Genesis 24

0:01 Let me start out this morning by asking a question. How did you two... Meat. You've probably heard that question before. You've probably answered that question if you're a married couple. You know what happens when somebody asks that question, and a couple that's kind of under the gun and being asked the question, they'll sort of, you know, smile as if it's a really interesting story, and they'll look at each other with little doughy eyes, and then off they go into telling this story, which is not so much a story over the years as it is a skit.

0:32 Right? Because they have... They each have lines... that they're supposed to say. So the husband starts out by saying, well, I was walking down the street. And she said, I was getting off work. And then they go on and they're back and forth telling the little story. And then at some point, the woman will say, oh, baby, you forgot the part about the smelly Uber. And he's like, oh, the smelly Uber. We have to tell that part. He did not forget the part about the smelly Uber thing. He's told the story a thousand times. He knows the smelly Uber. He just knows that before he can tell the story, her line is to remind him about the story. So he waits.

1:07 until she launches Into it. It's almost always a story when you get down into it. It's got its little funny parts and it's got its little sweet parts. It's always a little ridiculous too, right? There's the flat tire. There's taking the wrong turn. There's the friend that got a little too awkwardly involved at one point, right? But whatever the details are. of the story. Nobody ever tells their meeting story like it was an accident. They just never do. They don't tell it like it was an accident, even if it absolutely was just an accident.

1:40 They always tell it as if it was meant to be. B. Well, our story this morning, our text from Genesis, is kind of the place in the whole Bible where everybody goes looking for exactly that kind of meeting story, that sort of love story. We're back in Genesis this morning. We're going to be looking at Genesis chapter 24, which it turns out is the longest chapter in the book. So let me invite you to take a Bible. If you're new to Third Avenue, there may be several of you. There are a few Bibles that look like this, this kind of red color story.

2:15 Under the... Well, in the pew racks in front of you. Under the chairs. If you're like down here on the sides. Maybe up in the balcony. And if you'll just open up the Bible... to page 17. We're in the very first book of the Bible. We've been there for, well, this is the second week of this round of it. We're in Genesis. You'll see a big number 24 there on the page. We're going to be in that chapter for the entire week. morning. Now one thing you should know if you're not familiar with the Bible is that if you start looking down inside chapter 24, you're going to see little numbers that we Christians call verses. That's just something that was done in about 1,200 years ago or so, 1,100 years ago, that helps us do what we're doing here. So when I say something like, look down at verse 52, you'll know to look into chapter 24, then kind of scan through and find the little number 52, and you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. So that's how the Bible works, and we're back in Genesis today. It is, in fact, the longest chapter in the entire book, but it's all one story. And there is no doubt that it is delightful. It is just a wonderful story.

3:20 It's not meant to be ironic. It's a very straightforward sort of sunset lit story about Isaac finding a wife or at least a wife being found for him. Now, it's funny. The story is told here of Isaac finally getting Rebecca as his wife gets called all kinds of things in commentaries and just kind of pop Sunday school sort of things. It gets called the greatest love story of the Old Testament, a wonderful romance of a story, all of this stuff, right? And at first glance, it's a great story.

3:51 At least if you kind of cross your eyes, you can see why that is. The whole thing has this soft sunset light to it. There's nothing really funny in it. It's extremely earnest. You've got a long journey. You've got a well, which is always kind of a picture of love and romance in the Bible for whatever reason. You've got a beautiful young woman. who comes out at sunset and she's very wonderful and beautiful and kind. And then at the end of it, you have this young woman. strapping man standing out in a field at evening with the wind softly billowing in his hair as his wife shows up on the horizon.

4:25 It's beautiful. But I'm not sure, if you really start to think about it, that love story... is really very accurate here. I mean, think about it. Isaac... The boy in the romance, like one of the two main characters in a love story, doesn't show up in this thing until verse 62. Verse 62. The whole thing is 67 verses, and the groom isn't even there for 61 of them. That is a really strange way of writing a romance story.

4:56 extremely weird. And imagine the whole "how did you meet" question that Isaac and Rebecca probably had to tell for the whole rest of their lives. I mean, you know, you know, I've got a son and he's married, my oldest son, Justin. Imagine if Justin's story was something like this: "Well, my dad sent his assistant Jake Banta back to his hometown of Linden, Texas to grab my first cousin once removed, Throw her on a camel and bring her back and the rest, babe, is history.

5:29 That's not... A love story. So I just don't think wonderful love story is really the point here. I think that's just like us trying to Hollywoodize everything in the Bible. Because we think we need something like that. To have a sermon about our marriages and our dating relationships. That's not what this is. But if it's not that, then what is it? Well, it is, in fact, a love story. It's just that the love story isn't between Isaac and Rebekah. If anything, this is a love story between God and the people, the family, that he is bound to himself in covenant. Right?

