by Holbert Marie
In this particular article we are going to talk about two ‘people of business'(kings) from the scripture that are about as opposite as can be. One is the ‘rich young ruler’ taken from Matt. 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22, Luke 18:18-23 and the other is the ‘wise old slave’ from Genesis 24.
Though, they are markedly different they do have a few similarities. Both are nameless and both are the overseers of great physical wealth. In our first example, there is a dialogue and some ‘negotiations’ between Jesus and a ‘rich young ruler’ (Matt 19:20 specifically calls him a ‘young man’ and Luke 18:18 calls him a ruler, a person of power or high ranking.) Here is the complete dialogue including Jesus’s follow up comments to his disciples from Mark 10:17-31:
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, LOVED HIM, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.”
So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
As this story is recounted three times in the gospels, one can assume it is a little bit important. Let’s break it down. The rich young ruler initiates the conversation when he approaches Jesus humbly, bowing before him and addresses him as the “Good Rabbi” (This is not the last time we will see people bow down before him, call him King and then later turn away, even demanding that he be crucified!) He then inquires about the cost involved in making the acquisition of ETERNAL LIFE! We see some peripheral yet important set up negotiations about what ‘good’ means and keeping of ‘the law’, (Ten Commandments) which the young buck says he has faithfully done ‘from his youth up’. What he is basically doing here is claiming to be ‘good’, even though Jesus had just told him that only God is ‘good’. –The truth is the young man had not kept even the first commandment (none of us have) which Jesus is about to prove; which is to have no other god, family, wife, idols or possessions above the real and living God.– Instead of disagreeing with the young man, Jesus gets to the heart of the matter and tells him specifically what he lacks, and that he needs to do three things to “INHERIT” eternal life. 1.) he was to SELL ALL that he has and then 2.) GO distribute it to the poor and 3.) COME and follow him [Jesus is ‘the way, the truth and the life, he embodies eternal life, for one to get ‘eternal life’ we must ‘get’ Jesus there is no other way! John 14:6]
The terms are clear, and fixed, no flexibility or quibbling about the terms of the deal concerning what he must do to gain eternal life!–
(An interesting note here is that Mark tells us that Jesus clearly LOVED HIM and it was out of this love that he told the young man exactly what it was that he lacked and was keeping him from gaining eternal life. Point being that Jesus will never ask us to do anything that is not based on his love for us or is not in our best interest, even if it seems to the contrary– Romans 8:28!)
— The key to opening the first door to eternal life is a fixed commandment here that requires more than a tacit agreement or ‘willingness’, it requires a definitive action or doing of something which in this case is SELL ALL YOU HAVE. Jesus basically tells him to do a specific part of the commandment He had spoken to the multitudes in Luke 14:25-35; which was to ‘forsake all’ and divest oneself of the unhealthy ‘love’ of family, culture, mammon or temporal things. Our young man has a particular problem with mammon, riches, they basically rule his life, he trust in them. So Jesus simply goes to the heart of the matter. The Lord will always ask us to offer up those things that are most precious to us that keep us from following and being fully devoted to him. He is not doing this to punish the young man! Quite the contrary, he had passionately approached Jesus and was asking for eternal life, eternal joy in paradise. Jesus simply pointed out the obstacles that were in his way of this most noble of pursuits! Jesus did not tell him to go do some great deed, he did not say go win a battle or lead a crusade. He told him to simply divest himself of possessions which was ensnaring him. The Spirit of God knows the innermost thoughts and hearts of all men, Heb 4:12!
In any case, the young man cannot claim to have been given a greater task to complete than anyone else and neither can we, all of us who call him Lord are commanded to surrender all and if something we love has an unhealthy grip on our lives, rest assured our Lord will go to work in our hearts calling us to surrender it and receive something much greater, HIM and all the attributes that He is and has will also become ours. We become sons and HEIRS of GOD THE FATHER, and we get the Son and the Holy Spirit and a family of saints as well (Eph 1:15-21). This is far more valuable than anything earthly riches can purchase.
Jesus is not a respecter of persons, he is fair and He commands the youngster, and us as well, to divest ourselves from Mammon and the ‘deceitfulness of riches’ and things that keep us from coming to, receiving, following and growing up in him that we might bear fruit (Matt 13:22). If the rich young ruler would have used this key, not only would it have opened the door to eternal life it would have opened the door to the Kingdom of God, (which is a relationship with God the Father, and the Son and also be filled with HIS Holy Spirit), consequently bringing him into the family of God as a son and heir!
