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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I love that the servant is praying. I love that Isaac will be out in the field praying. And it could be, as some commentators believe, that every single day this servant would get up in the morning and pray, commit his journey to God. Get up in the morning, commit his journey to God. Next day, commit his journey to God. Because he's praying all the way through this encounter at the well. Okay, so your first date, you open in prayer. Don't stop there. Don't say, yeah, well, we prayed our first day, we're done now.
Pray through your relationship. I had an interesting meeting. This was so many years ago, I think I'm safe to tell it. It was a Friday afternoon and I was told that I had a meeting with a couple whom I was supposed to marry perform their wedding on the following day, Saturday.
Now there was a process then as there is now. They had seen an assistant pastor, they had been through counseling, I assumed. And now I was just, you know, they had been mentored and disciple, I'm just simply gonna tie the knot. So I asked the couple, tell me about your relationship with each other. They told me how they met and they were looking at each other and then I said, tell me about your spiritual relationship. Dead silence. And not only was there dead silence, but the man, the soon to be husband, started shrinking in his chair and was silent while the gal just sort of kind of stood up and got puffed up and definitely miffed. You could see the body language. She was not pleased that I asked that.
So I decided to press a little bit more. I said, now does that make you uncomfortable? Do you pray together? Do you read the Bible together?
What's your favorite scripture? I just started asking some questions and she said, that's none of your business. I said, oh really? You're asking me to perform the wedding tomorrow and you're telling me it's none of my business that I ask you as a pastor, as a servant of God, about your spiritual relationship. That's right, it's none of your business. Well I decided to press a little further and ask her why it was none of my business and do they read the Bible at all or pray together? Come to find out they didn't, but she was so incensed that I even asked about her walk with God. She got up from the table and stormed out of the room.
While this guy is just sitting there saying nothing, he was such a wimp, just a noodle just melting in the corner. I said, okay, so you're the leader of this relationship. Oh yeah, well yeah, you know, she is this way and I said, okay, well you've got, it's like two o'clock in the afternoon, you've got about three more hours to get her back into this room and we'll finish the counseling sessions or I'm not going to do your wedding tomorrow. Oh, but it's on the invitation, I don't care what invitation, I don't care who's coming in from out of town. You can have the president and the pope there, I'm not going to do the wedding before God unless I know you have a spiritual relationship, so you've got three hours to get her back in here and finish this up. They never showed up, I didn't do the wedding.
I don't know where they got married, but I did hear that it wasn't long before they divorced. Very, very sad. So Abraham is holding his servant to this and his servant is taking it very seriously, he's planning for success, is it going to work, I'm going to trust God, I'm going to pray all the way through and make sure it's on a spiritual level. And the servant ran to meet her and said, okay, so here he is praying, oh God, I just prayed that as the chicks come out to draw water and one is there and I'm going to say, hey, can I have a drink? And she's going to say, not only can you have a drink, but I'll also give water to your 10 camels, 10 camels.
When camels take a long journey and they can go for days without water, once they require water again, 10 camels would require four huge barrels worth of water. It's not like she's going to take a little cup and go here, she's going to have to go back and forth and back and forth. It's an undertaking and would show the kind of character he's looking for, industrious, submissive, a servant. So his Lord let her be the one. So here he is, she's there, he sees a girl, wow, she's good looking, I wonder if this is the one.
So he tries it, here he is. Verse 17, please let me drink a little water from your pitcher, God, please, God, please, he's thinking. And so she said, drink my Lord. Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand and gave him a drink and all the while he's wondering, go on. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking. What was he doing at this point?
Yes, yes. She quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
It's exactly as he was praying and he didn't get to say amen and she shows up and she's said it like it was scripted. He's wondering. So it was when the camels had finished drinking that the man took a golden nose ring weighing a half a shekel, that was really cool in those days, gals, like a big diamond ring, to you, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing 10 shekels of gold and said, whose daughter are you? Tell me please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge? So she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel Milka's son whom she bore to Nahor. Moreover she said, we have both straw and feet enough and room to lodge. She saw the loot coming out of this guy's pocket to feel the witness, yes.
I may have stretched it a little bit. Now watch, verse 26, then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? He's learned from Abraham to trust the Lord. He went out on faith like Abraham lived by faith and now he's just seen God do something maybe he in his heart really didn't expect but he's blown away.
He's wondering and he bowed his head and he worshiped and he said, blessed be Yahweh, the Lord God of my master's servant who has not forsaken his mercy and his truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way the Lord led me to the house of my master's servant. Verse 27 is one of the most important verses on how God leads human beings in scripture.
