, for that would have been a violation of the Eastern usages of hospitality, which places these and similar questions after the meal. But the servant of Abraham unburdens himself. Delitzsch. A new mark of his faithful service, of his prudence and full assurance of hope.
4. The suit for the bride (Gen 24:34-39). The speech of Eliezer. The first speech in the Bible. A simple historical account of his journey, and still at the same time an example of a wise speech, which weaves skilfully the motives he would present with the account he gives. The motives from kindred are first urged: the mission is from Abraham. He is proud of being Abrahams servant. Then the human interests. Abraham has grown very rich and great, and has one only legitimate son and heir. But even the human motive is religiously sanctified. His wealth and his son are peculiar blessings of God. Now follows the religious motive. Especially the oath to take no Canaanitess, but a Shemitess of his own race. This concern must have awakened in Nahors and Bethuels house not only kindred feelings, but also laid its claims upon the conscience. That arrested migration of Therah rested as a silent reproach upon the conscience of the family; the house of Bethuel might now enter again into direct and blessed fellowship, through the granting of Rebekah. This religious motive was strengthened through the statement of the trustful hope of Abraham, for a successful issue of the mission. Then, again, in the highest measure, through the recital of his prayer, and how the sign determined upon had been fulfilled. And here, as a result of this recital, the human motive is urged againthe indirect praise of Rebekah; she had proved herself unconsciously a moral ideal of a maiden worthy of love. But finally, with the pride of a free, God-entrusted suitor, he presses his suit upon them and demands an instant decision. He urges his opinion, that they would be refusing kindness and truth ( ) towards his master, if they should give him a denial, because, indeed, they were not only his blood-relations, but also his theocratic spiritual kindred, nevertheless he would not beg of them a bride for the son of Abraham. If they would not deal thus kindly and truly, he would go into the same city, into the same land, to the right or to the left, especially to the other sons of Nahor, as he had already intimated in his previous words that he should be freed from his oath when he had used all possible efforts.My masters brothers daughter, i.e., in the wider sense. His granddaughter, or the daughter of the son of his brother.
5. The betrothal of the bride (Gen 24:50-54). Laban and Bethuel. The decision. Rebekahs brother joins in the decision. The custom, according to which the brother must interest himself for the sister (Gen 34:5; Gen 11:25; Jdg 21:22; 1Sa 13:22), justified him in so doing. Knobel. Keil, with others, remarks, this usage grows out of polygamy, through which the father might easily come to have less concern for the children (daughters) of the less beloved wife. They recognize in the whole affair the will of Jehovah; they have neither good nor evil, i.e., indeed, nothing to speak (Num 24:13, etc.). The consent of Rebekah was not sought in the betrothal itself, but in the far less important point of the immediate departure. From this it follows that they were sure of her consent to the union, although the authoritative powers of the house must decide upon it.Worshipped the Lord, bowing down to the earth.A mute attestation of thankfulness, a sign of a mind moved with astonishment and joy. But notice here also the haste; his official zeal cuts short his prayer. [Baumgarten calls attention to this prayer of the servant, in his present circumstances, and surrounded by those who did not honor Jehovah, as a proof how well Abraham had instructed and trained his household.A. G.] At first the bridal-presents for the bride must be produced, then the betrothal-presents for the family, especially for Laban and his mother. With respect to the last-named presents, they are an honorable form of the later, at least, usual purchase of the bride (see Winer: Marriage). The first were given to the bride, in the name of the bridegroom, after the existing custom, according to which the bridegroom sent to the bride presents, before the marriage, which should have the effect to cement the uniona custom still prevalent in the East (see Knobel, p. 20411). A shepherd prince in Canaan might purchase the necessary articles of this kind from Phnician and Aramaic caravans.And they did eat and drink.Now first they could enjoy their food and drink, which would naturally constitute an evening feast.
6. The bridal journey (Gen 24:54-61).Send me away, that I may go to my master.If it was bold in Eliezer to insist upon an immediate decision, the successful issue makes him now, in his official zeal, still bolder. His earnestness assumes the appearance of harshness, and it can be excused only by his great joy, and his great anxiety to bring the affair to a happy issue, before anything should occur to make a disturbance. A few days, or a tenth of days, i.e., not as Keil thinks, a few or much more ten days, but at least ten days. An indefinite number of days is an indefinite period, which might easily be protracted into a long period. But since Eliezer will not consent to ten days, Rebekah must decide, and her declaration is characteristic again of her vigorous, determined, bold mind. She is equally ready for a departure. She says with modest but decided brevity, . The sudden departure could hardly have occurred on the next day; it is sufficient that it was immediately prepared.Rebekah their sister.This is literally true only of Laban. Rebekah truly became also through her betrothal, the equal of her parents.And her nurse.Deborah (Gen 35:8). The nurse in noble families usually remained (2Ki 11:2) a permanent and valued companion of her foster-child.And they blessed Rebekah.The words of blessing form a little song. They emphasize it that Rebekah is their sister, for they are proud of her dim but great hopes.Be thou the mother of (grow to) thousands of millions.This wish of a countless host of descendants (not of children alone, that would be senseless) is so far not hyperbolical, as in the origin and growth of the people of Israel, saying nothing of the church of believers, it has been richly fulfilled. The blessing of children was the highest happiness of the Hebrew woman. It is still thus in the East (Volney: Travels, ii. p. 359). Knobel.Let thy seed possess (see Gen 22:17). The house of Nahor itself formed a certain opposition to the heathen, and well knew also that Abraham and the children of Abraham should complete the opposition. These intuitions were doubtless refreshed through the communication of the servant. We ought not, however, to be surprised that the two clauses of this verse represent Abrahams hope, rather in respect to the number than the character of his seed.And her damsels.The stately company of damsels corresponded not only to the stately equipage and approach of the suitor, but was an actual necessity, since she was going into a strange land, under the leading of strange men. Laban gave, however, only one maiden to each of his daughters at her marriage (Gen 29:24; Gen 29:29). Knobel.
7. The meeting of the bridegroom and the bride (Gen 24:62-67).And Isaac came.The apparently confused narrative here is found to be a clear one, upon the supposition of a clear view of the land. The wells of Hagar alluded to, lay still southerly from Beer-sheba. If Eliezer journeyed home from Mesopotamia, or the northeast, he must have come to Hebron to Abraham, before he could have been visible to Isaac, in the way to these wells, or generally in his stations in the farther south. But if he was earlier visible to the young bridegroom, it follows, that he must now have gone from Hebron northwards into the field. The allusion to the wells as to his residence in the south region, is made with the purpose of bringing into prominence again, how it occurred, through a happy providence, that he went so far to meet the bride.12 He had returned in a happier frame from his visit to these wells, which were of greater importance to him, since he usually had his outposts in the south. But now he went out from Hebron (for Sarahs tent was certainly still at Hebron, Gen 24:67) into the peculiar field, or cultivated region, without any intimation that Rebekah would meet him from that side, on the way down from Bethlehem. Delitzsch: He came from his arrival at the wells, not as Hupfeld and Ewald explain; he had even reached the wells. Delitzsch, however, thinks the meeting took place in the region of the wells of Hagar, and that Isaac had for the sake of meditation removed his residence from Hebron into the south. The oak-grove of Mamre must certainly have been large enough to give opportunity for meditation. Isaac doubtless went into the south region, not to lead any technically hermit life, but to oversee the flocks of his father. Delitzsch also conjectures that he was laying the affair of his marriage before the Lord, at these wells. But the author rather points to the fact, that he was still clinging to his grief over his mother Sarah. [If, however, Abraham was now residing at Beer-sheba, then Isaac may have met the caravan to the northward of this place. Sarahs tent would of course be taken with Abraham in his removals.A. G.]At the eventide.As the evening turned itself hitherdrew on. Delitzsch.Went out to mourn (meditate).. Explanations: 1. For the purpose of thinking. Septuagint, Vulgate, Baumgarten, Delitzsch. 2. In order to pray. Targums, Arabic version, Luther, and others. 3. For deliberation. Aquila and others. 4. For the purpose of walking, exercise. Syriac, Aben Ezra, Kinchi. 5. To bring the traveler (!) Bottcher. 6. For lamentation. Knobel. In order to give himself alone, and undisturbed, to mourning the death of his mother. [The first three explanations may well be thrown together, since thought, prayer, and deliberation, or meditation, are seldom separated in the experience of the pious.A. G.] Knobel correctly quotes, in favor of this, the frequent signification of and Gen 24:67. One might almost think it was in the field of Ephron, but then we should have to seek the cave of Machpelah northerly from Hebron. But the remark of Knobel that Isaac first after the death of Abraham, according to the Elohist (Gen 25:11), removed into the southern country, is of no moment, since we must distinguish between the mere resting-place of a subordinate, and the chief abode of a shepherd-prince.She lighted off the camel.Another instance of the rapid, energetic Rebekah. Fell from the camel, i.e., threw herself off from the animal she rode, sprang quickly down, and indeed as a mark of her reverence for Isaac, for she recognized him as a man of rank. This custom is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament (1Sa 25:23; 2Ki 5:21), even by this same writer (Jos 15:18); it appears also, elsewhere among the ancients, e.g., among the Romans (Liv. Gen 24:44). In the East, today, the rider descends from the animal he rides when he meets a distiguished person (Niebuhr: Arabia, p. 50, and the Description of his Travels, i. p. 239; Joliffe: Travels, p. 274), and it is required of Jews and Christians when they meet a Mohammedan of rank (Niebuhr, etc.). Knobel.What man is this.She thus assumes that Eliezer knew him. A womanly presentiment.Therefore she took a veil.Keil: The mantle-like Arabian veil for the head. The bride appears before the bridegroom veiled, hence the nubere viro. Plin. H. N., 21, 22. When the two came together the veil was removed. The custom still exists in the East (Russel, etc.). Knobel.All things that he had done.Meeting his young master, the self-importance of the old servant appears more freely in his words.Into his mother Sarahs tent.The tent of Sarah was occupied by the new mistress, although Abraham was again married. It lay in Hebron, and there is no reason for the inference of Knobel, from Gen 24:62, that it must be sought in Beer-sheba (comp. Gen 31:33). The wives also of the Bedouin chiefs have their own tents.And he loved her.She became the object of his peculiar bridal love.And Isaac was comforted.[The word death is not in the original. It seems as if the Holy Spirit would not conclude this beautiful and joyful narrrative with a word of sorrowdeath.Words-worth, p. 109.A. G.] Until this occurred he had mourned the death of his mother, from three to four years. Since the great mournings lasted from thirty to seventy days (Gen 50:3; Num 20:29; Deu 34:3), Knobel cannot find anything here of the three or four years mourning of Isaac. But there is a plain distinction between the customary mournings and the weight of sadness in the life of a retiring and elegiac nature. Isaac appears to have clung to his mother Sarah, much as Jacob did afterwards to his mother Rebekah.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. See the Critical and Exegetical remarks. This chapter evidently presents a picture for all time, of a sacred bride-wooing. Abraham designates as the chief requisite of a blessed theocratic marriage, spiritual kindred and equality of birth. The Shemites of his fathers house did not indeed stand upon the same line of theocratic hopes with himself, but they were still acquainted with his hopes and recognized them; they were free from the tendency of the grosser heathenism, and the result shows that Rebekah, the daughter from the home of Nahor, had a clearer insight into theocratic things than Isaac himself. And although, on the other hand, the Canaanites, at the time of Abraham, were not so sunken in corruption as the Canaanitish generations at the time of Joshua; although there were a Melchizedec, an Abimelech, and similar characters, and around them circles who feared God, among the people; still all this was a waning blessing, which the curse gradually overwhelms, as the history of Sodom shows, and Abraham, who knew the end of the Canaanites because Canaan was promised to him, could not mingle the future of his race with the race of the Canaanites. The is according to Platos Symposion, or the instruction of Diotima, a peculiar spiritual impulse of Eros, after the Greek ideal; but Abraham in the theocratic history has realized this fundamental principle in a far higher sense (see Joh 1:13).
2. The oath upon the loins of Abraham (see the exegetical notes under the first paragraph). It should be observed that Abraham himself here causes the oath to be taken.
3. The Angel of the Lord, who, as the Angel of the covenant, promised Isaac the heir of the covenant to Abraham, will, according to the assurance of Abraham, mediate and secure a marriage suited to the covenant.
4. The journey and position of Eliezer at the well in Haran, his aim and his prayer, prove that two things belong to a happy marriage: human foresight and wisdom, and the blessing of Jehovah; i.e., not merely the general blessing of God, but the blessing of the God of the covenant.
5. The mark which Eliezer fixed upon as the sign by which he should recognize the bride selected by Jehovah for Isaac, shows what an important estimate was placed upon genuine good works in the house of the father of the faithful, especially upon human friendliness, hospitality, kindness to animals and men. The cheerful service which Rebekah gives to the aged Eliezer, shows a love of men free from any sensual interest. But that on his side, Eliezer places a high estimate upon her beauty, and in his conduct treats her in a youthful and complimentary way, shows the glorious power and effect of her beauty.
6. The scripture has throughout a free estimate of the importance of beauty. It places the beautiful with the good, in the praise of the creation, as the Greeks place the good with the beautiful. But in the beauty of the ancestresses of Israel (Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel,) it sees the symbolical manifestation of a consecrated, beautiful life of the soul. We must distinguish clearly in reference to the estimate of the beautiful, the purely Christian standpoint, from the ecclesiastical and monkish. This last has drawn from the words, he was without form or comeliness (Isa 53:2), the inference, that the most beautiful among the children of men (Psa 45:3) was of an extraordinarily disagreeable appearance. The moral idea, and the moral estimate of the luxury, in the presents of Eliezer.
7. The expression , which runs through the whole Old Testament as a description of the divine grace and truth (see Mic 7:20), and even in the New Testament (Joh 1:17), appears here in a remarkable manner for the first time, in reference to the conduct of man with man. Thus also, says Delitzsch, mutual proofs of love between men are , and the mutual truly intended, faithful acts between men are . We must, however, hold, indeed, that these ideas even in reference to the relations of man to man, have a theocratic definiteness and peculiarity. The house of Nahor must prove, through its love to Abraham, that it went with him in spirit, and through its truth preserves its connection with him. Under these circumstances, the refusal of their daughter would have been theocratic felony.
8. The importance of pious mothers for the kingdom of God.
9. The elevated distinction of the wife, in the history, and for the history of the kingdom of God.
10. Eliezers bride-wooing, the first speech in the Bible, a fit beginning for the whole circle of biblical speeches.
11. Eliezer, the earthly messenger of Abraham, in the convoy of the heavenly messengers. A pious diplomat, accompanied by the Angel of the Lord. The diplomats of this world are often accompanied by demons.
12. The propensity of Isaac for retirement and mourning, agrees with his passive individuality, and with his fearful and affecting experiences in his childhood upon Moriah. If, in after times, he does not seem fully to understand the great consequence of his father, and clings to and pines for his mother, this is explained by his history; but we see also how very greatly the hopes of Abraham were endangered through this retiring and melancholy propensity. But Abraham saw the right way to relief. Rebekah was a consoling providential gift from Jehovah for Isaac, and he was rescued from the lonely way of the recluse, since he now entered fully upon the way of the future of Israel.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Abrahams marriage-suit for his son Isaac.The sanctification of the bride-wooing.The qualifications of a blessed bride.The life pictures in this history: Abraham, Eliezer, Rebekah, Laban, Isaac.The mother in history, the foundation of the kingdom of God.The two remarkable meetings (that of Eliezer and Rebekah, and that of Rebekah and Isaac), a testimony for the old proverb that marriages are made in heaven.How this proverb has its significance: a. In the narrower sense, in the marriage of the pious; b. in the wider sense, in the marriage of the ungodly (the providence of judgment); c. in the sense of a divine discipline and instruction, leading from the way of evil to the way of virtue and salvation.Rebekah as a maiden, virgin, bride, wife, mother.(The heroine at last acted too purely as a heroine. She must repent. She saw her Jacob no more after their separation).The coperation of parents in the marriage of their children: a. Its justice or propriety; b. its limits.Eliezer in his faithfulness, prudence and piety.Eliezer, an example of the way in which the blessing of the Lord, and the faithfulness of men, meet together in one.Eliezers petition and thanksgiving.The import of beauty in the kingdom of God.Rebekahs charming service, the peculiar, fundamental trait of a noble, pious womanliness.The blessing of an unfeigned human friendliness.Especially in the female sex.Eliezers speech the first in the Bible: a. As the speech of a servant; b. of a master; c. which turns the heart to the master.The love and truth of God, as a foundation for love and truth among men.The bridal feast at Haran.Detain me not, or the unrestrained eagerness to reach the goal.The caravan of Rebekah, or the kingdom of God under the figure of a journeying pilgrim and wanderer.13Isaacs and Rebekahs meeting.Isaacs transformation.The blessing of pious love.Rebekah in the tent of Sarah, or the joining of a new blessing to the old.
1. Gen 24:1-9. Starke: Certainly it was no small thing, since Abraham is represented as a prince, that Eliezer, next to his master, should have supreme command in all the house. The word servant, therefore, is not a term of contempt here, but a truly marked name of honor, as the word is elsewhere used also (Exo 5:21, etc.). Joseph was such a servant afterward in the house of Pharaoh the king (Gen 39:4).Luther: It is truly in the arrangement of a household a great, valuable gift, to have a faithful servant or maiden, since the dishonesty and wickedness of servants is a common complaint the world over.Cramer: The blessing of God makes rich without toil (Pro 10:22; Psa 128:4). When one has something important before him, let him attend to it with prudence and under good advice. (There follow here several remarks upon the true marriage, and upon the duties of parents and children in contracting marriage.) (Jer 29:6; 1Ki 11:4.) Lange: Gen 24:5. Whoever allows himself to be used in important concerns, does well to seek beforehand full instructions.The Angel (Heb 1:14 : Psa 34:8).Cramer: Homes and goods are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife comes from the Lord (Pro 19:14).Schrder: The hoary head should impel us to set our household in order (Calvin).The last labor of each of the patriarchs, is to attend to the necessary dispositions and arrangements with respect to their successors (Drechsler).What Abraham in his faith here avoids, was expressly forbidden to the people of Abraham in the law (Gen 18:19; Exo 34:16; Deu 7:1-3). Natural prudence would have led Abraham to coutract an alliance with one of the Canaanitish families through the marriage of Isaac, to have thus secured for himself support and protection, and indeed, thus to have taken the first step toward the possession of the land of Canaan; but he had learned already that God directed his way, etc. (Roos).It occurs, even to-day, in the East, that the marriage of children is arranged by the parents, before the young persons have seen each other. Similar occurrence, Gen 21:21.The doctrine we draw from this passage, is this, that parents should take care for their sons and daughters, that they may be advanced to an honorable marriage state, although parents at times misuse their power and right, and constrain children to take those in marriage whom they have not loved. Such parents should be punished, for they have no parental heart or disposition, but are as blocks or stones, etc. (Luther).Here the angels are the servants of the bride or marriage (Luther against The Romish Celibacy). [Parents in disposing of their children, should carefully consult the welfare of their souls, and their furtherance in the way to heaven. Henry.A. G.]
2. Gen 24:10-21. Starke: (All the goods of his master were in his hand. The Jews infer from this that Eliezer had taken an inventory of his masters goods with him to Haran, that he might persuade more readily the bride of Isaac to go with him!) Gen 24:14. Upon the desire of Eliezer to recognize the bride through a sign. We see that God himself was not displeased with it. But it does not follow, therefore, that we should follow this example, since that would be to tempt God. (But the general truth that the cheerful readiness to render service to the aged and helpless, and an affable demeanor, are to be viewed as qualities in maidens which render them worthy of love, and desirable in marriage, is, however, truly contained in this example.)Cramer: Gen 24:11. A reminding us of our duty, to relieve the animals from their toil, and to feed and water them at the proper time.
Gen 24:17. A Christian must begin his bride-wooing with prayer.Musculus: To be a creature of God, is common to all; to be beautiful is the mark of special favor.(Upon Gen 24:19. This was a great offer surely, since it is well known that when camels have had nothing to drink for several days, they drink for a long time after one another before they are satisfied).Christian parents should train their children, especially their daughters, not to idleness and pride, but to household duties and work.