If this were not enough in and of itself, Jesus went on to tell his disciples, who had left all, that they would get it all back many times over, with persecution, ‘not only in this life’ but in the Kingdom to come– Matt 6:31-34! However ‘ALL’ (family and the worlds wealth) comes back to us only when we are mature enough to properly manage them and keep them in their proper position.–
(And sometimes the family that is given to us is not our biological one– Matt 12:48-50. It’s interesting to note that Jesus while on the cross did not turn the care of his mother over to his biological brothers. He gave John that commission. John 19:27)
— This includes keeping our natural family, culture, ‘mammon’ and the things of this world in proper perspective submitted to the Lordship of Christ. Only when we can prioritize and understand that we are but stewards of what is really God’s and are no longer independent owners of anything, — not even the air we breathe, and surely not even our very lives — have we begun to understand what Jesus is trying to teach this young man! [Yes I am well aware that I basically said the same thing twice! I find that our God and Lord is extremely redundant about important things and this is the most important of things! Luke 10:38-41]
Because of the power of the love of money, and the pride of life and lust of the flesh, the requirements and trials involved with the making of a Godly steward are difficult and involve a series of trials and injustices, like Joseph or extremely intense like Job or our rich young ruler here. Still, at the end of it all, it is better to be dirt poor in this life and inherit the Kingdom then it is to be filthy rich and be tormented in hell forever. (Luke 16:19-31) For it is an absolute inflexible truth, one cannot have two masters. He will serve one and hate the other, no middle ground! Either way we are going to ‘serve’ or be ruled by someone or something! (Matt 6:24, Luke 16:13) The reality for all of us is that throughout scripture God has required us to offer up and divest ourselves from anything and everything that we would possibly love more than Him, even our own kids, as God required from Abraham, the Father of faith! This is a requirement for anyone who wishes to be fully his disciple (Luke 14:25-35)! That is the truth and it is inflexible and unfortunately for us as fallen men, we can’t do it! When we boil down this conversation that Jesus has with this young man what we find is that Jesus first tells the young man to do what he can do, and is already doing on his own which is being ‘good’. However, Jesus then goes and adds a caveat to the deal and commands him to do something that he cannot do on his own ability, namely selling all, giving it the poor and becoming ‘poor’ himself. This is the parable of the pearl (Matt 13:36)! This young man is going to need some serious help, in every way, as we all do!
Praise be to our God, that he is WELL AWARE OF THE FACT THAT NO ONE CAN DO THIS ‘SELLING AND FORSAKING ALL’ (family and culture included) ON THEIR OWN! From the very beginning, before the fall, God stated to himself, that it was not good for man to live or function alone or independently (Gen 2:18). He needed a ‘helper’. The Genesis account of a helper here is not just about marriage, it is about a relationship with a helper that is comparable to him ‘after their own kind’. We are created for relationship to be part of a relationship and on multiple levels with God, our family and each other and we are clearly and redundantly commanded to HELP (love and serve) each other! However no human ‘after our own kind or comparable to us’ can help us with the commandment to divest ourselves of all things, including other ‘humans’ we are told to honor, love and serve. It is a strange sort of paradox here and as such, can only be understood and obeyed by a revelation from the Holy Spirit.
The ‘good news’ is OUR LORD DID AND WILL PROVIDE THAT HELP IN EVERY WAY, IF WE BUT HUMBLE OURSELVES, ADMIT WE CAN’T DO IT ON OUR OWN AND ASK FOR HIS HELP TO TRUST HIM (Luke 11:13)! WHICH IS WHY HE SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT TO ABIDE IN US! HE IS CALLED ‘ANOTHER HELPER’!! (John 14:16) Where the first ‘helper’ (companion or soul mate) God gave to man was a human, a woman specifically, this’ helper’ that Jesus talks about to his disciples during ‘the last supper’, is called ‘another helper’, is a different sort of helper. He is Spirit and he IS GOD and he is sent to live in us and HELP us to do what we cannot do on our own! We still have to do it, he just gives us both the willingness and the ability (grace, divine ability) to do it. Yet we must ask him, daily, continually for help. We must ABIDE in him, and allow him to empower us to do it. He will not force his way upon us.
