Genesis 24

[0:00] We're sort of coming to the conclusion of this story. Now, last week we looked at the death of Sarah, Abraham's wife, right? And this week we see the marriage of Isaac. So we have a funeral and a wedding right next to each other. Sometimes life sort of goes like that, right? You have grief and sorrow, and you have joy and celebration, and sometimes they're all mixed together right next to each other. That's what we see. We see an ending and a new beginning.

[0:24] God takes away, and yet God gives. Now, tonight in chapter 24, what we're going to see is that God gives good gifts to His children, that God is… the God of the Bible is a God of steadfast love.

[0:41] And if you look through this chapter, that word appears four times. Let me just point it out from the beginning. Verse 12, verse 14, verse 27, and verse 49 all have that phrase, steadfast love.

[0:53] And it's one of the most important words in the Old Testament because it's used to describe God, and you can translate it steadfast love, or you can translate it covenant faithfulness, that God is utterly faithful to His promises. You can translate it loving kindness because there's a tender aspect to it. So it's a word that's hard to translate, but it means all of these things, steadfast love, covenant faithfulness, loving kindness. So that's what we're going to see.

[1:22] That's the kind of God that we see in the Bible behind everything that happens in this story. Now, this is a long story, but it's a really neat story. So I want to walk us through it section by section. So let's begin by reading verses 1 to 9, which focus on the character of Abraham. There are four characters in this story, Abraham, Abraham's servant, Rebecca, and Isaac, and we'll sort of take each one in turn. So let's begin verse 1.

[1:52] Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, put your hand under my thigh that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac.

[2:17] The servant said to him, perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came? Abraham said to him, see to it that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, who spoke to me and swore to me, to your offspring I will give this land. He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine. Only you must not take my son back there. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. So the first thing we see here is God's faithfulness and steadfast love to Abraham, right? That's how verse one begins. Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in all things. Think about all the ways that God has blessed Abraham through this whole story.

[3:19] God blessed him with material wealth and possessions. God blessed him with protection from his enemies. God had blessed him with a good and faithful wife, Sarah, who had walked with him along his whole journey. God had blessed him with a son, Isaac, born in his old age, who would be his heir. God blessed him with promises of a glorious legacy that would be carried down to generations in the future. And the greatest blessing above all that Abraham had received was God himself. God had given… God had promised himself to Abraham. He said, I will be your God, and you will be mine.

[3:59] You know, that's the… according to the Bible, the greatest blessing in the world that you… the greatest blessing you can receive from God is a relationship with God himself. And that was the greatest blessing, and Abraham knew that. So, God wasn't just sort of a way to get something else that he wanted. God was the greatest blessing that Abraham had. And so, Abraham's coming to the end of his life. He's now over a hundred years old. He's now a widower. But he doesn't just want to end his life in peace. He's not done yet. He wants to see that God's ways are handed down to the next generation. And so, he calls his servant. He says, put your hand under my thigh. You might think, well, that's a little weird. That was actually a common way in the ancient world of swearing an oath.

[4:44] Okay? Circumcision was a covenant. It was sort of an oath sign. And putting your hand under the thigh is basically saying, I swear on you and all your progeny. So, it was a very solemn oath in the ancient world that would have been understood in that way. So, he says, promise me you will go and find a wife for my son. Abraham actually knows, sort of interesting, Abraham knows that Isaac, even though Isaac is 40 years old, Isaac is not ready to go out. Isaac is not going to go out and find a good wife on his own. He needs some help. Right? He's 40 years old. He's still living at home. He needs somebody to set him up. Right? So, Abraham says, I'm sending you on a journey. And he lays down two requirements.

[5:33] He says, verse 3, not from among the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell. So, they were his immediate neighbors, but they were all idol worshipers. The Canaanites did not know and did not follow the one true God who had called Abraham. But again, Abraham believed that knowing God is the greatest blessing of all. And so, when he's looking for a good life partner for Isaac, that was his number one priority. Find someone who knows and loves and follows and is committed to following the one true God. And a Canaanite idol… a Canaanite who worshiped idols doesn't fit that description.

