Good morning. How are you all doing today? It
is a blessing to be back with all of you. If
you are visiting our church here for the first
time or if you're watching online for the first
time, we want to say welcome to all of you. We're
so glad you're here to worship with us here at
Hosanna. I am Pastor Nathan, and today we're
going to be looking at how God works through
all of just the normal everyday events of our
lives. You know, we read through the Bible, we
see a lot of supernatural events that, you know,
I'm not going to lie, would be cool to see, right?
Love to be there for the Red Sea parting, right?
To see that or, you know, the plagues in Egypt.
Not that I wanted to experience those, but I
mean, just to see these miraculous happenings,
right? The transfiguration, how cool would it
have been to be there for that? And there's so
many things, you know, to see Lazarus walk out
of the tomb after he was dead. And, you know,
I don't know if you've seen this, but there's
this new AI trend on social media where there's
a few companies. making these videos with artificial
intelligence and it's if the bible characters
had an iphone and one of them is moses with a
phone like this but it's looking at him and there's
a c behind him and he's just like hey guys we
just split the red sea you know and they crack
me up they're so entertaining but you know all
that supernatural stuff is is great and and it's
exciting but Sometimes we can find ourselves
thinking that unless an event, a happening is
supernatural, a flashy wow factor, if it's not
one of those things, then, well, it's not God.
It's just natural occurrence of life. And the
reality is, is that God's in everything. God's
in every event, every moment. God's omnipresence,
God's omnipotence. It's in and through all things.
He works. through the everyday events of life
far more than he does the supernatural. For example,
in the book of Acts, we have the whole story
of the development of the early church, right?
In the book of Acts, the entire book, there's
29 documented miracles. The book of Acts has
28 chapters spanning approximately 30 years.
If you average that out, that's basically one
big supernatural miracle a year. for the first
30 years of the growth of the church. And in
between those miracles, 364 days of just people
living life, following the Lord, praising the
Lord, being guided and directed by the Lord.
And so as we're approaching the close of Abraham's
life here in our study of Genesis, we've come
to the place where his beloved wife, Sarah, has
passed on. We read how Abraham had purchased
a grave site in the promised land as a declaration
of his faith in God's promises that His descendants
would one day possess all this land. But her
death was also a reminder to Abraham of his own
advanced age because he was a really old dude
at this point. And so the son of the promise
had been born. His son Isaac had come through
a miraculous birth, the one through whom God's
promised blessing of just blessing to the world
would come. But Isaac... needed to marry in order
to procreate, to carry on the line that the promise
would come through. This is what chapter 24 is
all about, the finding of Isaac's wife, Abraham
taking the steps to secure a wife for his now
40 -year -old son, according to the customs of
the time. But unlike all of the flashy miracles
or divine appearances, unlike the times where
God showed up or rained fire on Sodom or flooded
the whole world, what we're going to see here
is a story of God working his will just through
the everyday happenings of life. We're going
to see prayer. We're going to see trust. We're
going to see God do what God does. Because, you
see, just because something happens through the
normal everyday events of life, through our own
decision making, through how God created the
universe and the natural laws of the universe,
it doesn't mean that it's any less God working
on behalf of the promises for his children. And
that's what this chapter is going to be about
today. But before we get into all of that, we're
going to worship. Because although God is amazing
and almighty, well, he is, not although, but
we get the opportunity to praise him every time
we gather together. And it can become a routine
or mundane thing for some people. It's like,
oh, we start worship and da -da -da, but this
is a holy moment. This is a moment where we recognize
the God who guides every aspect of our lives,
where we praise his holiness and his providence
and his guidance and just express our heart to
him. for who he is in our lives. And so I encourage
you guys today, worship with your whole heart.
Praise him with everything you got. Let's pray.
Father, we love you so much. And we're so grateful
that you sent your son to this earth to die for
our sins. Lord, it is amazing to know that you're
aware of every detail of every life that has
ever and ever will exist on this earth, Lord.
Truly you are God, almighty and amazing. And
Lord, you are due all the glory because you are
the only one worthy. And so Lord, as we learn
through your word, God, to not just praise you
in the miraculous things you do, God, that we
would learn to praise you in every moment of
every day, to seek your guidance in every moment
of every day, to trust, Lord, that as the normal
events of life happen around us, they are no
less miraculous because you were in them too.
God, we love you, we thank you, and we praise
you now. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. We
are in Genesis chapter 24 today, and believe
it or not, we're gonna cover 67 verses. Right,
so I'm just gonna read, and then amen, we're
done. All right, so. No, we're gonna teach through
here, but. Genesis 24 as I said is all about
the matter of securing a wife for Isaac. It was
a matter of incredible importance because Isaac's
offspring would be the first generation past
him, which is the second generation from Abraham,
now fulfilling the promise to bring forth a blessing
to the entire world. So it was very important
that Isaac marry well, right? There were certain
values that the family held, certain beliefs
that the family held. And so it was a big deal
to find an important wife, right? There was no,
you know, eHarmony at the time, nothing like
that. And the customs of the time were very different
than today. Young women of the time were... didn't
really have a whole lot of say in it, that oftentimes
the marriage arrangements were built upon what
was best for the two families, alliances, economic
alliances and stuff. And that's not to say that
the young ladies were unhappy, but it was a very
different arrangement that we see today. But
it was a very important method that they go through
that we see in this chapter. But the overall
theme that I want you guys to pay attention to
all of this today. is that it all happens through
the normal events of life. God works through
what the people are doing normally. He works
through what the people are doing in their lives
as they would do every single day, and that's
the important lesson of this chapter. So read
with me starting in verse 1, Genesis 24. Abraham
was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord
had blessed him in everything. Now there's a
couple details here that tell us how big of a
deal it was that Isaac married the right woman
here because Abraham has the elder of his household
handle the business, right? This would be like
the main steward. This would be the guy who answers
to Abraham and is in control of everything going
on in the house, all the business, all the activity,
all the farming. He was in charge of all the
servants, which would be like employees today.
