service — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. 11 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. 12 And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 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.”

Gen. 24:15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 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. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” 18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.

In our last episode, we began with the story of Abraham, who was getting very old and wanted to find a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham insisted that Isaac not marry a Canaanite woman who would likely lead Isaac away from the LORD. He sent his most trusted servant to his homeland and relatives to search for a wife for Isaac there. The primary point is the strong commitment Abraham had to the LORD and trust in his promises to Abraham and his descendants.

This next section focuses on the servant who goes out to fulfill Abraham’s wishes. When he reached his destination, the first thing Moses recorded that he did was to pray and ask the LORD for success on behalf of Abraham. In his prayer, I see a man who has been as impacted and formed by God’s faithfulness to Abraham as Abraham himself. There is nothing about this prayer that is self-seeking. Abraham has already absolved the man of responsibility of the results, providing that he simply acts per his directions to go to Abraham’s homeland, among his relatives, and look for a wife for Isaac there. Abraham’s servant is not responsible for the results. He is only responsible for being obedient to the instructions he was given. There are any number of ways in which he might have sought to fill the basic requirements of this assignment. But his priority was to seek favor and success from the LORD based upon Abraham’s covenant relationship with the LORD. The whole thing here is his humility in seeking first, the LORD’s will in this matter, and secondly, that the LORD’s answer shows his “steadfast love” to Abraham. What a model of humility and servanthood.

In his request to the LORD, he considered a means by which he might recognize that the LORD was truly granting his request. He prayed, “Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 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.” This is quite specific. But it’s not an attempt to trick the LORD as if he will establish the rules by which the LORD would be obligated to fulfill this request. Rather, the request suggests that the servant is desiring the LORD to provide a wife for Isaac who is also humble and servant-minded. It’s beautiful!

Moses wrote that before he finished the request, Rebekah, Abraham’s niece came to the well. The servant didn’t waste any time approaching her and asked her for a drink. She responded exactly in the manner the servant had requested of the LORD.

I love the way Moses records the servant’s reaction. “The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.” (Gen 24:21) Are you imagining this as I am? I’m envisioning this old guy sitting near the well with a mix of shock and amusement on his mind. Maybe even the thought, “Well, that was easy” went through his mind, followed by “Was that just a fluke?”

I think there are prayers that the LORD is just waiting for people to ask and he starts to answer them before they are finished being asked. It’s God’s way of saying, “I’m with you. I want to give you what is best for you. But I want you to want what I have in store for you.”

What can we learn from this? In all things seek what is good and right from the LORD and for the benefit of all instead of seeking our own interests. Humility and servant-mindedness are valued by the LORD.