Episode 33
Genesis Ch 24 vs 1 to 32
The Servant's Prayer:
Seeking God's Direction
Pastor Bob Thibodeau discusses Genesis chapter 24, focusing on the importance of seeking divine guidance in crucial decisions.
He emphasizes how Abraham instructed his servant to find a wife for Isaac, highlighting the need to avoid the cursed Canaanites. Abraham's insistence that Isaac not return to his homeland underscores the significance of staying within the blessings promised by God.
The servant, instead of relying on human knowledge, prays for God's direction, showcasing a model for making decisions based on faith. The episode wraps up with a reminder that trusting in God’s timing can open the right doors when it's meant to be.
Takeaways:
- Abraham was very careful about finding a wife for his son Isaac, emphasizing the importance of family lineage.
- The servant of Abraham prayed for guidance before starting his journey, showing the value of seeking divine help.
- Rebecca's actions at the well demonstrated kindness and hospitality, which were significant traits in that culture.
- The importance of trusting God's timing is highlighted, as the right doors will open when it is meant to be.
- Abraham's insistence on not returning to his homeland for a wife shows his faith in God's promise of land.
- The servant's insistence on finding the right woman for Isaac underscores the significance of marital choices in faith.
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Transcript
Hello, everyone, everywhere.
Speaker A:Pastor Bob Thibodeau here.
Speaker A:Welcome to your 15 minute daily Bible walk.
Speaker A:We're so blessed you're joining us again today.
Speaker A:Now, today I want to talk about Genesis, chapter 24.
Speaker A:And we'll just pick it up in verse number one.
Speaker A:Abraham was old, well, stricken in age.
Speaker A:And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things.
Speaker A:And Abraham said to his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had put, I pray thee, your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife unto my son, of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell.
Speaker A:Now remember, we are talking about the descendants of Noah.
Speaker A:Abraham knows the curse on the Canaanites.
Speaker A:Abraham knows that he doesn't want his son to be raising the descendants that are cursed.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:And you know, we.
Speaker A:We covered last time that when Sarah died.
Speaker A:Now we, you know, we'll talk about this in another second or two, but at the time Sarah died, she was 127, Abraham was 137, and Shem, still alive, was 527.
Speaker A:All right, so Abraham, he's met Shem Melchizedek, he's met Shem, and he knows who he is, and he knows he's in the lineage of Shem.
Speaker A:But he does not want his son that's supposed to have the blessing of God upon him to be end up being cursed under the Canaanite curse.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:So he says, you know, but you shall go, verse four, to my country, to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.
Speaker A:And the servant said to him, peradventure, the woman doesn't want to follow me into this land.
Speaker A:Do I need to take your son again in the land from where you came?
Speaker A:And Abraham said to him, beware that you don't take my son there again.
Speaker A:Verse 7.
Speaker A:Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, from the land of my kindred, and which spoke to me and swore to me, saying, unto your seed, unto your descendants, will I give this land.
Speaker A:He shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife unto my son from there.
Speaker A:And if the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you are clear from this my oath only, do not take my son there again.
Speaker A:And the servant, why?
Speaker A:Why was that important that Isaac didn't return back to the land of Abraham's upbringing?
Speaker A:Because God had told Abraham, the land you're walking in now, the width of it, the breadth of it everything you see, I'm giving to you and your descendants forever.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:That's why he said, don't take my son back there.
Speaker A:This is where God's blessing is.
Speaker A:But don't take my son a wife from among the Canaanites that live in the land, because they're cursed.
Speaker A:Okay, that's the.
Speaker A:That's the part you got to understand here.
Speaker A:And verse 9.
Speaker A:The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him concerning that matter.
Speaker A:Verse 10.
Speaker A:The servant took 10 camels.
Speaker A:So the camels of his master departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hand.
Speaker A:And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
Speaker A:Verse 11.
Speaker A:And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water about the time of the evening, the time that the women go out to draw water.
Speaker A:And he said, o Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day and show kindness to my master Abraham.
Speaker A:Now what did he just do?
Speaker A:The servant did not seek Abraham's brother.
Speaker A:He didn't go there saying, hey, where's Nahor, brother of Abraham?
Speaker A:No, he asked God.
Speaker A:He asked God, Abraham's God to guide his path.
Speaker A:Why is that important?
Speaker A:Well, if he would have just walked up to the village and said, where's Nahor, relative of Abraham?