And so he had a very significant job to do there
in the family, and yet Abraham is saying, I'm
going to have you. go, to leave to go find a
wife for my bride. And so I just... shows us
the gravity of this decision. Now, this could
be the guy that we saw in Genesis 15 named Eliezer.
If you remember in Genesis 15, you know, God
was saying, hey, Abraham, you're going to have
a son. And Abraham's like, but I haven't, I have
no son. You know, and he's like, you're going
to have a land and all these people. And Abraham's
just complaining, right? And in Genesis 15, he
goes, you know, Eliezer is going to be my heir.
And he was talking about the master of his household,
right? I don't have a son. So everything I own
is going to go to, you know, the CEO. of the
house here. And then, you know, it was at that
time God said, no, you're going to have a son
of your own body. And so, you know, we've studied
through all of that. But God had been faithful
to that promise, right? As Abraham's life went
on, we had the Hagar incident, and that incident
taught Abraham to take very, very seriously the
fact that God's promises are fulfilled God's
way, not our own way. That God is the one who's
going to fulfill what he said he's going to fulfill.
And so after Abraham had that lesson embedded
into his mind, then the son came. Isaac was born.
A complete miracle. A supernatural thing because
it was biologically impossible. Sarah was barren.
And they were old. So it was just like, this
can't happen. And yet God had come through again
in a very miraculous way. And now the time had
come to find a wife for Isaac. Now, so he has
the manager of his whole estate here swear an
oath. And it's done in a very strange way to
us. And I'll explain that in a moment. But this
oath here is invoking God as the witness to Abraham's
request. And you know, that's just the whole
idea of appealing to the most powerful, person
thing you could think of, that God as my witness,
right? When you invoke God, you're saying there
is no higher authority to stand behind the truth
of what I'm about to say or the fact that I'm
gonna fulfill the promise, right? And so he takes
this oath and it has two parts. One, Abraham
says, don't take a wife for my son from the daughters
of the Canaanites. Why? Because they're pagans.
They're gross people. They worship other gods.
They have all kinds of pagan practices. And on
top of that, years, years, years prior, God had
cursed the line of Canaan. So the whole concept
of mixing Abraham's offspring with this cursed
line of people, no. And Abraham was like. that's
not going to happen. And then the second thing
that he tells him as part of this oath is to
go back to my family's land and find a wife from
my people there. And we've talked about this
in the past that like early in the creation of
earth and early in the creation of man, we see
instances where a brother married a sister or
a married another cousin. And, you know, today
we go, ew, that's gross, right? And there's a
lot of reasons that that's gross on top of the
biological consequences that come from those
types of things with genetic defects and stuff.
But way back in the early time, you know, when
it started with two people, Adam and Eve, and
then they started to multiply, it was by necessity
that it was a close relative that a son would
marry and then they'd have offspring. And then
the understanding is that in the early... early
times or the early moments of creation that the
genetic line was so pure that those mutations
and genetic abnormalities wouldn't happen. And
so as the people grew, as these clans grew, they
would marry within the clan to keep the clan
identity, to keep the family line, if you will,
with that. Now, God eventually said, hey, don't
do that. That's gross. But right here, we're
still, you know, following that same custom.
So then he does this weird oath. Place your hand
under my thigh. Like if any dude placed his hand
under my thigh, we'd be fighting, right? Like
that's weird, right? So what's going on here?
Well, as you can imagine, if Abraham was sitting
and he placed his hand under his thigh, he's
placing his hand close to Abraham's powers of
procreation, right? Very close to his junk. And
people go, that's weird, right? Why is he doing
this? Well, today in today's world, It used to
be in courts. They don't do it in court anymore,
which is just, anyways, side topic. You used
to go into a court and you'd place your hand
on a Bible, right? And then you'd go, I swear
on this holy Bible to tell the truth, nothing
but the truth, and all that stuff, right? This
is... Kind of what's happening here, right? Back
in Genesis 17, after the Hagar incident, God
reiterated to Abraham, no, it's not gonna be
through Hagar. The promise is gonna be fulfilled
my way. And so since Abraham tried to procreate
his own way, that's when God instituted the sign
of circumcision. And the symbolism of that was
the works of the flesh, the works of your own
way, the works of you trying to do it on your
own. God said, cut that off, right? That if you're
going to be my people, you're going to follow
me and do things my way. And so that covenant
that God made there, this is what, in effect,
the servant is swearing upon. It's like placing
the hand on the Bible. He's placing his hand
next to where there's a symbol of God's word,
God's promise. And he says, you're going to swear
on that God who made that covenant that you're
going to do what I'm asking you to do. And so
that is what's taking place here. places his
hand there. He invokes the name of Jesus or the
name of God to formalize his oath. Now, verse
5. The servant said to him, suppose the woman
is unwilling to follow me to this land. Should
I have your son go back to the land you came
from? Abraham answered him, make sure that you
don't take my son back there. The Lord, the God
of heaven, who took me from my father's house
and from my native land, who spoke to me and
swore to me, I will give this land to your offspring.
He will send his angel before you. And you could
take a wife for my son from there. If the woman
is unwilling to follow you, then you club her
over the head and drag her by her hair to the
cave, right? No, that's not what you do. It says
if the woman is unwilling to follow you, you're
free from your oath to me, right? But don't let
my son go back there. So the servant placed his
hand under his master Abraham's thigh and swore
an oath to him concerning this matter. Now, if
Isaac is the one that's going to be getting the
wife, you would think, why doesn't Isaac go back
to the land and find the wife, right? That would
make sense, especially make sense in our Western
culture. There are still arranged marriages in
some places around the world, but in our culture,
it's kind of unheard of to say, hey, go find
me a wife, bring her back, and I'll marry her,
right? Now, in this time, that was exactly how
things were done, but Abraham's very emphatic
here. Don't let my son go back there. He's going
to stay here in the land of Canaan. And the reason
is because the very presence of Isaac is a living
declaration that God's promises are true. And
the promises that haven't been fulfilled yet
will be true. I mean, look, there's proof right
here. The miraculous birth is standing right
in front of us. And so he being here in this
land is just a declaration of everything God
said is true. And so, no. He's not gonna leave
this land because this land is his home. This
land is where the people are gonna be. And, you
know, as you read through the story of Isaac,
what's really interesting is Isaac is never once
permitted to leave the land of Canaan. Abraham
left, but he isn't allowed to go. Even in Genesis
26, when there's a severe famine in the land,
the very thing that caused Abraham to go down
to Egypt, Isaac is not permitted to leave the
Holy Land. And so Abraham's just kind of reiterating
here, you know, look, God spoke to me. He promised
the land to my offspring. Isaac is the miracle
birth. He's the literal representation of this
divine promise. And since God promised offspring
that are gonna be more than the sands in the
sea and stars in the sky, you don't need Isaac
to go with you. God will go with you. Why? Because
it's God's promise. And God is gonna fulfill
God's promise God's way. And that's all you need.
