Open again to Genesis 24. Genesis 24. The last time I preached from this. Portion of scripture was about 10 or 12 years ago. I know I'm giving you a lot of timelines this morning. But. It was about roughly 12 years ago, and I've come to it again by way of looking at these stories like we're doing. And I wanna preach it exactly the same way that I did 10 or 12 years ago, because it's such a blessing to me. For those of you who heard this, I pray this will be a blessing to you again.

This is the story of Abraham sending his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. And this is a spiritual picture. of the relationship union between Christ and His bride. The whole point of this story, the whole reason there is a 24th chapter in Genesis is to show this union between Christ and His bride. This is a spiritual picture. God's people were chosen to be joined into a union with Christ. And it's a union of love. It is a true union of love. And it's a union of lifelong covenant promise.

So much so that Christ in the scripture is called the husband. And the church is called his wife. In Revelation 21, John said that he saw the holy city, which is people. He saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

That's what glory is going to be like. The Lamb's wife, she is called. And that's what this story pictures. That is the whole picture of this story. The marriage union of Christ and his bride. There are four main characters in this story. Abraham represents God the Father. Isaac represents God the Son. Abraham's servant represents God the Spirit. And Rebecca represents all of God's chosen people. We're gonna go right into this story, seeing the spiritual picture, okay? We're just, as soon as we get into this, we're gonna see this spiritual picture.

This chapter has 67 verses. We're not gonna read all of them. We're gonna read some of these lines. We're gonna read between some of these lines. And we're going to try to enter into the reality of this, the experience of this illustration and picture as much as we can. Start to finish. This is the story of our union with Christ and it is beautiful. It is just so beautiful. I really pray if the Lord would be pleased, he'll send his spirit and make this to be a blessing.

All right, verse 1, Genesis 24, verse 1, it says, And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh.

It was customary that when a promise was made, one would kneel down and grab the back of another one's leg to make the promise. Verse two, Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell. He said, you swear to me, you will not take a wife for my son from Canaan. Verse four, but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac. Verse nine, And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and said to him, and swear to him concerning that matter."

So first thing, a covenant was made. A covenant was made before the bride ever came into the picture. This is so important. Before the bride ever came into the picture, the father purposed to choose a bride for his son. And he said, this bride is not coming from Canaan.

I remember 12 years ago when I really first got a hold of this, this touched me so much. This just wowed me. This blessed my heart so much. Canaan was the promised land. It was the end spot for God's chosen Israel, chosen people. It represents glory itself. It represents glory. And the Father could have made a perfect bride for His perfect Son from glory. Have you ever thought about this? Christ could have had a bride from glory. A spotless bride, a perfect bride for the perfect son. A bride straight from glory itself. But the father said, she's not going to come from here. This bride will not come from the land of perfection. She's going to come from the land of idolatry. Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham was an idol worshiper. So Abraham represents the father, this servant represents the spirit, and the spirit is about to call a bride for the son.

Verse 10. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

This servant went straight to the well. And this word is the well. This servant is going to meet the particular bride of the son at the well. And that's where it happens every time. That's where it happens every time, at the well. Verse 12, and he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water.

And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her.

And she went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, drink, my lord. And she hasted and let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also until they have done drinking. And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again unto the well to draw water and drew for all his camels.

And the man wondering at her held his peace to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. Our Lord said, my people shall be willing in the day of my power. Verse 22. And it came to pass as the camels had done drinking that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight and two bracelets for her hands of 10 shekels weight of gold.

She received gifts. What that means is she received grace. That's what you find when the spirit meets you at the word. Grace. Treasures of heaven. Verse 23, and said, whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee, is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bear unto Nahor. She said, moreover unto him, we have both straw and provender enough and room to lodge in.

And the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. What is it to worship the Lord? It's to bow. It's to bow down the head in worship. 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. He was shocked to see that the Lord led him to the One place Abraham told him to go. And the damsel ran and told them of her mother's house these things. This servant came to Rebecca's house. And this is the house I live in? This old, wicked, fleshly, wretched, sinful house? And that's the house you live in? And when the spirit comes, he comes straight to that house. He came to her where she was. Verse 33, and there was set meat before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told my Aaron. And he said, speak on.

And the servant said, I am Abraham's servant, and the Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great, and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath he given all that he hath. The Spirit said, I am here for one purpose only, and that is to tell you about the Son, the glory, the riches, the honor of the Son. Unto him hath the Father given all that he hath. All that he has. Verse 37.

And my master made me swear, saying, thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my father's house and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son. And I said unto my master, peradventure the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, the Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred and of my father's house.

Shout. Everything with God is shout. Yay and amen. And then in the next few verses right here, the servant goes on to reveal everything that had already happened. He told Rebecca's family, told him about the covenant that was made. He told him about this predestination that brought him to Rebecca at that well, the same well. He told him about the irresistible grace. He told him about the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. He told him about everything that had already happened. Everything that had already happened. Verse 48.

He said, and I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, the thing proceeded from the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take her and go and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord has spoken.

And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold. He brought forth the unsearchable riches, unsearchable riches of Christ. Verse 53 goes on to say, and Raymond and gave them to Rebecca. He put a robe on her. That's the robe of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the blood covering atonement of the Lamb. Verse 53, the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah.

He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning and he said, send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, let the damsel abide with us a few days. My margin says a full year. At the least, 10 months. After that, she will go. And he said unto them, hinder me not seeing the Lord hath prospered my way, send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, we will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. They said, let's see what her confession is in all of this.

