Genesis 24:10-14 Bible Study | Episode #297

November 29, 2022

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Genesis 24:10-14 Bible Study | Episode #297

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Alive, Applying God's Word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to.

And allow you to see him and to know him, and to know his will, that you might glorify him, and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus' name. Good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We're in Genesis chapter 24, and we're studying the story of Abraham sending his servant to find a bride for Isaac.

That bride being ultimately Rebecca, We're gonna be introduced to her today and she is a picture of the New Testament Church. She's a young maiden and any time you find a maiden in scripture, that's a picture. That's a picture of the church. That's a picture of the bride of Christ.

And that's who she is. This morning we're gonna be studying this servant that is going and he is He is going to go and search for a bride and he's gonna go and search for a bride in, in the place where Abraham is from, in the town where Abraham is from. And we're in verse 10 and it says this.

Then the servant took 10 of his master's, camels and departed. For all his master's goods were in his hand. Notice he, he took there's a lot of symbolism here. There's lot of symbolism here. And I love to to read it and look at it and just allow the symbolism to give me roadmaps as to what's going on, to allow the symbolism to show me what direction.

I should be thinking in when I'm reading these stories and obviously you've got the Servant, which a picture of the Holy Spirit always is a picture of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirits. So one who gifts us for works for our own service and ministry. He is he's our counselor, our para cleat. He's the one that comes alongside of side us and helps us in life and helps us as we walk with God to to know God and to know what he's doing.

And The servant took 10 of his master's, camels and departed for all his master's goods were in his hands. Now, 10 is the number of the law, and it's also the number of the character of God. And when you see this, he takes 10 of those camels and 10 of those. Camels and they are a picture of a beast of burden.

They're not a beast of burden as the flesh is. That would be an ox or a or a a cow. But they're a picture of a beast of burden, a spiritual burden that must be born. And you know what? In our walk with God we have spiritual burdens that God has for us to carry. We've got burdens that are necessary for us to carry.

And to do. And it says it says here that he had a burden and that burden was to go and find bride for Abraham's son, Isaac. And and he was carrying the very nature of God. He was carrying the the presence of God, the promises of God, and in. Not only was he carrying the promises of God on that spiritual burden that he had to carry out, but he had all of his master's goods or all of his master's wealth.

He had his master's wealth in his hand, which means it wasn't going to be set some other time. It wasn't going to be everything that he had need of to carry out this this mission. He had right in his hand. And when we look and see this, we see that God has. This servant and remember Abraham, in this picture's a picture of God.

God had sent, God has sent this servant, and when he sent this servant to Gowin and do this task, he provided for him his character and nature he provided for him. Not only was there a spiritual burden, but he had provided for him the means by which to carry that burden. And then he also provided the means in the sense of the financial backing, the wealth what it took to make that burden happen.

And when God sends us on a burden sends us on a journey when he sends us to do his will, he always sends us with those things. He always sends us with his nature. He always sends us with the ability to carry it out. And he always sends us with the blessings or the wealth or or the resources necessary to make it happen.

And when that's going on we are. We are in the best possible place we can be in. We're right there in the center of God's will. And we're not lacking anything. We have everything to gain everything, nothing to lose. And so it says, and he he came and he arose and he went to Metic.

Mesopotamia easy for me to. To the city of Naor and he made his camels kneeled down outside the city by the well of water. At evening time, the time when women go out and draw water. Notice he is going and he's in search of. He's started in search of a bride and he's going to the right place. And let me tell, let me just speak to this just on a practical note as we go through life in our modern day times, there are so many ways, so many.

So many preferred methods for going to find a spouse. There is going out and clubbing. There is all these websites, the one that comes to mind just off the top of my head, not that I am promoting any of them is eHarmony or something like that. I have no. I would imagine there are hundreds, if not thousands of those different websites that you can search for someone to date or someone to marry, and then then there are your friends networking and trying to pick somebody.

That's the old method of matchmaking. And it is a method that is been used for generations and generations past And then there is the method of going to the place to find the person who has the character nature that you want to find. And that would be hunting over the right baited ground.

If you're going to hunt deer you don't need to get in your boat and go out in the middle of the lake. You're not going to shoot any deer. You're not going to shoot any deer at, in the middle of the lake. If you're going to hunt doves you're better off not to do it in the middle of the night.

