Genesis 24 - Bible Study

[sharky67]

Genesis 24:1-9


Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac." The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?" "Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring I will give this land'--he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there." So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. (NIV)
Pre-arranged marriages were the usual way for men and women to marry in Abraham's time. Although there were undoubtedly a few broken hearts along the way, we must say that the system worked, by and large, for hundreds and even thousands of years. In many places on earth, it still does. After Sarah's death, Abraham wanted to find a wife for his son. He wanted to be sure she was the right kind of girl -- one who shared the same faith in the true God. His main thought is that she should not be a Canaanite, but someone from his people back north.
There are two unusual points here: First, Abraham makes his servant swear an oath by putting his hand under his thigh. This is of course the region of the reproductive organs, and so swearing an oath in this way somehow involved the physical descendants of Abraham. The servant understood that Abraham's entire family line would depend on this one task.
The second point is that the girl must agree to come and marry Isaac, sight unseen. Abraham trusted that the Lord would provide a wife for his son, and wanted to display that faith. Abraham trusted God to answer his prayer with a "yes." Abraham's prayer would be answered -- even as God has promised to answer every one of our prayers. And God has shown us that he answers prayer, by fulfilling every other promise he has made to us, even by sending his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins.

Prayer:
God, how blessed I am to lay claim to your promise by faith, that you will hear and answer my prayers for Jesus’ sake. Teach me to pray with confidence in your love for me to accomplish all that is for my good. Amen.

[sharky67]

Genesis 24:10-14
Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success 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 girl, '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." (NIV)
This was a journey of at least four hundred miles. Riding an average camel, capable of carrying a 400-pound load plus its rider, the journey would have taken Abraham's servant about two weeks. The servant's prayer is probably not one you or I would make today. He was pinning God down to a specific sign -- an interesting study question here is: Is this specific prayer evidence of a weak faith, or of a strong faith? One thing we can be certain of: Whether my faith is weak or strong is unimportant. Whatever degree of strength my faith may be, it is only what my faith is IN that is important: Jesus Christ, descended from Abraham, true God and true man, who died for my sins. His strength is all I need. His life, death and resurrection have assured each of us a place in heaven forever.

Genesis 24:15-21
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar." "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. (NIV)
At the end of a journey, a single camel might drink twenty gallons -- were this even a small camel train (perhaps ten camels) the process would have taken more than an hour. The amazing thing about this incident is not that God provided so clear an answer to the servant's prayer, but that the servant still had reservations about her!
Do we sometimes wonder whether our prayers are answered? God answers every prayer prayed by believers. And although it is true that he may say "no," it is also true that he may say "Yes," or he may say "Yes" in another way, or he may say "Later" or "Not yet." In each case, we know that he has our best interests in mind, that he loves us, and that he is working out all things for the good of all believers, everywhere.
Prayer:
Teach me, Lord, to pray with the confidence that you always hear my prayers and will answer them according to your great love for me. Amen.

[winslake]

Amen.
Thank you, Chris.
Bob

[sharky67]

Genesis 24:22-27

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? 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, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night." 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." (NIV)

Altogether, these gifts amounted to a little over four ounces of gold -- just a token of thanks for her hospitality at the well. They had nothing to do with the marriage proposal, since the servant was not yet certain about the girl's suitability. But almost immediately, the servant got good news: Not only was the girl full of hospitality and grace, she was also a relative of Abraham's -- what we might call a grand-niece.

Rebekah's actions and words are an example of letting faith shine. Rebekah was showing the kind of hospitality the writer to the Hebrews talked about when he said: "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering" (Hebrews 13:1-3 <http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=&passage=Hebrews+13 :1-3> ).

The servant, too, showed his faith. He bowed low, probably on his knees, as he prayed to thank God for guiding the course of events. May God help each of us to remember to pray – not just when we need something, but also when we get it.

