Genesis Chapter 24 Part 2

Genesis 24:10-61 - Before He Had Finished Speaking: The Servant at the Well, the Sign Answered, and the God Who Leads

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Welcome back to our study in Genesis. Today we're going to be in a second part of Genesis chapter 24. So far in chapter 24, the commission is sealed, the oath is sworn. The servant has placed his hand under Abraham's thigh, and now he departs. Today we're going to tackle 52 verses, the longest single scene and lesson that we're going to have from the book of Genesis. And one of the most instructive passages on prayer, providence, and the guidance of the God in all of the scripture. The servant will travel hundreds of miles to a city he knows only by report. He will pray a specific prayer at a specific well at a specific time of day. And before he finishes praying, God answers the prayer. And then the servant will tell the story. And the telling of the story is itself one of the most beautiful things in Genesis chapter 24. So let's read, beginning with the departure and moving through the prayer, the sign, the gifts, the family meeting, and the question that the entire chapter has been building toward. Now, due to the length of this passage, I'm not going to read the entire thing. I'm just going to break it down into several selective passages. We're going to start with verse 10 and we're going to work our way through. So verse 10 starts off saying, Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master and set out with a variety of good things of his masters in his hand, and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water by evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Verse twelve. He said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show loving kindness to my master Abraham. Verses thirteen and fourteen say, Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now may it be that the girl to whom I say, Please let down your jar, so that I may drink, and who answers, drink, and I will water your camels also. May she be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac, and by this I will know that you have shown loving kindness to my master. Verse 15. Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebecca, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milka, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had known her. And she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Verse 17. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, Please let me drink a little water from your jar. She said, Drink, my lord, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all of his camels. Keep in mind, this is ten camels. Verse twenty-one Meanwhile the man was gazing at her in silence to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrist, weighing ten shekels in gold. And verse twenty-three says, And he said, Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house? And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milka, whom she bore to Nahor. And the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. Verse 27 says, And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his true truth toward my master. As for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers. Skip all the way down to verse fifty. Verse 50 says, And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing comes from the Lord, we are not able to speak to you, bad or good. Now, verse 58. So they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go. Now let's break this down a little bit. Let's look at several different aspects of the story. First, we'll go through the journey, then the prayer, the sign, the gifts, the family meeting, the blessing, and two words that I believe carry the weight of the entire chapter. So let's start with verse 10. Where it says, The servant took ten camels from the camels of his master and set out with a variety of good things of his masters in his hand. Ten camels. This is not a modest traveling party. Camels in the ancient Near East were among the most valuable animals a household could possess. They were the long-distance transport vehicle of the ancient world. They were capable of carrying heavy loads across desert terrain that would destroy pack horses. Here we have 10 camels loaded with gifts. The servant is not arriving as a beggar. He is arriving as the representative of a very wealthy man. And this matters for the mission. The servant's first task is to demonstrate that Isaac is a worthy match for the woman, for Rebecca, that the family of Abraham has been blessed abundantly, and that the God of Abraham has kept his word. The ten camels are not just transport, they are evidence, they are a visible display of the blessing to Abraham that Genesis chapter 24 is declaring. Now, he has with him a variety of good things of his masters. There are gifts to offer the family, gifts that were given from the father that he is going to give to them. And these gifts are presented to the bride. So the servant arrives at the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia, carrying with him the proof that the God who sent him has been faithful to the man who sent him on the mission. Now, look at verse 11. It says, He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time when the women go out to draw water. The servant here knows exactly where to go and when to go to the well in the evening when the women draw water. In the ancient Near East, the community well was the social gathering point of a city. Women drew water in the evening when the day's heat had passed, and the work of drawing and carrying was more manageable for them. The well at the evening was the place where the entire social life of a community would pass through. So the servant is not