Speaker A:They said, he's over here.
Speaker A:Then he'd walk up and say, hey, you know, I'm Abraham's servant, and I'm here to get a wife for his son Isaac.
Speaker A:You know, it would just be all in the natural right that, that the servant got there, found out where Nahor live, went up, said, hey, you know, we're here to.
Speaker A:To take a bride for my.
Speaker A:For Abraham's, you know, son, right this way.
Speaker A:He said, God, you guide my steps, make it so obvious that nobody can argue with it and watch what happens.
Speaker A:He said, he's.
Speaker A:This is this prayer.
Speaker A:Now I'm standing here by the well of water.
Speaker A:The daughters of the menace city come out to draw water.
Speaker A:Let it come to pass that to the damsel to whom I shall say, let down your pitcher.
Speaker A:I pray thee that I may drink.
Speaker A:And she shall drink.
Speaker A:And she will say, drink, and I'll give your camels drink also.
Speaker A:So there's the clue when I say, could I have a drink?
Speaker A:And she'll say, here, have a drink, and I'll give your camel something as well.
Speaker A:Let that same be her, be she that you have appointed for your servant Isaac.
Speaker A:That's how I Will know that you have shown kindness to my master.
Speaker A:Now, it could have been any of the young girls out there, any one of them.
Speaker A:But he said, let it be this way.
Speaker A:What's he.
Speaker A:What's he say?
Speaker A:God, make it so obvious that you're in this that they can't argue against it.
Speaker A:That's what he's doing.
Speaker A:And when we pray our prayers, we should be doing the same thing, okay?
Speaker A:Not testing God.
Speaker A:No, we're not testing God.
Speaker A:You know, God, let the.
Speaker A:I'm gonna throw these envelopes up in the air.
Speaker A:Let the first one that comes down be the job you want me to have.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:He's on a mission.
Speaker A:You have to be on a mission.
Speaker A:What's your mission from God?
Speaker A:You could be the person that.
Speaker A:That seals the boxes at the FedEx facility.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:But if that's where you're called to be, pretty soon you'll be running that outfit.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Your prayer should not be, God, let the.
Speaker A:The next person I see at work be the one that's going to promote me to president of the company.
Speaker A:No, that's not how that stuff works.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:We could pray.
Speaker A:God, I'm going to serve you to the best of my ability because I know you're one that provided me this job, and I enjoy this company, and I want to make this my career.
Speaker A:Lord, I'm just going to trust you to put me in favor with all who are in charge.
Speaker A:And you do the best job you can at that place that you work at.
Speaker A:Pretty soon, someone's going to see you doing your job, and they're going to be talking about you to your supervisor.
Speaker A:Your team leader.
Speaker A:We'll call it that.
Speaker A:We'll be talking to his supervisor.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, Joe over there, man, he.
Speaker A:He's great.
Speaker A:I have nothing, no complaints about him.
Speaker A:His work is excellent.
Speaker A:He's on time.
Speaker A:His attitude's good, you know, and when a new position comes up, say, who should we put into this position?
Speaker A:Let's pick Joe.
Speaker A:You know, because you have favor by doing that.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because you're serving God in your job.
Speaker A:So you get promoted.
Speaker A:And now you're talking amongst the team leaders because you're one yourself.
Speaker A:And you know, there's a supervisory position coming up, and the supervisors are talking to the next level supervisors, you know, who should, you know.
Speaker A:Well, he's been here 20 years.
Speaker A:He's been here five years.
Speaker A:Joe's been here six years.
Speaker A:Joe's team's always on spot.
Speaker A:We have like zero complaints and all that.
Speaker A:I think he, you know, we ought to be looking at him.
Speaker A:You know, you're moving up the ladder, right?
Speaker A:Folks, I've proven this out in my own life.
Speaker A:I have.
Speaker A:I have proven this work.
Speaker A:That method works in my own life.
Speaker A:From sales.
Speaker A:I started when I left the militant out, even in the military, okay?
Speaker A:This is the same thing.
Speaker A:I did my job the way it was supposed to be done, zero complaints, and was promoted ahead of my peers just about every step of the way.
Speaker A:When I left the military and started my own insurance agency, the same thing.
Speaker A:I served my clients, I served my bosses.
Speaker A:Within three years, I had my own agency.
Speaker A:Within five years, I had 12 agents working underneath me.
