Can you put this on? Make sure it doesn't touch your tie. We're getting some feedback. Oh, OK. Do you need water? Uh, I think I'm good. No, no. I'll let you know. Thanks. Good morning. Brave Minnesota souls. I love it. If you have your Bible this morning, let me invite you to take it and open it to Genesis chapter 24. Genesis chapter 24. This is our fourth study in this chapter, 24th chapter. And we've learned I guess from start to finish, the process that was gone through in, as we'll see today, Isaac and Rebecca being joined together in marriage. As I ponder these next verses we're gonna go over today, as we close out the chapter, I thought this is a lot like the process of life. You know, life in a nutshell is about doing the will of God for the glory of God by redeeming the time that he's allotted us here on Earth until he brings You are me home. You know, a couple of weeks ago I gave a message as we approach a new year and what could be included in that to make it a good and godly new year. And I was reminded as we talked about that, that life is indeed a vapor. We're here, we're gone. Every year for me as I get older seems to go faster than the last one. I'm on the downhill side of life and it's become increasingly clear as I get older that The only virtue in the time I have remaining is doing the will of God for the glory of God. But that's true if you're 13 or you're 93. It doesn't really matter. You know, we looked at Solomon's admonition from years ago. His conclusion of the book of Ecclesiastes, which is designed to describe life from human viewpoint and ignore God. He said, let's hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it's good and evil. And so he said that at the end, but as he led up to that, he began this chapter, chapter 12, with these words. Remember now your creator in the days of your youth, and if you're 13 or you're 93, that applies, before the difficult days come, and they will come. And years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them, because the curse is winning. The older I get, the more issues I seem to have and I'm sure you can echo those sentiments. But the reality is none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. And so the best thing you can do today is to be in the center of the will of God and redeem the time he's given you. And this unnamed servant here in Genesis chapter 24 is 100% business. He wants to redeem the time. He wants to make sure the will of God gets done as far as he can control it and that's where he's locked in. And I think that just reinforces even the philosophy and the statements that come forth here in Ecclesiastes chapter 12. We're going to pick it up in verse 58 this morning, that's where we left off. We'll pick it up in verse 57. So they said, we will call the young woman and ask her personally. They had already agreed as a family that Rebecca would marry Isaac. Unnamed servant wanted to get down to business and head out and so in verse 57 They said well, we'll ask her in verse 58 when they called Rebecca and said to her. Will you go with this man? She said I Will go I will go I'm sure that's not the answer Laban and Rebecca's mother expected Now, I mentioned last time, some have speculated why she wanted to go, and I thought Blair was pretty funny. Blair told me last week maybe she just wanted to get away from Laban. And, you know, knowing his character that comes out in the book of Genesis, I can kind of see that. But, you know, this is a pretty impressive statement of faith. She's going to go to a land she doesn't know, with a servant whom she barely knows, to marry a man she's never seen. and stay with him forever. I mean, on paper, that sounds like a huge roll of the dice. And so this is a big deal. I mean, she wasn't just going off for a weekend to see if she liked it, or liked him, or whatever it might be. She believed that marriage was serious business before the Lord. And from God's perspective, it is. It's until death do us part. So she's going all in. And so she accepted the offer. She's designated to marry a bridegroom that she has never seen. And I thought, you know, in some ways that's a parallel to salvation because when you trust Christ as your savior, you're betrothed to Christ and you've never seen him. I've never seen him. But we know through the scriptures his character and how that there was no one better to be hooked up with. And so just like Rebecca here was given a choice, God gives all of us a choice. It parallels the message of the gospel. I can put it in this way. People can remain in the sin-stained clothing that they're wearing now, which is unfit for marriage or unfit for the king, or they'd be given a new set of garments, clothed in white, and to be ready for a wedding that'll allow us to be married for all eternity to the very savior of the world. You know, one thing Rebecca didn't lack here was courage. But it wasn't courage in and of itself. This is a by faith decision. It wasn't blind faith. It wasn't a roll of the dice based on mere speculation. It was based on sound information received by a messenger sent from Abraham. And she clearly saw the hand of God in this. And when it comes to trusting the Lord, even in salvation, we have an advantage. Because as we read the word of God and we see the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is and what he's done becomes really in some ways an easy choice. His character is indisputable. And so before she decided though, the Lord gave her the information she needed. She saw firsthand God's providence. She heard the testimony of the unnamed servant and how Abraham sent him out. It was all demonstrated for her. You know, and that's really in some ways how God designed people to believe the gospel. I mean, we're saying to people, would you trust in Jesus? And that's a person, again, that you've never met. But it's the testimony of scripture. given through the testimony of a believer that the Holy Spirit uses to convince the unsaved person that this is a legitimate and reasonable object of your faith. And of course the stakes are high because to reject Jesus Christ means to spend eternity separated from him in an unthinkable place of horror. But you know Jesus alluded to this in the upper room discourse with his disciples. In reference to the Holy Spirit called the Helper here, he says, when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, notice what's his objective. He's going to testify, Christ said, of me. And you also bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. You know, in John 7, 37 to 38, Jesus promised this. On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. And he who believes in me, that's drinking Christ, in this context is a synonym to put your faith in