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Genesis 24:10-67
Give Alex just a second to get going. We're having to switch run back and forth switching places. If you have your Bibles turn with me this evening to Genesis 24. Genesis 24 we're going to continue. In Genesis 24, we're going to continue from this morning.
Genesis 24 We're gonna begin in verse number 10. Genesis 24 beginning in verse 10 when you find Genesis 24. If you would please stand this evening as we reverence the reading of God's Holy Word. Genesis 24 beginning in verse 10.
Then the servant took 10 of his master's camels and departed. Taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master and he arose and went to Mesopotamia the city of Naor. 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 and he said Oh Lord God of my master Abraham. Please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold I am standing by the spring of water and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
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. Before he had finished speaking behold Rebecca who was born to Bethuel the son of Milka the wife of Naor Abraham's brother came out with her water jar on her shoulder.
The young woman was very attractive in appearance a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. And then the servant ran to meet her and said, please give me a little water to drink from your jar.
She said drink my lord, and she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking.
So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water and she drew water For all his camels and man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
When the camels had finished drinking The man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for arms weighing ten gold shekels and said Please tell me whose daughter you are is the room in your father's house for us to spend the night.
And she said to him I'm the I'm the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milka whom she bore to Naor. She added we have plenty of room or we have plenty of both Straw and fodder and room to spend the night.
The man bowed his head and worshipped the Lord and said blessed be the Lord the God of my master Abraham who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness towards my master as For me the Lord has led me in the way of the house of my master's kinsmen.
And when the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things Rebecca had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man To the spring as soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and heard the words of Rebecca his sister.
Thus the man spoke to me. He went to the man and behold. He was standing by the camels at the spring. He said come in Oh blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I've prepared the house in a place for the camels.
So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels and Gave straw and fodder to the camels and there was water to wash his feet in the feet of the men who were with him. Then food was set before him, but he said I will not eat until I've said what I have to say.
He said speak on from verse 34 through verse 54 he's pretty much just telling what has happened on the journey so far of Abraham sending him out of Him what what he had prayed to God and what had happened when Rebecca came to the well, we're gonna pick up in verse 55.
Verse 55 her brother and her mother said let the young woman remain with us a while at least ten days after that she may go. But he said to them do not delay me since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I might go to my master.
And they said let us call the young woman and ask her and they called Rebecca and said to her will you go with this? Man, and she said I will go. So they sent away Rebecca their sister and her nurse and Abraham's servant in his man.
And they blessed Rebecca and said to her our sister May you become thousands of ten thousands and may your offspring possess the gait of those who hate him. Then Rebecca and her women arose and rode on the camels and followed the men thus the servant took Rebecca and went his way.
Now Isaac had returned for beer from beer lay whole lay. Hey, Ro, which was dwelling in the.
Negev.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening and he lifted up his eyes and saw and behold there were the cat was The camels coming and Rebecca lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac She dismounted from the camel and said to the servant who is that man?
Walking in the field to meet us. The servant said it is my master. So she took her veil and covered herself and the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her.
So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Let us pray father God we thank you for this evening we thank you father God for The songs that we have sung father God that we're rich in your word father.
I pray that we would Realize father God that only you are holy Lord in that but through the working of your Holy Spirit. We Desire to be holy for it is commanded be holy for I am holy. I pray father God as we have seen through this morning's text Lord a chosen son a Chosen son that was the perfect sacrifice Lord a chosen son Lord that you are gathering a bride for I pray father God that your son would be Uplifted tonight that your son would shine forth that Christ would be all that we look to Lord and we just pray that your words would be spoken rightly and and would be preached rightly.
We pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen. This this morning our focus mainly was mainly on one Person in our text and we really didn't even get into our text. Very much. We barely discussed it.
Our focus this morning Was on Isaac and the promise that God had made to Abraham that he would bring forth many nations through Isaac. Who was the promised son? Isaac being a type and a Lesser Christ we noticed similarities between the promised son Isaac and the promised son and Savior Christ.
What a wonderful promise it was for Abraham to have a son in such a miraculous way as The way that Isaac came and what a wonderful promise that from this son would come nations. Who would be called Israel a people?
