Genesis 24:1-67. Why didn t Abraham want Isaac to marry a Canaanite?

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1 pg. 1 * Genesis 24 is the longest chapter in the Book of Genesis [67 verses]: 1. Issac is a type of Christ. 2. Abraham is a type of God the Father. 3. The servant [Eliezer?] is a type of the Holy Spirit. 4. Rebekah is a type of the Church. V. 1 * Abraham is 140 years old and will live another 35 years. Isaac is 40 years old. * God has been faithful to His word and had blessed Abraham physically, financially, and spiritually. Abraham has come a long way in his relationship with God, his family, and with those around him. V. 2-9 [v.2] It is believed that this servant is the same servant spoken of in Gen. 15:2-3, Eliezer. More than 50 years has passed between chapters 15 and 24. [v.2] It is not known for sure what the significants is of putting one s hand under the thigh of another before an oath is made. It must have been a very serious act because Eliezer didn t do it until he was given assurances from Abraham that he wouldn t be held responsible if this mission failed as a result of the decisions of others not under his control. [v.3-6] Abraham made Eliezer swear three things: 1. he would not select a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanite women. 2. he would choose Isaac s wife from among Abraham s relatives. Abraham released his servant from this oath if the woman refused to come to Isaac as his wife [v.8]. 3. he would not take Isaac back to Abraham s former home. Why didn t Abraham want Isaac to marry a Canaanite? * Through archaeological diggings, it has been confirmed that the Canaanites were will established by the time of Isaac s birth: 1. Noah s grandson, Canaan [the son of Ham], was cursed by Noah in Gen. 9: The people of the land of Canaan, in chapter 24, are the descendants of the cursed son of Ham, Canaan. 3. The Canaanites and their religion were the most sexually deprived of any in the ancient world. 4. They worshiped more than 70 gods. 5. Four of their most worshiped gods were concerned mainly with sex and war. 6. In their religion the female goddesses of war sanctioned extreme cruelty in warfare. 7. Their religious temples used both male and female prostitutes to indulge in gross immorality. 8. Human sacrifice was a part of their religious ceremonies. 9. Everything about the Canaanite people is contrary to what Abraham has learned about the one and only true God of the universe.

2 pg In Genesis 9:25-27 Noah prophesied that Canaan, the son of Ham, was cursed [to bind, hem in with obstacles, render powerless to resist] and that curse was being lived out by his descendants. The Canaanites are destined for destruction. --- Noah also prophesied that Shem was the line through which the Messiah was to come. a. Abraham and his brother, Nahor, are of the line of Shem. The Canaanites are not from the line of Shem. b. Bethuel, the son of Nahor, became the father of Rebekah who is of the line of Shem. c. Did Abraham understand the significance of God s plans? --- Did Abraham read the prophetic words of Noah that were passed down from Shem to Abraham s father Terah? --- Did God reveal to Abraham how to choose Isaac s wife and why? --- One thing is for sure; Abraham didn t want Isaac to marry a pagan. The wife of Isaac had to be special and Abraham left the decision of Isaac s future wife in the hands of God. d. The Lord God, who never speaks in this chapter, is the REAL BEHIND THE SCENE DECISION MAKER. His name is mentioned 17 times in this chapter. He is involved in every aspect of the choosing of Isaac s wife! SOMETHING TO CONSIDER * Shem [the son of Noah] is still alive and is 530 years old when Issac took Rebekah as his wife in this chapter [see Gen. 24:67 & 25:20]. --- A total of 432 years have passed since the flood had ended. --- Isaac will be 110 years old when Shem dies at the age of 600. * NOTE: Shem passed the written records of his day [Gen. 6:9 through 11:10] off to Abraham s father Terah [Gen. 11:10 through 11:27] and Terah passed the written records on to Issac [ Gen. 11:27 through 25:19]. --- Is it possible that Shem is keeping track of the events surrounding the lives of Terah, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob [Jacob is 50 years old when Shem dies]? WHAT DOES THIS CHAPTER SAY TO US ABOUT MARRIAGE! 1. God is involved in the affairs of men and women, even in the smallest details, if we will let Him be involved. --- Marriage is not a small detail and God s hand extends to marriages. 2. Marriage is a serious matter to God and so it needs to be a serious matter to all people, especially to Christians. 3. Marriage is something that God designed [came up with], not man. [Gen. 2:21-25] 4. Marriage throughout Scripture is always between a man and a woman. 5. Marriage was meant to be for a life-time [Mark 10:6-9] but God has allowed for exceptions. 6. As born-again believers, marriage should only be with another Christian believer. [II Cor. 6:14-16]. 7. When Christian men and women trust and yield to God s design for Marriage, both are blessed, and it is a reflection of Christ and the Church. [Eph ]