him. As the scripture said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And the next verse explains that's the Holy Spirit within the believer. And of course, he wasn't given at this time, and so this was a future. But you know, the Holy Spirit has a mission today to the lost, and it comes through believers. You know, Christ also in this discourse said, when he has come, that's the Holy Spirit, he will convict the world, he has a ministry of convicting the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they don't believe on me, that's the only sin, the sin of unbelief that sends someone to a Christless eternity, of righteousness because they'll go to my father and you see me no more, in other words, Christ is righteous and you're not, And then of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged, and to reject Christ means you're gonna receive the same judgment that he is gonna receive down the road. And so the ministry of the Holy Spirit is through believers. It's designed to prepare unbelievers to see and receive the message of the gospel. You know, the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given, Peter got up and spoke in the power of the Spirit of God and gave a tremendous message to the nation of Israel. And the Spirit of God used it as it should, because in Acts 2.37, when they heard the message, they were cut to the heart. And that's what the Spirit of God seeks to do when the unbelievers show them, you know what, you're not all that you think you are, you're in trouble, and you need a savior. And so they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, what shall we do? Best question you could ever ask. The Philippian jailer, when he was rattled to the core, asked Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Best question you could ever ask. And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And so the spirit of God uses the word of God to show you, as he's shown me in the past, that I need a savior. But everyone's got a volition and Jesus said this is how people respond potentially. This is the condemnation that light has come to the world. Jesus Christ came to the world as the light of the world. But men as a rule love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil and nobody wants to be exposed. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to light lest his deeds should be exposed. This is why as a rule we want to sin in secret or sin in the dark or whatever it might be. And so the spirit of God is in the world trying to show you that the gospel message is the power of God to salvation. Romans 1.16 says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for that message is powerful. It's alive. And it tells how mankind can be freely saved. And it's offered to anyone who chooses to believe. And so conviction is designed to expose truths and facts. The Holy Spirit will bring those in the world who are willing to respond to the point where they fully understand who Christ is and what he's accomplished for them in love, and the question is, will they believe it? You know, Jesus said this when he, relative to why he came, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that or who are lost. In fact, God did not send his world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He came as a savior. because we're born condemned, because we're born in Adam. You, like me, are a sinner by position because you were born that way. You have a sin nature, that's why no one had to teach you how to sin, though you probably learned different ways to sin, and therefore we're a sinner by practice, that's the way it is. And here's the reality, the wages of sin is death. God is a just God, he has a justice system, and he said very clearly, you break my laws, you have to pay. And the penalty is steep, it's death. And that's a contrast to the gift God wants you to get. You want to understand gift, it's free. It's eternal life in Christ Jesus, the Lord. And so what everyone, by nature, is born on the broad road that leads to destruction. And so what awaits every individual outside of Jesus Christ is what the Bible calls the lake of fire. This is called bad news. It's the last thing you want. So we're all condemned under a death penalty. But here comes Jesus Christ that says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and unlike you and me, he never sinned. And he was willing to die in your place, because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Sin has to be paid for. Death is the penalty. If you die for your own sins, there's no hope for your salvation, because you will pay for that for all eternity like a fire. But Jesus says, I'm God, I became a man, I lived a perfect life. And he had to die because he was the only one who could pay the penalty for our sins so you could escape what you deserve. And so to understand the gospel message, again, is to understand that my sins and your sins were laid on Christ. In love, he came as your substitute to pay a bill that you could never pay. And so God in mercy punished his own son who was innocent, Jesus, in our place. And Jesus paid the bill in full. He paid the price, notice, once and for all. Every sin you have and ever will do, 2,000 years ago on the cross, Jesus took it upon himself, paid it. Nothing else needs to be done. Your bill has been paid. There's a receipt that says paid in full on the table waiting for you to pick it up. So God has provided the only way, but we have to make a choice to accept that. I still remember a young man in college several years ago. I spent 45 minutes going through him, and he says to me, so what you're saying is that I'm a sinner, that Jesus Christ loved me, paid for my sins, and rose from the grave, and all I got to do is believe it. And I get it. Every last night, I go, yeah, he goes, I don't believe a word of it. Said it just like that. I think the whole thing's a joke. What could I do? Nothing. And so when you choose to put your faith in Christ, you receive a gift, and I understood a gift of everlasting life. Every gift you've ever received, someone else paid for it, it was free to you. Salvation is the greatest gift in the world, paid for by the one, the Lord Jesus Christ who loved you and gave himself for you. And so the issue is this in John 3.18, whoever believes in him is not condemned because Christ took your payment, he took your penalty for you. But notice, whoever does not believe, he stands condemned because he was always condemned. Why? Because he won't believe in the name of the Son of God. And so, everyone's gonna be responsible for their choice as to what they think of Jesus Christ. And there's gonna be a great white throne judgment, mentioned in Revelation chapter 20, in which they'll have their day