[6:12] Instead, the second thing he says is, go to my country, go back home, find a wife from there, but find someone who's willing to come here. Now, you might think, well, what's that about? I mean, that's… but think about the story of Abraham. Where did Abraham start? He started back in his homeland. And what was the first thing God called him to do? God said, leave your country and your people and go to the land that I will show you and that I will promise to you and your descendants.

[6:40] Trust me. And so, basically what Abraham's saying is, I want you to find someone who will trust God's promises just like God called me to trust His promises. Someone who will live by faith and in obedience to God. And verses 6 through 8 are actually the last recorded words of Abraham in the book of Genesis. They're the last words that he speaks in the story. And so, let me… before we go on from Abraham to the next character, just turn back to chapter 15, verses 2 and 3. These are the first recorded words of Abraham in the story of his life in Genesis, 15, 2 and 3. Abraham said, O Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abraham said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. I want you to compare that to what he says in verses 6 to 8 when he says,

[7:44] The Lord, the God of heaven, took me from my father's house and spoke to me and swore to me, to your offspring I will give this land. And Abraham says, He'll send his angel before you, and don't go back. Don't take my son back there. Don't go back on God's… don't go… don't go back and leave behind God's promises. You see… you see how Abraham begins? He begins with questions and doubts. He's saying, Lord, what are you going to give me? I don't see your promises. I don't know about this. I don't know how this is all going to go through. He's doubting and questioning, and sometimes we're there. I mean, sometimes if we're honest, that's where we are.

[8:23] But by the end of his life, he's got to a place of full confidence in the Lord, where he can say, God took me, God promised me, God's been faithful to me, and so God's going to be faithful to you too in the future. And so don't go back. Just notice how he ends his life with that statement of full confidence in the Lord. He's saying, God's been faithful to me all the way.

[8:47] So that's the first thing we see, God's faithfulness to Abraham all the way to the end of his life. Second thing we see is God's faithfulness to Abram's servant. So let's read starting at verse 10. Then Abram's 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. Nahor was Abraham's brother, father. So he probably went back to Abraham's brother's city. 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. And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I'm standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 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. 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. 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. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, please give me a little water to drink from your jar. She said, drink, my Lord. And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking. 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.

[10:26] The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels and said, please tell me whose daughter you are.

[10:42] Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night? She said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. She added, we have plenty of both straw and fodder and room to spend the night. The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.

[11:11] Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things. So think about this servant in verse 10. He's got a pretty tough assignment. I mean, you've got to admit it.

[11:23] He has to embark on a long journey all alone to a place that he probably has never been. He has to find a woman from Abraham's country who is sort of from his extended family or sort of his tribe or clan who's willing to come all the way back to Canaan to marry a man that she has not yet met in person. I mean, talk about a shot in the dark, right? Or a needle in a haystack. I mean, that's a pretty tough assignment and it's all on you. So, but look at the character of the servant.

[11:56] Verse 10, he just, he gets up and goes. He doesn't delay, doesn't procrastinate. He's not like Jonah, doesn't run the other way. He just goes. He's earnest and loyal. He does what he says he would do. And then he prays, okay? Sometimes God brings us into desperate situations to teach us how to pray because you know what? He knows that we wouldn't learn how to pray otherwise.

[12:17] So, he puts us in situations like this servant where we're pretty desperate and we're like, this is a shot in the dark. Oh, Lord, help. But you know what? The servant says more than, oh, Lord, help. He says, oh, Lord, he thinks, he appeals to God's steadfast love. He remembers God's faithfulness to Abraham and appeals to that. And then he prays for something very specific.

[12:41] Now, you know, sometimes that's actually an important thing for us to do, to pray specifically when we need specific things. You know, and not just, sometimes when we pray only vaguely and generally, sometimes it's actually a sign that we're sort of want to keep our distance from God in the concrete decisions and details of our lives. You know, I mean, it's fine to pray, God, bless everybody in the world. That's fine. But you know what? Maybe you need to pray for somebody who is hard for you to deal with and pray, God, I want you to bless this person who's really hard for me to deal with. Because you know what? They're part of everybody in the world, but maybe you need to pray for that person. It's important to let God into the details of our lives to talk to him specifically about what he needs, what we need. Now, what does the servant need?

[13:43] Right? He needs, he needs a lead, right? He needs, he needs a, he needs a contact, right? He needs a lead to a woman who might be the one he's been sent to look for. So he says, I'll ask someone for a drink, and if she offers to water the camels too, let her be the one. Now, what do we take from that, right?

[14:05] Some of us might think, oh, okay, he's asking God for a sign. You ever ask God for a sign? Right? All kinds of people ask God for all kinds of signs. But notice this is not a random or arbitrary sign. Okay? So camels can drink up to 25 gallons of water each when they're rehydrating after a long journey, as they would have been in this case. The man has 10 camels. 10 times 25 is 250. 250 gallons.

[14:38] So imagine what kind of woman would volunteer without being asked to draw 250 gallons of water from a well to feed, to water the camels of a foreigner who just arrived in town.

[14:58] Well, it would have to be a woman who is generous and hospitable, even to strangers. It would have to be a woman who is kind, who's willing to go the extra mile to help someone in need.

[15:11] It would have to be a woman who's hardworking and diligent. You see, the servant's not asking for sort of a random sign. He's looking for an indication of this woman's true character. And God answers his prayer, and God answers it fast, right? The story starts going really fast in verse 15. Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebecca comes on the scene. Verse 17, the servant runs to meet her. Verse 18, she quickly let down her jar and gave him a drink.

[15:44] Verse 20, she quickly emptied her jar, ran again to the well. Verse 21 is a bit of a break in the action. The man gazed at her in silence. He's watching her while she's running back and forth, watering the camels, drawing more water, watering the camels, drawing more water, and he's looking and thinking, is God led me exactly where I need to go. And then she invites him to come and spend the night at her father's house, and he realizes that the first part of his journey has succeeded.

[16:14] And notice his response, verse 26, he bowed his head and worshiped the Lord. His success did not lead him to pride and having an inflated ego. His success led him to humility and praise and worship of God. Where does your success tend to lead you? When you're really successful at something that maybe seemed like a really big task that was beyond your capabilities.

[16:42] Does it lead you to pride and inflate your ego, or does it lead you to humility and praise? And notice verse 27, notice his prayer. The servant's concerned about, number one, the Lord, that's who he starts talking about, number two, Abraham, his boss, and number three, me, as for me. Do you notice he goes in that order?

[17:08] His priority list is God, the one, Abraham, myself. Most of us, right? Most of us were the other way. Our priority is myself, maybe the person I'm working for if I really have, if I'm going to get fired otherwise. And God, as much as he helps me get what I want to get. But no, Abraham's servant is focused on God.

[17:39] So the story goes on. It's a long story, so I'm going to summarize. Verse 29 to 33, basically, he comes to the house, and they welcome him into the house, and they put dinner before him. And then verse 34 to 49, he says, actually, I'm not going to eat until I tell you how I got here.

[17:54] So he retells the whole story. He, the God's blessing to Abraham, the promise to Abraham, his prayer at the spring, God's provision of Rebekah, praise to God, and then a proposal for marriage. Verse 49, he says, now then, if you're going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me, and if not, tell me that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. In other words, he's saying, yes or no. So he's sort of asking the heads of household for their permission to take Rebekah to become Isaac's wife. Now their response is verse 50 and 51, behold, Rebekah, verse 51, behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go and let her be the wife of your master's son as the Lord has spoken. And again, note the servant's response. When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. His first prayer, he's standing at the well, and he prays, standing, boldly asking God for what he needs. When Rebekah invites him, come to my house, he bows his head. And when the heads of household give permission for Rebekah to come with him and become Isaac's wife, he bows to the ground in praise to God. Again, his success leads him to humility and praise. The more successful he becomes, the more humble he gets.

