Vs.10- “And the
servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed:- The
servant, with a few other servants, went on this 400-600 mile journey. He took 10 camels with him. 1.) The
animal. Camels were very common for
transportation in Abraham’s time. Job
was said to have had 3,000 camels (Job 1:3).
There were many camels available in the Middle East. Camels were good for transportation because…
A.) Their two humps were good for
carrying cargo. B.) They were well adapted to the hot and dry
climate. C.) They could travel for long periods of time
without water by storing water in their humps.
2.) The number. Why did this servant take ten camels? The answer seems quite simple to me. He took this many camels because he was going
on a long journey and needed to take much luggage. A 400-600 mile journey would take about 17
days to accomplish. They did not have airplanes
they travelled on and checked their bags.
They didn’t have cars or trailers to pack their luggage. They also didn’t have rest stops and gas
stations along the way if they ran out of food.
The servant needed these ten camels to pack all of the necessities for a
long journey. This may also be the
number of other men that travelled with him.
We do not know how many travelled with him, but it is said that he took
other men on the journey. The number 10
in the Bible denotes ‘Completion of Divine Order.’ There were 10 Commandments stating God’s
requirements and man’s responsibility.
There were 10 plagues in Egypt that brought a complete deliverance of
God’s people from Egypt. The Lord
requires man to give a tithe, which means a tenth of our goods. This shows that by giving a tenth we
recognize that the whole belongs to God.
There will be a ten nation confederacy that ushers in the
Anti-Christ. I try not to
over-spiritualize things, but it is interesting to me that in this story that
pictures the calling out of the Bride for the Son that there are 10 camels in
vs.10. This could easily mean absolutely
nothing and I do believe that you can go overboard with numbers in Bible
Study. God’s completion of Divine Order
shows man’s responsibility and God’s requirement and also that God has a plan
that will eventually be fulfilled in entirety.
God has sent His Holy Spirit into the world to call out a Bride for His
Son. There will come a day when the last
person is saved and the Bride of Christ is complete; God’s divine order will
have reached completion. God has a
divine plan and man has a responsibility.
It is man’s responsibility to respond to the Holy Spirit and trust
Christ as their personal Saviour. 3.) The owner.
Abraham, the master, is the owner of the ten camels. The servant was given access to anything he
needed to accomplish the task at hand.
for all the
goods of his master were in his hand:”- Remember Vs. 2 of this
chapter told us that the servant ‘ruled over all that he had.’ Abraham trusted this servant and allowed him
to be in charge of all of his vast wealth.
Abraham allowed the servant to use anything he needed. He left the entire operation in his hands.
and he
arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.”- The
servant left for Mesopotamia. Nahor is
the brother of Abraham; so, it would make sense that the servant would go to
the specific location of Abraham’s kindred from which he is under oath to find
a wife from. The city of Nahor is
Haran. Gen.11:26-32 explains a lot of
interesting things about Haran. Haran
was the other brother of Nahor and Abraham.
Haran is the father of Lot. Haran
was the first of the three brothers to pass away. Nahor, Abraham’s other brother, married
Milcah, Haran’s daughter. The father of
these three is Terah and he is said to have died in the land of Haran; which is
where Nahor and the rest of the family now reside. It would seem that they named the land they
moved to after their deceased brother (and son).
One-Line Explanation: The servant heads out to find a wife for
Isaac.
Lesson: 1.) Be
like a camel. Camels have a high
endurance under duress because they retain so much water. Water is compared to the Word of God in the
Scriptures. We need to take in God’s
Word, but we also need to retain God’s Word.
We need to hide God’s Word in our hearts that we might not sin against
Him. 2.)
The number 10 reminds us that there is a Divine Order of
completion. God has requirements of man
and God’s plan will be complete when it is all said and done. There were ten virgins in Jesus’ parable;
some were part of the wedding and the others were left behind. We need to make sure that we are prepared to
meet God; we need to make sure that we are part of the Bride. God has a requirement to get to heaven and
that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The old preacher, Percy Ray, once said that he believed a man had ten
fingers and ten toes for a reason. If
that individual rejected Christ and went to hell, he could look on his hand and
count the number of times that God dealt with him about salvation. I am not sure how often God deals with a man
about salvation, but you do realize that God’s spirit will not always strive
with man. The Bible talks about God
giving men over to reprobation. If you
are not saved then you need to get saved while God is dealing with you, because
it just may be that he will not send his servant with his ten camels your way
again! 3.) God has given us the tools to be effective
servants for him. Like the servant in
the story, we too are servants of the most High God. Abraham gave this servant everything he
needed to accomplish his task. God has
given us, as children of God, everything we need to accomplish the commission
he has given to us. He said, “All power
is given unto me in heaven and earth.”
Then He said, “Go ye therefore.”
He said, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me.”
God does not ask us to do things that he does not enable us to do. God has commissioned us to make disciples,
but he has also enabled us to make disciples.
Everything the Master owns is at the servant’s disposal!
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