The last mission: Find Isaac a wife!
Big Idea: We who serve Christ pledge to walk according to, and to pray expectantly for, God’s faithful kindness.
1. A pledge to be faithful to God’s faithful kindness
2. A prayer answered according to God’s faithful kindness
3. Praise God from whom faithful kindness flows through Christ
When I was growing up, one of the phrases I learnt from the school playground was this, “I cross my heart and I hope to die”.
Has anyone heard that before?
You say that if you wanted to tell someone that you’re really telling the truth.
For example, you tell your friends something that you’re absolutely certain about and they will test how sure you are by asking, “Do you cross your heart and hope to die?”
And you reply, “I cross my heart and hope to die.”
It’s taking a vow to say that you’re promising to tell the truth.
In today’s passage, we see someone who asks someone else to take a vow.
Not a vow to tell the truth, but a vow to do something very important.
This vow wasn’t made privately just between two people; it was made before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth.
God is the witness of this solemn vow, so the person making it better do it.
Have you ever made a solemn vow like that?
Have you ever asked someone to make a solemn vow like that?
In today’s passage, we’ll see someone who was asked to make a solemn vow.
We’ll see that though it was a solemn vow, it was a vow made in light of God’s faithful kindness.
We’ll see three things in today’s passage:
1. A pledge to be faithful to God’s faithful kindness
2. A prayer answered according to God’s faithful kindness
3. Praise God from whom faithful kindness flows through Christ
Before we look into it, let’s pray, “Father, please still our hearts down as we hear from your word today. By your Holy Spirit, help us see Jesus more clearly that we may love him more dearly, day by day, Amen.”
1. A pledge to be faithful to God’s faithful kindness
As we read through this part of Genesis, there’s one word that keeps popping up – “old.”
Abraham was an old man when we first meet him as a seventy-five-year-old man when God told him to leave his homeland.
When God promised that together with Sarah, his wife, he would have a son of their own, Sarah was 89 years old, and Abraham himself was a grand 99 years old.
They had a son one year later when Abraham was 100 years old.
As we come to the first verse of this chapter, and we read, “Abraham was now old, getting on in years”, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Just how old was Abraham at this stage?
Let’s do a little Maths questions, shall we?
At the end of this chapter, we’re told that Isaac was 40 years old, which makes Abraham….140 years old.
God has truly blessed Abraham in every way.
And now, Abraham gives one last command.
In fact, this command would be the last time we’ll hear from Abraham in the Bible.
Look with me at Genesis chapter twenty-four verses 2-4, “Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will have you swear by the LORD, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live, 4 but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.”
Abraham asked his trusted servant to swear a solemn vow to find a wife for his son Isaac.
Abraham asked his servant to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and earth by putting his hand under Abraham’s thigh.
It’s an awkward place for the servant to place his hand but Abraham placed a lot of trust in this elder who looked after his house.
Like parents who placed the lives of their injured children in the hands of Doctors in the Emergency department, placing their lives in the hands of these health professionals,
Abraham was placing the life of his son, the son he loves, in the hands of the servant.
The servant was tasked with finding a wife for Isaac, with three conditions.
1. Isaac’s wife mustn’t be a Canaanite.
As we continue to read through the rest of the Old Testament, except in very few cases (I could only think of two myself, Rahab and Ruth), a God-believing man marrying a Canaanite woman would lead to idol worship.
Isaac mustn’t have unbelieving wife who would turn Isaac away from God and make him worship a Canaanite god.
That was Abraham’s first concern.
2. She had to come from Abraham’s original homeland, as he wanted a woman for Isaac from his wider family and clan.
But the servant asked, “What if she found someone but she wasn’t willing to come?”
If she didn’t want to come, then she’s not the one.
3. Isaac absolutely must not go back and stay in Abraham’s homeland.
Why? Well, God took Abraham out of his own land and his father’s house, and gave this very land, the land they were standing on, to Abraham’s descendants.
Isaac was the one God himself had promised would inherit this blessing from Abraham.
Isaac and his descendants after him would live in this promised land.
And so, Isaac mustn’t leave this land, not even to find a wife, for that would be to actively disobey God’s promises.
And so, what was the servant’s mission?
Don’t take a wife from the Canaanites, do take a wife from Abraham’s relatives, and don’t let Isaac leave the promised land, even for his wife.
The servant swore on oath to do this for his master.
I know this might sound a bit strange to our modern ears.
Many of us, regardless whether we’re from the East or the West, let our children choose their potential spouses.
Some of us may try to match them with potential suitors, as part of what we do according to our cultures.
Throughout history, parents have arranged their children’s marriages.
Abraham, as a father, likely shared some of our concerns about finding the right spouse for our children.
We might seek a compatible family, with similar (or even better) social standing.
I even met some parents who have a very strong preference for potential suitors who are from the same cultural background.
Just want to be clear, that’s not me; I’m very happy for my children to find potential spouses from other cultural backgrounds.
While Abraham didn’t want Isaac to marry a Canaanite, the cultural background of the potential spouse for Isaac wasn’t Abraham’s main concern either.