All you need is to trust in his guidance in your
life. And so, again, we've learned this lesson
over and over that when God promises, God fulfills.
But you notice in the opening of this story,
there's no supernatural sign. There's no dream.
There's no visions, right? The sun doesn't stand
still. The river's not stopped up. None of that
type of thing to say, oh, God is speaking. God
is moving. All we see here is very simply Abraham
saying, this is what I want you to do. Now, we
know that through Abraham's relationship with
God, what he's telling him to do is from Abraham's
experience with the Lord. But there's nothing
supernatural taking place here like we've seen
so many times elsewhere in Genesis. We just simply
see. You see, these are the last words of Abraham
in Scripture. We're not going to hear any more
words of Abraham here, and they're full of faith.
You notice in verse 7 he says, he will send his
angel before you. Not he might, not pray and
we'll see. He will send his angel before you.
And we're going to see that God does. but the
way he does it is through the normal events of
life, through the customs of the day, through
just the normal activities of the day, through
the stresses, through the chance meetings, and
even through the delays. And the whole lesson
of this chapter, just this long chapter, is simply
this, that believers are never in the grip of
fortune or luck or happenstance or fate. Rather,
all that happens to us as God's children, it's
divinely orchestrated whether we know it or not.
It's every event in our lives. Every event. And
this includes the good and the bad. They're all
opportunities to trust God more. And the things
that happen in our life, both good and bad, The
things that happen according to God's supernatural
power or just simply the everyday providence
that God has are meant to mold us and shape us
and grow our faith and build our peace and trust
in him and all of this stuff that happens. And
so Abraham is like, God said, God will. Isaac
doesn't need to go. Matter of fact, I don't want
him to go because it's going to ruin the witness,
right? He is the sign of the promise here in
this land. So God's going to take care of God's
business. just go and trust him along the way.
Now, the servant didn't have that faith yet,
and so this is where Abraham reassures him, you
know, if she won't go with you, you're free,
right? Because usually if you make an oath like
this and you break it, it's kind of death penalty
type of thing. But don't worry if she doesn't
go. Your oath to me is null and void. But personally,
I don't think Abraham believed that that would
happen, right? He's just reassuring his servant
here. And so the oath is ratified. The servant
heads out. And then the rest of the chapter here,
the bulk of it is, The story of how the servant
got there, how he found Isaac's wife, Rebecca,
and the story is told two times. Once as it's
happening, and then the whole story is told again
as the servant is relating the story to the father
and the family of Rebecca. Now again, God is
beyond our imagining, right? God is amazing.
God maintains all of life. God orchestrates everything
in the universe. He involves himself in every
event. He directs everything to his will. But
the supernatural things, the things we consider
supernatural, right, the births from a barren
woman, those types of things, those are the exception,
not the rule. God works far more through the
everyday life events. The everyday living that
we do every single day, he works far more through
those things than he does through the big supernatural
things. Now, he does do supernatural things.
God still heals. God still protects. God still
does amazing things, but they're not the norm.
And when we read through Scripture, sometimes
we look at all those supernatural things and
we go, oh, that's how God works. So when I'm
just going about my everyday life, it's just
everyday life. God's not in it. And that's a
lie from the devil. He's in all of it. He's not
just a God of miracles who occasionally shows
up and does something mind -blowing. He orders
everything, every moment, every event, every
circumstance. And it's all to align with his
foresight, his forethought, and his will. You
know, think about that. Every moment of every
single human's life that has ever existed, that
exists today and ever will exist, God is aware
of all of it. And his will is being weaved through
all things. And that's a hard pill to swallow
when bad things happen. The things we go, I don't
understand how that can possibly have a positive
element to it. And yet God is working in all
things at all times. And that is why we need
to be people who come back and we say, I trust
you, God, even when I don't understand. I trust
you even when it doesn't make sense. Well, if
I believe you're God, if I believe you're God
Almighty, if I believe you're God who knows all
things and is everywhere at all times and can
accomplish anything, well, then I also have to
believe that every event of my life, not only
are you aware of, but you're orchestrating your
will for me through these things. And so this
is kind of what we're gonna see here through
this chapter. Now, if we look at things that
way, then everything, is a miracle of God, isn't
it? The single mom who finds time to get her
kids to soccer practice, that's a miracle of
God. The relationship, the marriage that has
fallen apart, and then hearts just change because
somebody was willing to say I'm sorry, willing
to say I take responsibility, and reconciliation
happens, that's a miracle of God. What about
going down the street and you're just driving
and you feel like, oh, wow, I feel like I'm supposed
to turn left here instead of right, and you turn
left. And then you bump into some person who
you say, I feel like God wants me to share the
gospel with them, and they're on the verge of
suicide. But you lead them away from that sharing
the gospel. That's God's fingerprints over every
instance of life. Now, when we... look at the
natural things of life and say, no, that's not
God. We're reducing God to some God of our own
imagination. And so he is working. And so verse
10, the servant then takes 10 of his master's
camels and with all kinds of his master's goods
in hand, he went to Aram Naharim, to not Nahor's
town. At evening, the time when women went out
to draw water, he made the camels kneel beside
a well outside of town. So this place, this area,
should be familiar to us because the town of
Haran is up in this area called Aram Naharim.
