Women with a Story to Tell 9

 The stories of Abraham and his son Isaac are equally the stories of Sarah and Isaac’s wife: Rebekah. 

 Has there ever been a time when something unexpected happened and you thought: “I was born for this moment”? If we follow the Lord, then we might ask: “Is there a plan, and how do I fit in?” 

 Getting a grip on the overall plan may be difficult; we may settle for today’s possibilities. We are going to be tasked with our part, however big or small. How many generals and how many soldiers does it take to win a war? A lot more soldiers by a long shot. We are God’s grunts. 

 By the way: Our sincere thanks and respect for all members of the armed forces who have fought for our freedoms as laid out in the U.S. Constitution which includes the Bill of Rights.

 The Covenant promises that God has made to Abraham and Sarah were not cancelled with their deaths. The promises were for their descendants to grow a people, that is, an ethnic group from which to bless every nation, tribe, language group, and family in the world. The birth of Isaac was an important first step, but far from the fulfillment of the promises. 

 Sarah has died. Abraham, in his old age, is anxious for Isaac to marry someone from within his clan and not one of the Canaanite women among whom they live. So, he instructs his chief servant to travel to the land where his brother Nahor used to live. The servant accepted the commission, but did ask: “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land,” then what? (Genesis 24: 4). 

 Abraham answered, “The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth 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. 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” (24: 6). 

 This shows a lot of trust on Abraham’s part. What about the servant? What about the girl? Does this sound like a plan that will work? 

 The servant departed with ten camels loaded with gifts and a crew of young men who were also servants. When he arrived at the city of Nahor (Nahor was dead by then), he stopped by a well and prayed: “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer 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” (24: 12-14).

 Now, Eliezer, that was the servant’s name (Genesis 15:2), is not of the family of Abraham. He is an Aramean but notice how this servant has bought into what God is doing through Abraham. The word chesed may be translated as ‘mercy’ or ‘loving-kindness’ as well as ‘steadfast love’. That is at the heart of God’s motivation for the Covenant, not just toward Abraham and his descendants, but toward all the sinners in the world, which is all the people in the world. 

 The meeting is set up. Eliezer expects that God has appointed a woman for Isaac. We’ll see how it goes next week.

 In the meantime, think about God’s character of ‘steadfast love’, God’s plan of blessing all the nations through the descendants of Abraham, and God’s completion of the plan in the son of Abraham, Jesus Christ. In our times, God’s steadfast love has been expanding to all the nations, languages, tribes, and families of the world. However, not all are convinced of the ‘steadfast love’ of God because they have not felt that love coming from those who try to tell the story but do not act with love and care. Instead, some so-called Christians act in a way that gives people the wrong impression about God. 

 There are people in times and places whom God has appointed for you to meet and minister to in some way. Don’t miss them; be aware of the angel of the Lord who goes before you, and the commission God has given you.