6:05 Now let me tell you what I mean by that. The whole story so far in Genesis has been about God making these spectacular promises to one family in particular. One man, Abraham and his descendants, right? And then the story over and over again has been about those promises being put in various kinds of peril. So things happen and you're left wondering over and over again, is God going to be able to keep his promises? Or are those promises going to be snuffed out by the wrong person dying or the wrong person being taken into a king's harem? Or, you know, whatever the threat is. Over and over again, God keeps the promises. He keeps them alive.

6:40 And this story in chapter 24... is about God taking those promises, that love, that covenant, and working... calmly and patiently, and it turns out with no fireworks whatsoever. To preserve that covenant and hand it down to the next generation. Now here's what's remarkable about it all. I don't know if you read it in advance, but I just kind of want you to look over chapter 24, because here's what you're going to notice. In this whole chapter...

7:12 Look down. Put your head. Look down at the Bible. We're going to do this over and over again. Look down, let your eyes scan over it. Not one time in this chapter does God ever say a word. Not one. There's no vision, there's no voice, there's no angel in the road, nothing. Which is extremely weird for this book of Genesis, because the whole book is this story where God is talking to Abraham, basically non-stop for 12 chapters up to this point, and yet now he goes completely silenced.

7:45 And yet the whole point of the story is that even in the silence, he is... WORKING. underneath all of it. All right, now, bringing you back up to speed, if you remember where we left Abraham back in chapter 23, at the end of 23, Abraham was in a... A tough, hard spot. He was standing in a field that he'd just bought from this foreign Hittite guy. And his wife's body is wrapped in linens and buried in a cave that just happens to sit at the end of that field. It's a sad, sad moment because Sarah's gone and Abraham's 140 and everything God ever promised him, all these great things of land, promise, blessing, nation, all of it. It all now depends.

8:24 on his son Isaac... But the trouble is... Isaac isn't married Thank you. So you see the problem? The promise has got to get to the next generation, but there is no next generation. And that's where we pick up the story. Look with me at Genesis chapter... Verse 1. Here's what it says. Now Abraham was... Old. well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household...

8:59 who had charge of all that he had, put your hand under my thigh. That I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell. Amen. But will go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac. The servant said to him, perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came? Amen. Abraham said to him, see that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred... Who spoke to me and swore to me to your offspring...

9:31 Isaac, I will give this land... He will send his angel before you. And you shall take a wife for my son from there. 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 the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him concerning the matter. Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening...

10:03 the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I'm standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the water are in the water. for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master. Before he had finished speaking, behold, 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.

10:42 The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, Please give me a little water to drink from your jar. She said, Drink, my lord. And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water... ...and she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence... to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.

11:13 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels and said, please, please. Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night? She said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. She added, we have plenty of both straw and fodder and room to spend the night. The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord. And said, 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...

11:46 And then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things. Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man to the spring. As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and heard the words of Rebekah, his sister, thus... The man spoke to me. He went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring... He said, come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels. So the man came to the house... and unharnessed the camels and gave straw and fodder to them. And there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

12:18 And then food was set before him to eat. But he said, I will not eat until I've said what I have to say. So he said, speak on. So he said, I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master and he has become great. He's given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys... And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. And to him he has given all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, "'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, but you shall go to my father's house.'" and to my clan and take a wife from my son.

12:51 I said to my master, perhaps the woman will not follow me. But he said to me, the Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife from my son, from my clan, and from my father's house. Then you will be free from my oath. when you come to my clan... If they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath. I came today to the spring and said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I'm standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, Please give me a little water from your jar to drink, and who will say to me, Drink, and I will draw for your camels also. Let her be the woman.

13:25 whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son. Behold, before I had finished speaking in my heart... Rebecca came out with her water jar on her shoulder... and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, please let me drink... She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, drink, and I will give your camels drink also. So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. I asked her, whose daughter are you? She said, the daughter of Bethuel. Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him. So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.

14:00 Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me. And if not, tell me that I may return to the right hand or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing has come from the Lord. We cannot speak to you bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her and go and let her be the wife of your master's son as the Lord has spoken. When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. The servant brought out jewelry of silver and gold and garments and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments...

14:32 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, send me away to my master. Her brother and her mother, though, said, Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days, and after that she may go. But he said to them, Don't delay me. Since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away. that I may go to my master. They said, let us call the young woman and ask her. So they called Rebekah and said to her, will you go with this man? She said, I will go. So they sent away Rebecca, their sister, and her nurse. And Abraham's servant. and his men.

15:03 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him. Then Rebecca and her young women arose. and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah. and went his way. Now Isaac had returned from Bir Lahai Roy and was dwelling in the Negev. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw... And behold... There were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, "'Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?' The servant said, "'It is my master.'" So she took her veil...

15:41 and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. So Isaac was comforted. After his mother's death. All right, there it is. That is the longest chapter in the book of Genesis. And my guess is you noticed something a little bit strange about it while I was reading it. A huge chunk of this chapter right there in the middle is just this servant telling us a story in great detail that we have just finished reading for ourselves.