Gen 24:21. A man often does something in the simplicity of his heart, and knows not what end God will make it serve.We may serve our neighbors in a greater measure than they desire.Lisco: The ring. Either a semicircular ring, as a diadem for the brow, pendent above the nose, or the customary nose-ring of the East (Isa 3:21; Eze 16:12; Pro 11:22).Calwer Handbuch: A remarkable hearing of prayer.Schrder: The Arabians still call Mesopotamia El Dschesireh, i.e., the island.At one sign from the camels driver the camel kneels down; at another he rises up.The Arabian geographers still recognize the fountains without the city, which provide the needy inhabitants with water.Valerius Herberger: A young person, also, should not, as dazzled and blinded, cling to one only, and think that if he could not obtain that one, he must go out from the world, but should ever look to the Lord, and see whither he will lead him. What God gives prospers well, but what men and the lust of the eye gives, that becomes a pure purgatory. (But although the understanding, and, indeed, the spiritual understanding, should direct the affair, still the choice itself remains a matter of the heart). [We here learn to be particular in commending our affairs to the conduct and care of divine providence. It is our wisdom to follow providence, but folly to force it. Henry.A. G.]
3. Gen 24:22-33. Starke: (Upon Gen 24:22. Is it not in opposition with 1Ti 2:9-10; 2Ti 3:4-5, to put on these ornaments? We answer: 1. Rebekah had no conceit of herself in connection with them; 2. as Sarah was a princess, so Rebekah became the daughter of a prince, and we cannot refuse to distinguished persons a certain preminence in clothing and ornaments; 3. the great abundance of gold, precious stones and jewels in the Levitical cultus, was not to contribute to pride.)Cramer: Gen 24:27. If God has heard us, we should thank him.
Gen 24:31. Blessed of the Lord. An honorable title of the believer in the Old Testament (Psa 37:22, etc.).To be obliging, mild, hospitable, is a Christian virtue.Calwer Handbuch: (The bracelets were 42 ducats, the ring 2 ducats).14Schrder: One may hold this before the sour hypocrites, who hold it a part of spirituality and peculiar sanctity not to wear gold or silver. God permits the pomp, splendor and ornaments at a marriage feast. Even the dance cannot be condemned, if it is carried on in a chaste, moral and honorable way. Luther. [The hypothetical if shows the doubtfulness of this announcement even in Luthers mind, and in the circumstances by which he was surrounded.A. G.]
Gen 24:31. Upon Labans sonorous words. As soon as a living consciousness of God springs up in any one, there enters, as its consequence, a sacred horror of going beyond ones own stand-point (Hengstenberg). (But although Laban speaks here beyond his own proper measure, still we are not justified in denying his piety).
4. Gen 24:34-49. Starke: Upon Gen 24:35. Herein Eliezer shows his prudence. He knew well that a mother would never give her daughter to a man who lived more than a hundred miles away, in scanty, perhaps needy circumstances. He thus also, when he says, The Lord hath blessed my master, turns away from his master every suspicion that he had gained such great wealth in any wrong way.Upon Gen 24:37. Hence they could not entertain the thought, if Abraham is so rich why so great and expensive a journey? (he could indeed have easily taken a Canaanitess).Upon Gen 24:47. In verses 22, 23, it is said, the servant had given her the presents before he had asked after her relationship, here the reverse seems to be true; but the two are easily reconciled upon the supposition that he brought out the presents before the question, but after it, laid them upon her.15 (They are rather reconciled upon the theory, that he here gives the order of things as he would have acted, while he himself above, in the joy of his heart, a little too hastily, or in the strong assurance of a prosperous issue, had actually done both things at the same time, leaving out of view, that by the presupposition and statement of the question here, he declares the friend-liness of the family of Bethuel.)To the right hand or to the left. Nahor left several sons, and Eliezer was not therefore confined to one line of Nahors descendants.The Christian suitor must not seek to constrain by power the consent of the bride, of her parents and friends, but leave all to the providence of God.Schrder: The fulness and particularity with which the servant makes his narrative, agrees perfectly with the character of the affectionate, intelligent, and aged parents. He knows how to put every lever into play; he uses every possible means.While in verse 14 he had used the common term maiden, he uses here with great diligence, in his circumstantial speech, the more elevated term virgin. [The distinction referred to is that between Bethulah and Almah. The latter appears in Isa 7:14. See Wordsworth.A. G.]The nose-ring, the golden ring, which penetrated the middle wall of the nose, hung down over the mouth, was a female ornament of the ancient East (Eze 16:12), and remains so still, according to Niebuhr and Arvieux. About the size of a dollar, it frequently surrounded the whole mouth. It is at present also used among the Arabians as an engagement present.
5. Gen 24:50-54. Starke: Upon Gen 24:50. The received conjecture that Bethuel stands in the background because he was old or sick. Otherwise it appears as if the brother had somewhat to say in the marriage of his sister.Upon Gen 24:52. Eliezer must have been a most devout worshipper (Gen 24:12; Gen 24:26-27).Christian (pious) marriages are not by chance, but made by God.Bibl. Wirt.: When parents see that God deals with their children in a favorable way, they should not have too much unseasonable consideration or hesitancy.Schrder: Of a so-called purchase-price (for the wife) (Genesis 29; Exo 22:16-17), which was usually analogous to the price of a slave,as the Arab of to-day purchases his bride perhaps for from three to five camelsand of our word marriage,16 from to buy, or to hire, there is nothing said here, since the suitor divided richly his jewels between Laban and the mother.
6. Gen 24:54-61. Starke: Upon Gen 24:55. Because she must go with him to about 124, or, according to another reckoning, 128 miles. The Jews have received it as a rule that there should be at least ten months between the engagement and the home-bringing of the bride. (The Jews understand to mean a year, and under the tenth, ten months.)Lange: Although Eliezer would not be detained several days, it is not necessary to conclude that the departure took place on the very next day. (He reminds us, with good reason, that Rebekah had her things to arrange and pack for the departure, etc. It is certain that they hasted, and did not remain more than ten days). Upon Gen 24:56. A Christian must guard the times carefully.Pious parents should not constrain their children to a marriage to which they have no inclination.O ye maidens, see that the pious Rebekah has found her bridegroom, not as she gave way to idleness, or entered the unseemly dances, but as she discharged her duty. Follow her example, fear God and labor diligently, God will bring you to the one for whom he has assigned you.Osiander: The desire of pious people for a blessing upon others are mighty prayers before God, and therefore are never in vain.
7. Gen 24:62-67. Starke: Nothing is said here of Abraham, but he will doubtless receive his daughter-in-law in the most friendly manner and with many benedictions, and the account given hereof by Eliezer must have afforded much satisfaction, and furnished matter for praise to God. (An allegorical explanation of the marriage of Isaac, in reference to the marriage of Christ with his Church, is here introduced).Upon Gen 24:62. Whoever will be free must know how he is to support and care for his wife.(Osiander: Married men must love, not hate or strike their wives.)A happy and well-sustained marriage, mitigates greatly the adversities of this life. (Sir 36:24)Schrder: The twilight resting upon the field is, in nature, what the vesper-bell is in the Church.Rebekah throws herself from the animal she rode, immediately, in an impulsive, hasty manner.The Arabian woman still comes down from her camel when she meets a man of the same or higher rank than herself. Niebuhr was a witness of such a meeting (1Sa 25:23; Psa 45:12).The bride was constantly led veiled to the bridegroom. After the completed marriage, he could first see her with her face unveiled.In Gen 24:16 above, as also Rachel, Gen 29:9, Rebekah was engaged in her duties, and therefore, as was customary, without the veil.(The above-quoted allegory of Rambach: As that (marriage of Isaac) happened according to the appointment of his father Abraham, so this (espousal of Christ) is according to the good pleasure of the Father, etc.)
Footnotes:
[1][Gen 24:2.Heb. his servant, the elder of his house.A. G.]
[2]Gen 24:12.Heb. cause it to occur.A. G.]
[3]Gen 24:38. , if thou shalt not.A. G.]
[4]Gen 24:65.Heb. and said.A. G.]
[5] [Here the term elder approaches its official signification. Murphy, p. 353.A. G.]
[The elder was not a title of age, but of office. It passed into the Church, coming down to us from the Jewish Church. Jacobus.A. G.]
[6][Since the generative virtue in the patriarch was through the promise blessed and sanctified by Jehovah, its seat was a sacred place, by contact with which the person swearing placed himself in union with Jehovah, the God of the promise. Baumgarten, p. 241. Kurtz regards the thigh as the seat of strength and firmness.A. G.]
[7][Aram included more than Mesopotamia.A. G.]
[8][Pictorial Bible.A. G.]
[9][Keil urges also, that the Hithp. form of the verb to look, would be to look round here and there restlessly, which would not suit the sense here.A. G.]
[10][There is a striking contrast between Jacob and Laban; starting from points in many respects alike, the one gradually becomes better, the other worse. See Wordsworth, p, 107.A. G.]
[11][Also Pictorial Bible, and the books of travels.A. G.]
[12][The South Country. The includes more than the country south of Palestine. The south country may have embraced Hebron. Comp. Gen 13:3.A. G.]
[13][Those who would see the resemblance here alluded to, elevated into a type, and drawn out at length, may consult Wordsworth, p. 107, who is rich in theseat times fancies, and at times very striking suggestions.A. G.]
[14][The bracelets were from four to five ounces in weighttheir value would depend upon the precious stones connected with them. Bush, ii. p. 43.A. G.]
[15][This is clearly the proper way of reconciling the two statements.A. G.]
[16][German: heirathen from heiren, i.e., miethen kaufen.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The subject still continues, of Abraham’s history. Every circumstance relating to the Patriarch becomes important, and as such the Holy Ghost hath been pleased to transmit it to the church. In this Chapter we find the Patriarch engaged in making provision for the settlement of his son Isaac. Accordingly he sends his eldest servant to seek a wife for him among his own kindred: the departure of the servant on this embassy, and the success of it are here related. Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, consents to become the wife of Isaac, and the marriage is consummated.
Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
What was said to Hezekiah, Isa 38:1 is in effect said to every aged person.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rebekah the Farseeing
Gen 24
I. In the case of Sarah the real drama opens with married life. In the case of Rebekah it opens with the proposal of marriage. The offer comes from Isaac. When she sees the servant approaching she has no idea of his errand. But Rebekah has a wonderful talisman against such surprise an astonishing power of putting herself instantaneously in the place of those to whom she is speaking.
II. There is a peculiarity about Rebekah’s sympathetic insight. It is not only manifested to things near, but to things at a distance. I would call her a farseeing woman, by which I mean a woman with an insight into the future. What she sees is a vision of the coming will of God. From a worldly standpoint she could do better than marry Isaac. If Rebekah’s insight had been limited to the things around her she would have rejected the suit of Isaac. To unite with a worshipper of another God was the revulsion of her soul, so from Rebekah’s gaze all Hittite offers fade, and the figure of the Hebrew Isaac stands triumphant.
III. The heart of Isaac had been overshadowed by the death of Sarah. Rebekah crept into the vacant spot, and rekindled the ashes in the scene of the vanished fire. Then comes the actual motherhood of Rebekah. Two sons are born Esau and Jacob. Esau was the natural heir to the birthright and the blessing. In the ordinary course of things he would be both monarch and priest of the Clan. But now there comes into play the extraordinary foresight of this woman Rebekah. With the eye of an eagle she watches the youth of her two boys. She finds that the first-born is utterly unfit for the great destiny that is before him. She sees that Jacob and not Esau is the man for his father’s priesthood. Might not Isaac be made to ordain God’s man instead of his own? Rebekah fell by fanaticism for God. She never dreamed that she was working for any end but the cause of Providence.
G. Matheson, Representative Women of the Bible, p. 79.
References. XXIV. 1. G. Woolnough, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv. p. 366. XXIV. 5-8. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2047. XXIV. 12. T. L. Cuyler, Christian World Pulpit, 1890, p. 174.
The Choked Wells
Gen 24:18
I. The wells of our father may get choked. There are some wells where men were drinking when the world was young, and spite of all the ages they are still fresh, and the dripping bucket plashed in them this day. Such was the well of Jacob, for example, and Jesus, weary with His journey, drank of that, though Jacob had been sleeping in his grave for centuries; and the traveller still slakes his thirst there. But the common fate of wells is not like that. Time, changing environment, or even malicious mischief, silts them up. Perhaps the most signal instance of that choking the world has ever seen was the law of Moses in the time of Christ. Once, in the golden days of Israel, the law of Moses had been a well of water. Then came the Pharisees and Jewish lawyers, and buried God’s simple law in such a mass of learned human folly, poured such a cargo of sand upon the spring, that the wells were choked, and the waters that their fathers drank were lost. And have we not found the same thing in the Gospel? Take the great central doctrine of the sacrifice on Calvary. It was the gladdest news that ever cheered the world, that Jesus died on Calvary for men. But by and by that well got silted up. It became filled with intolerable views of God. It was buried under degrading views of man. The well was choked.
II. We must each dig for ourselves to reach the water. One great blight upon the Church today is just that men and women will not dig. They are either content to accept their father’s creed, or they are content, on the strength of arguments a child could answer, to cast it overboard. You can always tell when a man has been digging for himself by the freshness, the individuality of his religion. The humblest souls, if they have dug for themselves, and by their own search have found the water, will have a note in their music that was never heard before, and some discovery of God that is their own.
III. Our discovered wells were named long since. When Isaac dug his well at Gerar men had forgotten about the wells of Abraham. But the day came when Isaac named his wells. And when the neighbours gathered and asked him what the names were, they found they were the names that had been given by Abraham. The wells were not new. They were but rediscovered. I never dig but a new well is found. And we think at first these wells are all our own. But the day comes when we find it is not so. They are the very waters our fathers drank; but the toil and effort, the struggle and the prayer that it took us to reach them, made them so fresh to us that we thought they were a new thing in the world.
G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, p. 148.
References. XXIV. 23. A. Mursell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii. p. 195. XXIV. 27. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Genesis, p. 173. XXIV. 40. H. J. Buxton, Common Life Religion, p. 258. XXIV. 49. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2231. XXIV. 55. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii. No. 772.
Love and Courtship
Gen 24:58
So much of life’s weal or woe is determined by a well-advised or ill-advised love and courtship that the question cannot be approached with too serious and sympathetic attention.
I. Parental and Friendly Interest in the Love Affairs of Young People. Nothing is more delightful, and delightfully instructive, in this idyllic tale, than the loving sympathy Abraham and Eliezer showed in the matrimonial concerns of Isaac. Look how excellently Abraham behaved himself in such a matter! He was deeply and tenderly interested that Isaac should secure a wife who would be a benediction to him. That is the right spirit. Let all parents and older friends note it and emulate it.
II. A Wife sought among the People of God. Beware of alliances with those who are morally Canaanites and Philistines! Seek a wife, a husband, among the people of God. The perils of a godless home are of all perils the most to be dreaded. Seek God’s guidance and sojourn amid what is godly.
III. Confidence in Divine Guidance Amid Love and Courtship. Abraham never wavered in his faith that God would direct Isaac’s future. He argued from God’s care of his past interest to God’s care of his son’s future interests. Parents may be sure that, if they be believers, the God who has guided them will guide their children, His ‘Angel’ shall be sent to further their love and their courtship.
IV. Qualities which Promise Happiness. When Eliezer met Rebekah in her remote home he discovered features of her personality and character which foretold that she would make a suitable wife for his master’s son. And amid many qualities these are well worthy to be noted. She was a domesticated woman. When she appeared upon the scene she had ‘her pitcher upon her shoulder’. And she used it. There is a danger today of Rebekah being minus her pitcher and of her not using it though she may be possessed of it. Rebekah was a woman of a kindly disposition. The spirit of genial courtesy possessed her. A sweet, kind, generous spirit is a powerful factor in the happiness of wedded life. Rebekah and Isaac were both graced with filial devotion. Rebekah was a devoted daughter. And as for Isaac he is, as a son, beyond all praise. It is such daughters who make faithful and loving wives. It is such sons who are afterwards devoted and affectionate husbands.
V. True Love Irradiated this Ancient Courtship. ‘He loved her’ is the finale of the romantic and tender story. No qualities, however good or noble, can supersede the necessity of deep and strong mutual affection. The love of Isaac and Rebekah is an essential guarantee of happy married life.
Dinsdale T. Young, Messages for Home and Life, p. 75.
References. XXIV. 58. C. D. Bell, The Name Above Every Name, p. 137. W. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons, (3rd Series), p. 51. XXIV. 63. J. Aspinall, Parish Sermons (1st Series), p. 216. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 228. XXIV. 67. Bishop Thorold, The Yoke of Christ, p. 247. XXIV. F. W. Robertson, Notes on Genesis, p. 68. W. H. Buxton, Penny Pulpit, No. 834. T. Guthrie, Studies of Character from the Old Testament, p. 61. XXV. 8. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Genesis, p. 180. J. Parker, Adam, Noah, and Abraham, p. 191. A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 117. XXV. 11. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 48. F. W. Farrar, The Fall of Man, p. 228. XXV. 27. L. D. Bevan, Penny Pulpit, No. 574. XXV. 27-34. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, p. 192. XXV. 29-34. C. Kingsley, The Gospel of the Pentateuch, p. 72.
The Attraction of the Present
Rebekah: Domestic Life
Gen 24:66
Instead of looking at the beautiful chapter before us as showing only how a wife was chosen for Isaac, look at it as a story full of family interest, and bright with many points of general human feeling. Of course the choice of a wife for Isaac is the one great fact in the chapter; but, without making its importance secondary, we may gather lessons about common household life which will touch a very large circle of sympathy and action.
The first figure is very touching: an old man, a wintry beard falling upon his breast, but a strange glow of fire in his eyes, which tells of life that winter cannot reach; a servant before him, God above him, and angels waiting! And the subject is the wedding of a son! Inconvenient jesting, or unseasonable laughter, there is none; there is a deep, solemn, hopeful joy; and even if there be a touch of melancholy about the picture, it is the sweet pensiveness without which rapture would be but a flippant and perishable delight.
We cannot but be deeply touched by the action of Abraham, “old, and well stricken in age.” His eldest servant was a man who ruled over all that he had, and to this honest man Abraham said, “Thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.” A beautiful thing for a father to be interested in his son’s wife! Not selfishly and meanly, not taking up an obstinate position and showing how ugly it is possible for an old man to be; but religiously, nobly, hopefully, with tender affection and genuine joy of heart. The good old Hebrews seemed to do all the ordinary work of life with such a broad and massive religiousness! They lived so thoroughly in the consciousness of all that was grand and prophetic in their history, that when they wanted to do any new thing they seemed to stop a great golden chariot by the road-side and to pick up the thing that was waiting there. See if this was not so in Abraham’s case. Does he introduce the matter to his servant’s attention in a light and gossiping way? Is he at all offhanded in his manner or tone? Far from it! Hear him: “The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee.” How solemn the tone! The thing so well begun will surely be well done. We are apt to let our history slip away from us so fast, that, in facing the future, we have no inspiration of memory, no rock that took long in building, and never can be shaken down. It was so different with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! The first line and the last of their religious recollection were vivid in brilliance, and the very next thing they were going to do was taken up as a link belonging to a long golden chain, fashioned by the hand of God. The choice of a wife for Isaac was no casual incident; it was not something standing apart from the main line of his history, and something therefore which might be left to Isaac’s unassisted thought and arrangement; it stood as a part of a promise; it was a clause in a solemn covenant; it was as sacred as prayer, and as joyous as a morning psalm. Why should we diminish our own sense of God’s care in pur life, by always regarding the patriarchal history as something never to be repeated a miracle once for all, without counterpart in our life? God is our Father; our life is precious in his eyes; our family is part of the King’s garden; and everything about us is dear to him. Get hold of that idea; store it in your hearts as a sacred faith, and you will know that the very hairs of your head are all numbered, and that the angels are with you as they were with Abraham.