Chosen by God. This is one of the greatest promises that God had ever made or has ever made. But it falls way short of being the greatest promise that God has ever made for the greatest promise God has ever made as We discussed this morning was the sending of a son.
But it wasn't Isaac if this son was not like any other before him or after him to this son. None can compare. For this son is the king of kings. This son is the Lord of Lords and from this son Does not only a nation come but also a nation is saved by this son.
The greatest promise God had ever made or has ever made was the sending of his holy and His only begotten son Jesus Christ is the supreme sacrifice for the sins of man. Our focus this morning was on that promise as well as the promise made to Abraham in many places throughout Genesis.
The promise made to Abraham that a nation would come forth for the for the promise that was made to Abraham for a nation to come forth. There had to be a bride for that son. There had to be a bride for that son and this evening.
We're going to focus and we're going to see God's providence on display in the selecting and bringing forth of This bride. God's providence was the sovereign fulfillment of his promise. Abraham sent someone to bring a bride to the son that he loved.
God has sent someone To bring forth a bride to his son that he loves and as we said this morning There's going to be a wedding. There's going to be a wedding in God's design for a wedding which we know is now under attack.
You have a husband and a wife you have a bridegroom and a bride and this morning We focused on the promise of the bridegroom this evening. We will focus on the providence of God and bringing forth the bride.
If God is going to make a promise he's going to see it through and he's going to fulfill it. We remember from this morning that God's promises are not the same as the promises of man. When God promises something it will Come to pass there is it never any doubt or question and so God made a promise and Now he is fulfilling that promise.
Quattro has said this a couple of times, but we have a God that is not just a God of ends. But he is also a God of means. He will accomplish his promises the how in this case comes through the bride for Isaac.
The bride the bride in our text this morning. We talked about the groom. We talked about the son the promised son the groom. The groom was Isaac this evening. We will talk about Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel the servant had at his master's command and wish.
Traveled very far to Abraham's homeland to find this bride and there are three things that I want us to notice tonight. Three things to point out this evening about this bride. The first one being. This was a chosen bride.
Everything that happened with Rebecca as we read all the detail of this story. We we skipped about a 15 verses there of him retelling what he had done. But there's so much detail in this story. Everything that happened with Rebecca in this story was not by coincidence.
She wasn't randomly. Just the one who came to the river first. She didn't randomly ask to water the camels. We know that the servant of Abraham had said let the one who when I ask her to give me drink says I'll also water your camels.
She didn't randomly asked to water the camels. Rebecca was chosen and this was for ordained by a sovereign God. She was who God had chosen for the promised son Isaac and She had been picked out for Isaac long before.
This journey was ever made even before God had spoken this promise to Abraham the very first time God had already chosen a bride for the future son of Abraham. And this morning we highlighted the similarities between Isaac and Christ.
They don't compare. When we talked about this one, they don't compare. Christ is so much greater than Isaac and that Isaac. He is only an imperfect picture of Christ. But there are similarities highlighted in Scripture that point to Christ.
And as we remember it's all about him. It's all about him. It's pointing to him. And if Isaac is a type of Christ. Then Rebecca must be a type of the church. So, how does her being chosen if we believe Rebecca to be a type of the church, how does her being chosen?
Relate to the church. Well, if you were a child of God. If you have been born again, if you are a part of the bride of Christ. It is not by coincidence. It is not just by luck. It is not a random act.
You didn't randomly stumble upon God. Contrary to what many people say today. You didn't just on your own without any anybody's help. Decide to choose God. How do we know this well. Ephesians chapter 1 the universe 3 says blessed be the God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who has blessed us in Christ with every every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places even as he chose us In him before the foundation of the world. I'll read that again. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless.
Before him in love. He predestined us for the adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. According to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace. With which he has blessed us in the beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood in the forgiveness of our trespasses. According to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will.
According to his promise which he set forth in christ. Has a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him. Things in heaven and things on earth in him. We have in tank. We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined According to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
So that we who were the we were the first to hope in christ. Might be to the praise of his glory In him. You also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him. Were sealed with a promised holy spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we would acquire possession of it to the praise of his.