16:19 So the question becomes, why should God put a rerun in the Bible like that? Why? It's an excellent question. But trust me, that repeat of the story is not just filler. It's doing something. And in fact, the repeat of it and the little differences between the repeat and the original telling turn out to be the key to the whole thing. Now, in terms of structure, this is a narrative, so there aren't any huge breaks in it, but you can see several different kind of movements in it. So, verses 1 to 9, you've got the oath that the servant swears to Abraham, 10 to 27, the well, then you get the retelling of it from 28 to 49, 50 to 61 is the whole family coming to yes, right, with Rebecca, and then 62 to 67, you have the meeting and the wedding meeting.

17:03 And here's the main idea. God is always... at work Keeping his promises to you. even in the unremarkable moments. He is always at work keeping his promises to you, even in the unremarkable moments. And that ought to shape everything. everything about you. I mean, think about it. The most powerful Wonderful thing. that is true about you if you're a Christian.

17:35 Is that because of Jesus you are in covenant right now with the living God of the universe. And friend, if that's true, then your life, everything about it, ought to be covenant-shaped. Everything about your life. ought to be affected by the fact that you're in covenant with the living God. So four points to the sermon, kind of making our way through the story and then sort of backing up. You'll see what we're doing as we go. But there are four things... I think we see these covenant-shaped people in this story do.

18:08 So number one, God's people plan. Number two, God's people pray. Number three, God's people tell. And number four, God's people obey God. now. Those four things. They plan, they pray, they tell, and they obey now. That's what living a covenant-shaped life looks like. So number one. Kind of looking at verses 1 through 9. God's people plan. So if you look back at the beginning of chapter 24, the chapter opens with Abraham living in the wake of his wife's death. And really, he's living in the shadow of his own death too. So he gets moving really quickly. He understands the stakes. He understands the stakes.

18:43 To look down at verse 1, Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. Two details to see there. Abraham is very much at the end. He's old. He's well advanced in years. And God had already kept his word to Abraham. So what does Abraham do in light of that? I'm coming to the end. I know that my God is a promise-keeping God because I've seen it in my life. What does he do with this little bit of time that he's got left? Well, he calls in his oldest, most trusted servant. We don't know his name, but he's like the big guy in the family. And puts him under oath, which is the whole hand under the thigh thing. Now, without going into too much detail, yes, thigh is probably a euphemism for something else.

19:25 Kind of like feet is a euphemism often in the Old Testament for something else. And the whole point is pretty much that the servant is being put under oath, not just to Abraham as a man, but to Abraham's father. Seed and descendants. The whole family line. He's being put under oath to. Not surprising, right? Because what's at stake here is, in fact, the whole family line. Well, anyway, the servant goes under oath to Abraham, and Abraham gives his servant two instructions, both of them really important, because they're all about protecting the promise.

19:58 Remember the whole story has been about the promise being in peril. It's in danger over and over again. Well, it still is. And so Abraham moves with this servant to cut off a couple of dangers to it. The first of those is in verse 3. You can see it there. Do not, under any circumstances, bring my son, a Canaanite, In other words, don't let this family dissolve into this people who are already under the judgment of God. I don't want that to happen. We're not going to be Canaanite. The second one, though, is the one I want you to pay attention to, because Abraham says it twice.

20:30 The first time he says it is in verse 6. Look at it there. See to it that you do not take my son back there. In other words, back to Haran, back to Nahor, back to the family, right? Don't take my son out of the promised land. And then he says it again in verse 8. Only, no matter what happens, the one thing you must not do... Is take my son back there. Well, why is he so insistent about that? Well, I think there's a couple of layers to it. I mean, on the one hand, God has planted Abraham in this land that he promised to give to him and his descendants. And he doesn't want to work backward against that promise by leaving the land God has planted him in.

21:10 But also Joshua tells us that Abraham's family were a bunch of pagans. They were worshippers of other gods. And so for Isaac to be taken back to that family would have been an undoing of the promise, an abandonment of the covenant, probably in the end would have wound up in an abandonment of God himself. And so Abraham says, that can't happen under no circumstances should you give my boy a Canaanite wife so that his progeny dissolves into their house.

21:41 ridiculousness, nor should you take them back to my ridiculous family so that he can learn to worship other gods. Don't do that. We're being faithful to God. Now, look at verse 7, because that's where we find out where Abraham said, Abraham's confidence in this whole... scheme of finding a wife is coming from. He's very confident that this servant will be able to find his son a wife that's not a Canaanite. Why is he so confident? Well, he's not just kind of, you know, Hoping.

22:11 He's not just wishing on a star and kind of like Cinderella dancing with a mop handle, right? It's not just this wistful thing. He's got... Confidence. And listen to how he reasons there. In verse 7, the reason I think this thing is going to work is because the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house... spoke to me and swore to me. To your offspring I will give this land. You see the logic in that whole thing? God said it. In fact, God swore it by himself. And therefore, Abraham had confidence this thing is going to work.

