"So he said, 'I am Abraham's servant'."
-Genesis 24:34
This summer my church has decided to continue the Genesis Bible Study that we started two years ago. The first lecture was given yesterday, focusing on Genesis 24. As I did two years ago, I hope to summarize my thoughts about each of the passages that we will study this summer.
Genesis 24 tells the story of Abraham's servant finding a wife for Isaac. As Abraham grows old, he wants to secure a wife for his son, Isaac. Abraham does not want Isaac to marry any of the Canaanites, because he fears that a Canaanite woman would compromise Isaac's faith in God. Abraham decides that he wants to find Isaac a wife from his country, where the people believe in God. I'm sure Abraham would have taken the journey himself, but he was very old and did not feel confident that he could make the journey.
The first thing to understand is that the place Abraham wants to find a wife for Isaac is very far away. In fact, the journey there would have taken about 17 days by camel. Getting a wife from the Canaanites would be a lot easier, since Abraham was living among them at this time. However, Abraham chose to ignore the convenient solution to his problem in order to remain faithful to God. Sometimes in life we are given a choice where there is a convenient solution that God calls us to ignore because it opposes His will. We should learn from Abraham and do whatever it takes to remain faithful to God.
As we know, Abraham was not able to make the journey on his own. What Abraham decides to do is entrust his chief servant to carry out the mission of finding Isaac a wife. The chief servant is probably the person I've learned the most from in this passage. He accepts Abraham's mission, and completes it faithfully. How do we know he completes the mission faithfully? By watching his actions throughout the passage and how he handles the mission he is given.
Before going on his journey, the servant expresses his concerns to Abraham. He asks Abraham, "what if she is not willing to come back with me?" The chief servant recognizes the potential that no woman would want to travel 17 days with a stranger. While it may seem like the servant is defying Abraham's request, I believe it is the opposite. The servant takes Abraham's mission seriously, and wants to make sure that he can actually complete the mission. He thinks ahead, and expresses his concern to Abraham. The chief servant wants to take care of any potential issues that he might have to complete the mission Abraham gave him.
Next the servant makes extensive preparations for his journey. He brings supplies for the journey, along with gifts for the woman he will meet. Here we see that the servant is not lazy and is forward-thinking. Again, he takes the mission seriously and packs enough supplies for the journey, along with gifts for the woman and her family. He is preparing himself for success on this mission. When he arrives, he waits by the well, where women drew water. Why? He knows that this is where he will find a woman, more specifically, a diligent woman. Again we see that the chief servant is setting himself up for success. He places himself in a strategic position to find a diligent and faithful woman for Abraham's son.
The servant prays that God would show him the woman that is right for Isaac. To keep this post short, I will summarize by saying that his prayer was that the woman God chose is the one that gives the servant and his camels water. Immediately Rebekah comes and the servant asks her for a drink. Rebekah agrees and also offers to give the camels water as well. At this point, the chief servant could have gotten very excited and asked Rebekah to come home. After all, it did seem like she was the answer to his prayer. Instead however, the chief servant waits and watches as Rebekah waters the camels. The chief servant wanted to make sure that his prayer was answered in full, and that he would find the absolute best wife for Isaac. We see that the servant wanted to complete the mission to the best of his ability.
After he meets Rebekah, he bows down and worships God. The servant recognizes that his success was not based on his actions, but on God's sovereignty. He then goes and asks Rebekah's family to release Rebekah to Isaac. The servant refuses to eat until he is able to tell his story of finding Rebekah. When telling his testimony, he constantly tells of God's goodness. The servant definitely knew that it was God that made this mission successful. The servant never boasts about himself, only of Abraham and of God.
The servant asks that Rebekah leave as soon as possible. The servant wants to make sure that he is able to finish the mission without any hindrances. He knows that the mission wasn't over until he safely escorted Rebekah all the way to Isaac. He leaves with Rebekah and brings her all the way home to Isaac and Abraham. Isaac and Rebekah get married, which comforts Isaac after the loss of his mother.
There is so much to learn about commitment and faithfulness from Abraham's chief servant. The servant took his mission seriously and made sure he had the highest chance of success. He then made sure his mission was completed to the very end, not allowing himself to be distracted by anything. The chief servant is a great role model for us as Christians. We are meant to be servants of God, who carry out His mission. We should take this mission very seriously, and do whatever we can to make our mission successful. We should carry out our mission to the very end. Perhaps most of all, we must give thanks to God when we are successful, because He is the source of all blessings.
-Smart
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