Genesis 24:8

Vs.8- “And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee,”- I do not believe that Abraham doubted that God would provide a wife from Mesopotamia for his son.  This statement was given to settle in the mind of his servant what exactly it was he was swearing to do.  Abraham is easing the mind of his unsure servant by letting him know what he should do if the woman is not willing to come.   

“then thou shalt be clear from this my oath:  only bring not my son hither again.”- If there is not a woman of his family in Mesopotamia that will be willing to leave the land and follow him to Canaan then the servant was clear of his oath.  Abraham was letting the servant know what exactly his requirements were.  He was responsible to 1.)  Go to Mesopotamia.  He had to make the journey.  2.)  Find Abraham’s kindred.  The wife must come from Abraham’s family.  3.)  Find a single, virgin woman that is of marrying age from Abraham’s family.  4.)  Try and convince such a woman to forsake all she has known and follow him to marry his master’s son.  The servant was not responsible for the response of the woman.  He would try and convince and persuade her to come, but ultimately she had to make the decision to follow him and he was not held responsible for her decision.  Abraham then warns once again that it is imperative that Isaac not go to the land of Mesopotamia. 

 

Meaning of Names and Terms:

1.      Oath, n- A solemn affirmation or declaration, made with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed. The appeal to God in an oath, implies that the person imprecates his vengeance and renounces his favor if the declaration is false, or if the declaration is a promise, the person invokes the vengeance of God if he should fail to fulfill it. A false oath is called perjury.

 

One Line Explanation- Abraham tells his servant that if the woman isn’t willing to follow him to marry Isaac then he is free from the oath he made.        

 

Lesson:  The servant of Abraham had certain requirements and expectations from his master.  We are the servants of God and have certain things that are required and expected of us as well.  1.)  He was expected to go.  He was to go to Mesopotamia.  Jesus also told us to go in Matt.28:19.  Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world…”  If we are not going soul winning and going into the highways and hedges to compel people to come in then we are not doing what is required of us as servants of God.  2.)  The servant was to find Abraham’s family.  The famous song, Amazing Grace, states- “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.”  There are people that will become part of God’s family, but they are lost and must be given the Gospel so that they can find their way.  3.)  The servant was sent to find a virgin.  There were only so many people that qualified for this position.  We don’t have to be so picky.  The Bible tells us to preach the Gospel to every creature; it does not matter the color of their skin, their religious background, their financial status, or their cultural heritage.  The young lady had to be pure, but the bride we become a part of is made up of wicked, sinful people.  We did not have to be chaste and pure to become part of the bride, we became chaste and pure when we became a part of the bride!  In other words, I didn’t cleanup to get saved, I got saved and then Jesus cleaned me up!  4.)  The servant was sent to convince and persuade this woman to accept and commit to the son whom she had never met and forsake all to follow him.  This is exactly what we do when we go and witness in our community.  We are trying to persuade men and woman that they need to get saved and put their trust in the Son of God whom they have never seen and to take up their cross daily and follow Him.  We tell them that they need to leave Mesopotamia, they need to repent of their sin (have a change of mind about their sin), and put all of their faith and trust in the Son of God whom they have never seen.  5.)  The servant was not responsible for the response.  This is what we need to remember.  We can get discouraged when people do not receive Christ.  Some even become deceitful and change the message or disguise the message so that they can trick the individual into coming to the Son.  The commission is quite simple.  We are to give them the pure, unadulterated message of the Gospel and we are to do everything to convince and persuade individuals to trust Christ as their Saviour, but ultimately they must make the decision on their own to become a part of the bride.