Genesis 25:1-18 “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac“

This will be the last chapter in which the lives of Abraham and Isaac intersect. In fact, this is Abraham’s death chapter. From now on the focus will be on Isaac, the chosen son and the new head of the covenant family.  Though there are no great achievements to speak of concerning Isaac’s life, yet he provides a significant link in the history of redemption. The  Jews always referred  to their  God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (e.g.  Gen. 50:24; Ex.3:15; Acts 7:32)

Our text focuses on the continuity of the covenant promises of God to Abraham through Isaac which is then passed on to Jacob, and we shall see this already happening in 25:23. The great doctrine which is addressed in this chapter is the doctrine of divine election. I want to present this doctrine to you in fuller detail  my next sermon. Right now I want us to see how the covenant promise is passed on in the midst of challenging family relationships in which we   are told  that Abraham gave all he have  to Isaac.  (25:4)

Abraham took another wife (25:1-4).

Following the death of Sarah in Ch. 23, Abraham marries Keturah[1], whose name means ”wrapped in clouds of incense smoke"[2]. She bears him a further 6 sons. The prophecy concerning him becoming the father of many nations is beginning to take shape.    I want to draw your attention to one of the sons. One of his sons, whose name is mentioned in verses 2-4 is  Midian.  His offspring, the Midianites were destined to have  a great  influence  upon Israel.  Jacob’s sons because of jealousy will put their brother Joseph into a pit, from where he is rescued by Midianite traders, who in turn sell him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, in Egypt (37:36). Later we read that Moses sought refuge in Midian following his flight from Egypt (Ex.2:11ff).There he meets  and marries Zipporah the  daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian (Ex.2:16-22),  and Moses will be greatly helped by his Midianite father-in-law, Jethro. Yet the Midianites will also exert bad influence over the Israelites with the Moabites (Numbers 22:1-41, 25:1-18, 31:1-54)  and through them Israel will start to worship false gods, bringing  God’s wrath down upon them. Gideon in Judges 6-8 will defeat the Midianite army  with an army of only 300 men  in a remarkable victory.

Isaac's unique place in God's plan (25:5,6)

With so many brothers, and not forgetting Ishmael  (7 in all),  we may well ask how things would be when Abraham dies  and  when the inheritance has to be  divided.  The Bible leaves us in no uncertainty:  “Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living. And he sent them away from his son, Isaac, eastward to the land of the east.”

The Lord God who knows all things and who steers all history  for the sake of His own glory    had determined by His own good pleasure and forethought  that  Isaac, the son born to Abraham  and Sarah, his covenant wife,  was going to be the next son of the covenant, inheriting  the promises that God had made to Abraham. Remember the opening words of the New Testament? “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob . . .” (Matt. 1:1- 2). Isaac occupies a unique place there . There were 7 other male descendants of Abraham, but they are not mentioned there. The covenant promise concerning the  seed of the woman who will bruise the serpent’s head and accomplish our redemption shall come  through Isaac alone.

In order to deal with potential sibling rivalry,   the other sons are sent away to the east country (v.6). That is an interesting comment.  Adam and Eve after the fall are sent east of Eden (Gen.3:24).  Cain settled east of Eden following the murder of his brother (Gen. 4:16).  The people who planned and built the tower of Babel came from the east (Gen. 11:2).  Abraham, by the grace of God had been brought from Ur in the east to the promised land.    In  Gen.24 Abraham warned his servant  that under no circumstances was he to take Isaac back to the east – to  the place  from where  God had taken Abraham. Isaac belongs here in Canaan, the Promised Land. Eastward was generally understood to mean, “away from God”.

We thank God that today in this gospel age, God’s covenant blessings are being poured once again into the people of the east and the nations, although the gospel is also fiercely resisted by the people of the east, as is true for the all the nations  of  the world. It began back in the times of the birth of Jesus. Wise men from the East heard that a remarkable child was to be born and so they came to seek Him and to worship Him (Matt.2:1). 

So then, Abraham’s other sons are not sent away empty handed. They are given gifts (we may assume that these were generous gifts) while Abraham was still alive, but while  the  others are provided for, Isaac alone is the one who is to inherit the land and the covenant  promises. Matthew Henry writes:

“These sons of the concubines were sent into the country that lay east from Canaan, and their posterity were called the children of the east, famous for their numbers, Judges 6:5,33.  (i.e. the Midianites and the Amalekites) Their great increase was the fruit of the promise made to Abraham, that God would multiply his seed. God, in dispensing his blessings, does as Abraham did common blessings he gives to the children of this world, as to the sons of the bond-woman, but covenant-blessings he reserves for the heirs of promise. All that he has is theirs, for they are his Isaacs, from whom the rest shall be for ever separated”[3]

Common blessings are given by God to every member of the human race, but covenant blessings are given by God to those who are the heirs of the promise. A distinction is made by God between Isaac and his brothers from another mother.  

