Genesis Part 43 | Pastor Paul McGee

Love, but a loving God. Folks, I've said it before, if

we ever in eternity some days lifting up our eyes from hell,

we will have got there because we trampled over and trotted on

the love of God to get there. Because He does not make it easy

for anybody to be lost. Plucks heartstrings, pools,

yearns, woos. It's like the Shulamite of the

Song of Solomon. There's a smell that she smells

coming through the door. There's a voice on the opposite

side speaking for his beloved. She's already went to bed, the

Bible says. But she gets back on her shoes.

She says, Is that my beloved? She notices the fragrance of his

presence. If we ever go to hell, it'll be

because we. Trampled over the love of God.

Hallelujah. Jesus, it's the voice of my

beloved, I hear. She said he's calling.

She said he's calling. I hear this voice.

What's he doing skipping on the mountain tops toward me?

All this verbiage, the love of your God for you.

He's skipping because he's excited.

It's described like that because there's an excitement of him

toward you. Yes, you and your broken state,

you and your state of refusing him.

He's still excited about you, you as she says, Oh, don't look

upon me. I you know I for I am black,

right? She been in the sunlight, been

tinting the vineyard. Her skin is swarthy because of

just the the penetration of the sun.

But he says I, all of that aside, says I love you.

I don't care. What you look like, I don't care

what you've been through. I don't.

Oh, yeah. Amen.

Oh. And you know, that's the story

that don't just start in the Song of Solomon.

That love story don't start in the Book of Acts.

That love story starts all the way back in Genesis.

It does. It's what banned a man and a

woman outside of the garden so they wouldn't live in eternity

in a sinful state. It's.

What spares 8 souls on the ark so they can get out and have a

recreation? That love, it's.

The love that doesn't annihilate all the people that built the

Tower of Babel just confuses their languages.

That love. Amen.

Praise the Lord. Holy, you can turn to Genesis 24

here tonight. Again, pray for us this week in

this ministry conference. And so everything's gearing up

for it. I've had text and different

things to entertain today as a result of it.

Amen. So it's all gearing up and have

a good time, the Lord. Amen.

The very last Sunday of this month for the Michael Moppen

swinging through on a Sunday night.

So you want to you want to be here for that, be here, not just

for that. I hope I don't ever put it as

though when we have a special guest that's more important than

when we don't. They're all important.

They're all important. Amen.

So coming up in the month of October, the 11th is our annual

chili supper and hayride and now second annual cornhole

competition. If you want to be a part of

that, there's stuff out out there as far as the cornhole of

having a team and people names and such that you'd sign up also

then falling right after our annual thing is then Sunday

through Wednesday we're having another revival and it's going

to be with The Smiths. They're going to be here

ministering the word of the Lord.

You don't want to miss that. You don't want to miss that as

well want to be there for every service.

You all folks listen the last time and it was the first time

in a long time that we did a Sunday through Wednesday.

Last time we had one with brother Sanford.

You all did awesome about being here and being faithful, and so

you just set my expectation. It's a precedent.

I just believe that you're going to be here then in October as

well. And so come and be a part of

those services. Also in the month of October,

we're going to be doing another, another interview type of

session with Doctor Jerry Mason and going to be doing an

interview on Everyone Leads. Everyone Leads, not just a title

over your head, but everybody, everyone leaves.

They're going to be doing a interview with Doctor Mason on

that on the 8th of October. All right, So just keep our

minds, All right? Genesis 24 won't keep you,

Sandy. We got 67 verses to read.

Just joking. We're not doing them all.

I was feeling very. I thought I was going to get

through this whole chapter. It didn't happen.

Not by far. Not after I sat down.

Start putting pin the page. Amen.

Starting with verse #1 though if we can read a few verses here

tonight. And I'm going to let you stand

for all that I'm going to read. All right.

This is chapter 24. Remember we left off Sarah's

Isaiah 24 · chapter mention

just died. Abraham has just purchased The

Cave of Mack the law the Bible says, and Abraham was old and

well stricken in the age. And the Lord blessed Abraham and

all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest

servant of his house that ruled over all that he had.

But I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee

swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth,

that thou shalt not take a wife, and to my son the daughters of

the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.

But thou shalt go into my country, and to my kindred take

a wife and to my son. Isaac.

And the servant said in the Henry adventure, The woman will

not be willing to follow me into this land.

Must I needs bring thy son again into the land from whence thou

camest? And Abraham said unto him,

Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again the Lord

God of heaven, which took me from my father's house and from

the land of my kindred, and which spake in me, And that

swearing to me, saying that thy seed will I give this land, He

shall send his Angel before thee.

And thou shalt take a wife and to my son from thence.

And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then

thou shalt be clear from this my oath.

