Two weeks age, we looked at Genesis 22. During that time, we didn’t spend time unpacking Genesis 22:20–24. So before we move into chapter 24, I want to briefly circle back and summarize what’s happening in those verses.
In looking at these verses, we will begin to see what’s taking place behind the scenes of the story that’s been highlighted for the past 10+ chapters.
Immediately after God spares Isaac’s life, He reaffirms the blessing He has already spoken over Abraham—“By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD… I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore… and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Once again, God is promising to make Abraham into a great nation through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Then, right after this reaffirmation, the narrative shifts. As the scene shifts, we’re given the genealogy of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. In this genealogy, we read that Milcah bore children to Nahor, and among that line comes Bethuel, the father of Rebekah.
At first glance, this might feel like a random insertion in the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac. But it’s not. What God is doing here, through the pen of Moses, is quietly showing His faithfulness behind the scenes. While He has been building Abraham’s family line, He has also been building Nahor’s. And it is through Nahor’s line that Isaac’s future wife, Rebekah, will come.
So these closing verses of chapter 22 act as a bridge. They’re connecting what has just happened with what is about to happen. This small section is a subtle shift in the story that gives us a glimpse behind the curtain. It teaches us that God is sovereignly preparing the next link in the chain that will ultimately lead to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Right on the cusp of a moment where God’s faithfulness might be called into question, we see his loving faithfulness of full display. And in Genesis 24, we will see these two family lines collide. Isaac and Rebekah will become husband and wife.
In Genesis 24, God will continue to be faithful in carrying out his promises given to Abraham and Isaac. But, what I love about this story is how God carries out this promise. God carries out this promise through the obedience of an old servant in whom we don’t even know his name. In a book where names are important, we don’t have this man’s name. It was an old servant of Abraham’s that God used to displayed his covenantal love to Abraham, which led to the world being blessed through Abraham.
So, the main truth I want us to be reminded of today is this: God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people doing ordinary things. God’s grand story of redemption has been consistently carried out by ordinary people faithfully walking in obedience to Him in ordinary life. Which I hope encourages us to serve God where he has us. In a world that wants to be bright and vibrant, I want us to know that beige is an ok color to be. God uses those in the shadows just as much as he uses those in the limelight. Like a Mozart recital, each of us are a single key, helping produce God’s beautiful song of redemption.
So, as we dive into this passage, we see that Abraham is getting up in years (if he wasn’t already)— “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.”
Sarah has recently passed away, he has just recently purchased some land in order to bury her in the land God had promised. Yet, despite the pain of the death of his wife, God has been so, so good to Abraham. So, once again, we’re reminded of God’s faithfulness to Abraham.
But, once again, we’re also introduced to a tension in this story. As we will realize in just a moment, Issac is a bachelor at the age of 40 (Gen 25:20). Therefore, as a reader, we’re (once again) left beginning to question and wonder if God’s promise to Abraham will ring true or not.
How can Abraham have many descendants if his one descendent is single and doesn’t have any children? Will God’s promise ring true? Or will it fall flat and end with Isaac?
Well, at the start of Genesis 24, Abraham approaches one of his servants. And in verses 1-2, we see that this servant was (1) old and (2) in charge of everything.
So, this was a seasoned gentleman that Abraham trusted dearly.
And can we pause here for a moment?
Sometimes we look at age as a prerequisite for effectiveness in God’s kingdom. In other words, we look down on the young.
But, sometimes we do the opposite. We look down on the elderly and view youthfulness as a prerequisite for effectiveness in God’s kingdom.
But, I want us to understand that the Bible pushes back against both of those ways of thinking. The Bible teaches us that if there’s breath still in your lunges, you can be used by God! To Timothy, the young aspiring pastor who must have felt discouraged over his age, Paul wrote, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” To the oldest servant, Abraham entrusted and sent him out on the long journey of finding a wife for his son.
So, the beauty of the church is that you have men and women from all forms of life, from all different ages, coming together to use their talents and gifts to serve and build each other up.
In verse 3, Abraham says to this man, “Put your hand under my thigh, [3] that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, [4] but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
The hand under the thigh thing is weird, I know. But the principle behind it isn’t weird. We make oaths all the time. And we validate our oaths by raising our hand, placing our right hand over our heart, or placing our hand on a Bible. Well, in this particular culture, oaths were made by placing a hand under the thigh of another. It was likely symbolic of submission to authority. It was a proclamation of one’s willingness to carry out the request made by the other. So, Abraham was saying to his servant, “Promise me you’ll do what I’m telling you to do. Go find my son a wife.”