22:49 He's not just taking a shot in the dark. He's making plans on the basis of an oath he knows that God does. made. And here's the just mind-blowingly wonderful thing. That's exactly the same thing. That you and I get to do as Christians. Only more so. We get to plan our lives. on the fact that God has made promises to us I mean, think back to chapter 22, about a year ago, when Abraham was...

23:24 Had just finished almost sacrificing Isaac, right? Remember that? He almost killed him, but God didn't allow it to happen. At the end of that chapter, God swore by himself... Because there was nothing greater to swear by, right? If you're swearing, you always want to swear on something greater than you because it establishes your authority. Well, God looks around and is like, well, what am I supposed to swear by? There's nothing greater than me. I'll just swear by myself. Right? Because I'm the greatest thing in the universe. That's what he does at the end of chapter 22. Well, the book of Hebrews tells us why God did that. He doesn't have to, right? I mean, when God speaks, that's just kind of the end of it.

23:59 It is true, but the book of Hebrews says that he swears by himself the greatest thing in the universe for our benefit. And the reason he does it is so that we would take strong encouragement from those promises. God really means this. And then Hebrews says that Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant than the one made with Abraham. With better promises than the one made to Abraham. And this time it's not sworn with the blood of animals. It's sworn in Jesus' blood. own blood.

24:31 Friends, you are in, if you're a Christian, you are in an unbreakable covenant with God where God has sworn by himself. to give you eternity. That is a strong, strong covenant. And it's worth making your plans. on the basis of it. I mean, think about this. Do you make the plans for your life? Do you make the plans for the next month, for the next year, certainly for the next decade or five, on the basis of the fact that you are going to live forever with Jesus?

25:04 Or do you make your plans and keep Jesus and the gospel in eternity just sort of bracketed out, right? I'll live my life just as somebody who, like anybody else, who's going to just snuff out at the end. But then there will just be a bonus for me at the end, and I'll live forever. How do you make your plans? Are your plans just about you and your pleasure and your enjoying the years that you've got in front of you? Or are you planning to spend your life in a way that's shaped by the fact that God has made you one of his own?

25:36 Let me ask you a question if you're young, maybe unmarried, maybe at the beginning of your career. How are you planning your life? I mean, are you making plans just like somebody who's going to snuff out at the end? I'm just going to spend the years of my life burning my years traveling the world, eating the best food, eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow we die, and I hope to wake up in heaven. You plan to spend your life just enjoying yourself? Or are you making plans based on eternity? Are you making plans, for example, to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

26:13 Who will become Christians and take the gospel into the next generation. Maybe you're a little bit older. Maybe you're thinking about a career. How is your career changed? Stamped with the reality that you live in covenant with the living God. Is it all just about the money and the things? Or do the money and the things have a purpose... That's stamped by eternity. Maybe you're kind of on the other end of it all. Maybe you're Maybe your career is coming to an end. Well, the same question applies to you. How is your retirement?

26:48 going to be covenant-based. shaped Is it really just about one cruise buffet after another? No. Are you going to use your retirement? In a way that reflects the fact that you are in covenant with the living God. Friends, those are important questions. Because God's people are planners. And the reason we are planners is because our future stretches in. infinitely out. We're the people who know that everything...

27:21 has meaning. Because we live in a covenant with God who lives forever. So that's the first thing. God's people make plans. They're stamped by the most important reality in their lives. They make covenant plans. stamped. Plans. That's what Abraham does. And it leads us to the second point. God's people pray. God's people pray. That's number two. So... Starting in verse 10... The servant sets out on his journey. He loads up ten camels that his master owns, and he heads 500 miles or so off into the desert. And the first thing he does when he finally arrives at the city, I mean, think about it. He would have been exhausted crossing the desert like that. He needs food. He needs water. All of that. But the first thing he does when he arrives at the city is none of that.

28:06 The very first thing that he does is... Pray. I mean, look at verse 11. You see that? He's barely gotten off his camels before he does anything else, before he gets water, before he gets food, before he finds a place to lay his head at night, before any of it, he prays. Look what he prays. Verse 12. Verse 12. Thank you. He said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today. And show steadfast love to my master Abraham...

28:36 Behold, I'm 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 say, please let down your jar that I may drink, and who shall say drink, and I will water your camels as well, let her be the one. whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By that I will know that you have shown steadfast love. It's my master. Look at the details of that. Look at what he... does not... ask for, In this prayer. Because especially in the context of the Bible. It is really striking. What he does not ask for.

29:08 He does not ask for anything spectacular or extraordinary. He doesn't ask for a sign in the sky. He doesn't ask for a voice. He doesn't ask for a dream. He doesn't weirdly lay a sheep's fleece on a threshing floor and ask God to make it wet. There's nothing weird about this prayer. He doesn't ask God for anything spectacular or arbitrary or even miraculous. What he asks for essentially is a live run test of character. He asks for a test of character.

