Vs.4- “But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred,
and take a wife unto my son Isaac.”- It is Abraham’s desire that his
servant find a wife for him 1.) In his
own country. Abraham’s country was
Mesopotamia which included Chaldea.
Abraham is said to be from Ur of the Chaldees and also described in this
passage and in Acts as being from Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamia is the name of the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river
system. The name Mesopotamia, 'ăram nahărayim
in the Hebrew tongue, literally means ‘two rivers.” 2.)
Among his own kindred. The word
kindred means ‘family.’ Some would say
that this is a contradiction to scripture.
Why would God put a man and a woman together who were second
cousins? Doesn’t God condemn
incest? There are two possible
explanations for this seeming contradiction.
1.) Lev.18:6-18 speaks of sexual
relations through marriage that are forbidden among close relatives. In this passage we are commanded not to marry
a parent, a step parent, a grandchild (grandparent), a sibling, an aunt or
uncle, or a half sibling. Interestingly
enough is the fact that cousins are never mentioned. Abraham knew that his family knew the Lord
and he wanted his son to marry a daughter from his own family. This is one explanation for this. 2.)
The other explanation is the fact that God allowed certain family
relations before the giving of the law that are condemned practices now. Adam and Eve were the first two people on
earth. One of the most asked questions
is, “Where did Cain get his wife?” The
answer is quite obvious. Cain married
his sister. There was no other
option. Because the population of the
earth was much smaller in early human history, it seems that God allowed for
close family marriages which are now condemned in Scripture after the giving of
the law. Abraham, for instance, married
his half-sister Sarah. This is without a
doubt a condemned practice according to Lev.18.
One-Line
Explanation- Abraham wants his servant to find a wife
for his son from his own family.
Lesson: 1.) Mesopotamia is an interesting place to
study about. It is said to be the cradle
of civilization in the west, but if you believe the Bible it is more than that;
it is the cradle of civilization in general.
A.) According to Gen.2, the
Garden of Eden was located somewhere in Mesopotamia. B.)
Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, the one through whom the
whole world would be blessed, is from Mesopotamia. Three major world religions claim Abraham as
their ‘founder.’ The three religions are
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
C.) The Biblical Empires of
Babylon and Medo-Persia were located in Mesopotamia. D.)
Modern day Iraq makes up most of Mesopotamia, but also includes parts of
Turkey, Syria, and Iran.
Vs.5- “And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the
woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land:”- Abraham wants
his eldest servant, Eliezer, to swear that he will bring a wife for his son
from the land of Mesopotamia. The
servant has one question, one reservation, concerning this matter. What if the woman will not be willing to
travel to the land of Canaan? This is a
very real and relevant question. There
would be a great possibility that none of Abraham’s family would be willing to
travel to a distant land. Why would the
woman not want to come to Canaan?
1.) Distance. No one knows for sure how far Abraham went
from Ur in Mesopotamia to Canaan, but a conservative guess is around 600
miles. Ur of the Chaldees was located
somewhere in modern day Turkey and the land of Canaan is in modern day
Iraq. They would have to travel
southeast through Syria to get to their destination. A woman may not be willing to travel that far
to get married. My wife is from MS and I
moved her to TX when we got married. It
was difficult for her to travel 450 miles with modern conveniences in
travel. We must realize that travelling
that far is very difficult. They did not
travel by car, they travelled by camel.
There weren’t any gas stations and convenient stores along the way. A woman may not be willing to travel such a
distance in such conditions. 2.) Leaving family. Travel was more strenuous, it took longer,
and it could be that if you moved from your family you may never see them
again. A woman may not want to travel
away from her family. My wife, when she
left MS, still has the option of picking up her cell phone and speaking with
her family any time she chooses. This
was not an option for a woman living at this time. IT was a serious commitment to leave your
home and family. 3.) The unknown.