Only bring not my son thither again.

He's pretty adamant about that. The servant put his hand under

the thigh of Abraham his master, and swear to him concerning that

matter. And the servant took 10 camels

of the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods of

his master were in his hand. He arose and went to

Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well

of water at the time of the evening.

Even the time that women go out to draw water.

Last week I talked about faith that outlived the grave.

This week I want to talk about faith that facilitates the

promise. Faith that facilitates the

promise. We've got all this faith stuff

because we're talking about the Father of the faith.

Amen, Abraham. Hallelujah.

Let's ask God to touch us. His Spirit is already here.

We just need a continuance of that right now.

Father, I need you today, God. I'm thankful, Lord, for the

opportunity, Lord, to center my life around your word one more

time. I know, God.

Lord, these are the words of life.

These are the words that Scripture says speak of you.

I pray O God, anoint us God, give us a spirit of

enlightenment and revelation. I pray O God, how these things

can apply Lord to our very self same lives in this era of time.

I pray O Lord, today let your spirit bear witness with us in

this place tonight. You have through song now

through your word God. So let it be in the lovely name

of Jesus Christ that I pray Hallelujah in the church say

Amen, Amen. You may be seated tonight in

Jesus name. We don't have much longer for

Abraham to be here with us. And if your name's Abraham

tonight, I'm not talking about you, but it's no prophetic thing

for you. Don't go home, get nervous,

nothing like that. But Abraham, throughout his

lifetime, we have seen in just a short period of time that he has

been with us in Scripture that Abraham has, if you remember

whenever he started from earth, Chaldees, I talked to you about

how he's going on a trajectory of maturity concerning faith,

even concerning his relationship with God.

And I would hope to say at this point prior to dying, because

it's not too many years out, about 35 years from this point,

he's going to he's going to die. But I hope that we can say that

he we can see that there's been a trajectory of maturity that

happened that has happened in Abraham's life.

And I believe there has. And I believe there's several

lessons that he has learned over his lifetime, that he indeed has

grown in his faith, that there's a certain level and trust that

he has now in God that is sure today than what it was when he

first left her of Chaldees. And and so we might even call

the faith when he first left sometimes blind faith.

You know, you even throw on that terminology sometimes today

blind faith. But but now I believe without

doubt that Abraham has had enough experiences, enough

situations and circumstances where he's seen the hand of God

come to bear and proved over and over again that Abraham now has

the substance of things hoped for.

That the Hebrews writers does say his faith, faith is now the

substance that he's had enough substance of things hoped for.

That now his faith is not by no means blind faith, but it's

indeed faith that's founded on substance, faith that's founded

on on proof. And so when we read the

Scripture, the Bible tells us something that I think we

already know. But whenever the Bible tells you

things, you need to take it for what it's worth.

It tells us that Abraham is owed, and he is, for crying out

loud, Isaac was born when he was 100.

I'd already be gone them. Owed.

Some of y'all not even 70 years old calling yourself old.

Amen. So he's 100 years old whenever

Isaac is born. And as scripture tells us later,

if, if he is entering, if Rebecca entering into the tent

of Sarah, which happens much later in the story in the 60

some odd verses, if she indeed enters the tent of Sarah, who

Sarah of course is dead at the end of this passage.

If that indicates, which I believe it does, that Rebecca,

because Isaac's the one that invites her in that they are

going to consummate their marriage.

They're going to bring consummate rather their marriage

and bring it to fruition through through intimate relations.

I'll be as kind as I can then, if that's the case.

And that is what then puts the sill of of approval on marriage.

In the very next chapter, we read that Isaac then was 40

years old. We read that in verse #20 that

he was 40 years old whenever he was married to Rebecca.

So if that's the case, if Abraham was 100 whenever he was

born and Isaac got married at 40, and that includes this

situation right here, then that means that Abraham is somewhere

around 140 years old right now. And here's what Abraham knows,

this part and parcel, what he's doing.

We're not just looking at a marriage just because, you know,

a marriage to be looked at. The Bible always does what it

does purposefully. I mean, there's a lot of

marriages that are not spoken of in Scripture, but this marriage

is spoken of because Abraham knows.

It's been prophesied to him. It's been promised to him.

In Isaac shall thy seed be. Called and he understands

Brother Reese. I know I sound like a broken

record, but I am just resounding how broken of a record the Bible

sounds. He knows his descendants are

going to be many. Canaan's going to be their land

of promise. He has one son, one plot of

ground, which is a burial ground for his family in the land of

promise. And so Abraham's actions in this

moment demonstrate really his responsibility and fatherhood

and his responsibility as the patriarch of the nation that

shall come to pass. Because what Abraham is doing in

this whole setup? Is trying to preserve a legacy

for the covenant by finding a wife or his son if in Isaac my

seed shall be called he has to have a way to reproduce in order

to have descendants and so I'm. Going to I'm a old.