29:42 So, I mean, you can see his plan there. He's going to ask one of these girls who come out to the well for a drink of water. But that's not really the thing. And that would have been a normal thing. A traveler shows up. He's tired. He's weary. He's dusty. The women come out. He asks for a drink. And just normal everyday hospitality would have been for the girl to say, Yeah, sure. Let me get you some water. And you can have some water. Nothing spectacular about that. All the test is what comes after that and And his question is, will she of her own accord, without even being asked, offer to water the camels?

30:15 Okay, now that seems like a small thing, right? Especially if you have a kind of kindergarten understanding of camels. And if you've got this story in soft focus, then you're going to misunderstand this entirely. Because what you're thinking is she comes out all willowy, you know, and she gives him a drink of water. And she holds the thing up to the little... Camel's mouth. And he goes. Right. And you think. Oh she watered the camels too. Isn't she kind. That is not what this is. Your average camel. Camel. after a long trip could drink something like 25 gallons of water. to replenish his stores.

30:48 The servant here... has 10 of those suckers. 250 gallons of water are necessary. And if you look carefully at what comes after, she literally promises not just to give them a sip, but to feed them. Feed, is that the right word? Give the camels water until they've had their fill. 25 gallons all 10 camels and she's got a water jar that is like one gallon at the most This is 250 trips to the well. to feed those stinking camels.

31:21 And yet she does it. She does it, and she does it for a stranger who really can offer her, she thinks, nothing in return. That's what he's praying for. He's praying for that kind of character. He's not looking for a feeling. He's not looking for a miraculous sign. He's looking for character. For someone who would be kind. to strangers and do work. when nobody can properly thank her for it. Let me just say While we're here, one word to the many...

31:53 Many, many of you in this church who are praying for a spouse. And what I want to ask you is, what are you praying for? What is your prayer like? How are you asking God to make it known that this is a person I should know? Mary. Well, let me suggest that I think you probably could not do much better than this guy right here. This is a really good prayer to pray if you're single. So look, don't pray. Let me tell you a couple of ways not to pray about your spouse. Do not pray, oh God.

32:31 Show me the way. Make my heart flutter when I see her. Make me queasy with love like I've never been queasy before. And then I shall know that she is the one. That's a stupid prayer. Also don't pray. Some ridiculousness like, oh God. When I spin this bottle, on the church directory. No.

33:08 How about you pray? O Lord, let the one... who is faithfully following you, Let the one who's excited to tell people about Jesus, let the one who's thrilled at the prospect of raising children to know you, let the one who's kind. To people she knows can't repay it. And hardworking even when nobody's watching. Let the one who loves your word and your people right down to the depths of her heart. Let her be the one. Thank you. That's how you should pray.

33:40 And you know what the bonus is in that too? You know what's the bonus that you won't even really notice it working until it's working? If you start praying like that, it'll start shaping your heart to look for that. And if you know other people around you are praying the same thing, it'll shape your heart to want to be like that. Pray for character. And watch God bring it. Well, there's something else I want you to see in the servant's prayer, too, another detail. Look at who he prays to, And who he prays for. So look back at verse 12. I'm not going to read it again. Oh Lord. But I want you to look at the phrase there. God of my master Abraham.

34:24 And then look what he asks for from this God. Show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Now you see what he's doing there? He doesn't say one single word about himself in that prayer. It's not, Lord, show me favor. Lord, do things for me. It's not that. He does not come to God on his own standing. Because he knows he doesn't have any favor. He comes to God and he prays and he asks for things from this God...

34:55 Because of God's covenant faithfulness to Abraham. That's why. Now look at verse 15. Before he finished speaking, behold, Rebecca came out with her water jar on her shoulder. Before he finished speaking, God's answer was like, probably before he even opened his mouth. his mouth to pray, Rebecca was already headed out. God, God put her on the path, before he even began, praying the prayer. And, and then she, She does the thing, right? Verse 20, she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well. For hours probably she was doing this hundreds of times to feed these camels. And what's the guy doing while she works?

35:31 Well, not a ton. I mean, you look at verse 21. The man gazed at her in silence. But he's got a spiritual excuse to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not. He's not sure yet. but then you get to verse 26 and it finally becomes clear that this really is the one and look what the guy does When it becomes clear, when it clicks in his mind, this is the one I'm supposed to go after. She's got the character. She's doing what shows her to be a woman of hospitality and love and generosity. Look what he does. Immediately, the man bowed his head.

36:04 and worshiped The Lord. Again, it's the first thing he does. Again, he prays. Right there in front of everybody. Before the family's agreed to anything. Before anything is signed, sealed, and delivered. He's got no idea how this thing's finally going to end. But he bows his head and worships and prays. And you can see the content of the prayer. In 26... Look at that. The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master.

