Genesis
24:33 And there was set meat before him
to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he
said, Speak on. 34 And he said, I am
Abraham’s servant. 35 And the LORD hath
blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him
flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and
camels, and asses. 36 And Sarah my
master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he
given all that he hath. 37 And my master
made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of
the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: 38
But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a
wife unto my son. 39 And I said unto my
master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. 40 And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I
walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a
wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house: 41 Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath,
when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be
clear from my oath. 42 And I came this
day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do
prosper my way which I go: 43 Behold, I
stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin
cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little
water of thy pitcher to drink; 44 And
she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the
same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master’s son. 45 And before I had done speaking in mine heart,
behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down
unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
46 And she made haste, and let down her
pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink
also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. 47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art
thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto
him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
48 And I bowed down my head, and
worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had
led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.
49 And now if ye will deal kindly and
truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the
right hand, or to the left. 50 Then
Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we
cannot speak unto thee bad or good. 51
Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy
master’s son’s wife, as the LORD hath spoken. 52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s
servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
53 And the servant brought forth jewels
of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave
also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
Genesis
24:54 ¶ And they did eat and drink, he
and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the
morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. 55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the
damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. 56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing
the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
57 And they said, We will call the
damsel, and enquire at her mouth. 58 And
they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she
said, I will go. 59 And they sent away
Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.
60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said
unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and
let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. 61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they
rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and
went his way.
Eliezer
insisted upon relating his mission before he would eat and there is an attempt
to delay him. Perhaps they were hoping for even more bounty to be given to the
family than was given. In the end everyone acknowledges that it is Rebekah’s
decision to make and she chooses to leave with Abraham’s servant. It is curious
that she is given a choice in that culture but that is important typology
considering the importance of choice in salvation. Here is the blessing also
from her mother and brother wishing her to be the mother of billions of people.
On a literal level this would mean that the Jews, the name that we now call the
Hebrews, will grow in numbers on this earth much, much greater than the 15
million or so that now exist. Rather than go on speculation about Gentiles who
may be descended from Jews or follow a metaphor of how the Christian faith
sprang from the faith of the people of Moses therefore accounting for billions
of descendants I am first taking this passage literally as it stands for
Rebekah to be the literal mother of billions who self-identify today and in the
future as Jews, descendants of Abraham through Isaac. This also predicts their
eventual victory over the peoples of the earth who hated, despised, and
persecuted them. There are many prophecies concerning God’s restoration of them
to a special place. From a literal perspective, not denying metaphor but
focusing just on the literal words, Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 25 is one
example of how nations who have
despised the Jews will suffer in the end.
But
there are always at least two applications of any Bible passage; the literal as
to whom it is speaking to or about directly in that context and the spiritual
which can be prophecy or involve a greater, more enduring meaning such as
Ezekiel’s description of the kings of Tyre and Babylon also describing Satan. One
explanation is literal and one is spiritual with a deeper meaning. Spiritually
it is easy to equate this huge number with the Christians who choose to believe
and follow God as the spiritual descendants of Abraham although they are
accounted as being born of Christ. The following verse from the Psalm that
Christ begins from the Cross is very important.
Psalm 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be
accounted to the Lord for a generation.
Understand
that a generation can be a class, a distinct group of people in history, and
not just a group of individuals physically being born and physically dying in a
specific time frame issuing from a biological father and mother. This will help
us understand the following words of Christ.
First,
this generation as a group of people living and dying in a timeframe, of the
same or similar ethnicity and culture. This is a reference to the destruction
of the temple by the Romans in 70AD, with generation including the religious
leaders of Christ’s day.
Matthew 23:13 ¶ But woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer:
therefore ye shall receive the greater
damnation. 15 Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one
proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than
yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever
shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold
of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is
greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it
is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the
altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth
by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22
And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by
him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters
of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which
strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they
are full of
extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first
that which is within the cup
and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous
unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the
sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say,
If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers
with them in the blood of the prophets. 31
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of
them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill
ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye
escape the damnation of hell?
34 ¶ Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets,
and wise men, and scribes: and some
of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some
of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see
me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
24:1 ¶ And Jesus went out, and departed from the
temple: and his disciples came to him
for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2
And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto
you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the
mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when
shall these things be? and what shall
be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 ¶
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive
you. 5 For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6
And ye
shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not
troubled: for all these things
must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and
ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many. 12 And because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the
same shall be saved.
Then, Jesus goes on to the end of history in Revelation unless you
believe He returned physically in 70AD, which would be a disturbing thought
and, I believe, an error.
24:14 And this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;
and then shall the end come. 15 When ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into
the mountains: 17 Let him which is on
the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes. 19 And woe
unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not
in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be
shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say
unto you, Lo, here is Christ,
or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told
you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall
say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe
it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there
will the eagles be gathered together. 29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Then
comes a reference to a generation that must refer to the Elect of God.
32 ¶ Now learn a parable of
the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know
that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these
things, know that it is near, even
at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away. 36 But of
that day and hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be. 38 For as in the days
that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took
them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall
be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth
come. 43 But know this,
that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come,
he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom
his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so
doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he
shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48
But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth
his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and
drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of
that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not
aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder,
and appoint him his portion
with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
One might ask, why in Matthew 23 and 24 would there be two
different definitions of generation? Well,
Christ had already done that with two definitions of Master in one passage.
Matthew 23:8 But be not ye
called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even
Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And
call no man your father upon
the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your
Master, even Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be
your servant. 12 And whosoever shall
exalt himself shall be
abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
One definition of Master
in this same passage is Rabbi or
teacher. (see a contrast between teacher and student in Malachi 2:12) The other
definition is lord or superior in the
context.
As far as objections to a split prophecy in the same passage
regarding events thousands of years apart starting in Matthew 24:14 from the
time before that verse, Jesus already did this in Luke 4:18-21 where he quoted
Isaiah 61:1,2 with a gap between acceptable
year of the LORD, and and of at
least two thousand years.
Isaiah 61:1 ¶ The Spirit of
the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that
are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance
of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Luke 4:17 And there was
delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the
book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, 19
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat
down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Regardless
of interpretation, spiritual or physical, Rebekah’s offspring, as a group, will
now play an important role in God’s ministry of reconciliation for mankind and
will not be forgotten by God no matter what their failings.
Her
spiritual descendants will stand before God in Heaven.
Revelation 7:9 After this I
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
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