You see, Abraham was so serious about finding the right woman to be his son Isaac’s wife because God had made a promise to Abraham.
God promised to give the land to Abraham’s descendants.
Long before Abraham made his servant promise anything, God had already made a promise to Abraham.
God made this promise out of kindness, and he had been faithful to Abraham even though Abraham had been unfaithful many times.
Now, as Isaac grew into manhood, ready to take on the responsibilities of being a husband and a father, Abraham had to do his best to find someone for Isaac who would be compatible with Isaac as he lives out God’s promises.
He needed to find someone who would leave her family and live with Isaac in the Promised Land, even though they would be living as foreigners, almost certainly for all of their lives.
She couldn’t just be a good and kind person; she had to be someone who wouldn’t lead Isaac away from God, like many Canaanite women would do.
This last mission that Abraham gave to his servant seemed like an impossible mission.
Where would they find a girl like that?
Abraham believed that God himself would send an angel before the servant and prepare the way.
He’s not sending the pagan god Cupid, which is often depicted as a cute little angel with a bow and an arrow.
Instead, the mighty God of heaven and earth will send his angel, his messenger, to move people at the right time to the right place, so that the servant will successfully accomplish Mission impossible.
Abraham, took God’s faithfulness seriously and made his servant take a vow so that he would find the right woman to be his son’s wife.
How seriously do we take God’s faithfulness?
For example, Jesus said that when two or three gather in his name, he’s there with them.
If we believe this, and I hope we do, then he’s with us, by his Spirit.
He’s present in this church, even as walk into Church building to we talk and to pray to him.
Do we believe and take his words seriously?
If so, then you will know that Jesus watched you as you entered the church, was standing next to you when you sang praises to him.
He was with you as you hear the Bible read, when you hear his word read out.
We believe and take Jesus’ words seriously not because we’re afraid to lose our salvation if we fail, but we’re afraid that we would fail to respond appropriately to God’s kindness because we haven’t been hearing his word.
Our God is faithful and kind, and it’s out of our love for him that we want to keep our promises before him.
As a Church, we want to do our utmost to keep our children and our vulnerable people safe.
And so, all of our KOGKids and KOGYouth leaders must undergo Safe Ministry training.
Before we are qualified to teach, we must make a pledge to protect our children and not expose them to risks that might lead to abuse.
You can see the full pledge at the back of the Church.
We make this pledge, not to make life hard for leaders and kids, but to protect our children and vulnerable people from harm being done to God’s Church.
And so, let’s take God’s faithfulness seriously, like Abraham.
Let’s promise to be faithful to God, not just for our youth and children, but in everything we do.
2. A prayer answered according to God’s faithful kindness
The servant took ten of his master’s camels and set off with various goods to Aram-naharaim, the place where Abraham’s relatives were last mentioned in Genesis (11:31)
The servant wasn’t sure if the mission would succeed.
However, he wanted to be prepared and so he even got the wedding gifts ready:
He brought along all kinds of goods from his master as well as ten camels.
The journey was over 1000 kilometres, and took several months, but eventually, he arrived.
He stopped at a well, made the camels kneel, but even before he gave the camels or himself any water to drink, he prayed.
Look with me at verses 12 to 14, “LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 I am standing here at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
After travelling for thousands of kilometres, he prayed that he would succeed on his first attempt, on that very day.
It was a very specific, time-limited, and impossible prayer!
Last week, there was a conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.
I watched a segment from a talk by Pastor John Piper.
John Piper asked ChatGPT to write a prayer.
In just three seconds, it wrote a prayer that included these words: Sovereign Lord of history and redemption, from eternity past, you purposed to lavish grace upon undeserving sinners through the blood of your beloved Son…
…May our lives redeemed and sanctified by your Spirit be vessels of praise to the riches of your grace. To you, be glory forever and ever Amen.
It sounds pretty good, but John Piper said it’s not a prayer.
He said that these machines honour God with their bytes, but their hearts are far from God.
And he’s right.
These are words of a prayer, but it’s not prayer.
Real prayers start from the depth of our hearts, it’s a cry to God from our spirit.
As Christians, we understand that prayer is both a blessing and an honour God that gave us.
As people who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has now made us a people who can relate directly Him.
It’s only through our relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we pray.
Of course, the servant didn’t know Jesus Christ yet, but he knew his master’s God, the very same God who would one day send Jesus.
Notice that his prayer wasn’t just about his own success.
He prayed that God would make the impossible happen as a way of showing kindness to his master.
This servant wasn’t just doing a job for his master; he genuinely cared about the Master’s well-being.
He wanted God to be kind to Abraham.
He even listed out exactly how he would like God to show his kindness to Abraham.
Basically, he was praying, “God, the young women of the town are coming out soon. Let the woman who responds to my request and gives me a drink, as well as giving drinks to the camels, be the one for Isaac. That’s what kindness to my master would look like, God.”
His prayer was very specific and bold.
He needed to find the right girl for Isaac and there are three tests for her to pass: She would give the servant a drink of water, she would give the camels a drink of water, and she must be a relative of Abraham.
And guess what? Even before he prayed, God had already started answering!