Man, imagine even Abraham at this time, even according to

what we can see in Scripture, he doesn't know how many years he's

going to have. He's doing what he does because

that knowledge is not for him to know, but he's being proactive

and he's going to try to ensure that things are set in place so

that his son will not be without a wife.

Because if he has no wife, the seed just remains in Isaac.

There is no reproduction, there is no multiplying, there is no

multiplication of descendants. And so here is a man that's

leaving the legacy through the covenant.

Oh. Abraham, are you, Abraham, you

doing that because you don't believe that that, that that God

will keep his word? No, he's doing it because he

does believe. He's.

Doing it because he does believe God is going to keep his word.

So he's facilitating, if you will, he's making room for the

fulfillment of the promise in setting these things up with his

eldest servant. Amen.

And so for this to continue in Isaac, he needs a wife.

Abraham is old. I don't know when I'm going to

die, but I'm not going to be negligent about the future.

I'm not going to fall under the impression that all of this is

hinged and just sewed up with me.

No, I already understand that. We talked about it, I think last

week, if not the week before. This thing spans generations.

This promise doesn't just touch and affect me.

It touches me and my children and my grandchildren.

It spans generations. So I understand Abraham's like I

understand my role in this overall plan of God and his

desire for his people. And so for this ongoing

fulfillment of the promise, it's going to outlast me.

Therefore, I'm going to make provisions for it now.

Listen, you need to make provisions for what God is doing

in your life, that it's not just for your life.

He didn't just save you to save you, He saved you to start a

legacy in your family. And all these people, Oh yeah, I

hear them. They talk about being 4th

generation Pentecost, you know, and all that.

And thank God that's where I stand in the crux of the road on

both sides of my family. But you know what, there was a

first there. There was a first generation.

Someone down in the line later is going to say Oh yeah we serve

the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but they couldn't say

that if there wasn't yet 1st and Abraham.

We got to accept that then this isn't just for us.

This is for a legacy to be started in our families.

And so anyone the Bible hears interests me and I didn't get

very far here tonight, but this is the the the words of the

narrator, the words of the writer in Scripture speaking

about Abraham that the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

I pause here tonight. I'm going to take just a little

time here that the Bible says that the Lord blessed Abraham's

ode. Please understand that what's

being stated in this moment is not a 13 year old and looking

back, this is not just a few years of life.

No, this is someone that's at the latter stage of their life.

That's right, that's right. That the narrator unequivocally

exclaims, he's a blessed man in all things.

Anybody can testify to us as a witness for the Lord.

Anybody could in their walk relationship with God.

But I'm asking you tonight. Those are sitting here some.

Sometimes we like just to talk to peers, right?

But whenever I talk to an elder. Who's lived their days, had

their children raise their family, had their health issues,

Rob Peter to pay Paul. And I talk to them and they

start telling me about their history of serving the Lord

through the UPS, through the downs, when it's been good, when

it's been bad. And the narration on their life

is they're blessed of God in all their ways and things.

You can take that to the bank. Someone that just appeared like

me has experienced so much like they.

They might say differently. But when you've gotten to the

end of your life and you're exclaiming the last breath from

your lungs and those old Gray heads with smiles on their faces

are saying he's been faithful and they say this is the best

life. I, I wouldn't want to live

another. Then we got to open our ears and

open our eyes and say, although I'm doubtful where I am and at

my age, in this moment I need to let the aged.

In the Lord speak Amen, because they're saying something.

This is what the scripture says. And I'm not saying, listen, I'm

for sure not saying that every old person's report is valid

because not every old person is in the Lord.

Age doesn't just equal wisdom. Eli who said in the book of Job

Eli who said in Job 32 and verse #7 in life who was a young man,

the Bible says particularly said I said they should speak

multitude of years should teach wisdom verse 8.

But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty

giveth them understanding. So a lie who's not just saying

let days of years and old people speak.

He said let those that have the inspiration of the Almighty

that's owed, let them speak. He what's he saying?

He said find yourself an old age, spirit filled, spirit

controlled elder and let them give a verdict on the ways of

God and the faithfulness of God. Remember this scripture and this

is important man, that this scripture comes back to my mind

so many different times at so many different areas of my life.

Hebrews 13 seven you need to bracket this scripture in your

Bible and you need to remember where it's at.

It says, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have

spoken unto you the word of. God.

Whose? Faith follow considering the

end. Let's talk about the exit, the

end of their life considering the end of their conversation or

their manner of life or their behavior or their conduct.

You need to look at that person that may have been rule over

you, that spoke the word of God to you and you need to mirror

your faith after their faith considering how they exited this

world. Listen to the voice whenever

they can say all of my life he's been faithful.

