This is the longest chapter in the Book of Genesis and it contains the last recorded words of Abraham. He is faced with a new problem now – and we will see just how he copes with it and how the LORD will provide yet again for him.

What is the problem?

Well Sarah has died and has been buried – there is no mother in Israel. How will the promises be accomplished? How will the promised offspring now be assured?

Easy you say – Isaac is alive and the promise will pass through him.

And yes you are quite right. And yet…

Isaac is nearly 40 years old and not yet married.

Once again the promise appears to hold by a thread.

Remember Moses is writing for the people of Israel waiting on the borders of the Promised Land – he is speaking to them about their very existence, explaining to them just how it is that they actually even exist!

There are a number of keywords that Moses uses as he writes his record that should point us in the direction of finding out what is of real significance in this long chapter.

The name of the LORD is repeated some 18 times – He is once again very active throughout. How we need constantly to be reminded of this! How easily we look to human actors and human activity and focus upon particular individuals and what they do! How easily we can put ourselves centre-stage as it were and think only about how we might behave and what we might do. Moses points us away from being totally consumed by such ideas to see that the LORD is very much involved in all that takes place.

Secondly, Moses uses the word blessed 6 times and then follows this up by using the word prosper or some form a further few times.

The theme that Moses intends to draw out for his readers and hence for us is just how the LORD blesses and prospers Abraham by directing providentially the provision of a wife for Isaac. Thus the people of Israel standing on the borders of the Promised Land could go forward trusting that the LORD could and would keep His promises to them being well able to order all the providential circumstances of their lives. Likewise the church has no need to fear an uncertain future – the LORD who has promised to build His church is able to bless and to prosper His work even in the face of unpropitious circumstances.

A Closer Look

Let's work our way through the chapter and highlight just how all this works out – or, more accurately, how the LORD works all this out!

vv.1-9

1. The plan is laid out. What lies back of all that happens in this chapter is the fact that the LORD has blessed Abraham and has promised him further blessings.

2. Abraham takes all this very seriously – God's promises to him do not mean he can sit back as a spectator rather God's promises spur him into action. He must find a wife for his son Isaac.

3. He chooses his most important servant for this most important of missions – and make no mistake the mission would not be an easy one to carry out!

4. The importance of the mission is underlined by the fact that Abraham requires an oath from his servant.

Let's pause for a moment to look at the problem and examine Abraham's reaction to it.

Firstly, he excludes the simplest solution which would have been to take a local woman to be Isaac's wife – given his status he could probably have found a local princess with little difficulty. But he doesn't do so, why? Well he had been told of the sin of the nations currently inhabiting the land was offensive to the LORD God. He knew from personal experience what they were like – the LORD had spoken of a coming judgment upon these nations. In other words the Canaanites were scheduled to be disinherited as punishment for their sin. There was therefore no future in being associated with them even though to do so might appear to be a easy option. Abraham takes God's word very seriously indeed and would rather follow a plan that humanly speaking looks much less likely to succeed. After all Abraham reasons if God has promised then God can be trusted – choosing the difficult way demonstrated Abraham's confidence in the LORD. Abraham has come a long way in his life – you'll remember he didn't always act with such calm confidence.

Secondly, the difficulties of the proposed mission must not be overlooked. Abraham entrusts a mission to his servant that is fraught with potential difficulties. Abraham isn't ignorant of the difficulties rather his faith laughs at them!

The journey involved a 400/500 mile trip northwards. The servant had to find Abraham's own family and find a suitable unmarried woman amongst them. This family would have to be willing to allow the girl to head off into the unknown. The girl herself would have to be prepared to leave her family and travel some 400/500 miles to a new region where she knew no-one and there to marry a man she'd never met!!

5. The servant doesn't rush in but takes his oath only after having clarified certain details and raising certain possible scenarios.

6. This call for clarification gives Abraham the opportunity of stating what is and what is not negotiable

A. Isaac must under no circumstances be taken out of the promised land – the servant thought he might succeed in much of his mission but perhaps the girl wouldn't want to travel – wouldn't it be perhaps necessary for Isaac to move to where she was?

B. Abraham declares his utter confidence that the Lord will prosper the mission but won't hold the servant responsible for things that our outside his control. What a lesson for us to learn too. We need to obey the LORD and let Him take care of the consequences!