So that whole purple area there is kind of this
area. And Haran, if you remember, that is where
Abraham and his family went to when they left
Ur. Then they stayed there until... Abraham's
father died and then Abraham left down to the
promised land. And so what Abraham is saying
that now from Hebron or even south in the Negev,
he's going, go up to that area where my family
still lives and seek a bride of my family. Now
it's a very long trip and it's a very significant
trip. And so there's a lot of supplies that need
to be taken, but there's also a lot of golden
goods as we're going to see, because that's a
part of the whole engagement to the bride type
of thing. And so 10 camels and all his master's
goods. One, yeah, it's a long trip. You need
a lot of supplies. Two, it's a situation of we're
going to arrive and in the culture. They would
say, hey, bride, we want you to come into this
family. There would be gifts and things to make
an impression on that bride and make an impression
on her family. Because again, these marriages
were often based upon what's going to benefit
the family most, right? And so to ally with a
very strong family would be a good thing. To
connect with a family that is very rich and economically
stable, a good thing. And so that's a part of
this process of bringing all these goods down.
But again, as we're going through the story,
so far it's just typical road trip, right? Stopped
at Circle K a couple times, got a Red Bull, and
just was going. But when he gets to his destination
to now fulfill what he's been sent to do, he
does what we should all do at every crossroads
of life. He prays. Verse 12. Lord, God of my
master Abraham, he prayed, make this happen for
me today. and show kindness to my master Abraham.
I'm standing here at the spring where the daughters
of the men of the town are coming out to draw
water. Let the girl to whom I say, please lower
your water jug so that I may drink, and who responds,
drink, and I'll water your camels also, let her
be the one you have appointed for your servant
Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown
kindness to my master. Now, what's very interesting
is this servant here in these verses, this is
the first person in Scripture seen asking for
divine guidance at a critical crossroads. You
go back to the previous Old Testament, you see
people complaining to God. You see people simply
stating things in exasperation or whatnot. But
this is the first person in Scripture we see
pulling up to a place and praying. Now, in verse
45, we'll get to that later, tells the family
that he was praying silently. And so the idea
there is that this prayer was a spontaneous prayer,
right? He pulls into town, the well, that's the
gas station, right? He pulls into the gas station.
He's like, all right, I'm in this land, this
big land. And hey, God, I'm here. So God, do
what you do. That's what he's praying. You know,
that type of prayer is amazing to pray at every
crossroads. You got a big sales meeting, trying
to close a client. You pull up, okay, God, if
it's your will, you're going to see family. Lord,
just praying for everything to be awesome here,
praying for the fellowship. If it's a strained
family relationship, oh, God, I'm just, I'm here.
So do what you do. As a pastor, that's the prayer
I pray when I go on a hospital call. Because,
man, that's a tough situation to go in and pray
for, right? You know, oh, somebody is, they're
passing away, they're dying. And you're like,
God, what am I going to say? And yet there's
situations where you walk in and every time it's
like, okay, God, I'm here. I just pray that you
give me the words to say and that you bring comfort
to the family, right? So we see that he just
got there and prayed. But you'll notice here
in his prayer that he establishes some criteria.
Okay, God, I just pray that you let this mission
be successful. And this is how I'm going to know.
right? And he goes through these certain criteria
there, but you'll notice it was him that set
the criteria. He didn't receive a dream and God
said, this will be the woman. He didn't have
a vision. It's going to be the camel lady, right?
None of that. He just gets there, traveling as
people do, going to the well as people do, and
says, God, please work through me here, but this
is how I'm going to know it's you. Now what he's
doing in his prayer is he's simply employing
the wisdom and the knowledge that he has of his
master's virtues, right? I know my master Abraham.
I know my master Isaac. And I know what they're
like and I know their heart. And so I know the
type of woman that would be good for him. And
so he's praying these things through his circumstance.
He's not asking for a miraculous sign. He's not
asking, you know, the lady you highlight in holy
radiance, you know, that'll be the one. He's
just saying as the women come to the well as
they do every day and get water from the well
as they do every day, the one who shows this
kindness, this generosity, this work ethic, if
you will, that's going to be the one. He just
sought guidance through the ordinary events of
life. Now, some people go, well, that's just
like fleecing, right? You probably could argue
that, I guess. But when you go look at the story
of Gideon, that's where we get the fleecing story
from, right? God said, Gideon, you're gonna go
defeat the army and do all these things. And
Gideon's like, I'm not so sure, God. And so he
goes, look, I'm gonna put this fleece outside
and it's gonna be dewy everywhere else. Everything's
wet except the fleece. What he's asking for is
a supernatural sign. And then God, in his kindness,
says, okay, boom, fleece is dry. I might have
it backwards, but then the opposite. He's like,
well, God, I'm not so sure about that. Even though
it was supernatural, I need more. So let the
fleece be wet and everything else is dry. God
does it again, right? That's when people go,
oh, throw out a fleece to the Lord, you know?
I struggle with that because what fleecing is
is Gideon hearing God and disobeying and not
trusting the Lord. So when I hear people go throw
out a fleece, I'm like, wait, you want me to
go test God and doubt God? You know, I'm not
so sure about that. How about I just pray and
get in his word and let him, you know, show me
what he's showing me. But this servant here,
he's not asking for supernatural signs and stuff.
He's just like, look, this is the normal events
of life. This is what happens here. And so as
this is going on, these are the details that
are going to just let me know that it's you,
Lord. Again, it was normal for people to pull
into the well. It was normal to stop and ask
for a drink. It was normal to do all that. And,
you know, I read this quote from a scholar named
Nahum Sarna, and it says this. Nothing is more
characteristic of a biblical man than a profound
and pervasive conviction about the role of divine
providence in everyday human affairs. It should
be noted that the servant does not ask for a
miraculous divine intervention or for a revelation
that would designate exactly who Isaac's bride
is to be. He prays rather that the rational criteria
of suitability that he himself determines might
be in accordance with God's will and be effective.
And so he prays. And I think it's okay to pray
those types of things. I've had situations where
I'm like, okay, God, I'm not sure what your will
is in this, Lord. I'm about to go talk to somebody.