You need to listen to that voice of experience that's been with

God and pattern your life after that.

Why are you saying that? Because I think sometimes we

have influences in our life that say otherwise.

But they've not been to the end of their journey yet.

Because no one can tell what a day will bring.

Scripture says if you don't watch it, you get caught up in

the mentality of David that he says, oh, that the wicked always

flourish. And they're doing this.

And Job even gotten that same fix too.

Oh, they're flourishing. They're doing that.

Listen folks, it's not the end till it's the end.

So listen to the age. Remember those who have led you,

remember those who have preached to you, remember those who have

taught you and the word that they have taught you.

Follow their faith because the understanding of the Almighty

has given them some understanding that through

everything that they've been through, everything they've

experienced, their faults, their failures, everything, right?

Listen, everybody's life has a story.

It's not peachy. I don't care if it looks like

from outside their life is just the best life ever.

Listen, you don't know their narrative.

The narrative saying this old man stricken with ears.

The Lord has blessed him and all all things.

So Abraham sins just had to hit that.

There's for a moment Abraham sins his eldest servant to find

a bride for Isaac. The servant is not named.

Most people assume that it's Eleazar of Damascus that's

mentioned in Genesis 15. It's this Eleazar that one of

the Lord told Abraham that I am your shield and exceeding great

reward that Abraham asked the question in Genesis 15 and 2.

Abraham said unto the Lord God, what will thou give me, seeing I

go childless at this time? No child, he says anything that

you give to me, any blessing, any reward you put upon me, even

if you were to give it when I die, I don't have anybody to

inherit it except the steward of my house, Eleazar of Damascus.

And so it may very well been this very elderly steward of his

house that is doing the bride search, Amen, for Isaac.

But nevertheless, with this servant, another highlight here

with this servant, I want to understand that this servant is

one of the unsung heroes of the Bible because it is his duty and

his responsibility in this chapter to find a bride for

Isaac, which is very crucial to the growth of the nation of

Israel and him doing his job correctly.

Not only is it for the growth of Israel, it's for the lineage of

the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll, we'll, I mean, we want to

read about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, all these, but

this guy, if not on level ground, equally just important

as they because had he not found or according to the certain

prescription that was given him by Abraham followed, we would

have had a defunct, if you will, bride for Isaac.

But he follows it to the letter of the law.

He's never named. He's never named, but his

influence has impacted all Christians of every generation.

Never named, but his value, it's priceless to us, as we see in

this chapter. And so he's the unnamed Stewart

and he plays a very crucial role in the setting the scripture.

Now Abraham. Asks.

Something of this servant that seems a little unusual to us.

I mean, we make deals and shake hands and wink and you know,

word is a bond. Things were different and

customary. And this time he asked the

servant that that he would place his hand under his thigh.

This was actually somewhat typical for what was known as

deathbed oaths. Oaths or swearing that would

happen with people that thought death was pending or on the way.

You see, this also happened with Jacob.

Later in the Scripture and Jacob 20 or 40s in the 40s it is Jacob

47, I believe, Amen. It has his son Joseph come and

he said I want you to put your hand in my thigh and.

Promise me that you will not bury me in Egypt, you'll bury me

in Canaan. And so a lot of deathbed oaths

happen this way. And so not only that, this him

put and having him put his hand under his thigh also underscores

the fact that Abraham is old and well stricken in years.

If he thinks that he needs to make some type of oath.

Amen. With this servant.

Amen. But.

Furthermore, he's setting things in order, as I've already said,

and he's protecting it by this oath that he's having made.

Now, here's where it's going to get even more strange.

I don't know if you're ready for this, but our English Bibles

really clean up the language of what actually happened here.

Our English Bible says that he placed his hand under his thigh,

but the actual rendering of the Hebrew is that he placed his

hand on his circumcision. But listen, I know it's unusual

to us because it's not our culture.

There's nothing sexual about this.

This is just a dead, deathbed oath binding situation that he

says in order to make these words sure, I want your hand to

be on the mark of the covenant. And I know we swear today,

people. Put their hands on the Bible.

Because let's put it in these terms, we put our hands on the

Bible, which consists of 2 Testaments, Old and New, or two

covenants. Back then, they put their hand

on the mark of the covenant. There was no Bible.

Why? Because as you go out and

operate in my stead for finding a wife for Isaac, every choice

decision that you make, I want you to keep the covenant in

mind. Let's just get real for a

moment. Just real.

Real. I don't care if it is a oath

binding custom. It is going to be peculiar for a

man to put his hand on another man's mark of his covenant.

Not in a lewd way, but you're not going to soon forget that.

Because as you go, you're not going to be.

