Month: August 2022

Genesis 24:26-27 And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the Lord, And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.

The faithful and believing servant responded to the miraculous guidance of the Lord by bowing his head and worshiping and thanking the Lord God of Abraham. He praised God for answering his prayer and leading him to the right person and place. He thanked God for showing mercy, acknowledging that the mission was successfully accomplished by God’s grace; it was God’s doing, for he couldn’t have done it by himself. He blessed God for being faithful to His covenant promises. God is always good, and He keeps His word in truth. He has proved once again that He can be believed.

He thanked the Lord for leading him. If God calls you into His service He will lead you. Romans 8:14: ”For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” If the Spirit of God lives in us by faith in Christ, He will lead us to do His will on earth. Our healthy response is to live a life of always thanking Him for answering our prayers, doing His will, and fulfilling His purposes in us. Worship, praise, and thanksgiving puts us ”in the way,” as the servant confesses.

Genesis 24:18–20 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

The Lord was evidently directing this entire scene, as the servant prayed, and He apparently moved Rebekah to be more than kind. She responded to the Lord’s guidance by “going the extra mile.” She was not obligated by any means to speak to, much less give a drink to, a total stranger. She not only gave him drink, but went above and beyond any call to kindness by drawing water for all his camels as well.

This action was certainly extraordinary. It was even miraculous, seeing that her above and beyond hospitality was a direct answer to the servant’s prayer (v. 14). Although the response showed the character of Rebekah, the main point is that it showed the presence and guidance of the Lord. God fulfilled Abraham’s faith, led the servant, answered his prayer, and prompted her to respond to the Lord’s leading by acting over-generously.

It is easy to see the hand of God, but the proper response on Rebekah’s part was still necessary to bring about the desired result of God’s plan. Ultimately the foundations of the faithful seed had to laid by the Patriarchs. God did not force Rebekah to respond with kindness, though He did lead her. To carry out God’s will on earth, He still uses willing agents ready to believe and obey. The Lord leaves us free to say NO, but the love of God compels us to say YES.

Genesis 24:7 The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

Abraham commissioned his servant to go to his relatives in Haran and take a wife for his son Isaac. He had the promise of seed, and he did not want his miracle seed to marry a Canaanite. ”You go, for my son cannot leave this land.” After the servant raised the question: what if the girl doesn’t want to come?, Abraham responded with faith and confidence.

In answer Abraham gave this powerful statement of faith. “The God who took me from my home and family swore that He would give my seed this land.” Because God gave him a promise he believed God. Therefore, he knew that he could send his servant on a mission and it would succeed. He responded to God’s Covenant of Grace by Believing that God could and would send His angel, not only for guidance and protection but also for finding and bringing back the right woman, He assured the servant that the God who keeps His promises would make her willing to go with him.

Abraham grew in the faith enough to trust the Lord to do this, too. Abraham apparently knew about God’s angels. But he did not trust in the angel; he trusted in his God, who would commission the angels to serve the heirs of salvation.

When we are confronted with difficulties and challenges, or even a tough assignment, we can respond with faith in the God who assigns angels for the mission. If we could see the angels whom God commissions to guard, guide, protect, and serve us we could more easily believe in a good God who cares. But we don’t need to see to believe the Word: God is faithful, and He has thousands of angels at His disposal to do His bidding for our good according to His will.

Jesus knew that He could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him, but He willingly surrendered to the Father’s will to suffer and die for us. Faith ”opens our eyes to see” what great and good things God does for us. Look what happened to Elisha’s servant when Elisha prayed, ”Lord, open his eyes.” See 2 Kings 6:17.

Genesis 24:12, 14 And he said,, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham….And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; nd she shall say, Drink, and I shall give thy camels also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown kindness into my master.

Abraham sent his servant on a delicate and difficult mission. He apparently believed in the God of Abraham, and he trusted the promise of God. ”If the God of Abraham sent me on this mission to find a wife for his son, then the true God will guide me to find the right woman.” He responded by praying in faith for God’s guidance. He made a fairly elaborate and specific request. And God answered him just as he prayed.

The principle is this: If the Lord purposes, plans, and designs a mission to be accomplished according to His will, then he will call, send, equip, and qualify the human agent He is sending to successfully carry out His will. Whether the task be small or large, He promises to give His presence and guidance to get it done. The servant believed this, and so he could ask in faith trusting the Lord to do the right thing.

This lesson is written for our learning. If the Lord calls and sends you, He will give you the wisdom and power to do it. If He calls you to witness, serve, teach, lead or give, for example, then you trust Him to answer your prayer for guidance and wisdom and ability. ”Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” God has a will; He may use you to do it. If so, ask for His guidance.

Genesis 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Abraham responded to God’s Grace in His Covenant Promise by believing God. He obeyed the voice of the Lord because he believed. Abraham’s obedience to God’s voice and the carrying out of His impossible ask arises out of his God-created faith in the Promise. The Lord said, ”All nations will be blessed in your seed.” So how could he now kill the seed? Abraham did not know why God told him to do it, nor did he know how He was going to pull this off. But “God said it; I believe it; that’s good enough for me!” Abraham could not obey the Voice without complete trust in the Lord. He did not obey to gain God’s favor; he obeyed because he already had it.

So also it is with us: we believe and love God so that we do good works according to His will. We obey His Word because we have already received His favor and blessing. Outward obedience is the logical and natural evidence of inward faith. Because we have received Grace, therefore we obey.

Now one might say: it was easy for Abraham because he heard God’s voice directly, but He doesn’t speak to me like that. Oh, but He does: the Holy Spirit speaks directly to our hearts through the Gospel in the preached and written Word and in the visible Word of the Sacraments. We hear the voice of God (even though it appears to come from a human). We believe the Gospel. Then we obey the Word.