3 pg. 3 V. 10 * This servant [Eliezer of Damascus?] wasted no time in preparing to fulfill Abraham s orders. * This is going to be a long trip with the potential for much danger yet verse 10 is passed over in silence. * It is about 450 miles from Hebron to the city of Nahor. At the rate of 10 miles a day, with extra days factored in for resting the camels and other servants, this trip could take up to 60 days [one way]. That means this round trip expedition could last at least 4 months. * At the beginning of this trip the servant used 10 camels to answer the practical needs of this expedition. When the servant reached his destination, months later, God will use these 10 camels to answer the prayers of this servant. V * This unnamed servant is the first person described in Scripture as asking for divine guidance at a critical moment in his life. This is a teaching moment for us. What did he do? 1. He took his situation seriously. 2. He acknowledged that he was there to do the Lord s work, not his own. 3. He acknowledged his need for God to move on his behalf in this specific matter that was extremely important. 4. He prayed before he acted. 5. He spoke a very specific prayer to rule out luck chance or 2nd guessing God. We can state this another way: He make a very specific, yet, very reasonable request, but it was a request that would, most likely, not come to pass without the Lord s intervention. 6. He waited. 7. He kept his eyes and ears open to see what God would do or say.!. Some people get in the way of God s plans and purposes; Then there are people who ARE IN THE WAY of God s plans and purposes so God can lead them.!. QUESTION: Which one, of these two categories, do we tend to fall into the most? V. 15 * How did God respond to this servant s request? --- Scripture says that, Before he had finished speaking, the answer to his prayer was walking to the well. [A] The promptness of God s response should not surprise us nor should it seem unusual to us: * Daniel 9:23 At the beginning of your supplications [prayers] the command was issued. * Acts 3: The lame man was healed immediately, by Peter, in the name of Jesus. * Acts 12: Peter is being delivered from prison, by an angel, at the same time the brethren were praying for him. They were surprised to see him at their front door. * Acts 16: A demon possessed woman was set free immediately at Paul s command in the name of Jesus. * THIS IS THE TIME FOR PERSONAL TESTIMONIES.

4 pg. 4 [B] Divine appointments are real, should be expected, and we need to be ready to respond: * Acts 3: Peter and John and the lame man. * Acts 8: Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. * Acts 9: Paul and Ananias [Paul is healed of his blindness] * THIS IS THE TIME FOR PERSONAL TESTIMONIES. [C] God will answer specific, detailed prayers: * Judges 6: Gideon and the fleece. * Acts 3: [Peter and John] The lame man s legs are healed. * Acts 14: [Paul] Man s feet are healed. * THIS IS THE TIME FOR PERSONAL TESTIMONIES. V * Rebekah is Isaac s 2nd cousin. * What was it in this man s prayer about watering the camels that convinced him God had answered, beyond all doubt, his prayer? * In verse 16 we read she [Rebekah] went down to the spring but in verse 20 we read she ran back to the well. Is there a contradiction here? -- NO! -- These two verses reveal to us what is going on here and that God is in the middle of this entire affair. 1. Ancient wells, in the days of Abraham, were very large holes dug in the ground with steps leading down to the spring water. SO IT IS BOTH A SPRING AND A WELL. 2. A camel can drink up to 25 gallons of water at one time. 3. Rebekah s jar only carries 3 gallons of water. 4. It would take 80 to 100 round trips down the well to the spring water to satisfy the thirst of 10 camels. [A lot of these wells were not shallow]. 5. It takes a camel about 10 minutes to drink it s fill of water, so Rebekah needs about 2 hours to water all ten camels. --- That is a lot of HARD WORK. --- Most, if not all girls, would not volunteer to do this for a stranger. 6. Hospitality required giving water to a thirsty stranger, but not to his animals. 7. [verse 26] In verse we see this servant praying before he acted. In verse 26 we see him thanking God for answering his prayer. This servant is keeping God in the middle of this entire affair. His physical eyes are fixed on the events unfolding around him, but his spiritual eyes are also fixed on God who is orchestrating the events and he does not hesitate to give the praise to God. OH THAT WE WOULD NEVER GROW WEARY OF GIVING GOD HIS PROPER PLACE AND RECOGNITION IN THE AFFAIRS OF OUR LIVES, EVEN WHEN OTHERS GROW TIRED OF HEARING IT. 8. Is verse 30 our first glimpse into the nature of Laban s heart? The love of money? 9. [verses 32-49] This servant does not let his personal needs [tired, hungry] distract him from the reason for this mission. He explains to the men of the house why he is there and wants an answer so he look else where if their answer is no.