So if they say such and such, that'll just be
the clue that it's you, right? And I've had that
situation. I've also used that situation to get
out of things, right? Oh, Lord, well, if they
say such and such, I know it's you. Years ago
when I... was depressed and I had fallen away
from the Lord and was suicidal and then God started
to restore me and I finally came back to church
after a number of years and I was sitting in
that back corner over there and I remember the
Lord had told me, go to Pastor Gary and tell
him you're supposed to teach again. And I'm like,
Lord, that's the most arrogant thing I've ever
heard. I can't say that to Pastor Gary. I walked
out on this church two years ago. God said, go
tell him that. And I'm like. I said, all right,
God. So I came to church, and I sat back there,
and I went, well, Lord, if Pastor Gary stops
and says, Nathan, hi, I'll know it's you, right?
Now, for those of you that were here during Pastor
Gary's years, I stay up here in front after service
for prayer, but one of the things he did was
go out and greet at the door, right? And he would
greet every single person on the aisle as he
went out. So I'm like, well, of course. Pastor
Gary, the kindest man in the world. greets every
single person, and then walks by me without even
making eye contact. I'm like, oh, no. He hates
my guts. Man, and I'm supposed to tell him I'm
supposed to teach again? Lord, he's going to
punch me in the face, I think. And the Lord said,
you're going to do this. And I was like, okay.
So I came back to church the next week. I said,
okay, Lord, if he comes down the aisle and the
Lord just stopped you, and I remember clear as
day the Holy Spirit was like, no. You're going
to approach him. You're going to tell him you
need to talk to him. You're going to tell him
what I've told you to tell him. And, you know,
the rest of that story I did, and that's how
I got back involved in ministry, and the Lord
just restored all these wonderful things. But,
you know, the idea here is, okay, if this person
says this, that's not a bad thing to pray for,
you know? And this is what the sermon does. So
he makes this request in line with his master's
wishes, the normal activity of the day, the criteria.
Although it was normal, it was significant, right?
I'm going to ask a lady to take a drink. That's
a normal thing. She's going to say, oh, here,
have a drink, right? A normal thing to be done.
And then she's going to say, let me water your
camels also. Okay, that's pretty big, right?
Because he had 10 camels. And we're going to
get into that in a moment. But still, nothing
supernatural here. And the woman who would volunteer
to do what he asked had to have been a woman
who was very kind and generous and a hard worker.
So verse 15. Before he had finished speaking,
there was Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, son of
Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor,
coming with a jug on her shoulder. Now the girl
was very beautiful, a virgin. No man had been
intimate with her. She went down to the spring,
filled her jug, and came up. Then the servant
ran to meet her and said, Please. Let me have
a little water from your jug. She replied, Drink,
my lord. She quickly lowered the jug to her hand
and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving
him a drink, she said, I'll also draw water for
your camels until they've had enough to drink.
So she quickly emptied her jug into the trough
and hurried to the well again to draw water.
She drew water for all his camels, while the
man silently watched her to see whether or not
the Lord had made his journey a success. You
see, remember his criteria. She would give me
a drink and offer to give a drink to all my camels,
right? Well, there's a lot of camels here, so
let's see what's going on. Now, here's the cool
thing about this, and this is God's providence.
Rebecca probably went out every day to go to
the well to get water at evening because that's
just what you did, right? The reason you went
out to the well to get water at evening is because
it's hot in a desert. And you don't go out in
the middle of the day to do that. So you'd go
out in the evening, collect the water for the
home, take it back. You had water for the next
day, right? Normal activity of life. So she leaves
her house to go to the well. Servant's coming
into town. He gets to the well. She's still on
her way. He starts praying. Okay, God, just the
girl that does this. And as soon, it says, before
he had finished speaking, there was Rebecca.
Rebecca left her house to go do her normal everyday
thing before the servant was even there praying.
Do you see God's fingerprints? Do you see God
orchestrating through the normal everyday events
of life? We're meant to see God's hand in this.
We're meant to see him, his providence in just
bringing things together in a way that's like,
oh, that was obviously God. So, and then the
icing on the cake, right? We're gonna see later
that she is from? Abraham's family, precisely
what Abraham requested. So the whole watering
her camels thing, this is why this is significant.
You remember he brought 10 camels, right? A thirsty
camel can drink up to 25 gallons of water, one
camel. The jug that she carried, the typical
type of jug of the day would carry three gallons
of water. And then the well there, you see that
it says she went down to the spring, filled her
jug and came up. It wasn't, you know, the bucket
and get some water type of thing. It was a big
hole. and it had a pathway that descended all
the way down to where the water was at. You would
fill your jug and then walk all the way back
up out of the well to get three gallons of water.
So if you do the math here, 25 gallons per camel
times 10 camels, meet it out at three gallons
at a time, that means Rebecca made between 80
and 100 trips down this well. carried the water
jug all the way back up, down the well, carried
the water jar back up. That's a significant amount
of work. And then when you consider that a camel
takes about 10 minutes to drink its fill of water,
she did this over a period of about two hours.
Back up and down the well, back up and down the
well. And he's just sitting there silently watching.
Now, if I was there silently watching, I'm like,
she's probably going to quit at camel two. Maybe
camel five, right? It's like, bro, why'd you
bring so many camels? Here's the jug, have at
it, right? But she kept going. And she kept going.
And I could just imagine him as she carried the
last few jugs of water. Camel eight is done.
Camel nine. All right, camel 10. We've been here
for almost two hours. Those last couple jugs
into the trough. His heart racing. And then finally,
the last jug is poured out. The camel drinks.
She's the one, right? Genesis 24, 22. As the
camels finished drinking, the man took a gold
ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrist,
two bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold. Whose
daughter are you, he asked. Please tell me, is
there room in your father's house for us to spend
the night? She answered him, I am the daughter
of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.
He also said to him, we have plenty of straw
and feed and a place to spend the night. Now
again, he just went up to this area, happened
to stop at the place that Nahor's family lived,
happened to arrive at precisely the time where
as he's praying, Rebecca shows up, happens to
ask her specifically, and she happens to fulfill
the whole thing, right? We see things like this
and we go, miracle. Sure, you can argue that
it's a miracle. I mean, I would argue that one
who could coordinate all of these random variables,
that's pretty miraculous. But from the perspective
here, it's just the normal everyday things of
life. Yet God is orchestrating all of it. And
you happen to be from his house too? How amazing.