He never changes, He did not force us to choose his way yesterday or today and he won’t tomorrow! The entirety of Duet 28 is all about giving the people of God a choice and clearly laying out what the benefits or consequences of the choices made would be. We would be wise to remember today’s Manna (bread of God, his word) is tomorrow’s worms! We need his fresh manna every day. This is especially true for those in either business or ministerial leadership who are in positions of responsibility and are mentoring others. They need to remember that not many should be teachers (James 3:1) for they incur a stricter judgment. Let us walk in the fear of the Lord with circumspection! This is how both us and God raise sons and heirs. We cannot force our children to do what we want over the course of their childhood without greatly damaging their personality. There is no love and no choice when one is forced or coerced through power and intimidation, and we see that God does not force or coerce or threaten this young man. He chooses to walk away. He would have done much better to throw himself at the feet of Jesus again and say. “Help me! I can’t do that on my own!” The Lord being ever gracious and kind would have surely helped him not only obey but also to know HOW TO OBEY! Which raises an entirely different set of problems! Willingness to do is one thing, knowing what to do is something else entirely and then of course doing it, implementation, is another issue all together, (the three of these added up equals wisdom and it comes from above! James 3:17-18
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
This is the total opposite of ‘demonic wisdom’ which ‘is full of bitter envy and selfish ambition’ (James 3:14-16).
Selling everything you have, especially if you are ‘very wealthy’ is quite a logistical undertaking! The rich young ruler was not offered any council or even advice on how to best do that (nor did he ask for it) he had to first come to a point of willingness to do it. Simply put, the young man did not even attempt to use the first key that Jesus gave him to open the door to the Kingdom and eternal life, which is simply humbling himself and asking for help, grace! Second, distributing the wealth to the poor is actually more intensive then the original task of selling of it! How does one ‘give to the poor’? How does one know who the true ‘poor’ are? How much to give for each case can be different. How does one exercise wisdom in giving, because the truth is that if you simply hand out $100 dollar bills to everyone that you think is ‘poor’ instead of helping them it will actually be highly detrimental to them! “The poor” have the same lust for the things of the world as the rich do and maybe even worse because they do not know that things of this earth will never truly satisfy one’s real inner need for love and ETERNAL LIFE simply because they have no such experiences! He could have started throwing money in the city streets and it may have caused a riot possibly resulting in some being trampled to death as they are caught in the stampede! Finally, at the end of it all how does one give ‘alms’– or ‘charitable deeds’ (this is specifically giving to the poor or needy) so that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing (Matt 6:3). This is an important point and not an easy one to obey. When a person is known for his generosity, he has many ‘friends’ (many or most of which who are not friends at all) the problem is those who receive it will not give glory to the Lord, they will praise the giver and look to them, “the hills” for future help (Ps 121:1.2) – a mindset that I have personally encountered numerous times on the third world mission field.
Yet Jesus again gives him no instructions or commands on what would be the best and most effective way to actually do that (and again, he does not ask). Neither does our Lord tell him to bring the money to ‘his boys’ who could do that for him, as they were giving to the poor regularly. Still the point that needs to be noted here is that there is no clear Biblical step by step instruction manual given on how one would go about selling their possessions and distributing them to the poor. The Lord just tells us to do it and he calls us to seek him for ‘help’ and wisdom (by the Holy Spirit, the ‘other helper’) throughout the process. It all goes back to a living, talking, and ‘abiding’ relationship with our Master, and ‘not leaning on one’s own understanding’ (Prov. 3:5-6) which is something we see exemplified in the “wise old slave” the story of our next “King”!!
In Genesis 24, we have Abraham, a type of God the Father, telling his ‘oldest and most trusted servant’, who had charge over all of Abraham’s estate, to go find a bride for Isaac, his promised son, a type of God the son. There is a lot of nuggets we can glean from this story! Please read Genesis 24 before going on it is one of the longest but most enjoyable chapters in scripture.. …
This servant (or slave) is the property of Abraham, he is his chief steward, kind of like a managing director or chief administrator, He is not an owner! He has no stock options or pension fund. He actually has a better deal. So, we see several differences very quickly between him and our young man. The first difference of course is that one is young and the other old. The second major difference we see is that one is a slave and the other is a ruler and therefore one is an ‘owner’– (the young man who was really a slave of his wealth) — and the other is not an owner and yet manages his ‘masters’ estate and has complete access to it as if it is his own. We see that ‘the old slave’ though not a ‘son’ is quite content and satisfied with his life and his position as a servant.