[19:20] Because again, this story isn't just about the servant's success, it's about God's faithfulness to the servant. God heard his prayer, God answered his prayer. God was faithful to Abraham all the days of his life. God is faithful to the servant when he's facing this difficult and crazy task.

[19:40] And now we come to God's faithfulness to Rebekah. Okay, we've already seen Rebekah, her character, that she's generous, she's hospitable, she's kind, hardworking, vigorous, and strong.

[19:56] But now we come to what might be the climax of the story, starting at verse 53. The servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold and garments and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, send me away to my master.

[20:17] Her brother and her mother said, let the young woman remain with us a while, at least 10 days. After that, she may go. But he said to them, do not delay me since the Lord has prospered my way.

[20:28] Send me away that I may go to my master. He doesn't want to delay this and sort of, you know, of course, if you delay it, then people might change their mind. So, he's sort of like, I've been given a task. I need to stay focused on it. And so, you know, I've laid it out before you.

[20:48] You freely answered. And so, let's go. You know, let's not procrastinate here. Verse 57, they said, let us call the young woman and ask her. Right? Because the heads of… you know, he's been welcomed into the household, and the heads of household have given their blessing, their permission, but Rebekah needs to say yes. Right? Even in the ancient world, when there's arranged marriage in situations like this, you still have to have consent. She still has to say yes. Otherwise, it ain't a marriage. And they called Rebekah and said to her, will you go with this man? She said, I will go. So, they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him. Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus, the servant took Rebekah and went his way. So, again, we've seen God's faithfulness to Abraham, God's faithfulness to the servant. And now we see God's faithfulness to Rebekah. Again, Rebekah's repeating the journey of faith that Abraham's story began with, when God called Abraham to leave his country and his people and his father's household and go to the land that he would show him, and trust that God would lead him every step of the way, and trust that God had made this promise to him. And Rebekah says,

[22:30] I will go. I'm in on that too. I want that. I believe God's promises. I'll follow his call. I want in. And as a result, Rebekah receives the blessing that God had promised. She gets in on the blessing that God had promised to Abraham and his offspring in verse 60, which is similar to some words that God spoke to Abraham in 2217, when God says, I'll surely bless you and multiply your offspring, and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. So, God promises protection and victory. So, there's Rebekah. And finally, number, finally, we come to Isaac, verse 62 to the end of the chapter. Now, Isaac had returned from Bir Lahai Roy and was dwelling in the Negev. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes. And when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, who is that man walking in the field to meet us? The servant said, it is my master.

[23:41] So, she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and took Rebekah. And she became his wife, and he loved her. So, Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

[23:59] Now, interestingly, right, the story begins with Abraham, but the servant doesn't return to Abraham. The servant returns to Isaac, right? This is a signal that the story is shifting, right? For so long, we focused on Abraham. But Abraham is, again, coming to the end of his life and moving out of the picture.

[24:15] And the focus of Genesis is going to move on to Isaac for the next few chapters. But what do you see? You know, look at the character of Isaac for just a minute. Isaac's sort of out there, seems to be on his own. He had returned from Beer-le-hi-Roi. Now, that word means, that place name means, the well of the living one who sees me. It's the place where Hagar had gone when she ran away from home. And it's the place where God saw her and found her and told her to come back home. So, he had been there, and now he's dwelling in the Negev, which just means the south. Sort of a dry… it was a dry area southwest of the Dead Sea. And then he goes out to meditate in the field. It seems like Isaac's a bit aimless, right? He's the 40-year-old bachelor who is living on his own, and he's going out to meditate in the field. And there's… and let me just say, there ain't nothing wrong with being a 40-year-old bachelor, right? God has called some people to singleness, and you can live a fruitful life as a single person. And the New Testament talks about that, and Jesus talks about that, and Paul talks about that. So, don't hear anything I'm saying tonight as putting that down. But Isaac's life here looks a little aimless. He's living on his own.