If it were up to Abraham he might have chosen Ishmael (Gen. 17:15-27) in the same way as Isaac would choose Esau over Jacob.  God chooses differently to us. He chooses Isaac over Ishmael. He chooses Jacob the younger over Esau the older. He chooses David, the last born of the sons of Jesse. And God chooses, Isaac and Jacob and David, not because they are better men than others. They are not. Read the history of the Bible and you will see this for yourself. No, for His own reasons and  for the sake of His own glory and because He loved them He chooses them.   

The way to translate that into NT  language  is this:  Have you received Grace from God  to  become a Christian  through believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Have you entered the new covenant   having confessed Him with your mouth and in baptism? Do you appreciate the wonder of the fact that God has given to every Christian  believer  an unimaginable inheritance, making us joint heirs with Christ?  If so then  we are the richest people in the world! And  the wonder is that none of us  has deserved this.No one merits it. No one earns it. It is his  unmerited  free gift to an undeserving  people. “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4,5)

The death and burial of Abraham. (25:7-11)

Abraham lived 175 years. He was 75 years old when he came to Canaan and he lived here for 100 years. He had now lived in Canaan longer than anywhere else.

The words of verse 8 are striking:  “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man full of years, and was gathered to his people.”  The words speak of a man at peace.   It is friendship with God that allows a man to die full of years and satisfied.  Matthew Henry again says, “He was full of years, or full of life,  including all the conveniences and comforts of life. He did not live till the world was weary of him, but till he was weary of the world he had had enough of it, and desired no more. A good man, though he should not die old, dies full of days, satisfied with living here, and longing to live in a better place”. [4]

Abraham had the pleasure of seeing Isaac married and settled.  And now he could depart in peace. His life, in a sense was  complete. God gives  a believer that contentment that enables them  to enjoy life, but also to be ready to leave it when God calls. The things that made Abraham's life rich was not his possessions, and it wasn't the great age which God had granted him, but rather it was his hope to enter into that heavenly Canaan, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city whose founder and builder was God, whose friendship he had enjoyed in this life. Abraham was gathered to his people. The doctrine of the immortal soul, and of the afterlife comes through here very strongly. Abraham did not cease to be.  He was not annihilated.   Abraham was gathered to his people. He was gathered to Adam and Eve and Seth and Enoch, and to Noah and to Sarah… He was gathered to his people. Which people will you be gathered to? Will you be gathered to the children of promise, or will you be gathered to the children of this world? It depends upon with whom we find our ultimate fellowship in this life doesn't it?

The Methodist, Adam Clarke wrote a good eulogy of Abraham: “Above all as a man of God, he stands unrivaled; so that under the most exalted and perfect of all dispensations, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he is proposed and recommended as the model and pattern according to which the faith, obedience, and perseverance of the followers of the Messiah are to be formed. Reader, while you admire the man, do not forget the God that made him so great, so good, and so useful. Even Abraham had nothing but what he had received; from the free unmerited mercy of God proceeded all his excellences; but he was a worker together with God, and therefore did not receive the grace of God in vain. Go thou, believe, love, obey, and persevere in like manner.”[5]

In verse 9 we read that Isaac and Ishmael share in the responsibility of burying their father. They buried him  in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, where Sarah  was buried (v.9)... but the final  fact remains  that God blessed Abraham’s son  Isaac.

V.11  After the  funeral is  over God  confirms the covenant blessings upon Isaac. Isaac goes and lives at Beer-lahai-roi where God had first taken care of Hagar and Ishmael, and the  place where Isaac first  saw and met  Rebekah, his wife.  

At the close of our  text  Ishmael and his offspring  receive  a brief mentioning.  He became rich and famous. He had twelve sons who were princes and nations (v.16). Today they  are the various Arabic people of the Middle East.  They lived on the fringes of the Promised Land. They have been touched  by the word of God. They believe in the  scriptures, but   it is one thing to be near the covenant of grace; it is another thing to be in the covenant of grace To this day  they remain  strangers to the covenant and its promises. Many that are strangers to the covenants of promise are blessed with outward prosperity for the sake of their godly ancestors. Wealth and riches shall be in their house.”[6] But the main  question is this. Are you, like Isaac, a son of the covenant, having entered the narrow gate through  Christ?  For it is in  Christ  that we, like Isaac inherit all  the covenant promises ...  the resurrection of our bodies, eternal life  in  heaven, our heavenly Canaan, for God has promised  us all   these thing in Christ, the Mediator of a better covenant.   