Genesis 22:11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here am I.

When the Lord calls, the best and simplest response is to answer the call with an open, willing, and ready heart: ”Here I am. I’m listening.” The Lord then spoke The Gospel to Abraham. (“Don’t sacrifice your son.”) Then ”God provided a lamb.” The Lord made him look up and see the ram caught in a thicket. He took the ram and offered it up instead of his son. The ram is Jesus offered as a sacrifice in our place.

Abraham was called by the Gospel, just as we are called by the Gospel whenever we hear it. ”Here I am” is the best response to the call of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. Samuel responded to the call of the Lord three times with ”Here I am,” but to Eli. The fourth time God called he responded, ”Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” This is our prayerful response every time we go to church. Isaiah responded to the glorious, heavenly vision, ”Here I am! Send me.” Mary listened to Jesus: she chose the ”one thing needful.”

The Word, like seed, is sown in various hearts. The seed sown on good soil produces up to a hundredfold. The Gospel that falls on an ”honest and good heart” produces much fruit. The Holy Spirit ”calls us by the gospel,” and like Abraham, Samuel, Isaiah, and Mary, we respond ”Here am I. I’m listening.” God calls. I answer. I believe. I am saved. Praise God.

Genesis 22:8-9 And Abraham said My Son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told them of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Abraham is going through with it! He going to sacrifice the son of Promise! He follows through because he believed God. Therefore, he responds with obedience to the letter. Here we see a man in whom the Lord has developed a mature faith. He started his journey with faith, but along the way he faltered, failed, and doubted, taking matters into his own hands. But the Lord worked him through the doubts unto this moment when his strong faith was tested, proved, and purified.

God had proved Himself to be faithful to His Covenant Promise time and again. Abraham learned faith; and now Abraham’s strong faith was to be tried in the furnace. The Lord had shown him that He was faithful, but was He that faithful? God perfected his faith through this supreme test. He passed the test! Now both God and Abraham know that he can be trusted to obey. The Patriarch and progenitor of the Promised Seed had to be strong in faithful obedience. He is!

Abraham did not know what God would do, but he trusted Him to do it. He didn’t know how prophetic he was when he believed and confessed, ”God will provide the lamb.” God did, for Isaac. And God did, for us, when He provided His only Son as the Sacrificial Lamb to save us for life. We respond with faith.

Genesis 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

This event is the supreme example of trust and obedience, as difficult a choice as one will ever confront. Not only was Abraham told to sacrifice his only dearly loved miracle son for which he had waited 25 years, but he was also told to destroy the Covenant Promise of God to bless the world. In addition, he had to know that human sacrifice was abhorrent to the Lord, and it was an abominable practice of the worldly, pagan worship from which he was called to be separate.

What a horrific choice confronted him: hang on to what you believe and love, or obey God and do what He says. But he responded to God’s Word in trust and obedience in the face of overwhelming pressure not to do it. And no one could blame him if he refused or ignored God’s command. It took supernatural faith to do what he did, a faith that could have only been worked in him by God.

And he had time to think about it: he rose up early, saddled his donkey, took two servants and his ”innocent” son, cut the wood, arose, and went on the three-day journey to the place he was told to go. He had many chances to quit, but he persevered just because God told him to. What amazing faith! Hebrews 11:19: ”He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.” Unheard of! He did not know that the Lord would provide a ”Substitute Lamb,” though he did believe God would do something. He believed God was that good.

But whatever! God said it! I believe it! It just as incredible for us to believe that God gave His only-begotten son in our place. But miracle of miracles: We believe it! Now we would do anything for Him.

Genesis 21:33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-Sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.

After God led Abraham to make a peace covenant with Abimelech in Beer-Sheba, he settled there and staked a claim to the Land of Promise. Though he did not yet see the promise of land fulfilled, he believed the promise of the Lord that his descendants would live in the Land and receive their inheritance. He set aside a place to call on the name of the Lord. He believed The Eternal God, worshiped Him for who He is, and thanked Him for His Covenant Promise.

He saw by faith what he could not yet see by sight. He responded with thanks for a promise, though he did not yet see the fulfillment, the reality (or realty), of it. The promise itself was real enough. The gift of faith makes it real, and it just as true and present as the thing promised. ”Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [Hebrews 11:1].”

In fact, he believed for more than just physical land: ”He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God [11:10].” Abraham saw what John saw in Revelation 21 and 22. He did not receive the promises, ”but having seen them afar off…embraced them [11:13].”

We respond likewise. We call on the name of the Lord in faith, worship, and thanks. By faith we already have what we do not yet see. Therefore we call.

Genesis 21:27 And took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

Abraham responded to God’s covenant blessing by blessing others and making peace with his neighbors. Abimelech took notice of Abraham and remarked, ”God is with thee in all that thou doest [v. 22].” The two neighbors made a covenant of peace with each other. They swore that they would not attack the other, and made an oath that they would live in peace. Abraham gave Abimelech seven ewe lambs as they made the covenant oath together. This happened at Beer-Sheba, which is a play on words: it means either “Well of the Oath,” or ”Well of the Seven.”

The response of faith to God’s covenant kindness is ”Love your neighbor.” It is our response to God’s love for us: ”We love God because He first loved us.” When faith receives God’s love, grace, and blessing it naturally responds by loving others, and making peace. God doesn’t need your service, but other people do. And we love God by serving others.

Abraham was blessed by God to be a blessing to the world. And so are we. We respond to God’s love and blessing by loving our neighbors, by treating them kindly and with respect, by keeping peace through apology and forgiveness, and by keeping our promises. Jesus lives in us this way, and this way makes the world a better safer, and happier place.