[25:36] He's thinking a lot, but he's not really going anywhere. And the end of verse 67 gives us a hint as to why that might be he was grieving the loss of his mother who had died three years previous. But again, just as we saw God's faithfulness to Abraham, to the servant, and to Rebecca, we see God's faithfulness to Isaac here. Isaac… one of Isaac's… Isaac… Isaac was not called to be single for his whole life. God… Isaac was called to… to marry and to have children and carry on God's promise through that means. And so, God brings Isaac a wife. He receives her as a blessing from God. So, as I said in the beginning, this story is all about God's faithfulness. It's about His steadfast love to every one of these characters, these four characters. So, let me end with two categories of applications. Number one, do you know this God who is a God of steadfast love, who's faithful to His promises? You know, maybe… maybe… maybe this is your first time in church or your first time in a long time. You know, maybe this is sort of new to you. Let me just say to you, according to the Bible, there's a God who made you and who loves you. And He made you to know Him, to know Him and to treasure Him like Abraham did is the greatest blessing of all, to know

[26:55] Him as your God, the one who knows you and loves you. But the Bible also says that none of us have loved and treasured God as we ought to. Some of us just make ourselves the center of our lives.

[27:10] Sometimes we idolize someone else and live for their approval. Sometimes we use God to get other things that we want. We try to obey God, but we really obey Him in order to get something else.

[27:23] And the Bible calls all of this sin, putting something else in the place of God, not loving and treasuring God like we ought to. And sin separates us from God. It alienates us from God.

[27:36] The good news is God has made a way for us to know Him and to be made right with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin through His death on the cross. He came into this world so that we can be restored to a right relationship with God, so we can know this God and receive His blessing. So, if you turn to Him in faith, He'll receive you, and you can begin the journey of knowing the God who made you.

[28:03] Now, for those of you who do know this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jacob, the Father of Jesus Christ, let me give some practical applications about looking for a spouse. Because isn't that sort of what this story is about? I decided to save this for the end. I debated about putting it in the middle. But you have to see all four characters before you can really get a big picture of what this story is saying. So, here's… I think each of these characters in the story has something to teach us about looking for a spouse. So, let me give you one quick thing from each character, and then we'll be done. Number one, Abraham teaches us, look for someone who shares your faith in Christ. Someone who believes God's promises, who's willing to follow God's call.

[28:45] That's what Abraham says to his servant, don't settle for anything less. I mean, think about it this way. What's the most important goal that you're pursuing in your life? What's the principle that you hold most deeply that you wouldn't want to compromise on? What is it that you love and desire more than anything else? And if you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone, wouldn't you want that person to share that loyalty, to understand it deeply, and to pursue it alongside you? Not just to say, I can respect that, but that's not really me. But to embrace it along with you, to walk with you on that journey side by side, arm in arm, pursuing that same goal that you both are going towards.

[29:33] If you belong to Jesus, if you are a follower of Jesus, He is that goal. He's that number one loyalty. Your eternal goal, your greatest treasure. So, that should be the number one question as you get to know someone, is do we share a common faith? Are we fixing our eyes on Jesus together and helping each other follow Him? And if the answer is no, then it's better to, hard as it may be, it's better to, it's better to go your separate ways and not continue a dead-end dating relationship.

[30:16] Second, what do we learn from the servant? The servant teaches us, pray and put yourself out there. Okay? The servant does both. He prays, and full dependence on God. And he also puts himself out there. I mean, verse 17, he goes up to the woman and he says, please give me a drink of water.

[30:39] Right? He's willing to make himself feel a little awkward in an unfamiliar situation, in a city he's never been to, in a foreign country. I mean, he's got to put himself out there. Sometimes you need to put yourself out there in appropriate ways, in the right kind of ways.

