The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the land from which you came?" Sermons
I. WE ENTER THE HEAVENLY REST THROUGH DEATH; THE CITY OF GOD THROUGH THE VALLEY OF BACA. Here we walk by faith. Great and glorious promises for our encouragement, that we may not make our home here; yet we know not what we shall be. Sight cannot penetrate the curtain that separates time from eternity. Thus there is the trial, do we walk by faith or by sight? We instinctively shrink from death. It is connected in our mind with sorrow, with interruption of plans, with breaking up of loving companionship; but faith bids us sorrow not as those without hope. It reminds that it is the passing from what is defective and transitory to what is immortal. Here we are trained for the better things beyond, and our thoughts are turned to that sepulcher in which the victory over death was won; thence we see the Lord arising, the pledge of eternal life to all who will have it. II. THE SEPULCHRE WAS MADE SURE TO ABRAHAM. In time he should enter it as one of the company gathered there to await the resurrection day; but meanwhile it was his. And if we look upon this as typical of our interest in the death of Christ, it speaks of comfort and trust. He took our nature that he might "taste death for every man." His grave is ours (2 Corinthians 5:14). We are "buried with him," "planted together in the likeness of his death.' The fact of his death is a possession that cannot be taken from us (Colossians 3:3, 4). He died that we might live. If frail man clings to the tomb of some dear one; if the heart is conscious of the link still enduring, shall we not rejoice in our union with him whose triumph makes us also more than conquerors? III. THE FIELD AND CAVE. How small a part did Abraham possess in his lifetime, but it was an earnest of the whole; he felt it so, and in faith buried his dead (cf. Genesis 1:25; Hebrews 11:22). An earnest is all we possess here, but still we have an earnest. In the presence of the Lord (John 14:23), in the peace which he gives, in the spirit of adoption, we have the "substance of things hoped for," a real fragment and sample of the blessedness of heaven. - M.
Led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. I. ITS RELIGIOUS ELEMENT.1. The sense of instant duty. 2. A recognition of God's gracious dealings. 3. A solemn sense of responsibility. (1) (2) II. ITS ECONOMIC ELEMENT. The steward gives an account of Abraham's wealth and position (ver. 35). He knew that the parents of this well-bred damsel would never consent to give their daughter to a man of mean circumstances and living one hundred miles away, nor to one of ignoble or degraded family. He takes care, therefore, to state that his master is rich, and that the bride would have a suitable home and congenial society. Still, with that pious feeling which marked him hitherto, he takes equal care to note that the riches of his master were righteously gotten. "The Lord hath blessed my master greatly" (ver. 35). He also gave suitable presents (ver. 47). He treats her as one who is to enter such a distinguished family. In all this transaction the religious and the economic elements are mixed in due proportion. The men who most believed in the supernatural, and who had most abundant witness of it, were the men who used the most care in the employment of common prudence and skill. This man does not blindly rely upon miracles alone, but uses human means and proprieties to their proper extent and trusts for the blessing of God. (T H. Leale.) II. THE IMMUTABLE CHARACTER OF THE GUIDE. III. THE DEVOTION OF THE GUIDED MAN. (J. Irons.) 2. Pious souls know and acknowledge God to be the only author of the prosperity of His servants. 3. Prosperity of believers is God's blessing. This maketh rich and adds no sorrow (Proverbs 10:22). 4. God is not strained towards His in outward things, when they are good for them. 5. Greatness of estate and honour sometimes God uniteth unto godliness. So it was here with Abraham (ver. 35). 6. God's miracles should be related when they make to His praise, and His people's good. So doth he. 7. The heir of promise may be the heir of all things here below. So Isaac. So eminently Christ was. 8. It is but rational in seeking marriage to declare the state in measure which God hath given (ver. 36). (G. Hughes, B. D.) People Abraham, Aram, Bethuel, Canaanites, Isaac, Laban, Milcah, Nahor, Rebekah, SarahPlaces Beer-lahai-roi, Hebron, Mesopotamia, Nahor, NegebTopics Bring, Camest, Case, Cause, Chance, Follow, Hast, Isn't, Needs, Peradventure, Perhaps, Removed, Servant, Suppose, Turn, Unwilling, Whence, WillingOutline 1. Abraham swears his servant.10. The servant's journey. 12. His prayer. 14. His sign. 15. Rebekah meets him; 18. fulfils his sign; 22. receives jewels; 23. shows her kindred; 25. and invites him home. 26. The servant blesses God. 29. Laban entertains him. 34. The servant shows his message. 50. Laban and Bethuel approve it. 58. Rebekah consents to go, and departs. 62. Isaac meets and marries her. Dictionary of Bible Themes Genesis 24:1-9 5076 Abraham, life of Library Guidance in the Way'I being in the way, the Lord led me.'--GENESIS xxiv. 27. So said Abraham's anonymous servant when telling how he had found Rebekah at the well, and known her to be the destined bride of his master's servant. There is no more beautiful page, even amongst the many lovely ones in these ancient stories, than this domestic idyll of the mission of the faithful servant from far Canaan across the desert. The homely test by which he would determine that the maiden should be pointed out to him, the glimpse … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture No Compromise If, Therefore, Even they who are United in Marriage Only for the Purpose Of... Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee. The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. ) The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. ) Genesis Links Genesis 24:5 NIVGenesis 24:5 NLT Genesis 24:5 ESV Genesis 24:5 NASB Genesis 24:5 KJV Genesis 24:5 Bible Apps Genesis 24:5 Parallel Genesis 24:5 Biblia Paralela Genesis 24:5 Chinese Bible Genesis 24:5 French Bible Genesis 24:5 German Bible Genesis 24:5 Commentaries Bible Hub |