The next picture disclosed in the scene is that of the angel and the servant. The angel went before and the servant followed after. And when he came unto Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor, the servant spake unto the Lord in prayer. Look at the preparation, Abraham planning, the servant praying, the angel advancing, the camels kneeling down at the well, the presents all stored ready for distribution. It is like the preparation of a holy altar! This (if we were religious enough to give things their right names) is really what is happening in our own time. The angel of the Lord is still living, and he ministers variously and lovingly in human life. Of course we do not allude to him by name. We now talk of mental impressions, convictions, coincidences, inexplicable feelings, and divers impulses, but the angel we never name. This is a beautiful example of God’s indirect way of working. Why does not the angel speak audibly to Rebekah? Why should there be two servants, the winged one in the air, and the common one in charge of the camels? It is by this double ministry that providences are confirmed; the mental impression and the outward fact correspond; the light of a new hope arises in the heart; and at the same time the star appears to guide the way. All through life we see this principle of mediation, or double ministry, at work: in the conversion of men, in the determination of destiny, in things common, and in things unusual, you find everywhere the invisible action of the Spirit, the imperfect action of human workers. You feel a strong impulse to do some good thing: it is the angel troubling with Divine energy the stagnation of your heart; you are deeply impressed; it is the finger of God writing his purpose on the soul. Look out, and you will find the opportunity and the service corresponding to your mental convictions or spiritual impulses: you will see, in fact, what you have dreamed in parable.
In this way you will see many curious coincidences in human life, things that are more easily explained upon religious than upon merely secular grounds. How you met certain persons, how they came to be at such a place at such a time, how you happened to drop a certain word or give a certain hint, why you should have gone just then and not at any other time; these things, and a thousand others, will puzzle and bewilder you, on merely secular principles; but if you believe in God, in his presence, care, and providence in human life, a great light will fall upon the whole outline of your history, and you will own with adoring wonder that God has been directing and stablishing you all your days. Life without a religious interpretation is a pitiful tragedy; life with a religious interpretation may be a tortuous road ending in a quiet and blessed heaven.
XXV
THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM–(Concluded)
Gen 19:29-25:18
This chapter concludes the life of Abraham. It covers over five chapters of Genesis. The important events are varied:
1. Lot’s history after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the incestuous origin of the Ammonites and Moabites.
2. Abraham’s dealing with Abimelech, the Philistine king.
3. The birth and weaning of Isaac.
4. The casting out of the handmaiden, Hagar, and Ishmael.
5. The great trial of Abraham’s faith.
6. The death and burial of Sarah.
7. The marriage of Isaac.
8. Abraham’s marriage with Keturah their children.
9. Abraham’s disposition of his property.
10. Death and burial.
11. Character.
All these events wonderfully illustrate Oriental life of that age.
Our lesson commences with Gen 19:29 : “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plains, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.” An examination question will be, To whom was Lot indebted for his rescue from the destruction of Sodom? Gen 19:30 gives the origin of two famous should say infamous nations: Moabites and Ammonites. They resulted from the incest with his daughters on the part of Lot. No nations have developed so harmoniously with their origin. They were immoral, untrustworthy, every way a blot upon civilization, the bitterest enemies of the Israelites, except the Amalekites and Philistines.
The twentieth chapter returns to Abraham. He located in the territory of the Philistine king. The Philistines, descendants of a son of Ham, originally located in Egypt. But they get their name from their migratory habits. Leaving the place that God assigned to them, they took possession of the southwestern coast of the land which derives its name from them, in our time called Palestine. They had not yet developed the confederacy of the five cities, like the Swiss cantons, which they established later. Abimelech is not a name, but a title, like Pharaoh. The Philistine king has more honor than any subsequent king. We have discussed the responsibility of Abraham, making Sarah say that she was his sister. She is eighty years old, but a most beautiful young woman. God has restored youth to her and Abraham. Abimelech takes Sarah, but is prevented from harming her through a dream God sent, warning him that she was the wife of one of his prophets, and that he would die if he did not return her. Abimelech justly rebukes them both. In Gen 19:9 he says to Abraham, “What hast thou done unto us? and in what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and my kingdom a great sin?” Abraham makes a very lame excuse. Isaac repeats the very same thing with another Abimelech. To Sarah, Abimelech says, “Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver; behold it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted.” The wrong that had been done by her captivity was thus amply compensated. The text of the King James Version says she was reproved. I think it was a gentle rebuke. Note the healing of Abimelech in Gen 19:17 at the prayer of Abraham, just as we see the friends of Job forgiven at the intercession of Job, and Israel forgiven at the intercession of Samuel and Moses. What mighty power has the intercessory prayer of good men with God!
According to promise Isaac was born. Then Sarah becomes both inspired and poetical. Her Magnification sounds like that of the virgin Mary. She said, “God hath made me to laugh; every one that heareth will laugh with me.” The child was named Isaac, which means laughter. Some children are born to make parental hearts sing with joy. Many children cause the parental heart to ache.
We come to another incident: “The child grew, and was weaned.” And Abraham made a great religious festival in honor of the weaning of Isaac. Sarah saw the son of Hagar making sport and said to Abraham, “Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” It was a little hard on Ishmael. He had been the only child, much loved by his father. He was taking a pretty wide swing in affairs at the birth of Isaac, which, according to an old saying, “broke his nose,” and put him out of commission. So, although it was a religious ceremony, Ishmael mocked, sinning against God, the father, mother, and child. Sarah seems rather hard, but she was exceedingly wise. It was very difficult to bring up two seta of children in a house where there is already a spirit of jealousy. Ishmael would not have been a safe guide for his little brother. It hurt Abraham very much. That night God appeared to him in a vision and confirmed what Sarah had said. Paul quotes the words of Sarah in Gal 4 , “Cast out the handmaid and her son.” In that famous letter he says that Hagar and Sarah are allegorical, representing two covenants: one according to the flesh, Hagar, typifying Israel; the other according to the spirit, in which Sarah represents the Jerusalem which is above. All true spiritual children of Abraham are children of promise, born of the spirit. This interpretation throws a great light on the incidents recorded here.
The story becomes still more pathetic when early next morning Abraham puts a goatskin full of water and some bread upon Hagar’s shoulder, and starts her and the boy off. She struck out, trying to find the way to Egypt. But she got tangled up in the desert. In a hot dry, sandy country it does not take long to drink all the water a woman can carry. The water gave out. Ishmael was famishing with thirst. The mother could not bear to see him die. So she put him under a little bush to shelter him as much as possible, and drawing off to a distance, wept and sobbed in anguish of spirit. And the angel of God spoke to her, “What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.” The boy, too, was praying. Once in preaching a sermon to children I took that text. The other night my little boy asked me to repeat a scripture before we had family prayer. I told him of the boy born to be a wild man, against whom was every man’s hand, and whose hand was against every man. How that he and his mother had to leave home when he was a little fellow. That hot walk in the desert, the insatiable thirst, and the mother going off to pray. How it occurred to the little boy to pray, and how when he prayed God heard the voice of the lad himself. Instantly my little boy spoke up and began to tell of two or three times when he had prayed and God had heard him. I encouraged him in that thought. I told him whenever he got into trouble, no matter how small, to pray; just as a child to tell God, and while nobody on earth might hear him, his Heavenly Father would hear even a whisper. I tell you this that you may impress upon young people the fact that God heard the voice of the lad himself. At the Arkansas convention in Texarkana, I preached a sermon for Dr. Barton’s church. A mother came to me before preaching and said that she had two boys in whom she was very much interested, and wanted me to pray for them that day. I said, “Suppose you tell those boys to pray while I preach.” She told them, and at the close of the sermon they were happily converted. Dr. Barton baptized them that night, both at one time, holding each other’s hands. It made a very impressive sight. Having heard about this, when I returned later to Texarkana, another mother came and stated a similar case. I told her to ask the lad to pray himself. That boy was converted and joined the church at the close of the service. In lecturing to the Y. M. C. A. in the afternoon, before I commenced my talk, I raised the point that God could hear anybody in that audience of five hundred men. There were some very bad cases, men who had stained their homes, grieved their wives, darkened the prospect of their children. I told them that God would hear them even on the brink of hell, if they would turn to him and pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” One man stepped right up and gave me his hand. At night all the churches worshiped at one church. I preached to within ten minutes of train time, and left without knowing the result. But with two preachers to call out from the audience the people who would take God at his word, and judging from the seeming impression, there ought to have been a great many conversions there that night. I would be glad if every preacher would take that text, “I have heard the voice of the lad where he is,” and preach a sermon. Get it on the minds of the children that God will hear them. “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad.” That is the second part of the text. First, I have heard the voice of the lad himself; second, God was with the lad.
His mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt, and he became the father of twelve nations. I have told you about the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael. They hold the ground where Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Leah, Isaac, and Rachel were buried. There is an immense structure built at that place. Until 1869 they would not allow a Gentile to enter, but in that year the Prince of Wales was permitted to go inside. The remainder of the chapter states a remarkable covenant between Abraham and Abimelech. It became evident that God was with Abraham and nobody could harm him. Abimelech wanted a covenant with that kind of a man. In my preaching I used to advise sinners never to go into business with a backslidden Christian, for God will surely visit him with Judgments, and he may come with fire to burn up the store. Anyway, a backslidden Christian is an unsafe partner. But what a fine partner is a Christian who is not a backslidden one. Abraham said that he ought to rectify a certain offense. “I dug this well in order to water my stock and your servants took it.” Abimelech righted the wrong. They took an oath of amity toward each other, so that the place was called Beersheba, i.e., the well of the oath. That marks the southern boundary of Palestine as we regard it.
I am going to give you the salient points of the twenty-second chapter, which presents the most remarkable incident in the life of Abraham. God had said that in Isaac was all Abraham’s hope for the future. God determined to try the faith of Abraham. It has been forty years since his conversion, and he has been stepping up higher and higher until you would think he must have reached the heights and graduated. But the crowning touch to his faith is to come now. God said, “Take now thy sou, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.” It was a staggering request, and yet Abraham staggered not in unbelief. He thought, “What will become of God’s promise?” In Hebrews it is explained how he argued it out and trusted. If God said, “Put Isaac to death,” he would do it, but God had said that through Isaac was to come the Messiah. So it would be necessary for God to raise Isaac from the dead. They set out early. If they had waked Sarah and told her what they were going to do, there probably would have been a row. So they took their servant, a mule, and some wood, and started to distant Mount Moriah, where Jerusalem is. As they drew near the place, Isaac, who had been doing some thinking, says, “Father, here is the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” It had not been mentioned what his part was. Abraham answered, “My son, the Lord will pro-, vide a sacrifice.” They reached the place near where Christ was later crucified. Abraham built the altar and placed the wood upon it. He commenced binding Isaac. The son, never saying a word, submitted. He stretched him over that altar, and drew his knife over the boy, and already in Abraham’s mind Isaac was dead. But just as the knife was about to descend, God said, “Abraham, Abraham, stay thy hand. Isaac shall not die.” He looked around and there in a bush was a ram caught by its horns. He took that and offered it.
There are two marvelous lessons to be derived from this incident. The most significant is that God made Abraham feel the anguish that God felt in giving up his only begotten Son to die for man. Abraham is the only man that ever entered into the sorrow of the Divine Mind in giving up Jesus to die. When he is bound on the cross and prays, “Save me from the sword,” the Father cries out, “Wake, O sword, and smite the Shepherd.” When he cries, “Save me from the enemy that goeth about like a roaring lion,” and when he prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” it was not possible if anybody was to be saved. The other thought is that as the Father consented to give up his Son, so the Son obediently submitted. Thus Isaac becomes the type of Christ. And Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh, “it shall be provided.” When I was a young preacher I preached a sermon on all the double names of Jehovah found in the Old Testament, such as Jehovah-Elohim, Jehovah-Tsidkena, Jehovah-jireh, etc.
Now we come to a passage that made a great impression on the mind of the author of the letter to the Hebrews. “And the angel of the Lord called unto Abram in a second time out of heaven, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” That matter is discussed in Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. When I was a young preacher I used to delight in preaching from this passage, and I like it yet, Heb 6:16 , “For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” In order to assure every child of God that his hope is well grounded and that he cannot be disappointed, two things in which it is impossible for God to lie are joined and twisted together to make a cable which is fastened to the anchor of hope: one, the promise of God, the other the oath of God. In commenting upon that Paul said that, though it was a covenant with a man, because it was confirmed by the oath of God, it could not be disannulled.
In Gen 22:20 we find, “And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also borne children unto thy brother Nahor; Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Chesed, and Hazo and Pildash, and Jidlaph and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah.” That incident is put in to prepare for a subsequent chapter, showing where Isaac got his wife. My wife’s brother, when he was a little fellow, came to his mother and wanted to know who were the boys that milked a bear. She said she did not know. He said it was in the Bible, so he read, “Those eight did Milcah bear.” Then his mother told him of the old Hardshell preacher’s sermon on that text, to this effect: They got out of milk at a certain house. The only available source was a she bear, and so the sturdy boys roped her and brought in the milk.
The twenty-third chapter, which gives an account of the death of Sarah, and the purchase of a burial place by Abraham, is a very interesting historical account because it gives all the details of a noted business transaction, showing how Orientals dealt in their trades. Notice particularly the Gen 23:11 , what Ephron says, “Nay, my lord, hear me: the field I give thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the children of my people gave I it thee: bury thy dead.” If an Englishman or an American had said that, it would have meant an outright gift, but for an Oriental or a Mexican, he expects the full price. If you enter a house in Mexico they will tell you everything is yours, cows, lambs, etc., but don’t you take for granted that it is so; it is just soft speech. Notice in closing this transaction that the currency was not coin, but weighed silver. Silver and gold were not put in pieces of money, but in any form; as, rings, bracelets, or bars, counted by weight; not numbered.
The twenty-fourth chapter tells how marriages were contracted in the East, and is an exceedingly interesting bit of history on that subject. Abraham brings out a revelation that God had previously made that we have no account of elsewhere, viz.: that God had told him not to marry his son to any of the idolaters of the land, but to his own people who were worshipers of God. So Abraham took Eliezer and swore him. The form of the oath is given, showing how these solemn oaths were taken between man and man. This head servant, taking ten camels, struck out from the southern part of Palestine, going to the Euphrates, a long trip, though common for caravans. He is much concerned about his mission and says to Abraham, “You tell me not to take Isaac there because God told you never to take your son back to that country.” There is another revelation, not previously recorded. “Now, suppose when I get there the girl won’t come to me?” Abraham said, “That will exempt you from your responsibility, but God will prosper you in this, his arrangement, and will govern you in everything.” We have a description of this old man falling on a plan by which a sign would be given. He sat down near a well and waited for the women to come and draw water. In this country men draw the water we don’t expect women to draw enough water for a herd of cattle. His plan was that he would steadily look at the women who came and fixing his mind on one, he would ask her to give him a drink, and if she inclined the bucket to him and said, “Let me water your camels,” she would be the one. Later we find Jacob falling upon the same method. In our time young men manage to find their wives without signs or omens. So when Rebekah, granddaughter of Nahor, brother of Abraham, came out, a beautiful virgin, and he asked her for a drink, and she let her pitcher down and held it in her hand, and then offered to water the camels, Eliezer knew she was the right one. He took a ring of gold, a half-shekel in weight, two bracelets for her hands, ten shekels in weight, and said, “Whose daughter art thou? Is there in thy father’s house a place for us to pass the night?” She told him who she was, and that there was a place and abundant provisions for him and his camels.
So when she got to the house she reported the case and her brothers came out. Her father was a polygamist, and the eldest of each set of children was the head. So Laban, Rebekah’s brother, came out and invited old Eliezer in. Food is set before him, but he says, “I will not eat until I have told my message.” Laban told him to tell it. And he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. And Jehovah hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great; and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and camels and asses. And Sarah, my master’s wife, bare a son to my master when she was old; and unto him hath he given all that he hath.” That was a very fine introduction. Whenever you open negotiations with a young lady’s father for marriage in the case of a young man whose father is very wealthy and this son his only heir, you have paved the way for a fair hearing. He strengthened the case by stating that under the inspiration of God he was forbidden to take a wife from among the idolaters, but was commanded to come to this place for a wife, the idea of appointment by God, a match made in heaven. Some matches are made of sulfur, not in heaven. He gave his third reason. “Not only is my master’s son rich, and I am here under the arrangement of God, but after I got to this place, I let God give me a sign to determine the woman.” Having stated his case he says, “If you will deal truly and kindly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
In the King James Version, Eliezer’s speech has a translation that used to be very famous as a text. He says, “I have come to seek a bride for my lord.” A Methodist preacher in Edward Eggleston’s Circuit Rider, preaching from that text before an immense congregation, says, “My theme is suggested by the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis,” and gave a little of the history. “Now,” he says, “I am here to seek a bride for my Lord, to espouse a soul to God. And like old Eliezer, I am under an oath of God. Like him I am not willing to eat until I have stated my case. And like him I have come by divine appointment. And like him I have tokens of his spirit that somewhere in this congregation is the bride of God. And like him I commence wooing for my Lord by stating whose son he is. He is the Son of God. He is very rich. He is the heir of all things in the world.” Edward Eggleston, in telling that story, relates that Patsy, a beautiful girl, who had despised religion and circuit riders, was wonderfully impressed by the sermon. It was the custom in the early days of Methodism to demand that women should eschew jewels, basing it on a New Testament expression about bad worldly ornaments. So while the preacher was exhorting and pleading for a bride for his master, Patsy commenced taking off her earrings, loosening her bracelets, and putting them all on the table. Then she said, “I seek to be ornamented by the One to whom you propose to espouse me, even the Lord Jesus Christ. I lay aside the trappings of external wealth and splendour, and look for that quality of spirit that best ornaments a woman.” Paul says, showing that the Methodist preacher was not going out of the record, “I have espoused you to Christ.”
The custom was for the betrothal to take place at the house of the bride’s father, and Eliezer comes in the name of his master and the betrothal is undertaken. The marriage is consummated whenever the bride is taken to the bridegroom’s house, and he meets and takes her in. The virgins of Mat 25 are all espoused, but the bridegroom has not yet come to take them to his house. When Eliezer had stated his case the father and brother say, “This thing proceeds from Jehovah, and it is a question we cannot answer. Behold Rebekah is before you. Take her and go, and let her be the wife of thy master’s son.” As soon as the betrothal is completed, Eliezer according to custom, takes the lady to his camel and hands out the presents sent by the bridegroom. “And the servants brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah, and he gave also to her brother and her mother precious things.” We perpetuate that somewhat in our marriage festivals when friends bring bridal presents. According to an Eastern custom a bridegroom makes presents to the bride’s mother and family. As these samples of the richness of Abraham were displayed, they felt still better satisfied about the judiciousness of the marriage.
Next morning Eliezer wants to start right home, but they said, “Let the damsel stay awhile. You stay a couple of weeks or months.” But Orientals always expect the answer, “No, I am in a hurry. I must go.” So they proposed to leave it to the girl. I have often wondered if they were going to leave anything to her. They called Rebekah and she said, “I will go.” That leads me to remark what a singular thing it is that a girl raised in a loving family, sheltered by parental care from even a cold breath of air, the pride and light of the house, all at once, on one night’s notice, pulls up stakes and leaves the old home, saying to a man pretty much what Ruth said to Naomi, “Where thou goest I will go. Where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy God shall be my God, and thy people shall be my people, and God do so to me, if I ever cease from following after thee.” And yet, it is God’s providence. So Rebekah and her maids, and the servant of Abraham and his men struck out from Haran on the Euphrates, on that long pilgrimage, south to Damascus; to the headwaters of the Jordan; then down either side of the river until you come to Hebron, where the bridegroom was. Just before Rebekah gets to Hebron, it happened that Isaac was out, taking a walk for meditation. In such a period of a young man’s life, he is given to meditation. When you see a young fellow that has always wanted to be surrounded by a crowd of boys, getting up early in the morning and taking a long walk by himself, there is something up. So Isaac was out on this meditating expedition, and Rebekah saw him. She instantly slipped down from the camel and put the veil over her face. The bridegroom could never see the face of the bride until he took her into his house. That part I do not think I would like. In the East the women are secluded until after their marriage.
The next chapter gives us an account of Abraham we hardly expect. Sarah has been dead sometime, and he took another wife, Keturah. Then there is a statement of their children and the countries they inhabit. They become mostly Arabs. We find this in Gen 25:5 : “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, Hagar and Keturah, that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from his son Isaac, while he yet lived, eastward unto the east country.” Though he made provisions for all, his general estate went to the child of promise.
Abraham lived 175 years and died in a good old age, full of days. Brother Smith used that expression in conducting the funeral of President Brooks’ father. Going from the funeral I asked my wife, who is a good listener to a sermon of any kind, what Brother Smith said. She said, “He had the usual things to say on such occasions, but brought out the biblical interpretation I am not sure about. He interpreted ‘full of days’ to mean ‘satisfied with his days.’ ” I said, “He certainly is right. Old age and full of days are distinguished thus. A man might live to be an old man and not be full of days. Every retrospect of his life might bring him sorrow.” I am afraid few people, when they come to die, can say with Paul, “The time of my exodus is at hand, and I am ready to be poured out full of days. I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up a crown which God the righteous judge shall give to me.”
