NO QUESTION

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In Christ, Mark

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

Then food was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say."

"Then tell us," Laban said.

So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, 'You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father's family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.'”

"Then I asked my master, 'What if the woman will not come back with me?' "He replied, 'The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family. Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you—you will be released from my oath.'”

"When I came to the spring today, I said, 'O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar,"and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'”

"Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.’”

"She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.”

"I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?'”

"She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.'”

"Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.”

“Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed."

When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.

Genesis 24:33b-52

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

Have you ever questioned what God wanted you to do?

Maybe He called you to go somewhere and do something and you wondered why He wanted you to do it.

Maybe He wanted you to speak to someone about Him and you questioned whether someone else might be more qualified to do so.

Maybe He has told you to remain faithful and patience in the midst of circumstances and you questioned whether He was really going to move and make things better.  

I think if we’re all honest with ourselves, we may have all questioned our Lord at one time or another.

Well, in today’s scripture passage, we see a story where people completely trust God and through it, learn an important lesson in total faithfulness as we continue to study Genesis, chapter 24. Look again at those words here:

Then food was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say."

"Then tell us," Laban said.

So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, 'You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father's family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.'”

"Then I asked my master, 'What if the woman will not come back with me?' "He replied, 'The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family. Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you—you will be released from my oath.'”

"When I came to the spring today, I said, 'O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar,"and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'”

"Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.’”

"She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.”

"I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?'”

"She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.'”

"Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.”

“Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed."

When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. Genesis 24:33b-52

You’ll remember that the Lord had revealed to Abraham’s chief servant the woman who would become Isaac’s wife. This was done through a couple of signs as she first offered the servant a drink of water and then provided water to his camels as well.

After this, the scriptures tell us the servant gave Rebekah a few gifts and explained that the Lord had called her to marry Isaac and so she ran runs home to tell her family. This prompted her brother, Laban, to go to the chief servant and invite him, a total stranger, to stay with the family.

Today’s passage picks up with the servant enjoying the blessing of hospitality, being served a meal that he refused to eat until he testified as to how and why he was there.  He then proceeds to share the story from the beginning when Abraham had tasked him to find a wife for his only son, Isaac, and how the Lord took it from there, guiding him to make the right choice in Rebekah.

Well, after sharing his testimony, we find the chief servant asking Rebekah’s father, Betheul, her mother, and Laban, her brother, to bless him by allowing Rebekah to go away with him to marry Isaac.

Now, think about this a minute.

Here was a man who just showed up in Nahor, a total stranger who neither Betheul, his wife, nor Laban knew, who was asking them to allow him to take their daughter/sister away in order to marry a man she hasn’t even met.

How would you feel about that?

I don’t know about you but I have two daughters who are now 42 and 38 but were young like Rebekah once. If someone came to me that I didn’t know and they asked to take one of my daughters, I would be completely suspicious, skeptical, and resistant about such a proposition.

But that’s not what happened in our scripture passage for today. For we see that something incredibly fascinating happens, something that could only be born out of an exceptional faith and trust in the Lord.

For look again at these words from Betheul and Laban. They said:

"This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed."

Did you hear that?

“This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or another."

This verse as translated in the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation states their position even better. There we find this:

"This is from the Lord; we have no choice in the matter."

That’s exactly right.

In the end translation, the chief servant was only playing his part in God’s plan and now we see how Betheul and Laban were also part of that plan after being asked to permit Rebekah to go with the servant to marry Isaac. The two men knew the Lord was moving within the situation and understood there was something big happening, a work of God that they shouldn’t question or resist. And so they chose to be obedient to what the Lord was asking them to do and their decision once again triggers a response of praise from the servant who we read bowed down before the Lord in a spirit of worship and adoration.

In today’s message, we see how we should react when God is working His ways in and around us. Rather than question what’s happening, we like Betheul and Laban should respond with the attitude that shows we have no choice when it comes to what we should do when the Lord requires us to respond to His plan. We need to submit faithfully and with no question for this is what the Lord expects us to do.

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.