Although the woman in discussion would be leaving her hometown to marry
a fellow family member, there is still the aspect of the unknown. She has never met Isaac and probably has
never met Abraham. I’m sure that she
knows who they are and has been told of them by her family, but could you
imagine leaving everything you know with no promise of returning or seeing your
family again to marry someone that you have never met? Eliezer is obviously thinking about these
factors. He wants to be clear on his
objective if he is going to travel so far and be in charge of such an important
endeavor.
must I
needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?”- The servant
asks a follow up question. If the woman
isn’t willing to follow should he bring Isaac back to Mesopotamia? He is not asking if he should bring Isaac
back for a visit. He is saying
this: “If the woman in question is not
willing to travel to the land of Canaan to marry Isaac and it is your desire
for Isaac to marry from your family, which all lives in Mesopotamia, should I
bring Isaac back to Mesopotamia to marry and live?” The question is concerning Isaac’s permanent
dwelling. The servant asked this because
he is not ignorant of the calling of Abraham to the promised land nor of the
promise of God to Abraham’s posterity through Isaac. There are only three options in this
oath. 1.) The woman is willing to leave everything and
travel 600 miles to marry Isaac.
2.) The woman is not willing to
leave Mesopotamia and Abraham is not willing to send Isaac back which results
in Isaac never being married. (It’s hard
to have children when you don’t have a wife.
It is necessary for Isaac to have children if the promised blessings are
to his offspring.) 3.) Abraham allows Isaac to move back to
Mesopotamia to marry and start a family.
Really, however, there Is only one option. Abraham has been called out of Mesopotamia
and he and his children are not to go back.
Isaac is supposed to marry someone from his family who all live in
Mesopotamia. Isaac has to produce
children if the promise of God to Abraham is to be fulfilled. This leaves only one option; the woman must
leave everything and follow God’s leading to the land of Canaan.
Meaning
of Names and Terms:
1.
Peradventure-
By chance; perhaps; it may be. Used as a
noun for doubt or question.
One
Line Explanation-
The servant wants to know what to do if there aren’t any women
from his family in Mesopotamia that will be willing to come to Canaan.
Lesson: 1.) We
must be reminded once again that this story is a beautiful picture of the
Spirit, pictured by the servant, being sent by the Heavenly Father, pictured by
Abraham, to get a bride (the church), pictured by Rebekah, for his Son (Jesus
Christ), pictured by Isaac. There is a
beautiful picture here of the balance between God’s sovereignty and man’s
freewill. There has been debate and
argument for centuries over the issue of God’s sovereignty and man’s
freewill. I will not solve that problem
today, but I believe in both. Both
principles are found in Scripture. I
want you to notice two things about the question asked in this passage. A.)
The Spirit being sent by the Father to call out the bride shows us God’s
sovereignty. No one will be saved unless
the Spirit of God convicts that individual and draws them to the Saviour. B.)
The woman had to be willing to go.
The servant asked, “peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow
me unto this land?” God has made us free
moral agents. God is sovereign and sends
His Spirit like the wind, which bloweth where it listeth, but it is man’s
responsibility to respond to the Spirit of God when He comes to us in
conviction. I do not believe in
irresistible grace. Irresistible grace
is the teaching that when God sovereignly chooses to save somebody, He will
send His grace and it will be irresistible.
The individual will have no other choice but to be saved. In Acts 7:51, Paul indicted the crowd,
saying, “…ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.”
There are two powerful truths here.
i.) God sovereignly sends His
Holy Spirit to deal with you. I believe
God gives every man a chance to be saved; but understand, God’s Spirit does not
always strive with man. You can sin away
your day of grace and become a reprobate and God will never deal with you
again. You better respond when the wind
is blowing. God is sending His servant
to call you to salvation, but it is your responsibility to respond. Ii.)
You must willingly accept Jesus Christ.
In God’s sovereignty He has chosen to allow us as free moral agents to
choose to accept or reject Jesus Christ.
2.) Abraham will answer the
question in vs.6 and tell the servant the obvious answer to his question. The son, Isaac, will not go back to
Mesopotamia. The only way the woman was going to see Isaac was if she agreed to
commit to marriage and she would not see him on her soil, but she would see him
on his soil. Jesus, the Son of God,
lived on this planet in human form at one time; but if we want to see Him then
we must commit to become part of the bride of Christ, the church, through
salvation in the blood of Christ. We
won’t see the Son on this soil, but we will see him in heaven if we obey the
voice of His servant! 3.) God always has a plan. God had promised Abraham that a nation would
rise out of his loins. God promised
Abraham that through him all nations of the earth would be blessed. God promised Abraham that his posterity would
be as the stars in the sky for multitude.