The next noticeable expression is, “He was gathered to his people.” That does not mean that his body was deposited in the family burying ground. As yet no member of his family was in the cave of Machpelah except his wife. In the Old Testament the expression refers to the soul and is one of those expressions that teach the belief in the immortality of the soul and the existence of the soul separate from the body. Next, Isaac and Ishmael bury him. The last time we saw Ishmael was at the weaning of Isaac, when he was mocking. Both are married. Ishmael has a large family. The fathers of these nationalities that are to be distinct until the second coming of Christ, come together at the father’s grave. It is very touching that these two boys whom the antagonism of life had parted, whom the very trend of destiny had led separate, when the father died, came back without antagonism to bury him.
The chapter then gives a brief account of the generations of Ishmael, which constitutes one of the sections of the book of Genesis. Note the fact that according to the promise made to Ishmael, he becomes the father of twelve tribes. He died at the age of 137. Gen 25:18 says, “Before the face of his brethren he abode.” That expression means that he dwelt in the sight of his brethren, yet separated from them, living his own independent life.
Abraham is now dead. Here is a question I put to every class in Genesis. Analyze the character of Abraham and state the constituent elements of his greatness. I give you some hints.
(1) His mighty faith, the father of the faithful, whose faith took steps and staggered not through unbelief, no matter how often or hard it was tried. That is the supreme element of his greatness.
(2) His habit of religion. He took no “religious furloughs” when he travelled, as some men do. Wherever he stopped he erected an altar to God. Some years ago at Texarkana, some young men got on the train, and among them a Baptist preacher, and all were drinking. Finally one of them turned to him and said, “I won’t drink with you any more unless you will promise to quit preaching.” He was away from home and thought nobody knew him.
(3) His capacity for friendship. He was one of very few men counted the friend of God. Christ says concerning some of his people, “I call you not servants. I call you friends, and ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Abraham was also a friend of his fellow men. No man or woman, no matter what the external conditions, who is not capable of great, strong, undying friendship, can be very great.
(4) His love of peace. He said to Lot concerning the strife between the herdsmen, “Let there be no strife between us. Though I am the older and came here first, you can take the land you want and I will take what is left.” Lot selected the fertile plain of the Jordan and pitched his tent. Wherever Abraham went there were warlike, quarrelsome tribes, men who lived with swords on and daggers in hand, yet he had no quarrels.
(5) But as we have seen, when necessary to make war, he struck fast, hard, and effectively. He evinced great courage.
(6) His independence of character. He would not accept a gift from Ephron the Hittite a burying place for his dead. He would not accept as much as a shoestring from the spoils of the Sodomites, which he had recovered in battle from the Babylonians, lest the king of Sodom should say, “I have made Abram rich.”
(7) His justice. In an old reader there is a legend that a stranger, lost and in trouble, came to his tent. Abraham cared for his stock, washed his feet, gave him food and a place to sleep. But when the man started to lie down, Abraham seized him and said, “You cannot sleep under my tent. You propose to lie down without thanking God for these blessings!” He put him out and the man went to sleep outside of the tent. In the night came a voice from heaven, “Abraham, where is the guest I sent?” “Lord, he came; I treated him kindly, but when I saw how unthankful to thee he was, I cast him out.” “Abraham, I have borne with that man many years. Could you not bear with him one night? I sent him that you might lead him to me.” Abraham, weeping, went out, and brought the man back in his arms.
(8) Governing his family. “I know Abraham, that he will command his children after him.”
(9) His unswerving obedience.
(10) His affection and provision for his family. He loved his wife very much, and made provision for every member of his family before he died. These are some of the characteristics of the greatness of Abraham. They are homely virtues, but they are rare on that account.
QUESTIONS 1. To whom was Lot indebted for his rescue from the destruction of Sodom? Proof?
2. What was the origin of the Moabites and Ammonites and how does their history harmonize with their origin?
3. In whose country does Abraham locate after the destruction of Sodom, of which son of Noah were they descendants and what the origin of their name?
4. Who was king of this people, what was Abraham’s aim here and what notable example of intercessory prayer?
5. Recite Sarah’s Magnification and give a New Testament parallel.
6. What was the occasion of Ishmael’s sin that drove him and his mother from home, what was the sin itself, the wisdom of Sarah, the divine approval and the New Testament use of this incident?
7. Tell the story of Hagar and Ishmael as outcasts, what text cited in this story, and what the application?
8. Whom did Ishmael marry, how many nations of his descendants and who are his descendants today?
9. What was the covenant between Abimelech and Abraham and what advice to businessmen is based thereon?
10. What great trial of Abraham’s faith and how did he stand the test?
11. What two marvelous lessons from this incident?
12. What blessing from heaven on Abraham because of his obedience in this test and what New Testament impress of this passage?
13. In the great trial of his faith when Isaac was offered, how was Abraham a type of the Father?
14. Why the incident of Gen 22:20-24 , given here, and what the text and Hardshell sermon cited?
15. What of particular interest in the twenty-third chapter, what Oriental custom here exemplified and what was the medium of exchange?
16. What two new revelations in Gen 24 , and tell the story of how Isaac got his wife.
17. What famous text is in this passage and what noted sermon cited on it?
18. What was the custom of Oriental marriages and what New Testament scripture does it illustrate?
19. What part of the Oriental marriage do we perpetuate in our marriages and with what modifications?
20. What part did Rebekah have in this affair and what eastern custom does she comply with upon her first sight of Isaac?
21. Who was Abraham’s second wife and who were his descendants by this wife?
22. How old was Abraham when he died and what is the meaning of “full of days”?
23. What is the meaning, both negatively and positively, of the expression: “He was gathered to his people,” what touching thing occurred at his funeral and what was the meaning of “Before the face of his brethren he abode”?
24. Analyze the character of Abraham and state the constituent elements of his greatness.
Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, [and] well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Ver. 1. And Abraham was old. ] Non tam canis et annis, quam virtutibus et sapientia gravis , as one saith of Atticus. a Abraham had a good gray head, as it is elsewhere said of him: hence, so honoured not only at home, but by the Hittites. Gen 23:6 Cognata sunt et ( ut et ), old age and honour are near akin in the Greek tongue. And God bids, “honour the face of the old man”; Lev 19:32 for the hoary head is a crown, so that it be found in the way of righteousness. God is called “the Ancient of days”: and, because “holy,” therefore “reverend is his name,” as saith the psalmist. Psa 111:9 But it is a poor praise to Nectarius, who succeeded Nazianzen in the church of Antioch, that he was veneranda canitie et vultu sacerdote digno, a comely old man, and of a bishop like visage, and that was all that could be said for him. b
a Beurer. in Vita Attici.
b Si prolixa faeit sapientem barba, quid obstat barbatus posset quin caper esse Plato? – Baron. Annal.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 24:1-9
1Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. 2Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, 3and I will make you swear by the LORD , the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” 6Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there! 7″The LORD , the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. 8But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there.” 9So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
Gen 24:1 “Now Abraham was old, advanced in age” When one compares Gen 25:20, which says that Isaac was forty years old at his marriage to Rebekah, with Gen 21:5, which says that Abraham was 100 years old at the birth of Isaac, then it seems that Abraham was 140 years old at the beginning of chapter 24. He lived to be 175 (cf. Gen 25:7).
“and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way” See a complete listing of these blessings at Gen 24:35.
Gen 24:2 “Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he owned” The ADJECTIVE “oldest” (BDB 278, from the NOUN “beard”) can mean a person of authority, not necessarily the oldest in age (cf. Gen 50:7; Isa 3:2). Many commentators assume that this faithful servant is Eliezer of Damascus, mentioned in Gen 15:2. The fact that he was securing a wife for Isaac shows his unselfish nature in connection with the inheritance rights. As a matter of fact this is one of the most godly, beautiful, and faithful supporting actors mentioned in the Bible.
“please place your hand under my thigh” The VERB “place” (BDB 962, KB 1321, Qal IMPERATIVE) is an important cultural command related to the oath of Gen 24:3 (“swear,” BDB 989, KB 1396, Hiphil IMPERFECT used in a COHORTATIVE sense).
This particular cultural act is mentioned only here and in Gen 47:29. There have been several theories as to its exact purpose.
1. Since the thigh represents the symbol of a man’s descendants (BDB 437,1,b, cf. Gen 46:26; Exo 1:5; Jdg 8:30), this may refer to the genital organs. If this is true it seems to refer to circumcision, which is the sign of YHWH’s covenant (cf. Gen 24:3). This is the way that this verse is interpreted by the Targum of Jonathan and Rashi.
2. It is conceded that this refers to descendants and therefore, Jerome, Augustine, and Luther all say that it refers to the ultimate descendant of Abraham, the Messiah.
3. Some see it as referring to the lordship of Abraham to this particular administrator for this important task of finding a wife for Isaac (cf. Aben Ezra and Calvin).
4. It may reflect a cultural curse oath of sterility if violated.
Gen 24:3 “I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth” There has been much discussion among commentators whether Abraham was a true monotheist or simply a henotheist (someone who had only one god himself, but did not deny the existence of other gods). Because of phrases like this, I believe that Abraham was a monotheist. Most scholars assume that full-blown monotheism, in a philosophical sense, did not develop until the 8th century Prophets (see Special Topic: Monotheism ).
“you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites” This is probably because of the prophecy of Gen 15:13-16 or Gen 9:25-27 (also note Exo 34:15-16 and Deu 7:3-6). Abraham had met several godly men who were Canaanites.
1. the Amorite mentioned in Genesis 14; Genesis 13
2. Melchizedek, mentioned in Gen 14:18
3. Abimelech, mentioned in Genesis 20.
This shows that the ultimate degradation of the Amorite was not yet complete at this stage in history.
Gen 24:4 “go to my country and my relatives” This seems to refer to Ur of the Chaldees and the family of Nahor mentioned in Gen 11:27-31.
Gen 24:5 “suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land” Apparently, the servant was concerned with the specific stipulations that Abraham had put in his request. Abraham was concerned that Isaac have a wife who (1) was willing, by faith, to leave her family, as he had to leave his family and (2) knew YHWH, their God.
“should I take your son back to the land from where you came” Gen 24:5 is an emphatic question (Hiphil INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and Hiphil IMPERFECT VERB of the same root, BDB 996, KB 1427) by the servant and Gen 24:6 is an emphatic command (“see to it that you do not take,” a Niphal IMPERATIVE [BDB 1036, KB 1581] followed by a Hiphil IMPERFECT [BDB 996, KB 1427]of the same VERB used in Gen 24:5) by Abraham that Isaac is not to return to the land of Abraham’s birth. There are two possible reasons: (1) they were still polytheistic or (2) God’s promises specifically related to Canaan (cf. Gen 24:7; Heb 11:15; Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18).
Gen 24:7 “He will send His angel before you” YHWH’s angel often speaks and acts to carry out YHWH’s will. He is mentioned several times in Genesis (cf. Gen 16:7; Gen 21:17; Gen 22:11; also note Exo 23:20; Exo 23:23). See Special Topic: The Angel of the Lord .
old. About 140 years old.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
And Abraham was old, and well-stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And 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 ( Gen 24:1-2 ):
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 Eleazar-whether or not Eleazar 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, Eleazar had already died. But if indeed it is still Eleazar, it makes the story that much more interesting, because Eleazar means “God, my help”, and inasmuch as we look at this story of Eleazar 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 Eleazar would become the type of the Holy Spirit. And thus, his name would become significant, Eleazar: “God, my help”. For when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in the fourteenth chapter of John he said “and I will pray the Father and He will give you another comforter.” The Greek word is “parakletos”, which means “one to come alongside to help.”
So, here we have the name Eleazar, “God my helper” and the Holy Spirit being called the “Comforter” or “one who comes along side 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 twenty-fourth chapter here, you will get what I believe to be the picture that God wants us 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 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, 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, unto 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, and that sware 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 sware to him concerning that matter ( Gen 24:3-9 ).
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 in understanding.
“If I go there, and I find a young girl but she is not willing to come to this land,” then that is really asking a young girl to take a chance, sort of. Because you’ve never seen the fellow and he’s some five hundred 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. As she’s gonna love him, that she’s gonna be happy there and he’s gonna 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. And 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 vow 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 ten 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, 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, about the time when women go out to draw water ( Gen 24:10-11 ).
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 ( Gen 24:12-14 ).
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 some place. And so, inasmuch 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 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 it takes a long time for our prayers to be answered. Abraham had been praying for a 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 to 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 I asked for that I said later on, “Hey 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 that God intended to give it to you before you ever prayed. And I believe 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 gonna 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’ve ever asked Him.
John said “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” ( 1Jn 5:14 ). 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 any thing in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son” ( Joh 14:13 ). Henceforth, you’ve asked nothing in my name. Ask, that you might receive, “that your joy might be full” ( Joh 15:11 ). “And whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and ye shall have them” ( Mar 11:24 ). Whatsover things! Any thing! Whatsoever things! Pretty wide open, isn’t it?
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” ( Mat 16:24 ).
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 them self and are taking up their cross and 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 commitment of themselves and their lives to him. And for that person, “whatsoever things ye 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 the servant, he prayed and made this little arrangement with God.
And it came to pass before he was through praying, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder ( Gen 24:15 ).
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 Rebekah 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, Rebekah 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 ( Gen 24:16-17 ).
He’d put out the thing and now here’s his 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 his peace ( Gen 24:18-21 ),
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 just was holding his peace. He was wanting to burst out, but 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 ( Gen 24:22 ),
Now, a half-shekel weight would be about a quarter of an ounce. A shekel is about a half an ounce. So about a quarter-ounce little nose ring and
two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold [or about five ounces of gold]; And he said, Whose daughter are you? ( Gen 24:22-23 )
Question number two. This is gonna be the clincher. Who’s your father? Whose daughter are you?
I pray thee: let’s 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 ( Gen 24:23-26 ).
Man, hit it right off the bat. She’s one of Abraham’s relatives, and, 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 ( Gen 24:27 ):
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 ( Gen 24:27 )
I think 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 gonna 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 toward the leading of the will. “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 “and I being in the way, the Lord led me.”
Now, had he stayed back in Bersheeba 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 Rebekah as long as he was in Bersheeba? 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.
Phillip was in the midst of a great revival up in Samaria; many people were believing and turning to the Lord. And the Lord said, Phillip, get down to the desert, to Gaza, the desert area there. Now, the Lord would say that to half of you, you’d 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? I-what do want me to do Lord? What have you got in mind for me down there? Lord, there’s a neat revival going on here and there’s a lot of people that 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 gonna 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 Phillip 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, -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’ve 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; Rebekah was the first one. After five hundred miles, success!
And the damsel ran, and she told them of her mother’s house these things ( Gen 24:28 ).
She ran home and said “Oh, there’s a man there with ten camels and he gave me these golden bracelets and this nose ring and oh, you know, and he’s just got all the servants and all with him.”
And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, and to the well ( Gen 24:29 ).
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 gonna be a very gracious, charming fellow. And he comes running out, “Man, she made out with a couple 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, this charming, gracious host, and Laban ran out to the man at the well.
And it came to pass, when he saw the earrings and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah 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 ( Gen 24:30 ).
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 with some servants and they’ve got ten 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 ( Gen 24:31 ).
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 gave straw and provender for 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 hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he has given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife has borne him a son when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he has ( Gen 24:32-36 ).
And now we begin to see the picture and 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 stone, beautiful river, trees on either side, crystal clear fountain of water, the 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, he loves” ( 1Pe 1:8 ). The 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 join 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 as 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 he has, he has given unto his son.
And my master made me sware, saying, that I would not take a wife for his son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land he dwells: But 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 ( Gen 24:37-40 );
Abraham’s faith and belief that God would prosper 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 you shall be clear from this oath, when you come to my family; and they will not give you one, thou shalt be clear from thy oath. And so I came this day to the well, and I said, O 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 hath appointed out for my master’s son. And before I was done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came with her pitcher ( Gen 24:40-45 )
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 saying “Now Lord, God of my father, Abraham,” you know. Had he been doing that, then all of the girls around there thinking “oh, you know, look at the loot, you know, and everything else. And 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 wandering. I’m back in Hawaii again all of a sudden. So my mind has a tendency to wander when I’m just praying in my heart.
Now, I do a lot of praying just in my heart. There are some things 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. His head was bowed, perhaps, and not even necessarily. But in his heart he was thinking, Oh Lord, now let it work out like this. And it was just a prayer that was going on in his heart.
And when I was done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forthwith 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 Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets ( Gen 24:45-47 )
Now, I told you it’s a nose ring; that’s why he put it on her face. It would be hard to put an earring on your face.
and the bracelets upon her hands. And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed 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 ( Gen 24:47-49 ).
Now I’m here, and that’s the issue, now tell me, are you gonna let her go or not? Let me know.
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing is proceeding from the LORD: we cannot speak to thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee ( Gen 24:50-51 ),
In other words, what can we say? It’s obviously from God.
Behold, Rebekah 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 worshipped 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 Rebekah: 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 ( Gen 24:51-54 ).
Now notice as soon as the arrangement was made, then he came forth with gifts. As soon as Rebekah 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, joy, love. Gifts of power. And 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 object and they say, [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 Rebekah, and they said unto her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go ( Gen 24:55-58 ).
Now it became Rebekah’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 part of the family of God, so the exercise of Rebekah’s own choice.
And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse ( Gen 24:59 ),
Evidently they were wealthy too, for she had her own private maid.
And Abraham’s servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions ( Gen 24:59-60 ).
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 Rebekah arose, and her damsels [plural] and they rode upon the camels and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well, Lahairoi ( Gen 24:60-62 ).
Now you remember Lahairoi means “the well of him that lives in seas.” It was at this well that Hagar was weeping. She didn’t see the well and Ishmael was dying from dehydration; she put him under a bush and went over a ways because she didn’t want to see him die. 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, I’m, you know, I’m dying, and I don’t want to see my son die and all.” And the Lord said here, behold, there’s a well of water. And she went over and got the water and gave him a drink and he was refreshed and revived. She called the name of the well, “the Lord sees me”.
Now Isaac has taken up residence near this particular well. And this well comes into the story a couple more times as we find it is the area where Isaac had moved.
Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming ( Gen 24:62-63 ).
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 an indication of the spiritual kind of a depth that Isaac had, meditating in the evening. I’ve found that one of the greatest places to meditate is in the evening time. I love it about the time of twilight, the sun just going down in the twilight time. Seems like it’s just a neat time if you’re out in the desert.
When I was just a little guy we used to live near the beach. And one of my favorite things was to just go down there and sit in the sand, all by myself, watch the sunset and the seagulls and the sandpipers, and just to meditate upon God and the greatness of God. And it’s just 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 Eleazar the servant has been successful or not.
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she has 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 Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death ( Gen 24:64-67 ).
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Our subject is the value of divine guidance, and we shall, therefore, read two passages of Scripture illustrating the truth which we hope to enforce.
Gen 24:1. And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Happy man that can say that, who has a blessing everywhere! And yet Abraham had his but, for as yet Isaac was unmarried, and perhaps he little dreamed that for twenty years afterwards he who was to build the house of Abraham was to remain childless. Yet so it was. There was always a trial for Abrahams faith, but even his trials were blessed, for God blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2. And 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:
According to the Eastern manner of swearing.
Gen 24:3. 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 unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
This holy man was careful of the purity of his family; he knew what an ill-effect a Canaanitish wife might have upon his son, and also upon his offspring. He was, therefore, particularly careful here. I would that all parents were the same.
Gen 24:4-5. 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 thou camest?
The servant was very careful. Those that swear too readily they know not what, will ere long swear till they care not what. Better still is it for the Christian to remember the word of Christ, Swear not at all, neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath. Doubtless the doctrine of the Saviour is that all oaths of every sort are lawful to the Christian, but if they ever be taken, it should be with deep circumspection and with earnest prayerfulness, that there be no mistake about the matter.
Gen 24:6. And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
He knew that God had called him and his kindred to inherit the land of Canaan, and, therefore, he was not willing that they should go back to their former dwelling-places.
Gen 24:7. The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware 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 thence.