Our old steward is given quite a daunting task; reconnect with a family where there has been little interaction for over 50 years and find a willing wife for his master’s son! He cannot kidnap her and force her against her will (and neither can God or us, we cannot force, coerce or bribe anyone into the Kingdom, to be the bride of Christ our Master’s son!) This task of searching for a wife for his master’s Son is in no way easy. It is physically, emotionally and mentally demanding as well as difficult to understand. Yet we will see a love and devotion from this steward that goes far beyond the keeping of an oath or doing his duty and is why he is our mentor/model ‘king’, the ‘father of stewards/servants’.
Like our rich ruler, once again we have a specific assignment or commandment being given. The commandment is clear and the terms inflexible and set. Like our young man, he is told to do three specific things. 1.) go a long way to his former land. 2.) find Abraham’s family and 3.) acquire a wife for his master’s son and finally, of course, bring her back safely and present her to Isaac, the ‘Son’. Yet Abraham gives the servant no specific instruction or even advice on how to accomplish the task. However, Abraham tells him that ‘the angel of the Lord’ (the ‘helper’ the Holy Spirit) will go before him. So let us see what this servant does to obey and accomplish what he has been ordered to do. There are ten things:
1.) He communicates! He makes sure that he has a full understanding of the task he has been ordered to do. We then see him ‘negotiate’ with Abraham about taking Isaac with him. Abraham was adamant in his refusal to let the servant take Isaac with him, firmly warning him twice about this. Thus greatly increasing the difficulty of the task given. –
(Wisely so as Isaac may have been enticed to stay with his wife’s family in the more modern and comfortable city. He had lost Lot to the city where his wife was from! Many young men and women, have sacrificed their call to serve the Lord to the pursuit of wife or husband!)
— The steward then basically ‘covers his backside’ in case he is unsuccessful in the task given, simply because there are decisions to be made by parties that are totally outside of his control! Abraham agrees to the Servants ‘waiver of responsibility’ thus making the servants task a ‘best effort’ scenario. It’s interesting to note that Abraham does not rebuke him for this and neither does our Heavenly Father. Abraham himself had ‘negotiated’ with God before over Sodom and Gomorrah. God often tells us to come to him and ask him for wisdom and grace as well as to cast all our cares or issues on to him.
Though this ‘waiver of responsibility’ takes the pressure of performance off of the steward it does not remove the responsibility of giving a ‘best effort’ at doing specifically what Abraham asked him to do, which involved going a long way and looking for a specific person from a specific family. It must be noted that Abraham fully trust this servant. They have a long-term relationship. However, the servant voicing of his concerns is not treated as a lack of faith or rebellious in nature, and neither is ours! –
Faithlessness and rebellion only comes into play after the Lord has clearly revealed his will and we either do what He clearly tells us not to do or refuse to do what He clearly tells us to do due to rebellion or fear that God cannot or will not keep his promise. (However it is important to understand that if we do not COME to the Lord and seek to HEAR his words and then OBEY them (Luke 6:46-49), then you need to know that the Lord will not allow us to stand before him and say, “I did not know your will so how can you hold me accountable for not doing it!?” The truth will be you did not want to know his will and so you were deceived into thinking you would not be held accountable for not knowing it or doing it. That will not wash before the throne of God. Scripture tells us that every man really knows what is right and what is wrong and will be judged accordingly. (Micah 6:8, Jame 4:17). Ultimately, this is not coming to the Lord and trusting in Him, scripture calls this having an ‘evil heart of unbelief’ (Heb 3:12). And the generation of Israel that saw God deliver them from the bondage of 400 years of slavery with a mighty hand, was also left to wander for forty years and then die in the wilderness because of their ‘wicked heart of unbelief’, as they feared the giants–had more faith in the Satan’s power to defeat them– the enemies that were occupying the promised land more than the promise and faithfulness of God to drive them out before them (Duet. 1:19-46). Even after being clearly told that God would go before them, they simply needed to trust and obey, as they had when they walked through a parted Red Sea! We should take note and fear the Lord and not men or the evil one, for this account was given for our sake, that we might learn from them!