You, you're not going to be able to see them and that, that time of day is not the best time of day in order to see. Doves and to hunt them. If you're going to go fishing you can't climb up in a tree and fish for bass. They're not in the top of a tree and they're not gonna walk up on the dry land to come talk to you.

And likewise, if you're going to, if you're going to search for a spouse, you need to search for a spouse in the place where. The spouse of the character in nature of the type of person that you want to spend the rest of your life with is likely to be at. And the way that works is this way you're best able to find a spouse.

Where that person is actually someone of the same type as you are. And when I say type, I'm talking about Christian. We're not we're not to be married to those who are not like us in the sense of unevenly yo. And that's the scriptural definition of it. What it means is, When you put a yolk on two oxen, that ties them together and they've gotta learn to work together to accomplish their task.

When you're married, you're tied together you're linked together and it, when you're linked together you need to be linked with someone who pulls in the same direction that you pull in, that goes in the same way you go with and Obviously you wanna be in a place where you're gonna meet someone who is of as you.

And that type of person is usually found where the other Christians are. So I would go to the places where Christians meet, I'd go to the places where believers are searching for God's will and God's way. And that is always found and I love that he goes. The servant in this story goes to the well.

The well is a picture of God's truth and living water coming up and nourishing us and taking care of us, and washing us, and cleansing us in, in, in God's word, in God's power. Here you find it right here. You find God at the well, and at that well is the best place to find a spouse. And this servant knows that.

He knows that the young women of the town, the ones who are doing right, the ones who are doing properly for their family, are going to be coming out and doing the labors of a young maiden in that. And getting water for the household for the evening. And that was the place to come and to meet.

And he set himself up in the right place. Noticed he didn't go into town and search the streets. He didn't go to the leaders of the town and asked them to pick somebody for him. He went to the well on in the middle of town and he. He searched for a woman of beauty and character and of grace.

And that's the perfect way to find a spouse, is to go to, to the place where believers meet and search for someone who is seeking after God in the same way you're seeking after God. Now that is just the as easy peasy lemon squeezy as you can possibly find. And now is it gonna be easy all the time to find a spouse at the at church?

No, Not necessarily. But you're gonna be around a group of people who are seeking after God, and you're likely to find someone there who is seeking after God, or at least knows people who are seeking after God. You're not going to the town center where people are trying to make deals for their own benefit.

You're going to the church where people are trying to help people along their way in life. And that has always been the best place to find a spouse. Now, when you're in high school, you're with all your friends and you're around a bunch of people and you're around a bunch of people all the time.

But as you become an adult the truth is the pool of people that you're around regular. And the opportunity to meet someone diminishes and I would say to anyone who is an adult, that the best place for you to find someone searching after God is is where God's people are meeting for the purpose.

Of worshiping God. Now, there are places, spiritual places where Christians gather and a lot of times they're described as meat markets because Christian people who are searching for spouses are looking for a spouse there. And a lot of them show up at that place and they're not showing up for the purpose of worshiping God.

They're sure up for the purpose of meeting someone. And I would say to you that that's probably a better place than many. But it is probably not the best place you wanna find your spouse when they are doing what this servant was doing, where they're carrying their spiritual burdens, meaning their spiritual direction, what God has done for them in the very character in nature of God.

And they're doing it with the provision and the blessing of God. And that happens where somebody is showing up, ready to serve. And to do his work at that place, That's not where you just show up and find a spouse because that's where the good people are. That's not how that works. And that should never, ever really be how it works.

It should always work where you're showing up to serve God and in the midst of serving God, God provides you with that blessing and that hope that you wouldn't have any other way. And It says here he shows kindness to my, He says when he gets there he asks for God to bless him and to open his eyes.

Verse 12. He says oh, Lord, God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day and show kindness to my master Abraham. What is he saying? God, I need your help. I need you to lead me. And anytime you're on a spiritual journey. You need to be following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

And let me tell you something, life itself is a spiritual G journey because God says he orders the steps of the righteous, which means that he has set out the course and the path on which you should travel. And if you are traveling down that path, Then you ought to be always seeking God's opportunities.

A lot of people sit back and they procrastinate or they sit back and they worry about what might happen. Or they sit back and they worry about failure and they miss out on the will of God. And the reason they miss out on the will of God is because they're not open to seeing that will being done in their lives.