What simple faith! This was the very glory of Abrahams faith; it was so simple, so childlike. It might be many miles to Padanaram, but it does not matter to faith. My God will send his angel. Oh! we are always making difficulties and suggesting hardships; but if our faith were in lively exercise, we should do Gods will far more readily. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain. Brethren, let us be of good heart and of good courage in all matters, for doubtless the angel of God will go before us.
Gen 24:8-11. 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 thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. 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. 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 I think I may freely say that this looks something like what we call a wild-goose chase. He was to go and find a wife for a young man left at home; he knew nothing of the people among whom he was to sojourn, but he believed that the angel of God would guide him aright. What ought he to do, now he had come near to the time when the decision must be made? He should seek counsel of God, and observe that he did so.
Gen 24:12-14. And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew 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 thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
I do not know that he is to be imitated in setting a sign to God; perhaps not, but he did his best; he left the matter with God, and a thing is always in good hands when it is left with him. There is a deal of wisdom in this sign, however. Why did he not say, The damsel that shall first offer me to drink? No; she might be a little too forward, and a forward woman was not a fit spouse for the good and meditative Isaac. He himself was to address her first, and then she must be ready, with all cheerfulness, to do far more than he asks. She was to offer him to drink, and draw water for his camels; she would thus not be afraid of work, she would be courteous, and she would be kind, and all these meeting in one might show him, and by this test he might very wisely discover, that she was a fitting woman for Isaac, and might become his spouse.
Gen 24:15. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking,
Ay, he did not know that promise, While they are yet speaking I will hear; but God keeps his promises before he makes them, and, therefore, I am sure he will keep them after he has made them.
Gen 24:15-16. That, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abrahams brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
And so on; I need not read the rest of the story, because we now find that, through earnest prayer, the good servant has been rightly led. We will now turn to another passage where we shall have another instance of a difficult case, where another person put his case before the Lord, and sought guidance and found it.
This exposition consisted of readings from Gen 24:1-16; 1Sa 30:1-13; 1Jn 1:1-3.
This chapter is complete in itself and is a perfect idyll. Abraham was well stricken in years. Sarah was dead. Isaac, the son of Abraham, was still unmarried. In the interest of the divine program Isaac must not marry a Canaanite nor go back to find a bride among the people who had been left behind. Thus Eliezer was sent to seek a bride among his own kindred. Of course, the story is Eastern, and gives the account of how the quest was undertaken and rewarded.
In this story Laban appears and his masterfulness is manifest in the way he acted as host in the house of his father. Rebekah’s consent to go showed her responding to the divine purpose and her willingness to move forward along the divine pathway.
The story of the woman going the long distance toward her new home, and of Isaac, the man of quiet, passive faith, meditating in the field at eventide, is picturesque and full of beauty. Apart from these details of the faraway land, we have here a beautiful picture of an ideal marriage. It is the union of a man and woman on the basis of identity in principle. By faith Isaac waited and by faith Rebekah obeyed. It is, moreover, the union of opposites. In Rebekah faith was adventurous and bold. In Isaac faith was retiring and meek. The two lives were made one on the basis of response to a common principle. Two natures utterly different, yet complementing each other, were united for the fullilment of a divine purpose. In the story of these two as it proceeds we shall come across failure on both sides, but here the shadows have not gathered, and the faith of Abraham is rewarded in the union of his son, a man of passive faith, with Rebekah, a woman whose faith is adventuresome and bold.
a Wife Sought for Isaac
Gen 24:1-9
It is all-important that the children of Gods people should marry only in the Lord. See 1Co 7:39. So only can we hope to perpetuate, as Malachi teaches, a godly seed. But those who live in fellowship with Him may confidently count on His angels being sent to co-operate in securing this desirable issue. Every marriage should be a matter for profound concern and much prayer, both for the parents of each, as well as for those that are to be wed. What wonder that so many marriages turn out to be a disappointment and a curse when they are entered upon so lightly and thoughtlessly! In this graphic chapter we may find a close analogy to the work of the Holy Spirit, who has come forth during the present age to seek a bride for the Son of God, in the Church that He is gathering out of the world. There is always a peradventure that the soul may be unwilling at first, but He plies it with overwhelming arguments, as we shall see.
Gen 24:23
Just as the relationships of life are natural in themselves, so all the attitudes becoming them and the duties belonging to them should be naturally sustained.
I. There are two springs-one pure, the other tainted-out of which a strained and artificial deportment under such relations may arise. The one is a sense of duty, the other a habit of affectation. The obedience of sonship or daughtership which is yielded merely from a sense of duty is an obedience that has lost its charm. The obedience which springs from affectation is a dangerous burlesque of a beautiful relationship. A loving daughter in a house is like a light shining in it-like starlight to its night and sunbeam to its day. Given a genuine and true-hearted love, and an unselfish devotion, the service and the duty will not be deficient, nor will there be failure to sustain and adorn the filial bond.
II. There is one element and influence only which can make the service perfect. The baptism of a simple Christianity alone can elicit filial growth in all its beauty. The fibre which has twined round the cross of Christ will twine most closely round a parent’s heart.
A. MURSELL, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 195.
References: Gen 24:27.-J. Reid Howatt, The Churchette, p. 53; W. M. Taylor, The Christian at Work, Dec. 13th, 1879. Gen 24:31.-A. B. Grosart, Congregationalist, vol. ii., p. 265. Gen 24:55.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 772.
Gen 24:58
Many Christians believe the great end and aim of life is that they may obtain salvation. But God never created us merely that we might be saved. Had that been His object, He would have answered His purpose best by placing us beyond the reach of moral evil. God calls us to prepare for the bridal union of eternity. In one sense we are united to Christ now, because His Spirit dwells in us. But by the long discipline of life our will is subjugated and brought into conformity with the Divine will, so that God’s will and man’s will become identified; and out of the two there is made one in the bridal union of eternity.
I. What is the first condition of discipleship if we are called to be the Bride of the Lamb? We are called to leave all and follow Christ. Rebekah knew nothing of Isaac, except what Eliezer told her; she had to judge of his position and wealth by the steward’s testimony. It seemed a great deal to ask, that she should leave home and friends and give herself over to a stranger. Yet she went, and she never regretted her choice.
II. A great deal had to be given up by Rebekah, and a great deal will have to be given up by us. She had to leave her nearest and dearest friends; we may have to make no less real a sacrifice.
III. As Eliezer encouraged Rebekah by giving her the jewels from Isaac, so God encourages us by the promises in His word.
IV. No time was lost in starting. Laban suggested a delay of ten days, but Eliezer said, “Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way.” Rebekah was no stranger to woman’s weakness, but she would not risk delay, and when the question is put, the answer is decisive, “I will go.”
W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons, 3rd series, p. 51.
Gen 24:63
Meditating was the same to Isaac that it is to us. Under all skies, in all times, thought has flowed in the same channel and observed the same laws. It is those who love to meditate that are most open to impressions from nature. It is the open eye before which the vision passes. Notice:
I. The man who meditates. Isaac’s meditations would be very different from those of a more stirring, energetic character; above all, very different from those of a mere secular man. A man’s meditations are the pure outcome of what he is. The word itself is suggestive. It means to be in the midst of a matter, to have it in your very centre. Do not be afraid of losing yourself in meditation. The more you lose yourself in great themes the better. The dream is the way to reality, but let it be reality and impression and abiding results that you are seeking. The Hebrew word here rendered meditate means also to pray. The meditation of a devout spirit on almost anything will soon run into prayer.
II. Meditation and nature. Isaac went out to the field to meditate. The variety of nature draws us out. We all tend to make self a prison, and this leading us out of ourselves is perhaps the main benefit of nature. Nature takes down our prison walls. The twitter of a bird in a bush can emancipate us. Nature whispers of the supernatural, and the fleeting preaches the eternal.
III. Meditation and time. Isaac meditated in the evening. The evening is the darling hour of meditation. The quiet gloaming, with its glamour and mystery, its long shadows and dying light, whispers into the heart of man. Meditation is the twilight of thought. Its region lies between this world and the next, between definite ideas and dimmest yearnings. No one ever loved Christ deeply-no one ever was strong or high or pure or deep in any way without meditation.
J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 304.
References: Gen 24:63.-G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 267; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 228; W. Meller, Village Homilies, p. 61. Gen 24:66.-Parker, vol. i., p. 246. Gen 24:67.-R. S. Candlish, Book of Genesis, vol. i., p. 428; Bishop Thorold, The Yoke of Christ, p. 247; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 310. Gen 24-T. Guthrie, Studies of Character from the Old Testament, p. 61.
CHAPTER 24 The Bride Sought for Isaac
1. The commission to the servant (Gen 24:1-9)
2. The obedience and prayer of the servant (Gen 24:10-14)
3. The prayer answered (Gen 24:15-21)
4. The gifts of the servant (Gen 24:22-26)
5. The servant received (Gen 24:27-33)
6. The servants message (Gen 24:34-36)
7. The commission and answered prayer stated (Gen 24:37-49)
8. The bride chosen (Gen 24:50-60)
9. The journey to meet Isaac. (Gen 24:61)
10. The meeting and the marriage (Gen 24:62-67)
This is one of the longest chapters in the Bible. The connection with the previous chapters is obvious. All has a typical meaning. The promised son is the type of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was upon the altar and taken from the altar we saw a prophetic picture of the death and resurrection of our Lord. In the preceding chapter the death of Sarah stands for the national death of Israel from whom Christ came according to the flesh; this national setting aside of Israel occurred after Christ was risen from the dead and had returned to the Father. And here in chapter 24 we behold Isaac, the son and heir, with the father and the father sending forth his servant to seek a bride for Isaac. Typically we see in this chapter the call and homebringing of her, who is the comfort of the Son, after Israels failure and national death, the church.
Abraham is now old (140 years). He was very rich in possessions, but his greatest treasure was the son of his love who was with him in Canaan. And Isaac is the fathers delight and the object of his love and thoughts. He is to have a wife to share his riches. In sending forth the servant (probably Eleazar) Abraham tells him twice, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The son is not to leave the fathers side; the bride is to be brought to him. And Abraham is assured of the success of the mission of the servant.
The application is easily made. Canaan, where the three dwell, Abraham, the father; Isaac, the son, and the servant, is the type of the heavens. Abraham typifies the Father and Isaac the Son. The Son who died, raised from the dead, seated as the Heir of all things at the right hand of God, is to have one destined from before the foundation of the world to share His riches and His glory. For her, the Church, He died and purchased her with His blood. For the pearl of great price He sold all He had.
And whom does the servant foreshadow? He is the oldest servant; he ruled over all Abraham had; he was with him from the beginning. Who is represented by the servant who went forth in obedience and whose sublime mission was crowned with such results? The servant is the type of the Holy Spirit. He was sent forth after Christ was glorified and with the day of Pentecost He began His blessed mission on earth. The testimony of the Holy Spirit and His work in calling out the church is blessedly foreshadowed in this chapter. He testified of the Father and the Son; how rich the father is and that Isaac is the heir of all the riches. And so the Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself but of the Father and of the Son and makes known the eternal purposes of the Father, and as the Servants mission did not fail, so the mission of the Holy Spirit in the present age cannot fail.
And richer still, in typical meaning, is the story of the chosen one, Rebekah. We give a very few hints. She heard the message the servant brought. She believed all he said. She had never seen Isaac and she was attracted to him. The jewels of silver and of gold and the raiment the servant gave to Rebekah were the evidences of the riches of the unseen bridegroom and the tokens of his love. And when they asked her, Wilt thou go with this man? she answered, I will go. There was no delay.
All is very simple in its application. The sinner hears the testimony and is to believe the report. If the Word is received in faith and accepted then we receive the earnest of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit. The heart through grace becomes detached from the world and attached to Him, who loveth us and whom we love, though we have never seen Him.
The servant took Rebekah and went his way. He took charge of her. How long the journey lasted we do not know. Most likely she was ignorant of the journey and how soon she was to meet Isaac. But the bridegroom Isaac must have ever been in her heart and before her eyes. And so are Gods called out ones, who constitute the church, while on the journey, in charge and keeping of the Holy Spirit. We do not know how long the journey towards the meeting place may last.
From the well of Lahai-roi (the living and the seeing one) Isaac came. Isaac and Rebekah met. The servant presented her to Isaac and gave his report. As Isaac came forth from Lahai-roi, so our Lord will come forth from the place where He is now. He will come into the air to meet His own (1Th 4:15-18). No doubt Isaac waited for Rebekah and as Rebekah expected to meet him so are we to wait for His Son from heaven. We shall see Him as He is. Before the night came Isaac took her into his tent, and then the marriage (Rev. 19).
And Abraham
The entire chapter is highly typical:
(1) Abraham, type of a certain king who would make a marriage for his son Mat 22:2; Joh 6:44.
(2) the unnamed servant, type of the Holy Spirit, who does not “speak of himself,” but takes of the things of the Bridegroom with which to win the bride Joh 16:13; Joh 16:14.
(3) the servant, type of the Spirit as enriching the bride with the Bridegroom’s gifts Gal 5:22; 1Co 12:7-11.
(4) the servant, type of the Spirit as bringing the bride to the meeting with the Bridegroom Act 13:4; Act 16:6; Act 16:7; Rom 8:11; 1Th 4:14-16.
(5) Rebekah, type of the Church, the ecclesia, the “called out” virgin bride of Christ Gen 24:16; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25-32.
(6) Isaac, type of the Bridegroom, “whom not having seen,” the bride loves through the testimony of the unnamed Servant 1Pe 1:8.
(7) Isaac, type of the Bridegroom who goes out to meet and receive His bride Gen 24:63; 1Th 4:14-16.
was old: Gen 18:11, Gen 21:5, Gen 25:20, 1Ki 1:1, Luk 1:7
well stricken in age: Heb. gone into days
blessed: Gen 24:35, Gen 12:2, Gen 13:2, Gen 49:25, Psa 112:1-3, Pro 10:22, Isa 51:2, Mat 6:33, Gal 3:9, Eph 1:3, 1Ti 4:8
Reciprocal: Gen 26:12 – blessed Act 10:7 – two
Seeking a Wife for Isaac
Gen 24:1-26
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. A remarkable co-incidence. As the Word of God tells the story of Sarah’s death, it tells, also, the story of Rebekah’s birth. Gen 23:2 says, “And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba.” Gen 22:23 reads: “And Bethuel begat Rebekah.” Rebekah’s birth is recorded just three verses before Sarah’s death is recorded.
There is a lesson for us in all of this. While one may pass on, another comes in to fill up the gap, and to carry forward the Word and the work of God.
None of us should ever imagine that the world cannot run without us. The world needs us only until our task is completed, and our race is run, God has some one else ready to fill in the ranks. The births offset the deaths.
2. A striking statement. When Abraham wanted to bury Sarah, we read, that he stood up before the sons of lieth, saying, “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
Does it not appeal to you as most strange, that the man to whom God said, “All this land will I give unto thee,” had no place to bury his dead? He was the inheritor of the most remarkable country on the face of the earth, and yet, he actually possessed nothing.
Is there not in all of this a lesson for us? We too have possessions that are unspeakable in their glory, and wealth; and yet, we may not have a place to lay our head. This was certainly true of our Lord Jesus Christ. He created all things. The cattle on a thousand hills are His; the silver and the gold are His; the earth and the fullness thereof are His, and yet, He moved among men humbled and impoverished.
3. A glorious confession. When Abraham asked the children of Heth for a burying plot, they said, “Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead.”
To us it is worthy of note that God’s servant, though a stranger and a pilgrim among men, was, withal, acknowledged by men as a mighty prince. The world saw that the hand of God was upon Abraham to own him and to bless him.
4. An outstanding adaptation. When Abraham was offered a field and was pressed upon to receive it as a gift, he bowed himself before the people of the land and insisted that he would give money for the field. Thus, Ephron, being entreated, accepted Abraham’s request and the bargain was made. Then did Abraham adapt himself to the custom of the land in which he dwelt, and he weighed out the silver which had been named, even four hundred shekels, current money with the merchants.
I. ABRAHAM’S GREAT DESIRE (Gen 24:1-4)
1. Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. He knew that Isaac his son was the child of promise. He knew that Isaac’s son would be in line of the seed of the woman, who was destined not only to bruise Satan’s head, but also to sit upon His throne. For this cause Abraham had great concern relative to the wife who should be chosen for Isaac.
Thus, Abraham caused his aged servant to swear by the Lord God of Heaven, that he would not take a wife unto Isaac of the daughters of the Canaanites.
2. Marriage at all times is a matter of deep responsibility and import. He who is seeking him a wife, should consider not only his personal likes and dislikes, but he should look beyond the woman of his own choice, and see in her the mother of his children, and of generations yet unborn. Marriage is meaningful beyond the lifetime of the one who is joined in wedlock, and must be weighed in the light of coming generations.
It was for this cause that Abraham made his provision concerning the taking of a wife for Isaac, saying, “Thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.”
3. Matrimony should be lifted up out of the mire of the swine-herd, and be recognized as the most sacred and hallowed relationship which God has given unto man.
II. ABRAHAM’S APPEAL TO GOD (Gen 24:5-8)
1. The servant’s inquiry. Abraham’s servant said, “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 thou camest?”
2. Abraham’s reply. “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.” Then Abraham said, “The Lord God of Heaven * * shall send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.”
The above is so filled with spiritual suggestions that we cannot refrian from saying that God is now choosing a bride for His Son, even for our Lord and Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, will not come back again to take His wife, but she must go forth unto Him.
The servant of Abraham seemed to think that it might be necessary for Isaac to appear upon the scene, if a bride were to be made willing to go with him. Abraham, however, asserted that God would undertake, that the Angel of the Lord would go before his servant to get a wife for Isaac.
This is exactly what we have today. Ministers of Jesus Christ are everywhere preaching and pleading with men to accept the Lord Jesus, and to take upon themselves their vows of love and fidelity toward One whom they have not seen.
Ministers of the Gospel and Christian workers do not deem it necessary that Christ should return, that, with His own personal power and glory He should win His bride. We believe that God is with us, and that He is calling out of the nations a people for His Name, a Bride for His Son. The Heavenly nuptials will take place in the air, where the Marriage Supper will be set.
Let us remember God’s Word, “Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; * * These are the true sayings of God.”
III. THE SERVANT’S DEPARTURE (Gen 24:10-11)
1. Let us observe a statement couched in the middle of verse ten. It reads: “All the goods of his master were in his hand.” Is not this true today? The Lord Jesus Christ said, “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth, Go * * and, lo, “I am with you.”
As Abraham’s servant had the goods of his master in his hand, so have we the goods of our Lord in our hand. We are sure that in the case of the servant there was no squandering of Abraham’s goods; neither will there be any waste upon our part. True servants are trusted servants, and they safeguard the things which pertain to their master’s welfare.
2. Abraham’s servant made a long journey in order to place himself upon the ground from whence a wife for Isaac was to be chosen.
The Holy Spirit likewise made a long journey, as He descended from God out of Heaven, and came to earth that He might press the claims of Christ, and choose for Him His Bride.
We, too, should be willing to join with the Spirit, in going, if need be, to the ends of the earth to carry the story of our Isaac that the Bride may be made ready.
3. A picture of expectancy. When the servant arrived at Nahor he made his camel’s kneel down without the city, by a well of water. To us this bespeaks the fact that the servant was expecting God to send unto him the woman of His choice for Isaac’s bride. Whenever we work, let us work expecting God to undertake in our behalf.
IV. THE SERVANT’S PRAYER (Gen 24:12-14)
1. The basis of the servant’s plea. The servant said, “God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.” The servant thought not of himself, or of his own worth, as he made his plea for kindness. He prayed in behalf of another, and for the sake of another.
When we come to the Father, we would not dare to seek approach upon merits of our own. We, too, plead the merits of Another. We pray, “for Jesus’ sake,” and, “in His Name.” He, Himself, said, “No man cometh unto the Father, tut by Me.”
2. The manner of the servant’s plea. The servant approached God in reverence. He said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray Thee.” There was no undue familiarity with Deity in his address. He realized himself a servant, and he kept a servant’s place.
When we pray we should say, “Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.” The recent day custom of addressing Deity with such familiar words as “you” and “your,” appear to us as expressing too much of self effrontery. It is as though we said, “We are equal with the Divine.” We know that we are sons, but even a son should show honor to his father. There is the honor and dignity of years, and of headship, even in the earthly home. How much more should we reverentially bow in the presence of our Heavenly Father!
