Missions Paul

It’s a long passage to read today, and much is a repeat as the servant of Abraham recalls what has brought him to Nahor, which turned out to be the hometown of Abraham’s brother. I have emboldened the verses that I will be focusing on.

 ^“Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. ³¹ “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” ³² So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. ³³ Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.” “Then tell us,” Laban said. ³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. ³⁷ And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸ but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ ⁴⁰ “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. ⁴¹ You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’ ⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. ⁴³ See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also. ⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ “She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’ “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, ⁴⁸ and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.” ⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. “ (Genesis 24 v 29-52)

We all love a testimony in church, don’t we? Here is Abraham’s servant doing just that. What does it teach us?

• The servant couldn’t wait to give his testimony. When you know God is moving and at work, it is more than excitement; there is a compulsion that means everything else comes second, even food (v. 33).
• The servant told the story as it was. There was no embellishment; it didn’t need any, i.e., just told the story, v34 onwards. Note that he was only the messenger. He doesn’t take any credit. This was all of God’s doing. Isn’t that a wonderful way to testify to what has happened in our lives? Simply faithfully retelling of what God has done.
• Initial response from people may seem selfish, but they could still serve the purposes of God. Laban, whose character deficiencies we will see later in this book, is clearly a man who may display wonderful hospitality and a language of faith, but who also seeks benefits. Notice how in v30 he sees the gold before he rushes to welcome. However, even selfish and greedy motives cannot derail what God is doing.
• The servant worshipped after the answered prayer. Twice in v48 and v52 his first response is to worship because of answered prayer. Do you need to worship today?
• The servant lived with a single focus of obedience. He had one task: find a wife, v49. He had such a clear focus. What would it be like to live with such clarity, knowing that God is orchestrating appointments in the ordinariness of life? In that focused living, the servant was paying attention to what might be happening around him and whether God was moving. God was indeed moving and working, and the servant didn’t miss it. Let’s hope we don’t either.

We are continuing this incredible story of Abraham’s servant finding a wife for Isaac.  He was praying and waiting and watching, and Rebekah was in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.

“Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. ¹⁷ The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. ²¹ Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. ²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a bekaand two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. ²³ Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.” ²⁶ Then the man bowed down and worshipped the Lord, ²⁷ saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” ²⁸ The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.” (Genesis 24 v 15-28)

Rebekah’s destiny was shaped in the ordinariness of life.

• She didn’t know she was being watched. Whether we like it or not, we are constantly being watched. If we use social media even more so! Our character is continually on display in moments that may not appear very special. She didn’t know who this man with the camels was. She was just herself. She was being kind. At the centre of kindness is the well-being of another, and it reveals a person’s character.
• She offered to go the extra mile. She could have stopped after giving him a drink and then moved on from there, but she didn’t. She went the extra mile and volunteered to water all his camels. She was not there for herself. She would then offer the servant and his camels a place for the night. We never know the outcome of such hospitality.
• She was faithful in the ordinariness. Often, we think we must wait for an incredible God moment to serve His purposes. It seems God is waiting for us. He is looking for our faithfulness in the unglamorous moments, the boring parts of life.
• She had somewhere and someone to share the story with. For her, it was her mother and the family members. She told of the gold ring and bracelet gifts, the whole encounter with the servant and his prayer, and how she learns that there is a wider family connection. But she was not going to keep this to herself. In our world, we make so many decisions on our own, without drawing people into our lives to share the journey with us.

It is an incredible story, which, as we know, we still have the next part to read. But the main point so far is this: Be faithful in small, everyday acts of kindness and character-building, because you never know when an ordinary moment might become a divine appointment. And when those moments come, don’t face them alone; run to your family and friends.

Today may be a day when you need some help making a decision. You need guidance. You don’t know which way to turn. So your morning prayer includes. ‘Help!’ He will.

We are reading the story of the choosing of a wife for Isaac, and Abraham’s servant has been given the task to go back home to find the woman.

“Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaimand made his way to the town of Nahor. ¹¹ He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. ¹² Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” (Genesis 24 v 10-14)

We can purposely position ourselves in the right place at the right time. He took his camels to the well in the evening, when the women drew water. There are things that you can do that would seem obvious and necessary in order to be in a position of clarity.