We would be sorely deceived if we somehow think that God does not require faith and obedience in Him to win and secure our ‘promised land’! Ultimately their disobedience and ‘evil unbelieving heart’ cost them what God had willingly prepared for them. Only Joshua and Caleb inherited the promise and even then, they incurred a 40 year delay due to the disobedience and faithless of their generation. To sum this point up, it’s OK to communicate one’s misgivings, it’s OK to ask God questions, however at the end of the conversation, we need to be as the many humble servants of the Lord both men and women, who have gone before us have said, “Lord let it be done to me in accordance with your word” (Luke 1:38) or “Lord here am I send me, I will obey!” (Is 6:8)
2.) He prepared! He didn’t just go haphazardly trusting that the ‘angel of the Lord–the Holy Spirit’ would do everything. He had a part to play. One that would turn out to be quite important. He put together ten camels worth of Abraham’s provision, gifts and wealth, he then took an entourage of men with him for security as well as ‘presentation’.– [The Servants ‘presentation’ was 100% truth, as should ours be! Satan is the liar and the con man!] — As he did not have Isaac with him, he took what resources he did have, and as we will see he was very wise to do so, it was a game changer. He did his part and what he was trained to do.
3.) He strategized! He had a plan. A really ‘God’–(‘good’ minus an o) one. When he arrived at the designated location he wisely went to the well where the young women would come to be drawing water and had a prepared question to ask her that would not be perceived as forward or offensive. “Please give me a little water…” — (*This is the exact same question Jesus asked the woman at the well in John 4) — which opened the door of communication. He had formulated a step by step strategy and it included calling on the greatest resource he had at his disposal, ‘the angel of the Lord!’, the Holy Spirit.
4.) He prayed! He leaned into the faith and promise of Abraham and asked for favor and kindness for his master Abraham, and that he would prosper and aid him in his task. His prayer was answered before he even finished saying it. This was a common practice for him, he talked to the angel of the Lord like He was there with him, because He was! He is with us to, do we talk to him as we go about our business?
5.) He tested! He didn’t just go choose the most attractive girl of the lot and pay or bribe her, though he does take note that she was, “very beautiful to behold and untouched by any man.” He had Isaac’s best interest at heart, yet he did not get distracted by physical beauty. Instead he crafted a plan to get beyond ‘outward appearances’. He did this with wisdom and prayer, collaborating with ‘the Angel of the Lord’. His test had two parts, a) He asked Rebecca for water for himself and did not in any way reveal his intentions to her, the easy part. b) He then asked ‘the Angel of the Lord’ to cause the young lady to voluntarily, without any prompting or promise of payment, to do a difficult and exhausting chore, water the camels and also the men. Rebecca passed on both counts, by first giving him water and then by initiating the watering of the ten camels who were just coming in off a long trek, no small task indeed! —
(There were ten camels kneeling by the well. A thirsty camel can drink about 20 gallons at a time. That is 200 gallons of water that she drew by hand! A gallon of water weighs a little over 8.5 pounds. That would be over 1600 pounds of water. If Rebecca’s pitcher weighed two pounds and if she drew 2 gallons of water each time, she would have dipped and lifted some 20 pounds of weight a hundred time! If we add watering the men who were with them, it may have been closer to a ton of water that she drew! Depending on the depth of the well, it would have taken her well over an hour to complete this task as she dipped and drew over a 100 times!! That is what she willingly volunteered to do, would you have done that?)
— The steward now also knows that Rebecca is robust and in good health and was not spoiled, pampered or afraid of work and was willing to serve others. He then again silently wondered about the girl as he watched her do the task and was talking to the Lord wondering if the Lord was giving him favor so quickly. He is in continual communication with the angel of the Lord!
6.) He gave! AFTER she willingly watered the camels he gave her costly gifts. This was not a payment as the girl willingly offered to water the camels, seeking no compensation. These gifts were far greater in value then any payment she would have ‘earned’ for the task of watering the camels [approx. $14,000 US at today’s value (2002)!]. This is true from our heavenly Father as well, who compensates us with gifts far greater than anything we deserve or could ever earn, including eternal life! We too receive a ‘100 times’ what we give or sacrifice into the Kingdom, IF we have done so willingly and with a joyful servant’s heart, without out any demand for a return (Luke 17:7-10). If we give and serve so as to get a return primarily for ourselves, we are not ‘giving’ at all! We are hirelings working for pay, this mindset does not fit our servant. He was not looking for a personal return on investment. Also as a slave, who had total control of the entire estate, he was not looking for a paycheck either! Yet these gifts he gave Rebecca are going to have an impact in the very near future, they turn into seed capital that gives a tremendous return, though this is not his primary motivation in giving her costly gifts.
