Isaac gets a wife
Notes
Transcript
Faith and Trust in God- Aug 07, 2022
George Weil
Genesis / Faithful People / Ge 24:1–67
Text: Genesis 24: 1-67
Text: Genesis 24: 1-67
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In my home, I have “To do Lists” often called “Honey Do Lists” that stare me in the face and silently ask me, if not now? When? Heather gets frustrated with my procrastination in the tasks I should be doing. Eventually I get to them. My point is that it is for the love of my wife that I do these tasks and enjoy the outcome of finishing these tasks. However, my experience in task management has not always been pleasant.
When I was in the service, I was given many tasks to do. Some of the tasks were mundane but all were to instill in me a sense of ownership of the task. It was also a test from my supervisor on whether I could follow simple instructions. Sadly to say in my early years in the service I could not.
I wasn’t motivated properly and saw no earthly reason why I should be given any task. I did not see the purpose for this busy work nor my responsibility in doing it well. As I grew in my journey in the military I quickly found that doing tasks and doing them well gives you perks. Like not having kitchen duty and peeling potatoes or cleaning out toilet bowls. But that was not the only motivation I recognized as I grew to understand the system. My personal pride began to grow on doing a task because I wanted to do it well.
A funny thing happened within me as I grew older. I began to see the most important motivation for me was to meet the challenge and to show my supervisor that he had given the right task to the right person to do. I was determined to meet my obligation to complete the assigned task no matter what. It was an obedience to a higher authority and a sense of accomplishment that felt good. Sadly, my responsibility in God had not taken fruit in my garden yet.
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More than 130 years ago, a group of twenty distinguished Americans met in the Astor House in New York City during the presidency of Millard Fillmore. Among the dinner guests was Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who had been unusually quiet. In an effort to engage him in conversation, a colleague asked, “Mr. Webster, will you tell me what was the most important thought you ever had?” Following a brief silence, he confidently replied, “The most serious thought that ever occupied my mind was that of my individual responsibility to God.”
In the book of Genesis, we see Abraham giving a task to his senior servant. This task is of monumental importance in that if accomplished correctly would fulfill a divine covenant by God to bless Abraham with many descendants.
God had promised in Chapter 12 to make from Abraham a great nation. But, to accomplish that promise, Abraham needed to find his son Isaac a wife.
Here we see Abraham as a true man of faith. He grew into trusting in YHWH. Especially at the possible sacrifice of his only son Isaac. Abraham knew that the choice of a proper wife did not depend on the servant but on God. He knew God would lead the servant. He knew that God’s promise would be fulfilled.
In my younger years, I depended on snap judgments and choices that were suspect and eventually were of little or no value. We have all been there. It is a stage in life where we rebel and think we know everything and have seen everything. It’s a time where we make our own choices, like what clothes to wear, hair styles to show off and what friends to hang out with. As I remember my hideous bell bottoms or listening to the Beach boys and wearing pukka shells I can see that I had made some wrong choices.
God needs to be in the equation of those choices. In my growing up years, I did not turn to Him for guidance. I was foolish in those days and placed my faith on the back burner. Faith is not foolishness. God needs to be relied on to make the right choice or choices for us in times of need. My spiritual immaturity was evident and many of my decisions were not what God would have approved for me.
In Abraham’s day, God was leading Abraham in all the details of his life and all involved with Abraham. There were not many decisions that Abraham needed to do because God was in charge. Abraham learned this valuable lesson … he need to grow into it… We need to also recognize this lesson and grow into it.
Abraham’s servant travels to find a wife for Isaac. He takes an oath that differently than we do today. The oath is affirmed by the servant and off he goes.
The servant’s task is clear, but he is still unsure of himself on how to make sure he can complete the task. Abraham again knows all will be well because, God has promised that through his son Isaac, he is going to bring a blessing to the world.
Like most of us, we want to embrace what God wants in our lives. Faith is always reasonable, it is not a gamble, it is a sure thing.
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Dale Carnegie wrote of interviewing Henry Ford when Ford was seventy-eight years of age. He had expected to find a gaunt, nervous old man. When asked if he worried, Ford replied, “No. I believe God is managing affairs and He doesn’t need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe that everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about?”
Today, I am before all of you doing my first sermon and want to do it right. I have the confidence of God and the Holy Spirit but there is still that little sense of doubt that flutters inside. I would love to be as sure as Abraham. I know that through responsible preparation and instruction I will be acting upon the word of God and preaching and teaching His Word to you.
Abraham’s servant did exactly what I did before coming today before you. I prayed. I prayed to God to “grant me success today.” My need was to do well. God wants us to bring our needs to Him, but He has to be the one to determine how He will answer our prayers. Pray that the Holy Spirit will use your words to edify, encourage, and strengthen the body.