We can pray before we decide. The servant didn’t choose a wife, then ask God to bless his choice. He prayed first. He prayed before any women turned up.

We can be honest. The servant was specific. He didn’t simply ask for a wife for Isaac. God isn’t offended by our concerns of getting it right. He was looking for generosity. If someone wouldn’t oblige in letting him have water for his camels, he thought this would reveal something about her that wasn’t right for Isaac. In his prayer, he is asking for character.

Maybe you are at a similar well today. You need to make a decision. You may not have camels to water, but you have responsibilities. God can meet you there, between responsibilities and your need to know what to do about certain matters. He can even intertwine the two. God cares about this moment as much as you do. He is ready to meet you. All you need to do is position yourself and pray.

Regarding the promises of God for our lives, I have a question. When do we leave things with God, and when do we take action ourselves? We are going to read the next part of Abraham’s life, where he is intentional about protecting the promise and making sure it has space to live, while also being content to leave the outcome with God.

“He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. ³ I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, ⁴ but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” ⁶ “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. ⁷ “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.” (Genesis 24 v 2-9)

The arrangement of marriage for his son is Abraham’s protection of the promise God gave him. If Isaac married a local Canaanite woman, it could ruin the promised future for the next generations. Abraham takes control of the promise, not to change it but to preserve it. However, he also knows God is ultimately in control, for in answering, ‘what if she won’t come?’ he bows to the presence and sovereignty of God, ‘He will send his angel …’

We need the wisdom he demonstrated. To know when to hold on to the conviction we have, and yet to know to surrender to Him when things are beyond our control.

Who you bring into your inner relational circle is crucial to your future. Are they causing the promises of God to thrive within you, or do they drain you into disbelief? What matters most to you? The environment we place ourselves in will help shape our destiny.

God’s promises don’t eliminate our responsibility to make wise, intentional decisions. Be intentional about who influences your life and family, for proximity shapes destiny. Who we surround ourselves with matters.

Who you allow to influence you and the compromises you choose to keep not only impact your life now but also your future. Be diligent, and God will be your God and do what only He can do.

Don’t let go, don’t give up. You are on a journey toward a beautiful experience of looking back on your life and seeing the Lord’s blessings. This is the truth of the opening verse of this chapter,

“Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.” (Genesis 24 v 1)

Not mostly. Not at every moment.

But in every way. What does this mean?

It isn’t a life without difficulty.

Without going into every detail of Abraham’s life, suffice it to say he had known barrenness, grief, separation, trauma, and his own sin and human weakness. Yet at approximately 140 years old, with another 35 years before he dies, he is ‘very old’ and ‘the Lord had blessed him in every way’.

What does it mean?

Was it his wealth? His blessings were tangible for sure. Possessions, land, the promised Isaac, God had been faithful. Yes. But there was more than that.

Was it who he had become? We have read of a man who, out of fear, lied about his wife. He became a man who could trust God even at the eleventh hour when raising a knife on the altar of his son. He had become aligned with God’s purpose for his life.

His story was definitely about delays, which must have felt like a denial. It was about diversions that actually turned out to be a wonderful destination. It was about losses and heartache that opened a new chapter of joy for him.

Sometimes understanding is only in looking back.

Being blessed in every way doesn’t always mean getting our needs met. It isn’t about being protected from every hurtful experience.

But it is about what we learn and who we become.

So that towards the end of our lives, after experiencing the good, the bad, and the ugly that life throws at us, everything is woven together in a beautiful tapestry, and it can be said, ‘the Lord has blessed us in every way.’

You may not feel blessed right now. Your life may be in the waiting season. You may have made mistakes and wonder how you can find your way through now. Hang on! Blessing isn’t always apparent in the present. This struggle will end. God is faithful. He will bring you through so that when you are very old, others can look at you and see the blessing of the Lord, in every way.

This may simply be the worst season of your life. The loss that you have suffered can weigh heavily. Perhaps you are in need, and it is becoming quite desperate now. It is possible that, in your vulnerable state, people are taking advantage of you. If you know anything of this, then it is your Machpelah place. However, you might also know that Machpelah is the place where God uses the enemy to open a door into a new season for your life. This is the story of Machpelah; it is an unusual approach to being blessed.