Glory.
Your salvation was not by Your works. Your salvation was not by you randomly stumbling upon god. There was when we go back to our text and we look at our text there were specifics In choosing in this choosing in genesis 24.
She was not to come from the carnal nation of the canaanites the bride was To be found in his homeland was to be found in the midst of nations. And I hope you see the parallel here. That god also Is gathering a bride for his son in the midst of nations.
He has sent out his holy spirit to do his bidding and to bring in the bride for his son. Just as abraham's servant was sent to bring in a choice bride for isaac by his sovereign choice. He calls us from the midst of an unholy and wicked nation.
By his hand and working we are justified. And deemed worthy to be the chosen bride of his perfect son. John 6 37. All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
We see a chosen bride. We see a chosen bride and rebecca. We see a chosen bride In the church the body of christ the bride of christ. We see a chosen bride, but we also see a pure bride. Look at verse 16.
Verse 16 the young woman. This is talking about rebecca Was very attractive in appearance a maiden whom no man Had known she was a virgin. She was uh, she was seen as pure. He was searching for a pure bride for abraham to give isaac.
Why couldn't he? Take a bride for his son from the daughters of the canaanites. Because they were a wicked people. They were corrupt and the bride for his son Had to be pure. The father our father Is preparing for the son?
That is the son of god christ our savior Our bridegroom he is preparing for the son a pure bride. Ephesians 5 25. Husbands love your wives. As christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her.
Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the words that he might present the church to himself in splendor. Without spot spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without.
Blemish.
He will not present his son with a carnal bride. The bride will be pure. Second corinthians 11 2. For I feel a divine jealousy for you. Since I have betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to christ I want to note that.
You can be moral In the eyes and the standards of the world. And not be pure. But you cannot be pure and not be moral. And here's the thing church. We cannot be pure on our own. We cannot be pure on our own.
We are purified by the working of the holy spirit in perfect harmony with the sovereign will and providence of god almighty. There will be no christian that is chosen by god For his son that is not sanctified by the working of the holy spirit in their hearts and their lives.
There's no such thing as a carnal christian As a gay christian trans christian alcoholic christian drug addicted christian adulterous christian. There are many christians who were formerly one or all of these things Who praise god they have been redeemed.
They no longer walk as they once Walked. And that's not to say That christians can't fall into sin on occasion. They do. And we must guard ourselves from this. But christians who are true By the grace and working of god Don't remain in that state.
And christians are not labeled by their sin. First corinthians nine or six. Beginning of verse nine. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of god? Do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy.
Nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of god. And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. And you were justified In the name of the lord jesus christ by the spirit of our god.
Ephesians 2 1. You who are dead In your trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world Following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
Among whom we all once lived among whom we all once lived In the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
But god being rich in mercy Because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses Made us alive together with christ. By grace you have been saved And raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in christ jesus.
So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace And kindness towards us in christ jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not of your own doing. It is a gift of god not of works So that no man may no one may boast for we are his workmanship Created in christ jesus for good works, which god prepared beforehand.
That we should walk.
In them.
If you have not been changed. And are not being sanctified and changed by the internal working of the holy spirit. Then you have not been saved. There's not one group of people that god saves. And then he sanctifies this group of people, but there's another group over here that he saves.
But he doesn't sanctify them. He saves them just leaves them their own they go on about their lives in rebellion to god. But they're saved but only this group. This group is sanctified. The bible speaks nothing of this.
There is not one group. There is or there's not two groups. There is but one group. Who's been chosen by god who has been saved? Has been sanctified and changed by the internal working of the holy spirit.
First thessalonians 5 23. Now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit and soul embodied be kept blameless. At the coming of our lord jesus christ he who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it. We see a chosen bride. We see a pure bride. A pure bride for christ by the working of the holy spirit in the hearts and the lives. Of those who have been saved we see a chosen bride a pure bride.
And then thirdly we see.
A faithful bride.
We have evidences of her faithfulness in our text. The first one being her caring for the camels. She desired to serve. When this servant asked her can you give me a drink of water? She said i'll give you a drink of water, but also I'll give water to your camels.