3. The request. Two things were outstanding in the request made. First, the servant said, “Send me good speed this day.” Secondly, he said, “Shew kindness unto my master.” There was a third prayer which is expressed in Gen 24:14, “Let it come to pass.”
“Good speed,” “Kindness,” “Let it come to pass.” The first pled the power of God, the second pled the considerateness of God, and the third pled the directive purpose of God.
V. THE DEFINITENESS OF THE SERVANT’S REQUEST (Gen 24:14)
1. The servant asked a hard thing of God. He said, “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 be she that Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac.”
We are astonished at the servant’s request. He sought immediate results. He had arrived at Nahor and he made request that the first damsel that came up with her pitcher to the well of water might be the selection of God for Isaac.
2. The servant specified certain details. He asked that the damsel who came up might give him to drink; and like-wise, that she might request the privilege of giving the camels to drink also. We have long been of the opinion that prayers of generalities mean but little, and get nowhere. God wants us to be specific in our request. He wants us to lay our case before Him in a definite and comprehensive way.
3. The servant sought a sign from God. He said, “Thereby shall I know that Thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.” It may not always be right to put God to the test, and, to seek from Him a sign; and yet, in this case, at least, God gladly granted all that the servant asked. Gideon asked that the fleece might be wet and the ground dry. He asked again that the ground might be wet and the fleece dry. In each case, God answered prayer.
God does many things for us, when we ask according to His will. He delights in our asking the unusual thing, and the thing impossible with man. “Whatever else may be said of the prayer of Abraham’s servant, he believed in a God who could do great things. He prayed as though he were working together with God, and walking according to the will of God. He felt that God was more interested in securing a wife for Isaac than was he.
VI. ANSWERED PRAYER (Gen 24:15-21)
1. Answers to prayer may precede the petitions of prayer. Before ever the servant of Abraham began to pray, Rebekah had evidently left her home; and before the servant had finished his prayer, Rebekah was approaching the well. Have we not read, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear?”
2. Action should follow request. As the servant saw the damsel approaching, he ran to meet her, and said, “Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.” This was a part of a prayer which was dependent upon the petitioner. He had asked that the damsel to whom he should say, “Let down thy pitcher,” might be God’s choice, therefore, he had to do the asking. There are many prayers in which we must co-operate with God. God furnished the oil for the waterpots, but the widow and her son furnished the pots. Christ healed the man with the withered hand, but the man with the. withered hand stretched it forth.
3. An answered prayer. Rebekah said, “Drink, my lord.” When the servant had done drinking, she said, “I will draw water for thy camels also.” Thus were fulfilled the details of the servant’s request. Most delightsome of all was the fact that Rebekah hasted to let down her pitcher for the servant to drink, and she hasted in filling the trough for the camels, and ran again to draw water from the well. As we read these verses we marvel at a wonder-working God.
4. God does more than we ask. Gen 24:16 stands out with marvelous beauty. “And the damsel was very fair to look upon.” The servant had not asked that the daughter who came should be very fair to look upon, and yet it was so. As the servant stood that day and saw the answer to his prayer, and the beauty of Rebekah’s countenance; he wondered at her, and held his peace. When God begins to work we marvel.
VII. ABRAHAM’S MUNIFICENCE (Gen 24:22-26)
1. Gifts of gold. As soon as the camels had done drinking the man took a golden earring, two bracelets, both of gold, and presented them to Rebekah. The gifts came, of course, from the hand of Abraham. Our God is not slack in giving large gifts to those who serve and follow Him. His gifts are not meager, and paltry. He does give temporal blessings according to our needs, but the real munificence of the Father is seen in the spiritual blessings which are ours in Heavenly places. Temporals soon pass away, but the spirituals outlast the sun.
2. A room for lodging. The servant asked Rebekah, “Whose daughter art thou?” He, also, asked, “Is. there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?” She quickly replied: “I am the daughter of Bethuel * * We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.” It was thus that the servant sought the opportunity to press his claims in behalf of Isaac for Rebekah’s hand.
As he saw the door of opportunity opening, and as he sensed Divine leadership, he bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.
We all need to count our blessings, and to reverently praise God for every good and perfect gift. He who receives from the hand of God and fails to recognize that hand is base indeed. Were there not ten lepers cleansed, but where were the nine? “There are not found that returned,” said Christ, “to give thanks to God, save this stranger.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
TASTERS, NOT BUYERS
Thank God for men who pray. Abraham’s servant prayed, and God wants us to pray.
“‘The hearer’s life is the preacher’s best commendation. They that praise the man but do not practice the matter are like those that taste wines that they may commend them, not buy them.’ What a worry such folk are to dealers who are in earnest to do business! Time is wasted, labor lost, hopes disappointed. Oh, that these loafers and idlers would take themselves off from our market! We set forth the precious produce of Heaven’s own vintage, and hope that they will buy of us; but no, they lift the glass, and talk like thorough connoisseurs, and then go off without coming to a bargain. Sermons which we have studied with care, delivered with travail, prayed over, and wept over, are praised for such minor matters as taste, accuracy, and diction, and the truth they contain is not received. We cannot bring our hearers to a decided bargain, though our wares are the best that Heaven can supply, Will it always be so? Reader, has it been so with you? Is it to be so still?”-C. H. S.
ISAACS MARRIAGE, ABRAHAMS DEATH
In Abrahams time, communications between families separated by long distances were few and far between. But he seems to have gotten news from his brothers home sometime after the birth of Isaac, as recorded at the close of chapter 22, linking that chapter to the one we are now considering.
SELECTING THE BRIDE (Gen 24:1-52)
Notice the preparation made by Abraham for Isaacs marriage (Gen 24:1-9), the oath he administers to his servant, the condition he exacts, the prohibition he places upon him, the assurances he gives him, the exemption he grants.
It may not at first appear why Abraham is so solicitous that Isaacs wife shall be taken from his own people rather than the Canaanites, since both were idolaters. But the evil traits of the Canaanites, which afterwards caused them to be driven out of the land, must have been apparent to Abraham even then; moreover there may have been something in this people on the other side of the Euphrates making them more amenable to the purposes of God with reference to the coming Seed, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed. But it is always to be kept in mind that Abraham was under the guidance of God, and that there was more than mans wisdom or foresight in this transaction.
Notice the preparation made by the servant for his journey (Gen 24:10-14), and observe that the gifts were a dowry for the expected bride, to be paid, however, in accordance with oriental custom, not to her but to her father. How does the servant show his knowledge of the true God? How does his prayer illustrate Pro 3:5-6? And yet there is another side to the matter, for it is ill-advised to leave the decisions of life to the arbitrament of signs, and grievous errors have arisen from accrediting God with the outcome of them. When we have the Word of God, the Spirit of God and providences of God for our guides, and the throne of grace open to our appeals, it is expected and doubtless salutary that we bear the responsibility of our own decisions in difficult places. Indeed, we are likely to show more reverence for and confidence in Gods guidance in this way than in the other.
Notice the facts about Rebekah in Gen 24:15-28.
Notice the servants faithfulness in Gen 24:29-52. Do we get a touch of Labans character in Gen 24:30-31? How does it impress you? How does the servant testify to Abraham and his son in Gen 24:35-36? What is the result of the embassy so far as the father and brother of Rebekah are concerned? Which of the two seems to assume the more importance?
ACCEPTING THE HUSBAND (Gen 24:53-61)
Notice the additional gifts now presented to Rebekah. But who else are also remembered? What objection is interposed, by whom, and why? Who settles the question, and how? What blessing is pronounced upon her? Do you think it has been, or will be, fulfilled?
THE MARRIAGE RITE (Gen 24:62-67)
Notice how Isaac is represented in Gen 24:63. Was he thinking about his bride? Notice the action of Rebekah, which was an indication of the inferiority to men with which women were then regarded. It would have been improper for Rebekah to have approached her future husband either unveiled or riding, instead of walking. What title did the servant give to Isaac, and what report did he make to him? In what did the wedding ceremony consist? What must have been the significance to the whole camp in this act of Isaac in bringing Rebekah into his mother Sarahs tent? Did it now show that she had now come into that place of importance and authority theretofore occupied by Sarah, and belonging by right to her, who was the recognized wife of the head of the clan?
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TRANSACTION
We have, in this beautiful story, a striking type of the union between Christ and His bride, the Church:
(1)Abraham arranged the marriage for Isaac, and so the Father has made the marriage for Christ (Mat 22:1-2); The servant selected the bride, and so the Holy Spirit calls out the Church (1Co 6:11; 1Co 12:3; 1Co 12:13); The plan of the servant was simply to tell who his master was, and how he had honored his son, and so the Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them unto us (Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13-15).
See further the free agency of the bride in accepting Isaac, and the expression of her purpose in the words I will go; also, the separation from loved ones, but the compensation for all in anticipation.
Observe, as well, Isaacs coming out to meet her in the eventide, with its suggestion of Christs return for His Church at the close of the present age (Joh 14:1-3); and even his leading Rebekah into his mothers tent, how it foreshadows the place of authority and glory the Church shall have when she reigns with Christ over the millennial earth (Mat 19:28; 1Co 6:2; Col 3:4; Rev 20:4-6).
THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM (Gen 25:1-10)
It is presumable that Abrahams relationship to Keturah was entered into sometime before the marriage of Isaac, and indeed it may have been before his birth. This seems probable, since Gen 25:6, as well as 1Ch 1:32, speaks of her as his concubine, and not his wife. The occasion for the allusion to the matter is suggested by the servants remark in the preceding chapter concerning the possessions of Isaac (compare Gen 24:36 with Gen 25:5). In other words, the gifts to the offspring of Keturah and the settlement of the latter in the east were matters that had been attended to before the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.
Note the age of Abraham (Gen 25:7), and the way in which his departure from this life is designated (Gen 25:8), affording an intimation of the conscious and sentient condition of the dead while awaiting the resurrection of their bodies.
QUESTIONS
1.What connection do you see between chapters 22 and 24?
2.Can you give any reasons for Abrahams solicitude about the wife of Isaac?
3.Can you quote from memory Pro 3:5-6?
4.Can you name four or five features in which the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah symbolizes the union of Christ and His Church?
5.Recall three or four features in which Abrahams life-story illustrates Rom 4:20, last clause.
Abraham’s Servant Finds Rebekah
Abraham would have been one hundred thirty-seven at the time of Sarah’s death. He made his oldest servant promise to find a wife for Isaac. He made him swear he would not select a woman from among the Canaanites but would return to Mesopotamia. Abraham assured the servant God would send an angel before him to make sure of a good selection. The servant loaded goods and gifts on camels to make the journey of over five hundred miles back to the region of Abraham’s original home. Outside the city of Nahor, the servant made his camels kneel beside a well. He then prayed God would guide him in the selection of a wife for Isaac. He asked God to cause the woman to not only give him drink but also to water his camels.
Sometime after Abraham was tested, he learned his brother Nahor had children byMilcah. One of those children was Bethuel, the father of Rebekah. It was this beautiful young woman who was the answer to the servant’s prayer. After she had watered the camels, the servant gave her a gold ring for her nose and two golden bracelets. When she identified herself as the daughter of Bethuel and descendant of Nahor, the servant bowed to give God thanks for providentially leading him to the right woman ( Gen 24:1-27 ).
Gen 24:1. Abraham was old One hundred and forty years of age, as appears by comparing Gen 21:5, with Gen 25:20. This was about three years after Sarahs death, and when Isaac was forty years old. So that, although a numerous progeny was so much desired, no great haste was made to get Isaac married. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things And yet Abraham had many and severe trials; but even these were blessings in disguise.
Gen 24:1. The Lord had blessed Abraham with all the four patriarchal blessings: viz. length of days, a promising issue, vast riches, and victory over his oppressors.
Gen 24:2. Under my thigh. The Jews affirm that Abraham here swore his servant by the covenant of circumcision, and by the promise of the Messiah who was to descend from his loins. Jacob required Joseph to take an oath in this manner. Gen 47:29. So the princes and the mighty men, according to the margin, put their hands under Solomon. 1Ch 29:24. But under the christian dispensation, when the angel of the Lord swore, he lifted up his hand to heaven. Rev 10:5-6.
Gen 24:4. To my kindred. Abraham here asks not for beauty, nor for riches. He solicits virtue, which is the foundation of all personal and family happiness. A woman of piety, and of good understanding, is in herself a treasure which cannot be estimated.
Gen 24:6. Bring not my son thither again. He knew the sure promise of God to give the land of Canaan to his posterity; a return therefore of the family to Mesopotamia would have been to abandon the promise through unbelief. It would have been as the revolt in the desert to make a captain general, and return into Egypt. What a caveat to christians against a heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. The caution of the steward is equally to be noted. Of a false oath he had no idea; but he feared a failure in the object of the oath, the refusal of the virgin, for daughters of Rebekahs age were not to be forced away, even by parents. It were devoutly to be wished that all christians had the like ideas of an oath to the Lord. Perjury is the sure road to meet with a curse, instead of a blessing: nor do we see how a perjured man can obtain a pardon without confession.
Gen 24:10. Ten camels, on which Rebekah and her maidens might return, with their effects, with himself and servants.
Gen 24:31. Come in, thou blessed of the Lord. Laban, though he worshipped other gods; yet had not forsaken the worship of JEHOVAH, nor had he ceased to salute in his name. Bethuel being old, Laban seems to act for his father.
Gen 24:33. Not eat until, &c. He only is a good servant who prefers his duty to his master before his own interest or honour. Abraham had appreciated his talents and his worth, and therefore put all his affairs in his hand.
Gen 24:42. O Lord God, &c. Proceedings of such vast importance are not to be undertaken without prayer to the God of providence and grace. They are alike eventful for life, and eventful to posterity. Yea all our proceedings are to be accompanied with prayers, for the smallest occurrences are often productive of great results.
Gen 24:43. The virgin: not only chaste in body, but pure in mind. The heathen had these ideas of a virgin; and therefore a vestal virgin was dismissed from the temple for wantonly reciting this verse,
Flis nupt! moriar, nisi nubere dulce est.
Oh happy marriage! I shall die, except I taste of its felicity.
Gen 24:49. And now, if you will deal kindly and truly with my master. Just so, ministers who seek to bring sinners to Jesus Christ should urge their pleas, and imitate the spirit of this faithful servant. They may, indeed they ought, to improve circumstances in the sacred writings after the manner of the prophets, of our Lord himself, and his apostles; and they may do so, without running into the insipidity and weakness of mystical allegory; an error common to the Greek and Latin fathers.
Gen 24:67. He loved her as his wife, specially pointed out for him by providence, and a boon sent of God. Her personal worth and beauty commanded a full return of affection. She had left, like Abraham, her country, her parents, and her kindred, to be his consort for life. She had embarked her all in Isaacs hope, and Isaacs lot. Just so should the church leave all for Christ, as a chaste virgin spotless in purity.
REFLECTIONS.
To see children established, and especially an only son, must be a wish extremely natural to a pious and worn out parent; and his prayers and solicitude on so important a subject shall not be unattended with the direction and blessing of the Almighty.
Did the wise and venerable patriarch exact the most solemn oath of his steward, that he would not take Isaac a wife of the daughters of the land, because they were idolaters, and accursed for their wickedness? And shall christians be less cautious in forming connections with worldly characters, with persons devoted to vanity and dress; and accustomed to attend balls and theatres, whose minds have early been corrupted by habits of effeminacy and novel reading. Can this be less injurious to the soul of a regenerate youth, than a daughter of Canaan would have proved to Isaac. St. Paul has ascertained and fixed the liberty of christians, to marry only in the Lord: and a man who begins the world by breaking Gods word, generally eats the fruit of his own doings. When he overlooks pious and converted women in the church, and seeks beauty and fortune in the world, his prayers for a blessing are to God, as when the Israelites loathed the manna and asked for flesh.
In Abraham, parents so circumstanced, have a high model of piety and disinterestedness. He sought nothing for his son but a woman educated in the purest principles of hospitality, and virtuous modesty. They have only to follow his piety and prudence.
Providence attended the effort of Abraham with the most happy and singular success. So if young men are content to wait till they are of a proper age, and have the means of providing for a wife and family; if they refuse blindly to follow passion, seeking divine direction in every step, the Lord will fulfil to them and their families every promise of the new covenant; and it is better for them to go to the most distant parts for a help meet in the faith, than to marry the fairest alien at home.
In the uprightness with which the steward served Abraham, all servants entrusted with their masters affairs have a model approaching perfection. How judicious, diligent, and pious was this man in all his measures! He loitered not a day in his mission, but expedited it, as though he had been acting solely for himself. What honour and credit does it reflect on religion, when persons in a menial or subordinate station serve their earthly masters, looking with a single eye to their great Master who is in heaven. On the other hand when a man blessed with affluence, finds a confidential servant, wise and discreet in the management of his affairs, he should be regarded as no small gift of providence: nor should such a man, in his old age, go without an adequate reward.
Lastly, Isaac, after the toils of the day, retired from the noise of his camp, for meditation in rural solitude; and in this he has left to all young men a pattern how their evenings should be spent. Youth is the happy period for getting acquainted with God, and with his truth, and for acquiring deep and solid piety: and for this purpose they should shun the vain amusements of the age, and so improve their minds as to lay up a good foundation for the time to come. Almost every character distinguished in the church, began early to acquaint himself with God, and with his word.
Genesis 24
The connection of this chapter, with the two which precede it, is worthy of notice. In Gen. 22 the son is offered up; in Gen. 23 Sarah is laid aside; and in Gen. 24 the servant is sent forth to procure a bride for him who had been, as it were, received from the dead in a figure. This connection, in a very striking manner, coincides with the order of events connected with the calling out of the Church. whether this coincidence is to be regarded as of divine origin, will, it may be, raise a question in the minds of some; but it must at least be regarded as not a little remarkable.
When me turn to the New Testament, the grand events which meet our view are, first, the rejection and death of Christ; secondly, the setting aside of Israel after the flesh; and, lastly, the calling out of the Church to occupy the high position of the bride of the Lamb.
Now, all this exactly corresponds with the contents of this and the two preceding chapters. The death of Christ needed to be an accomplished fact, ere the Church, properly so called, could be called out. “The middle wall of partition” needed to be broken down, ere the “One new man” could be developed. It is well to understand this in order that we may know the place which the Church occupies in the ways of God. So long as the Jewish economy subsisted there was the most strict separation maintained between Jew and Gentile, and hence the idea of both being united in one new man was far removed from the mind of a Jew. He was led to view himself in a position of entire superiority to that of a gentile, and to view the latter as utterly unclean, to whom it was unlawful to come in. (Acts 10: 28)
If Israel had walked with God according to the truth of the relationship into which He had graciously brought them, they would have continued in their peculiar place of separation and superiority; but this they did not do; and, therefore, when they had filled up the measure of their iniquity, by crucifying the Lord of life and glory, and rejecting the testimony of the Holy Ghost, we find St. Paul is raised up to be the minister of a new thing, which was held back in the counsels of God, while the testimony to Israel was going on. “For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets (i.e., New Testament prophets, tois hagiois apostolois autou kai prophetais) by the Spirit; that the gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” (Eph. 3: 1-6) This is conclusive. The mystery of the Church, composed of Jew and Gentile, baptised by one Spirit into one body, united to the glorious Head in the heavens, had never been revealed until Paul’s day. Of this mystery the apostle goes on to say, “I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me, by the effectual working of his power.” (Ver. 7) The apostles and prophets of the New Testament formed, as it were, the first layer of this glorious building. (See Eph. 2: 20) This being so, it follows, as a consequence, that the building could not have been begun before. If the building had been going on from the days of Abel, downwards, the apostle would then have said, “the foundation of the Old Testament saints.” But he has not said so, and therefore we conclude that, whatever be the position assigned to the Old Testament saints, they cannot possibly belong to a body which had no existence, save in the purpose of God, until the death and resurrection of Christ, and the consequent descent of the Holy Ghost. Saved they were, blessed be God; saved by the blood of Christ, and destined to enjoy heavenly glory with the Church; but they could not have formed a part of that which did not exist for hundreds of years after their time.
It were easy to enter upon a more elaborate demonstration of this most important truth, were this the place for so doing; but I shall now go on with our chapter, having merely touched upon a question of commanding interest, because of its being suggested by the position of Genesis 24.
