Alright. Turn with me now to
Genesis 24. Genesis 24. Let's look at a few
more verses in that beautiful chapter. Abraham had sent his servant
back to Abraham's land, to Abraham's kindred, to find a bride for
Isaac. One stipulation, one stipulation. If the woman is not willing to
come, he said, you're free from this.
You can't find somebody willing to come. You're free from this
oath. Well, the servant comes and he
meets this woman, walks up, and you ask her for a drink of water,
and lo and behold, according to a prayer that he had prayed
previously, he said, Lord, I pray that the woman of your choosing,
if she come, I'm going to ask her for a drink of water, If
she says, I'll give you camels some water too, let that be the
one. So Rebecca comes up and he asked
her if he could have a glass of water. And the scripture declares
that she told him, she said, I'll give you not only a glass
of water, But she said, I'm going to water your camels. And the scripture declares that
this servant of Abraham, servant of the Lord, you know, she went
ahead and started drawing. In verse 20 of Genesis 24, she
hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again
unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels."
He just watched her. Verse 21, he just wondered at her and held his peace just
to see, is this the woman that the Lord has made his journey
prosperous or not? Are you the one? And the scripture
says that this woman Verse 21, holding his peace, then it came
to pass as the camels had done drinking that the man took a
golden earring of half a shekel of weight and two bracelets for
her hands of ten shekels weight of gold. This woman gave enough
water for ten camels. I just kind of looked it up just
to find out how much can a camel drink? Well, based on what I found,
35 to 40 gallons per camel. Somewhere between 350 and 400
gallons. I don't know how big her bucket
was. Doesn't matter. She just didn't quit. She just
kept watering until those camels quit drinking. And this servant,
The scripture declares he pulled out an earring and two bracelets. It doesn't say he gave them to
her. It just said he took them out. That woman did something that
was amazing. She gave that man a drink of
water and watered ten camels. And I guarantee you that she
had no earthly idea at that time the significance of giving that
man a drink of water and watering those camels. That servant under the watchful
eye of God's providence beheld as Almighty God worked mightily
in His presence. That incident, that happened
a long, long time ago. But that one incident brings this fact into God's government
of mankind. It brings this fact before us. Zechariah 4.10, Who hath despised
the day of small things? He said that was just one woman
and a man and whoever else was with him, ten camels for sure,
and gave him a drink of water watered his camels. Just a small
incident. But from that incident right
there, flowed out the beautiful unveiling of God's eternal purpose
for mankind through a son named Isaac. In Isaac. I see because. Who with reason The Scriptures
declare, despises the day of small things. What seems to be
small in the eyes of men, but is immensely significant when
it comes to the fulfillment of God's Word. You know, we quote
that Scripture all the time. All things. Can you imagine how many things
that includes? All things. What? All big things like the admittance
of some country to the UN or something. Every seemingly insignificant
thing. A word. A word. He just asked her for a drink
of water. She said, I'll give you that
and I'm going to give you camels something to drink too. Whosoever shall give you a cup
of water to drink in My name because you belong to Christ,
verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." How careful
we ought to be. All things. Lord, order my steps. Lord, ask Him, ask Him, ask Him. Lord, I ask the Lord, Lord, help
me today. Help me today. Lord, bless the
Word. Bless the hearing. I want to
hear it. I want you to hear it. It was
just a simple task. Just a drink of water. But look
at how the Lord directed. Look at the significance. And
may we learn. Be patient. Be patient. It's
not wise to rush in. Jump to conclusions. It came
to pass, verse 22, as the camels had done drinking, a man had
been watching her. He prayed, he prayed, Lord, the
woman of your choosing, Lord, give me a drink of water and
water these camels too. He could have watered them. What
was the possibility that a woman was going to offer to water ten
camels? Probably had a bunch of men with
him too. Those camels wouldn't have taken care of themselves,
I can tell you that. There's a bunch of guys there. They could
have done it. That's not what he asked. Why
did he ask that? The Lord told him to ask that.
The Lord put that on his heart. The Lord directed him to ask
that. Because the Lord was going to do it. And he pulled out an earring
and a couple of bracelets. Why? He didn't give them to her.
He doesn't say he gave them to her yet. That's all he said.
He just pulled them out. This man surely believed that
this could be her. He'd been watching her. So he laid hold, he fetched some
jewelry. I read one writer and said he
was going to give that to her just as a token of his appreciation. No, no, no. No, no. I don't believe that for a second.
