A Match Made In Heaven

Please take your Bibles this morning and open them up to Genesis chapter 24.

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

! If you don't have a Bible of your own, you can find one in a seat back nearby.

If you didn't bring a Bible and you don't own a Bible at all, then go take that one home with you.

It's our gift to you.

We want you to have a copy of God's Word available to you, and especially now as we go through this chapter together.

We want you to have a copy of God's Word open before you.

So Genesis chapter 24, and when you've found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had,

Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth,

that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell,

but will go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac.

The servant said to him, perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land.

Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?

Abraham said to him, see to it that you do not take my son back there.

The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred,

and who spoke to me and swore to me, to your offspring I will give this land.

He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine,

only you must not take my son back there.

So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed,

taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master.

And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening,

the time when women go out to draw water.

And he said,

O Lord, God of my master Abraham,

please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.

Behold, I am standing by the spring of water,

and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

Let the young woman to whom I shall say,

Please let down your jar that I may drink.

And who shall say,

Drink, and I will water your camels.

Let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac.

By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.

Before he had finished speaking,

behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel,

the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother,

came out with her water jar on her shoulder.

The young woman was very attractive in appearance,

a maiden whom no man had known.

She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

Then the servant ran to meet her and said,

Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.

She said, Drink, my lord.

And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.

When she had finished giving him a drink, she said,

I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking.

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough

and ran again to the well to draw water.

And she drew for all his camels.

The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the lord had prospered his journey or not.

When the camels had finished drinking,

the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels

and said, Please tell me whose daughter you are.

Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?

She said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.

She added,

As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms

and heard the words of Rebecca his sister, thus the man spoke to me,

he went to the man.

And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

He said, Come in, O blessed of the Lord.

Why do you stand outside?

For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.

So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels

and gave straw and fodder to the camels.

And there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

And then food was set before him to eat.

But he said, I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.

He said, Speak on.

So he said, I am Abraham's servant.

The Lord has greatly blessed my master and he has become great.

He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold,

male servants and female servants, camels and 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.

My master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for 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 clan and take a wife for my son.

And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not follow me.

But he said to me, The Lord, for whom I have walked,

will send his angel with you and prosper your way.

You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father's house.

Then you will be free from my oath when you come to my clan.

And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.

I came today to the spring and said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham,

if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water.

Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say,

Please give me a little water from your jar to drink.

And who will say to me, Drink, and I will draw water for your camels also.

Let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.

Before I had finished speaking in my heart,

behold, Rebecca came out with her water jar on her shoulder,

and she went down to the spring and drew water.

I said to her, Please let me drink.

She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said,

Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.

So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also.

Then I asked her, Whose daughter are you?

And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.

So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms,

and then I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord,

the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way

to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.

Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master,

tell me, and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.

Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said,

The thing has come from the Lord.

We cannot speak to you bad or good.

Behold, Rebecca is before you.

Take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son,

as the Lord has spoken.

When Abraham's servant heard their words,

he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord.

And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold and garments

and gave them to Rebecca.

He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.

And he and the men who were with him ate and drank,

and they spent the night there.

When they arose in the morning, he said,

Send me away to my master.

Her brother and her mother said,

Let the young woman remain with us for a while,

at least ten days.

After that she may go.

But he said to them,

Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way.

Send me away, that I may go to my master.

And they said,

Let us call the young woman and ask her.

And they called Rebecca and said to her,

Will you go with this man?

And she said,

I will go.

So they sent away Rebecca, their sister, and her nurse,

and Abraham's servant and his men.

And they blessed Rebecca and said to her,

Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands.

And may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him.

Then Rebecca and her young woman arose and rode on the camels

and followed the man.

Thus the servant took Rebecca and went his way.

Now Isaac had returned from Beir-le-Hairoi

and was dwelling in the Negev.

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening.

And he lifted up his eyes and saw,

and behold, there were camels coming.

And Rebecca lifted up her eyes.

And when she saw Isaac,

she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant,

Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?

The servant said,

It is my master.

So she took her veil and covered herself.

And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother,

and took Rebecca.

And she became his wife.

And he loved her.

So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

The grass withers,

the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father God,

we pray now that you would bless the preaching of your word.

Give us ears to hear and hearts to receive the truth.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Amen.

But if you happened to turn on PBS at the right time between 1983 and 1994,

you might have found yourself watching a show called The Joy of Painting with artist Bob Ross.

I trust that you all know who Bob Ross is.

Now he has his own channel.

You can watch him 24 hours a day,

anytime that you'd like.

But there he would be,

head full of hair,

happily painting a scene.

Usually it's a forest or waterfalls,

a mountain scene,

a walk through the woods.

And at the end of the show,

it would always turn out beautiful.

But along the way,

if you watch him paint,

he would make mistakes here and there.

