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, but it is much greater than the 15 million or so that now exist. The
fact is that the Christian faith sprang from the faith of the people of Moses
thereby accounting for billions of spiritual descendants, descendants of
Abraham through Isaac to Christ, as noted previously in what Paul wrote to us.
Galatians
3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And
to thy seed, which is Christ.
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.
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