UNWAVERING FAITH:
Genesis 24: A Bride for Isaac
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.
INTRODUCTION:
Genesis chapter 24 is packed with a lot of details, it is like a fairy tale, I felt ( I don’t know about you)
because God wonderfully works in the life of Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and Eliezer, let’s check it out:
DETERMINATION OF ABRAHAM:
How many of you have read about the miraculous working power of God, His mysterious ways of dealing with His children, you say ‘ah and ooooo’ but when it comes to you personally, it sounds surreal and strange for you? Are you with me? The above scripture did that to me today; Abraham’s servant starts praying from verse 12 with calling ‘O Lord..’ and then the prayer goes on to verse 13,14 and in verse 15 Rebekah walks in as an answer. Wow, Eliezer’s prayer was answered too quick I felt! I am sure many would resonate with me! It was like fairy tale, he prayed then Rebekah walked in with a jar on her shoulder. Ah!!!
Well, when I meditated on this chapter for a couple of hours, I felt God speaking with me and taking me through it step by step, which I share below. 2 Chronicles 16:9”For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Yes, God is looking for somebody whose heart is FULLY committed to him.
Do you know what Abraham said to his servant Eliezer? (verse 6) "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.” This is called unwavering faith!
,You can see his firm heart when he said, ‘come what may you should not take my son back THERE: to the idol worshiping people, to the world, to the place that my God does not approve, Abraham refused to compromise. Do we have this kind of determination?
When you are DETERMINED LIKE ‘THAT’ AND FAITHFUL , God will give you faithful servants who will help you, what you sow is what you reap:
ELIEZER
When we read about Eliezer, I was gobsmacked, he is amazing, we can see that his boss Abraham’s qualities has rubbed off on him, it is only natural, though:
a) PROACTIVE SERVANT: 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.”
During my experience in the ministry and when I traveled to different churches, I have watched some pastors blessed with good congregation members, volunteers, choir and helpers. the secret behind this is that the faithfulness of the church leader. Amen.
b) PRAYERFUL SERVANT: Wow, I tell you, he has learnt the strategy to pray from his master Abraham. Fire begets fire!
If you lack knowledge of God, a brilliant mind will also stagger during times of crisis or when you have to take crucial decisions, however, Eliezer knew His God and he went about his job confidently putting God before him.
• CLEAR STRATEGY:
Genesis 26:12 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."
When you have a CLEAR strategy, God will give you pristine clear signals, anybody listening? Haphazard prayers and careless lifestyle will reap no great things.
• God gave clear signals:
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.
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."
c) PATIENT SERVANT / WAITING ON GOD:
He did not swiftly run to print the wedding cards and post the news on facebook, no….no…he waited on God. Wow! Amazing!
21”Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.”
When I received a call from God to resign the multinational bank job and join full time ministry, I did not hastily resign but I took one week leave and went on a fasting prayer. I would go to our church every day the whole week (the church would be empty since it was week days) sit underneath the staircase and pray the whole day and return home in the evening. I did this everyday with commitment, on Saturday, the Lord gave me clear instructions from His Word to resign.
d) MAN OF COMMITMENT: 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."
e) GRATEFUL SERVANT / THANKED THE LORD:
52 When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the LORD."
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Lessons we learn from today’s Bible study:
• When we are faithful , honest, determined and passionate about God like Abraham, God would lead us to green pastures and still waters.
• We need to be careful, vigilant and cautious in knowing the will of God.
• God is ready to lead and guide a willing and patient person.