in court, they'll stand before God, and they can make their case. And it'll be shown conclusively that, yeah, I deserve the lake of fire. And they will be consigned there. And so the issue is this, if you have the Son, you have life, if you don't have the Son, you don't have the life. And so do you have the Son this morning? Have you made a choice to believe on Him, to trust Him as your Savior, and have you received the gift of everlasting life? You either have the Son and have life, or you don't have the Son, there's no middle ground here. There's no such thing as purgatory, there's no limbo, if you will. You're either on your way to heaven because you trusted Christ, or you're on your way to hell because you haven't. The truth isn't always pretty. And you know, this is Paul when he reiterated the gospel of the Corinthians, he said this. He says, whether it was I or someone else, we preached that message, and what did you do? You believed it, and therefore you know. And so as we think of this in application of the unnamed servant, he came giving testimony as to who Abraham was and how God was directing his steps and how he answered his prayer, and Rebecca chose to believe it. She chose to believe it. Now, the family was somewhat surprised, so they suggested a delay. Look at verse 55, it says, but her brother and her mother said, let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least 10, after that she might go. You know, it's interesting, I looked up that Hebrew word this week, and it's got some ambiguity to it. You know, sometimes the phrase 10 days or 10 times or a number of 10, and it really oftentimes speaks of an unknown duration. So what they're saying is, well, let her stay with us a while until we think it's okay and she goes. And that's when he said, no, we're going either now or never. And they said, all right, let's call her. And so I envision Laban wants her to hang around so maybe he can milk Abraham for a little more moolah. And I'm sure Rebecca's mother's, you know, thinking, well, she's going to go. And so I can see where they're coming from in that regard. But it reminded me, this has kind of got a twofold application. You know, there's times where people will seek to hinder, to keep others from making a decision about Jesus Christ and trusting him as whether or not to be saved. I remember years ago when I was part of the college ministry at DBC that there was a Girl that was witness to, she was excited, came out to church. She liked it, she's on the cusp, if you will. And she went home that weekend and talked to her family about it. And she came back and said, nope. So her family actually got in the way of her trusting Christ as her savior. And there's people out there trying to tell you, don't believe in that, that's nonsense. Calling Jesus Christ a liar? No, it's not nonsense. That's why the Bible says, behold, now is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. Another application of believer can actually hinder another believer from trusting the Lord and moving out by faith in their Christian life. They'll caution other believers, not because they can cite a biblical principle that they might be violating, but don't do it. I still remember, it was a winter day, and another believer comes up to me and says, how can you trust God with this? I said, well, how can I can't? What are you talking about? You know, he had a viewpoint that was God's not worthy of your trust. He was trying to get me to do things on my terms instead of trusting God, and I finally said, dude, I'm not listening to you. I mean, whoa. And so her family is trying actually to get in the way of her doing the will of God. Will of God was for her to go. Family pressure can be pretty tough at times. Don't leave. We'll miss you, or whatever it might be. Ultimately, you're gonna stand before the Lord, so ultimately you're gonna say, Lord, what would you have me to do? That's in essence what Rebecca did, and she says, I'll go. She evaluated the will of God and said, I'll go. And again, it wasn't this uninformed leap in the dark. It was a result of the Lord's work as communicated through the unnamed servants sent by Abraham. You know, it's similar to Abraham. The Lord told Abraham, I want you to leave Iraq and go to a place I'll show you. And you know, sometimes these big decisions aren't real comfortable. from a personal perspective, because you don't really know what lies ahead. And we're all like, well, give me a little sneak peek. I want a few details here. And Abraham left. He didn't know where he was going. I mean, we all like to know, right? But frankly, you don't know what's on tomorrow. I don't know what's on tomorrow. You know, the saying that goes, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but we know who holds tomorrow. And since he is holding tomorrow, and since my times are in his hands, I can walk by faith knowing that my Savior does all things well. That's how we're supposed to think. But obviously, we all want to hang out in our comfort zone, right? But life, you know, you don't grow up in life until you get out of your comfort zone, and you don't grow spiritual until you get out of your comfort zone, but God never gives you more than you can handle. So when it comes to God directing your steps, you have the promise of God, you have the principles of his word, you have the Holy Spirit, you have the testimony of those who have gone before you to help us, guide us along the way. That's why one of my favorite verses is 1 Thessalonians 5.24, he who calls you is faithful who also will do it. I mean, this is not like reading a tarot card and say, gee, I wonder if I should do this, or reading a horoscope or something stupid like that. This is the word of God. In fact, someone in a commentary referred to Rebecca as a female Abraham. She's challenged with the divine call to go, and she rose to the occasion and took it by faith, based on, again, the testimony of a godly servant who communicated the word of God to her. And so she said, if this is the will of God, I'm going. And like I said last week, the awareness of God's providence promotes urgency, not complacency. You know, she didn't say, well, I'm just going to sit back here and lay low and see how God works this thing out. I don't need to do anything. No. The servant says, this is urgent. You're either coming or you're not, because if you're not coming, I'm going to go find the right one. And so, boom. She didn't wait for the details to be spread on the table. She made a response based on the fact that this is the will of God. Let's step out by faith. Rebecca's impressive. I mean, she seems like she was the first woman to get to the well. She offered the stranger a drink. She offered to minister to