Genesis 24:1-25:18

Compiled notes from my BSF group

ABRAHAM ASKS HIS SERVANT TO FIND ISAAC A WIFE (Genesis 24:1–9)

Abraham leads his family to the Promised Land, as God had instructed him

Genesis 18:19
"For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

And having lived his last days in the Promised Land, Abraham wanted his servant to find Isaac a wife.

Abraham has two requests about the ideal wife
1. She cannot be a daughter of the Canaanites; she must be a daughter from his native land.
2. If the ideal woman is unwilling to come with the servant to the Promised Land, do not take Isaac back to the native land. It was God's will for them to be in the Promised Land, and by God's blessing, that is where their home is. There is no going back to the native land. It was not God's will!

Exemplified by Abraham, Godly parents bring up godly children
1. Love our children, because children are precious creations and a blessing from God.
Deuteronomy 7:14 
Psalms 127:3-5
Psalms 139:13-16
Matthew 18:12-14
Ephesians 2:10

2. Teach, train, and discipline our children.
Hebrews 12:6 
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Proverbs 22:6
Ephesians 6:4
Colossians 3:21
Proverbs 19:18
Proverbs 29:17


THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALWAYS THE UNNAMED SERVANT (Genesis 24:10–28)

As we have noted in previous chapters, Abraham represents a type of father, and Isaac, a type of son. Now, in this passage, we see that the unnamed servant is a type of the Holy Spirit.

The servant serves Abraham faithfully
Before trying to find the right woman, the servant prayed for God’s guidance and help (Genesis 24:12-14): "LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, ‘Drink,and I’ll water your camels too'—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

We see that in this prayer, the servant asked for a special sign (Genesis 24:14).

Throughout the Bible, we see people often asking for REASONABLE signs from God, so that they would know that they are doing God’s will. Reasonable signs are signs that do not demand acts of unnecessary miracles. Instead, reasonable signs are simple and speak to the heart. For example, I may be sitting in the park in the summer and am praying hard about what to do. I'm split between two choices. I can pray for a reasonable sign, such as, "God, if option 1 is the best for me, please have this butterfly land on my right hand. If option 2 is the way to go, please have it land on my left hand instead." I wouldn't ask God to all of a sudden make everything be okay. I wouldn't ask God to help make all my troubles disappear.

In this passage, we see the servant applying this concept. He is there by the spring and know that the town’s young women are out to draw water. Hence, he asks for a sign that is appropriates within context and specific: May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink,and I’ll water your camels too'—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master” (Genesis 24:14).

Key things to note:
1. The servant asked for a sign that was within context.
2. The servant was specific. The sign needs to be specific enough that we would understand the answer. Otherwise, what's the point?

Simple signs, simple answers.

Similarly, in the time of Saul, Jonathan, his son, also asked for a sign using similar means.

1 Samuel 14:8-12
"If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands."

Again, we see the same pattern: Sign within context but specific enough to be understood as God’s answer.


The servant joyfully gives the glory to God
Throughout this passage, we see the servant joyfully praising God for the work that is being accomplished.

Genesis 24:26-27
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives."


The servant serves Abraham faithfully as the Holy Spirit serves God faithfully

In this story, Abraham represents God; Isaac represents Jesus, and the servant in this story represents the Holy Spirit. The servant was sent out by Abraham to find Isaac a bride. Similarly, the Holy Spirit was sent out by God the Father to guide a bride to His Son, Jesus Christ. Who is that bride? The Church, that is known as the Bride of Christ.

In the Book of Ruth, we also see that it was the unnamed servant who introduced Ruth to Boaz. (In this story, Boaz is the kinsman redeemer, a type of Jesus; Ruth represents the Gentiles; and Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, represents Israel -- We see in this story how the unnamed servant, the Holy Spirit, bring salvation to not just the Gentiles but the Israelites as well.)



ISAAC WEDS REBEKAH (Genesis 24:29–67)

Marriage is a holy covenant
Deuteronomy 7:1–4
2 Corinthians 6:14–15

I've recently wrote a series of posts, based on the teachings of Pastor Mark Driscoll, on Christian marriage, so I will not go into the details here. Instead, I list the links to those posts below:
1. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/02/christian-marriage-i-new-marriage-same.html
2. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/02/christian-marriage-ii-friend-with.html
3. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/02/christian-marriage-iii-men-and-marriage.html
4. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/02/christian-marriage-iv-respectful-wife.html
5. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/02/christian-marriage-v-taking-out-trash.html
6. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/02/christian-marriage-vi-what-is-sex.html
7. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/03/christian-vii-disgrace-and-grace.html
8. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/03/christian-marriage-viii-porn-is.html
9. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/03/christian-marriage-ix-selfish-lovers.html
10. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/03/christian-marriage-x-how-do-we-enjoy.html
11. http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/03/christian-marriage-xi-reverse.html


ABRAHAM PASSES (Genesis 25:1–18)

With Abraham's passing, he left everything to Isaac and gave gifts to the sons of his concubines (which would include Ishmael) (Genesis 25:5).

Despite bumps along the way, Abraham showed us how we can overcome sins of the flesh by faithfully following God.