Only he wouldn't call them mistakes,

would he?

He would call them happy accidents.

That accidental little blob of paint there in the middle of the canvas,

he would take that and turn it into a flower

or the scratch up in the corner of the canvas,

he would turn that into a tree branch.

He would take that accident,

that unintended mistake,

that seemingly random occurrence,

and he would turn it into something good,

beautiful.

And you know,

I thought about that as I read our passage this week,

that that is how many people

understand the work of God

in their life

and in the world.

Many people believe that God,

like an artist,

he has a plan for what he intends to do.

And God,

like a skillful artist,

is mostly in control of that process.

He's painting a beautiful picture.

But of course,

we know, right?

Every now and then,

an accident happens.

Something occurs that's mainly outside of his control.

Something happens that he doesn't like.

He didn't mean for it to happen.

But like a skillful artist,

he's able to take that accidental blemish

and turn it into something beautiful in the end.

What I'd like for us to see this morning

from our passage,

here in Genesis chapter 24,

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

is that that is not how God works

in the world.

The God that we've been introduced to

here in the book of Genesis

is a totally sovereign God.

Meaning that this God

has complete and total control

over all things.

To be totally sovereign

means that there are no accidents,

nothing random,

no mistakes,

no chance occurrences.

The end result is exactly

what he's planned from the beginning.

Every brush stroke of human history

is placed exactly

as he wants it to be.

And what may look like to us

as accidents

or blemishes

or random occurrences

or chance

is not in fact random.

The sovereign God

is not responding

to the events of history

and turning it out for good.

He is in fact

directing,

orchestrating

all things.

All things

go

as this God

plans.

We've seen

in the very first pages

of Genesis

the God who created

all things

and now in every page

afterwards

we see

a God who

upholds

and sustains

and directs

all things.

There's a term for this

and it's what we call

providence.

Have you heard this term?

Providence.

God's providence

is his sovereignty

in action.

John Piper

says it like this.

He says

it is his

purposeful sovereignty

by which

he will be

completely

successful

in the achievement

of his ultimate

goal

for the universe.

Which is

we believe

the magnification

of the glory

of God

in the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

That's his goal.

I wonder

if you see

God's hand

in your life

this way.

I wonder

if you interpret

the events

of your life

the events

of the world

in this way.

I want us

to see this morning

five effects

of God's providence

from Genesis

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24.

Five effects

of God's providence

this morning.

First

number one

we see

God's providence

encourages

faithful pursuit.

Rightly understood

God's providence

his sovereignty

in action

it encourages

faithful pursuit.

You know

one wrong way

to think about

God's sovereignty

in action

is that

well if God

is working

I don't have to.

If God

is sovereignly

orchestrating

all things

for his purposes

I don't have

a role to play.

I can just

rest.

That's not how

Abraham sees it.

Look there

to verse 1.

We see here

Abraham is

old by this point.

He's about

140 years old.

The Lord has

blessed Abraham

tremendously

but there's still

something that he wants.

There's still

something that he

needs to see

happen here.

What is it?

His son

Isaac

has to be

married.

Now think about

why.

Of course

on one hand

any father

would desire

this for his

son to find

a wife

is a good

thing.

Isaac is

about 40

years old

now.

Abraham is

probably ready

for him

to get up

move out

of the

basement

go get

married

go on

find somebody

but bigger

picture here

in light of

God's promises

think about

this

why does

Isaac need

a wife?