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[1] There is  disagreement among commentators as  to whether   Abraham  had taken  Keturah as  a concubine  whilst  he was married to Sarah  ( In 1 Chronicles  1:32 she is mentioned  as his concubine)

[2] H.C. Leupold: Genesis http://www.ccel.org/ccel/leupold/genesis.xxvii.html

[3] Matthew Henry’s Commentary  :  https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/genesis-25.html

[4] Matthew Henry : https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/genesis-25.html

[5] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/genesis-25/

[6] Matthew Henry : https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/genesis-25.html

Genesis 24:29-67 “The Son of the Covenant Meets His Bride“

This then is the love story of Isaac and Rebekah.  Our Scripture reading is virtually a repeat of the first 28 verses. Abraham’s servant has been successful.  The Lord God has heard Abraham’s prayer and his servant’s prayer. He has found a beautiful wife for Isaac through a remarkable set of providences, inspired by prayer to the God of Abraham, who has created this world and everything in it. And yet, as I hope to show you, this is much more than a love story. This is much more than a story of a God-fearing parent looking for a suitable marriage partner for his son.

Isaac and Rebekah will be an important puzzle piece in the history of God’s redeeming grace in this sinful world. They will continue the story of God’s covenant dealings with mankind. Last time we were reminded that the theme of covenant runs right through the Bible. The Bible is made up of an Old and a New covenant (Testament).  

The story line of the Bible  and the development of the covenantal theme  essentially goes like this.  Following creation (Genesis 1 &2)  follows the fall  of mankind into sin (Genesis 3)  follows the  fact that God, the holy Creator of this  world and the Universe   has  determined that despite the  fall, He would  call out a people for Himself in  this world.  The question then becomes this:  How can this holy God, who is of purer eyes than to  see evil  (Hab. 1:13)  have anything to do with sinners? The answer is this; God makes a way, by way of covenants, which all point to ONE COVENANT!  We have already noted the Noahic  covenant (8:20 – 9:17) in which  God  called  out to  Himself the family of Noah, also   promising  never to destroy the earth  through a universal flood again. The sign of that covenant  is the rainbow.  

In  Genesis 15/17   we find the   Abrahamic  covenant. Once again God chooses   for Himself a people, beginning with Abraham.  The sign of that covenant is circumcision.  This  covenant is ratified by   sacrifice and blood (Gen. 15:17)[1].   All this points to  that great  New Covenant  in Christ, who was given on the cross, shedding  His blood  for those  who  are given to Him by the Father  (John 17), those who will come to Him and who  believe in His Name.  The sign of entering into that covenant is believers baptism.   

The message of the whole Bible remains the same.  From this fallen world,  God is calling out for Himself a particular people, called not by their own  merit, but called according to God’s  love. There would be ultimately two kinds of people in this world: the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring (Gen. 3:15).  God promised Abraham that He would fill heaven with a vast number of his offspring – born from among all the nations of the world.  

Now I need to point out that   whilst Rebekah   did come from Abraham’s earthly family she was not as yet a part of the covenant family. In this story we see God bringing her into the covenant through her marriage to Isaac.  So again we need to see the big picture here.  

This is not just about Isaac and Rebekah, and finding a suitable marriage partner (though that is true of course). It is about the greater work of God in our lives. Little do we know what God is up to in the bigger scheme of things? Did the mother of Moses know who she gave birth to?  Did Hannah know that she was going to be the mother of Samuel, one of Israel’s most revered prophets?  Did the mother of David know that her youngest son would be the greatest human king of Israel? Did Isaac and Rebekah know that they were going to be the parents of Jacob, from whom the tribes of Israel would be descended? Did Mary (descended from the tribes of Israel) know that she was going to be the human mother of the Saviour of the world?  And does anyone know and appreciate what Christ is to the people He died for? He is the Bridegroom of the church.  God the Father gives a bride to his Son. Marriage is at the heart of God’s covenant of grace.  The theme of  the covenants  runs  like a string of pearls through the Scriptures …  beginning with the marriage covenant of Adam and Eve  in Genesis 2  and ending  with the marriage supper of the church  and   the  Lamb of God  in Revelation 22.

Here then is Abraham. He is the beginning of the Bibles’ narrative concerning a people for God, as numerous as the sand on the seashore – as numerous as the stars in the sky. But the materializing of this promise is not going to be straight forward.  In fact, it is going to be against the odds.   God deals with Abraham in a remarkable way, testing, strengthening, forgiving and making him fruitful with Sarah in great old age. That is the background to this chapter and its narrative of the marriage of Isaac, the marriage of the heir of the covenant.

We have read the passage and the key text and question to Rebekah now is this, "will you go with this man?" (Genesis 24: 58) Is she going to fulfill her calling in God’s bigger scheme of things? 

