Genesis chapter 24 and we'll
read from verse 29. And again, this is a long passage
and to some extent it's a repetition of some of the things that we've
already read, but we will give place to the Word of God and
we will seek its entrance into our hearts. So we're reading
about Rebekah here particularly in the context of the union that
Abraham sought between Isaac and Rebekah. And Rebekah had
a brother, verse 29, and his name was Laban. And Laban ran
out unto the man, unto the well. And it came to pass, when he
saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and
when he heard the words of Rebecca his sister, saying, Thus spake
the man unto me, that he came unto the man, and behold, he
stood by the camels at the well. And he said, Come in, thou blessed
of the Lord, wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared
the house and room for the camels. And the man came into the house,
and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for
the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet
that were with him. And there was set meat before
him to eat. But he said, I will not eat until
I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. And he
said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my
master greatly, and he is 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 he was old, and unto him
hath he given all that he hath. 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. Then shalt thou be clear from
this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred, and if they give
not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. And I came this
day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham,
if now thou do prosper my way which I go, behold, I stand by
the well of water, and it shall come to pass that when the virgin
cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray
thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink, And she say to me,
Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels. Let the
same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's
son. And before I had done speaking
in mine heart, behold, Rebecca came forth with a pitcher on
her shoulder. And she went down unto the well
and drew water. And I said unto her, Let me drink,
I pray thee. And she made haste, and let down
her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give
thy camel's drink also. So I drank, and she made the
camel's drink also. And I asked her, and said, Whose
daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of
Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bear unto him. And I put the
earing upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. And
I bowed down my head and worshipped 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 proceedeth 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 hath spoken. And it came to pass that when
Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord,
bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth
jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them
to Rebekah. And 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, at the least ten. After that she shall 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. 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. And Isaac came from
the way of the well Laharoi, and he dwelt in the south country,
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 had said, It is my master. 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 Rebekah, and she became his wife,
and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother's
death. Abraham was careful to seek a
wife for his son Isaac from amongst his own kindred. And he sent
his trusted servant to search for one. And that's an important
principle that we have here before us because the Bible warns us
that we are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. And while it is true that that
is important in lots of areas of our lives, it is especially
important with respect to whom we marry. We are not to marry
unbelievers. As believers, we are not to marry
an unbeliever. And therefore we should, as this
servant did, and as I am sure Abraham did, ask the Lord to
guide us in the matter of who we should marry. If we as a believer
were to marry an unbeliever, it is certain that it would prove
to be a difficult relationship. with much unhappiness and indeed
perhaps conflict. But do you know that you can
ask the Lord to give you good friends? Do you know that you
can ask the Lord to guide you in whom to marry? And when we
ask believing, He will guide us and He will give us wisdom
in these important matters. When we love the Lord Jesus Christ
and when we trust in God, we want to honour Him. And it will
not be easy to honour the Lord if our partner has no love for
God and if our partner has no desire to honour the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so it is always good to look
for help from the Lord in the events of our lives. And when
Abraham's servant did not know what he was to do, he took the
matter before the Lord and he asked for help and he asked for
guidance. And we shall all learn, whether
we are younger or whether we are older, we shall all learn
that our problems in this world are bigger Our problems are bigger
than our ability to solve them. But the Lord's people learn that
God will help us if we take our anxieties and our doubts and
all our fears and all our needs to him and ask for his help. I like the way that this servant
was keen to do his master's business. He had travelled a long, long
way and he had come into the company of friends and family. But we're told that he would
not even sit down to eat a meal until he had finished the task
which he had been sent to do. And once he had explained the
situation, and indeed even once he had been granted the hand
of this girl, this young woman, Rebecca, he still wanted to be
quickly on his way again. He wanted to be back quickly
with Isaac and with Abraham and to take Rebekah to his master
in order that he might fulfil his oath and his obligation. There's a good lesson there for
us too. May we, as the Lord's servants,
be sensitive to our duties and our obligations to our Master. And may we always seek to be
about his business and always seek to serve him well. And Rebecca
was asked by her family whether she was willing to leave her
home, her family, and her friends for this new life with Isaac. She said yes. Isaac was, as we've
already seen, probably a man in his 40s. And while we do not
know what age Rebecca was, it is quite likely that she was
just a teenager. But the Lord gave them love and
mutual respect for one another. And the Lord blessed their relationship
together. And perhaps we can see something
in that picture of a believer's coming to Christ. Because the
scriptures teach us that the Lord Jesus Christ is like the
bridegroom and the church is like the bride. And so Rebecca
was brought to Isaac. And they went through the various
getting to know one another and making oaths and making sure
that their relationship was consensual, I am sure, and that it would
be a public event and it would be a time of rejoicing in the
family of Abraham and Isaac and all of their servants. But here
was Rebecca brought from a far country to have that relationship
consummated. And together they would be the
parents of Jacob and as a twin, Jacob and Esau, but the parents
of Jacob, that patriarch of Israel and the direct line through which
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God would
come. So these are important stories. Blessed stories for us to know
about and learn about, and to see something of God's goodness
and His covenant purpose being unfolded in the lives of these
men and women, from which we draw confidence that Jesus Christ,
who is the same yesterday, today and forever, will be good to
His people and He will lead us into the accomplishment of His
will and purpose. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today.