She had heard about a man who was the son of the highest. and he is the heir of all things. She's been given the gifts and the calling of God. She has already been given a robe of righteousness to wear. She's heard about him. She's been given a glimpse of him with the eyes of faith in whatever the servant has been pleased to reveal. but she hasn't yet seen him with her own two physical eyes. So everything she has seen so far is as though it's through a glass darkly. Verse 57, and they said, we will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebecca and said unto her, wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. Whom having not seen, she loves. She already loves him. And this is the part where we can really start entering into this story. Whom having not seen, she already loves him.

I want you to put your, I want you to change your name right now. Rebecca. Fellas, your name is Rebecca. Put yourself in this place. They said, Rebecca, what do you confess? Dig deep into your heart. Don't just spout off the mouth. Really, what do you want? What do you want to do? She said, I will go.

I confess him. What do you confess? I confess him. I confess his name. I want to be his bride. Do you want to be his bride? I want to be joined into union with him. I want his name to be my name. Wherever he lodges, that's where I want to lodge. I want his people to be my people. I confess, He is my Lord, He is my God, He is God, I want Him to be my God.

Verse 58, And they called Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man, and the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

Now at that point right there, at this verse right here, this is where we are in our journey. This is the story of every child of God. It has a start and a finish in life on this earth. And this is where every single one of us are right now. We are in the journey. We are in the journey. Right now, we are traveling through the land and God's Holy Spirit is leading us along life's way. In this service right now, our only hope of getting to Isaac is if the Spirit will be with us and will lead us And this is what made the whole thing such a blessing to me. We're gonna enter into the reality of what it took for this story to happen, okay?

The distance from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan is about 550 miles in a straight line. But they didn't travel in a straight line. They had to follow the Euphrates River. So it's estimated that they traveled between 800 and 900 miles on the back of a camel.

And that took a while, possibly a month. And that seemed like a long time. They just kept going. You know, you'd think an all day journey, that's a long trip and traveling all day long. Three days journey, five day, a week. They just kept going. Oh, the way seems so long. And I can only imagine that all along the way, Rebecca was asking that servant. Would you tell me about Isaac? We're in the way. We're traveling in the way. What is Isaac like?

Would you mind telling me about him again? I know you just told me. But would you tell me again? And what all did you say about him again? If this servant would have started telling her about the materials that the streets were made out of in Canaan, let me tell you about what the streets are made out of, or the newest mansions that had just been built in Canaan, Rebecca would have said, I don't care about any of that stuff. Tell me about Isaac. I'm going to Isaac. I just want to hear about him. You just tell me one more. I need to hear it one more time. Just tell me one more time.

So this servant, it's saying him being a faithful servant of his master, what do you think he did? He glorified Isaac. He told her Isaac was the promised son. He said, Rebecca, your husband, is the promised one sent from God. All kindreds of the earth are going to be blessed by God through Isaac. God said if anybody is going to be blessed, it's only going to be through Isaac. He is God-blessed forever. Your husband is God-blessed forever.

I can hear her saying, keep going. Tell me more. More about him. More about him. Tell me about his character. What is the character of his person? Oh, he said, you've never seen a man like this man. He loves his father and his father loves him. He is a faithful and obedient man to all of the will and word of his father. He obeys it all. He obeyed Rebecca even to the point of death.

There came a point in time when the father had to kill his own son. And not only did Isaac not rebel, he carried his own wood to his own sacrifice. The father said, son, you must be the sin offering sacrifice. And Isaac willingly crawled up on that altar and he said, not my will, but thine be done.

You've never met a man like this before. Because of that, Rebecca, because he made himself an offering for sin, his father has highly exalted him. And in Abraham's seed, he has given Isaac a name which is above every name. And he's placed in his hands all things. Isaac is appointed heir of all things. And Rebecca, in your union to him, this union you didn't even know about until it was just revealed to you, in your union to him, because of this union with him, You are also going to be freely given all things. I can only imagine Rebecca saying, why me? Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this?

The servant says, nothing. Nothing. You didn't do anything. It was all done for you. It was all given to you by my master. All glory, all honor, all praise goes to my master for this. Verse 61, and Rebekah arose and her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed the man and the servant took Rebekah and went his way and Isaac came. That's what we're waiting for. This is where we are. And that's what we're waiting for. Come, come quickly.

Verse 62, and Isaac came from the way of the well, lay high Roy, for he dwelt in the South country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even tide. And he lifted up his eyes and saw and behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

For she had said unto the servant, what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, it is my master. There he is. Can you imagine the moment? Oh my goodness, the scripture says, the moment our eyes see him, boom. We're going to be changed. We're going to be forever changed. There he is in all of his glory. I told you. I told you. She said, you didn't tell me half of it. The half wasn't told. I could have never imagined his beauty. You mean that beloved is my beloved? Are you telling me I am his and he is mine? Oh, I'm so unworthy. I'm so unworthy.

The end of verse 65 says, therefore, she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent and took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. What a story. What a story, what a union.

You know, in Christ, that is our story. In Christ, that is our story. Is that not the sweetest declaration that could possibly be told? That's the most glorious news declaration that could ever be told. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. This is a true story. And in Christ, it's our story. And our closing word is, behold, the bridegroom coming. He is coming. And our prayer is that he come in for us. Lord, come for us. Come quickly and come for us. I pray he will. Amen.