Abraham

knows that

Isaac needs

a wife

because God

has promised

him

through

Isaac

shall your

offspring

be named

it is

Isaac

it's

through

the

line

of

Isaac

through

the

descendants

of

Isaac

ultimately

that the

promised

Messiah

will

come

so zoom

out

big picture

here

if Isaac

does not

get married

and bear

children

Jesus

doesn't

come

it's

really

amazing

I think

if you

look at

a family

tree

I wonder

if you've

ever done

this

exercise

you lay

it all

out

and you

see

all the

generations

from

generation

to generation

to generation

all the

relationships

all the

steps

along the

way

as many

generations

as you

can go

back

great

great

great

great

great

grandparents

do you

realize

every

single

one of

those

connections

must

happen

for you

to be

here

right

now

every

one

of

those

relationships

they

have

to

meet

and

marry

and

reproduce

in order

for you

and I

to be

here

right

now

think

about

it

if

your

great

great

great

grandpa

was not

born

when he

was born

and raised

where he

was raised

and brought

up

how he

was brought

up

and attracted

to who

he was

attracted

to

you

would

not be

here

right

now

is that

a happy

accident

god

knew

you

before

you

were

even

born

and

so

orchestrated

by his

providence

all

things

in such

a way

that you

would be

here

right

now

in the same

way you can

go to

Matthew chapter

one or

Luke chapter

three and

you see

the genealogy

the family

tree of

the Lord

Jesus

and you

see

the

generations

after

generations

after

generations

that

led up

to the

birth

of the

Savior

and how

does it

start

Abraham

the father

of Isaac

Isaac

the father

of Jacob

we don't

get that

far

unless Isaac

gives him

a wife

right here

you see

the significance

Isaac

must

find

a wife

Abraham

knows

God

will

do it

God

has

promised

it

and

because

God

has

promised

it

Abraham

pursues

it

in

confidence

now

that's

what

God's

sovereignty

rightly

understood

it

produces

confident

pursuit

in the

life

of a

believer

so

he

calls

his

servant

apparently

he's

the most

trusted

servant

Abraham

has

he's

his

oldest

servant

he's

in

charge

of all

that

he

has

he

makes

him

promise

swear

to

me

that

you

will

go

get

a

wife

but

not

a

Canaanite

wife

we got

some

standards

here

okay

you're

going to

go back

to my

homeland

and find

him

a wife

God

has

promised

it

now

go

pursue

it

servant

raises

a good

question

I think

verse 5

he says

well what

if this

woman

won't

come

back

here

do I

need

to take

Isaac

back

there

and what

does

Abraham

say

no

you

are

not

bringing

Isaac

back

there

why

God

has

promised

it

God

has

promised

this

land

to

my

offspring

therefore

that's

what

we're

pursuing

you're

not

going

back

there

you're

establishing

this

family

here

he's

pursuing

he's

working

he's

striving

forward

in

alignment

with the

plan

and the

purposes

of a

sovereign

and

faithful

God

God

God's

promises

ought to

be the

driving

force

behind

all of

our

pursuits

to

believe

that God

will

fulfill

his

promises

should

not

lead

God's

people

to

in

action

it

ought

to

propel

us

to

get

up

to

get

to

work

in

confidence

that

the

purposes

of

our

God

cannot

fail

if

God

has

promised

it

we

can

pursue

it

with

confidence

for

example

God

promises

one

day

all

nations

will

bow

before

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

every

knee

will

bow

every

tongue

will

confess

heaven

will

be

filled

with

every

tribe

and

tongue

so

therefore

we

take

the

gospel

to

the

unreached

we

take

the

gospel

to

the

nations

in

confidence

that

the

Lord

is

committed

to

this

work

I

spoke

with

a

friend

this

week

who's

preparing

to

move

his

family

and

his

young

children

to

Azerbaijan

I

can't

even

pronounce

it

outside

of

Turkey

Azerbaijan

to

bring

the

gospel

to

this

87%

Muslim

nation

Why?

He

is

committed

to

it

because

he

believes

!

is

committed

to

it

and

God

will

not

fail!

Jesus

has

promised

I

will

build

my

church

the

gates

of

hell

will

not

prevail

against

it

so

Craig

and

Patty

Simon

give

their

retirement

years

to

drive

up

and

down

highway

17

and

help

establish

a

healthy

church

here

in

Allendall

Why?

It's

the safest

investment

they can

make

is

a

plan

that

can't

fail

a

right

understanding

of

God's

providence

leads

us

to

faithful

pursuit

not

only

this

second

God's

providence

encourages

prayer

God's

providence

encourages

prayer

look there

to verse

10

now I

love

the

faithfulness

of the

servant

in this

passage

don't

you

he

takes

some

camels

he

goes

with

all

sorts

of

gifts

from

his

master

he

is

ready

he

goes

to

Mesopotamia

he

goes

to

Nahor

and

he

is

strategic

isn't

he

with

what

he

is

doing

he

knows

what

he

is

doing

he

goes

to

the

well

right

outside

the

city

right

at

evening

time

right

at

the

time

when

the

women

go

out

to

draw

water

you

see

how

that

works

he

believes

that

God

will

provide

a

wife

for

Isaac

so

what

does

he

do

he

doesn't

just

stay

in

the

tent

and

wait

he

gets

up

and

he

goes

to

where

the

women

are

again

this

is

faithful

pursuit

!

Just a

side

note

here

guys

if

you

believe

that

God

desires

for you

to be

married

and

if

you

want

a

spouse

that

might

just

involve

being

around

people

of the

opposite

sex

talking

with

them

interacting

with

them

pursuing

that

by

faith

just

trying

to

help

you

out

here

a

little

bit

the

servant

goes

he

pursues

but

then

look

what

he

does

in

verse

12

he

prays

he

said

Lord

God

of my

master

Abraham

please

grant

me

success

today

and

show

steadfast

love

to

my

master

Abraham

behold

I

am

standing

by

the

spring

of

water

the

daughters

of

the

men

of

the

city

are

coming

out

let

the

young

woman

to

whom

I

shall

say

please

let

down

your

jar

that

I

may

drink

and

who

shall

say

drink

and

I

will

water

your

camels

let

her

be

the

one

whom

you

have

appointed

for

your

servant

Isaac

by

this

I

shall

know

that

you

have

shown

steadfast

love

to

my

master

here's

another

misapplication

of God's

providence

I wonder

if you've

heard

this

if

God

is

sovereign

why

pray

if

God

already

knows

the

end

from

the

beginning

if

God

is

working

all

things

to

that

end

why

in

the

world

why

pray

if

God

is

in

control

of

all

things

big

and

small

what's

the

point

for

one

thing

we

pray

because

God

is

sovereign

and

we

are

not

God

knows

the

plan

we

don't

God

is

the

omniscient

!