[30:57] So, ask yourself, am I praying, and am I willing to put myself out there? Am I willing to walk up to somebody, maybe even, maybe even in church? Sorry, I don't want to make it too awkward, but maybe even in church, right? Yeah, I know it can be awkward. But hey, what do you have to lose? Okay? Yes, you might be rejected. You know what? That's, sorry, unavoidable. Anyway, now, just a warning about the servant. Some people look for signs. Some people love this story because they're like, oh, the servant got a sign. And by signs, they mean unusual coincidences. Like, I had a dream last night about someone who looked just like you, so we should be together forever. That's a bad way to look for a spouse. Don't rely on those kind of unusual coincidences that are crazy and random and mean nothing. The sign the servant prayed for was not just an unusual coincidence. It was a sign of her true character. So, that leads us to our third point. What Rebecca teaches us is let inward character attract you even more than outward appearance. Rebecca was attractive. Verse 16, she was very attractive in appearance. But you know what? Her character stands out far more than her looks in this story. Her generosity, her hospitality, her kindness, her diligence, her unselfishness, her courage. All of those things stand out. You know, the outward stuff is going to change. Beauty will fade.

[32:45] Charm doesn't always last. Money doesn't always last. And we all know that in principle, but how many times do we let beauty and charm and money be our first filter? Well, I'll find somebody who is my type, my body type, and who seems sort of charming and not socially awkward and who seems to be doing pretty well financially. Why would we make the things that we know aren't going to last be our first criteria to consider who we would even consider getting to know better? Let inward character attract you even more than the outward stuff. And that's sort of a heart issue about how do we view other people. But there we go. So, number one, so just to review, look for someone who shares your faith. Pray and put yourself out there. Let inward character attract you even more than outward appearance. And fourth from Isaac, don't just marry the one you love. Love the one you have married. So, this is the point for you if you're married. But also if you're thinking about getting married. Verse 67 says, she became his wife and he loved her. Now think about that. Notice, most of us think that's backwards. Most of us think, most of us think, I'll marry you because I love you.

[34:17] But this verse says, because I married you, I'm going to love you. So, if you're married, cultivate your love for your spouse. Fan the flame. Don't let it die in the mundane activities and the burdens and sicknesses and the interpersonal frustrations and disappointments that will inevitably come along in every marriage. If you're married, love each other because you're married. That's what God made marriage to be anyway.

[34:52] Because what marriage is supposed to be is, again, a reminder, a picture of God's steadfast love, which is what this story is all about anyway. To know the steadfast love of God, whether you're single, whether you're married, whether you're pursuing marriage or not pursuing marriage, if you're single.

[35:13] What this story is inviting you to is to receive and experience the steadfast love of God through Jesus Christ. And what we see as we prepare to take communion tonight, when we take the bread and take the cup, it's as if Jesus Christ is standing right beside you and saying to you, I will be yours and you will be mine.

[35:39] It's like renewing your marriage vows. It's renewing our loyalty to Jesus and saying, Jesus, I trust in your steadfast love. And I want to walk in the path of faithfulness to you because you've been faithful to me.

[35:57] Let's pray and then we're going to share communion. God, we thank you for your steadfast love. We thank you that you are faithful to your promises. We thank you that you are unceasing in your kindness.

[36:11] And compassion to us. Lord, we pray that we would know your steadfast love. Lord, as Abraham did, as he was coming to the end of his life, as the servant did in the midst of a difficult assignment, as Rebecca did as she prepared to embark on this new journey, as Isaac did when you met him in his aimless, aimlessness.

[36:37] Lord, we thank you for your steadfast love and your faithfulness to us. We pray that as we receive the bread and the cup, that you would assure us once more of your steadfast love and faithfulness.

[36:51] Give us renewed resolve to continue in the journey of faith and obedience to you. In Christ's name we pray.

[37:03] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.