One of her obstacles is her family. Abraham’s first encounter is with her brother, Laban. He is the first to meet and engage   Abraham’s servant (vv. 29-50).  As the story is heard, Laban and Rebekah’s father, Bethuel’s conclusion is,   “This thing has come from the LORD…” (note the mentioning of the covenant name- YAHWEH).   The truth of the matter is that whole narrative is driven by God’s earlier promise in v.7, “To your offspring I will give this land.” God has made these arrangements and the servant simply has to go out and find her, and Rebekah’s parents, perhaps against their natural inclinations, will be made to see this.

But, as indicated, we are here to see the greater picture behind this story. Since everything in covenantal history   ultimately points to Christ, we can now see how this question, “will you go with this man?"  points us to the relationship  between  Christ and His bride, the church.  It is from our perspective an evangelistic question that the servants of Christ the Master are asking.  This is where we are as a congregation that serves the Lord.  We are involved in God’s mission to bring in the bride of Christ. God has purposed that from the lost sons of Adam to give a bride to his Son. Among all the nations is the bride of Christ.  And so we can labour confidently in the assurance that our preaching, our seeking after a bride for Christ will be successful. How many of you have been found by faithful servants of God in the last few years?  What a wonderful assurance then, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (Jn. 6:37)

And so  Rebekah  is asked the critical  question,  “Will you go with this man?”, and while  in context, this is a marriage proposal,  in which Rebekah says, “I will go” (v.58), we with  the entire testimony  of Scripture, and an understanding of the covenants  behind us,  can apply this ultimately to the offer of the  gospel;  “Will you go with Jesus?  Will you go with Jesus this very moment, for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; will you take His people to be your people?

And so we see that Rebekah was ready to go. But not without a challenge! After that important question,  "will you go with this man?", they retired  for the night, but the next morning, as  the servant is  eager to take her to her bridegroom Isaac,   as he makes the request,  “Send me on my way to my master” (v.54), 800 km’s away,  there is some hesitation  on the part of the family. “Let her remain with us a while, at least 10 days, after that she may go.”  “Don’t go yet!” You need to see what is happening here. 

From the bigger perspective we see  the enemy of God,  Satan at work here. He is  working his delaying tactics through  human instruments. He does not want this thing to happen.  He knows that  “The seed of the woman that will eventually crush his head “ (Gen.  3:15). This marriage must  be stopped!  “Delay! Have second thoughts. Put it off. Why be in a rush? Wait!”  But Abraham’s servant is urgent.  He cannot be delayed.    She must come with him now.   

Since the Old Testament  points us  to Christ, our heavenly bridegroom, we cannot be slow in making the application as it relates to us as New Testament believers.  The Gospel calls us to follow Christ now. The call to follow Christ is not ‘later’ but now – see Matthew  8:18-22.  Now is the time!

Rebekah is chosen for a moment such as this. She must go now. She is an important  role player in God’s history of redemption.  It is  significant that the only New Testament reference to Rebekah is in the context of the covenant purposes of God.  In Romans 9:10-12  we read, “Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls – she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger’.  She is a vital part of the purposes of God in election. She must come. She must give birth to Jacob, the son of the covenant.

And now she is sent away by her family  with a rich  blessing  (v.60), and  perhaps  unknowingly  they  prophesy,   “ Our  sister may you become thousands of ten thousands and may your offspring  possess the gate of those who hate  him.”  This agrees with the Abrahamic blessing in 22:17.  Rebekah's family had no idea how  great a role she would play in   Yahweh’s redemptive purposes.

And now finally, in vv. 61-67 Rebekah   is brought to Isaac.

Please note that  the servant did not say to Rebekah, “Now that  I have found you make your own way there“.  No! We read, “Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way” (v.61). He took her all the way to Isaac. He made sure that she was brought to him and joined to her bridegroom.The servants of the church make sure that the hearts of those that come to Christ are tied to Christ. We do not abandon people upon their profession of faith and love to Jesus!  We accompany them. We disciple them. We make sure that they are sustained until they meet their bridegroom.

And so we read that Isaac lifted up his eyes and saw the camels were coming. Rebekah likewise lifted up her eyes and she saw Isaac. They recognised one another instantly.  True believers will recognise Christ when they see Him. They recognise Him as their Shepherd and they will follow Him (John 10).  When the heart finally meets Jesus it is at home.

And so we read that she became his wife and he loved her (v. 67).  And now all the covenantal blessings became hers because of being united with Isaac.

She became an heir of all the promises of the covenant which God had made with Abraham by being united with the son of the covenant, the son of Abraham.

And so as we read the Scriptures we see Isaac gradually fading away and we realize what this is all about. It is all about the greater Son of Isaac –it is all about the Lord Jesus Christ our heavenly bridegroom to whom we are led by the gospel and her gospel servants. We can’t wait to meet Him!  