Speaker A:We were rated number two in the United States for our company.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Then when I became.
Speaker A:I got tired of that and ended up being a police officer.
Speaker A:Same thing.
Speaker A:I was promoted ahead of my peers.
Speaker A:I was a supervisor.
Speaker A:Folks, this stuff works.
Speaker A:I'm telling you, when you serve God, God will make sure that doors are open that need to be open at the time they need to be open.
Speaker A:Not before, not late.
Speaker A:We serve an on time God.
Speaker A:We may like the old black hymnal song said, he may not come when you wanna, but he's always right on time.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Praise God.
Speaker A:Don't shut me down when I'm preaching.
Speaker A:Good Hallelujah.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Where was I?
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Verse 14.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Verse 15.
Speaker A:It came to pass before he even finished speaking.
Speaker A:Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milka, wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her picture on her shoulder.
Speaker A:And the damsel was very fair to look upon.
Speaker A:She was beautiful, a virgin.
Speaker A:Neither had any man known her.
Speaker A:And she went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came back up.
Speaker A:And the servant ran to meet her and said, let me.
Speaker A:I pray they drink a little water from your pitcher.
Speaker A:She said, here, drink, my Lord.
Speaker A:She hurried and put down her pitcher from her hand and gave him a drink.
Speaker A:When she had done giving him a drink, she said, I'll draw some water for your camels also, till they've done drinking.
Speaker A:And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water and drew for all the camels.
Speaker A:And the man wondering at her held his peace to whether or not the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
Speaker A:And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring, half a shekel weight and.
Speaker A:And two bracelets for her hands of 10.
Speaker A:Shekels weight of gold.
Speaker A:And he said, whose daughter are you?
Speaker A:Please tell me, I pray thee, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge in?
Speaker A:Now, that seems, in today's society, that seems a bit forward.
Speaker A:You see someone that's nice to have straight, hey, you know, whose daughter are you, and can I stay in your house tonight?
Speaker A:I mean, you wouldn't do that today, right?
Speaker A:Back then, that was the.
Speaker A:The way that people treated each other.
Speaker A:Okay, There's a traveler coming through, and, you know, you'd open your house to him, okay?
Speaker A:And he said, whose daughter are you?
Speaker A:And is there room in your father's house today?
Speaker A:She says, I am the daughter of Bethel, son of Milka, which she bore to Nahor.
Speaker A:Now these names are ringing in his ears.
Speaker A:He knows this is her right.
Speaker A:Morrow, she said, we have both strong provident enough and room to lodge in.
Speaker A:So the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord.
Speaker A:And he said, blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth.
Speaker A:I being in the way.
Speaker A:The Lord led me to the house of my master's brother.
Speaker A:And then she heard that it says, and she ran and told them of her mother's house.
Speaker A:These things.
Speaker A:Verse 29.
Speaker A:And Rebekah had a brother.
Speaker A:His name was Laban.
Speaker A:Laban ran out to the man unto the well.
Speaker A:And it came to pass when he saw the earring and bracelets on his sister's hands, when he heard the words of Rebekah, his sister, saying, thus spoke the man to me, that he came to the man, and behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
Speaker A:He said, come in, you blessed of the Lord.
Speaker A:Why are you standing out here?
Speaker A:I've prepared the house and room for the camels.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:So we'll leave it off right there.
Speaker A:Verse 31.
Speaker A:We'll take up verse 32 next time.
Speaker A:Lord, I want you to see how the Lord works here.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:We covered this a little bit a couple minutes ago.
Speaker A:But, folks, when you trust God to open doors for you, the doors he wants open will open.
Speaker A:The doors he wants open will open in their time, not your time.
Speaker A:The doors he wants open in his time will be the blessing you're seeking when you try and push open a door that doesn't belong to you.
Speaker A:That's called breaking and entering.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:You get in trouble for that.
Speaker A:Oh, don't shut me down.
Speaker A:I'm preaching.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker A:Praise God.
Speaker A:Folks like this, give us your comments down below.
Speaker A:Like this.
Speaker A:Episode.
Speaker A:Share it out with your social media.
Speaker A:It is so important that you take a faith step and get the word out into all the earth.
Speaker A:All we're doing is sharing the Word of God one verse at a time.
Speaker A:Praise God till next time is passed about reminding you to be blessed in all that you do.