There may be a question, in some minds, as to whether we are to view this deeply-interesting portion of scripture as a type of the calling out of the Church by the Holy Ghost. For myself, I feel happier in merely handling it as an illustration of that glorious work. We cannot suppose that the Spirit of God would occupy an unusually long chapter with the mere detail of a family compact, were that compact not typical or illustrative of some great truth. “whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning.” This is emphatic. What, therefore, are we to learn from the chapter before us? I believe it furnishes us with a beautiful illustration or foreshadowing of the great mystery of the Church. It is important to see that, while there is no direct revelation of this mystery in the Old Testament, there are, nevertheless, scenes and circumstances which, in a very remarkable manner, shadow it forth; as, for example, the chapter before us. As has been remarked, the son being, in a figure, offered up, and received again from the dead; the original parent stem, as it were, being laid aside, the messenger is sent forth by the father to procure a bride for the son.
Now, in order to the clear and full understanding of the contents of the entire chapter, we may consider the following points, viz., 1, the oath; 2, the testimony; 3, the result. It is beautiful to observe that the call and exaltation of Rebekah were founded upon the oath between Abraham and his servant. She knew nothing of this, though she was, in the purpose of God, so entirely the subject of it all. So is it exactly with the Church of God as a whole and each constituent part. “In thy book were all my members written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them.” (Ps. 139: 16) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” (Eph. 1: 3, 4) “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Rom. 8: 20, 30) These scriptures are all in beautiful harmony with the point immediately before us. The call, the justification, and the glory of the Church, are all founded on the eternal purpose of God – His word and oath, ratified by the death, resurrection, and exaltation of the Son. Far back, beyond the bounds of time, in the deep recesses of God’s eternal mind, lay this wondrous purpose respecting the Church, which cannot, by any means, be separated from the divine thought respecting the glory of the Son. The oath between Abraham and the servant had for its object the provision of a partner for the son. It was the father’s desire with respect to the son that led to Rebekah’s after-dignity. It is happy to see this. Happy to see how the Church’s security and blessing stand inseparably connected with Christ and His glory. “For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” (1 Cor. 11: 8, 9) So it is in the beautiful parable of the marriage supper; “the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son.” (Matt. 22: 2) The Son is the Grand object of all the thoughts and counsels of God: and if any are brought into blessing, or glory, or dignity, it can only be in connection with Him. ALL title to these things, and even to life itself, was forfeited by sin; but Christ met all the penalty due to sin; He made Himself responsible for everything on behalf of His body the Church; He was nailed to the cross as her representative He bore her sins in His own body on the tree, and went down into the grave under the full weight of them. Hence, nothing can be more complete than the Church’s deliverance from all that was against her. She is quickened out of the grave of Christ, where all her trespasses were laid. The life which she has is a life taken up at the other side of death, after every possible demand had been met. Hence, this life is connected with, and founded upon, divine righteousness, inasmuch as Christ’s title to life is founded upon His having entirely exhausted the Power of death; and He is the Church’s life. Thus the Church enjoys divine life; she stands in divine righteousness; and the hope that animates her is the hope of righteousness. (See, amongst many other scriptures, John 3: 16, 36; John 5: 39, 40; John 6: 27, 40, 47, 68; John 11: 25; John 17: 2; Rom. 5: 21; Rom. 6: 23; 1 Tim. 1: 16; 1 John 2: 25; 5: 20; Jude 21; Eph. 2: 1-6, 14, 15; Col. 1: 12-22 Col. 2: 10-15; Rom 1: 17; Rom 3: 21-26; Rom 4: 5, 23-25; 2 Cor. 5: 21; Gal. 5: 5)
These scriptures most fully establish the three points, viz., the life, the righteousness, and the hope of the Church, all of which flow from her being one with Him who was raised from the dead. Now, nothing can be so calculated to assure the heart as the conviction that the Church’s existence is essential to the glory of Christ. “The woman is the glory of the man.” (1 Cor. 11: 7) And again, the Church is called “the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 1: 23) This last is a remarkable expression. The word translated “fullness” means the complement, that which, being added to something else, makes up a whole. Thus it is that Christ the Head, and the Church the body, make up the “one new man.” (Eph. 2: 15) Looking at the matter in this point of view, it is no marvel that the Church should have been the object of God’s eternal counsels. When me view her as the body, the Bride, the companion, the counterpart, of His only-begotten Son, we feel that there was, through grace, wondrous reason for her being so thought of before the foundation of the world. Rebekah was necessary to Isaac, and therefore, she was the subject of secret counsel while yet in profound ignorance about her high destiny ALL Abraham’s thought was about Isaac. “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 unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.” Here we see that the all-important point was, “a wife unto my son.” “It is not good that the man should be alone.” This opens up a very deep and blessed view of the Church. In the counsels of God she is necessary to Christ; and in the accomplished work of Christ, divine provision has been made for her being called into existence.
While occupied with such a character of truth as this, it is no longer a question as to whether God can save poor sinners; He actually wants to “make a marriage” for his Son,” and the Church is the destined bride – she is the object of the Father’s purpose, the object of the Son’s love, and of the testimony of the Holy Ghost. She is to be the sharer of all the Son’s dignity and glory, as she is the sharer of all that love of which He has been the everlasting object. Hear His own words, “And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” (John 17: 22, 23) This settles the whole question. The words just quoted give us the thoughts of Christ’s heart in reference to the Church. She is to be as He is, and not only so, but she is so even now, as St. John tells us, “Herein is love perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4: 17) This gives full confidence to the soul. “We are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (2 John 5: 20) There is here no ground for uncertainty. Everything is secured for the bride in the bridegroom. ALL that belonged to Isaac became Rebekah’s because Isaac was hers; and so all that belongs to Christ is made available to the Church. “ALL things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Cor. 3: 21-23) Christ is “head over all things to the Church.” (Eph. 1: 22) It will be His joy, throughout eternity, to exhibit the Church in all the glory and beauty with which He has endowed her, for her glory and beauty will be but the reflection of His. Angels and principalities shall behold in the Church the marvellous display of the wisdom, power, and grace of God in Christ.
But we shall now look at the second point for consideration, viz., the testimony. Abraham’s servant carried with him a very distinct testimony. “And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the Lord hath blessed My master greatly, and he is become greet; and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men servants, and maid servants, and camels, and asses. and Sarah, my master’s wife, bare a son to my master when she was old; and unto him hath he given all that he hath.” (Ver. 34-36) He reveals the father and the son. Such was his testimony. He speaks of the vast resources of the father, and of the son’s being endowed with all these in virtue of his being “the only-begotten,” and the object of the father’s love. With this testimony he seeks to obtain a bride for the son.
ALL this, I need hardly remark, is strikingly illustrative of the testimony with which the Holy Ghost was sent from heaven upon the day of Pentecost. “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” (John 15: 26) Again, “Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you.” All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16: 13-15) The coincidence of these words with the testimony of Abraham’s servant is instructive and interesting. It was by telling of Isaac that he sought to attract the heart of Rebekah; and it is, as we know, by telling of Jesus, that the Holy Ghost seeks to draw poor sinners away from a world of sin and folly into the blessed and holy unity of the body of Christ. “He shall take of mine and show it Unto you.” The Spirit of God will never lead any one to look at Himself or His work; but only and always at Christ. Hence, the more really spiritual any one is, the more entirely will he be occupied with Christ.
Some there are who regard it as a great mark of spirituality to be ever looking in at their own hearts, and dwelling upon what they find there, even though that be the work of the Spirit. This is a great mistake. So far from its being a proof of spirituality, it is a proof of the very reverse, for it is expressly declared of the Holy Ghost that “He shall take of mine and show it unto you.” Therefore, whenever one is looking inward, and building on the evidences of the Spirit’s work there, he may be assured he is not led by the Spirit of God, in so doing. It is by holding up Christ that the Spirit draws souls to God. This is very important. The knowledge of Christ is life eternal; and it is the Father’s revelation of Christ, by the Holy Ghost, that constitutes the basis of the Church. When Peter confessed Christ to be the Son of the Living God, Christ’s answer was, “blessed art thou, Simon Barjonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16: 17, 18) What rock? Peter? God forbid. “This rock” (taute te petra) simply means the Father’s revelation of Christ, as the Son of the living God, which is the only means by which any one is introduced into the assembly of Christ. Now this opens to us, very much, the true character of the gospel. It is, pre-eminently and emphatically, a revelation – a revelation not merely of a doctrine, but of a Person – the Person of the Son. This revelation being received by faith, draws the heart to Christ, and becomes the spring of life and power – the ground of membership – the power of fellowship. “When it pleased God…..to reveal His Son in me,” &c. Here we have the true principle of “the rock,” viz., God revealing His Son. It is thus the superstructure is reared up; and on this solid foundation it reposes, according to God’s eternal purpose.
It is therefore peculiarly instructive to find in this 24th of Genesis such a marked and beautiful illustration of the mission and special testimony of the Holy Ghost. Abraham’s servant, in seeking to procure a bride for Isaac, sets forth all the dignity and wealth with which he had been endowed by the father; the love of which he was the object; and, in short, all that was calculated to affect the heart, and draw it off from present things. He showed Rebekah an object in the distance, and set before her the blessedness and reality of being made one with that beloved and highly favoured object. ALL that belonged to Isaac would belong to Rebekah too, when she became part of him. Such was his testimony. Such, also, is the testimony of the Holy Ghost. He speaks of Christ, the glory of Christ, the beauty of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the grace of Christ, “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” the dignity of His Person, and the perfectness of His work.
Moreover, he sets forth the amazing blessedness of being one with such a Christ, “members of His body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” Such is the Spirit’s testimony always; and herein we have an excellent touchstone by which to try all sorts of teaching and preaching. The most spiritual teaching will ever be characterised by a full and constant presentation of Christ. He will ever form the burden of such teaching. The Spirit cannot dwell on ought but Jesus. Of Him He delights to speak. He delights in setting forth His attractions and excellencies. Hence, when a man is ministering by the power of the Spirit of God, there will always a be more of Christ than anything else in his ministry. There will be little room in such ministry for human logic and reasoning. Such things may do very well where a man desires to set forth himself; but the Spirit’s sole object be it well remembered by all who minister – will ever be to set forth Christ.
Let us now look, in the last place, at the result of all this. Truth, and the practical application of truth, are two very different things. It is one thing to speak of the peculiar glories of the Church, and quite another thing to be practically influenced by those glories. In Rebekah’s case the effect was most marked and decisive. The testimony of Abraham’s servant sank down into her ears, and into her heart, and entirely detached her heart’s affections from the scene of things around her. She was ready to leave all and follow after, in order that she might apprehend that for which she had been apprehended. It was morally impossible that she could believe herself to be the subject of such high destinies, and yet continue amid the circumstances of nature. It the report concerning the future were true, attachment to the present was the worst of folly. If the hope of being Isaac’s bride, joint-heir with him of all his dignity and glory, if this were a reality, then to continue to tend Laban’s sheep would be practically to despise all that God had, in grace, set before her.
But, no, the prospect was far too bright to be thus lightly given up. True, she had not yet seen Isaac, nor yet the inheritance, but she had believed the report, the testimony of him, and had received, as it were, the earnest of it, and these were enough for her heart; and hence she unhesitatingly arises and expresses her readiness to depart in the memorable words,” I will go.” “She was fully prepared to enter upon an unknown path in companionship with one who had told her of an object far away, and of a glory connected with him, to which she was about to be raised. “I will go,” said she, and “forgetting the things which were behind, and reaching forth toward the things which were before, she pressed toward the mark for the prize of her high calling.” Most touching and beautiful illustration this of the Church, under the conduct of the Holy Ghost, going onward to meet her heavenly Bridegroom. This is what the Church should be; but, alas! there is sad failure here. There is little of that holy alacrity in laying aside every weight and every entanglement, in the power of communion with the Holy Guide and Companion of our way, whose office and delight it is to take of the things of Jesus, and show them unto us; just as Abraham’s servant took of the things of Isaac, and showed them to Rebekah: and no doubt, too, he found his joy in pouring fresh testimonies concerning the son into her ear, as they moved onward toward the consummation of all her joy and glory. Thus it is, at least with our heavenly guide and companion. He delights to tell of Jesus, “He shall take of mine and show it unto you;” and again, “he shall show you things to come.” Now, this is what we really want, this ministry of the Spirit of God, unfolding Christ to our souls, producing earnest longing to see Him, as He is, and be made like Him for ever. Nought but this will ever detach our hearts from earth and nature. What, save the hope of being associated with Isaac, would ever have: led Rebekah to say, “I will go,” when her “brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least ten.” And so with us: nothing but the hope of seeing Jesus as He is, and being like Him, will ever enable or lead us to purify ourselves, even as He is pure.
Gen 12:1 to Gen 25:18. The Story of Abraham.In this section the three main sources, J. E, P are present. Gunkel has given strong reasons for holding that J is here made up of two main sources, one connecting Abraham with Hebron, the other with Beersheba and the Negeb. The former associates Abraham with Lot. (For details, see ICC.) On the interpretation to be placed on the figures of Abraham and the patriarchs, see the Introduction. The interest, which has hitherto been diffused over the fortunes of mankind in general, is now concentrated on Abraham and his posterity, the principle of election narrowing it down to Isaac, Ishmael being left aside, and then to Jacob, Esau being excluded.
ISAAC’S BRIDE FROM HIS FATHER’S FAMILY
Only after Sarah has died does Isaac receive a wife. When Israel, after the death of the Lord Jesus, was set aside as the vessel of God’s testimony in the world, then God the Father (typified by Abraham) sent the Spirit of God (symbolized by the servant) to obtain a wife for the Lord Jesus, of whom Isaac is a picture.
Abraham required his servant to swear by the God of heaven and earth that he would not take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites, but one from Abraham’s own family. The bride of Christ, the Church, is not from the ungodly, Satan-energized world, but from the family of faith. On the other hand, the servant is told not to think of taking Isaac back to Mesopotamia: rather he must take the bride to Isaac (v.6). Abraham had confidence that the Lord God of heaven would send an angel before the servant to guide him clearly in regard to the choice of Isaac’s wife (v.7).
This reminds us that Christ, having been raised from among the dead and exalted in the heavens today, will not return to earth during the dispensation of grace, but will have a bride whom He associates with Himself in a heavenly inheritance.
The willingness of the woman to travel to Isaac’s country was a vital matter. If she were not willing, then the servant was freed from his oath (v.8). What a lesson concerning the Church of God! There is no demand of law to be placed upon her. She is to be influenced only by the pure grace of God which produces a willing response of devotion that is ready to leave natural relationships behind in favor of a living relationship with the Lord Jesus in heavenly places.
The servant then took the long journey. Having ten camels, it is evident that there were other men traveling with him (v.32), but nothing is said of this at first because the emphasis is to be placed on the typical significance of this one man picturing the Spirit of God. In fact, verse 10 tells us that “all the treasure of his master was under his hand” (JND). Also, this servant told Laban that Abraham had given all that he had to Isaac (v.36). How beautifully these things remind us of the word of the Lord Jesus in Joh 16:13-15 : “When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak: and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” All the Father’s wealth is equally the wealth of the Son, and all is in the hand of the Spirit of God to be communicated in grace to the Church of God today. How wonderful is the liberality of the grace of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Arriving in the area of the city of Nahor, the servant found a well where he gave his camels a rest, at evening when it was customary for the women to come to draw water. The evidence of the Lord’s leading him there is beautiful. However, he prays to the Lord God of Abraham, that He will show mercy to his master by sending a woman to the well who will demonstrate a character of unselfish kindness. He had evidently no vessel with which to draw water himself, or else he deliberately decided not to do this himself in order that he might depend fully upon the guidance of God.
He asks the Lord that, when he requests a drink of water from a young woman who comes to draw water, she would not only give him his request, but would offer to draw water also for his ten camels (v.14). This would be no small task, for camels consume a great amount of water. No ordinary young lady would be willing to take on a job like this without any promise of enumeration. But no ordinary young lady was to be satisfactory for Isaac, just as today, a Christian man should be sure that his intended wife is a willing hearted believer.
God answered the prayer of the servant immediately. Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, grand-daughter of Nahor, came to draw water. Of course the servant did not know who she was, but we are told she was beautiful and unattached. He ran to meet her as she came from the well with her pitcher of water, and courteously asked for a drink.
She did not hesitate, but gladly complied (v.18). Then she told him she would draw water for his camels also. This was more than an offer, but a decision that she would do so, and she quickly began this work with such willingness that the servant was amazed (v.21), wondering if his mission would prove as successful as these first impressions indicated.
She was far more than repaid for her kindness, for the servant gave her a ring (evidently for her nose) and two bracelets for her wrists, all of gold. The Lord Himself loves to reward faithful diligence, and this is specially seen in the present dispensation of His grace. There is no suggestion of a bargaining arrangement, as there was later in the case of Jacob’s desiring Rachel as a wife, and offering to pay Laban for her (Gen 19:18). The results at the time were painful, but not so in this case.
The servant then asked Rebekah whose daughter she was, and if there was room in her father’s house for him to lodge. When Rebekah told him her parentage, the servant of course would recognize their relationship to Abraham (v.24). She also assured him that they had provision for his camels as well as room for lodging.
Before meeting her brother Laban, however, the servant bowed his head to worship the Lord. It is good to see this thankful appreciation of the grace of God in His directing him. His words are worth quoting: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren” (v.27). Do we not see in this picture (though in measure veiled) of the fact that when one seeks honestly the Lord’s way, He will lead him to the fellowship of those who are His own brethren?
Rebekah ran to bring to her household the news of the visitor having come, and then brought her brother Laban, also running, to the well (v.29). He gives the servant a hearty invitation, calling him “blessed of the Lord,” telling him he has prepared everything for him and his camels (v.31). Then the needs of the camels were fully met, and the servant and other men with him were given water to wash their feet, thus being refreshed after a long journey.
When food was provided for them, however, the servant refused to eat until he had told them why he had been sent. The importance of his mission was his first consideration. He was Abraham’s servant, he tells them, and reports that the Lord had greatly blessed Abraham with flocks and herds and silver and gold, with menservants and maidservants, camels and donkeys.
But more importantly, the Lord had given Abraham a son by Sarah in his old age and his son was heir to all Abraham’s possessions. The servant reports what Abraham had told him, that he was not to take a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites, but to go to Abraham’s relatives to find a wife for him. He recounts the history of his coming to the well, and his contact with Rebekah, with her willingness to draw water for his camels and themselves, then also his worshiping the Lord in having his prayer so strikingly answered (vs.42-48).
The servant asks the pertinent question as to whether they “will deal kindly and truly” with his master. He desires an immediate answer, for if not, he would go elsewhere. It is good that Laban and Bethuel perceived that this whole matter had been ordered by the Lord (v.50), and they realize that they must not interfere with the Lord’s working. They are willing to give Rebekah up without question. Later Laban was ready to bargain with Jacob when Jacob desired Laban’s daughter, but there is no suggestion of any such legal agreement in the case of Rebekah, but rather a true representation of the proper character of marriage. For marriage is a relationship of grace. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor (grace) from the Lord” (Pro 18:22). To pay for a wife therefore is an insult to her and contrary to God’s word.
The servant, in having the approval of Laban and Bethuel, again bowed himself in worship to the Lord (v.52). Then he brought forth jewels of silver and of gold, and clothing, giving them to Rebekah, but giving gifts also to her mother and brother (v.52). this is nothing like payment: it is free hearted giving.
Then they were able to enjoy sweet fellowship together as they ate their evening meal. Remaining only overnight, the servant, in the true character of a servant, was purposed to return to his master. Since his mission was accomplished, then it was time to return (v.54). However, her brother and her mother urged that they should wait for some days, at least ten, for they no doubt wanted some time to accustom themselves to the thought of the young lady leaving home (v.55).
This was not acceptable to the servant: he insisted that they should leave that day. Let us remember that he is a type of the Spirit of God, who acts with positive decision, and produces firm decision in the hearts of those whom He influences. This is further illustrated by the unhesitating reply of Rebekah when she is asked, “Will you go with this man?” She promptly answers, “I will go” (v.58). Such is the response that the grace of God brings forth from the hearts of those who are drawn to the blessed person of the Lord Jesus. Natural relationships fade into the background when Christ becomes the Object of the heart. He must have first place.
