Genesis 24:26-32 Bible Study | Episode #299

December 1, 2022

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

Genesis 24:26-32  Bible Study | Episode #299

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 are in the book of Genesis, chapter 24. You say we were in chapter 24 last week.

We were, but this week we've gotta finish the chapter and. It is a long chapter, and I think that is that is really important to see that this story of going to get Rebecca, his bride Abraham's bride is an important it's an important idea. It's an important Foreshadowing of the church.

And God spends a lot of time, a re a whole lot of time in the story of Abraham explaining the story of going to get Rebecca and everything that happened in that story. And When we're looking at this story, I think we're looking at a a very important foreshadowing a look at the life of Rebecca and who Rebecca was and how is it that God brought her to Isaac.

So in verse 26, it said this is the brother of This is one of one of the brothers of Rebecca Labban. He's going to, he's going to come out, but the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. And this is the servant of the Lord. This is the one who went to get Rebecca.

He's a picture of the Holy Spirit, and he said, Blessed be the Lord of God, of my father Master Abraham, who has not forsaken his mercy and his truth toward my master. As for me being on my way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. And you go, Okay, what does that mean? This is what it means.

This is what it means. He went on this long journey to the place he'd never really. The place he'd never really been to before He, he went on this long journey to a place that. Was totally foreign to him. And he sets up at the well of the town to find a maiden that that strikes him as one who would be a woman who could fulfill the role of being the wife of Isaac, the wife of Promise.

If Isaac's the son of Promise, then she's the one who is going. Bear his children, raise his children, and they, that is a very important role to play because she's going to be heavily involved in the role. And you can see that Sarah and then Sarah is heavily involved in her role. As Abraham's wife these, this role of them working together to to be a part and experience the fulfilling of God's promises to them is important.

And when God gives a promise to one in a couple, he gives the promise to both in the couple. And the couple, as far as God's concerned, is not a couple anymore. They're one to him and. Rebecca is going to play a very important role in the years to come in the life of Isaac, and she's gonna play a great role in the lives of Jacob and Esau.

And she's gonna play probably because she's going to be alive. She's gonna play a big role in the 12 tribes of Israel and they're raising. And she is very important Now, she's also a picture of the church. So she is, she's of great importance. And the reason I'm focused in on this is because, When you're looking at this, he went to that village and God picked out someone exactly who fit what Abraham told the servant to look for.

Looked for somebody from my household, from my town looked for somebody of obviously beauty and character and somebody who is fit for the role we're looking for. And he said, Don't take my son there. You're going to get her. You're going. Search her out and obviously Jesus once he died on the cross and once he met about 500 and then ascended to the father, the right hand of the father.

Once that happened Jesus is not coming back until he comes back for good. He's not coming back until he's coming back to reign into rule, and to be with creation forever and to be the ruler of all of creation. He's not coming back until then. And when The servant went, He's not going back to the village where Abraham came from.

He's not going back, which is a picture of really the world if you think about it. Abraham was called as a person of promise out of the world into the promise land, which is into the promises of God, into the blessings. Now, it's not called the promise land until the children of. Are stuck in slavery in Egypt for 400 years, and they realize we, we wanna be in the place where God's promises are rather than in the place where the world's in control.

And when this story's being told this servant gets there and the perfect person is there, the absolute perfect person is there. The person the woman that God had picked out and God had already decided beforehand it's almost like God was in charge of this. And I say that jokingly, but it's the truth.

We oftentimes see the hand of God at work and we are amazed and we say unbelievable. Something that's unbelievable is something that can't be believed. And let me say this, God's promises and his word are true, and he's lets you, he lets you know on the front end what he's gonna do on the back.

So even though they're amazing, they're not unbelievable. They're easy to be believed because his truths are continually at work in our lives. His con, his truths are continually doing what they should be doing in our lives. And It is believable. It is amazing that God knows and works in ways that seem like it.

How could that happen? But for God? We're going to be studying a little bit next week for God. What is impossible to man is simple and easy and easily possible for him. And so he says, Blessed be the God of my master. Who is not forsaken his mercy and his truth.

Notice he's not forsaken his active mercy for Abraham. And you go, Why did Abraham need mercy? Abraham needs mercy because he's a human being. Abraham needs mercy because he's a man under the curse of sin. And he also needs truth because truth is what guides us out of that truth is what guides us from our death and sin.

To the promises of God and life. And if you're going to have hope, if you're gonna have, if you're gonna have hope, and you're gonna have it living inside of you his truth is what guides you to that. His truth is what makes that alive. And so you shouldn't. You shouldn't miss out on that. You shouldn't miss that that cl that clarity of how God deals with things.