As for me, being on the way the Lord led me. Who does God lead? People who are on the way. People who get in the way get in his way. And when they're in the way, on the way, God leads them. It's not like the servant said, well tell you what Abraham, I'll just kick back in my tent and I'll pray, God if you want to find a wife for Isaac then just bring her here.
So he got up and was caravaning 450 miles making the long journey on the way. And God led him on that way. So here's the principle. God's providence is seen and revealed in man's diligence and obedience. God's providence is seen in man's diligence and obedience. Be diligent. Be obedient. Get in the way. You've got to take the first step before God will tell you what the second step is.
The steps, verse Psalm 37, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. But you've got to take the first step. How did you learn to ride a bicycle? Did you read a book on it?
Watch videos about it? You got on a bike and you tried it. And you got your balance. And you go, I get it, I get the hang of it. So when you want to walk with the Lord and be led, get on the way. Take the first step and God will show you the second and the third and the fourth and you'll have a journey, you'll have a path marked out for you in life. In the New Testament, the Lord told Philip, go down to Gaza, which is the desert. He didn't tell him what he was going to find down in Gaza, which is the desert, right?
He just said, go down to Gaza, which is the desert. So he went. Because he took the first step, God told him, now it's time to take the second step. Join yourself to that chariot. Because he saw a man sitting reading the scroll of Isaiah, Isaiah 53 in a chariot. And the Lord said, now go join yourself to that chariot.
He never could have joined himself to that chariot and led that man to Christ unless he would have just gone out down to Gaza, which is the desert. So go, take the first step. And God will show you the second and the third and the fourth. So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things. Now Rebecca had a brother whose name was Laban. Keep your eye on Laban. He likes material things and he's getting involved in this transaction.
It'll prove important later on in Genesis. And Laban ran out to meet the man by the well. So it came to pass when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists. And when he heard the words of his sister Rebecca saying, thus the man spoke to me that he went to the man, and there he stood by the camels at the well. See, Laban's going, hmm, this is good. Whoever this guy is represents a very wealthy patron. And he said, come in, oh, blessed of the Lord.
I say, watch out for Laban. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and the place for the camels. And the man came to the house and he unloaded the camels, provided straw for feed for the camels, water to wash his feet, feet of the men who were with him. Food was set up for him to eat and he said, I will not eat until I've told you about my errand.
Isn't that interesting? I got business first. I'll eat later. I'm on an errand. I'm on a mission from God. So he said, speak on. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, it's more important than ever for Christians to stand for truth in our broken culture. And in the God Speaks biblical answers for today's issues collection of booklets from Skip Heitzig, you'll get equipped to speak God's timeless truth into the big issues of our time. God Speaks biblical answers for today's issues is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give $50 or more today to help reach people around the world with the good news of Jesus through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. So he said, I am Abraham's servant.
Here's what you find. The nameless servant now tells of the riches of the Father's house. Helper, comforter, is telling of the riches of the Father's house to this family and then to Rebekah.
Type of the Holy Spirit. The Lord, verse 35, has blessed my master and he has become great and he has given him flocks, herds, silver, gold, male and female servants, camels, donkeys. And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old and to him he has given all that he has. And now my master made me swear saying, you shall not take a wife from my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, but you shall go to my Father's house and to my family and take a wife from my son. And I said to my master, perhaps the woman will not follow me. But he said to me, the Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and will prosper your way and shall take a wife from my son from my family and from my Father's house.
You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family, for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath. And this day I came to the well and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if you will now prosper the way in which I go, behold I stand by the well of water and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water and I say to her, please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher to drink. And she says, drink and I will draw for your camels also.
Let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed from my master's son. But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebecca coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder and she went down to the well to draw water and I said to her, please let me drink. And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder and said, drink and I will give your camels a drink also. So I drank and she gave the camels a drink also. And I asked her and said, whose daughter are you? She's just telling the whole thing that we just read. I'm the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milkah bore to him.
So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. And I bowed my head and I worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. Now if you will deal kindly, truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me and I will return to the right hand or the left and Laban and Bethuel answered and said, the thing comes from the Lord.
We cannot speak to you either bad or good. Here Rebekah is before you. Take her and go and let her be your master's son's wife for the Lord has spoken. It came to pass when Abraham's servant heard their words, here it is again, he worshiped the Lord bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought out the jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night and they arose in the morning and said, send me away to my master. But her brother and her mother said, let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten after that she may go. He said, do not hinder me since the Lord has prepared my way, send me away so that I may go to my master. So they said, we will call the young woman and ask her personally.