Rebekah takes her nurse with her, but they had little time to pack their suitcases. She would not need the possessions she owned in Haran, for Isaac would certainly supply her with all she needed and much more. The things we leave behind in coming to Christ are nothing compared to the riches of the spiritual blessings that He has laid up for us. May we be glad to give up anything, if it is really for the sake of the Lord Jesus.
Rebekah leaves home with the blessings of her family, desiring that she might be the mother of thousands of millions (v.60). No doubt God put this language into their mouths, for it has been truly prophetic, just as is the second expression, “may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them.” Israel has been hated by many nations, but will take over authority in the gates of their enemies, the very place of governmental judgment.
Nothing is said of the length of the journey nor of how many days it took: faith could bear this without complaint. So too, when our anticipation of seeing our heavenly Bridegroom is fresh and real in our hearts, we shall not complain about our present circumstances.
As Isaac went out to a field to meditate in the evening, he was greeted by the sight of a procession of camels returning (v.63). It may be that thoughts of his obtaining a wife were the chief subject of his meditation, but it is a faint picture of the fact that the Lord Jesus Himself will come to meet His bride, the church, as she nears the end of her journey on earth. Of course Rebekah needed to be told who Isaac was, then she covered herself with veil (v.65). She was not anxious to display her beauty at the first moment. We too shall be glad to be as it were veiled when we meet our Lord, for we shall want Him to be the real Object of attraction.
The servant give the report of his mission to Isaac, and Isaac receives Rebekah as his wife. There is no mention of any marriage ceremony, for at that time it was not necessary to satisfy government as to the act of marriage. There was no doubt of marriage having taken place, however. Isaac took Rebekah into his mother’s tent. Typically this tell us that, since Israel has been set aside as God’s testimony on earth, the church of God has taken her place in this capacity. Isaac loved Rebekah. This is the second mention of love in the Bible. The first was the love of Abraham for his son (Gen 22:2), typical of God the Father’s love of His Son. The love of Isaac for Rebekah is typical of the love of Christ toward the assembly, the church of God. It is beautiful to remark the truth symbolized also in Isaac’s being comforted after his mother’s death. Since the godly remnant of Israel has passed off the scene, the Lord Jesus now finds comfort in His bride, the church.
The thigh may be a euphemism for the genitals (Gen 24:2). [Note: Ibid., p. 254; cf. Waltke, Genesis, p. 327.] The ancients considered the "thigh" to be the source of posterity and the seat of power (cf. Gen 47:29).
"By putting his hand under Abraham’s thigh, the servant was touching his genitals and thus giving the oath a special solemnity. In the ancient Orient, solemn oaths could be taken holding some sacred object in one’s hand, as it is still customary to take an oath on the Bible before giving evidence in court. Since the OT particularly associates God with life (see the symbolism of the sacrificial law) and Abraham had been circumcised as a mark of the covenant, placing his hand under Abraham’s thigh made an intimate association with some fundamental religious ideas. An oath by the seat of procreation is particularly apt in this instance, when it concerns the finding of a wife for Isaac." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 141.]
"That act would be significantly symbolic in this instance, for success of the mission would make possible propagation of posterity and fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant." [Note: Howard F. Vos, Genesis, p. 90. See R. David Freedman, "’Put Your Hand Under My Thigh’-The Patriarchal Oath," Biblical Archaeology Review 2:2 (June 1976):3-4, 42.]
"Isaac was not regarded as a merely pious candidate for matrimony, but as the heir of the promise, who must therefore be kept from any alliance with the race whose possessions were to come to his descendants, and which was ripening for the judgment to be executed by those descendants." [Note: E. W. Hengstenberg, Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch, 1:350. Cf. Esau’s Canaanite wives, and Ishmael’s Egyptian wife.]
ISAACS MARRIAGE
Gen 24:1-67
“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.”- Pro 31:30.
“WHEN a son has attained the age of twenty years, his father, if able, should marry him, and then take his hand and say, I have disciplined thee, and taught thee, and married thee; I now seek refuge with God from thy mischief in the present world and the next.” This Mohammedan tradition expresses with tolerable accuracy the idea of the Eastern world, that a father has not discharged his responsibilities towards his son until he finds a wife for him. Abraham no doubt fully recognised his duty in this respect, but he had allowed Isaac to pass the usual age. He was thirty-seven at his mothers death, forty. when the events of this chapter occurred. This delay was occasioned by two causes. The bond between Isaac and his mother was an unusually strong one; and alongside of that imperious woman a young wife would have found it even more difficult than usual to take a becoming place. Besides, where was a wife to be found? No doubt some of Abrahams Hittite friends would have considered any daughter of theirs exceptionally fortunate who should secure so good an alliance. The heir of Abraham was no inconsiderable person even when measured by Hittite expectations. And it may have taxed Abrahams sagacity to find excuses for not forming an alliance which seemed so natural, and which would have secured to him and his heirs a settled place in the country. This was so obvious, common, easily accomplished a means of gaining a footing for Isaac among somewhat dangerous neighbours, that it stands to reason Abraham must often have weighed its advantages.
But as often as he weighed the advantages of this solution of his difficulty, so often did he reject them. He was resolved that the race should be of pure Hebrew blood. His own experience in connection with Hagar had given this idea a settled prominence in his mind. And, accordingly, in his instructions to the servant whom he sent to find a wife for Isaac, two things were insisted on-1st, that she should not be a Canaanite; and, 2d, that on no pretext should Isaac be allowed to leave the land of promise and visit Mesopotamia. The steward, knowing something of men and women, foresaw that it was most unlikely that a young woman would forsake her own land and preconceived hopes and go away with a stranger to a foreign country. Abraham believes she will be persuaded. But in any case, he says, one thing must be seen to; Isaac must on no account be induced to leave the promised land even to visit Mesopotamia. God will furnish Isaac with a wife without putting him into circumstances of great temptation, without requiring him to go into societies in the slightest degree injurious to his faith. In fact, Abraham refused to do what countless Christian mothers of marriageable sons and daughters do without compunction. He had an insight into the real influences that form action and determine careers which many of us sadly lack.
And his faith was rewarded. The tidings from his brothers family arrived in the nick of time. Light, he found, was sown for the upright. It happened with him as it has doubtless often happened with ourselves, that though we have been looking forward to a certain time with much anxiety, unable even to form a plan of action, yet when the time actually came, things seemed to arrange themselves, and the thing to do became quite obvious. Abraham was persuaded God would send His angel to bring the affair to a happy issue. And when we seem drifting towards some great upturning of our life, or when things seem to come all of a sudden and in crowds upon us, so that we cannot judge What we should do, it is an animating thought that another eye than ours is penetrating the darkness, finding for us a way through all entanglement and making crooked things straight for us.
But the patience of Isaac was quite as remarkable as the faith of Abraham. He was now forty years old, and if, as he had been told. the great aim of his life, the. great service he was to render to the world, was bound up with the rearing of a family, he might with some reason be wondering why circumstances were so adverse to the fulfilment of this vocation. Must he not have been tempted, as his father had been, to take matters into his own hand? Fathers are perhaps too scrupulous about telling their sons instructive passages from their own experience; but when Abraham saw Isaac exercised and discomposed about this matter, he can scarcely have failed to strengthen his spirit by telling him something of his own mistakes in life. Abraham must have seen that everything depended on Isaacs conduct, and that he had a very difficult part to play. He himself had been supernaturally encouraged to leave his own land and sojourn in Canaan; on the other hand, by the time Jacob grew up, the idea of the promised land had become traditional and fixed; though even Jacob, had he found Laban a better master, might have permanently renounced his expectations in Canaan. But Isaac enjoyed the advantages neither of the first nor of the third generation. The coming into Canaan was not his doing, and he saw how little of the land Abraham had gained. He was under strong temptation to disbelieve. And when he measured his condition with that of other young men, he certainly required unusual self-control. And to every one who would urge, Youth is passing, and I am not getting what I expected at Gods hand; I have not received that providential leading I was led to expect, nor do I find that my life is made simpler; it is very well to tell me to wait, but life is slipping away, and we may wait too long-to every one whose heart urges such murmurs, Abraham through Isaac would say: But if you wait for God you get something, some positive good, and not some mere appearance of good; you at last do get begun, you get into life at the right door; whereas, if you follow some other way than that which you believe God wishes to lead you in, you get nothing.
Isaacs continence had its reward. In the suitableness of Rebekah to a man of his nature, we see the suitableness of all such gifts of God as are really waited for at His hand. God may keep us longer waiting than the world does, but He gives us never the wrong thing. Isaac had no idea of Rebekahs character: he could only yield himself to Gods knowledge of what he needed; and so there came to him, from a country he had never seen, a help-meet singularly adapted to his own character. One cannot read of her lively, bustling, almost forward, but obliging and generous conduct at the well, nor of her prompt, impulsive departure to an unknown land, without seeing, as no doubt Eliezer very quickly saw, that this was exactly the woman for, Isaac. In this eager, ardent, active, enterprising spirit, his own retiring and contemplative, if not sombre disposition found its appropriate relief and stimulus. Hers was a spirit which might indeed, with so mild a lord, take more of the management of affairs than was befitting; and when the wear and tear of life had tamed down the girlish vivacity with which she spoke to Eliezer at the well, and leapt from the camel to meet her lord, her active-mindedness does appear in the disagreeable shape of the clever scheming of the mother of a family. In her sons you see her qualities exaggerated: from her, Esau derived his activity and openhandedness; and in Jacob, you find that her self-reliant and unscrupulous management has become a self-asserting craft which leads him into much trouble, if it also sometimes gets him out of difficulties. But such as Rebekah was, she was quite the woman to attract Isaac and supplement his character.
So in other cases where you find you must leave yourself very much in Gods hand, what He sends you will be found more precisely adapted to your character than if you chose it for yourself. You find your whole nature has been considered.-your aims, your hopes, your wants, your position, whatever in you waits for something unattained. And as in giving to Isaac the intended mother of the promised seed, God gave him a woman who fitted in to all the peculiarities of his nature, and was a comfort and a joy to him in his own life; so we shall always find that God, in satisfying His own requirements, satisfies at the same time our wants-that God carries forward His work in the world by the satisfaction of the best and happiest feelings of our nature, so that it is not only the result that is blessedness, but blessing is created along its whole course.
Abrahams servant, though not very sanguine of success, does all in his power to earn it. He sets out with an equipment fitted to inspire respect and confidence. But as he draws nearer and nearer to the city of Nahor, revolving the delicate nature of his errand, and feeling that definite action must now be taken, he sees so much room for making an irreparable mistake that he resolves to share his responsibility with the God of his master. And the manner in which he avails himself of Gods guidance is remarkable. He does not ask God to guide him to the house of Bethuel; indeed, there was no occasion to do so, for any child could have pointed out the house to him. But he was a cautious person, and he wished to make his own observations on the appearance and conduct of the younger women of the household, before in any way committing himself to them. He was free to make these observations at the well; while he felt it must be very awkward to enter Labans house with the possibility of leaving it dissatisfied. At the same time, he felt it was for God rather than for him to choose a wife for Isaac. So he made an arrangement by which the interposition of God was provided for. He meant to make his own selection, guided necessarily by the comparative attractiveness of the women who came for water, possibly also by some family likeness to Sarah or Isaac he might expect to see in any women of Bethuels house; but knowing the deceitfulness of appearances, he asked God to confirm and determine his own choice by moving the girl he should address to give him a certain answer. Having arranged this, “Behold! Rebekah came out with her pitcher upon her shoulder, and the damsel was very fair to look upon.” In the Bible the beauty of women is frankly spoken of without prudery or mawkishness as an influence in human affairs. The beauty of Rebekah at once disposed Eliezer to address her, and his first impression in her favour was confirmed by the obliging, cheerful alacrity with which she did very much more than she was asked, and, indeed, took upon herself, through her kindness of disposition, a task of some trouble and fatigue.
It is important to observe then in what sense and to what extent this capable servant asked a sign. He did not ask for a bare, intrinsically insignificant sign. He might have done so. He might have proposed as a test, Let her who stumbles on the first step of the well be the designed wife of Isaac; or, Let her who comes with a certain-coloured flower in her hand-or so forth. But the sign he chose was significant. because dependent on the character of the girl herself: a sign which must reveal her good-heartedness and readiness to oblige and courteous activity in the entertainment of strangers-in fact, the outstanding Eastern virtue. So that he really acted very much as Isaac himself must have done. He would make no approach to any one whose appearance repelled him; and when satisfied in this particular, he would test her disposition. And of course it was these qualities of Rebekah which afterwards caused Isaac to feel that this was the wife God had designed for him. It was not by any arbitrary sign that he or any man could come to know who was the suitable wife for him, but only by the love she aroused within him. God has given this feeling to direct choice in marriage; and where this is wanting, nothing else whatever, no matter how astoundingly providential it seems, ought to persuade a man that such and such a person is designed to be his wife.
There are turning points in life at once so momentous in their consequence, and affording so little material for choice, that one is much tempted to ask for more than providential leading. Not only among savages and heathen have omens been sought. Among Christians there has been manifest a constant disposition to appeal to the lot, or to accept some arbitrary way of determining which course we should follow. In very many predicaments we should be greatly relieved were there some one who could at once deliver us from all hesitation and mental conflict by one authoritative word. There are, perhaps, few things more frequently and determinedly wished for, nor regarding which we are so much tempted to feel that such a thing should be, as some infallible guide before whom we could lay every difficulty; who would tell us at once what ought to be done in each case, and whether we ought to continue as we are or make some change. But only consider for a moment what would be the consequence of having such a guide. At every important step of your progress you would, of course, instantly turn to him; as soon as doubt entered your mind regarding the moral quality of an action, or the propriety of a course you think of adopting, you would be at your counsellor. And what would be the consequence? The consequence would be, that instead of the various circumstances, experiences, and temptations of this life being a training to you, your conscience would every day become less able to guide you, and your will less able to decide, until, instead of being a mature son of God, who has learned to conform his conscience and will to the will of God, you would be quite imbecile as a moral creature. What God desires by our training here is, that we become like to Him; that there be nurtured in us a power to discern between good and evil: that by giving our own voluntary consent to His appointments, and that by discovering in various and perplexing circumstances what is the right thing to do, we may have our own moral natures as enlightened, strengthened, and fully developed every way as possible. The object of God in declaring His will to us is not to point out particular steps, but to bring our wills into conformity with His, so that, whether we err in any particular step or no, we shall still be near to Him in intention. He does with us as we with children. We do not always at once relieve them from their little difficulties, but watch with interest the working of their own conscience regarding the matter, and will give them no sign till they themselves have decided.
Evidently, therefore, before we may dare to ask a sign from God, the case must be a very special one. If you are at present engaged in something that is to your own conscience doubtful, and if you are not hiding this from God, but would very willingly, so far as you know your own mind, do in the matter what He pleases-if no further light is coming to you, and you feel a growing inclination to put it to God in this way: “Grant, O Lord, that something may happen by which I may know Thy mind in this matter”-this is asking from God a kind of help which He, is very. ready to give, often leading men to clearer views of duty by events which happen within their knowledge, and which having no special significance to persons whose minds are differently occupied, are yet most instructive to those who are waiting for light on some particular point. The danger is not here, but in fixing God down to the special thing which shall happen as a sign between Him and you; which, when it happens, gives no fresh light on the subject, leaves your mind still morally undecided, but only binds you, by an arbitrary bargain of your own, to follow one course rather than another. This matter that you would so summarily dispose of may be the very thread of your life which God means to test you by; this state of indecision which you would evade, God may mean to continue until your moral character grows strong enough to rise above it to the right decision.
No one will suppose that Rebekahs readiness to leave her home was due to mere light-mindedness. Her motives were no doubt mixed. The worldly position offered to her was good, and there was an attractive spice of romance about the whole affair which would have its charm.
She may also be credited with some apprehension of the great future of Isaacs family. In after life she certainly showed a very keen sense of the value of the blessings peculiar to that household. And, probably above all, she had an irresistible feeling that this was her destiny. She saw the hand of God in her selection, and with a more or less conscious faith in God she passed to her new life.
Her first meeting with her future husband is not the least picturesque passage in this most picturesque narrative. Isaac had gone out on that side of the encampment by which he knew his fathers messenger was most likely to approach. He had gone out “to meditate at eventide”; his meditation being necessarily directed and intensified by his attitude of critical expectancy.
The evening light, in our country hanging dubiously between the glare of noon and the darkness of midnight, invites to that condition of mind which lies between the intense alertness of day and the deep oblivion of sleep, and which seems the most favourable for the meditation of divine things. The dusk of evening seems interposed between day and night to invite us to that reflection which should intervene betwixt our labour and our rest from labour, that we may leave our work behind us satisfied that we have done what we could, or, seeing its faultiness, may still lay us down to sleep with Gods forgiveness. It is-when the bright sunlight has gone, and no more reproaches our inactivity, that friends can enjoy prolonged intercourse and can best unbosom to one another, as if the darkness gave opportunity for a tenderness which would be ashamed to show itself during the twelve hours in which a man shall work. And all that makes this hour so beloved by the family circle, and so conducive to friendly intercourse, makes it suitable also for such intercourse with God as each human soul can attempt. Most of us suppose we have some little plot of time railed off for God morning and evening, but how often does it get trodden down by the profane multitude of this worlds cares, and quite occupied by encroaching secular engagements. But evening is the time when many men are, and when all men ought to be, least hurried; when the mind is placid, but not yet prostrate; when the body requires rest from its ordinary labour, but is not yet so oppressed with fatigue as to make devotion a mockery; when the din of this worlds business is silenced, and as a sleeper wakes to consciousness when some accustomed noise is checked, so the soul now wakes up to the thought of itself and of God. I know not whether those of us who have the opportunity have also the resolution to sequester ourselves evening by evening, as Isaac did; but this I do know, that he who does so will not fail of his reward, but will very speedily find that his Father who seeth in secret is manifestly rewarding him. What we all need above all things is to let the mind dwell on divine things-to be able to sit down knowing we have so much clear time in which we shall not be disturbed, and during which we shall think directly under Gods eye-to get quite rid of the feeling of getting through with something, so that without distraction the soul may take a deliberate survey of its own matters. And so shall often Gods gifts appear on our horizon when we lift up our eyes, as Isaac “lifted up his eyes and saw the camels coming” with his bride.
Twilight, “natures vesper-bell,” or the light shaded at evening by the hills of Palestine, seems, then, to have called Isaac to a familiar occupation. This long-continued mourning for his mother, and his lonely meditation in the fields, are both in harmony with what we know of his character, and of his experience on Mount Moriah. Retiring and contemplative, willing to conciliate by concession rather than to assert and maintain his rights against opposition, glad to yield his own affairs to the strong guidance of some other hand, tender and deep in his affections, to him this lonely meditation seems singularly appropriate. His dwelling, too, was remote, on the edge of the wilderness, by the well which Hagar had named Lahairoi. Here he dwelt as one consecrated to God, feeling little desire to enter deeper into the world, and preferring the place where the presence of God was least disturbed by the society of men. But at this time he had come from the south, and was awaiting at his fathers encampment the result of Eliezers mission. And one can conceive the thrill of keen expectancy that shot through him as he saw the female figure alighting from the camel, the first eager exchange of greetings, and the gladness with which he brought Rebekah into his mother Sarahs tent and was comforted after his mothers death. The readiness with which he loved her seems to be referred in the narrative to the grief he still felt for his mother; for as a candle is never so easily lit as just after it has been put out, so the affection of Isaac, still emitting the sad memorial of a past love, more quickly caught at the new object presented. And thus was consummated a marriage which shows us how thoroughly interwrought are the plans of God and the life of man, each fulfilling the other.
For as the salvation God introduces into the world is a practical, everyday salvation to deliver us from the sins which this life tempts us to, so God introduced this salvation by means of the natural affections and ordinary arrangements of human life. God would have us recognise in our lives what He shows us in this chapter, that He has made provision for our wants, and that if we wait upon Him He will bring us into the enjoyment of all we really need. So that if we are to make any advance in appropriating to ourselves Gods salvation, it can only be by submitting ourselves implicitly to His providence, and taking care that in the commonest and most secular actions of our lives we are having respect to His will with us, and that in those actions in which our own feelings and desires seem sufficient to guide us, we are having regard to His controlling wisdom and goodness. We are to find room for God everywhere in our lives, not feeling embarrassed by the thought of His claims even in our least constrained hours, but subordinating to His highest and holiest ends everything that our life contains, and acknowledging as His gift what may seem to be our own most proper conquest or earning.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary