God, we thank you for your word, though it was written thousands of years ago, Lord.
It's timeless truths inspired by you, by your spirit.
Lord, speak to us, instruct us, and draw us closer to you.
We pray that you help us with the proper posture of humility to approach your word,
so that we may encounter you, hear your voice, and be transformed into the likeness of your son, Jesus Christ.
It's in his precious name we pray, amen.
When my first daughter, Ine, was two, she saw a kitty cake, ice cream cake in Star Market,
and she really, really wanted it.
And so we promised her, hey, when you turn three, birthday, we will get you that Hello Kitty cake.
And her birthday was still six months away or so, so we thought to ourselves,
surely she will forget in the span of the six months, and she's not going to ask us again.
But she remembered, and she actually rehearsed that promise in her mind every day, pretty much,
saying that, oh, when it's my birthday, you can give me the Hello Kitty cake.
When it's my birthday, you can give me the Hello Kitty cake.
So she remembered, and so on her third birthday, we did get her that exact Hello Kitty cake.
Thankfully, it was still there, and she was delighted.
And she hasn't, I mean, as a kid, experienced too many broken promises yet.
So she really believes, right?
When someone makes a promise to her, she knows and she believes that that's going to happen.
And the latest promise that she's been reminding us of daily is that when she turns four,
she gets to have not just one, but two vitamin gummies,
because that's what it says on the nutritional value chart, right?
And so now she's been asking for that nearly every time we give her the gummies.
Her eyes get wide, and she'll look at me and say,
really, matter of fact, with a teacher-like voice, she'll say,
oh, but when I turn four, I get to have two.
So I'm like, yeah, you get to have two when you turn four.
And so there's something that, as Christians, we can learn from children's example, right?
The childlike faith, right?
The humility, right?
The unqualified trust and dependence on her parents,
and really thinking that, yeah, they promised this to me.
They're going to give this to me, right?
If we had that as Christians, if we really believed God in us,
then we would pray, and we would pray persistently,
and we'd expect God to answer,
and we'd try to keep a record of the promise that He has made,
because we believe that He will answer those promises.
And that's what we see here happening in these chapters.
God had made these promises to Abraham.
He promised him a place for them.
He promised him a progeny,
and we see both of those things,
a place and a progeny, a place and a people,
fulfilled in chapters 23 and 24, respectively.
And then chapter 25 is kind of a summary of all these promises.
I'm not really going to cover that in depth,
but you could read that as well.
And altogether in these chapters,
God's teaching us that we can hold on to the promises of God,
as Abraham did,
because God has steadfast love and faithfulness toward His people.
So we can hold on to His promises
because God is steadfast in His love and faithful toward His people.
So let's go to Genesis 23 first
to see how God fulfills His promise of a place.
Genesis 23 begins with the notice of Sarah's death in verses 1 to 2.
It says,
And her husband Abraham wants to give her a worthy burial,
so he approaches the Hittites in verse 4 and makes this proposal.
I am a sojourner and foreigner among you.
Give me property among you for a burying place,
that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
This is really a revealing statement
because Abraham has now been in the land of Canaan for 62 years.
And for 62 years,
he's been holding on to God's promise
that he and his progeny are going to inherit this land.
And still he is a sojourner, a foreigner.
And that's how he identifies himself in the presence of these people.
And this was true.
Because even though Abimelech, as we saw earlier,
had granted him access to the well,
I mean, he has the well,
but he has no land property to his name, right?
Even though he had given the permission to freely dwell in the land of Canaan,
he doesn't still own any of the property.
So that's why he approaches the Hittites.
And this is a formal gathering.
It says it's at the city gates.
City gates are where the elders who are leading the town
sit together to make important decisions.
And conduct businesses.
And so here is Abraham presenting the case.
And in verse 10,
he asks for a property among you for a burying place.
Or he asks for it in this first few verses.
Now, notice that he's not just asking for permission to bury his wife,
but he's asking for the ability to purchase,
to buy a place for himself.
And the word possession that's used here is the same word that was used in Genesis 17,
8 to refer to God's promise of an everlasting possession.
It's the same word.
So we're about to witness whether God's promise to him of this possession will be fulfilled.
And the Hittites respond in a very considerate way,
but they're also very calculating.
You can see that in verse 6.
Hear us, my Lord.
You are a prince of God among us.
Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs.
None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.
Well, that's really nice, right?
You could bury your wife in the best of our graves.
But notice what they leave out.
They intentionally omit the fact that of any mention of property and possession.
Abraham asked for a place he can buy and own for himself to bury his wife
so that it can be guaranteed for the future generations that she'll be safe there.
But they don't mention that.
They say, no, just bury them among our tombs.
That's what they're saying.
And now Abraham is not ready to give up yet,
so he presses them and surely avoids that omission
and makes a second more specific proposition in verses 8 to 9.
If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight,
hear me and entreat for me Ephron, the son of Zohar,
that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns.
It is at the end of his field.
For the full price, let me give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.
You could see Abraham's concern to own the place.
Because if he receives the place for free,
in the future if disputes arise and someone wants to reclaim the land,
if Ephron wants to reclaim the land, he could potentially lose it
or Ephron could make demands of him because now he's indebted to him.
So he wants a secure place.
He wants to own the place, a property and possession.
And so he insists on that.
Now then Ephron responds in this way,
I give you the field and I give you the cave that is in it.
In the sight of the sons of my people, I give it to you.
Bear your dead.
And Abraham says, but if you will hear me,
I give the price of the field.
Accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.
And so Ephron is kind of pushing the corner.
And so now he finally ascends in a way because he says in verse 15,
My lord, listen to me.
A piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver.
What is that between you and me?
Bear your dead.
So in other words, he's saying,
We're both so rich and we're both so close.
What is 400 shekels?
Don't worry about it.
Just take it, right?
That's what he's saying.
And this is actually,
But the fact that he casually inserts the actual full price of the land
shows that he's not really interested in giving away for free.
If you're going to take it,
and if you're insisting on having to own it,
then you better pay me is what he's saying.
And that's actually the very typical way in the ancient Near East
they made transactions.
So it's kind of a semblance of,
you preserve a semblance of cordiality and relationship by saying,
Oh, you have it for free,
but if you're really, I want to know it costs this much.
And then they say, Okay, well, fine.
And so Abraham doesn't miss a beat.
So he goes, Okay.
Then he pays the amount.
He counts the money,
or rather he weighs the silver in verse 16.
And this is an official transaction.
And the fact that this is a public official transaction
is repeated throughout this passage
from phrases like in the hearing of the Hittites
or in the presence of the Hittites.
It's repeated five times throughout this passage
to show that this is that momentous time
when Abraham finally comes to own property
in the land of Canaan.
And notice how specific verses 17 to 18 is.
So the field of Ephron in Mechapolim,
east of Mamre,
the field with the cave that was in it
and all the trees that were in the field,
throughout this whole area,
was made over to Abraham
as a possession in the presence of the Hittites
before all who went in at the gate of the city.
And this is important
because even though the occasion for this purchase
is Sarah's death and her burial,
the whole narrative is really taken over
by this interaction with the Hittites and Abraham.
And the narrator focuses on that intentionally
because this shows God's faithfulness
in fulfilling his promise to Abraham of a place.
And notice it's near Mamre, right?
That's the place where God had given Abraham
and Sarah the promise
that in a year's time,
you will have Isaac, a son.
That's also the place when Abraham,
when he first entered the land of Canaan
in chapter 13, 18,
he built an altar
and staking out the land spiritually,
saying,
this is the land God has promised to me.
So it's a place that's really dear
to Abraham and Sarah's heart.
And that's the place God first gives to Abraham to own.
I hope you can appreciate the tenacity
and the perseverance of Abraham and Sarah
because it's not easy to be an immigrant.
It's not easy to be a foreigner, right?
Every day you live, right,
you have to learn an unfamiliar language,
get used to unfamiliar customs,
and they have to live with pervasive reminders
everywhere in the culture
and the society of their foreignness
with the lagging doubt in the back of their minds
that they don't quite belong.
And Abraham lived with this for 62 years
in this land of Canaan,
and he stayed
because he was holding on to the promises of God.
And that's why he's held up as an example of faith
in Hebrews 11.
It says in Hebrews 11, 9 to 10,
by faith Abraham went to live in the land of promise
as in a foreign land
living in tents with Isaac and Jacob
heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city
that has foundations
whose designer and builder is God.
And it says later in verses 13 to 16
of the same chapter of Hebrews,
these all died in faith,
not having received the things promised,
but having seen them and greeted them from afar
and having acknowledged
that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
They desired a better country
that is a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared for them a city.
The author of Hebrews is making a typological connection
here between the promised land,
the physical land of Canaan,
and heaven, the dwelling place of God.
And he's saying that this land of Canaan
that was promised to Abraham was a type,
it's a prefigurement of the ultimate promised land,
which is to dwell with God in heaven.
And as Christians,
then we are called to live as sojourners
and foreigners on earth,
looking ahead to that promised land,
holding on to the promises of God
in the same way Abraham did.
Now, what does that look like for us today,
right,
to hold on to the promises of God?
Well, the world tells us, right,
that wealth will bring us happiness,
that we should accumulate more
so that we could spend more,
so that we could be more happy, right?
But God tells us in Matthew 6, 19 to 20,
do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth
where moth and rust destroy,
where thieves break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where moth and rust do not destroy,
where thieves do not break in and steal.
So then we don't place our hope
in the riches of this life,
but as Christians,
what it looks like for us
to hold on to the promises of God
is we live generously
and we give sacrificially
and we store up treasures in heaven,
holding on to what is promised to us in Christ,
our eternal inheritance,
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for us.
That's what it looks like
for a Christian to live
holding on to the promises of God.
Some of us watch what we eat,
exercise regularly,
count the calories
so that we can be healthy
or look good or both, right?
And it's a good thing to take care of our body
because we're called by God
to be stewards of our bodies
because they're temples of the Holy Spirit,
as Paul writes in Corinthians.
But we do much more than that, right?
Because our hope is not in this world
but in the world to come.
So that's why 1 Timothy 4, 78 tells us,
Train yourself for godliness.
For while bodily training is of some value,
godliness is of value in every way
as it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.
So what does it look like
to hold on to the promises of God as Christians
is we tend to not just to our bodies
but to our souls, right?
So we examine ourselves
and we repent of sins in our lives
and we share them.
We surround ourselves with mentors,
disciples, pastors, friends, and encouragers.
In short, we surround ourselves with the church
so that we can continue to grow
in our likeness to Christ.
We train ourselves for godliness
by cultivating godly habits and rhythms
that foster humility and holiness.
That's what it looks like
to hold on to the promises of God.
Some people live and die
for the approval of other people, right?
They work hard in school
to earn good grades
so they can win the approval
of their parents or teachers.
Or they play really hard
and party and drink
so they can win the approval
of their peers.
They work overtime and grovel
before their superiors
so they can win their approval
and maybe win a promotion.
But Colossians 3, 23, 24 tells us,
Whatever you do, work heartily.
Ask for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord
you will receive the inheritance
as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
So what does it look like
for Christians to work
and to live with the promises of God
in hand, holding on to the promises of God?
We work as unto the Lord
and we look to Him
and make Him our hope
for the inheritance that we have,
the reward that we will receive,
not men.
And we have a wonderful example
of that here, chapter 23,
in Abraham,
holding on to the promises of God.
And then in chapter 24,
so we saw in 23
the promise of place fulfilled
and in 24 we see the promise
of progeny, of people
beginning to be fulfilled.
And as he nears,
so Abraham is now nearing his death
and as he does so,
he's thinking about his future,
his child, his Isaac, his son.
And he makes charge
to his most reliable servant
in verses 2 to 4, chapter 24.
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.
It's a, here we see,
this is another example
of Abraham holding on
to the promises of God
and the reason why is this,
because land of Canaan,
there's probably dozens
of women, right,
who are eligible
that Isaac can marry
and Isaac is an heir
of a very, very wealthy
and powerful man in Abraham
and it would have been
very easy for him
to find a wife
in the land of Canaan.
But why does Abraham
charge his servant
to make sure
he doesn't take a wife
for Isaac
from among the Canaanites?
And we see the reason,
the rationale for this
in the later expression
of God's law
through Moses.
In Exodus 34,
verses 13 to 16,
God commands Israelites,
don't take the daughters
of Canaanites
for your sons,
lest their daughters
whore after their gods
and make your sons
whore after their gods.
That's the rationale, right?
To intermarry
with non-Jews,
people who did not
have faith,
was to risk apostasy,
to leave God,
to risk faithlessness
to God himself.
And because Abraham
knew his identity,
because he knew his call,
that his mission
was to be a blessing
to the nations
and he could only be
a blessing to the nations
if he's faithful
to the Lord God
and make sure
that generation
after generation
his progeny
are faithful to him.
And because of that,
he charges his servant
to take a wife
for his son
from his kindred.
And we find,
you know,
New Testament counterparts
for this as well, right?
In 2 Corinthians 16,
Paul tells us
equally yoked
with unbelievers.
In 1 Corinthians 7, 39,
it tells us, right,
he tells us
to marry only in the Lord,
right?
It's the same rationale.
It's not because,
you know,
God hates those people.
It's not because,
you know,
God doesn't care about those,
but because God cares
so much about people,
so much about him.
He's jealous
for your affection
and your relations.
That's why
this,
with such severity,
right?
Abraham charges
his servant Isaac.
And servant is doubtful
that he can accomplish this.
You know,
they live kind of far,
you know,
from where his kindred live.
You know,
and you think that
this woman's going to come
marry Isaac
whom she has never seen
and Abraham
whose wealth
she has never seen.
Do you think
she's going to come
all the way over here
and say,
what if she says
she doesn't want to come?
And so,
the servant's trying to find
because he's making
an oath with Abraham.
And Abraham is even more severe
in the way he responds to it.
He says,
see to it,
verse 6 to 8,
that you do not take
my son back there.
Right?
And he says,
if the woman's not willing
to follow him,
then he's released
from his oath.
Right?
So,
the reason why he does this
is because he's holding
onto,
once again,
the promises of God.
The land of Canaan
is placed
God had promised for them.
So,
don't,
whatever happens,
take Isaac back
where he came from.
That's what he's saying.
And so,
in verse 10,
the servant complies.
He takes the oath.
And the oath,
interestingly,
is you put your hand
under the thigh.
Right?
That's,
in the ancient Near East,
people held onto sacred objects
in order to,
you know,
make their oath
much more severe
and,
I guess,
it's that way
of showing reverence
to that oath.
And so,
this is a euphemism.
So,
under the thigh,
really,
literally,
probably,
it's referring to
under the genitals.
Right?
So,
it's considered sacred
because it's
considered source of life.
And for Abraham,
this is particularly significant
because he's circumcised.
Right?
So,
these genitals
not only represent
source of life.
For him,
it represents
the covenant of God.
And so,
under that,
the servant makes
this oath.
And he goes in verse 10.
He says,
then the servant
took ten of his master's camels
and departed,
taking all sorts of choice gifts
from the master.
And he arose
and went to Mesopotamia,
to the city of Nahor.
Now,
this is a,
the reason why
he's taking so much stuff
is because in this call,
they had what is called
the bright price.
Right?
And,
and you pay,
a bright price
to the wife's family.
And then,
and eventually,
that,
that wealth,
the bright price
that the wife's family received
will be passed on
to the wife
when she got married
as a dowry.
Right?
And that,
it's easy for us
to,
you know,
look at that
and,
and think,
oh,
how primitive,
why do they do that?
They're treating women
like property.
What's going on?
Right?
It's,
in this day and age,
in this culture,
it's,
women do not work.
Right?
And they're working at home.
Right?
And they don't get,
have paid jobs.
And so,
if they happen to be
so unfortunate
to come across
a dud of a husband
who neglects her
and,
and abandons her
or divorces her,
she has no source
of livelihood,
especially if her,
her parents have passed.
And so,
dowry ensures,
dowry is guaranteed
to the wife.
It doesn't belong
to the couple.
And that ensures
that the wife
has a source of livelihood,
even if she were
to come across
a bad husband.
Not only that,
the bright price
ensures that the families
are more tied
collectively together,
and it dissuades,
you know,
frivolous,
you know,
promiscuous suitors
from coming and saying,
oh, hey,
I'll marry your wife
and,
and then I will marry
this woman
and marry her
and then abuse her
and leave her.
Right?
You can't do that.
So,
the substantial requirement
of the bright price
discouraged,
you know,
frivolous suitors
and encouraged
and made sure
that only serious suitors
who we want,
intended to marry
and keep,
stay married,
came to,
to court these women.
And so,
the servant goes
and he takes 10 camels.
So,
this is a suggestion
of great wealth
of Abraham.
Camels are like
the Porsche
and Ferraris
of their day,
right?
Really expensive
and rare.
And the fact
that he has 10 of them
he can spare
along with his servant
is a sign
of great,
great wealth.
So,
he leaves.
And then,
once he leaves,
he,
when he arrives
at his destination,
he prays to God first,
asking God for help
and he devises
an ingenious test.
He prays
that the woman
who comes out
to water,
who not only
offers him drink,
but also offers
to water
all his camels,
should be the one
that God has appointed,
the word is used,
for Isaac to marry.
Now,
at first,
this might seem like,
that's not too difficult.
I mean,
if I were in that station,
I think I would have done that.
And especially considering
the ancient hospitality,
you might think this,
anyone,
maybe the first woman
who comes would do that.
But this is actually
not the case
because it's really easy
for the woman
to offer Abraham a drink.
I mean,
not Abraham.
Abraham served in a drink.
But it's actually
very difficult
for the woman
to water all the camels
because how many camels
did Abraham's servant bring?
He brought 10 camels
and the camels
are known to be
animals of burden
in the desert.
Why?
Because they're so good
at going without water
for many days.
And if a camel goes
for several days
without water,
as they would have done
in this case,
they are so parched,
it says that one camel
can drink
as much as 25 gallons
of water.
25 times 10,
250 gallons of water.
And a container
of that time
would be what?
At max,
a few gallons.
And if you look down later,
it says that it's a,
verse 16,
it tells us that
it's a well
that you have to walk down to
to fill with water
and you walk up
three gallons.
Or how many trips is that?
Right?
80 trips to the well?
This is a lot of work.
And even if we,
you know,
offer more conservative estimates
and say that camels
were not completely parched,
this is still very,
very,
very labor intensive.
So he takes a woman
of great,
exceptional hospitality
and kindness
to offer that.
So he's devised
a pretty stiff test.
And he prays
that God will make
this woman do this.
And before the servant
could even finish
uttering his prayer,
it says that our female,
our female protagonist
comes on the scene
in verse 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.
I love the way it's phrased.
This reveals the graciousness,
the eagerness
of our heavenly father
to answer prayers
according to his will.
Because God said
about his people
in Isaiah 65, 24,
Before they call,
I will answer.
While they are yet speaking,
I will hear.
That's what we see here
God doing.
That's God's heart
to answer our prayers
when we pray
according to his will
for our good
and for God's glory.
He's not reluctant.
He's not loath
to answer our prayers.
And when we do that,
before we're even done speaking,
he says,
Yes,
I want to give this to you.
Yes,
that's his heart,
the father's heart for us.
If we only believe
that simple truth,
it'd make us so much
more eager to pray
and transform our life
in interaction with him.
And these next few verses
are one of the most
exciting passages
in the whole book of Genesis,
just brimming over
excitement and anticipation.
And by the way,
there are some very helpful tips here
for singles
who are looking for
marriageable partners,
so pay attention too.
Verse 15,
it tells us
that this young woman's name
is Rebekah
who was born to Bethuel,
the son of Milcah,
the wife of Nahor,
Abraham's brother.
Of course,
that's the most important part
of this description
because that's the express reason
for which Abraham's servant
was sent out
to find someone among his kindred,
someone who shares
the faith of the Lord God.
And then,
secondly,
we find here in verse 16,
the young woman
was very attractive
in appearance,
a maiden whom no man
had known.
Now,
this is not a requirement,
but it's a nice bonus,
right,
if the someone you want to marry
is very attractive to you.
And so that's what we find here.
And she's also chased.
It says she's a maiden
whom no man had known.
So she's a virgin.