7.) He verified by zeroing in on the next step which was to identify her family! He asked the girl whose daughter she is. (He didn’t even ask for her name, which would have been too personal and forward.) At the same time he inquires about her families ability to lodge them, which is no small matter itself and gives him some feel for where they are placed socioeconomically. Our servant has not lost track of Abraham’s full command. He had gone to his home country, but he still had to find a girl from Abraham’s family. All the boxes had to be checked off!
8.) He WORSHIPED and GAVE THANKS! He did this when he discovered that God had led him to Abraham’s blood brethren. He did this openly with humility and without shame by bowing his head and verbally declaring his praise in front of Rebecca and whomever else was around the well. Yet he did so without revealing to the young girl his purpose. The question now is her family, mother and brother, releasing her and her willingness to come. The prize had been identified and verified, the gaining of it was an entirely different game and would need a new set of strategies and more help from the ‘Angel of the Lord.’
9.) He played his cards brilliantly! He was shrewd around Laban. He did this by seizing the moment when he did not even wait to eat. (though he did make sure that both the men and the camels that were with him were taken care of first. He was a true and faithful servant!) The Servant had a keen eye, this account in Gen 24 was given by the steward and he had discerned Laban’s eye for the gold on Rebecca’s wrist. The steward also observed that Laban had noted that the steward’s entourage included ten camels that were only a token of his master’s (Abraham’s) wealth. Something the Steward makes sure to mention. The Servant/Steward, then begins to state Abraham’s prominence and favor with God as his lead card along with the subtle mentioning that Isaac his son, the groom, is the only heir. He then proceeds to lay out the testimony of how God had ordained and led his steps and answered his specific prayer through Rebecca before he had even finished uttering it. He finished off his ‘pitch/presentation’ by asking them to make a decision now or send him on his way to the left or the right (Luke 10:5-7). In which case he would be taking all of his master’s wealth, minus what he had given to Rebecca as a gift serving them in the watering of the camels and his men, with him. He left Rebecca’s mother and Laban with only one answer. ‘What can we say, it is of the Lord, take her and go’. He worshiped again and thanked the Lord bowing to the ground in front of them all and he sealed the agreement with the giving of many gifts mainly to Rebecca, who had yet to voice her opinion on the matter but did receive the gifts. This was all consummated before they even had a meal together!
10.) He was thorough! He closed the deal and finished well! He did this by not being distracted or hindered from his purpose when the next morning Laban and the mother were, understandably, reticent to release Rebecca to go right away, requesting at least ten days. The day before they had a daughter and a sister and one day later she is betrothed and going to be leaving. More than likely never being seen again (Selah)! The Servant, however is not agreeable and does not want to give room for any misgivings or persuasion to be brought to bear against the girl to cause her to reconsider (something Laban did do later with Jacob.) The favor of the Lord is there now and has made His will known and there is no need to delay or make his master anxious about them, as Abraham would come looking for them if they were gone too long. (It would not be the first time Abraham had gone a long distance to find family in distress!) As they had agreed and received his gifts and dowry, he wants to finish it and get to heading home.
Rebecca is now brought into the equation and is directly asked if she is willing to go now and she says YES. This a total unconditional surrender of the bride to a family and a groom she has not seen or known. She has met the servant and seen the wealth, but Gold and wealth means little if you marry into slavery and misery! Yet she forsakes all to follow him and in so doing, she does what our rich young ruler does not do! Why does she agree to this radical proposal, why not take a few days to say her good byes? There are three observable reasons: First the credibility, integrity and ‘testimony’ of the Servant. Second, the evidence he brought from his masters house (both wealth and authority) and third, the ‘Angel of the Lord’ who had gone before and prepared the way and her heart and performed signs and wonders that left no doubt about God’s will and plan.
The deal is closed and off they, with her nurses, go the day after he meets her at the well. The servant has only one thing left to do now, deliver the bride and release her to the son (much could be said here!) The servant did not attempt to in any way shape or form to try to win the brides favor for himself. Never once did this most faithful servant ever think about taking the ten camels of wealth, handpicking servants and soldiers that would be faithful to him, and taking that ten camels worth of wealth and going out and establishing his own clan and name! He is the exact opposite of another treasonous ‘chief steward’ who scripture talks specifically in Eze. 28:11-19.