He said as for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. He didn't know where it was. God led him to it. And that is so important to understand that in order to receive what God has promised you, he's gotta lead you to that promise. He's gotta, he's gotta open your eyes and allow you to see the opportunity.

He's gotta, he's gotta make it. So clear to you that you hear him and you walk in it. Now you go I don't really hear from God clearly, and I don't see things clearly from God. Let me say this. He gave you eyes to see, in ears to hear, you have to learn to practice using them.

You have to learn to open your eyes up to the things God is doing around you and you. Learn to open your ears up to the things God is saying each and every day. And the more you tune in to God the more you tune out the world you will. The more you'll walk in his promises, the more you'll see him and you'll recognize him.

And you know as well as I do in life, it's easy to tune your ears out to somebody who maybe says stuff that is irrelevant or says things that are. Or issues for you? You don't like 'em, you, They're a nuisance. They're bothersome. They say things that don't make sense.

What do you do normally? You tune them out. You're, you can easily in your mind cut the volume down on that person and you do it. And if you're a man you're an expert at that. And so if you're, if you know that you do those things, you tune people out all the time and you know that you don't place your gaze on.

That you don't want to look at. If you're walking in in, we're getting into football season in Alabama and in football season in Alabama, the state splits wide open. We have Auburn fans in Alabama, fans and when you're walking down the street and you're an Auburn fan and you see somebody wearing an Alabama.

You don't wanna look at them. They're on the enemy side. And so you just turn your gaze against that. You don't look at that anymore. You in your own heart and mind you wipe that from your brain. The same is true when when we're dealing with God the right.

I see Ryan Moore puts White War Eagle on there, right there, and see, I'm turning my eyes from that. And so when we're studying God's word, And when we're walking in the world, you can focus on what God's doing or you can fail to focus on what God's doing. You can listen to what God's saying, or you can fail to listen to what God is saying.

And you could easily tune God out by tuning the world in. And you can easily forget about the majesty of God by looking at the issues of life. And focusing your heart and mind in worry and doubt and allow yourself to ultimately be destroyed, ultimately be led down the path of despair.

You can do that, but if you realize that God is not only at work around you, but he is at work revealing that work to you, but you're just, the question is whether or not you're willing to tune your heart and your eyes into what God's doing around. When you realize that and begin to tune God in, you realize God's talking all the time.

God's talking all the time, Ryan. We are on God's team. That's right. We're all on God's team. We're talking all the time and there's no doubt about that. We're. Available to hear him, but you gotta listen. You gotta tune years in. You gotta tune your eyes in. This servant, cuz he is a picture of the Holy Spirit, obviously he's tuned in he says, As for me being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren.

So the young woman ran and told her mother's household. These things. Notice that's a picture again. And when I read that verse, it makes me think of the woman at the, now the woman at the she was a woman who had five husbands. Now we don't know whether those five husbands. Were had left her because of her un faithfulness.

Quite likely in the time she lived in, they were just swapping wives and divorcing this one so they could be with that one. And that was an issue in the Jewish people at the time of Jesus obviously. And that would've been a time that would've been when it was taking. But when she gets the truth, when she, But we have a, another woman at a well, and when she gets the truth, notice what the woman at the well did with Jesus and notice what Rebecca's doing with this servant.

They go and they tell their people about it. Because when you're a part of the body of Christ and you And you hear the good news when God opens your eyes and allows you to see things, what do we do? We go and tell people about it and we tell our people about it. Now, for some of you, you've told your family and they've rejected it.

Listen, there's nothing you can do about that. All you can do is plant the seed. You cannot convince your family to trust in Jesus like you're trusting in Jesus. In fact, The strong probability in that situation is God's gonna have you walk in it in front of them so that they can, so that they can see it and realize the importance of it.

And sometimes that takes a little time. I want you to hear that sometimes that takes a little time for your family to get it. A lot of times a new believer or somebody who's. Really figured it out with the kingdom and began to really walk with God. They'll invite their family and their family will come to church and they'll, and the service will be good.

It'll be a good service wherever it is that they're at. And all of a sudden at the end of the service, they expect their family to be walking with God the same way they are. They expect to. Them to have the same revelatory happening that happened for them and it doesn't happen. And they get discouraged about it and they get upset about it.

Don't, The fact that they came meant that they were willing to at least open their hearts and minds to the possibility and. Might be even evidence that God's at work in their life, but they may have done it just to satisfy you. And if they did it just to satisfy you, trust me, it, it won't work out that way.

And but that being said, seeds are still being plant planted and God's still at work. And if you'll give him time to show them what is going on in your. That seed might begin to germinate and might begin to take hold. And so don't get discouraged when family and friends don't begin to chase after God like you chased after God recently, or you chased after God in the last few years.