And in verse 17,
the servant then carries out his plan
and then asks Rebekah
if she would offer him some drink.
And the prayer that the servant prayed
is fulfilled in exactly the way
he had prayed it.
So Rebekah not only offers him a drink,
but offers to water all of his camels.
And she is described
as being exceptionally industrious
and diligent
because twice in verse 18 and 20,
it says that Rebekah did her work quickly.
So she's an amazing woman,
it seems.
And so by the time Rebekah is done,
the servant is quite confident
that this is the woman
that God had appointed for Isaac.
And so he then showers her with gifts
and then questions her
so that he is taken back to her house
to meet and get the approval
of her family.
Now,
when he arrives there,
he's greeted by Laban,
who is Rebekah's brother.
And he says this in verse 30,
As soon as he saw the ring
and the bracelets on his sister's arms.
You see where the emphasis is here,
what he's looking at.
And heard the words of Rebekah,
his sister,
thus the man spoke to me.
He went to the man
and behold,
he was standing by the camels
at the spring.
Remember the camels,
that's the Ferraris and the porch.
So this is a beautiful portrait.
It's a wonderful portrait of Laban.
So you have Rebekah here
who is described as really selfless
and Laban here is as selfish as can be.
The only thing he's noticing,
he's not trying to test
the character of the man
or asking questions.
He's looking at,
oh,
he's got lots of bling bling
and he's got this nice bride
that he's sitting next to,
right?
And so when they,
and then he offers his hospitality
as a result.
But when they sit down for a meal,
the servant is very urgent.
And he makes this proposition.
He says,
I am Abraham's servant,
verses 34 and following.
The Lord has greatly blessed my master
and he has become great.
He has given him flocks and herds
and silver gold,
male servants and female servants,
camels and donkeys, right?
So this is the part that interests Laban.
And so he mentions it shrewdly.
And he's very smart.
He says in verse 35,
and Sarah,
my master's wife,
bore a son to my master
when she was old.
Now this is an important point
because it's,
you can remember Nahor,
right,
is Abraham's brother
and Rebecca is his granddaughter,
right?
And Isaac is Abraham's son.
So they could potentially think
that there's a huge age gap here.
And then so they met,
the family might be thinking
to themselves,
oh,
well,
our daughter is a beautiful maiden,
very attractive.
Why should we give her hand
in marriage to this shrivelly old man,
right?
And so he says,
no,
Sarah,
my master's wife,
bore a son to my master
when she was old.
So this is a young son,
okay?
She had him when she was old.
And not just that,
he mentions that the Lord has,
the fact that he mentions
that he's the only son
is significant
because that means,
and he mentions that Isaac
is the exclusive heir
to all of Abraham's inheritance,
right?
So at first,
this may have come across
as a little bit,
like if you say Abraham
is so blessed,
why does he only have one son?
So that could be a fact
that's kind of a deterrent for them.
But then the servant
turns that around
and uses it to his advantage
to say,
oh,
ha ha,
you thought that was a bad thing,
but what turns out to be
his loss is your gain
because he's going to get
everything Abraham has,
right?
So this is a very shrewd servant.
No wonder Abraham
entrusted everything he had to him.
And so he does that
and then more importantly,
he gets the main purpose
of his journey across
in verses 37 to 41,
telling the family
that he has come
to find a wife for Isaac
among his kindred.
And he slips in the fact
that, you know,
if the woman does not come with him,
the deal is off.
He's going to take
his proposition elsewhere.
And so he's kind of said
everything he needed to say.
And then the final conclusion
in verse 49
can't be any stronger.
Now then,
if you are going to show
steadfast love
and faithfulness
to my master,
tell me.
And if not,
tell me.
Then I may turn
to the right hand
or to the left.
Right?
He says,
if you are going to show
steadfast love
and faithfulness
to my master.
So in other words,
if you're going to show
kindness to humanity,
if you're going to fulfill
your obligation
as Abraham's kindred,
well then,
there's only one right answer
you can give me.
Right?
And not only that,
steadfast love
and faithfulness
are two of the most
frequently mentioned
attributes of God.
So he's saying,
in essence,
well God's behind this.
