Answered Prayer

Genesis 24:1-14                                  Answer to Prayer

6/19/16            D. Marion Clark

Introduction

It is always interesting to hear how married couples met one another. There are childhood sweethearts, blind dates, falling for a friend’s date, co-workers, in a bar, even in a church. A growing trend is internet matching services. We had neighbors in Philadelphia who had connected through a classified ad. Few are as peculiar as the story of Isaac and Rebekah.

Sarah has died. Forty-year-old Isaac is still living at home with Dad. It evidently has not occurred to either man that Isaac should be finding a wife. (Makes it like a modern story, doesn’t it!) When the idea does occur to Abraham, instead of sending his son, he sends his servant to do the job. Remember the promotion of the sermon series – Genesis: The People…Their Problems…God’s Solutions. The People are Abraham and Isaac. Their Problem is finding a wife for Isaac. God’s Solution is to enable an old servant to pick her out and haul her back.

Reviewing sermons on Genesis 24, it appears that most preachers see the chapter as a kind of marriage manual – in particular, how to find a good wife or what a good wife should be like. What else to do with the longest chapter in Genesis that seems to serve little purpose other telling a good story of “How I Married Your Mother”? Let’s see what we can find.

Text

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

He should be 140 years old. The point being made is that a transition is taking place in this chapter, from the story of Abraham to the story of Isaac. At the beginning of the chapter, Isaac is referred to but does not actually enter into the story. He comes in at the end of the chapter, where Abraham is not even mentioned.

Of particular significance is how Isaac is referred to. At the beginning and throughout the story, the servant refers to Abraham as “my master,” and to Isaac as son of “my master.” When he returns with Rebekah and they see Isaac, she asks the servant who he is. The servant replies, “It is my master.” The baton is being passed on.

That baton is the covenant promise which God first made with Abraham, as will be spelled out in Chapter 26. Remember, the promise was to be passed down through Isaac. Now the concern is for how Isaac will pass the promise down to the next generation. That is what this chapter is about. Ligon Duncan, in preaching on this passage, states, “This is the story of the continuation of the line of providence, of promise, and how God in his providence brought about that continuation of the line of promise.”

This, no doubt, is what’s driving Abraham to find the right wife – the continuation of the line of promise. God, of course, may choose whatever means he desires to achieve his promise. He could have chosen to do it through Hagar’s son Ishmael. But he did not. Evidently, the right bloodline mattered. And the right bloodline is evidently that of Terah, Abraham’s father. Terah was also Sarah’s father whom he had by another wife. (It’s complicated.)

Abraham understands that the bloodline is not, for now, to be mixed with Canaanites. Rather, Isaac’s wife needs to be kept in the family, and thus, we have the story of the servant wife-finder.

² And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “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.” ⁵ 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?” ⁶ Abraham said to him, “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.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

There are two clear concerns of Abraham. First, the wife must not be a Canaanite, rather she is to be from his family. Second, under no circumstances is Isaac to go “back there.” Why is Abraham so insistent that Isaac not go? Because the promise is not only about offspring but about land, the Promised Land. Abraham will not risk Isaac going back to Mesopotamia and not returning.

So the servant departs.

¹⁰ 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.

 ¹¹ And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ 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.”

Ten camels. Why did the servant take ten camels? Evidently that many was needed to carry the other servants and the “choice gifts” from Abraham. The first verse stated that the Lord has blessed Abraham in all things. Here is a show of Abraham’s wealth. If today, I suppose he would have traveled with a caravan of ten limousines.

What the servant does at the well is praised by all of the commentators as wise and shrewd. What a clever way of finding a suitable wife. This is where all of the eligible women will come. One stop shopping. Then the idea of the sign – her offer to water his camels – is such a smart way of finding a wife with the right spirit. She will be a hard worker!

Well, yes, but Abraham had already instructed the servant how to find the woman – go to Abraham’s relatives. All the servant needed to do was ask where he would find the house of Nahor and then choose among the maidens there. Here, he was asking God to select the woman for him before determining if she fit the one qualification that Abraham had given. Rebekah will turn out to be from the right family, but what if she had identified herself as the daughter of a Canaanite who had moved to Mesopotamia? The servant would have been in a quandary. Fortunately it all works out.

Lessons

What then are we to learn? That giving God signs to fill is the best way to make decisions? Many Christians do that. “God, if you will do such and such, then I will know your will.” Is that what the servant teaches us? Let’s take a closer look at this unnamed servant.

He is old, indeed, the oldest in the household. He is trustworthy, so much so that Abraham has placed him in charge of all that he has, the same kind of trust that Joseph would be known for in Egypt. He thinks matters through before committing. Abraham sends him on a mission that the servant knows that he might not be able to complete, and so he raises an issue: “Perhaps the woman may not be willing…” So it appears in the brief introduction that we have what Proverbs would refer to as a wise man. He thinks before he speaks. He makes no rash or boastful promises. And he can be trusted.

What about that sign? We can get better understanding by examining the servant’s prayer.

¹² And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ 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.”

Note how he addresses God: “Lord, God of my master Abraham.” Is God not the god of the servant? Undoubtedly. But more to the point for the servant is that he has gone on a mission on behalf of Abraham. Furthermore, he knows of the particular relationship between God and his master Abraham – that of the covenant. And so he asks for success based on that relationship: “show steadfast love to my master Abraham.” Show hesed, the love that is based on the covenant.