Well, let's just hurry up. No, you're remembering where

your hand was. It was on the covenant.

The decisions, the choices being streamlined by the memory and

the recollection of the covenant.

That makes sense with Abraham in this setting because they're

trying to find a wife for descendants to be propagated

with Isaac. It makes sense in Jacob's

setting with Joseph because he's wanting to be buried in the

land. Both those items, people and

land, all pertain to the covenant.

Listen, it would do us well that as we make our choices, we do so

with the mindfulness of the covenant.

That's good because sometimes we're reckless with no regard.

But I guarantee if you had to do what that servant did.

You not go forget. Amen.

I know, I know you got pastor. You're awkward to know.

I'm just telling you the scripture here.

Ibrahim was adamant to the servant not to take his son back

on more than one occasion. He's mentioning that here in

just a few short verses that I read.

He didn't want his son to go on the trip, I believe for a few

reasons. Number 1, he didn't want his son

exposed to the land that he came from because no, I did come from

it out from it, all right. But also, again, I said last

week, you know, don't take my son back to where I started my

journey. And then let's let's process

that for a moment. Don't take my son back to where

I started my journey. Bring his bride here where I'm

ending my journey. I think this would be the heart

I would hope it would be the heart of any parent setting

among us, of any parent setting among us tonight.

I think this would be the heart, not to have your children start

where you started, and I'm talking about in your life for

Christ, not to have them start where you had to start, but that

they could build upon where you left off.

Why? Because you're giving them a

heritage maybe you didn't have. Again, that generational, but

woe. Is us as parents Brother Fred,

if we live our lives as Christians?

That we make our next generations default steal the

start that we started from. Go and make you walk the same

path, have to learn some of the same lessons, Go through some of

the same school of Hard Knocks. I'm not going to teach you

anything, not going to learn anything from my experience, not

going to learn anything from my faults, not going to learn

anything from my failures. No, you're going to have to

start and just walk the same tap all over and you're just going

to be further behind the curve because.

Furthermore, Abraham does it on a very practical means.

Abraham doesn't want him going there for sure.

Probably it's the only son. I don't.

It's a long journey back. It's about a month's journey

from Canaan back. Not going to.

I don't want any chance happening to Isaac.

No, no, I don't want him to be injured.

I don't want to be wounded. Amen.

He's the key to more descendants.

No, no, no, no, I don't want him.

He let the he let the he let the, the the servant know.

He says I don't want him to marry any of the Canaanites

among whom they dwelled. I don't want that to happen.

So they're pagans. They're idol worshippers.

I don't want that to happen. That would be the easy route

because it's convenient. They're there.

So but I don't want that to happen.

Amen. Be a.

Easy route but it wouldn't be the right route for that matter

if we Fast forward. Think with me this.

When the Israelites do inherit the promised land, and you read

some of the last chapters of the Book of Joshua and some of the

first chapters of the Book of Judges, the Lord says to them

that they're going to drive out the inhabitants, the Canaanites

of the land. Why would Abraham want to set

his son up to be married to something that he should be

driving out? Someone say man, someone say

man. That's not what he's setting up

for him. He doesn't want him in this

place. He didn't want him him in that

in that position. So he's not going to sanction

that, because how difficult would have it been to be married

to something you were supposed to be driving out pale?

Glory not long ago and I taught it.

I'm not going back to teach it. We're not doing that in this

session of criteria to find a mate.

I just did that not long ago. Second time I ever did it here

at the church three-part series. I'm just saying that for your

reference on podcast YouTube, the criteria for finding a mate.

So it's a reference there for you and there may even be

something to argue. Well, Abraham, if we send it

back to his family, his family served to other gods, and they

had. They had.

If you go back to my series, you'll see though, how Abraham's

family had initial separation from her to Haran, the city of

New Horn. They've been there for about 65

years, separated from the roots. But besides that, let's get a

little more specific. All right?

This is not in criteria finding mate.

A little more specific, Abraham specified to the servant.

This lady, she must be willing to follow you to this land.

This lady must be willing to follow you, follow you to this

land. You know what that strikes in

the minds? Not just of Abraham or anybody

that knows Abraham. His whole scenario of when he

first began at UR of Chaldees and God called him from his

people, his kindred in his country and he left for the

purpose of going to the land of Canaan.

What are you setting up? Abraham was saying this girl

must come to this land or don't take him back to that land.

He's saying she must leave her country, she must leave her

kindred, she must leave her father's house and follow my

servant that I put to this land, the promised land.

And if she's not willing to leave, then she's not

marriageable material for my son Isaac.

Because to leave, remember Old Old Testament mentality for

concerning gods. There were gods over places and

localities, right? There's God over rivers and

stones and things over places and localities.