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[1] A heifer, a female  goat , a ram, a turtledove and  a young pigeon were cut in half , and each half laid over against each other  and God, in a symbolic , yet real fashion  passed between these pieces and made a covenant  with Abraham, promising  Abraham  and thus Himself  an  offspring  of faithful believing  people ,  who would  inherit a promised land.

Genesis 24:1-28 “Finding a suitable wife for Isaac“

We find ourselves now in the longest chapter in the book of Genesis. This is the story of Isaac and Rebekah and the way in which the Lord brought them together.  We will divide this chapter into 2 sessions. Today we will consider how the Lord found a wife for Isaac and next time we shall consider Rebekah’s response.  

This portion of inspired Scripture provides us with some great lessons, but the greatest lesson here   is the fact that God, and Abraham, and Abraham’s servant   deeply cares about who Isaac, the son of the covenant promise, should marry.  Let us then unpack the story as it unfolds.

V.1 Abraham was “old and well advanced in years” -  about 140.  He had just lost Sarah in Chapter 23,  and in Chapter  25 we shall see that  he will  be remarried to  Keturah, with  whom he  will eventually have  6 more sons.  But it is   Isaac alone, his first born from Sarah his first covenant wife, who remains the son of promise.  The Bible is structured very clearly around the great themes of promise, covenant and election. Romans 9:6-9   comments in this regard,   6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

One of our favourite new hymns is,  “By Faith” composed by Keith and Kristyn Getty, and this is what  they affirm to be true in our day about the promise…

By faith we see the hand of God, In the light of creation's grand design,

In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness, Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth, With the power of His promise in their hearts,

Of a holy city built by God's own hand, A place where peace and justice reigns.

We will stand as children of the promise, We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward,

Till the race is finished and the work is done, We'll walk by faith and not by sight.

In Chapter 24 we see  then  that Abraham, Isaac’s  father  is deeply  concerned that  the son of  the Promise  should find not just any wife, but a  wife according to the  promise. God is seeking godly offspring (Mal. 2:15) and mixed marriages, where the wife is not of godly persuasion will not produce godly offspring.  So, this passage is about much more than simply a God-fearing parent desiring a believing spouse for his child. This passage is about the continuation of the line of promise. And that ought to be a concern for every young man and woman here today as they seek a future marriage partner.  

Vv.2-4 So, as Abraham takes initiative on behalf of his son of promise, he does not simply sit back, but he is proactive.  As he is old now , he gets his most trusted servant  (Maybe this is still Eliezer of Damascus about whom we were told about back in Genesis 15:2) to play a key part in  this. Abraham makes sure that his trusted servant understands the seriousness of his assignment.  He does so by making him swear an oath (vv.2&3 cf. Jacob and Joseph in Gen. 47:29). The oath relates to the fact that Abraham wants his servant to make sure that he must not find a wife from among the local Canaanite girls. The wife must come from his own family (vv.3,4).  The Canaanites/ Amorites were steeped in paganism and its vile practises. In fact, we are told that they are a people destined for destruction. In Genesis 15:16 we see that their sins are piling up.  God told Abraham that a day would come when God’s judgement would be poured out upon them.  So he must not take a wife from among them. All this foreshadows something very   important. Believers must marry only “in the Lord” (1 Cor.  7:39). “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” (2 Cor. 6:14-16). 

V.5  With this in mind  we find in  the servant  asking some clarifying questions: (i)  how can I be sure that this  girl from  your  country and kindred   would want to come back with me?  (ii)  And then, if she should not be found, should  I take Isaac back to  your  ancestral home?

Vv.6-8 To which Abraham responds firmly, because he stands on the covenant promises of God. The wife of Isaac must come from his home (v.7) God said so. Abraham is totally convinced that God is going to provide not only some wife, but the right wife for Isaac, and she wasn’t going to come from the Canaanites, the people among whom he had settled.   He might have learned this lesson the hard way, in having a child called Ishmael with Hagar, a woman not of the covenant promise. If Isaac should marry a girl from a local family, then Abraham and he would no longer be regarded as ‘a distinct people' in the land of Canaan. Such a marriage would have involved a ‘Canaanizing’ of the seed of promise.  (Geoff Thomas) 

And so his word to his servant is clear and firm: (i) No, don’t take Isaac back to my ancestral home in Mesopotamia. Isaac must take possession of the land of promise which God has made to me (ii) I am sure that God will find him a wife from there (v.7). (iii) Should no woman be found, then the servant would be freed from the oath (v.8). 

I find this last thought very interesting. Abraham leaves his servant with an escape clause, so that he is not bound, should things not turn out as planned. Is that not a contradiction to   Abraham’s faith? Should he not just believe that it will happen according to his faith, and sow no uncertainty into the mind of his servant?  No! While God has made his will clear in terms of the girl that he wants Isaac to marry, this does not always means that the road to that end will be straight forward. God’s word and God’s will are clear. His providences, and the way to His will are not always clear. Life may take many surprising turns, and by these turns God works out his purposes in our lives.  There are factors at work unknown to us and we may never know why God allowed us to go down what we now consider to be a blind alley. The apostle Paul on his journeys knew that he was to be the apostle to the gentiles, but his mission to the gentiles took many unexpected turns. The doors which he supposed to take were not always opening. And so Abraham gives these instructions to his servant: “Look, I know that it’s God’s will for my son to have a wife, so I want you to go and find her. I believe that my sending you to get her is God’s will, but if you come back without a wife for Isaac, don’t worry fret. God will show us another way to find a wife for the son of promise.”

We all need to learn this lesson well.  God’s purposes stand, but the way to that end is often mysterious.  In fact, we often learn more from our shattered dreams and disappointments than we learn from the things that have worked out smoothly. Having  said that Abraham still believes that God will provide his servant with success.  

Vv.10-27 The rest of the story   focuses  on  the servants  journey  to Mesopotamia  and  his search for  God’s  woman of choice.  

Vv.10-14   The only direction and clarity he has is that he must get to  Mesopotamia, the city of Nahor  (v. 10)  a journey of  800 kilometres, a journey that might have taken well over a month, if we  assumed that they did 25 kilometers a day. Having arrived, he takes the camels  to a  well  of water, where the women  come in the evening to draw water. The big question is, “Which woman, Lord? “ God must lead him and guide him to the right one.  And so we see  that  he commits his request to God in prayer.  It was very specific. 

·     V. 12 Oh LORD, God of my master  Abraham, please  grant me success today and show  steadfast love ( hesed – faithful covenantal love) to my  master Abraham. The servant appeals to God on the basis of the covenant relationship which he knows that Abraham has with God. Today, as we pray, we do the same thing as we pray to God in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Our prayer is made in the Name of our Master, the Lord Jesus.  In His Name we ask from our Heavenly Father all that we need, physically, emotionally and spiritually (see the pattern of the Lord’s prayer). He also boldly asks for success.  This is not for self -centred success, but it has to do with the glory of God as the will of God is desired and prayed for. 

·       Vv 13 & 14   Note  the specific  request,  “Let the young woman  to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and  who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will  water your camels ’ – let her be the one you have  appointed for your servant Isaac’”

Vv. 15-22  The answer to prayer arrives in the form of Rebekah, and everything happens just as he had asked. We are deeply impressed how Rebekah serves this stranger, and we might say that she behaved as a woman of faith. For Abraham’s servant this was a wonderful answer to prayer. God had made his journey successful (v.21).  Truly, the angel of God had led him to her (v.7) and so, when she had finished helping him  in accordance with his request from the  Lord, the servant   took a gold ring weighing  a half a shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing 10 gold shekels. That’s a lot of money right there - the equivalent of a common man’s annual  wages.

Vv. 24,25 The servants joy doubles as he now hears of her family background, “I am the daughter of  Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”  This was too wonderful for words. This girl was a granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. Her mother was Milcah.

Vv. 26,27  The servant's response: “he bowed his head and worshipped  the LORD”. The gut level response  to such providence is  not self –exaltation, ‘ Well done old chap’,  and  by the singing of  a hymn ‘I did it my way’. No!  He bowed down and  worshipped God!  What an example he is to us all.

V. 28 Rebekah’s response:  “ She ran and told her mother’s household about these things…“ We will consider this next time.

 SOME FINAL THOUGHTS  

1.     How does this  relate to the NT? It represents the heavenly Father choosing a Bride (the Church) for His Son. The bride (the church  would not be clinging to the old life but dedicated exclusively and faithfully to  her bridegroom , Christ. We  often emphasize that the Son is the Father’s love gift to the world (Jn. 3:16), but we forget that His Bride, the Church, is actually the Father’s love gift to His Son. (Jn. 17:2, 6, 9, 11-12, 24) 

2.     Are you in a covenant relationship with God?  This is the evangelistic question  I must ask you.   If you are not  in a covenant relationship with God, I urge you to seek the LORD with all your heart, NOW!    If you are a child of promise then you may know that the LORD is committed to guiding your footsteps. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Ps 37:23). 

3.      This passage has obvious implications for Christian parents’ prayers for their children's marriages. It reminds us of the importance of marrying in the Lord and of praying for the spouses of our children in the future.

4.     It is important for Christians to marry in the Lord and not to be yoked with unbelievers. Evangelizing our children is difficult as it is.  But having a non- Christian spouse makes it even more difficult.  

Acts 28:11-31 "The Last Word of the Book of Acts"

As we come to the final verses of the Acts of the Apostles we will find Paul finally in Rome. All this began in Acts 21:27ff when he was arrested in the temple in Jerusalem on charges of undermining the law and the temple and Caesar (25:8). He is saved from angry mob justice by a  Roman cohort in Jerusalem, and this begins a process  whereby  Paul is sent from Felix the Roman governor to  Festus another governor, under whom he makes this appeal to appear  before Caesar (25:11)  in Rome.

V. 11 Last time we saw him in Malta, the island where they ran aground in the shipwreck. Here   Paul and his entourage   stayed approximately from mid-November to about mid-February, whilst waiting out the storm season.  Eventually they had found a ship from Alexandria  that had  wintered in the island.  The ship had the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux, patron deities of sailors on her bow.  Luke probably records this intentionally. The pagan  sailors  would have attributed their rescue from the shipwreck  to these twin gods, but it is clear that these were not  the ones in whom Paul had put his trust. In 27:23-25 Paul has made it clear  who  his Protector and Deliverer is.

V. 12  After a  90 kilometre  journey north, the ship  lands in  Syracuse  the provincial capital city of Sicily,  at the tip of the boot of the Italian peninsula.  Here they stayed for three days. 

V. 13 From there they sailed on to Rhegium in southern Italy ,  another 110 kilometres further and from there,  with the south wind in their sails  they  arrived in Puteoli 2 days later,  and 325 km’s further. In Puteoli  they found some brothers and stayed with them for 7 days.  Isn’t this worldwide network of support and encouragement amazing?  This must have meant  that  the centurion  and guard must have given his consent.

v. 14 And now he is in Rome, through many dangers toils and snares ... ship wreck, snakebite  … This marks the  fulfilment of God's promise to Paul (23:11; 27:24).

v. 15   The way he got to  Rome from  Puteoli ( a 210 km  journey) there was on land. First  Paul made his way  about 30 kilometres  up the Via Compana to its intersection with the Via Appia, or the Appian Way.  The Forum of Appius  is about 70 km’s from Rome   and  some 16 km’s  further  was the place called the  three Taverns. At both these places Christian brothers from Rome, who had heard that Paul and the others were coming, came to meet him.  At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and took courage. Why?  This show of support was surely most encouraging  to Paul. He knows that he is in God’s hands, but it is also good to know that there are caring Christian  people, visible tokens  of the love of God. Furthermore Paul knew that the end of the long journey was now in  view. They  had met some significant obstacles.  So, when  with God's help, we achieve divinely appointed goals, the proper response is thankfulness to God.

v. 16  When Paul entered Rome  he  is  put under house arrest and  guarded by a soldier. At this stage he has considerable liberties.

28:17-22 Encounter with Jewish Leaders

v. 17 Three days after his  arrival, and  in accordance with his "to the Jew first" strategy, he called together the local  leaders of the Jews[1] .  It is estimated  that the Jewish community at Rome numbered  some fourty  to fifty thousand people, most  of them being Roman  slaves and freedmen. The names of ten to thirteen synagogues have been recovered from inscriptions in the catacombs[2]. As Paul began to speak he addressed his hearers as brothers. He saw each new audience of Jews as potentially containing some of the elect remnant who would hear and respond to the gospel.  This brief address to them contains four statements:

(i)               He is innocent before the Jews (28:17b, 19c). They can bring no sustainable charges against him, and he has none to bring against them. The Jews may have charged that Paul is working against the Jewish people and their customs, but the charges aren’t true because Paul was always working for his Jewish brothers (Rom 10:1). He always respected Jewish customs (21:23-24, 26).

(ii)              He is a prisoner of the Roman government and there are reasons for this (28:17c, 19b).  He was handed over[3] as a prisoner from Jerusalem to the Romans. He was forced to appeal to Caesar (v. 19; also see 25:11).

(iii)            Romans and Jews had  different opinions  toward Paul (28:18a, 19a). The Romans wanted  to release him. The Jews objected to Paul's release (25:3, 7). This situation is very similar to Jesus. 

(iv)             He was  not guilty of any crime deserving death (28:18). Paul is innocent before the Roman state (23:28-29; 25:25; 26:31-32).

V. 20  In this  verse Paul gets to the point.  He has been preparing the ground for the question, "so if you are innocent , then why are you here ?  And Paul answers, "Why am I here?  I am here because of the hope of Israel ...that is why  I am wearing this chain."  The Jewish leaders respond to Paul's statements by saying that they have heard nothing bad about Paul, whether by letter or by word of mouth.  What they do know however,  is that  this sect (Gr. haireseōs) which Paul represents  is spoken against everywhere (v.22). Clearly, Christianity was not viewed positively by them.  

28:23-28 Explaining the Gospel to the Jews 

v.23. The Jewish leaders  want to give Paul a fair hearing and so they agree upon a day. They arrive in force at his rented  lodgings (vv. 16, 30).  He expounded to them from morning till evening,  testifying  (Gk  diamartyromenos[4]-  23:11)  to  the kingdom of God and trying to convince them  about Jesus, both from  the law of Moses and the prophets. All this is just another way of saying that he was preaching the gospel to them with great intensity.

v. 24.The response to the message was mixed: some were convinced… but others disbelieved ( see this pattern also in 13:44-45; 14:1-2; 17:4-5).

vv. 25-27   Now to interpret this mixed response, Paul quotes from the Old Testament (Isa. 6:9-10). Paul takes the Jewish  Scriptures, given in a particular setting in Isaiah’s day, and he does not hesitate to apply this  to  these Romans  Jews. Isaiah in his day  spoke about  what happens when people hear  saving truth without appropriating it.  They  would  be  ever hearing but never understanding (compare the use of parables in  Lk. 8:10 with Isa. 6:9). Isaiah attributes this lack of understanding  to a hard heart, deaf ears , blind eyes. There is nothing defective or unclear in the message. The defect is  found in the audience's sinfulness. This sickness affects the heart (i.e. the willingness to be willing to hear and see) and the mind (whose  access is barred by faulty  hearing and seeing).     If they would but see with open  eyes, hear with open  ears,  and respond with  soft hearts, they would turn (repent)  and  God would heal them. The truth is  that  human sinfulness has made us so hard , so blind and so deaf that no –one would be saved. It takes a miracle, it take intervention from  God  to cure this condition.  

v. 28.  The gentiles will listen …. This is the third time Paul speaks of Jewish rejection and Gentile reception (13:46; 18:6).

28:30-31 The  Gospel is preached  for two years to all who wanted to hear  

For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him, proclaiming the kingdom of God  and teaching about the  Lord Jesus Christ… This final summary statement  brings to conclusion the thesis  of the  Book of  Acts, in Acts 1:8,  that  ‘ you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria  and to the ends of the earth.  This also corresponds with Luke’s closing statements by Jesus  in   Luke 24:47.  That "repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [Jesus'] name to all nations" (Note in  Lk.24:45, Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures)  

And so we read that Paul was able to speak with boldness and "without hindrance" (akōlutōs).   This word points to the work of  a sovereign God whose saving plan, who  determined it that the gospel will be preached in Jesus' name to all nations, will not be hindered.

 SUMMARY

The Book of Acts traces the birth and phenomenal  growth of the church. At the beginning there were only a few hundred believers in Jesus Christ, and at the end, we can scarcely guess how many. Everywhere,  men, women and children  came  to believe in the Lord Jesus  Christ -   in Jerusalem, in Judea,  in Samaria, and also  among the gentile nations, which is where this book now abruptly ends.

The gospel advances despite much opposition. Persecution, beatings, death,  imprisonment, shipwrecks, snakebites all threatened the spread of the Gospel. So, too, did sinfulness and faithlessness within the church (e.g. Acts 5:1-11). However, in spite of all the opposition and difficulties this  account of  Luke indicates  that the Gospel will  spread  without hindrance. 

This is a principle of timeless application. The Gospel  spread  in an unhindered fashion in the early church (cf. 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20),  and  it does so now. The gospel did not cease to be proclaimed  when Paul was martyred. The future of the gospel  was not in Paul’s hands, but in God’s hands, and it is so   until this very day.  No-one can  stop the progress and ultimate victory of the gospel.

So, what does the Lord require of you, as you continue with  Acts 29, after the Gospel centered fashion  of the book of Acts, following in the footsteps of Paul ?

1.     Share the Gospel clearly and often.

2.     Do not worry too much about the outcome. You cannot save a soul. God alone can do that. You do not have to feel responsible for the salvation or damnation of anyone.

3.     Speak when it is given to you to do so, and do it  with all your heart and with a heart that loves the Lord Jesus  as well as the soul before you.

4.     Don't bully people into decisions. Let the Holy Spirit work.

5.     Be creative. Don’t  feel that you must share the Gospel in exactly the same way each time. Make sure that you know your Bible so that the Holy Spirit can bring the stored up  Word in you  to memory.  6.     Don't get into arguments. You don’t have to win an argument. You are already on the winning side. The Gospel is unhindered. So speak with confidence, urgency and love for this lost soul  before you. 

7.     Avoid developing an Elijah complex. You are not alone in  this gospel  work.

Regardless of how things may seem, the good news of the Gospel is, was, and always will be without hindrance. Jesus is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

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[1]  See 13:5, 14; 14:1; 16:13; 17:2, 10, 17; 18:4; 19:8

[2] http://www.catacombsociety.org/jewish-congregations-in-late-ancient-rome/

[3] Gk paradidomi

[4] emphasizes witnessing done with a high level of self-involvement, i.e. with strong personal interest motivating it. https://biblehub.com/greek/1263.htm