Don't get discouraged about that. Why? Because it took time for you and it'll take time for them. And we have all the life that God has for us. And trust me, he's not gonna leave any of his sheep not in his pen. He's gonna make sure he gets him in. And so you may love your family a lot, but he loves them more than you do.

And they're of greater importance to him. Then they are to you. And so he's going to handle that situation. Your business is to chase after him and allow that light to be a light to those around you, which it will be for your family and friends. And so now Rebecca ran in there and she had a brother whose name was Labing and I love this her brother immediately.

Is fired up about what God's doing. And that happens a lot of times That does happen. Sometimes you'll get one and then all of a sudden you got 10 in a family at the church or 10 chasing after God. And that happens. And so for those of you who are not sure about your family share with them there, there's a strong likelihood that they're looking for the same thing you're looking for because y'all been looking through life.

And it's when that happened she Leban took off and he was fired up about it too. So it came to pass when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrist. And when he heard the word of his sister, Rebecca, saying, thus the man spoke to. That he went to the man and there he stood by the camels at the well, and he said, Come in.

Oh, blessed of the Lord. Notice he's received it. He took that truth inside himself, and he wants to be a part of this this mighty movement of God, this opportunity to meet with God. He's receiv. He's receiving this servant just as aggressively, just as zealously as Rebecca is.

Not only that, he's realizing this is the place of promise. This is the place of hope. This is the place of opportunity for Rebecca, but it's a place of opportunity for all of us. And that's what happens with the church. The church opens the door and oftentimes when Christ is lifted up the people come running in and they come rushing in.

And at times you've gotta build the the. The strength of the church, those who are really chasing after Christ. And at times you go out and you take that strength and you harvest in the world that we live in. And you've gotta be doing both. You got to be actively doing both, and you've gotta be teaching your people.

How to do both. Because it takes time. It does take time for the strength and for the purpose of each person to be developed and to be have your eyes open to it, and for the opportunities to avail themselves. It takes time. And I love that people get fired up and they want to do now.

You, I want you to do now. Now. If you're gonna do now, Do now. Now. I notice I said that several times. If you're gonna do now do it with your family. Because now is for everyone, the people that are around them people get fired up about what God's doing in your family, and they'll chase after it many times.

And so I would say, This morning that that's important. Allow God to move in those around you, and then he will move out to those who are tangential to you and your family, and he'll eventually begin to make you a light to everyone that you're around. A light to the a lost and dying world that you live in.

Also just real quick, I wanna say this because it is just the important thing that I would like to bring up. Notice this servant gave her a nose ring. And, for me I don't really like nose rings. I just be honest with you. I don't really love nose rings. They're kinda weird to me and.

You say what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything. That's my whole point. God's gonna bring all kinds of folks in, folks that's got different looks and different ways of doing things and different interest and different activities. When John said he saw the congregation of heaven, he saw, he said, I saw men from every tribe and nation tongue in language.

Why'd he. Because they looked like they were from all over the world. It looked like they were, Some of 'em were white and brown and black and yellow and red and maybe even some purple haired people, you never can tell. And they were tall and short and thin and maybe a little bit more big boned.

We can say and they had different color eyes and they had, Yeah, Amanda, they, some of 'em probably had pink hair and and just cause people aren't like, don't look just like you don't mean that God ain't moving in their lives. And I grew up where, I was told never ever get a tattoo.

Don't get a tattoo. And then I was given the law as to why not to get a tattoo. That's not in the Bible. That's in the Bible, but that's the, that's in Leviticus. And Leviticus is the law. And if I'm telling you not to do something based off of legalism, that's just not going to work.

It's not gonna work. And remember the person. Remember the people and the and the opportunities for God to share. Oftentimes there're gonna be people that don't look like you, and they're gonna be new people, new to God and new to the kingdom. And some of the most fun and exciting people to bring into the church are people who come from families and come from situations where God's not ever been involved in.

It's a fresh touch of God in a line of people. That has never been before. And why don't, why wouldn't we want to have that? Why wouldn't we want to experience that? We should want to experience that. And so when I read nose ring there, I think I don't really. Want something in my nose.

But apparently it was a, is a very important blessing because he, it distinctly says the gift that was given to her to let her know that God was coming was a nose ring and bracelets. I like bracelets. I'm good with bracelets. Okay. But nose ring. But that's the primary thing. And it gets mentioned over and over.

And I think it's important when we run into these things to say, you know what? Let's broaden who is a part of the body of Christ that we live in and that we're in? Why? Because they bring in life that wouldn't be there. We don't want homogenized life. We want all the life that God has for us, and we want that as a church too.

And if you're in a church that's homo. Just begin to be a little bit less homogenized. We don't all need to be the same. In fact, we need a lot of different, and the reason we need a lot of different is because God made a whole lot of different in this world and a whole lot of different reveals the character and nature of God.

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.