God's shown
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
So if you don't want
to obey God,
if you don't want
to follow His will,
then you can decline
this offer.
So this is a really strong,
you know,
he's pressing his deal.
And so,
of course,
they can only say
one thing.
So they say,
verses 50 and 51,
the thing has come
from the Lord.
We cannot speak to you
bad or good.
Behold,
Rebecca is before you.
Take her and go
and let her be the wife
of your master's son
as the Lord has spoken.
It's a really good example
even though they're not
the most godly people,
it seems,
but they still believe
that if the Lord has spoken,
they must follow it.
Right?
When the Lord has spoken,
when God's word
says something,
it's not a time
to debate,
say this is bad or good.
No,
it's time to obey
and to submit to His will.
But later,
as the servant
hastes to leave the family,
maybe they're starting
to second guess
this abrupt proposal
and agreement.
Maybe they want to,
you know,
change some of the terms
of the agreement
so they want to buy some time
so they try to delay
their departure.
And because
this tension builds
and now this is the climax
of this narrative
and they ask,
they decide to bring Rebecca in.
Let's ask her.
Let's make her decide
since she's the one
that's going.
Verse 58,
and they called Rebecca
and said to her,
will you go with the man?
And as they wait
with bated bread,
she says,
I will go.
And that simple,
decisive statement,
I will go,
aligns her
with Abraham
and not with her family
because it's Abraham
in chapter 12
who was commanded
by God
to go from your country,
from your kindred
and your father's house
to the land
that I will show you.
and now Rebecca
proves herself
to be in that promised line
and connected
to Abraham's family
and she says,
I will go
and she too
leaves her country
and her kindred
and her father's house
to be part of God's plan.
And so,
it's not surprising
that the blessing
that she receives
as she departs
exactly mirrors
the blessing
that God had given Abraham
in Genesis chapter 22,
verse 17.
And so,
she leaves
and then she meets Isaac
and verse 67
is so tender
and intimate.
It says,
Then Isaac brought her
in to the tent of Sarah,
his mother,
and took Rebecca
and she became his wife
and he loved her.
Biblically speaking,
loving the person you marry
is a far greater concern
than marrying the person you love.
Right?
The Bible spends much more time
talking about loving
the person you marry.
So,
saying that,
you know,
we've fallen out of love
and using that
as a basis for divorce,
breaking up a marriage
is a completely
unbiblical answer.
A feeling of love
can be cultivated
and deepened
with persevering acts of love.
Right?
That's what Christ calls us.
And we do this
by daily finding
our satisfaction in God,
not in our spouses.
Right?
Because if we,
if we demand
our spouse
is what God
can only fulfill,
then we will be
disgruntled and dissatisfied.
We do this
by daily considering
our spouse
better than ourselves.
Right?
Instead of fixating
on their faults
and foibles,
right?
We decide to focus
instead on their
final traits.
And we choose
to love the person
we married.
And that's what
happens here
with Isaac.
Rebecca became his wife
and he loved her.
And not only is Rebecca
blessed throughout this,
through this marriage,
Isaac is blessed
beyond measure.
It says,
Isaac was comforted
after his mother's death
by his marriage
to Rebecca.
Right?
This is such a,
it's kind of a minor detail,
but isn't that amazing
what kind of character
of God this reveals
for us?
Right?
God's right now
fulfilling this cosmic plan
which will be fulfilled
in Jesus
to redeem all,
redeem humanity,
to redeem people
for himself.
And while he is unfolding
and implementing
this cosmic plan,
he's also taking care
of Isaac
because he's mourning
his mother's death.
He comforts him
with Rebecca.
God cares about
our brokenness,
our suffering,
the small things
that we might deem
unimportant in the
grand scale of things.
He cares about those things
even though he's
the God of the universe.
And so we saw
in chapter 23
God's fulfillment
of place.
And here we see
God's fulfillment
of progeny.
And at this point
we might object,
well, it's easy
for Abraham to hold
on to the promises
of God
because he's seen
all kinds of,
you know,
evidences of God's
faithfulness
and his power, right?
His wife, Sarah,
gave birth to his son
when she was 90 years old
and menopausal.
That's a miracle, right?