So to leave the country was to leave the gods of the country,

all right? And so we had all these Pagan

gods that were associated with specific places and locations

the people know, or yes, even at one time the Bible says they

were worshippers of the moon God.

But Rebecca's willingness to leave wasn't just even leaving

dirt. She was leaving the gods that

supposedly had any dominance of the dirt.

She was willing to leave her gods.

It was a sign of her heart. Not only this.

And folks keep digging, right? It's not just that she left, but

she was willing to separate some 400 miles referred.

This is not a leaving and camping out next door.

This is leaving and separating. Oh, that sounds familiar to what

should happen concerning a bride and the groom that Christ set up

in the very beginning of Genesis Speaking of Eve and even spoke

of New Testament. Yes, shall leave father and

mother and there'll be a cleaving.

It's going to be a cleaving a leave and cleave episode.

Amen. That takes place.

We got to go on, don't we? We're not getting 67 verses.

I already told you that so no one get nervous.

So Abraham is absolutely Adam. He he's not going to take, he

don't want Isaac taken away from the land of promise, but he's

also adamant that his wife should willingly follow the

servant to the land. And in that, and this is awesome

to me, in that Abraham recalls his account of leaving the Bible

says in verse seven of our text, he says this is Abraham

speaking. The.

Lord God of Heaven, which notice the verbage here, The Lord God

of Heaven, which took me from my Father's house, from the land of

my kindred. If you go back to Genesis 12

where the leaving took place, Genesis 12 and verse 4 says

this. So Abram departed as the Lord

had spoken unto him. What I see in these two

perspectives? Of the Lord took me, and then

when it happened, Abraham departed.

What I see is a wonderful partnership between God and

Abraham. God told Abraham and Jesus. 12

and one, this is what he said, Get thee out of thy country.

Abraham departed. But as he.

Reflects on it. He says God took me.

It's a beautiful partnership between a person in God that as

God commands and we act in faith, then God empowers our

ability beyond our minds imagination.

Hey man, God said get Abraham departed as he looks out.

He said God took what that whenever you obey God works in

tandem with you. You're not going alone, you're

not going by yourself, you're not operating underneath your

own power, but in when you obey God says, I'll back you up.

And So what looked like Abraham departing, Abraham said God was

taking me as I put forth the effort.

He, ladies and gentlemen, that's the same than anything.

You got sin in your life, depart and you'll look back on and say

God was fooling as I was leaving.

He, he is in this thing with you.

There is a divine partnership. Huh.

It's a divine partnership. But.

That goes unrealized if there's never the first obedience.

Amen. So there's a partnership with

God. So he tells, he tells the

servant, he tells him, he said if the woman does not follow,

here's the clause, then the purpose that I sent you for,

you're free of it. You don't have to worry about it

years ago. Just again for reference, not

going to re preach it right here years ago I preached the sermon

will you go with this man? It's all about this servant of

Abrahams because whenever it gets to the very end, the final

question is posed to Rebecca, will you go with this man and

based upon her answer, determine whether or not she was the bride

of Isaac. I posture in that sermon this

how that servant of Abraham in many ways identifies the man of

God in your life that is on a journey and the lookout for the

bride of Christ. But you got a question answer.

Will you go with that man? Oh, Lord, the preaching he

preaches, the teaching he teaches, the guidance he gives.

And I'm not trying to feather my hat tonight.

Will you go with that man? Why?

Because following his guidance, he's been ordained of a higher

power to try to get you to the groom.

So let's go back then to Sunday. That's the reason why it's

dangerous not to have a magistrate or a deliverer in

your life. Amen.

Oh, let's go. So Abraham, if it doesn't

follow, he's like, so be it, then so be it.

Don't take Isaac back here. Interestingly enough.

And we, you know, we hear a lot about Abraham.

We hear a lot about Jacob. And they have a lot of noise in

their stories. But Isaac's very small, not much

said. You know what's interesting?

And this is true. Dennis Prager said this, and I

just kind of highlighted where I read it.

He said Isaac is the only one of the three patriarchs who never

left the promised land. There's some things he didn't

have to experience, he didn't have to go through stories,

didn't have to be written because he just stayed in the

promise. So the servants, servants going

to keep his oath. I'm running.

I'm doing all right. We're we're doing great.

I don't know when I've been doing so good.

Talk to me in 10 minutes. The servant keeps his oath to

Abraham. He's went to Mesopotamia.

He's went to the city of Nahor. He took 10 camels with him.

This is just very practical information right now.

He took 10 camels with him because the Bible tells us it's

not just the servant going by himself.

Verse 32 tells us where they finally get to the House of

Laban, that there was water provided for the servants feet

and the men who were that were with him.

So he didn't just travel that by himself.