5 pg [verses 50-61] This servant doesn t allow the focus to fall on him [I did this, I was successful, I made this happen], he keeps it all about God, Abraham and Isaac. --- This servant doesn t allow the families emotions to delay what God has started [with delay, emotions can, if we are not careful, cause us to 2nd guess what God has made so obvious to us]. --- Rebekah is quick to respond to God s direction in her life, even if it means leaving behind all she has ever known. 11. [verses 62-67] It would appear that Abraham and Isaac are living apart from one another. Isaac is becoming his own man. --- We also see in these verses that Isaac appears to be a deeply spiritual man, that prayer and meditation was a daily affair. --- Isaac took Rebekah into his mother s tent. This phrase can be looked at in two ways: a.] Isaac s mother s tent has been empty for three years. Isaac took Rebekah into the tent to stay until he can make arrangements for a proper wedding ceremony and then he took her into his tent as his wife. b.] Isaac took Rebekah into his mother s tent to show her that she has taken the place of Sarah in the line of the descendants of Abraham, that she is in charge of the affairs appropriate to her role as wife to Isaac, and that Isaac didn t wait for an official wedding but accepted her as his wife then and there. * Much can be learned from this chapter in the areas of history, customs, people, prayer, and God. * But we can also condense this chapter into three main lessons that helps us in our Christian faith and growth: 1. SOMETIMES it may be okay to lay out a fleece before God as a way to determine His will in our lives, but when we take the Bible in it s entirety, on the issues of prayer, His will in our lives, and how He guides us, we discover that laying out a detailed plan that God must follow before we can determine His will for us is not the norm. What we will discover is this: THE LORD WILL GUIDE US AS WE ARE FAITHFUL TO HIS WORD [BIBLE]. 2. From this chapter we learn that our lives are not ruled by chance or fate or karma or self rule [I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul]. --- Our lives are ruled by God and that God is always faithful to His children. OUR CHALLENGE IS TO BE FAITHFUL TO HIM. 3. This chapter is revealing to us the heart of God the Father, the heart of Jesus His Son, the heart of the Holy Spirit, and the heart of the [yet to be] Church [us, you and me]: a.] Abraham is a type of God the Father, who is planning a marriage for His beloved Son, Jesus. [Matt. 22:2 & Gen. 24:2-4] b.] Isaac is a type of Jesus: --- Jesus was sacrificed as was Isaac. --- Jesus was obedient as was Isaac. --- Jesus rose from the grave as did Isaac [figure of speech]. --- Jesus seeks His bride as did Isaac.

6 pg Jesus has been given all things by the Father as was Isaac. [Gen. 24:36 & Jn.3:35] --- Jesus loves His bride [Church] as Isaac loved Rebekah. [Gen. 24:67 & Eph. 5:25] c.] Eliezer is a type of the Holy Spirit: --- Eliezer came to Nahor to find a wife for Isaac. The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost to gather together a bride [the Church] for the Son. --- Eliezer gave honor to Abraham and Isaac only. The Holy Spirit always points to Jesus. [Gen. 24 & John 15:26] --- Eliezer lead Rebekah through the dangerous trip from her old home to her new home. The Holy Spirit leads us safely, the Church, through this world until we meet Jesus. [John 16:12-15] d.] Rebekah is a type of the Church. --- When she is asked will you go with this man she said Yes. --- Each person must answer for themselves, will they follow Jesus when the Holy Spirit asks the question.