And so he gives her the adornments, the bracelets
and stuff. That would be like a modern day, what's
it called? engagement ring, right? I'm expressing
the intentions here that I would like to, you
know, have you be the wife for my master. And
so verse 26, then the man knelt low, worshiped
the Lord and said, blessed be the Lord, the God
of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his
kindness and faithfulness from my master. As
for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to
the house of my master's relatives. So the first
thing he does, is worship God. The moment he
recognizes this is the Lord, I see his fingerprints,
I prayed for these things and they're coming
together, he worships God and that's always a
good thing to do. Immediately. You know, you're
having your events of life, you're traveling
to work, you're going to get coffee at Starbucks
or something, you know, like, Lord, just... You
know, I want to share with the person at the
thing, you know, and give them a track or whatever.
So God, I really want to talk to so -and -so
who looks like this. And you pull up to the window
at Starbucks and they look exactly like that.
That's a good moment to go, God, you're awesome.
Praise God. To worship him for his providence,
to worship him for what he's doing. And so he's
overcome with thankful gratitude to the Lord.
He worships right then and there. And really,
we see that truly the Lord did go before him.
The Lord did lead the way. The Lord did prepare
the way for him. And so he pretty much has no
doubt at this point, right? So verse 28, the
girl ran and told her mother's household about
these things. Now, Rebecca had a brother named
Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.
As soon as he had seen the ring and the bracelets
on his sister's wrists, and when he had heard
his sister Rebecca's words, the man said this
to me, he went to the man. He was standing there
by the camels at the spring. So obviously, Rebecca,
knowing what these bracelets mean, you know,
I'm being proposed to. She runs in. She sees
him worshiping. I imagine that being a part of
Abraham's broader family, that they knew about
God, right? Because he'd been the one to lead
them out of her and say, God told us to go. And
so God was at least a part of their life in some
degree. So she hears the worship. She understands
the meaning of the gifts. She runs home. She's
super excited. And now we're introduced to this
man named Laban. Laban is going to be a character
who will cast a long shadow over the lives of
God's chosen. This is the same Laban for you
that are familiar with Genesis that will later
on deceive Isaac's son Jacob. That's the story
where Jacob goes to work for him and he sees
Laban's daughter and he goes, wow, I want to
marry her. And Laban says, sure, work for me
for seven years and you can have her. Seven years
of labor and then Laban disguises his other daughter,
gives him to her, and finds out that it's the
wrong daughter, but he'd already been with her
and stuff, so the marriage was consummated. You
tricked me. Laban says, work for me for another
seven years, and you can have the other one,
right? So we know this guy Laban is a conniver.
We know that he's about what's best for him.
We know that he's interested in money and all
these things, so I think that when he saw the
gold bracelets and stuff, that's what got his
attention. You know, oh, and they want to take
you into that family. Whoever that family is,
they're rich. So he runs out. Now, verse 31,
Laban said, come you who are blessed by the Lord.
Why are you standing out here? I have prepared
the house and a place for the camels. So the
man came to the house and the camels were unloaded.
Straw and feed were given to the camels and water
was brought to wash his feet and the feet of
the men with him. A meal was set before him,
but he said, I will not eat until I've said what
I have to say. And so Laban said, Please speak.
And this is where we go through the very long
retelling of everything we've just looked at
with the servant. And so he's gonna talk about
his commission from Abraham. But as we go through
it, pay attention that there's some details he
leaves out. There's some details he expands on
because his goal here, his whole purpose here
is to convince them that this is God's doing.
So verse 34. I am Abraham's servant, he said.
The Lord has greatly blessed my master and he's
become rich. He has given him flocks and herds,
silver and gold, male and female slaves, and
camels and donkeys. And that's where I'm sure
Laban got real excited. Sarah, my master's wife,
bore a son to my master in her old age, and he
has given him everything he owns. My master put
me under this oath. You will not take a wife
for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites
in whose land I live, but you will go to my father's
family and to my clan and take a wife for my
son. But I said to my master, suppose the woman
will not come back with me. He said to me, the
Lord before whom I have walked will send his
angel with you and make your journey a success,
and you will take a wife for my son from my clan
and from my father's family. Then you will be
free from my oath if you go on to my family and
they do not give her to you. You will be free
from my oath. Today, when I came to the spring,
I prayed, Lord, God of my master Abraham, if
you will only make my journey successful. I am
standing here at a spring. Let the young woman
who comes out to draw water and I say to her,
please let me drink a little water from your
jug and who responds to me, drink and I'll draw
water for your camels also. Let her be the woman
the Lord has appointed for my master's son. Before
I had finished praying silently, there was Rebecca
coming with her jug on her shoulder and she went
down to the spring and drew water. So I said
to her, please let me have a drink. She quickly
lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, drink,
and I'll water your camels also. So I drank,
and she also watered the camels. Then I asked
her, whose daughter are you? And she responded,
the daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah
bore to him. So I put the ring on her nose and
the bracelets on her wrists. Then I knelt low
and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord,
the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on
the right way to take the granddaughter of my
master's brother for his son. Now if you're going
to show kindness and faithfulness to my master,
tell me. If not, tell me and I'll go somewhere
else. Now again, you read a portion of scripture
like this and you say, okay, God was speaking
to Moses and Moses decided to write down this
lengthy retelling of what we just read. What
is the point? I think the point is so we don't
miss the point, right? Look what God did and
how he did it. Pay attention to what... The servant
was making decisions on and pay attention to
how God worked through those things. Pay attention
to how God worked through just the details of
the day. Rebecca going to get water from the
well. Pay attention to what God is doing. And
so obviously this is to convince them that Rebecca
is God's answer to his prayer. And so verse 50,
Laban and Bethuel answered, this is from the
Lord. We have no choice in the matter. Rebecca
is here in front of you. Take her and go. Let
her be a wife for your master's son just as the
Lord has spoken. When Abraham's servant heard
their words, he bowed to the ground before the
Lord. Then he brought out objects of silver and
gold and garments and gave them to Rebekah. He
also gave precious gifts to her brother and her
mother. Then he and the men with him ate and
drank and spent the night. When they got up in
the morning, they said, send me to my master.