She wasn't getting by. Trying to do the bare minimum. She desired to serve. She was willing to go with this servant in verse when we look over in verse uh 58. She said and they called rebecca and said to her.
Will you go with this man? She said I will go. She trusted this man, but even more than trusting this man. She trusted.
The lord.
She believed that the lord had done all that this man had said and she trusted in the lord. She was she was she cared for the camel. She was willing to go. She was obedient. You never see where she put up a fight.
She in verses, uh. In the last part of the chapter we see where when uh, she Saw isaac. She asked the servant. She said who is this man? Coming towards us. He said this is a master this is isaac. And she covered herself.
And the covering of herself it represented a few. It represented three things. It represented humility modesty and subjection. She was all of these things towards a man. Whom she had not met. And she had not seen.
She could see him coming from afar off. She didn't know. She had not met him. She had not spoke with him.
But yet.
She proved herself to be faithful.
And so it is most important that every one of us.
As Christians.
We are given the gift of faith Ephesians 2 eight four by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing it is a gift of god. And that salvation, that gift of faith that we've been given, that gift of salvation, is evidenced by the faith and trust that we place in God, in a God and a Bridegroom who we have not seen with our eyes.
We have not seen the face of God, we have not seen Christ in the flesh. But our salvation is evidenced by our faith in them. Evidenced by our caring for the things and the people of God. Evidenced by our participation and our love for the local church and for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Galatians 5 .13, For you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Christ is our example. Philippians 2, Having the mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God to be a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man, and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross.
The Bible speaks of no such thing as a coasting Christian or an inactive Christian. We have church rolls across America. Then when you ask them how many members they have at their church, they'll say, well, we have 200 members.
Only 35 of them are active, but we have 200 members. To say that, we believe in biblical church membership. We believe to be a member of a local church, you must be born again, you must be a baptized believer.
And to say that is to say, well, we have 35 active Christians. We have 35 active followers of Christ, but we have 150 more inactive followers of Christ. It doesn't even make sense. We find this nowhere in Scripture.
We do find where we as believers are commanded to serve God, to serve the church, and to serve one another. It is evidenced by our heartfelt obedience to Scripture. James 1 .22 says, But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
So church, are we striving to be obedient to what is written do we shudder at the thought of dishonoring our Heavenly Father? I realize very clearly that we are not perfect. I realize it in myself more than I realize it in you.
But are we desiring to glorify God by being faithful? By being faithful to what is written, by being faithful to His Word, by being faithful members of a local church as we are commanded to be, by being faithful to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Are we desiring to glorify Him through this? Because our faithfulness is evidenced in the way that we present ourselves to one another and to the church. It is evidenced by humility. She showed humility whenever she was willing to.
She got down from the camel and she covered herself as she went to meet the man whom she would marry. Is there humility evidenced in our lives? Because we read in Scripture where God, He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Is our faithfulness evidenced by how we spend our time? Is it evidenced by our relationship with sin? By our battle and our resistance of sin, our fighting and wrestling with it daily? It was a sign when she covered herself, it was a sign of modesty, of humility, but it was also a sign of subjection to the one whom she was going to be married.
Who do we live in subjection to? What do we live in subjection to? Do we live in subjection to a corrupt culture or to a holy God? Who do we bow to? This is evidenced by our time. Who do we give our time?
Our time to a corrupt culture or our time to God? It is evidenced by our time in the Word. It's God's Word written on your heart. Our faithfulness and our subjection is evidenced by the priority that we put on the gathering with the saints each Lord's Day in corporate worship.
Rebecca was obedient. She was willing to go.
Why?
Why was she willing to go? Was it the jewels and the bracelets? He gave her jewels and He gave her bracelets. Was that the reason that she was willing to go? Was it like, okay, this guy's got some wealth.
I'm going to marry for money. He's got jewels. He's got bracelets. Was that why she was willing to go? I don't believe that to be why. I believe that she saw the love and sacrifice of the family she would be joining.
I'm not trying to discount Rebecca because I'm sure that Isaac loved her greatly. But Isaac knew nothing of her yet. But no doubt Rebecca had been told stories of her future groom. No doubt she longed to meet this man that she had heard about and longed to be his bride.