his camels. And she finished that grueling job. And now she's ready to move on to the call of Yahweh here and leave her homeland and her family and head out to a place she doesn't know where she's going. And so it's impressive in that regard. The same God that called Abraham is the same God now that's calling Rebecca. He's bringing her out of her father's household and her native land and taking her to a place where God wants her to be. You know, remember even the call of Abraham. that when God called Abraham, started, he moved, he didn't hesitate. Now he bogged down in Haran for a while, and God faithfully removed what was hindering him, and he went out by faith. And so Rebecca here says, I'm gonna go. And so Rebecca agreed to go with Abraham's servant, and to marry Isaac. To marry Isaac. She's thinking the same way Abraham did. And so once that issue is settled, what happens next? Verse 59. So they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said they were our sister. May you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them. And so Rebekah's family, as they send her off, choose to bless her. And I thought this interesting, and I don't know if this is unbeknownst to them or not, but this is similar to what the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 22, verses 16 and 17. By myself, this is God speaking to Abraham, I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing and you've now withheld your son, your only son, blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. That was the blessing, the same thing. They say may your seed greatly be multiplied and may you possess the gates of your enemies. And I read where this is a common blessing given at Jewish funerals even to this day. Funerals, rather, I mean weddings, sorry. Boy, that's some kind of Freudian slip, huh? I don't know where funeral came from. I am thinking wedding. I don't know why funeral came out. Good night. And so this is actually something that is gonna be fulfilled, and so where that came from, I don't know, but it came. And I was looking, what does it mean to possess the gates of your enemy? And some take it to mean have victory over your enemies, and others is that you'd be such a light in the darkness that your enemies would seek you and your gates. This is the idea there. But I thought it was interesting, in verse 59 we read that Rebecca had a nurse, and then we read in verse 61, she also had maids. Verse 61 says, and Rebecca and her maids, her servants arose, and they rode on the camels, and they followed the man. So the servant took Rebecca and departed. We're gonna make this caravan, this journey to the promised land and meet Isaac. And I thought, interesting, you know, Rebecca here had some maids, and she had a nurse. And yet she went out to the well to draw water herself. And if she didn't do that, then this whole Betrothal scene wouldn't even have happened. And it's fairly obvious that Rebecca's family is financially well off. Multiple homes are mentioned, several men. were put on short notice to accommodate them getting a feast ready and to water the camels and take care of the camels of this caravan that came to visit them. We also know from the text that she's attractive. So she's attractive, she's voila. But what hit me is she didn't have this princess mindset where she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and do some work. She chose to work and she chose to serve even though she had servants that she could have delegated that to, to do. And you know, we know she's beautiful, the text tells us, but you know, beauty can be a curse, because those who are gifted with beauty sometimes think they're entitled to an easier life because of their looks. And there's people that think they put their good looks, they put someone else's good looks before their character, and they marry a person, and they think, what have I done? Because the good looks are gonna fade. It's a formula for disaster. You know, from a societal perspective, because people excluded God from their thinking, you know, increasingly society has a tendency to make decisions based on how they feel. They make choices to live based on their feelings and not on the basis of principle. And so they choose to live in accord with conditions and circumstances. And when you do that, you're on for a rough ride. In fact, a lot of times you fall prey to emptiness. You know, and that's one of the reasons even marriage is in such bad shape today. You know, when you're in Christ, there's to be a different purposeful mindset when it comes to life, and certainly when it comes to marriage. You know, that's why it's a blessing of God to establish a family of faith based on the sovereign will of God according to the principle guidance of God and the promise of God. It's how you think, it's not about how you feel. Parents, I just want to encourage you to teach your children, and in particular your daughters, not only to be feminine, but to be industrious. Teach your sons to be responsible and diligent, to do what they do as an aunt and lord, because in the long run, it's the character that makes a difference. And so that's the best thing you can do for your children. Teach them to be responsible, to be industrious. And though she had servants, she worked hard. You know, even think back in Genesis 22, Abraham, we know that he had a boatload of servants. He took 318 men, traded in his own house to go fight a war, and that was 20-some years earlier, so he's probably got hundreds and hundreds of servants. And yet, when God told him to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah, it says he split the wood. And he's 120-something years old, or 130 years old, and he's out there splitting wood. He obviously could have got one of his servants to do it, but he split it himself. He was a worker. I mean, he was in a position not to lift a finger, but have everyone wait on him night and day, but he didn't. And you know, the Spirit of God wants to develop the same mindset in you and me, a mindset to serve, a mindset to take responsibility, a mindset to care about things. You know, Jesus had to say, in the context of explaining to his disciples about what it means to be great, because in the world, if you're great, everyone does something for you. And yet, from Christ's perspective, it's the exact opposite. In Matthew 20, verses 26 to 28, it says, he's speaking about the great ones in the world. It's not gonna be that way with you. Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. So greatness in God, from God's perspective, is your willingness to serve. And whoever desires to be first, if you want, because they were arguing who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom, be a slave to everybody. You'd be a slave, I'm sure that's not the first thing that jumped into your brain this morning. Who can I slave myself for this morning? Now, if you're a mother, you might have had to, because that's the way it is, but this is a mindset that God says is greatness, and he's the greatest of all, because what did he do? He didn't come to be served, but to serve, and he gave the ultimate service, and the ultimate sacrifice, he gave his life for ransom for you and for me. That's the mindset the spirit of God wants to duplicate in your brain and in my brain. I mean, God promised to make Abraham great, and Abraham was great. He was great not only in the eyes around him, but he understood greatness from a divine standard, and therefore he served. He chopped his own wood. In fact, we know from that story that Isaac carried the wood on his back, the wood that he was going to be used for his sacrifice, up the mountain. He taught his son how to work, and his son worked. And so he was a great leader, but he was a great leader by example. He labored where it was appropriate, he delegated where it was appropriate and as needed, and so forth. And so we come to verse 62, and now we're gonna talk about the marriage, or what leads up to it. Verse 62, now Isaac came from the way of Baralahoy Roy, for he had dwelt, for he dwelt in the south. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening, and he looked out of his eyes and looked, there the camels were coming. Oh boy, right? So it says here that Isaac came from Hebon, basically from the Negev. Be'er l'hoi roi means well of the living one. This is actually the well that Hagar, where God came and spoke to Hagar, and Hagar named it the God who sees me in Genesis 16. where the Lord comforted Hagar. But interesting here, this is the first time where the narrative casts Isaac in light of some independence of his father. This is the first time he's seen, apart from Hebron, the Hebron home of the family. So he's down here in the Negev, his dad's up here in Hebron, so he's become his own man now. He's 40 years old. And he's going about his business as normal. He's taking care of his responsibilities. He's not sitting on the couch. He's not waiting in his tent just for life to happen. You know, occasionally I have to tell young people that, you know, sometimes they get this mindset, well, life's just going to happen. Well, it is, but, you know, it's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen. You know, if you're faithfully doing what the Lord had you to do, serving while you're waiting, he'll be faithful to direct your steps. And that's what Isaac was doing. You know, as you faithfully serve your savior, he'll faithfully direct your steps. What was Rebecca doing at home? She wasn't sitting at her tent. She was going down to the well, and remember, it was down a hill. She was getting water for her family. She was getting water for the stranger. She was getting water for the camels. She wasn't just sitting around in the tent eating chocolate, or whatever it might be, right? She was moving, she was working, and the Lord used that to bring her and her husband together. You know, that's the proper response to God's sovereignty. Sometimes the mindset is, well, God's got my life all worked out, I think I'll just sit on the couch with my feet up. And you're missing it. What your mindset should be is, no, I'm gonna do what the Lord would have me to do in a way that he wants me to do it. I'm gonna be faithful to him by his grace and in his strength, and I'm gonna trust him to direct my steps. You know, Paul told the Corinthians to always be abounding and the work of the Lord. Not to be asleep spiritually, but to work and to watch and wait on my master. I'm to labor for the master, as the song goes, from the dawn till setting sun. Because he could come today. I'm gonna trust God to direct my steps as I, by faith, labor for him in the strength that he provides. You know, that's why even our definition of faith is an admission of our spiritual ability. You're not saying, I got this, God. It's like, God, I don't know how to tie my shoes. It's inability and helplessness to merit a work for salvation or even handle my own life apart from God's grace provision is revealed in the word of God. But that doesn't mean I'm not moving. That's why I said a few messages ago that faith has both a passive and an active side to it. The faith side is we rest in God's promises and his providence. But there's also an implication that we walk by faith. When you're walking, you're putting one step in front of another. You're walking by faith in the principles and promises of God's word. So there's a passive side and an active side. Faith in God requires trust. You're resting in his provision. But again, it requires action as we walk by faith and labor for the master. As I respond to the truths of God's word. Christ is the object of our faith. As I respond to him, he works in me and through me so I can do the will of God for his glory. And what I like about this is Isaac gets to Hebrew and he took time out to meditate on his savior, verse 63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening. And then he's gonna look up and he's gonna see the camels are coming. The camels are coming. You know, maybe Isaac had a place in the evening where he regularly met and had devotions with the Lord. But what this tells me is he had his own relationship with the Lord. He's meditating, he's communing with the Lord. Abraham trained him to think biblically and principally and to respond himself to the Lord. And so what that tells us is, God said he would, that Abraham brought up his son in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But there was a time in Abraham's, or excuse me, in Isaac's life where he had to make it his own. And that's true with all young people. At some point, young people says, you know what, this is what God, this is God's word, it's not just for me. I don't have to, you know, sometimes they don't think. They just live in their house and they don't take time to meditate on the Lord and make these principles their own. At some point, they have to do that. And you know, when he's meditating with the Lord, I got a sneaking suspicion. He might've been saying, Lord, as the camels are coming, who's coming, right? But he waited on the Lord. He trusted his dad. He trusted his dad's servant to do what was best for him. And now he's gonna see the will of God revealed in the one that God picked out for him. I said, Lord, through the unnamed servant is bringing Rebecca to him. The camels are coming, and he's probably thinking, I'm one of those camels as my bride. I don't know if he planned it that way, but this is how God works, and this is what God