I'll tell you what that was. That servant right there had
all the goods of his master in his hand. That's what verse 10
said. Everything that belonged to Abraham,
that servant had. Had access to whatever. And that
was more than just a token of appreciation. Those gifts were an earnest of a marriage.
Those gifts was a promise. The person that owns this stuff,
I got in my hand right there, He's rich. He's rich. My master and his son, who is
the heir to my master, this stuff belongs to him. And I'm here
looking for a bride. And that's what we're doing this
morning. We're looking for the bride of Christ this morning. We're asking the Lord, Lord would
you reveal your bride. The bride of your son. Would
you reveal the bride of Christ today? Would you make her manifest? Those tokens, compared to the
wealth, just tokens. And that wealth right there is
a promise. Whoever gets this right here, has everything, has everything
else. Now I want you to notice while
the servant wondered, he was watching, waiting, taking note
of that Rebecca had not stopped drawing water. This is what it
was, she didn't quit. She didn't quit. I think about
that passage, he that endures to the end shall be saved. Those that are enduring to the
end. How are they enduring? You know
that. The Lord keeps them enduring. But this woman was an object
of God's mercy. And the angel of the Lord that
Abraham had told his servant, my Lord's angel is going to direct
you. He's going to lead you. He's
moving. And he noticed her willingness
to be honorable and submissive to her service, and before any
records given of him giving those gifts, he asked her two questions.
Look at verse 23. He said, Whose daughter art thou? Now she had just given him some
water and fed her ten camels. Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee, is there
room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?" Two questions
he asked her. Whose daughter are you? And here's
what she said, verse 24, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the
son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahar. That's what she said.
What did he hear? I'm Abraham's kindred. That's
what he heard. Who are you? I'm related to Abraham. What did Abraham tell him? Verse
4, Thou shalt go unto my country to my kindred and take a wife
unto my son Isaac. The second question he asked
her, Is there any room in thy father's house for us to lodge
in? And she said, in verse 25, Moreover unto him we have both
straw and provender enough room to lodge in. Here she revealed
a willingness, a cordial, gracious attitude, sharing the comforts
and provisions of her home, one given to hospitality, evidencing
the working of God's angel upon her heart, We're exhorted by the scriptures
in Hebrews chapter 13, verses 1 and 2. Hebrews 13, 1 and 2. Let brotherly love continue.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares. reading something that Brother
Henry said concerning that, he said, we're not exhorted to entertain
people that we know nothing of. He said, that's not what it's
saying. But he said, strangers to us, who are revealed to us
by others, some way, that they are God's people. That they're
God's people. He said, these are the people
that we're to be careful, to be cordial to, hospitable to. Why? Because as we do these things,
the Scripture says in Matthew 25, these things that we do unto
God's people, and the Lord speaking in chapter 25, Verse 21, when
the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels
with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and
before Him shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate
them one from another as a shepherd divides His sheep from the goats,
set the sheep right hand, the goats on the left. Then shall
the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world, for I was hungered, ye gave me meat, I was thirsty,
you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me
in. Naked, you closed me. Sick, you visited me. Prisoned,
you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, and fed thee,
or thirsty, and gave thee drink? or saw thee a stranger and took
thee in, or naked and clothed thee, and saw thee sick and prisoned,
and came unto thee. And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done
it unto the one of the least of these my brethren." Now you
listen to this. He said, you've done that to
me. You've done that to me. Saw? Saw. Why? persecutest thou me." Saul, what
are you doing to my people? This woman here, he said, who
are you and is there any room at your house? And the Spirit
of God moved on this woman to say, this is who I am. I'm Abraham's kindred. And there's
room for you. There's room for you. I tell
you what, if you're talking about a stranger, if Brother Scott
or Brother Henry or you that believe would come up to me and
say, Marvin, I've got a friend, his wife and kids, and they don't
have a place to stay. I've known them. They're faithful,
faithful people. They're God's people. Faithful
to this pastor over here. They're faithful this coming...
Do you have any room for them? You know what you're going to
do? You're going to find room. You'll find room. The Lord said,
you do it to them. You do it to me. You did it unto
me. And here this servant, he asked
her and he said, what's your name and have you got any room
at your house? And she told him, and look at
verse 26, 27. And the man bowed down his head.