But still, why was she willing to go? Was it that she would have went with just about anybody? Or could it be that God had showed her something about her future groom through the words and the actions of His servant?
Her love. Could it be that her love was a reflection of her future groom? To steal an illustration from Paul Washer, I know I do that a lot. But we hear men get compliments all the time about being good husbands.
When a man brings his wife flowers to work, they say, well, you've got such a good husband. And I'm not saying that he's not a good husband. But what if what drives him to do these things for his wife is not because he is by nature inclined to be a good husband, but what if it is because he has a great wife?
Because of how great she is. I love my wife more today than I did the day we met, which we met young, but the day we started dating, the day we married, I love her more now than I did then.
Is it because I'm better and better at being a husband? No, that's not why I love her more. I love her more because I've seen more of her. I've seen more of my wife. I can imagine that every story Rebecca heard of her future husband grew her desire to see him and be his wife.
Think about some of the men or women of God that we so revere. When I think of that, I think of men such as Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, John MacArthur, R .C. Sproul, Paul Washer, Votie Bauckham, Steve Lawson, the list can go on.
Alan Nelson IV, I think of so many men of God that I've sat under that I've heard their preaching and I've heard their teaching. And I think so highly of these men. What sets them apart? How could they have such a love for God and His Word?
How could they have such faith? Are they not mere men? Are they just better and God loves them more than just us regular Christians? Are they just so great?
No.
As much as I respect and admire these men, they are just that, men. They have a great faith because they serve a great God. They have more faith because they have seen more of Him. They have given themselves to the Scriptures and have seen His majesty and they will die if they don't have more of Him.
Want a greater faith and love for God? Learn more of Him. Want a greater love for Christ? Give yourselves to the Scriptures. Rebecca had found a treasure in her groom Isaac. People of her family and community probably thought she was crazy to leave for a man that she had never met.
Like, look, Rebecca, you've never met this guy. Here comes this man who claims to be a servant. He's given you all kinds of gifts and those are great. But are you sure you want to leave your home, leave everything you've known, and travel with this man to an unknown land and marry someone that you've never met?
Probably seemed crazy, they thought she was giving up her home. But her home could not compare to who she was going to. What a treasure we have that is greater than anything in this world in the gospel of Christ.
Matthew 13, 44,. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up, and then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. What a treasure we have in the gospel of Christ.
What a treasure we have in God Himself. The psalmist writes in Psalm 73,. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
What a gift we have in Christ. What a gift we have in the gospel. It is worth giving up and risking everything for. It may look crazy to the world. It looked crazy probably to the community that Rebecca lived in.
It may look crazy to the world. And they may not understand it. How could you give up everything for Christ? It's because we have seen Him and we know Him. And through His Word and the working of the Holy Spirit, that increases more and more and more.
And the funny thing about the more we get of God, the more we want of God. And the higher we esteem God. There is nothing like Him. We are faithful because of how great He is, not because of how good we are.
For He, Christ, is the promised Savior from all the way back in Genesis chapter 3. He sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes on the behalf of His bride. Not only does He intercede on our behalf, but He is the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 2, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also the sins of the whole world.
And His Father is working providentially to bring forth a pure bride for Him. And He is calling them to repent. He is calling them to repent. If you haven't repented and trusted in this promised and risen Savior, I plead for you to repent.
You must be born again. Turn from your sins and trust upon the only One worthy of putting your trust in. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your Son, that He came, Father God, and that He was the supreme sacrifice on our behalf.
He was the propitiation for our sins. He now sits at the right hand of the Father and He intercedes on behalf of His bride. Father God, we are so thankful for Your salvation. Father God, while we were sinners dead in our trespasses and sins, we were by nature the children of wrath.
In Your love, Your grace, and Your mercy,.
You saved us.
Father God, we thank You and we praise You for this. I pray if there are any here, Father God, who haven't repented and trusted in You, that through the working of Your Holy Spirit, You might save them.
You might, Lord, change that heart of stone to a heart of flesh. They might repent and trust in You.