July 30, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Leviticus 22-24

Weekly Memory Verse: Hebrews 4:12

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Considering the format of this study, a few thoughts this morning.  I was listening to Jack Hayford this morning concerning reading the Bible.  The thought was worth passing along, we study the Bible, and learn from it.  This is necessary for our spiritual growth.  What is also necessary for our spiritual growth is simply reading God's word.  That is like eating food on a daily basis.  When you read large sections of scripture, like the one in our reading today, sometimes it just doesn't make sense, and it may not seem to be even remotely applicable to our lives.  What we are forgetting is that the Bible is spiritual food, eat it and digest it.  If it doesn't make sense today, that is ok, what is important is that you feed upon the word of God.  Another point along the same line is memorizing Scripture.  When we hide God's word in our hearts it is like pumping our souls up with vitamins. 

What I am getting at is just read God's word, spend the time in study, spend the time reading, and spend the time memorizing God's word.  I was asked yesterday if it was possible to be a Christian and not read the Bible.  The answer is yes, it is possible, consider the person who does not read!  Brothers and Sisters, we do read, we have the opportunity to feed, and digest the meat of the word of God.  Why would we want to short change ourselves by not spending time in all three disciplines?  This study has primarily focused upon these three ingredients and added a catalyst, prayer, without it, all of the head knowledge in the world is goofy.  It is important to tap into God's will through prayer.  I would encourage you to make the most of this study, the purpose of this study is to encourage believers to dig into God's word and stay faithful to its study.  This will raise up a core of believers who know what they believe.  Then you will be able to take the enthusiasm that has built from learning to learn from God's word and infect the other people in your churches with it.  Enough jabbering, on with the study!

Genesis 24:1-9 (NASB95)
¹ Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. ² Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, ³ and 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, ⁴ but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The 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?” ⁶ Then 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. ⁸ “But 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.” ⁹ So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.^[1]

Isaac was around 37 years old when Sarah died.  He was still single, and did not have the opportunity to pick out his wife.  Abraham sent his oldest servant to fetch the wife, relying upon his wisdom. 

Abraham wanted to make sure that Isaac did not go with the servant, because he believed God that his descendants would own the land where he was living.  Notice that Abraham stated twice that Isaac was not to go with him.

Look at the exercise of faith where Abraham states that the Lord will provide an angel to go before him.  Abraham wasn't afraid of Isaac not finding a wife, he was afraid of Isaac going to his home land and not wanting to return.  Abraham knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Isaac would marry and have lots of kids.  God had already promised him that.

Genesis 24:10-27 (NASB95)
¹⁰ Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. ¹² He said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ “Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴ now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.” ¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹ Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. ²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father’s house?” ²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.” ²⁶ Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.” ^[2]

Look at the simplicity of the prayer.  The servant took sufficient provisions and went on the journey.  Getting a girl to marry into riches would not be a problem.  His concern was getting the right girl to marry.  The prayer seems to be simplistic, but think about it, this prayer demonstrates extreme faith.

God answered the prayer to quickly for the servant to grasp.  The prayer was answered so quickly in fact that the servant felt that he needed further verification that this was the answer to the prayer.  Also consider that ten camels would drink a lot of water.  For a girl to volunteer to draw the water for a stranger would be unheard of, especially with ten camels.  Eliezer first saw the literal answer to his prayer, then he checked out the other qualifications, such as her lineage.  Remember that she had to be a daughter of Abraham's relatives.  She not only proved to be a blood relative, but demonstrated the generosity that went along with the righteous, similar to Abraham's treatment of strangers. 

Genesis 24:28-61 (NASB95)
²⁸ Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And he said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?” ³² So the man entered the house. Then Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have told my business.” And he said, “Speak on.” ³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ “The Lord has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ “Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him all that he has. ³⁷ “My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ “I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ “He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; ⁴¹ then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’ ⁴² “So I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; ⁴³ behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also. ⁴⁷ “Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸ “And I bowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹ “So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.” ⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter comes from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ “Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.” ⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the Lord. ⁵³ The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.” ⁵⁶ He said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the girl and consult her wishes.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.” ⁶¹ Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.^[3]

Notice the way that Eliezer tells the story once more, appealing to Rebekah's family.  The confirmation is given and they prepare for the journey.  Imagine the faith that it must have taken for her to listen to a story spun by an old man, and to be willing to depart with him to travel about 450 miles via camel to a new land to marry a person that she had never met.  Once he found the girl, it was time to go, no time for her to change her mind or to say goodbye to all of her friends.  God called, she answered, and acted upon His revealed will. This was also one of the stipulations that Abraham had laid out for the woman, she was to be willing to leave her land, (v. 8).

Consider that quick reaction to God's revealed will.  I wonder how often that we hear God speaking in our ear, yet we linger just a little while longer.  We dabble in the riches and count the cost, then slowly our vision dies because we allow other things to overpower it.  Why not just go?  The aged servant had one thing right, when God reveals His will, act on it immediately, don't wait. The devil is standing in waiting to explain to each of us how that we can't possibly do what God has called us to do.

Genesis 24:62-67 (NASB95)
⁶² Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.^[4]

Rebekah and Isaac got married as a result of the efforts.  It was an arranged marriage, it was arranged by the Abraham and by God.  The marriages in the Old Testament that were not arranged by the parents turned sour.

Genesis 26:34-35 (NASB95)
³⁴ When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 27:46 (NASB95)
⁴⁶ Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Judges 14:1-3 (NASB95)
¹ Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” ³ Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.” ^[5]

The idea of arranging marriages is foreign to us.  Yet when you consider the arranged marriages, the divorce rate was much smaller than it is today.  People knew that once they were married it was for life.  They were not married for "love", they were married out of a decision, love followed later.  If you were married to someone who you were not compatible with, or had irreconcilable differences, tough.  The fathers or in the case of Rebekah, the brothers arranged the marriages, they were intended for life, and they came with a high price tag.  The precedent was set in Genesis that marriage was for life, there were no exceptions.  We have screwed it up.  The flip side of the coin is how many marriages could be saved today if both partners were serious about the study of God's word and prayer?  I can't recall any marriages where both partners had a strong relationship with God that have ended in divorce. The modern idea of dating creates many of the problems. The problem is not in the courting relationship, it is in the attitude toward marriage by the couple.  One of my daughters, Rebekah has seriously researched this idea, one of the books she has read is "Kiss dating goodbye", I think that she is on to something. 

I am getting off on a tangent, back to center.  Isaac and Rebekah had a story book type of meeting, it was love at first sight.  Consider though, both of them knew that it was God's will for them to be together, and both had sacrificed to remain pure for their future spouse.  I didn't run across any estimates on Rebekah's age, yet Isaac was estimated to be around the mid thirties.  The cost for Isaac was staying single, the cost for Rebekah was moving to an entirely new land where she didn't know anyone.  The thing that powered both of them in the decision was an extreme faith in God. 

Questions for thought:

1. What does this passage teach us about prayer?

2. What does this passage teach us about faith?

3. What does this passage teach us about marriage?

Father, as we consider Your word today and consider the topics of faith prayer and marriage, I ask that You will inspire and encourage each member of this study to dig deeper and apply Your word to their lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.