And so convinced, they're like, yes, let's do
this. got all the gifts out. That was a part
of the whole like dowry type of system, right?
We're gonna give you all these riches in exchange
for her becoming a part of our family. And so
time to go. Verse 55. But her brother and mother
said, let the girl stay with us for about 10
days. Then she can go. But he responded to them,
do not delay me. Since the Lord has made my journey
a success, send me away so that I may go to my
master. So they said, let's call the girl and
ask her opinion. They called Rebecca and said
to her, will you go with this man? She replied,
I will go. Have you ever been in a situation
where you're like, okay, Lord, you know, if this
and this happens, I'll just know it's the decision
you want me to make and it happens. And you're
like, wow, the Lord's in this. And so you start
stepping forward and you're like, okay, God,
guide me, direct me. This is obviously the Lord.
And then some ridiculous delay gets in the way
and you go, God, I thought this was you. I thought
you told me to do this. And now this delay, what
does that mean? Gosh, did I hear the Lord right?
Did he really speak to me? Did I just make it
up in my own head? I imagine the servant here
was kind of dealing with some of this. And we
all are going to have unexpected delays because
God is even working in those delays. to do something,
to mold our character, to leave a testimony,
to work in the person across from us. God works
through all those things because God is omni
-everything. His providence extends over everything.
And so when he says here, let her stay 10 days,
I don't know exactly why the 10 days. Maybe it
was because, well, you know, maybe she'll change
her mind. I don't know. I think they wanted her
to go, but maybe mom was like, I can't let her
go. That's speculation, but I don't know. I think
when they called Rebecca to ask her opinion,
that is highly unusual because they didn't really
care about the girl's opinion in those days,
right? We're marrying you off, and that's what
you're going to do because that's what's good
for the family. I think it's possible that they
said, let's get her opinion because according
to custom, she would not dishonor the family
and dishonor those who said, we want her to stay
10 more days by saying, no, I'm not going to
do that. That's my opinion there. But they call
her and she says, yes, I'll go. Her saying, yes,
I'll go, is her proclaiming that I believe it's
God. I believe everything that's happened is
God too. I agree with this servant. And then
when she says, I will go, it was effectively
her saying, I do. And so they leave, verse 55.
So they send away their sister Rebekah with the
one who had nursed her and raised her, and Abraham's
servant and his men. They blessed Rebekah, saying
to her, Our sister, may you become thousands
upon ten thousands. May your offspring possess
the city gates of their enemies. And then Rebekah
and her female servants got up, mounted the camels,
and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah
and left. Now, the interesting thing here is
the blessing that they give to Rebekah is almost
the exact same blessing Abraham gave to Isaac
when God spared him on the mountain, right? This
happens all the time and is another fingerprint
of God in our lives. You talk to somebody, you're
getting counsel, and you're like, the three other
people I talked to said the exact same thing.
And what do we conclude out of that? Gosh, this
must be the Lord, right? Or I'm sure this has
happened or never happened to any of you, but,
you know, the pastor's preaching, and he'll say
something that all your friends and everybody
have been saying to you for weeks, and you're
just like, okay, God, I hear it. It's never happened
here, right? How did he know that, right? All
that type of stuff, right? God works even just
through the words people say in their normal
conversation. And it's for us to be aware to
discern his fingerprints in those things. Verse
62, now Isaac was returning from Bir Lahairoi
for he was living in the Negev region. In the
early evening, Isaac went out to walk in the
field and looking up, he saw camels coming. Rebecca
looked up and when she saw Isaac, she got down
from her camel and asked the servant, who is
that man in the field coming to meet us? The
servant answered, it is my master. So she took
her veil and covered herself. Then the servant
told Isaac everything he had done, and Isaac
brought her into the tent of his mother, Sarah,
and took Rebecca to be his wife. Isaac loved
her, and he was comforted after his mother's
death. The idea here is they kind of saw each
other about the same time. Now, every time I've
ever heard this story about Isaac and Rebecca,
even though I've read it, but now sometimes we
remember hearing things about Bible stories and
then when we go back, it's not there, right?
I've always been told that when Isaac saw Rebecca,
he was, oh, she's so beautiful. He was floored
and overwhelmed by that, right? It doesn't say
that here. We know she's very beautiful. That's
what we read earlier in the thing. But I imagine,
and speculatively, that he looked up and he's
like, whoa. Who's that? She gets down and she
goes, servant, who's that? They just saw each
other and as soon as she knew that that's your
husband to be, she dropped the veil over her
eyes because again, she's about to be given as
a bride to a man and so she drops the veil over
to represent her purity and all the things that
come with that and so they get together and then
it just tells us that their marriage was immediate.
He took her into what was Sarah, his mother's
tent. Why? Because she was now the matriarch
of Israel. And as Sarah had passed, Rebekah is
now the mother of the family. Now, we do know
Abraham marries again later on, but at this point,
the family authority, if you will, is starting
to transfer over. It told us earlier that Abraham
had given everything he owns to Isaac. So we
see that Rebekah is now symbolically here the
matriarch and literally the matriarch of Israel.
And it says Isaac loved her. This is one of the
first times that love is used to specify the
physical consummation of a marriage, right? The
wedding night type of thing. It's the first reference
to marital sexual love in the Bible. And so that
was how a marriage was consummated. It wasn't
the marriage certificate. It wasn't signed by
a judge or a pastor. It was when you were together
that marriage was official for you to become
one flesh. So through this whole story, we see
God working. in what people are just doing anyways.
We see God working like this all the time. God
works in the events of history. God works through
nature, his creation. God works through individual
people, and you know, lest anybody misunderstand
me here, the lesson of this story is not, so
when you pray, make sure you give God some specific
criteria, and that's how you're supposed to pray.