Now she's standing there. He's talking to her. What's your
name and have you got any place for me to stay? And the man bowed
down his head and he worshipped the Lord and he said, Blessed
be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute
my master of his mercy and his truth. I being in the way, the
Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. And that woman
heard exactly what he said. He heard Him speak. He felt in
His heart that He had acted up to that point right there, the
integrity of waiting on the Lord, watching Him. And there wasn't
any supernatural voice or pillar or cloud or fire, nothing that
the maid had done outside of her obedience. But Abraham's servant, who had
prayed for God's guidance, he had received it. And he praised
and blessed the Lord. And beholding the answers, beholding
the kindness, the hospitality, He acknowledged God's mercy in
a spirit of praise. And then the Scripture says something,
and at this point, she must have received the tokens from his
hand. But I'll tell you what happens. Verse 29 says, And Rebekah
had a brother, and his name was Laban. And Laban ran out unto
the man unto the well. It came to pass, when he saw
the earring and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, And
when he heard the words of Rebekah, his sister, saying, Thus spake
this man unto me, I heard this man talk to me, asked me for
a drink of water, and I told him I was going to give him a
drink of water, and I'm going to give water to his camels too.
And then he asked me what my name was, and he asked me if
there was any place to stay. And this man started praying
and blessing and praising God for his mercy and compassion
for leading him to his master's household. The Scripture says in verse 28,
when she heard what that man prayed, the damsel ran and told
them of her mother's house these things. She heard Abraham's master
and the Lord who made her willing in the day of His power. did
just exactly what that delivered demoniac from the Gadarenes did
when he wanted to go with the Lord. The Lord had delivered
him, and the Lord told him, said, no. He said, I want you to go
home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord
hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. Every
time I read that passage of Scripture, I cannot but remember the words
of Brother Scott. We were sitting in the study
one day, Out of the blue. Yeah. He told
me, he said, Marvin, if you ever come to a place where it seems
as though that the heavens are brass, and you're seeking the
Lord and it just appears as though to you that you don't know where
to go in the Scriptures. I told you before, getting up
and standing before you without making preparation and asking
God's blessing on it scares me to death. He said, but if you
ever find yourself, he said, let me tell you the right thing
to always do. He said, you can always tell
them what great things the Lord has done for you. He said, it's
always the right thing to do. I can't tell you how many times
I've related that story to people, to preachers, that if we'd be
talking, I'd say, well, let me tell you what Brother Scott says. Those tokens in closing that
that family saw on the hands, I told you a moment ago, those
were actually tokens. They were the earnest, the earnest
of a marriage. That's what that's all about.
That bracelet and those earrings and everything. But concerning
For every believer, not only in this room today, but for every
believer, that Almighty God is called out of darkness. Let me
tell you where we are. It's my last scripture right
here, Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians 1 verse 11, concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. The scripture says, "...in whom
also we have obtained an inheritance." being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will." Now for every believer, let me tell you something,
we have obtained an inheritance. We have. That woman right there,
Rebecca, let me tell you something, when the Spirit of God revealed
to that servant, this is the woman, this is her. Let me tell
you how sure her inheritance being married to Isaac was, it
was set in the eternal counsels of Almighty God. It's going to
happen. I tell you, as we continue in
this story and you see how when that servant brings her back
and she sees Isaac for the first time, it's just marvelous, marvelous. I'm telling you, that inheritance
that she had, everything that was Abraham's, was hers because
Almighty God gave Isaac to her and her to him. And everything
that Abraham had was Isaac's. Her inheritance was set in whom
also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will that we should be to the praise of His glory."
Whose glory? The Father's glory. Who first
trusted in Christ. The Father was the first one
to ever trust in Christ. He gave all of us that believe,
all of His people, to Him. And the Father trusted Him. What
was He going to do? Redeem them. Bring them home. Make them holy. And then verse
13, "...in whom ye also trusted." after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, the only message that God blesses,
the salvation of His people, in whom also after you believed
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance. We have the inheritance. We have.
That's what verse 11 says, in whom also we have obtained in
Christ. We've obtained an inheritance, which is the earnest of our inheritance. That earring and two bracelets,
that was our earnest. That was a promise. That was
a promise of a marriage. And God's given his people an
earnest of the promised possessions. The earnest. What is it? It's
the Holy Spirit. The one that's teaching us right
now. The One is bringing back to our memory all the things
that Christ has said. He is how we're remembering and
trusting right now by faith. He is it. He's it. Which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of
His glory. May the Lord bless the Word to
our hearts.