is doing. So what happens, verse 64, Rebecca lifted her eyes, and then she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel. For she had said to the servant, who is this man walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, he is my master. And I like this about the servant. He's shifting his allegiance from Abraham to Isaac's now his master. So she took a veil and covered herself. And so when Rebecca saw Isaac, she dismounted her camel and placed a veil over herself. She dismounted her camel. Now, if you got a King James version, says this, and Rebecca lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off her camel, and it shows smoking is in the Bible, because she lit up a camel. It's an old joke, had to get it in there, I'll never say it again. But you gotta take full advantage of this opportunity. She smoked camels, says right here in the Bible. You know, it's interesting, actually, the word for dismounting here is the Hebrew word meaning she fell off her camel. You know, this didn't happen because she knew who Isaac was. But when she saw him, she fell off her camel. I don't know if this is the first indication of love at first sight or what. This might be it. But she didn't know who he was because she inquired, who's this man coming out to greet us? And so something about him told her that he wasn't an ordinary man and there was something special there. So she took her veil and covered herself. You know, Arnold Fruchtenbaugh says this veil was keeping the custom those days and the bride's face was veiled until they were married. And that didn't work out too good for Jacob, as we're gonna see. But she realized, so this is the man I'm going to marry, and keeping with the tradition, she veiled her face. And Charles Rajavi said that this veil was a sign of modesty and respect, and it was enough to wrap around the face and the body. And I thought, you know, our society increasingly gets away from The principles of the word of God becomes more like a Romans 1 society where, hey, what they did in the age of modesty, there's not just a lot of it. And yet, if you're a believer in Christ, this is what God wants for you. And like men also, the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. You know, the word modesty carries the idea of not drawing attention to yourself, and you can obviously dress in a way that draws attention to yourself, right? With propriety, with moderation. Not with braided hair or gold or pearls. I mean, not this ostentation, you know, these women that have a hair that, you know, and a bun that goes four feet in the air or whatever and all this. No. This is, God wants modesty. And our contemporary society doesn't encourage modesty. In fact, oftentimes it encourages flaunting. Flaunting what you have. You know, I've told young people and some young ladies at various times, you don't need to flaunt yourself. Because that's now where God puts the emphasis. In fact, how you should be dressing, what is proper, is to be godly in good works. God's after character. He's after character. And so when you're flaunting yourself, you're flaunting your God-given body, you're actually going to attract suitors that are basically interested in one thing, and it has very little to do with your character. They usually don't care that much about you. They don't care about your likes, dislikes, your character. They certainly don't care what about the Lord might be showing you in your devotional life. And they can be quite shallow. Usually character is not driving their bus. But how you conduct yourself and how you dress is to be a reflection, according to this verse here, of godliness. Because you're proclaiming Christ. And what you're doing by how you handle yourself is you're communicating a value system that is consistent with Him and what He's done for you in love. Because you want Him to get the attention. You want Him to get the glory. And I think in this way, Rebecca was communicating to her future husband, I want you to be drawn to my character, not my looks. You have no business seeing me. And I was told there's this, There's all kinds of dating apps, I guess. I've never been on one. But the one, I guess, it's all character based. You don't even get to see a picture of the person until you interact for a long period of time. Isn't that interesting? And I know a couple that got married on that very, off of that very app. But I mean, the message to Isaac here is you're going to marry me even though you can't see my face? Because really, ultimately, that's the lowest level of beauty, in my opinion. God says beauty comes from character. Christ-like character, that is true beauty. And the ones that get married on physical attraction alone, always in for a rough ride. Love here, as we're gonna see here in a minute, came through a union, through a commitment made in marriage vows, not the opposite. And I've already mentioned this today, how many people go on feelings? Our culture is feeling oriented. And so they place the priority on emotional love instead of mental love. And how many relationships based on the foundation of feeling fail time and time again? I mean, feelings are appropriate. There's a place for that. They should be there. But feelings can't be the foundation of any relationship. I mean, that's not the bedrock structure you wanna build on at all. You know, and sometimes, this carries over to sometimes how parents parent their children. They let the feelings of the children dictate how they parent. You know, you parent on the basis of principle. Yeah, but Junior's not gonna like that. Well, too bad for Junior. Might as well teach them now, life's not a bed of roses. And you don't always get what you want, and you can't manipulate your way out of every situation. I mean, I don't know how many times these children are disobedient to their parents, and they dictate to their parents how things should be going based on their feelings instead of the other way around. You know, I still remember. It's funny what comes to your mind when you start thinking about some of this stuff. At six and seven years old, I grew up in a neighborhood until I was 10 where there was like 30 or 40 kids running around. And we'd say all these grown up things and things, and I still remember it came to me. How did it go? First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage. Anyone else ever say that when they were a kid? Am I the only one? Thank you, Greg Denver. Here comes love, I mean, did we have any idea what we're saying? No, absolutely not. And I think sometimes that's how it works as adults, I don't know. Verse 66, how does Isaac know that this is in the will of God for him? And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. And so Abraham's