So of course,
Abraham could have faith
and hold on to the promise,
but what about us?
How can we hold on
to the promises of God?
What reason do we have
to hold on
and believe
in the promises of God?
The answer to this
lies throughout
this passage
and the rationale,
the basis,
the reason
for the fulfillment
of God's promises
in these passages
is given
in the repeated words,
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
Right?
In chapter 24,
verses 12 to 14,
when the servant
is praying,
asking God
to give him success
regarding finding Rebecca,
he says twice,
he calls upon
God's steadfast love.
Blessed be the Lord,
the God of my master.
This is verse 27 also.
After, right,
after God's answer
to his prayer,
he says again,
blessed be the Lord,
God of my master Abraham
who has not forsaken
his steadfast love
and his faithfulness
toward my master.
And then again,
in verse 48,
when it says,
the God of my master Abraham
who had led me
by the right way
to take the daughter
of my master's kinsman
for his son.
Right way
can be translated
true way,
faithful way.
It's the same word.
Again, loving,
it's a steadfast love,
faithfulness.
Steadfast love,
faithfulness.
That is the basis
for God's fulfillment
of his promises
to Abraham.
And what is steadfast love?
Steadfast,
it's unchanging.
It harkens back
to the gracious,
unconditional promises
that God made to Abraham.
And it's the overflow,
it's the overflow
of God's loving kindness
that finds its basis
not in our worthiness
or our merit,
not our deservingness,
but on the fact
that God is generous
and giving.
Do you know
that this is the word
that's translated
in the New Testament
as grace,
undeserved favor?
Do you realize
that we don't deserve
God's love?
We have not earned
an ounce of it,
yet God,
because of his,
solely because of his bounty,
his generosity,
the overflow
of his loving kindness,
he has steadfast,
unchanging love
towards people.
That's steadfast love,
grace.
And the word faithfulness,
it's also translated
as truth.
It's a reference
to God's faithfulness
to his character.
He's always true
to who he is.
He never changes.
He's faithful.
And these two ideas
is combined.
Faithfulness
is what lies behind
sometimes the New Testament
Greek translation
of the word truth.
And this is what's behind
John's statement
in John 1, 17,
where he says,
the law was given
through Moses.
Grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.
Steadfast love
and faithfulness
came through Jesus Christ.
In other words,
Jesus is ultimate fulfillment
and embodiment
of God's grace
and truth,
his steadfast love
and faithfulness.
And in Jesus,
then,
we have a far more
compelling reason
to hold on
to our promises in God
than Abraham
ever had.
Because Jesus came
and he died for us.
He was the perfect
son of God,
holy one,
yet he died
for our sins.
He died in our place.
That's grace,
loving kindness,
steadfast love
that we did not deserve
but poured out for us.
Yet God was faithful
to who he is.
He's just.
We were sinners,
we were rebels,
and we deserve
to be punished
and God had to punish
if he had,
if he's going to be
faithful to himself
because he's just,
because he's holy.
And so as I say,
right,
the proverbial,
unstoppable force
of God's grace
meets the immovable object
of his justice,
his truth.
And that's when
the cross happens.
That's the beauty
and the paradox
of the cross
where Jesus dies
as our substitute
so that even though
we deserve to die,
God unleashes his punishment,
meets out his judgment,
not on us
but on our substitute,
Jesus,
his son.
So he absorbs
the punishment himself.
And that's the reason
why we can have
eternal life
with him
if we believe in him,
repent of our sins
and believe in him
instead of death.
And it's when we look
to Jesus,
his face,
that's when we see
steadfast love.
It's when we look
to Jesus,
that's when we see
faithfulness.
And when we look
to him
and hold those
two things together,
that's when we can live
as Christians
who are holding on
to the promises
of God.
So let's pray together.
God,
it's so mind-boggling
to think
that you yourself
have made a way
for us to come to you.
Even though we
were your enemies,
even though we
rejected you,
even though we
sinned against you,
Lord,
thank you
for your steadfast love.
Thank you
for your faithfulness.
Thank you
for your grace
and truth
that abounds
for us.
Help us
to live
in light of that
today,
this week,
so that we grow
in our love
and affection for you
and in our faith
and trust in you.
In Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.