All of this is contingent on Isaac having children. The only way this is going to happen is if a
woman from Abraham’s family makes the unlikely and uncommon choice of leaving
everything behind to marry a man she has never met. The servant may have been worried about the
outcome of all of this, but none of this caught God off guard. God knows the beginning from the end and He
is in complete control. God has a plan
and knows how to bring His promises to pass.
You may be in a situation that seems impossible, but understand that God
can always make a way and God always has a plan.
Vs.6- “And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou
that thou bring not my son hither again.”- Abraham answers the servants
question and also warns him in the answer.
Abraham tells the servant to beware of bringing Isaac back. The word ‘beware’ means to take heed or to
regard with caution. Abraham wanted to
stress the importance of Isaac staying in the land of Canaan. There are just a few things I want to note in
this verse. 1.) “Bring not my son HITHER AGAIN.” Had Isaac ever been to Mesopotamia? Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees when he was
75 years of age. Isaac was born in the
land of Canaan. Abraham has been
journeying in the Promised land for some time now and there in no record of him
ever returning. I think Abraham is
simply speaking from his perspective. He
came from Mesopotamia and was called by God to leave his homeland and leave his
relatives to go to the land of Canaan.
The promise was given to Abraham and to his seed and therefore it was
important that his family not return to the land. 2.) “BEWARE
thou that thou bring not my son hither again.”
This was not just a suggestion by Abraham, but rather a strong
warning. Why was this so important? Abraham did not have 12 sons like Jacob will
have. Abraham has one son, Isaac. We understand that Ishmael is not the
promised seed. All that Abraham owns of
the Promised Land is a burial site. The
hope of the Promised Land, the chosen people of God, and the blessing to come
to the whole world is all dependent upon Isaac.
So, you see, it is important that he stays put and doesn’t face the lure
of going home.
One
Line Explanation-
Abraham warns his servant not to bring Isaac back to
Mesopotamia.
Lesson:
1.)
When God calls you away from something, it is very rarely the will of
God for you to go back. God called
Abraham and his family out of Mesopotamia and God did not want them to go back to
live there. God brought the children of
Israel out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. Multiple times the children of Israel desired
to go back to Egypt, but God did not want them back in Egypt. God has called us out of the world. We are to be separated from ungodliness, but
many Christians go right back to the worldly mess they were in before
salvation. It is not God’s design or
desire for you to return to the state He called you out of. 2.) “Bring
not my son hither again.” A.) Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised
Land with the rest of the children of Israel.
Do you know why? He was told to
strike the rock the first time and water came forth. The second time he was told to speak to the
rock and it would give water, but instead he struck the rock again. We are told that the rock represented Jesus
Christ. Jesus was struck on the cross of
Calvary and now living water springs forth to all who are willing to
partake. Now when we need something from
the Lord all we have to do is speak to Him.
Jesus was crucified, but He will never be crucified again. There was one sacrifice for all of the sins
of mankind. What does that have to do
with this passage? There are many people
who believe that Jesus must continually be sacrificed for their sins. The Catholics believe that Jesus is being
offered as a sacrifice every time they partake of the Eucharist. The Father says concerning His Son, “Bring
not my son hither again. Quit striking
the rock.” B.) Let me say to born again Christians that you
too need to make application here. The
Bible tells us that Christ lives in us.
The person of the Holy Spirit indwells the believer. The Bible tells us that we are the temple of
the Holy Ghost and we can quench or grieve the spirit by our actions. To every born again individual who is
spending their time in the bar rooms of America; could it be that God is
saying, “Bring not my son hither again!”
To the Christian that spends time in another woman’s home in adultery,
to the lustful man that goes to adult book stores, to the multitude of
Christians that go to Hell-ywood movies that promote immorality and perversion,
to the multitude of Christians that go to the beach and partake in mixed nudity
could it be that God is saying, “Bring not my son hither again.”
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