servant recounts the Lord's working in the process, confirming that this is the bride the Lord has for Isaac. This is the one he's chosen. So there's no doubt what's on Isaac's mind here, because Abraham's servant, he got the instructions from Abraham, he did what Abraham did, God did all this, and so he gets the information that says this is the one God has picked out for you. So there's no doubt in Isaac's mind here. Verse 67. Then Isaac brought into his mother Sarah's tent, took Rebekah, she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. So Isaac married Rebekah, and he loved her. Now they don't say anything about the wedding ceremony, but there was one. because every culture has a ceremony. Every culture might be slightly different, but the core of it's the same. He pledged to be her husband, she pledged to be his wife, and they were married. And it says that he loved her. You know, what's interesting about Isaac, he's one of the few Old Testament patriarchs, in fact, throughout the Old Testament, that didn't marry another woman. He never married a rival. He was a one-woman man. He loved Rebecca, and that's not a small thing at the end. He cherished her for the whole marriage. You know, when it comes to marriage, God desires an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. How well did they know each other? They just met. But they made a commitment knowing that each one has flaws and imperfections. Interesting, isn't it? You know, the Bible's model for marriage is one of love and respect and responses to one another, but they're grounded in unconditional love. And we live in a society that is telling it, no, that's not the way it's supposed to be. Because once you go down that road, where does it end? You know, our contemporary society's moved away from the biblical model. And it certainly affected Christian marriages. There's failed marriages and broken families everywhere. The unnamed servant prayed that God would direct and undertake so the right woman would come. And I encourage those who are marrying age to pray that God would specifically direct to the right person to come at the right time for God's glory. But you know, this modern dating scene, and I'm not sure what the right word to call it is. I don't know if it's recreational or it's not biblically principled. You know, a lot of people date with no intention of getting married, and the only reason you should ever date is the intention of getting married. But society functions on principles that are typically antithetical to the Bible. And so the influence of culture is, really made a mess of even when it comes to dating amongst believers. And there's certainly always pressure for a couple towards sexual morality. You know, as I'm contemplating just how the world dates, there's almost always some emotional disaster and emotional damage in the mix. Even if there's no direct immorality, You know, I encourage people to think like these. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Protect your heart, because there's something in someone out there that's going to seek to corrupt it. I mean, how many people, because they adopt the world's dating structure or process, get emotionally damaged? One guy put it this way, in breaking up, these two hearts have begun bonding, are ripped apart, each leaves a relationship with at least some degree of heartbreak. They might either display varying degrees of emotional devastation or simply toughen their feelings. Either way, they leave their relationship emotionally wounded or scarred. But soon, the pain of breaking up is forgotten. They develop new romance with a different partner. And in time, however, this relationship results in another heartbreak and more emotional wounds and leave scars. Over a period of several years, a young person will experience a number of such emotional bonds being severed. Some of the romances are serious, others are admittedly so casual that breaking up is hardly painful at all. Yet the cumulative effect is that the young people's hearts are becoming increasingly calloused. One guy called it divorce training. Because they go from one committed relationship to the next, learning how to say goodbye, You know, what came to mind, I don't know. I went to high school in the 70s and there was a song by Paul Simon, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. Get on the bus, Gus, or whatever it was. Make a new plan, Stan. I know it was. Why do I remember that song? I mean, it's like you hear something once and you can't get rid of it. Drop off the key, Lee. You know, what it does is Satan wants to just cheapen what God says is sacred. He just cheapens it through all his methods. And you know, when people sign up, they don't take serious their vows half the time. We're signing up for better or for worse. Because invariably, things are going to get worse. And you need to sign up for better and for worse so that you're committed to see this through. You know, I've told you some of the story before when I was waiting a trip to Myanmar. You had to spend 24 hours in the Bangkok airport. And I met this guy from India. And he was in an arranged marriage. He'd been married 20-some years. And he explained that the parents did all the groundwork. He had nothing to do with it. They knew the families. They knew their children. They knew what their children needed. They knew what would fit. They met with families, several families. They finally figured one that might work. And then the two people meet. And they have a day together to talk about life and all kinds of things. And then three weeks later, they get married. And this explained this. And I said, well, how's it going? He says, it's unbelievable. It was perfect. And they have a very, very low divorce rate over there. because they get married. In fact, I asked him, I said, so how can you get intimate with someone you don't even know? He goes, and this is what the Bible says, you learn to love. You learn to love. And that's how God, he gets married and then he what? Loves her, he couldn't love her before he got married, he didn't know her. But he got married and said, you know what? I'm married, so I am gonna love her. And that's what he did. Isn't that interesting? He married her before he loved her. Please note that. You know, it's amazing how God designed, obviously, you see a biblical pattern here. Abraham, the father, had an important role in this. And from her side, Laban and the mother, because the dad must not have been in the picture, had an important role in this. I'm glad that the three guys that my daughter married, they all called me and asked if they could date my daughter. I had a little fun with that one of them. Guy was soaked through with sweat. No, I'm just kidding. But you know, that's how it is. I still remember when I called up my father-in-law, And he goes, well, I got one thing. I'm not taking her back. Ah. He had a great sense of humor. But, you know, young people, I mean, God gave you parents who love you and want what's best for you and sometimes think, ah, they're my enemy. Not that, you know, I'm talking as a general principle because if parents are unsaved, maybe they're not going to give sound advice. You know, sometimes I try to give a biblical perspective in dating, and people say, well, listen, we didn't do any of that, and it worked out for us. Yeah, I mean, God's merciful, right? I mean, people survive plane crashes, too, don't they? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once. No, I'm just kidding. You know, God's merciful. He's merciful to all of us, because if all of us got what we deserved, we wouldn't be married, and we'd be dead, okay? So let's not discount that. But what this shows is it's possible to make a commitment without the feeling of love. Now, there used to be a commitment to love the one you marry. You know, you think even, you know, by the way, marriage is always a legal arrangement. So that's why there was some ceremony. We don't know what happened, but there was some ceremony because it's always a legal arrangement. And so with different societies, there's different customs. So when it comes to marriage, this is why God said in Genesis chapter two, he said, a father should leave his, no, a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. In other words, you leave your father and mother, you become your own family at that point. You be joined to your wife, that's the commitment saying that, till death do us part. And then the third element is, Sexual intimacy, that is God's definition of marriage. And that's what took place here. Isaac left, she left, they were joined together in a ceremony, and they took her into his mother's tent. And he loved her. He loved her. And so marriage is the foundation for love. Love is not the foundation of marriage. Ever think about that? You know, in the years that I've been married and had different conversations, guys have told me, you know, I really didn't know what love was until I've been married a number of years. In fact, it took me several years to figure out how to love my wife. I was as clueless as they come. You know, when you read in Ephesians 5, husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church, there's not a guy on the planet that gets married and understands any of that that I'm aware of. We're clueless. The enormity of loving your wife is like, wow. But Satan, and I'm gonna talk about this here, because I'm gonna speak at this at a conference in Georgia. Satan attacks marriages by saying that there's gotta be some qualifications in place before I love my wife. You know what? They're not there. You love your wife like Christ loved the church. Did Christ put some conditions on you before he loved you? No. And when a woman says, well, there's gotta be conditions before I'll respect and submit to him, I don't think it's there. That's what God called you to do. See, as soon as you put conditions in there, you ruin the whole thing. It's to be unconditional commitment on your part to be who God would have you to be for the glory of Jesus Christ. And that's how it works. It's to picture Christ's relationship with the church according to Ephesians five. And in case you're not sure what love is, we started talking about this on Wednesday night. Love suffers long and is kind. Love doesn't envy. Love does not parade itself. It's not puffed up. It doesn't behave rudely. It doesn't seek its own. It's not provoked. It thinks no evil. That means it doesn't keep a record of wrongs. It doesn't rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. And it endures all things. So how do you know if you're loving someone? Well, are you bearing all things? Are you believing the best? Are you hoping for the best? And are you enduring whatever needs to be? Because guess what, love never fails, it never comes to nothing. That's how God designed us. And so love is to be, a marriage is to be the foundation, or love is to, you know what I'm trying to say, right? And as you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior, you can grow and allow the Lord to develop that love in you and through you for his glory. But at the end of the day, love is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. Some people come to the marriage saying, well, now I'm going to get my needs met. Well, you've just put an insurmountable amount of pressure on the person to meet your need, and they can't do it. You know, that's why I explain love is spelled G-I-V-E. You're here and it's your privilege to give in your marriage. Some people want to be all take and no give. What a disaster. And here's a good verse to keep in mind in life and especially in marriage. Above all things have fervent love for one another for love will cover the multitude of sins. Amen? Amen. It's a pretty cool chapter of the Bible, 67 verses. It's a great story. Great story of faith and how God worked. We need to keep in mind the big picture. As gracious as God was in providing a wife and a husband for this couple, it was all part of God's bigger plan to see redemptive history realized. That Jesus Christ is gonna come out generations later of this relationship. And so when you think of marriage, God's purposes in marriage are beyond merely just you. There's a bigger picture involved. And as two people are walking by faith and realize that life is not about them, but it's about Christ, he can work through that to accomplish his purpose in the world beyond you. It's a great way to think, it's very freeing. We're out of time, let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace and mercy you've shown in all our lives. Just pray for marriages, even, of our church, that we would just see the divine blueprint and allow you to work in us and through us so that what transpires there is consistent with your will and brings honor and glory to you. We know we are who we are by the grace of God. In many cases, we drop the ball, yet your mercy is new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. So encourage us to that end. young people learn to wait on the Lord, to have you direct their steps, that they would purpose in their heart to profess godliness and good works, and that they would illustrate that, and you would direct their steps appropriately, not only for their own benefit, for the glory of Jesus Christ, even in the future, as you think of the purpose of marriage. So thank you for this chapter. I pray that you'd use it in our hearts, and we thank you in Jesus' name.