But, he gives a stipulation. She cannot be a Canaanite woman. She must be from Abraham’s homeland. God had made it clear to Abraham in Genesis 15:14-16 that the Canaanites (the nations) were under God’s judgment and curse because of their own wickedness. Therefore, Abraham was sending his servant back to his homeland to find a wife for his son.
In response to this command, the servant asked Abraham, “What if she doesn’t want to come back with me? Should I come back and get Isaac and take him to her?”
And Abraham says, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. [7] The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. [8] But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”
So, Abraham’s response here was rooted in God’s promises. God called and led Abraham and his descendants to this land. Therefore, in this land they will stay. They are not returning to the land that God led them out of. They were going to stay in the land God had led them to. They would stay in the land God had promised them. And, in looking at Abraham’s response, we can see that he was confident that God was going to provide a wife for his son.
Over the years, Abraham has learned that God has been and always will be faithful. What God promises, God will do. Therefore, he’s confident that the LORD will provide a wife for his son— “He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.”
So, “the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.” He then packs up and heads to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor with some of his master’s camels and gifts.
This would have been no short journey, either. It would have been more than 400 miles (think about going from Mobile to Nashville by camel). This would have been a taxing journey that had taken weeks to make. And when he makes it, he takes his camels to the well outside the city during the time that “women would go out to draw water.”
Culturally at this time, women would go out to the well at the cooler parts of the day to draw water for their families. So, this man was smart. He was killing two birds with one stone. He was getting gas (water for his camels), while also looking for the perfect match for Isaac. With profound wisdom, he went to where all the shawties would be.
And as he’s at the well, he begins to pray. He says, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, “Please let down your jar that I may drink,” and who shall say, “Drink, and I will water your camels”— let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
What a moment of faith displayed by this servant here. He’s watched God be faithful to his master time after time after time again. Therefore, he begins to humbly pray a specific prayer at this moment and time, asking God to send the right woman to him.
Then look what happens next in verses 15-16.
Before he had finished speaking, an attractive young lady named Rebekah walked out with a jar on her shoulder. The woman we were randomly introduced to in chapter 22 has just arrived on the scene right after Abraham’s servant prayed— “Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.”
And then, in verse 17, the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”
And she said, “Drink, my Lord.”
And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.”
And when she finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking.”
This made the servant’s eyebrows raise, leading him to silently gaze at her in hopes of discerning whether or not the Lord had blessed his journey (v.21).
He’s likely thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me! This is awesome. Has God answered my prayer?”
So, after his camels finished drinking, the servant took a gold ring and two bracelets and placed them on her arm, saying, “Whose daughter are you? And is there room in your father’s house for me to stay the night?”
Rebekah tells him who she was, and says, “Yes, we have room.”
The servant bows his head and worships the LORD, saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”
Can we please not lose sight of the fact that God isn’t simply faithful to his promises; He is also gracious enough to answer the specific prayers of his people! The servant is first hand watching and experiencing God’s steadfast love and faithfulness being displayed to Abraham. The servant could boldly bless the LORD because he’s personally experienced His steadfast love. The lowly servant has been led by the LORD to the house of his master’s kinsmen.
Well, fast forward a bit.
Rebekah returns to her home.
Her brother sees the gifts and hears about the servant, and he runs back to the servant and invites him to come back to their place.
They try to feed him.
But he won’t eat until he can share what he wants to share with them.
They’re like, “Ok, cool. Go ahead and share.”
So, he introduces himself.
“Hello, I’m Abraham’s servant. And Abraham is incredibly blessed by God. And Abraham sent me back to his family to find a wife for his son. And when I got here, I didn’t really know what I was doing. So, I just started praying. And I prayed specifically for a woman to bring me and my camels water. And the next thing you know, before I finished speaking in my heart, Rebekah comes walking down with water. And Rebekah ended up giving me and my camels water. I asked Rebekah who she was. She told me. And, when she told me, I knew that God had answered my prayer. So, I worshipped the Lord because of his faithfulness. So, are you going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master or not? Will you give Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife or not? (Paraphrased).”
Rebekah’s family gives him their blessing to take her with him to be Isaac’s wife.
And the servant once again worships the LORD. He gives the family gifts. They spend the night, wake up the next morning, and prepare to head back home. But, the family wants to keep Rebekah for 10 days.