One

not

you

not

me

God

knows

those

who

are

his

we

don't

often

we

know

the

big

picture

of

God's

promises

but

we

really

don't

know

all

the

details

do

we

this

servant

he

doesn't

know

if

his

efforts

are

actually

going

to

work

out

he

has

no

clarity

whether

or not

this

is

the

way

God

intends

to

give

Isaac

a

spouse

he

knows

that

God

will

give

Isaac

a

spouse

the

promise

requires

it

and

he's

pursuing

it

the

best

way

that

he

knows

how

but

God

doesn't

tell

him

to

go

to

the

well

God

doesn't

tell

him

to

find

a

wife

in

this

way

he

doesn't

know

for

sure

even

Abraham

gives

him

an

out

in

verse

8

hey

if

this

doesn't

work

out

if

she

won't

come

then

you're

free

from

this

oath

that

you've

made

church

we

pray

!

because

God

is

sovereign

we

don't

know

everything

God

knows

and

so

as

we

pursue

his

purposes

by

faith

we

ought

to

pray

Lord

give

me

wisdom

Lord

direct

my

steps

Lord

give

me

success

in

this

pursuit

Lord

bless

my

efforts

to

be

faithful

to

you

we

also

pray

because

God

is

sovereign

so

he

can

actually

answer

our

prayers

I

will

never

for the

life

of

me

understand

why

in

the

world

would

I

pray

to

a

God

who's

not

actually

in

control

this

servant

actually

believes

this

God

is

capable

of

providing

a

woman

at

this

well

at

this

time

at

this

moment

because

God

is

sovereign

he

prays

with

confidence

and so

can

we

also

because

God

is

sovereign

we

can

pray

with

specificity

specificity

you see

how specific

he is

here

this

servant

asks

God

to

direct

this

woman's

steps

to

direct

this

woman's

actions

to

direct

this

woman's

vocabulary

he is

incredibly

specific

isn't he

down to

the finest

details

I've

shared

in here

before

some

stories

of

George

Mueller

how he

prayed

for his

orphanage

if you

read his

journals

I won't

have to

repeat

stories

because

if you

read his

journals

you see

he recorded

at least

50,000

examples

of direct

and specific

answers to

his specific

prayers

that's a lot

of sermon

material

y'all

there's one

story

about the

orphanage

running out

of money

running out

of food

they had

nothing to

feed the

children

for breakfast

and so

George

prayed

and he

asked

specifically

for exactly

what they

needed

the children

you can

imagine

the scene

they gather

for breakfast

nothing to

eat

and George

prays to

bless the

food

that they

don't yet

have

and when he

finished his

prayer they

heard a

knock

on the

door

the town

baker

was there

at the

door

he had

had a

dream

the night

before

where God

told him

to go

to the

orphanage

give enough

bread for

the rest

of the

week

right behind

him was

the milk

man

his truck

broke down

right in

front of

the orphanage

so what

can he

do

except give

away his

whole supply

of milk

so it

doesn't

spoil

is that a

happy accident

that is

providence

these are

providential

answers to

specific prayers

offered up to

a good and

faithful sovereign

capable God

if we truly

believe our

God is

directing all

things

we will

pray

we will

pray

and when

God

answers

our

prayers

and

provides

as we

ask

what do

you think

the result

will be

in your

heart

we see

it in our

third point

this morning

third

understanding

God's

providence

leads to

praise

when he

provides

leads to

worship

and

exaltation

magnification

of the glory

of God

look at

verse 15

before he

had even

finished speaking

behold

Rebecca

who was

born to

Bethuel

the son

of Milcah

the wife

of Nahor

Abraham's

brother

came out

with her

water jar

on her

shoulder

the young

woman was

very attractive

in appearance

a maiden

whom no man

had known

she went

down to

the spring

filled her

jar

and came

up

I mean

talk about

an immediate

answer to

prayer

he's not

even

he hasn't

even said

amen

and here

comes this

beautiful

young woman

and it

says that

he ran

to meet

her

and he

gives her

this little

test

he said

please give

me a little

water

to drink

from your

jar

and she

says

verse 18

drink

my lord

and she

quickly

let down

her jar

upon her

hand

and gave

him a

drink

and when

she had

finished