7. With the situation clarified the servant takes the oath and soon is off on his mission.

vv.10-14

The plans progresses and Abraham's servant is to the fore in this section. He shows us that he is a wise man in the things that he does.

He shows us too that he has learnt from his Master to be a godly man too.

Taking thoughtful action is not inconsistent with trusting the LORD. As Cromwell said to his men about to cross a river before going into battle:

"Trust in God and keep your powder dry."

Before setting off to Mesopotamia he takes camels and gifts. Only the rich had camels and he demonstrates his master's wealth by travelling with 10 of them. The other gifts will probably come in useful in encouraging the family to allow their girl to go!!

Upon arriving he heads to a place where he is likely to meet just the type of person he wants to meet – he goes to the well where the women would come for water.

But he knows that these efforts won't be enough to make his trip a success – he prays to the LORD making the LORD's own steadfast love for Abraham a major plank in his praying.

His prayer is very specific too as he asks the LORD to guide him to the right woman. While it might seem as though he is putting in some requests that almost seem to be asking for flashing lights guidance in reality the requests that the servant makes will serve to be very good at showing forth the type of good character he thinks appropriate:

He must find a woman from the right family – he wants her to be kind, generous and not afraid of hard-work.

vv.15-21

When Rebekah arrives on the scene we find out not only that she meets those requirements but she's pretty to boot!

As the servant watches on somewhat in amazement we're told not whether he had found what he was looking for but whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not. He hasn't forgotten his dependence upon the LORD and Moses keeps our eyes focused on the fact that it is the LORD who is in charge of what is going on!

vv.22-28

However good the servant might be feeling at this stage the affair is in no way all done and dusted. He proceeds to question the girl further – after all he didn't know from just seeing her which family she came from.

The information he receives and the hospitable reaction of the girl causes the servant to bow in worship recognizing that the LORD was truly in what was happening. The servant knows of the LORD's commitment to his master and joyfully celebrates these further evidences of His loving faithfulness.

vv.29-33

Rebekah runs ahead and speaks to her family. We're introduced to Laban who will figure prominently in subsequent events in Genesis. As we meet him for the first time he already gives every indication of being a greedy materialistic man – how impressed he is with the jewellery he sees on his sister Rebekah – how eager he is to welcome a man with camels!!

Abraham's servant is thus warmly welcomed and invited to eat but he places his master's interests ahead of his own and wants to explain the reason for his coming rather than to eat his fill.

vv.34-49

The servant repeats the story of what we already know. He certainly makes not the slightest attempt to omit reference to the LORD but seeks to emphasize His involvement in the whole saga:

He adds detail to explain just how the LORD has blessed Abraham by enriching him greatly – Laban's eyes must surely have been widening!! He declares Abraham's utter confidence that the LORD would prosper the venture. He refers to his own prayer and to how he responded to worship the LORD when things turned out as they did. He is seeking to show how the LORD was in it all – he wants Laban and Bethuel to realize that they will be putting themselves out of line with the divine will if they react negatively now.

vv.50-51

The response the servant elicits from Laban and Bethuel is the one he wanted to hear – they affirm their conviction that God was indeed in the affair!

vv.52-61

Godly Abraham has a wise and godly servant – his reponse to the favourable outcome of his mission is to worship the LORD. He gives more gifts and seeks to return as quickly as he can. He wants Abraham to know how the LORD has prospered his mission.

vv.62-67

The thing that is perhaps strange in what follows is that there is no mention of a return to Abraham and to his reaction to it all. But then again perhaps it is not so strange – the story is not about Abraham and his plans it is all about the LORD and His faithfulness. The story Moses has told has shown clearly how He was sovereignly overruling in every detail to move forward His purposes. A suitable wife was necessary for Isaac if the purposes of God were not to be thwarted and the purposes of God were not to be thwarted. As we read the story how easy and straightforward it all was. When the LORD is providentially at work there is no need for fear or anxiety whatsoever. Israel on the borders of the Promised Land centuries later needed to learn this lesson. We Christians millennia later need to be assured of the same truths!

Before the chapter comes to an end there remains one further obstacle that must be overcome. Would Isaac be happy to take this young woman from distant parts to be his wife?

But we needn't worry need we. The woman of God's appointing will not fail to satisfy the one for whom she is intended. In the same way we should always expect God's provision for us to be fully satisfying.

May the LORD give us the confidence we need to rest trustingly in His ability and desire to provide for His people the church.