(Genesis) Genesis 24:1 — J. Vernon McGee

Abraham Sends His Servant to Find Isaac’s Bride

Now, we come to chapter 24, and Abraham sends his trusted servant to get a bride for Isaac back in Mesopotamia, in the land of Haran, and the success of the servant in securing Rebekah. And here's one of those, let me say, beautiful chapters of the Bible.

It tells a lovely story, a very beautiful story, by the way. I want to begin reading. I will not get very far in this chapter, but we're going to see a wonderful love story. And again, it'll reveal that God is interested in the man that you marry, young lady, and He's interested in the young lady that you marry, young man.

Marriage, Human Government, and the Sanctity of Life

God's interested in it. I believe that there are two things that God has given to the human family. One is marriage, and the other is capital punishment, or that is, human government. God permits man to rule himself today, and that is something I think that's universal.

And these are two very important things. Now, when these are broken, a government will fall apart. You see, the home is the background of any government. God knew that, and He made that in marriage. And we find the same thing true relative to government.

A government must have the power to take human life in order to protect human life. That is the purpose of it, because human life is sacred. That's the reason God gave these laws. Now, He's interested in your love story, and it's wonderful when you bring God into it.

Christ’s Presence at the Wedding in Cana

You'll find out that the first miracle our Lord performed was when He went to a wedding, King of Galilee. I don't know how many weddings He went to, but He went to that one. And now, as we come to this 24th chapter, and Abraham was old, well-stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

Genesis 24 as a Picture of God’s Providential Guidance

Now He's going to send His servant to get a bride for Isaac. Now, the 24th chapter of the book of Genesis, friends, is one of the richest sections of the Word of God, because it tells a love story that goes way back to the very beginning.

You can see how social life was way back in those days. And this is a very dramatic account that is given here of the way that a bride was secured for Isaac. And again, there is a fantastic picture that is presented here to us, which we'll see a spiritual picture.

Isaac’s Birth, Offering, and Bride

Now, last time we barely got our foot in the Doah. I merely read one verse just to introduce us to this chapter. And here we saw that Abraham, he's old, well-stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

Now he wants to get a bride for his son Isaac, and he doesn't want to get a bride in that section of those people there that were given to idolatry and paganism. And so he sends back to his people back in the land of Haran.

Now notice how he does it. And actually, we've come in chapter 24 to a break in the division. You will recall that I said that the first part of Genesis, first 11 chapters, four great events. The last section, beginning with chapter 12 through 50, four outstanding individuals.

Now from Genesis 12 to 23, we've had Abraham, the man of faith. Now we have Isaac, the beloved son. And there are three great events in the life of Isaac. And frankly, we've already seen two of them. One is his birth, and the second was his offering by Abraham, and third, his bride.

They say there are three great events in a man's life. One is his birth, one is his death, and then one is his marriage. And they say that he has no choice except of the middle one, of marriage. And sometimes they don't seem to have much choice in that connection.

But nevertheless, these are the three great events. Now, two of these events, the birth of Isaac, and now we come to the one, his bride, and how he secured that bride. This is a very wonderful chapter, and there are two things that I want you to notice as we go through the chapter.

The Lord’s Leading in Every Detail

One is the leading of the Lord in all the details of the lives of those involved here. It's a remarkable statement that's made time and time again, how God led. And that leads me to say, even in this early day, there were those in that climate, that social climate, that were looking to God and following His leading.

And this is supposed to be way back yonder in the Stone Age. Man was a caveman and pretty much uncivilized. Don't believe a word of it. Here's a record that goes back there, and man's not that kind of a man at all.

He's a caveman today, but not back there. And we find here the leading of God. Now, if God could lead back in that day in the lives of these folk, He can lead today in your life and my life. And this puts down a pattern for us.

Rebekah’s Decision to Become Isaac’s Bride

That's the first thing to notice. The second thing is the straightforward manner in which Rebecca made her decision to go with the servant, become the bride of Isaac. That is a tremendous thing. We'll notice it as we go through.

We get to that later on. But you keep your eye out for that and your ear open.