God had arranged people and situations so that a girl named Rebekah went to the well even as the servant was finishing his prayer.
Firstly, she was described as a relative of Abraham, she was beautiful, and she wasn’t married.
Big tick for test one.
The servant asked her for a drink, and she obliged. Tick number two.
She also offered to give the camels a drink. Tick number three.
Now, the well, like many other ancient wells, was likely to be a huge, deep hole in the ground with steps leading down to the spring water.
It would have been hard work to draw water for individual people, let alone for how many camels?
Ten Camels!
Since a camel could drink about twenty-five gallons of water, and an ancient water jar only held about three gallons, Rebekah had to make between eighty and one hundred trips down into the well!
It was very hard work! But it shows us something about Rebekah.
She came from the right family, just like Abraham had asked for.
But more than that, she was kind, beautiful, and hardworking.
The servant was impressed as he silently watched, but he wasn’t sure if she was the one.
So, he asked her about her family. And lo and behold, She was the perfect fit!
The servant praised and worshipped God, saying that God hadn’t forgotten about Abraham, his master. It was God himself who had led the servant to her.
God had answered his bold prayer to complete what seemed like an impossible mission.
When I hear our prayers, when I hear my prayer, I wonder often wonder whether our prayers are bold at all.
We tend to pray safe prayers.
We often pray for health, peace, and love, which are wonderful things.
But do we truly believe God will answer them? Would we care if God doesn’t answer our prayers?
Before he even had a sip of water when he arrived at the well, the servant prayed. He had even set very specific, measurable, time-bound goals in his prayer requests to God.
While we don’t want to dictate what success looks like in every prayer, we should take our prayers seriously.
Just like the servant, let’s pray boldly for God and grant us our prayer requests, so that we can see God show His kindness to others, to our bosses, to our parents, and to our friends.
What would God’s kindness look like if He answered our prayers?
Let’s pray expectantly, trusting that our prayers to God will make a difference.
Each prayer is an opportunity to ask God to do the impossible.
Don’t waste your prayers!
On Thursday, I shared about the KYCK youth conference with the people at St Patrick’s Green Retirement village.
One of the residents were so happy to hear about it that he called it a revival.
God is doing something incredible among the youths.
But it’s not just the youths.
From 2016 to 2021, there’s been an increase of people going regularly to Church around our country, growing from 15% to 21%.
784,000 who ticked ‘No religion’ in the 2016 census ticked ‘Christianity’ in 2021.
God is answering our prayers!
And so, don’t pray like a machine; pray like you mean it.
Pray boldly, for God to do the impossible, not for selfish reasons, but for God to show His kindness to others.
3. Praise God from whom faithful kindness flows through Christ
As Christians, we’re called to be servants of Jesus. We are but his servants, doing what he’s called us to do.
One of our fellow servants was Paul.
When Paul knew that the end of his life was near, he gave this charge to another servant, called Timothy, in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1-2,
“I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.”
Paul wanted Timothy to take this vow, to make this promise to preach the word, in season and out of season.
Unlike Abraham’s servant, our charge is not to travel great distances to find a wife for Isaac; That was very specific to him.
Our charge, as a Church, as God’s people, is to preach the word, in season and out of season.
This remains our most important and urgent task; no matter what happens, as a Church, we must preach the word.
Another fellow servant was James, the half-brother of Jesus.
In the final chapter of his letter, James exhorts us to pray, in James 5:16,
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.”
The prayer of the righteous will powerfully bring forgiveness to the one who confesses their sins.
I’ve seen that our God had done amazing work in those who have confessed their sins and who have changed their lives as a result.
These changes happen in these people because righteous people had prayed bold prayers for them.
Friends, we ought to make solemn promises before God, and we must work hard to keep our solemn promises before God, because we want to see people praise our Lord Jesus Christ for his kindness.
We can’t do it by ourselves, and so we humbly pray for Jesus to help us by his Holy Spirit.
Don’t you want to see more people know the kindness and faithfulness of our God? I know I do.
For we who serve Christ pledge to walk according to, and to pray expectantly for, God’s faithful kindness.
And so, join us on Tuesday nights as we pray together as a Church in our prayer meetings.
Pray bold prayers with us as we pray for God to show his kindness.
And if you want to find out what it means to serve God faithfully, join our Growth groups as every Growth group does the discovery course in May.
Discover what it means to serve God and his people with what he’s given you.
Three Questions
1. When was the last time you made a promise to God?
2. When was the last time you prayed expectantly for God to show his kindness to your boss? To your parents?
3. When will you ask someone to make a promise before God so that God’s kindness will be celebrated?
We who serve Christ pledge to walk according to, and to pray expectantly for, God’s faithful kindness.
Let’s pray, “Father, we thank you for the faithful kindness that you’ve shown to us in Christ. Please forgive us when we haven’t taken your word seriously. By your Holy Spirit, embolden us, that we may pray bold prayers so that your faithful kindness will be seen, heard and felt by all those around us. Father, today we pray that you will answer our prayers on checkpoint six. Father please bring more youth and children in, that we might see a hall full of youths, and three classrooms filled with kids, all eager to hear your word. We pray this boldly in the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.”