We pass over some verses in this chapter which are mainly repetition of events we read previously. Abraham’s servant met Rebekah’s family and explained the purpose of his journey. Especially he addressed Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, and brother, Laban, about the way the Lord indicated that Rebekah was the girl for Isaac to have as his wife. We go on to read:
Genesis 24:50-51
Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed." (NIV)

It was clear to all that the Lord was guiding all these events and Abraham’s great desire to find a proper wife for his son was being fulfilled. This was important because of the promise of God that through Isaac the line of the Savior would be traced.
All of this shows us how serious God is about our salvation. He planned it from eternity and carefully carried out his plan one step at a time until finally the promises of God were fulfilled in the Savior who "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14 <http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=&passage=John+1:14> ).
Prayer:
Dear Lord God, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, whom you sent to earth to be our Savior. As you fulfilled your promise of the Savior, give us the confidence by faith in Jesus that you will fulfill all your promises, including taking us to be with you in heaven. Amen.

[sharky67]

Genesis 24:52-61


When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master." But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go." But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master." Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" "I will go," she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. - Genesis 24:52-61

The custom of the day was for a prospective bridegroom to give gifts to the family of his future bride. For Isaac, the servant distributed this "bride price" to Rebekah and her family -- precious gold and silver, as well as clothing and jewels. Then the servant and his men spent the night in celebration, certainly giving glory to God for making their journey successful. But the next day he was in a hurry to complete his journey. The family hesitated knowing that when Rebekah left, they would probably never see her again. Who could blame them for wanting to spend some days with her? But the servant probably realized that the delay would only make the separation harder, and he longed to get back to Abraham and Isaac with the good news of what the Lord had accomplished.

The decision was left to Rebekah who answered, "I will go." This was another indication of the faith in this believing woman. She was ready to leave her family and homeland, and go to a place she had never been, to marry a man that she never met, because she realized that this was the Lord’s will. Rebekah’s family also recognized the Lord’s hand in all of this. It was probably with heavy hearts that they said "goodbye" to their daughter and sister, but with faith in their hearts they blessed her: "May you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies."

Rebekah's children would indeed increase to thousands upon thousands. By faith in Jesus, you and I are counted among her spiritual descendants because Rebekah was one of those people in history who was privileged to be an ancestor of Jesus. Through her and many others, God fulfilled his promise of bringing the Savior into the world, who came to conquer sin and death and give us the glory of eternal life.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, thank you for fulfilling God’s promises to come and be my Savior. Keep me focused on the loving sacrifice you made to release me from the power of Satan and free me from the hold of death. Watch over me, ever guiding, guarding, and keeping me. Amen.

[sharky67]

Genesis 24:62-67


Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" "He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. - Genesis 24:62-67

Isaac and Rebekah, finally met after all the careful searching, heart-rending departure from her parents, and weeks of riding in a caravan. This isn't just a romantic story. It is the account of God working through ordinary human beings to bring about his plan of salvation for the world. The descendant of this young man and his new bride would be the Savior of the world himself: Jesus Christ.
When we think of this arranged marriage, we should remember that Isaac "loved her." There is something to learn here. Although Isaac and Rebekah did not choose one another, they did love each other. A marriage is not something that can be shown properly on television. It can't be duplicated on a movie screen. A marriage takes a lifetime to work at -- and there may be difficult times. There can be years which are a struggle, as a couple gets to know one another, to know each other's habits -- both good and bad -- and grow accustomed to one another's way of talking, of communicating, and so forth. We often say that "opposites attract," but this is rarely true when it comes to a person's faith. Certainly a bold person may be attracted to a shy person, but if they do not share a common faith in God, they will encounter real difficulties later in life.
Isaac and Rebekah started their life together by walking together in faith. Encourage those in your life who may be looking for a spouse to do the same. By beginning with the spiritual life and agreeing on it, a couple can prevent disagreements on some of the toughest decisions people make. If you are already married and have encountered religious differences, pray that God will help you to overcome any difficulties you encounter. And read together. Read God's Word together. Discover God's plan for saving us, as a couple. Like a tree, a lifelong commitment takes more than determination. It takes deep roots, and it needs to be anchored in the best soil there is: The holy Word of God.
Prayer:
God, your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. Encourage me by the comfort of your Word and instruct me to live according to your will, which is always for my good. Amen.