36:40 Again, He doesn't pray... In his own name, he prays in the name of his master. He thanks God for being kind to Abraham. While he treats himself as a sort of just surprised bystander. Like, wow, look what has just happened to me. Right? As for me, me! God has been kind to me. What a surprise. Brothers and sisters... That is what we... are supposed to do, Every single time we pray. We say... In Jesus' name, at the end of our prayers, I beg you guys to do that in Sunday evening. Every time I lead the thing, I'm like, end your prayer in something like, in Jesus' name. Why?

37:18 Well, I'm afraid for a lot of us, that's just become a kind of extended prefix to the word... The single word in Jesus' name we pray all in. Right? Long Greek word, right? That's how we kind of think of it. It's just a ritual. It's just something that Christians do. But it's not at all just a ritual. It's not at all just a tradition. When we say we are praying this in the name of Jesus, we're doing the same thing this servant was doing. We are approaching God on the authority and merits of our master, not our own.

37:54 Friend, if you pray your prayer like God... I ask you to do this, and I ask you to do that, and I ask you to do this. Amen. You're praying wrongly. Because you're trying to strut into the throne room of God and make call them demands, call them requests. But you are standing on your own authority. You need to go into the throne room of God and say, God, I do not deserve to be here. But I ask these things in the name of my Savior today. Jesus. I mean, at the end of the day, that's the heart of Christianity, right?

38:30 You don't deserve, I don't deserve to be in the presence of God. What we deserve is to be kicked out and thrown into hell. For presuming to walk into the presence of God. What it means to be a Christian, though, is to realize that you've got no standing on your own. No. but united to Jesus... He invites you in. You stand on His authority. in his marriage. So Abraham plans and the servant...

39:01 Praise. And God answers. But third, God's people tell us. That's what happens next. Number three, God's people tell. You really could at this point... Imagine the story jumping from, say, verse 27-27. Maybe the end of that prayer, maybe verse 28, whatever. You can imagine the story jumping down at this point, down to about verse 61. You'd get the happily ever after and all that, and that would be that, right? But starting in verse 28, what you get instead is about 30 verses of what's essentially negotiation with Rebecca's family. Most of which, like 16 verses of it, is a detailed retelling of what we've already just read.

39:39 Now, you know, you look at verse 29 there at the beginning. There's this guy named Laban. We meet him for the first time, and there's a little bit of... foreshadowing here because you notice what gets him interested. Notice what gets Laban interested in this whole thing. It's the gold. That the servant is put on his sister's arms. We'll hear more from this guy later. And he stays true to form. But now look at verse 33. Food was set before the servant to eat. But he said, I will not eat until I have said...

40:10 What I have to say... And then, He talks. For 16 verses. And he tells us the entire story over again... In detail. that we have already heard. I mean, you know how it hits, right? I mean, you're reading the story and you get into that and you're just like, wow, I have seen this show before. So what on earth is that doing in the Bible? Well... I want you to pay special attention to what the servant actually tells them. Pay attention to the story that he actually tells them. Because it's not just a travelogue. It's not just, I went here and then I went here and then I went here. Look how it starts in 34-35.

40:51 He starts with this. I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and my master has become great. What's all this wording about greatness? Why? Why? Well, think back to chapter 12, verse 2, the very first thing that God said to Abraham 50 years earlier. He said, I will bless you and make you great. Thank you. Now look at verse 36. What do you have there? In 36, you've got the promised promise. Son. You've got the promised inheritance. And then you get verse 40. The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with you. It's the presence of God. Do you see what's going on here? This servant is not just recounting his travel woes.

41:35 He's reciting the covenant promises that God has made to Abraham. And then he's laying the evidence beside those promises. So they can watch the two line up. He's proving to them that God keeps his promises. What God promised to Abraham, God has done. Greatness, greatness. Greatness. Wealth, wealth. A son, a son. The presence of God, the presence of God. The promises and the evidence. That's what his story is doing. Friends, that's what your testimony should do too, by the way.

42:10 the story that you tell about God's grace in your life, that story that you tell of your testimony is not meant to be, look at all this unique, interesting stuff that happened to me. It's supposed to be your life laid out as evidence that what God says is true. And what he promises, he does. You see how that works? The Bible says that it is true that we are all sinners. Now, here's my story that proves that to be the case because I am a sinner.

42:42 God promises that all those who call on the name of Jesus Christ will be saved. Now here's the evidence. Because he did that for me. Your testimony isn't the story of your life. It's the story of God's work in your sorry life. Thank you. There's another reason that this whole thing is retold for us too. I want you to see that. Look at verse 45. And compare that... to verse 15.

43:12 . So look at 45, then look at 15, they're both at the beginning of a paragraph, right? Same point in the story. Up in 15, the author of Genesis told us, before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah came out. Before he had finished speaking. But here in 45, the servant says it like this. Before I had finished speaking, in my heart... Behold, Rebecca came out. in it It is hard. Now, do you see what that means? He's speaking. Mm-hmm, like we do, right? Internal monologue.