They're too afraid to. And to allow the Holy Spirit to lead them on that journey. They they sit and rot in the position they're in rather than chase after God and chase after God's plan each and every day for their life. They don't see life as an a zealous journey with God. They see life as something to be endured.

And let me say that is not the perfect Christian view of what God has done for you in your life. He has many opportunities, many spiritual journeys, many spiritual burdens to carry and many opportunities to see him at work in your life. And it is foolish for a person. To sit back and allow life to happen rather than walking with God and allow God to open life up for them.

And that's what this servant does. He comes to the place where he knows he should be. And he says my God, the God of Abraham. Please open the door for me to do and to succeed in the journey and the burden that has been placed on me today. And what a great prayer this.

He says, Show kindness to my master Abraham. Meaning, bless him because I am here to be a blessing for him. In verse 13, he says, Behold, here I stand by the well of water. Notice that's a picture of God's, the movement of the Holy Spirit. The refreshing, the anointing of the Holy Spirit right there, he says, And the daughters of men of the city are coming out to draw water.

What he's saying is, I had put myself in the best place to fulfill the burdens and the responsibilities that you have for me. I am in the position of fulfillment and so says, He says, Now let it be that the young women to whom I. Please let down your picture that I may drink. And she says Drink and I will give also, give your camels a drink.

Let her be the one you have appointed for your servant, Isaac. What he's saying is, Lord, I'm going to ask these young ladies to give me a drink and I'm gonna ask them to help me with my camels and You pick the right one and you lead me to the right person for my my, my cert, My master Abraham's son.

You're the one I need to be listening to Notice. He's saying, Give me spiritu eyes to see and lead me to the right person in this in this situation. And that's what he does. That's what he does. He he says, Open my eyes that I may see, and he opens his. That he can see God's God. When he sends you on a spiritual journey, he does not put a blindfold on you and put earmuffs on so that you cannot hear or see when he sends you on a spiritual journey for a spiritual purpose.

He is always wanting to open your eyes up to see his movements and to see his hand at work. He's teaching you not only about how to trust him, but he's teaching you also about his character nature. And when he is teaching you about his character nature you need to have your eyes open to see that so that you might know him better and so that you might serve him better and so that you might glorify him more in the journeys to come.

And learning his character in nature, learning how God operates, learning his wills and his ways, not just his. But his ways, his methodologies, how God does things, learning those things is important. When God sends you on a journey, he's not just sending you on journey to accomplish a task. He can accomplish that task on his own.

He sends you on a spiritual journey so that your eyes can be opened and you can see how he operates, who he is, and you can begin to operate that way yourself. You want to be like, You wanna take on his nature, you wanna take on his character and he's sending you in that nature in character. So why shouldn't you learn from it?

You should learn from it. And God does teach us to learn from it. So he says he says I'm asking you, Lord, if you will, when I ask for some refreshment of water that you send the right woman to do that. And by the way, that's what the church was made for. The church was made for to, made to refresh the world, to be like to the Gentiles, like to the world, like to those who are lost in darkness.

And he's saying, I want a young lady that is that way. And He says he says, Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink. Let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. And by this. I will know that you have shown kindness to my master. And what he's ultimately saying is when I see this young lady, when I see this young lady and her name's gonna be Rebecca when I see this young lady, I will know that your plan and your will are complete and your purposes are unveiled.

And Right here, right now, in the midst of what we're looking at and doing today. I would say to you that we are in a, we're in a important portion of scripture because we're seeing the very way God moves in his servant. We're seeing that God provides his character. He provides direction he provide.

He makes sure that you have the methodology by which to meet out his will. He provides you with all the blessings and all that's necessary to carry it out. And then he asked you to go and be faithful. Meaning, trust him and act. And then he asked you to open your eyes so that you can see him actually at work in the world around you.

And then he says, Go to the right places. Do it the right. Go and try to find my will where my character in nature would naturally lead you. And and ultimately he. He says that is how you complete a spiritual task. That's how you come to a place where you are are making a spiritual journey your own and learning from his nature and his will.

I hope you've learned a lot this morning. It's been a good bible study about the nature of God. Spiritual journeys that he sends us on. And their main reason for them is so that you can learn to be like him. He is the one who provides all things and we learn to walk as he walk.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.