guessing at his strategy. He is positioning himself at the most natural point of encounter and then asking God to do what no human strategy can guarantee. Wells and wives are connected throughout the entire book of Genesis. Jacob will meet Rachel at a well in Genesis chapter 29. Moses meets his wife Sepporah at a well in Exodus chapter 2. The servant here will meet Rebekah at a well. Now look at verse 12. It says he said, O Lord, the God of my master, please grant me act success today and show loving kindness to my master Abraham. The servant prays before he acts. He has arrived at the well. The moment is about to happen, and he stops to pray. O Lord Yahweh, the covenant name, the God of my master Abraham. The servant addresses God through his relationship to Abraham. And this is significant. The servant does not say the God who created the heavens and the earth. He says, the God of my master Abraham, the God who has a specific, documented, personal relationship with the man who sent me. He is praying to the God whose track record he knows. And he is asking that God's loving kindness, chest, we talked about this word before, the covenant faithfulness be shown to Abraham through the success of this mission. Please grant me success today. The servant is not asking for good weather or for safe travel. He is asking for a specific outcome, a divinely guided encounter that will identify the right woman he has been sent to find. So he prays. Listen to what he prays. He said, Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters and men of the city are city are coming out to draw water. Now may it be that the girl to whom I say, Please let down your jars so that I may drink, and who answers, drink, and I will water your camels also. May she be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac, and by this I will know that you have shown loving kindness to my master. The servant here asks for a very specific sign. Not a general sense of peace or a favorable impression, but a specific, observable, verifiable sign. The girl who gives water to me and then offers water to my camels, that is the sign. That is what will tell him that the Lord has appointed this woman for Isaac. Now, I want us to understand why this sign is so well chosen. First, it will test the character of the woman, not the appearance. The servant is not asking God to show him the most beautiful woman or the tallest or the one wearing a particular color. He is asking for the woman who demonstrates generous, unprompted hospitality. Watering 10 camels is not a small act. I've read that a thirsty camel can drink anywhere between 10 to 20 gallons of water. So 10 camels could drink anywhere between 100 to 200 gallons of water. That's crazy just to think about that. Rebecca drew the water by hand from a well, running back and forth with a jar until 10 camels were satisfied. The sign the servant chose is a test of extraordinary, energetic, selfless hospitality. Second, this sign requires a woman who will go beyond what is asked of her. The servant will only ask for water for himself. The sign woman will volunteer to water the camels too without being asked. This is the character of chess, the word we've seen several times, even in this lesson. This is the covenant loving kindness that gives beyond the minimum requirement. Third, this is a sign of specific providence. The servant is not asking God to confirm a woman he has already noticed. He is asking God to identify the woman through the sign, putting the selection entirely in the hands of God. And this is one of the most instructive models of prayer in the Bible. The servant trusts his own judgment enough to choose a wise sign, and then trust God enough to let the sign determine the outcome. He is not looking at something and saying, please let this happen specifically because this is what I want. He is saying, Show me the one that you want me to choose. It's an amazing uh prayer life that he has. Verses 15 through 21, we'll just start at the first part of this. Says, before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milkup, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her jar on her shoulder before he had finished speaking. The prayer was not complete. And this is possibly the most striking phrase in the entire passage. The prayer wasn't over. His sentence was not finished. He was still praying, and the answer was already on the way. Isaiah chapter 65, verse 24. Isaiah 65, 24 says, It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. Genesis 24, 15 is the lived example of Isaiah chapter 24, 600 years before Isaiah would even write that. Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was already coming while the servant was still praying. The answer to the prayer was not prompted by the prayer. The answer was already in motion. God had already positioned the right woman at the right well at the right time. And Moses tells us exactly who she is. Bethuel, the son of Milkah, wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother. The reader knows Genesis chapter 22, verses 20 through 24, and recognizes the name immediately. She is the one whose birth was reported at the end of the chapter where Isaac came down from Mount Moriah. Next we read this said the girl was very beautiful, a virgin, no man had known her, and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Moses notes her beauty, but it is not the beauty that qualifies her, it is what she does next. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, Please let me drink a little water from your jar. She said, Drink, my lord, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will also draw for your camels until they have finished drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all of his camels. So the sign that he prayed for unfolds exactly in the way that he prayed. He asked for water. She gave it quickly, immediately, and without hesitation, and then unprompted without being asked. She offered to water the camels. Moses captures the energy of Rebecca in three words. She quickly emptied, she ran, she drew. This is not reluctant hospitality. This is generous, energetic, joyful service from a woman who sees a need and moves toward it with everything she has. And the servant watches in silence. Next we read this. Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. The servant who has traveled hundreds of miles, who has prayed very specifically, who has received an answer before he was even finished praying, watches in silence to see it confirmed. He does not interrupt. He does not celebrate prematurely. He watches, he waits, he lets the sign complete itself. This is the discipline of God's work happening and letting that go and just sitting back and watching God do His thing. When you have prayed a specific prayer and the answer appears to be happening, we as believers have to resist the urge to speak too soon, to celebrate too loudly, to crowd out the work God is doing. The servant here gazed in silence until the camels had finished drinking, until the sign was completely fulfilled. Only then did he start to move. Verses twenty-two through twenty-seven tell us when the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half a shekel and two bracelets for her wrist, weighing ten shekels in gold, and then he said, Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house? The servant gives the gifts before asking the identity question. And this sequence has seemed unusual to many readers. Why give gifts before actually knowing who she is? And this is why. Because the servant already knows who she is. Not her name, but her identity. She is the one that the Lord has appointed. And so the gifts, a gold nose ring or two gold bracelets, are betrothal gifts. In the ancient Near East, betrothal gifts given at the point of initial meeting formalize the intention to pursue marriage. And so the servant is acting with the confidence of a man who has seen God answer his prayer. And then after the gifts, he asks for her identity, not to verify the sign, the sign was already verified, but to initiate the conversation that will lead the family meeting. Now, this is what he said. He said, The man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. He said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, who was not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brother. When Rebekah reveals she is the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, the servant does not celebrate. He worships. He says he bowed low in the middle of the road, at a city well, in front of Rebekah, he bowed and he worshiped. And his worship has two components that I want us to consider. First, the character of God, the God who is not forsaken, his loving kindness and his truth. The servant is naming two attributes of God that he has just experienced in real time. The God who is reliable and faithful kept his word while the servant was still praying. Second, he talks about the guidance of God. The Lord has guided me in this way, guided, to lead, to guide, to conduct safely. The servant did not navigate by his own skill. He prayed, he watched, he received the sign, and he names what happened when he says, The Lord guided me. This is the model of acknowledging divine guidance. Not I made good decisions, not the probability worked out, but the Lord guided me in the way. This is trusting in the Lord to do the right thing to build his kingdom. Now, when we get to the family meeting, this is all very interesting. Verses 28 through 49 says the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things. Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. Laban, his name appears for the first time in Genesis. And he will be a significant figure in Jacob's story in Genesis chapter 29 through 31, but his character is already visible here in this passage. Laban ran out when he saw the gold ring and the bracelets on his sister's hands. Genesis chapter 24, verse 30 records this detail. He saw the ring and the bracelets, and he heard the words of Rebekah, and then he ran. Laban runs toward wealth. He runs toward wealth. He's trying to build his kingdom, even though he claims to be something else. And this detail foreshadows his treatment of Jacob decades later. A man who uses family relationships for his own economic advantage. Just like we see people who are trying to build their kingdoms and build their names for their own economic advantages, often using the name of the Lord to do that. But for now, in this story, the servant is welcome into the house. The camels are attended to, and food is set before him. This is what the servant does. But he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words, and he said, Speak on. The servant refuses to eat until the mission is complete. He is not come for hospitality, he has come for a bride. And then he tells the story, all of it, from the very beginning. The entire account of Genesis chapter 24, verses 1 through 27 is retold by the servant in verses 34 through 38. He recounts Abraham's wealth, the commission, the oath, the departure, the prayer, the sign, and the answer. And this retelling is not redundant. It is the servant's testimony, the living evidence of divine guidance brought before the family who must now make a decision. And there are two details in the retelling that are worth noting. First, in the retelling, the servant adds that Abraham said, The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He enriches the commission with a phrase not in the original action that we read in the first