Traveling 400 miles by yourself probably isn't the smartest

thing anyway. It's good to have some

companions, people along on the journey.

So he's got 10 camels. Not only that.

Whenever he returns, he's hoping not to be returning just with

the camels and the servants that he left with.

He's hoping that he's going to have a bride and a woman usually

is going to go with her wet nurse, whoever nursed her as a

kid and probably have some attendance too.

So we're making provision that there's going to be ample, you

know, to be able to carry and to be able to help with these that

have went Amen so and so forth. And not only did they just need

to enough camels for assisting getting people back, but the

Bible says that that the servant of Abraham went with all.

The good of their master. I have a symbol of status.

My master is no, he's no put off.

You got deep pockets, all right. He's got he's got menservants

and maidservants and gold and silver.

And this is just illustrative of everything that he has.

But even beyond that, all of the goods just wasn't even a status

symbol because he's going to give some things to Rebecca and

he's going to give some things to Laban and to his mother.

Now, listen to me real clearly. Some people call this a bride

price, right? How much you want for it now?

It's like mail order bride. Pay out the money.

No, here's what you got to think about in that day.

You had children and you lived in an agricultural or agarian

time frame. Those kids were labor hens for

you to do, to do planting and seeding and and and harvesting.

They were labor hands for you. So if a man had one of his

daughters married off, he lost a valuable laborer.

It's not even just in the sense that it's bride price so much as

compensation to the family for losing someone they didn't have

to pay for. But now the vacancy would create

either spreading the workload among the rest that were there

or finding someone by value to take hers place.

And so he goes with that type of money.

Amen. And these type of resources in

order to do this. No, no versus 1011.

Look at versus 1011. I'm getting there folks.

Y'all doing all right, Y'all right.

There's 37 verses in this. I'm telling you now, he took 10

camels. He it talks about him going to

Mesopotamia and then verse 11, he made his camels to kneel down

without the city. So it don't even tell us

anything about the journey. There's 400 miles of trip that's

taking place. We don't even have any record of

I guarantee you there's some cold nights and there's some

rain and there's some storms. We're took nothing that I'm sure

it was arduous. And so the servant was at the

well. The Bible says at the time when

women usually drew water. Customarily women drew water in

this day either early morning or late in the evening.

Why? Because they didn't want to be

caught in the heat of the day, wanted to be whenever it was

cooler. And in these patriarchal

societies that are men driven, they had deeds that they sing

was manly deeds and womanly deeds.

The woman took care of the house and pitching the tent and

drawing water and making the food and grinding the grain.

The men, they would take care of the folds and things of that

nature. And so when it came to drawing

water, it was the woman's responsibility in this society.

Often it was the young married women because they're young, or

the unmarried women responsibility to go draw water

from the well. And so that's.

The reason why as you read from Scripture, especially in

Genesis, there's a lot of men. I'm helping some man right now

that found their bride to be at a well.

Guys, that's where you need me at.

They're like Remedy with a water faucet at work today, or the

water fountain, the old cooler at the workplace.

We got a water found right back now.

I just said. That's for even though a lot of

a lot of men found their brides at the well, Abraham's servant

found Rebecca at the well. Jacob met Rachel at the well.

Moses met Zipporah at the well. The fascinating thing about the

Bible, right, is that you can't pull a thread of it here without

it bunching up somewhere else, 'cause when we talk about women,

we talk about wells. What's a New Testament story

that you know about women in wells?

All these Old Testament occurrences are set in the stage

for a New Testament scenario. I mean, wells were natural

meeting places. It's where the.

The. Women got together, they could

talk, they could network whenever they went to the well.

Our Bible tells us, though, in John 4, and I'm getting there,

that here's a Samaritan woman. The Bible says she comes at the

6th hour of the day, high noon. That's not early, that's not

evening. That's not the normal time a

woman would draw water, but says she has she has a past.

She has five husbands, the one that she is with now, not her

husband. She's not interested in small

talk. She's not interested in network.

For instance, if she went for small talk, she might be the

small talk. Just stay with me here for a

little bit. I know I'm taking my mind time,

but she met a man at the well, you understand all of this is

predicated on the Old Testament, which even a Samaritan would

know. Samaritans did away with most of

the Hebrew Bible, but not the first five books of Genesis,

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

They were taught to the Samaritans just as much to the

Jew. You know what that means?

All the well occurrences they would know.

That's the reason why this holds so much power whenever Jesus

looks at her and says give me to drink, because that's what

Abraham's servant asked Rebecca. With all the history of that,

there's only one thing going through that lady's mind when

she hears those words. Somebody's looking for a bride.

Somebody's looking for a bride. But unlike Rebecca, she don't

hurry off to get him a drink because she doesn't feel worthy

to be the bride. I've been a bride.

Five times removed. I've.

