Written by: Naomi Hill - The Evangelization Society

Genesis 24 v 39-41
“I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ But he said, ‘I serve the LORD, who will send his angel with you and will help you. You will get a wife for my son from my family and my father’s people. Then you will be free from the promise. But if they will not give you a wife for my son, you will be free from this promise.’”

Notes
Let’s set the scene… Eliezer expressed how he had been worried that Rebekah would not agree to be Isaac’s wife. Abraham, his master, however, reassured him that whether or not he brought a wife back, he would be freed from the promise he had made to his master. 

So, here’s the major principle we can learn from this…

We need to trust in God, whether or not He gives us the things we ask for. Eliezer was to fulfil his part of the promise. If he came back without a wife for Isaac, it wouldn’t be held against him. His master’s acceptance of him was not dependent on his success in this mission. In the same way, our worship of God need not to be dependent on His answering our prayers in a certain way. 

Do you only want God for the things He can give you? Do you only want to know God when things are going well and you feel like your prayers are being answered? Are you in some kind of conditional relationship with God, where you will only work at your relationship with Him if He pleases you with His responses to you?

Or are you so in love with God that you stick by Him, love Him, trust Him, devote yourself to Him regardless of whether or not He gives you what you want?

He is God, He is love, He is power, He is humility. He deserves our worship simply for being who He is. 

Practical tip
Commit to never being in a “conditional” relationship with God. Tell Him that you will love and worship Him whatever happens in your life – and then live it!

Genesis 24 v 42-44
“Today I came to this spring. I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful. I am standing by this spring. I will wait for a young woman to come out to get water, and I will say, “Please give me water from your jar to drink.” Then let her say, “Drink this water, and I will also get water for your camels.” By this I will know the LORD has chosen her for my master’s son.’”

Notes
In today’s passage, Eliezer said that the sign of the right woman to be Isaac’s wife would be her saying, “I will also get water for your camels.” 

The principle we can learn from this is that Rebekah was a woman whose kindness flowed to do more than she was asked to do. This is a very important spiritual principle which is found throughout the Bible.

For example, Jesus taught us this principle. Take a look at what He says in Matthew 5 v 39-41:

“If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek as well. If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat as well. If someone forces you to go with him a kilometre, go with him 2 kilometres.”

Rebekah put into practise this principle of giving more than was asked of her. When she was asked for some water, there were three possible answers:
1. “No.”
2. “Yes.”
3. “Yes, and I will also get some water for your camels.” 

She chose to do the most she possibly could - more than she was asked to do. 

If we are in a relationship with God, we should put this principle into practise because we have been given to so generously. The extravagant, generous character of God should flow out of us also. 

Practical tip 
What is it that you are asked to do regularly that you could quite easily moan about? Why not commit to putting into practise this principle that pleases God so much? Rather than moan, or refuse, why not say “yes” and then go even further … do even more. Deal with others with the same extravagance that you have been shown.

Genesis 24 v 45-48
“Before I finished my silent prayer, Rebekah came out of the city with her water jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and got water. I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink this. I will also get water for your camels.’ So I drank, and she gave water to my camels too. When I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ she answered, ‘My father is Bethuel son of Milcah and Nahor.’ Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed my head and thanked the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, because he led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.”

Notes
All that Eliezer had prayed came true. Rebekah had said all that she was supposed to say, proving that she was the woman to marry Isaac. However, rather than taking all this for granted, Eliezer acknowledged that God had brought it all about. Not only did he acknowledge it, he thanked God for it too. 

We see a pattern here…
1. Ask God
2. Wait for the answer
3. Thank Him for His answer

Jesus taught this principle as well. He healed ten people who had a horrible skin disease, leprosy. However, only one of them came back to thank Him. Jesus said, “Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17 v 17)

Let’s look at this from God’s point of view. Imagine you have people asking you for things all day, every day. You always answer every one of them in whichever way is best for them. However, the vast majority of them simply grab what you’ve given them with both hands and run off with it, never to be seen again. But then there is one who comes back to you, acknowledges that you were the giver of their good gift, and says “Thank you” for it. Those simple words must seem so precious to our Father. 

Practical tip
Don’t be like one of the healed lepers who never thanked Jesus. Put a smile on the face of God by thanking Him for every good thing He gives you. Instead of just saying “thank you” before you eat a meal, thank Him when you put your clothes on in the morning, when He keeps you safe on a journey; when you have a good day out with your friends. He’s longing to hear those two simple words from you … THANK YOU!

Genesis 24 v 49-51
“Now, tell me, will you be kind and truthful to my master? And if not, tell me so. Then I will know what I should do.”
Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is clearly from the LORD, and we cannot change what must happen. Rebekah is yours. Take her and go. Let her marry your master’s son as the LORD has commanded.”

Notes
In this chunk of God’s Word, we read that Laban and Bethuel, Rebekah’s father and brother, gave their permission for her to be married to Isaac. This may seem a bit drastic to us – someone else in charge of such a major decision in our lives! However, the principle is a good one. Rebekah’s father and brother were the people in her life who she trusted with her well-being. It may not be a member of your family, but it’s so important to have people in your life who you trust and whose opinion you respect. 