43:45 But he's doing it in his heart. His prayer works. was silent. Thank you. Not one person at that well heard a word of it. Therefore, unless this man starts talking and telling that story in Laban's house, nobody on earth is ever going to have known that God was working in the details of that day. No one would have given a second thought to a thirsty stranger and a kind girl and a well and a long evening of hauling water for a bunch of camels. Nobody would have thought a second thing about it till he started talking. All of it was God working to do good for his covenant people, but nobody would have known it.

44:23 Unless he tells them. what was going on. Thank you. that's why this chapter has a rerun in it. See, the mechanics of God's work here, remarkably, The mechanics of it, what he actually does here, if you just look at it on the surface, it's all entirely unremarkable. And because it's unremarkable, there's no miracle, there's nothing spectacular, nothing. It's invisible. Right? Unless somebody connects the dots with words.

44:54 Now back up to your testimony for a second again. Thank you. Most of us in the mechanics of it, in the way God actually did it. it turns out have pretty unremarkable consequences. Testimonies. We just do. Like 80% of you, when you have your membership interview with me, at least, start out with, well... I grew up in a Christian home. Going to church all the time. And now I'm a Christian. Friends, I don't care how much you dress that up. That is an unremarkable testimony.

45:27 Oh, you grew up in a Christian home, huh? And now you're a Christian. Wow. Incredible. I mean, we even, the elders just, I'll let you in on a little inside baseball here. We actually have an abbreviation for that. We don't write that whole thing out in case you haven't noticed. The abbreviation is the word in all caps, Gwiatch. G-U-I-A-C-H. Grew up in a Christian home. Because so many of you say it. It's entirely... in the mechanics, on the surface, unremarkable. It's my testimony too, just to be clear.

46:01 But friends, don't say that. as if it is really unremarkable. Don't say that as if it's really unremarkable. Do what this servant did when you tell that story. Pull back the curtains. Because what really happened to you, if your testimony is guiach... is that despite the fact that you guiatched, despite all the blessings that God gave you by letting you grow up in a Christian home, your heart was yet dead to him.

46:33 You took his gifts and you squandered them. You used them against him and your heart was dead and you were a rebel against God and you deserved hell. for that. You deserve hell, friend, more than somebody who didn't grow up in a Christian home. You deserve hell. Because of your own sin. And yet God in his great... Mercy and grace saved you. from that rebellion. Never ever. Ever. Never think. That this incredible, world-shattering miracle that God did in making you a Christian.

47:08 was something small. And never begrudge the fact... that may be in the mechanics. It was unharmed. remarkable. Because friends, that is the whole point. God wants you to have to talk about it. Well, watch what happens when the Thank you. Servant finishes telling his story of what God's done. So verse 49, he asks them for loving kindness. Interestingly, that's the same word he'd asked God for. He wants them to fulfill the prayer.

47:40 That he'd ask God for. Look at 50 and 51. Thank you. Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing has come from the Lord. We cannot speak to you bad or good. In other words, our opinion doesn't really matter. It's come from the Lord. So behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her and go. Let her be the wife of your master's son. as the Lord has spoken. See what's happening? These two pagans, these two dudes in Haran who are used to worshiping other gods, Laban and Bethuel, they've just had the covenant promises of God laid out before them and then the evidence right beside it. And what they say is, yep, that's the Lord. We can't argue with that.

48:15 Thank you. And friends, the thing is, that's still exactly how it works. We have to talk. And then people respond, not one of us... Not you, not me, none of us figured God out on our own. Somebody told you about him. Somebody told you the truths of the gospel. At some point, somebody sat you down and recited the gospel and laid the evidence next to it, and so you believed. And look, what we have to tell as Christians is so much better than what that servant had.

48:46 That servant got to say, the Lord has greatly blessed my master. He's made him rich and great. What we get to say is that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that that son was crucified and buried. And then on the third day, he rose again from the dead to save us miserable sinners from our sin. It's incredible. So tell it. Tell it at the dinner table. Tell it to the guy at work who thinks his life has just been a series of accidents. Tell it to the mom in your neighborhood who thinks her children are a curse instead of a blessing. Use your life as the evidence. That's how God set it up to work.

49:21 He decided to work in all kinds of ways that look in the moment entirely unremarkable. And then he decided that the way people were going to find out that he's behind it all... IS THAT WE, Tell them. God's people tell. Finally, God's people obey. Now. So anyway, the story goes on. Unsurprisingly, in 53, there's this big feast, right? But look at... Look at the middle of 54, the morning after. So they arose in the morning and he said, send me away to my master. Now, if you think back over this whole chapter, one of the things that you realize is that this guy has been in a hurry from minute one. He is about it.

50:00 He doesn't wander around Mesopotamia, kind of looking for the right town. He sets his GPS directly on it, and he goes there. When he gets to the town, he doesn't go looking for a hotel first. He doesn't go looking for a restaurant first. No, he gets straight to it. No rest. He just... He won't even eat. Until he said his peace to the family and sort of sealed the deal. And now he's been in town exactly one night. It took him weeks to get there. He's been in town one night and he's ready to leave at dawn.

