Genesis Chapter 24: The Servant's Obedience Paves the Path of the Future

Abraham was old. God had blessed him in all things, so he was pretty well off.

Abraham called to his oldest servant. His servants were like family. They were treated like family, and most of them were loyal to him. The oldest servant was his most trusted friend.

He made him promise to not see Isaac marry someone from any of the tribes of the Canaanites, in whose land they lived. Instead, he was to go back to his home country and find a wife from one of the families of his kin.

"What if the woman I choose won't come?"

"Then you will be cleared from this oath, but if this is the case, I never want you to take my son there again."

The servant took all that Abraham had and put it on ten camels, and travelled to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia. He had no idea where to look or who to talk to.

He prayed to God that the first woman that offered him a drink, and not only him, but his camels, too, would be the one.

God answered his prayer.

The first woman who came was Abraham's great niece. She was the daughter of the son of his brother, Nahor.

He gave her bracelets for her kindness and asked if her father had room for him as a guest. She confirmed and then told him who she was and who her father was.

At this point, he dropped to his knees and praised God for answering his prayers.

When Rebekah's brother, Laban, saw her, and she told him where she got the bracelets and about the servant, Laban immediately prepared a meal and invited him to stay there.

The servant refused to eat until he told the family why he had come.

Then he said, "I need to know what I should do at this point. Will she come with me, or not? It is up to you." He gave them all gifts from the belongings of Abraham on the camels.

The next morning, he told them he must return to his master with Rebekah. They begged him to let her stay a few more days, but he was insistent that he had to return.

They said, "We will let HER decide."

Rebekah agreed to go with the servant.

They blessed Rebekah and sent her on her way.

As they were nearing home, Isaac met them in a field during his morning meditation.

The servant told him everything, and he took Rebekah into his mother's tent and they lived happily ever after...sort of.

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When you pray to God, He listens.

The servant was doing what his master told him to do, which is what God told him to do.

The servant was obedient. He completely depended on God throughout this journey, and God led him to the right place, because of his obedience.

Obedience paves the path of the future.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Read Genesis 22

In Genesis, Chapter 22, it says that God wanted to test Abraham in verse 1.

In verse 2, God told him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, and where to go to do it. So, he packed up, got his son, and headed there.

There was no arguing with God. There was no lamenting and begging. He simply obeyed.

In verse 4, they came to a place that was near the site. You can see that he must have also taken his servants with him for support. He told them to stay where they were, because he and the boy had business to attend to, and he went the rest of the way alone with Isaac.

But, here is the kicker: In verse 5, he told them to stay with the ass that was carrying their supplies, and that he and the boy would go, and return when their business was finished.

You could say that it didn't even dawn on him that the boy would not be with him when he returned.

Abraham made Isaac carry the wood in verse 6. Just like Jesus carried the cross that he was to be sacrificed on. There was no argument. The boy was obedient, just like Jesus was.

Isaac was smart. He could see they had all the makings of an offering to God, but he didn't see the animal that was to be sacrificed. So, he finally let curiosity get the better of him and asked about it, in verse 7.

Abraham, like the dutiful servant of God he was, said, (in verse 8) "God will provide." You could say that he heard was God was telling him to do, he knew what he had to do, but not once did he believe that God would let Isaac fall to harm. After all, God made a promise.

In verses 9 and 10, Abraham prepares Isaac and is just about to stab the knife into him to slay him for the sacrifice when, in verse 11 God stops him.

In verse 12, God explains why. Abraham was obedient, even to the point of killing his own son in order to obey the word of God.

In all the other verses, God told Abraham that because he was so obedient, that his seed would bless all the earth. Many years later, Jesus was born, a descendent of Abraham, and through the blood of HIS sacrifice, the whole earth is blessed!

After that, Abraham went to Beersheba to live. A messenger came bringing tidings from his brother, Nahor, and told of the family that Nahor had. Later, Isaac would marry Nahor's grandaughter, Rebekah.

On a personal note, how many of you would find it easy to lay your own life down for the Lord? How many of you, those of you who say you would, would find it harder to lay down the life of your child? Abraham was truly heroic in his obedience!

The Promise of Obedience

Read Genesis 12:1-4

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

God told Abram it was time to leave Haran and go to the place He will show him.

God did NOT tell Abram that it was going to be his home.

God told Abram that if he obeyed Him, He would make Abram a great nation. He promised to make Abram's name great, and that through his seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

God also said that anyone who blessed Abram and his seed would be blessed. Anyone who cursed him would be cursed.

Abram took his brother's son, Lot, his nephew. (Yesterday I said Lot was Terah's nephew, and I was mistaken. I have corrected that on the blog). Abram took his wife, Sarai and all of his servants and Lot's family and servants.

He was 75 years old when he left Haran. If you notice in the geneology of chapter 11, their lives were half as long as they were before the flood, and life expectancy had started to wane.

Just like Noah did, Abram obeyed without question. So, when God tells you something is going to happen and He wants you to do something, you should obey without question and trust Him.

One of the hardest lessons I have ever learned is that God doesn't wait until you are ready. He asks of you when it is in HIS time, not yours. Remember, it is not our job to reap the harvest of the seeds that God is asking you to plant. That job belongs to God.

Genesis Chapter 3:1-6 The Great Fall

Genesis 3:1

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
Did God say that? No. He didn't. Let's back track:

Genesis 2
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The Human mind is tricky. It will make you question what you remember. "Did God say that to me? How exactly did He put it? Maybe this is what He meant?"

Genesis 3
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
God doesn't say what He doesn't mean, and He always makes Himself clear. He told them they could have anything they wanted to eat in the garden from the trees; but that there was ONE tree that they were not to eat from. He didn't tell them they couldn't touch it. Eve added that in there. Eve's mind said that if she didn't touch it, she would be safe from eating it. But one lie deserves another lie to build a rationalization. Satan knew if she was willing to cling to even the tiniest of lies for safety, he could edge the door wider.

Genesis 3
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
As teenagers, most of us remember the thoughts that ran through our minds when our parents told us not to do something. "They just don't want me to enjoy myself" is what it came down to most of the time back then. We rationalized that it was okay to dis-obey because our parents were wrong to do that.

Just like our parents, though, God wanted so much better for Adam and Eve. He wanted them to have a life free from stress and worry, free from sickness and disease, free from danger and free from struggle. Adam and Eve, much like us when we were teenagers, had not experienced the world like that. They couldn't conceive of life going wrong. They couldn't understand why rules were enacted.

Sure, God could have removed the tree from their reach, but would that have taught them anything? Would that have proved their obedience to Him? Would it have proved their love? A lack of options is not a choice. God didn't want robots, He wanted authenticity in His relationship.

He still does.

Satan did a good job of giving Eve different thoughts to muddle her rationalization skills.

Adam and Eve were the beginning of the human race. Whatever they did would effect their progeny forever.

Genesis 3:6

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Eve, who had rationalized in her mind that just touching the fruit was dangerous, touched the fruit and did not die. Seeing it caused her no harm, she took a bite. If we add to the Word of God enough, we start to believe it. This is why Revelation says not to add to or take from the Word of God. Our minds can be tricked by Satan to believe a lie.

How hard was it to follow His instruction? Think about that the next time you tell your 3-year-old not to push a button.

It is important to take God at His every word. It is important to follow His command. It is important to KNOW the Word of God so that when Satan presents over-rationalizations, you can refer to it in it's correct form and maintain the straight path of obedience.

1 Samual 15

22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.