Interesting. It's prearranged but it involves her choice. It's a mixture of the arrangement of the fathers or the families but still they're letting her make a choice. She has to answer the question. They called Rebekah and said to her, will you go with this man? She said, I will go.
And so they sent away Rebekah and their sister and their nurse and Abraham's servant and his men and they blessed Rebekah and said to her, our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them. Now here is a third little key I think in a relationship. As the servant went out and was engaging in the conversation and thus afterwards making the plans for the marriage, all the while he is planning for success, not failure. He's planning for success, not failure.
He wants to do the right thing and he wants God really to show him and every step he goes yes and he worships the Lord and then again worships the Lord. He is planning not for failure but for success. When you enter into a relationship and you're getting close to marriage, plan only for success. Don't even let the vocabulary of failure enter the relationship. Don't even entertain talking about divorce.
When Lenny and I first got married that was just part of what we said to each other. We're never in our future going to entertain a possible divorce. It's out of the question. There is no back door in this relationship.
We're planning for success, not failure. We won't entertain it. We won't negotiate it and we'll never threaten each other. If you want to divorce you, we'll never even say that in an argument.
It's out of the question. I found a letter that has been precious to me. I've shared it with some of you over the years and I want to tell you who it's from. Dr. James Dobson.
You know of him. Focus on the family. He so often talks about his mother and father and the commitment that they had with each other. He found a letter that his father wrote to his mother before his father and mother married when they were just in the engagement process.
I want you to hear it. Dobson's father writes, I want you to know and be fully aware concerning the marriage covenant that we are about to enter. I've been taught from my mother's knee and in harmony with the word of God that marriage vows are inviolable and that by entering into them I am binding myself absolutely and for life.
I am not naive concerning this. On the contrary, I am fully aware that mutual incompatibility or other unforeseen circumstances could result in extreme mental suffering. If such becomes the case, I'm resolved for my part to accept it as a consequence of the commitment that we are now making and to bear it if need be to the end of our lives together. I have loved you dearly as my sweetheart and I will love you as my wife but above everything else I love you with a Christian love that demands we will never act in such a way as to hinder our prospects from entering heaven which is the supreme desire of both of our lives. Now that's a classy way to say I love you. I know what I'm getting into.
I might get into this and in a couple months go, really? I'm willing to accept it for the rest of my life. He was planning for success not failure. Then Rebecca verse 61, and her maids arose and they rode on the camels 450 miles on a camel.
Just think of that. Romantic isn't it? And they followed the man and so the servant took Rebecca and departed.
Now I suppose that on the way back she had a lot of questions. What's he like? Tell me describe his looks. Is he handsome? Is he kind? Tell me again about his family and about this miraculous birth that he had and all the conversations that would describe him. So as the servant is revealing about the son to the bride the closer and closer they got I know she was going, I can't wait to see this guy. I can't wait to lay my eyes on him. As the servant told about Ishmael and the rivalry and told about Mount Moriah and the almost sacrifice she couldn't wait to see him.
Isn't that the way it is? As the Holy Spirit reveals more and more of the Father's love in the future kingdom the closer we get to heaven it's like I can't wait to see him face to face. Chapter 63, Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening and he lifted up his eyes and looked and there the camels were coming.
I love that phrase, the camels are coming. Meditating in the field the ancient rabbis and the Jewish Targums translated this as he was in the field praying. He's meditating in solitude before the Lord he's out praying.
What's he like? He's a man of prayer. He saw the camels are a coming. Rebekah lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel.
I'm glad for that translation. The original King James says she lighted off her camel and so as a young man when I read that I pictured her taking a cigarette out and lighting it up and it just killed the whole story for me. Okay she lighted off her camel so I'm glad for the change. She dismounted from her camel for she said to her servant who is this man walking in the field to meet us and the servant said it is my master. So she took a veil and covered himself. Now they're entering into the period of betrothal where they become legally bound to each other.
They cannot separate unless there's a formal and legal divorce but they can have no physical contact no physical sensual sexual relations until the marriage itself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her. Notice that commitment came first love followed it. Mark Twain said it's a good thing to keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half shut afterwards. Go in fully knowing what's going on fully prepared and then once you make the commitment it's a commitment. Let the engine be the will and let the feelings be the caboose. When you commit even if you commit to go through difficult times with your partner you go I don't know if we're going to make it through this one.
Commit to it. Let the will drive the engine. Let the feelings and the emotions be the caboose. Keep working through willing doing what is right and you will find the feelings can and will follow. It was an act of the will and they loved each other.
So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently speak God's timeless truth into our culture. Pastor Skip's God Speaks biblical answers for today's issues collection of booklets is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $50 or more.
Call 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