verses, before whom I have walked. The servant has been listening to Abraham's faith for decades. He knows the theology behind the mission. Second, in the retelling, the servant says he bowed and blessed the Lord, who guided him in the right way, to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. So he identifies Rebecca as already the daughter of my master's kinsman. He has already concluded the mission is accomplished before the family even agrees. The servant tells the story with the confidence of a man who has seen God work. He is not asking for the family's permission as a matter of uncertainty. He is presenting the evidence of divine guidance and inviting them to confirm what God has already done. Look at verse 50. When we read it, Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing comes from the Lord. We are not able to speak to you bad or good. This is the most significant statement made by any human character in this scene. The thing comes from the Lord. Laban and Bethuel, the uncle and the father, recognize what the servant has presented. This is not a business negotiation. This is a divine appointment. We are not able to speak to you, bad or good. What they're saying is there's nothing to negotiate. There is nothing to decline. The Lord has already decided we have nothing to add. This is one of the most remarkable declarations of divine sovereignty in the book of Genesis, made not by a prophet or a patriarch, but by a pagan family in Mesopotamia who has heard the servant's account and recognized the fingerprint of God. Then when they say that this thing comes from the Lord, the watching world, from Abimelech to the sons of Heth to Laban to Bethuel, consistently recognizes the presence and action of God in the Abraham family story. And the servant responds by bowing to the ground before the Lord. This is the second worship response in this chapter. Worship when the sign was confirmed, and now worship when the family confirms it. And the family responds by saying, Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken. The family's consent is given. Take her and go as the Lord has spoken. The gifts are distributed to Rebecca and to her mother and to her brother. The wealth of Abraham is now flowing to the family of the bride, which is a visible blessing extended outward from the covenant household. And then they eat and drink. The servant who refused to eat until the mission was accomplished, now eats. The mission is done. All that remains is the departure. Now, skip down to verses 54 through 58. Says when they arose in the morning, he said, Send me away that I may go to my master. But her brother and her mother said, Let the girl stay with us a few days, at least ten afterward she may go. The servant rises early in the morning after the agreement and asks to leave immediately. The urgency of the servant is the urgency of the mission. He is not his own, he is his master's, and his master's son is waiting for his bride. The family asks for ten more days. And this seems to be a reasonable request. A daughter is leaving, perhaps forever, and they just want a little bit more time with her. But the servant holds firm. He says, Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way, send me away that I may go to my master. The servant who knelt by the well, who watched in silence, who worshiped twice, will not be delayed now that the mission is complete. He serves his master, and the bride now belongs with the son. So they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go. The family does the right thing. They ask Rebekah. The servant has told the story. Laban and Bethuel have agreed. The gifts have been given, but Rebecca is asked, Will you go with this man? And the two Hebrew words are beautiful. When she says, I will go. They are the most decisive two words in the chapter. She doesn't say, Let me think about it. She doesn't say if the when the timing is right, I will go. She just simply says, I will go. The woman who ran to water ten camels for a stranger is the same woman who says, I will go to a country she has never seen, to marry a man she has never met. The character established at the well, she is a generous, energetic, decisive person. This is the same character that answers the question of a lifetime with two words in the Hebrew, three in the English, I will go. And Abraham's release clause, if the woman is not willing, the servant is released. It was never going to be needed because the angel went before the servant, and then Rebecca chose freely. Look at verse 59 through 61. It says, And they blessed Rebecca and said to her, May you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them. The family speaks a blessing over Rebekah as she departs. And the blessing is the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant, almost word for word. Genesis chapter 22, verse 17, Your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Genesis 24, 60, may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them. Laban and Bethuel, pagan relatives in Mesopotamia, unknowingly pronounce the oath of Moriah over the bride of Isaac. They are blessing her with the covenant promise that they do not fully understand. The blessing of all nations runs through Abraham's seed, is already flowing through Rebecca before she ever reaches Canaan. Now, let's talk about modern apologetics for just a minute. The ten camels of Genesis chapter 24 have attracted significant critical attention. For many years, the presence of camels in the patriarch narratives was cited as out of place or possibly out of time. Camels were not domesticated in the ancient Near East until the Iron Age after the Patriarchs. But the archaeological evidence has substantially complicated this objection. Camel bones have been found in sites across the ancient Near East dating back to the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, well within the period of the Patriarchs. Then there's Egyptian artwork from the early 2nd millennium BC that depicts camels in domesticated context. And then there are Mesopotamian texts from the early 2nd millennium BC that include references to camels in trade and transport context. So the objection assumed that the absence of widespread evidence meant the absence of camels entirely. But the evidence does support isolated domestic and elite use of camels in the time period of the patriarchs. Precisely the kind of usage Genesis chapter 24 describes for a wealthy patriarch's household. Abraham's 10 camels are not out of place historically. They are consistent with the documented evidence for early camel use among wealthy households in the ancient Near East. Next, the servant-specific sign request in Genesis chapter 24 is one of the most instructive models of seeking divine guidance in the Bible. It raises the question that Christians have asked for centuries. Is it okay to ask God for a specific sign? The servant's prayer is often compared to Gideon's fleece in Judges chapter 6. Both are requests for a specific, verifiable sign to confirm divine direction. Several distinctions help us understand how the servant sign request actually worked. First, the servant is not testing God out of doubt. He is asking for divine confirmation of a mission God has already committed to through Abraham's theology. The sign is not him being a skeptic, it is humility, the acknowledgement that the servant cannot make this determination by his own wisdom. The sign he chooses tests for the right thing, character, not circumstance. He is not asking God to make a stick float or a star appear. He is asking for a woman to demonstrate the specific quality that would make her the right wife for the heir of the covenant. And the servant is completely willing to accept a negative result. If no woman meets the sign, the mission fails, and he goes home. The sign is not constructed to confirm what he has already decided. It is genuinely open and dependent upon God. Now, look back to the before he had finished speaking moment in this chapter. God answering the prayer before the prayer was complete is the clearest possible indication that the sign was not the servant's wisdom at work. It is God's guidance, active before the servant, could even state his full request. There are also several New Testament connections that we have to consider. We'll just do a few. In lesson one of this chapter and 24, we identify the servant as a possible type of the Holy Spirit. Not certainly, because the text doesn't say that, but most scholars do agree with that. Genesis chapter 24, verses 10 through 61 develops this typology with remarkable precision. The servant is sent with gifts. The New Testament, the Spirit comes with gifts. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The servant prays for the right woman to be identified. In the New Testament, the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans chapter 8, verse 26 through 27. In the Genesis 24 account, the sign of the servant that the servant chooses for the test is chest, loving kindness. In Galatians chapter 5, the fruit of the spirit includes love, kindness, and goodness. In the Genesis 24 account, before he had finished speaking, the Spirit acts before the prayer is complete. In the New Testament, Romans chapter 8, verse 26, the Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. In Genesis 24, the servant watches in silence as the sign is fulfilled. In John chapter 16, verse 13, the Spirit works quietly without drawing attention to himself. In Genesis 24, the servant tells the story of the Father and of the Son. The Spirit testifies about Christ in the New Testament. John chapter 15, verse 26. In Genesis chapter 24, the family declares, This thing comes from the Lord. Those who hear the gospel in the New Testament recognize the work of the Spirit. John chapter 6, verse 44. And the central question of Genesis chapter 24, will you go with this man? Is the question the Spirit puts on every person. The Father is drawing to the Son in the New Testament. The bride is asked a question. The angel went before the servant, and Rebekah chose to go to the Son freely, saying, I will go. The two-word answer in Hebrew that has echoed through every conversion in the history of the church. The phrase before he had finished speaking, I want to talk about that just for a few more minutes. Genesis chapter 24, verse 15. It establishes a principle about prayer and divine guidance that runs throughout scripture. We had referenced already Isaiah 65, 24, before they call, I will answer. In Daniel chapter 9, verse 20 and 21, it says, while he was still in prayer, Gabriel came. In Acts chapter 10, verse 44, while Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. This pattern is consistent across the entire Bible. God is not waiting for the prayer to be complete before he begins to act. He hears before the words are finished. He moves before the request is fully articulated. This does not make prayer less important. It actually makes it more important because prayer is not the mechanism that activates a reluctant God. But for you and I, it is the posture of a trusting servant before a God who is already at work. The servant prayed, Rebecca was already coming. Both are necessary, neither cancels the other. Now, in our next lesson, we're going to wrap up Genesis chapter 24. And there we're going to see Isaac walking in the field in evening, Rebecca lifting up her eyes, and we're going to read about the first love story in the Bible told in six words. Until next time, I pray that you have a blessed day.