Epitaph. When the Servant gets back he runs into Isaac who had gone off to ‘meditate’ (Jesus ever lives to make intercession for the bride Heb 7:25) and tells him the whole story. The Servant’s reward is the joy of pleasing his master and providing his son, Isaac, WITH A BRIDE. Nowhere is there any indication of the steward receiving applause, praise or payment for his efforts at the time! It is not about him. It’s about his Master and his Son, and his reward is bringing them joy and watching the satisfaction and love that Isaac had for his bride (Luke 17:5-11)! That this story is in the Scripture, with detail, is enough praise and testimony to this nameless Servant of the Lord whom no doubt heard, Matt 25:21
Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
from his true Master, our heavenly Father and His Son our Lord and savior Jesus Christ!
What we see in this wonderful account of a Godly steward winning a bride for Isaac is a collaboration of the Holy Spirit , ‘light’ (the angel of the Lord going before him) the Natural or ‘salt’ (represented by the taking of wealth and an entourage of men.) The Servant/Steward, who walked in a manifestation of progressive wisdom and revelation of plans and strategies and communication. The Bride, who willingly watered the camels, forsook all and went to marry an unknown and unseen husband! This collaboration between God and the Servant comes from two things. First the Stewards relationship with both Abraham, (the Father) who had sent the angel of the Lord, (the Holy Spirit) before him to be a ‘helper’. Second the Steward himself was an old and tested Servant and had much experience. When you put the two of them together it is an irresistible force. This is the Kingdom of God manifested on this earth, He has given man dominion over the earth. He collaborates with us and helps us to do what He has told and commissioned us to do.
God will never ask us to do anything that He does not give us the resources and help that we need to do it. The point is that when one is young they usually think either that they can do what God commands them on their own or on the other side, they think that God will do it for them and they have no part to play, both of which are incorrect. God does the heavy lifting, no doubt, however we still have an important part to play and Scripture clearly and redundantly tells us that the choices WE make, which are clearly laid out before us, are critically important in the success or failure of the task given. We cannot blame shift our bad choices or failures onto God or anyone else. Look at king David, for example. When David is confronted by the prophet Nathan of his heinous failure with Uriah and Bathsheba, David simply says “I am the man!” He does not blame Bathsheba or anyone else! He accepts the responsibility for the choices he made! Scripture is full of God giving men choices to make. God would not do so if they were not legitimate. How wicked it would be for someone to tell a person he has a choice about something when the truth is the exact opposite!
There has been much confusion about God’s ability to foresee and therefore predict the future (what is called foreknowledge) assuming that to mean that He controls and manipulates everyone’s life to do what He has ‘preordained’. This is simply not true. Just because one knows what is going to happen does not mean that one wants that to happen. In fact it is clear in Scripture that God does not do this nor does He always get what He wants. Even Jesus, who is God, did not get what He wanted as He asked His Father if there was another way to redeem us and if so, that the cup he was actually born to bear might pass by. It did not! 2 Pet 3:9 clearly tells us that God wishes that none perish but that all might come to everlasting life. Yet Scripture is redundantly clear that this will not be the case. There is a lake of fire. There is a hell and Jesus clearly says that many will choose to go there. In fact Jesus tells us in John 3:17-20, that those who do not Believe (lean into rely on, be and live in) are CONDEMNED ALREADY. He came to call us OUT OF DARKNESS, the rebellion and death into which we were all born, into the light of his Kingdom. The point is that our choices do matter and no amount of blame shifting and Biblical gymnastics to refute that is going to stand on the day when we all stand before his judgment seat!
The key to our story here in Genesis 24 is the relationships. It is not by coincidence that the entire task of this story is about a marriage. A marriage to the promised SON that is pleasing to our heavenly Father. It is also not a coincidence that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding! The ‘Angel of the Lord’ (the Holy Spirit), is still going before, the humble, obedient, willing Servants and Stewards of the King (the Father) to draw, purchase, prepare and present a Bride to His Son! The wonderful point about that is, WE OURSELVES ARE PART OF THAT BRIDE, we are now Servants but will soon be the Bride. What a deal!