The servant, by the way, is included in that relationship. When God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision, the servant received that sign as a member of his master’s household. As God instructed Abraham, “Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:12-13).

The servant then submits the sign for God to reveal the right woman. She would volunteer to draw water for ten thirsty camels, a task that would require her to draw up to 250 gallons of water. This is no demand of God; it is a request. He hopes that God will be gracious – i.e. that God out of his grace will deign to respond. It could be that no woman will make the offer. It could be that the woman who offers is not of Abraham’s relatives, and he will indeed have to reconsider what to do. But if God should be gracious and answer his prayer, then it doubly confirms that Rebekah is God’s chosen bride for Isaac. It is confirmed for the servant, and it is confirmed for Rebekah and her family. When the servant gives a detailed account to the family of how his prayer was answered, everyone not only agrees that finding Rebekah was of the Lord, but the family, with Rebekah’s consent, are even willing to let Rebekah depart with the servant the next day.

That is not the only prayer that the servant makes. After Rebekah reveals who she is, the servant lifts up thanksgiving: “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” (v. 27). He doesn’t give thanks for what a smart fellow he is. He had asked for God’s guidance, and it is God who must receive the glory. Note what he notes that God has done: “led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” Abraham’s command is fulfilled and is fulfilled clearly by the hand of Abraham’s God, who yet again displays his steadfast love and faithfulness to Abraham.

It is interesting that the servant adds the concept of God’s faithfulness. That faithfulness is toward Abraham, but it is toward Abraham on the basis of God being faithful to his own word, namely, his covenant promise to Abraham of offspring and land. God keeps his word even though Abraham’s track record is spotty with instances of weak faith in God.

Back to the well. Without the episode of the sign at the well, the servant could have fulfilled his mission. He could have found the family and could have recruited a willing wife, perhaps even Rebekah. And all that could be surmised is that the servant had acted dutifully. Now, because of the sign, all glory must be given to God, and all, including future readers like us, must conclude that Rebekah was indeed God’s chosen bride. The promise would continue through Isaac and through the right vessel of Rebekah, guaranteed by the providence of the God who made the promise.

Notice something that is missing in this whole story. Before, we hear of God speaking to Abraham, and then he responds. There are times God does not speak and Abraham acts of his own accord, always leading to trouble – think of Egypt and of Abimelech; think of giving in to Sarah’s suggestion of Hagar. Here is the first time that Abraham makes a decision without record of God speaking to him first, and success is the result. What is the difference? It lies not in Abraham but in the unnamed servant, who turns to the Lord in prayer for success.

If there is a lesson to be learned, it is not that we ought to be asking for signs but that we ought to be asking God for guidance and for success. In our prayers we ought to be appealing to the covenant relationship that he has made with our master, Jesus Christ. That is what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name.” Christ has mediated a new covenant on our behalf. We therefore may go to the Lord in prayer, knowing that he will hear us. He will show his steadfast love and faithfulness to his Son and to all who are in that covenant relationship through his son.

Remember, Jesus is the Promise that came to reality. He is the promised seed that passed through Isaac, will pass through Jacob, and on throughout many generations to the birth of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ, who will mediate a new and better covenant with God the Father through his own sacrifice. It is through Jesus Christ that all the nations will be blessed, as the spiritual blessings of his covenant embraces people of every nation and every tongue.

All of this will take place through the providential care of God. Sometimes, he will directly act in supernatural ways to enact his will, such as with the birth of Isaac. Oftentimes, he will indirectly act through the prayers and through the wise and godly actions of individuals such as Abraham’s unnamed servant. It behooves us, not so much to ask for signs as to be given discernment to see the signs of God at work. One can be committed to the study of the Scriptures and yet be blind to the signs God gives us in our lives. This was the curse of the Pharisees, who were devoted to the Word of God and yet missed the Sign of the Word made flesh when he walked among them and taught them.

The servant did not have Scripture to read and study. He observed the work of God in the life of his master and no doubt learned about God from Abraham. He then applied what he learned to his prayer life and to the responsibilities given him. We are to do the same. We do have the Scriptures to read and study. We know more than he about God and about the plan of God. Such knowledge should then guide our prayer life and guide the plans we make.

One other lesson to note. The servant’s prayer no doubt was answered because he was being used by God to fulfill God’s big promise plan. Our prayers and actions are more likely to be answered and blessed when we think and act in accordance with that big promise plan – the spread of the gospel. Our prayers and thoughts tend to be focused on whatever we perceive to be good for ourselves and our families. That is why we get easily discouraged and easily frustrated when things do not go our way. But what if the spread of the gospel was always foremost in our thoughts? What if we always cared more about how the gospel is understood and perceived by the way we speak and the way we relate to our neighbors? What if our hope lay not in what happens to us in this world but rather lay solely in the life to come?

To put it another way, what if we lived truly by faith. That is what Hebrews 11 is about. It opens with this statement: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The author then looks to Abraham and his family. Listen:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Hebrews 11:13-16).

That is where the promise made to Abraham takes us – to the heavenly country, the heavenly city. Stay focused on that promise plan; stay faithful to it. It is then that you will be able to withstand whatever trials may come your way, saying, “It is well with my soul.”