GIVING GLORY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.

Genesis 22:20-24

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor.

The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

"Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking."

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"

She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned His kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives.”

Genesis 24:15-27

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

This is our third message from the 24th chapter of Genesis and this is because there is so much good content as we look at Abraham’s desire to find a wide for his only son Isaac with his chief servant being a key player in the story.

To date, we have looked closely at the actions and attitudes of the anonymous chief servant, seeing what the Lord expects from us as we seek to carry out His will in our lives. In addition to the examples of servanthood, yesterday we saw what effective prayer looks like as the servant went before the Lord, asking for signs of assurance that he would pick the right woman to be Isaac’s bride.

And that brings us to today’s passage and the matter of ascribing glory where it rightfully belongs. Look again at those words here:

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor.

The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

"Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking."

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"

She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned His kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives.”

Genesis 24:15-27

To recap how we got to this juncture, you’ll remember that Abraham had sent his chief servant to his home country with no other guidance except that the woman selected to be Isaac’s wife couldn’t be a Canaanite. She had to be from Abraham’s relatives.

And so the servant set out and as soon as he had arrived at his destination, Nahor, and placed the camels near the well, he immediately entered into prayer, asking God to help reveal the woman he was to select. The scriptures told us that the servant asked God to show him two signs through the woman so he would know for sure that she was the one that God wanted him to pick. The criteria for selection was thus:

If the woman would first give him a drink when he asks and then goes and give his camels water, then that woman would be the one.

This leads us to today’s verses where we read that God was already moving forward with His plan even before the servant finished praying as Rebekah went to the spring, filled her jar and began to return to town. Having finished his prayer, we read where the servant "hurried to meet her" before asking:

"Please give me a little water from your jar."

To which Rebekah replied, "Drink, my lord", as she lowered the jar from her shoulder to her hands and gave him a drink.

And so the first validation point had been accomplished before we see Rebekah quickly meeting the second when she says:

"I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking."

So Rebekah proceeded to draw enough water from the well to give all of the servant’s camels some water, and immediately, the servant knew that she was the one. The scriptures tell us that he gave her a "gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels" before inquiring about her family and whether they had enough room for him to have a place to stay. We see where Rebekah shows complete hospitality to the chief servant, who was a total stranger to her before now. She invites him to stay with her family.

This gesture brought Abraham’s chief servant into an immediate place of praise as he enters into worship, bowing down and saying:

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned His kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

Isaac would have a wife and her name would be Rebekah, a woman who was related to Abraham.

What was that relation?

We find out in the following verses from Genesis, chapter 22:

Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah. Vv.20-24

Here, we find that Abraham’s brother Nahor had eight sons, one of which was named Bethuel and he would go onto have children of his own, one of which was Rebekah. We’ll see more of her part of the story tomorrow but before I close today, I want to touch on three important factors that are needed to give God all the glory, no matter the situation. These factors are all seen in the actions of the chief servant.

1. We need to bow down and humble ourselves before our Lord.

The servant came before God by bowing down, displaying humility and assuming the right posture before his Almighty Father. As we approach God, we aren’t to do so casually but in total reverence, bowing low before Him because He is totally sovereign and in rule over us and the rest of creation.

2. We need to adore and praise Him.

Once the servant bowed and showed God the proper respect, he immediately began to worship Him and render admiration. We should have no problem doing this if we stop and take account of all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. When we do, we, like the chief servant, should have no issues showing our thanksgiving and gratitude to the One who gives every good and perfect thing from above.

In the end translation, God is our Provider, our Sustainer, and our Redeemer. He is most worthy of our fullest commendation and honor.

3. We need to acknowledge His goodness and give God all the credit for everything He does for us.

The chief servant could have glorified himself for coming up with the clever signs so to reveal the right woman but instead he praised God for His goodness, mercy and grace.

Through providing the bride for Isaac, God had shown He had not abandoned kindness towards Abraham, the servant’s master. Additionally, the servant added praise for what God had done for him. Ultimately, God was the Master of both men as He is all mankind.

Today and every day, let us give our God all the glory for everything He provides is absolutely excellent. No one else but Him makes the way for you and me and no one else is worthy of honor, glory, and praise.

Thanks be to God for all He has been, all He is, and all He is yet to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.