This name refers to a sacred site in Hebron, in the West Bank. It is a cave and the burial site of the patriarchs, and Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all share its central religious significance as the place where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their wives were buried. It means ‘double’ or ‘two-layered’ and probably refers to the structure of the cave.

Here is how it was purchased.

^“ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekelsof silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” ¹⁶ Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants. ¹⁷ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.” (Genesis 23 v 14-20)

Let me bullet these points on what we have just read.

• Some believe that Ephron, a Hittite landowner, exaggerated the value of the land to Abraham, whilst at the same time saying, ‘don’t worry about it.’
• Abraham doesn’t try to talk Ephron down from the astronomical price; publicly, he just counts out the money and pays for the land.
• Abraham receives the deeds for the land and buries Sarah in one of the caves on the field – Machpelah.

Here’s what really happened. In one of Abraham’s worst moments of his life, he is knowingly taken for a ride with the value of the land, but he purchases it to bury his wife, and in doing so, he receives the first portion of the Promised Land that was promised to him by God.

There are times in our lives when the worst day becomes the doorway to the fulfilment of our promises.

Abraham wasn’t purchasing a piece of land with a cave for a burial site for his wife. He was going to own a portion of the Promised Land.

We need to think bigger and deeper.

Don’t take everything at face value. Abraham didn’t need a burial plot as much as he needed a stake in the ground, where he could anchor his story as a father to the nations. He purchased the Promised Land with grief.

At the end of the day, Abraham was 400 shekels poorer, and his heart was grieving for his loss, and yet on that day it was worth every shekel.

You may be paying a price today for something, and yet it could be God leading you to sacrifice yourself for something far bigger and in alignment with His promises for your life. That is the story of Machpelah.

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I was talking with a friend in Pakistan this past week, and their church has managed to free 4 families from bond slavery in the brick factories. Up to three generations ago, one of their ancestors accepted a loan, and it meant that it tied the next generations into slavery with no way of getting free.

We need to be careful who we accept gestures from, whether it be a loan or even a gift. No strings attached is never that simple.

We are going to read about Abraham’s wisdom in the next verses. Sarah has died, and he is looking for a burial plot.

“The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.” ⁷ Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf ⁹ so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.” ¹⁰ Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. ¹¹ “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I giveyou the field, and I giveyou the cave that is in it. I giveit to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.” ¹² Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³ and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.” (Genesis 23 v 5-13)

So why does Abraham insist on paying?

The simple answer is the same as the story in Pakistan. It would incur a debt that would entangle Abraham’s descendants for generations to come.

Abraham honours the gift but retains his autonomy and holds the title deeds independently.

Be careful who you accept help from. Don’t release your own dignity, freedom and future life.

Abraham purchased the first piece of the Promised Land through an honest purchase and not because it was given to him or because he had to fight for it.

The cost may be high, but the gift could be higher.

Many years ago, a Pastor I knew died far too young, despite lengthy prayers for his recovery from churches across the area. His congregation was devastated. During his illness, prophetic words declaring his healing had been placed around the church walls, alongside photographs of him—declarations of faith that God would restore him.

He wasn’t healed. He died.

Yet several months later, the prophecies and pictures remained on the walls. What had begun as declarations of faith had become a shrine—a monument to loss, to what could have been, to a future that never arrived. Though it was painful for everyone, the shrine had to be dismantled. Life had to go on.

The Pastor is remembered with honour. But the shrine is no more.

On my phone, I have many photos of dear family and friends who have died. I look at them often—sometimes laughing, sometimes crying at the memories they stir. But those photos don’t stop me from taking new ones. In fact, I have far more pictures of people who are alive than of the precious people no longer in my life.

That’s the difference. Memory allows room for the present. A shrine only has room for the past.

Let me continue with these verses.

“Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” (Genesis 23 v 1-4)

Reading again v4 in the KJV, “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

Several years ago, I conducted a funeral for a certain church member. I remember the day we helped him get ready to move from his house to a flat. I had never been to his house before and was taken aback by its state. However, when I went into his bedroom, I realised why the years had not been kind to him and how he had let himself go, living with no purpose. Hanging outside the wardrobe was his wife’s dress; other clothes were gathering dust on a chair. His wife had died a few years previously, but it was clear he had never let her go. He could not move on. Grief had consumed him. He had stopped living life to the full. The past had become a prison, and he was wasting away inside it.