Been there, I've experienced that.

I know this, I I know this story, I know what's going out.

And that's the reason why when you see in all the unflipping

here scripture that Jesus flips the script on the story, because

now he lets her know that I have living water, I have something

that you need. And so the New Testament story

mirrors the old Christ, like Abraham's servant was inviting

what he was. Is inviting a woman into the

covenant promise? Is essentially that's what

happened for Rebecca. That's what happened for Rachel.

That's what even is happening for Zipporah.

They're being invited into the covenant and Christ is telling

her, I don't care what relationships you have had and I

don't care what your pastime is being.

I don't even care the label. That's on you.

There's an invitation. Come be a part of the covenant.

That's good. Just with the simple words of

give me drink that flowed all the way back through that

Samaritan woman. Folks, that's the reason why in

the closure of the Book of Revelation, Huh.

Go there if you go to like chapter #22 What are some of

those last words in the Book of Revelation?

Let me get out my glasses so I can read it.

Glory to God. Verse 17 And the Spirit and the

Bride say, Come, and let him that hearer say, come, and let

him that is a thirst come. And who's ever will let him take

the water of life. It's an invitation into the

covenant if you understand for me tonight.

So Abraham in these actions and we're not done with them of

course or his servants actions at least that is been employed

for this purpose. Abraham's very faithful.

He's trying to facilitate a promise.

He's very deliberate. He's there.

There's a partnership between him and God.

He has a unnamed servant, the Rebecca's in the picture.

All these things, all these people, the unnamed servant

Abraham, Rebecca, each one really are in a partnership with

God. So if I'd.

Leave you just with a few things.

Just from what I've taught tonight, it would be this.

Listen to me very clearly concerning the servant, unnamed,

but very important. I would tell you this, if God

has an assignment for you, even if it seems small to you or

behind the scenes, you need to trust that it's important.

God will empower your obedience #2 This evening we need to seek

the counsel from the elders. We OFT times confide in our

friends. I don't know if that's the

perfect place. You need to talk to somebody

that's a little further down the road than you are.

And listen, sometimes you ain't go like what they say, but let

me ask any individual that's here, your parents ever told you

something when you was young that as you've grown a little

older, you're like, now mom and dad was right.

So we, we, we, we need to befriend, we need to befriend

some elders, all right, where these things have been

demonstrated out in their lives #2 we need to be intentional

like Abraham that we're, we're, we're creating legacy.

That's going to outlast our generation.

We don't need to be like a Hezekiah where they told him,

hey, there's going to come a day in the future.

They're going to come and they're going to take all these

things for the things that you showed them.

The they're going to take all that.

He said everything is well in my generation.

You say it's going to be in the future.

Yeah, He says, well, as long as it's good in my generation, it's

well. That's not the type of attitude

we need to have. It's not about it just being

good for you. Is it going to be good for your

offspring? And then lastly, this whole

story, this is really not something that's just

flamboyant. In the miraculous, God uses

ordinary things to bring about his purpose and will.

Some people are just looking for, you know, this orchestrated

sign and they miss what God is doing in the ordinary and just

the normal living of life. They're looking for some

glittering, you know, whatever lizard that glows in the dark

that takes a path to the word of God and flips it open with its

tail to a certain. But we're laughing.

And I know my wife's the biggest one here because she just thinks

I'm a funny guy and everything but.

We are ridiculous. Sometimes we're waiting on the

word when we've already been given a word, waiting on a

prophet. Come through and read our mail.

This will read your mouth. You'll read.

It order the summers. Order my steps in your word.

But it's hard to get them ordered in something you're not

familiar with. OK, facilitating the promise.

Far cry from 67 verses, but we got 11.

Let's pray tonight. God's Spirit's still here.

I feel an undercurrent, an undercurrent of his presence

right now. Father, I need you tonight.

God. I don't want these just to be

words lifted off a page that we've endured 45 minutes of the

preacher talking. But God let there be Lord

application. God, let there be Lord, the

mulling Lord of these things over in our mind.

God up mostly. Lord, let there be spirits of

conviction. God, I'm asking for spirits of

conviction. God to.

Lord rap Lord. Themselves about us this week

cause us to consider and weigh the words of Scripture.

I pray, O Lord God, in view of our own lives and legacies.

Father. God help us, Lord, to be

facilitators and partners, Lord God, in the propagating, Lord

Jesus of this promise that you've endowed, Lord, upon us

mankind, Lord people of the name, God will not fail to thank

you and praise you for it. The lovely name of Jesus Christ.

We pray Hallelujah, Amen. And the church say Amen, Amen.

Following the footsteps of that faith, the New Testament writer

said, let's do it this week. Amen.

By the power of the Lord. God bless you tonight, shake a

hand.