We don’t know why they wanted to delay her departure. It could be to delay a difficult goodbye. It could be to prepare for a difficult journey. It could be due to a customary wedding period. It could be due to hesitation or second thoughts. We don’t know why they wanted to delay. But, we know the servant wasn’t willing to wait— “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way (v.56).”
They’re like, “Ok, let me ask her.”
So, they ask her.
And Rebekah is like, “Yeah, I’ll go.”
So, her family blesses her and sends her off— “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”
We understand the first portion of this blessing— “May you become thousands of ten thousands.” He’s saying may her offspring multiply greatly, which is an echo of the promise God has been promising over the years! Isaac and Rebekah’s descendants will outnumber the stars, leading to them becoming a great nation!
But, the second half of this blessing is a little strange— “may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!” The gate represented authority, leadership, power, and control. It’s the place where leaders met, business was conducted, and elders judged cases. So, possessing the gate of those who hate him means: May your offspring conquer and rule over them! They’re essentially saying, “May God bless you and make you far more fruitful and powerful than anything we could imagine!”
Can I pause here for a brief moment and say this?
When you look at this story in light of Abraham’s life, I think you’ll begin to see that God doesn’t work at one set speed. Sometimes, in the instance of the life of Abraham, God works slow. For the majority of Abraham’s life, Abraham waited on the promises of God to ring true. But, sometimes, in the example of the servant, God works fast. The LORD answered the servant’s prayer before he even finished praying.
So, no matter what situation of life we find ourselves in, we must know that whether slow or fast, God is always working. Whether we can see it or not, God is never idle. God will never forsake his steadfast love and faithfulness to his people. When we open up our Bible’s and begin to read it, we will find that God invites ordinary people into a relationship with himself. In steadfast love, God hears and answers the prayers of the “masters.” And, in steadfast love, He hears and answers the prayers of the “servants.” God is with those who hold a position of prominence, and he’s with those who hold a position of obscurity. God is with his people in the limelight, and he’s with his people in the shadows. God is with his people in the mighty battles, and he’s with his people in the everyday journeys.
So, Christian brothers and sisters, no matter who you are, no matter where you find yourself, I want you to know that there is no meaningless person, there is no meaningless position, and there is no meaningless moment in the life of a Christian. Fast forward to the end of the chapter, and you see that Rebekah returned with the servant to Canaan. The servant told Isaac everything he had done, and Rebekah became Isaac’s wife. And verse 67 says that “Isaac was comforted” by her “after his mother’s death.”
Wives, never underestimate the power you have to comfort your husband. Husbands, never underestimate the power your wife has to comfort you. God has uniquely gifted the wife as the weaker vessel in ways that no one else has been gifted. She is able to provide a comfort that no one else can provide. As Proverbs 31:10-12 says, “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”
But, on a practical level, God used Abraham’s servant to serve his neighbor well. The fruit of his obedience ended up comforting Isaac in his suffering. For this reason alone, we could tab this mission as a success. But, when you zoom out and look at this particular moment in light of redemptive history, you will realize that this servant did much more than play matchmaker. When you marry this story with the rest of the New Testament, you will see that this servant got to play a vital role in the redemption of the world.
If you were to look at Matthew 1, you would find the genealogy of Jesus. This genealogy starts with “Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers…” and it ends with “Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.” So, because of God’s steadfast love displayed through Abraham’s servant, Abraham’s geology didn’t end with Isaac. Because of God’s steadfast love displayed through Abraham’s servant, Jesus was eventually born of a virgin, crucified on a cross, and resurrected from the grave for ours sins.
Yet, nowhere in the New Testament do we find this man mentioned. But, the absence of his name is not equivalent to a lack of importance. In the shadows of the Old Testament, we find the faithfulness of a servant being used as a catalyst for the advancement of the gospel.
Church, listen to me.
You may never find yourself in the limelight. Instead, you may live your entire life in the shadows like Abraham’s servant. You may never own the camels and gold rings like Abraham. Instead, you may have to work for the one who does, like Abraham’s servant. But, faithfulness in God’s kingdom isn’t limited to the limelight. God can and will use ordinary people doing ordinary things as an instrument to advance God’s steadfast love for the world. So, my hope and prayer for us as a church is that we will be overwhelmed with a deep desire to walk a simple and faithful life for the Lord. Faithful, daily obedience with no recognition doesn’t scratch the itch of pride. But, it can certainly stir up joy. As we labor in the shadow, we may never see the complete fruit of our labor in this life. And that’s ok.