Sarah was Abraham’s failure: calling her his sister because of fear instead of trusting God.

Sarah was Abraham’s brokenness: he would be the father of many, but he couldn’t keep his own family together and had to say goodbye to Hagar and Ishmael.

Sarah was Abraham’s success: At 90, she bore him a son.

But now Sarah has died.

Abraham mourned for her.

He wept for her.

This was right. This was necessary. This was healthy.

Then Abraham stood up, declared she was dead and became determined to bury her out of his sight.

Notice the progression: mourn, weep, then rise and move forward. Abraham understood that while grief has its season, clinging to what is gone will drain the life from us. If we refuse to bury the past, it will bury us instead. We become like that church member—surrounded by what once was, unable to embrace what could be, slowly diminishing in the shadow of memory.

Let us not be locked up in the past, whether in failure, brokenness or even success.

Those times are gone now. They are dead.

We know how to mourn and weep. These are gifts that honour what we’ve lost.

But we must also learn how to bury things out of our sight. If we don’t, we cease to live genuinely. We become haunted by yesterday, unable to step into today. The past, left unburied, becomes a weight that crushes our purpose, our joy, and our future. God calls us not merely to survive in the grip of what was, but to live fully in what is and what is yet to come.

He is. Even when you cannot see it, He is working. This is His story, and He is writing it perfectly. Trust Him. He has got you.

In a short and unusual passage, we read a whole bunch of names. But there is something beautiful I want to show you.

“Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.” (Genesis 22 v 20-24)

I emboldened it.

We have had Abraham being tested on the mountain, and now he is back in Beersheba, and we don’t really know what he is doing there.

Meanwhile.

What a beautiful word. We serve the God of the meanwhile. It means when you’re not looking or unaware, God is still working. Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.

Back home in Haran, Nahor, Abraham’s brother, has been growing a family. Through his wife, Milkah, eight sons have been born. One of them is Bethuel. This son grows and has a daughter called Rebekah. This is the Rebekah who will marry Isaac and be the mother of Jacob and Esau.

God is preparing the next chapter of His promise. Even before Isaac needed a wife, having been incredibly thankful for that ram caught in the thicket, God had made sure there was a bride ready for him. This wife will be from Abraham’s own family line and not a woman from the Canaanites.

God is working for the generations ahead.

Right now, where you are and in the situation you are in, God is working for you. You might not see it now. But if you simply hold on, trust Him, all things will work together for good.

We can ignore some passages and miss a wonderful treasure that encourages us all.

Something caught my eye yesterday when reading the passage of the story on the mountain.

“Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.” (Genesis 22 v 19)

Looking over the whole story again. The father and son leave the servants at the bottom of the mountain, carrying the wood for the altar. The son asks his father where the lamb is for the sacrifice, the faith needed for building that altar, no ram in sight, the son is bound to the altar, and the knife is raised. God stepping in, the dialogue with heaven, and the provision of the ram. It is all quite intense.

Then they walk down the mountain, and we don’t read of any conversation between the two. They return to the servants, they go home, and Abraham stays there.

No celebration. No displays. Just return home and stay. Continue life.

There seems to be a silence in the story.

I know, and I’m sure you do, after a season of intense faith stretching and challenge, there comes a period not of a victory lap but of quietness.

Only two people saw this spectacular moment. The people in Beersheba didn’t, nor did the servants at the base of the mountain. People might see a change in you because of the mountain, but they won’t see or understand what happened to you on that mountain. They see you before and after, but there are times when you, perhaps one other person, and God know what you have actually gone through.

You are back in the same place, the same job, the same routine, everything has changed within you, and you now carry an altar in your heart, but you have returned to the ordinary again; except for you, everything has changed. There is nothing ordinary about you. This last experience of not withholding anything from God has changed you forever.

You stay. However, you have moved on in your faith, and your previous experience with God will now fuel your approach to life.

Even if you were to tell people what had happened to you, they would probably not understand. Some testimonies need to be carried quietly. Perhaps the most significant test of faith isn’t on the mountain after all; maybe it is when you have arrived off the mountain, and you are back home, carrying something new in your heart.

Return home. Stay. Your world does not necessarily need the story of the great acts of your faith, but it does need the change those acts brought about.