That's not the lesson here. I don't think there's
a problem with that, per se, but The lesson of
this is as you're going through life, living
life, following God, discerning his will, letting
him guide you, figuring out where he wants you
to go, when and how and all that thing, trust
him. Trust that he's leading you. Trust that
he's with you every second of every day because
he is. Trust that he is always listening and
the moment you pray, he hears those prayers and
he's gonna answer according to his will. The
idea is trusting him in all of it. As you live
for him, you're trusting his word, you're communing
in prayer. And sometimes it might be something
weird that he tells you to do. It's not so much
supernatural, but it's weird and you gotta listen.
Like there's a story I heard a long time ago
and I'm probably gonna butcher the details, but
it was a story about a guy driving down the street,
just doing his thing and on the way to somewhere
and he just feels impressed upon his heart, turn
left here. He's like, oh, okay. Well, Lord, I
guess I'm supposed to turn left here. And he's
driving down this residential street. And then
he's like, okay, God, I'm here. What's next?
And then he feels impressed upon his heart pull
over right here. He's like, all right, pulls
over and looking around. And he's just in this
neighborhood. And he's like, Lord, what do you
want me to do? And then he feels the Lord direct
him to this mailbox across the street. And he
goes, go to that mailbox and stick your head
inside of it and yell, God hears you as loud
as you can. Now, those are the moments where
you go, I think I'm crazy, right? I ain't doing
that. They're going to call neighborhood watch,
right? They're going to come pick me up. But
again, this individual is like, okay, Lord, that's
weird, but I'll do it. So he goes across the
street. He's looking around, sticks his head
in the mailbox and screams as loud as he can.
God hears you. Pulls his head out. Gets in his
car, right? Now, I don't know how this piece
of the information got back because this is allegedly
a true story. But what that man didn't know,
is that there was a guy inside that house who
was about to kill himself. And in his desperation,
he said, God, do you even hear me? And right
then he hears this voice from outside, God hears
you. And he didn't kill himself, right? Now,
I'm sure that that was a miracle to that man.
But it wasn't heaven opening up. It wasn't pillar
of fire coming down. It was some dude sticking
his head in a mailbox. But a life was saved.
And you see, God wants us to learn how to just
trust him in every little thing because there's
gonna be a big thing he needs you to trust him
in and he wants you to be ready for that. He
wants you to have the habit already deep within
you that's like, God, you speak, I jump, right?
You tell me, I go. I trust you and I don't need
to see the miracles because God, you've already
demonstrated yourself to me. I know you're real.
I know you're working. And so I just trust you.
I trust your will. I trust your timing. You see,
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, it says, trust in the Lord
with all your heart. Do not rely on your own
understanding, but in all of your ways, know
him and he will make your paths straight. Providence
is God working through the normal things of life.
Providence is God's gracious working out of his
purposes in Christ in dealing with us. His will
is being accomplished through us. Now, do we
sense that we divert things and all that? God
is still gonna have his will be done. And we
look around and we go, oh no, oh no, did I mess
it up? Sure, there's situations where we feel
like God is impressing upon you or speaking to
you to do something and you say no. Do you think
you just derailed God's plans for creation? Do
you think you have that much power? I've often
been told, you know, in people in ministry, I've
even said this to some people, that you identify
somebody and you go, wow, you have real calling
on your life. And, you know, man, God's hands
on you. You should teach or you should do this
or that. And they resist and they go, no, I don't
want to. I don't want that. And then sometimes
people would be like, well, you mean the people
you're supposed to reach and the people you're
supposed to preach to, if you don't listen to
God's will, you know, they're not going to hear
the gospel. I don't necessarily agree with that.
If God wants to get the gospel to somebody, God's
going to get the gospel to somebody. Now, if
it's one of his dumb people who don't want to
listen, he's going to do it another way. But
all of that is in God's counsel. Our part is
to just be faithful. You see, every single moment
of life, God is fulfilling this promise in Romans
8, 28. We know that all things work together
for good, for the good of those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose. For
those he foreknew, he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his son so that he
would be the firstborn among many brothers and
sisters. And those he predestined, he also called.
And those he called, he also justified. And those
he justified, he also glorified. The lives of
God's children, really the lives of everybody
in this world, they're not ruled by chance and
luck and happenstance. They're ruled by God,
the creator. His will is always going to be what
happens. He is and will always be faithful to
his people. Our challenge is to be faithful to
him. Our challenge is to trust him in every moment
of every day. Contrary to the statement that
people often attribute to the Bible, but it's
not there, people say God helps those who help
themselves. God does not help those who help
themselves. He helps those who entrust themselves
fully to him and cling to him with everything
and to know through experience of walking with
him that God is faithful always no matter what,
just like Abraham knew, just like this servant
knew. Let's pray. Father, Lord, faith is a strange
thing. Lord, as your people, we believe. But
so often we wrestle with your will. And God,
sometimes we could find ourselves trying to run
our own lives because we think, oh, these little
details, God doesn't care about those. Lord,
when it comes to detail you care about, the Bible
says you know how many hairs are on our head.
I'm not quite sure how more detailed you can
get than that. Lord, we are your kids and we
love you and we want to live by faith. We want
to follow your leading and your prompting, Lord,
and let us be people who don't wait or only move
when we see some supernatural sign, Lord, but
that we would see you working through the normal
things of life. That we would be able to step
back and even in tough times to be able to say,
well, I believe God is omnipotent. And although
I may not understand a particular situation,
my experience with God tells me that there's
a purpose and a reason for this. Lord, in just
the positive things of living life for you, Lord,
may we be people who just at every moment, as
we recognize your fingerprints, just praise you.
That God, we would know and understand that you're
with us every moment of every day. that there
is not a moment you are not ready to direct us
and to guide us. But Lord, simply the problems
we run into is when we neglect being aware that
you're with us. Lord, your word tells us that
you are a counselor. You're the one who leads
and guides and directs, Lord, and so help us
to lean on that. And God, when you do the big
supernatural stuff, awesome. But God, let us
not think that the little things are any less
you working your will in this world. Lord, we
love you. We thank you for everything. It's in
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.