50:34 He is obeying Jesus. Now, And then there's another detail here that underscores it in 55. Rebecca's brother and mother make a plea. Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days, and after that she can... She can go. I mean, think about that. That's a pretty reasonable request, right? And this is their daughter whom they've raised from little tiny... Beautiful little... Package of love. And she's about to climb up on a camel with a stranger and ride out of their lives forever. There are no planes. They can't get there. They're not going to go see her. She's gone. And all they're asking for is 10 planes.

51:14 Days. I mean, I would ask for 10 days... Heck, I'd ask for 20... Fifteen. But look at the reason he gives for saying no in 56. Because this is the whole thing. Don't delay me, he says, because the Lord has prospered my way. Here's logic. He isn't saying I need to hurry so that God will bless this. He's not saying I need to hurry because I might lose...

51:46 grip on it. It's not because he might lose his blessing, right? He's saying, God has already done this thing, so now let's not slow it down. Let's get on with it. The urgency that's driving him is nothing like anxiety. The urgency is seeing that God has acted, and I want to be a part of it now. Not 10 days from now. Thank you. Look at 57 and 58. It's an important moment there because the family decided, well, the way we're going to settle this is we're just going to ask Rebecca. Rebecca. Let's ask her what she thinks. And she says, I'll go. I'll go.

52:20 Now, in Hebrew, that's two words, but they hold a lifetime of change. I'll go. Friends, that's what faith is. it. It's not seeing... It's believing a testimony about somebody you've never seen. That's what she does, right? She hears the testimony of the servant about her master and her master's family and her future husband. And she says, I believe that. And now I'm gonna go. Faith is... Believing the testimony.

52:51 of someone about somebody that you have never met. And saying, I'll go anyway. This is what it is to be a Christian. You remember what Peter says about us, right? You love him. That's what Rebecca had to do. Not even just about Isaac. It's not that she hasn't seen Isaac and she loves him. That's not the point. That's where all your Hollywood infested minds go. That's not the point. She has to say it about God. And friend, that's the question that this story puts to you this morning. Will you accept the testimony?

53:27 of somebody else, about a man you have never met, and will you say, yes, I will go to him. The evidence lines. up. Because that's where you are. I mean, look, there's a... There's a servant of a certain kind, me here right now. Giving you a message about a master you've never seen. And the question on the table is, will you go to church? him. Look, here's what I want you to see in this. We're almost done. There is no greater priority than obeying God's word. There just isn't.

53:59 That's true for you as a Christian, and it's true for you if you're not a Christian. If you're on the brink of becoming a Christian, don't take 10 days to say yes. Don't go say a fond farewell to your sin or to the people who have been joining you in sin. Don't wait. Don't take 10 days to put your stuff in order. Why? Because 10 days becomes 10 weeks, becomes 10 months, becomes Forever and you look up at the end of your life realizing I never did what I intended to do. Don't let that happen. See what God has done in Christ and obey now. Say the same two words Rebecca did. I'll go now.

54:34 to him. And then come to Jesus and live. And so she does. She goes. The story ends. You can see it in 67. Isaac brought her into the tent. Sarah's mother took Rebekah. She became his wife and he loved her, so Isaac was comforted. After his mother's death. See what's happening there when she goes into Sarah's tent? She's becoming the new mother of promise. The next generation is breaking. Open. Do you remember where we ended?

55:05 Last week. Last Sunday, we left this book. Standing at A grave. A grave. with a weeping husband who was burying his wife. Today, We leave it in a different place entirely. A man comforted a promise that's silently, without one word out of heaven, without one spectacular miracle, it's moved one more generation toward an unremarkable manger in the city of Bethlehem. We've been saying that this whole time, right? That God...

55:35 often, maybe even usually, does his work in ways that look unremarkable. Well, guess what? This right here is a really... unremarkable Sunday. We sing... unremarkable songs, and you have just heard an unremarkable sermon. But this unremarkable Sunday that is like so many other Sundays, might be It just might be the day you wind up talking about for eternity.

56:15 Because this unremarkable Sunday might be the day that your soul came to life. And you trusted in Jesus for salvation. Wouldn't that be? Incredible. Will you go? Thank you. To him. Let's pray. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Our Lord Jesus, we thank you that you give us all the great invitation to come to you.

56:49 And Father, we pray that for those of us who have done that, You would cause us to be covenant-shaped. People. to live and to pray and to tell, And to obey God. All because we have the promise of the eternal covenant with you. With your son, Jesus. Lord, we pray that Even in the unremarkable days of our lives. that we would be able to see your work in them and know that you are always working. to keep your promises to us. And then we pray, oh God, that we would act and speak and think in all ways.

57:24 to honor you. We ask that in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.