God knows what will happen next. God knows what is going on — all the hows, whens, and whys. When you do not know what to do or what will happen next, trust that He does. I don’t believe that God ever has a a moment where He says, Boy, I didn’t see that coming?”
God’s strength is sometimes unrecognized by us. Our trust and faith in Him in all that we do, is a spiritual journey that both Abraham and the servant are taking. It’s a growth in faith. Simply put, to grow in faith means to grow spiritually. It is to mature in both knowledge of God and in godly living; ultimately, it is to become more like Christ. Just as a person grows physically from infant to mature adult, a Christian's life is designed to grow spiritually from baby to mature Christian. St. Paul noted that Abraham’s belief was unhampered by the fact that he was almost a hundred years old; he was not weak in faith. He was strong in faith. Faith is a deep conviction that Gods words are true and that God will perform all that He promises.
Abraham’s servant has reached the well outside the city and begins to pray to God. It was the custom of the times that women go out to draw water. The servant waited because it was not the proper thing for him, as a stranger, to water his camels before the others who lived in the community. He tells God what he is looking for in a perfect mate for Isaac. He is depending on God. Before he finished his prayer Rebekah appears. She is a beauty and offers the servant a drink and shows her politeness, hospitality, and generosity by watering the 10 camels that came on the journey. It was like filling the radiator of a car to fill up each camel. The servant is so amazed you can knock him down with a feather.
This was God’s providence and God knew what was required before the prayer was ever completed. God is the focal point of the story. God has done all the heavy lifting for Abraham’s servant and has provided the answer to his prayers. God is with us and able to give us strength no matter what we go through. He does not promise that we will not face difficulties or fear. He does promise that He is there and able to get us through it.
The Servant in our story is overjoyed. Notice that the servant does not eat immediately when taken back to meet Rebekah’s relatives. He wants to tell them of his mission first. Notice that his name is not given. Likewise, the Lord Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will not speak of himself, but He will take the things of Mine and show them unto you (John 16:13-15). The servant tells about the father’s house.And that is something that the Spirit of God would have us know about. The servant is ready with his checklist:
a. He has found a wife for Isaac.
b. He has fulfilled his task to his master Abraham and his master’s son Isaac.
c. But more importantly, he has been faithful to God and has praised Him for the choice He has made. The servant sees that the hand of God is in this. It is wonderful to have God leading and guiding, is it not? We need to trust in the Lord.
Rebekah travels back to see her bridegroom with complete faith.
“I will go.” Is the response of Rebekah. She does not waste any time, beat around the bush or hesitate. Rebekah by her decision “I will go” changed from being a servant to being a bride, from the loneliness of the world to the joy of love and companionship, from her poverty into Isaac’s wealth.
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I remember when I was called by the Lord to pursue my service to the church in four words, “I call.” My response, “I go.” I did not hesitate, I jumped at the order and knew that my trust was in the Lord. The Danish novelist, Arker Larsen, said God entered his life from the farm workers he knew as a boy. Larsen declared he comes to God every morning asking: “What orders have you for me today?”
In our story of Abraham, we have this marvelous picture of the relationship of Christ and the church. Can we see the connection of Abraham the father to God the father? Isaac the son to Jesus the son? The servant who serves to the Holy Spirit? And finally, the bride Rebekah and the church being the bride?
The New Testament speaks of the church being the bride of Christ. We read in the Book of Revelation, the promise of a final reunion between Jesus Christ and His bride, the church. When Christ returns in the Second Coming, He will celebrate with His bride in a wedding ceremony where the two will be united forever. “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” (Revelation 19:7-8).
“And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” This reveals to us that Christ gains a great deal in our salvation. He wants us, he longs for us.
Have you ever noticed that the men whom the Lord Jesus called to be His disciples made the same instant decision as Rebekah? They left their nets and followed Him. No hesitation, they followed Him, they went with Him.
As Christians, this story emphasizes a few points:
i. We must want God’s will,
ii. We must pray and seek His guidance.
iii. We must be willing to obey, and
iv. We must be alert to what God is doing and trust in His choice.
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Don’t Ask God Why. One mark of spiritual maturity is the confident acceptance that God is in control, without understanding the whys and whens of happenings. The Prophet Isaiah writes: “Woe to him who strives with his Maker,/an earthen vessel with the potter!/Does the clay say to him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ ” (Isa. 45:9).
Finally, let us be reminded:
God knows what we need before we ask. As we saw in the servant praying near the well and seeing Rebekah before he finished praying. The Holy Spirit has sealed us and will deliver us to Christ at the day of redemption. Believe me, it was certain that this servant of Abraham's was going to get the bride to Isaac.
Let our prayers be heard and done in humility in all situations and all else can wait. As we saw in the example with the servant delaying the hospitality of food until he honored God with prayer on his mission.
CONCLUSION:
This is more than an Old Testament love story. It can be Your love story today, if you trust Jesus Christ and say, I WILL GO!