Recently, I have started meeting with a woman from my church. We meet for coffee/lunch every couple of weeks, and it’s my time to off-load, tell her everything that’s going on in my life and how I feel about it all. She listens to me and tells me what she thinks. I really respect her opinion, so I listen to what she says and put it into practise in my life. 

This is what God wants for us. He explains in Ecclesiastes that having someone else to go through life with is a good thing. Listen…

“Two people are better than one... If one falls down, the other can help him up… If two lie down together, they will be warm… An enemy might defeat one person, but two people together can defend themselves…” (Ecclesiastes 4 v 9-12)

Practical tip 
Find someone to meet with regularly - either from your family, or someone else you respect. When you meet up, be honest, be transparent, listen to what they say, weigh it up against the Bible, take it as God’s words to you and put it into practise.

Genesis 24 v 52-56
When Abraham’s servant heard these words, he bowed face down on the ground before the LORD. Then he gave Rebekah gold and silver jewellery and clothes. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and mother. The servant and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, the servant said, “Now let me go back to my master.”
Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “Let Rebekah stay with us at least ten days. After that she may go.”
But the servant said to them, “Do not make me wait, because the LORD has made my trip successful. Now let me go back to my master.”

Notes
Eliezer wanted to take Rebekah back to his master to show him the wife he had found for Isaac. However, the family wanted Rebekah to stay for a while longer. Eliezer’s words show that he refused any unneccessary delay in God’s plan. He didn’t want to wait any longer, but wanted to go back to his master immediately. 

If we know something is part of God’s plan and pleasing to Him, we should act on it immediately. It can be very detrimental to our relationship with God if we know what we are supposed to do and don’t do it. Let me give you an example…

A little while ago, I became aware of the next step that God wanted me to take in a certain area of my life. He gave me the inspiration, and he even gave me someone to take that step with, yet I didn’t act on it.

A few months went by and I still hadn’t done anything about it. I started to feel very negative, my relationship with God had stagnated and I had lost a lot of the joy I had known. I knew I had to do something about it, so I took this next step in a desperate attempt to get back to where I was with God. Almost immediately, I felt a massive weight lift off me. I felt the veil between me and God had been removed and I was back to where I should be with God – all because I took the step I knew I was supposed to. 

Practical tip
When you hear from God, act on it. When He shows you the next step, do it. Listen to His every word and take pleasure in putting it into practise immediately … without delay!

Genesis 24 v 57-61
Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “We will call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do.” They called her and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man now?”
She said, “Yes, I do.”
So they allowed Rebekah and her nurse to go with Abraham’s servant and his men. They blessed Rebekah and said,
“Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of people, and may your descendants capture the cities of their enemies.”
Then Rebekah and her servant girls got on the camels and followed the servant and his men. So the servant took Rebekah and left.


Notes
Today, we read about the moment when Rebekah’s family released their daughter to go with Eliezer to be married to Isaac. They sent her off with their blessing: “May you be the mother of thousands of people.” 

This is exciting, because it’s just the same as the promise that was given to Abraham. In Genesis 22 v 17, God said to Abraham, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore…” 

What an amazing confirmation that Eliezer was doing the right thing! His master, Abraham, had been promised that he would have lots of descendants. Then, the woman Eliezer was bringing back to be Abraham’s daughter-in-law was told that she would have numerous descendants. 

God will often confirm things to us by what people say, or what we read in the Bible. If God says something once, we should listen. If He repeats it – we should definitely take notice!

Practical tip
I want to encourage you to find your own personal ways of hearing from God and listening to the confirmation that He gives you. In your relationship with God, be willing to read the Bible, believing that every word is directly from God to you. Listen to God through the words of other people in your life.

Genesis 24 v 62-67
At this time Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi and was living in southern Canaan. One evening when he went out to the field to think, he looked up and saw camels coming. Rebekah also looked and saw Isaac. Then she jumped down from the camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant answered, “That is my master.” So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.
The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. Then Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and she became his wife. Isaac loved her very much, and so he was comforted after his mother’s death.

Notes 
Imagine it - Rebekah, a young woman, knew that she was about to meet the guy who would be her husband. She was on the journey, and then she saw a man in the field. “Who is the man walking in the field to meet us?” she asked. This was not just an innocent question, but a sentence packed with so much significance. 

She was looking out for her promised husband. She was depending on God’s words being fulfilled. Rather than waiting for it all to fall into her lap, she did everything she could to play her part in the fulfilment of the promise. 

In the same way, we must always be looking for God’s promises to be fulfilled, always looking for the answers. Rather than just carrying on with our everyday lives, seeing the natural, human, physical perspective – lift your eyes, be expectant, look for God’s provision in every area of your life. 

Practical tip
What situation is there in your life right now where you can say the equivalent of, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” In what ways can you play your part in God’s plan, rather than just expecting it to happen to you. Take great delight in being part of God’s plan and seeing it displayed in your life. 

What a massive privilege that God Himself wants to be involved in your life. Why not commit to being like Rebekah, always on the lookout for how you can see God at work.


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes