If you would please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 24. Genesis chapter 24. This is God's Word. Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac. The servant asked him, what if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from? Make sure that you do not take my son back there, Abraham said. the Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land, and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, to your offspring I will give this land. He will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out from Aram-Naraheim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town. It was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Then he prayed. Oh Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, please let down your jar that I may have a drink, and she says, drink and I'll water your camels too. Let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master. Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin. No man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, please give me a little water from your jar. Drink, my lord, she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a becca and two gold bracelets weighing 10 shekels. Then he asked, whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night? She answered him, I am the daughter of Bethul, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor. And she added, we have plenty of straw and fodder as well as room for you to spend the night. Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives. The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things. Now Rebecca had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and had heard Rebecca tell what the man had said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. Come, you who are blessed by the Lord, he said. Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels. So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. Then food was set before him. But he said, I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say. Then tell us, Laban said. So he said, I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. My master's wife, Sarah, has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath and said, you must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live, but go to my father's family and to my own clan and get a wife for my son. Then I asked my master, what if the woman will not come back with me? He replied, the Lord before whom I have walked will send his angel with you and make your journey a success so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family. Then when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath. Even if they refuse to give her to you, you will be released from my oath. When I came to the spring today, I said, oh Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I've come. See, I am standing beside this spring. If a maiden comes out to draw water, and I say to her, please let me drink a little water from your jar. And if she says to me, drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too. Let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's son. Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, please give me a drink. She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, drink, and I'll water your camels too. So I drank, and she watered the camels also. I asked her, whose daughter are you? She said, the daughter of Bethul, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him. Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son. Now, if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn." Laban Bethuel answered, this is from the Lord. We can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebecca. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed. When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebecca. He also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, send me on my way to my master. But her brother and her mother replied, let the girl remain with us 10 days or so. Then you may go. But he said to them, do not detain me now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master. Then they said, let's call the girl and ask her about it. So they called Rebecca and asked her, will you go with this man? I will go, she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies. Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. Now Isaac had come from Beer-le-hi-roi, He was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebecca also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked her servant, who is that man in the field coming to meet us? He is my master, the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. Pastor Wood, I have a question. I've heard different answers to this, so I was wondering. Do you believe that God has someone special for me to marry, or do you believe I should just sort of find someone who's compatible? I mean, there are those who believe that God has a person already picked out for us, and then there are those who think that it's silly to think that way. What do you think, Pastor Wood? Well, I'm very glad you asked that question. First of all, I don't believe that God has someone picked out for everybody. I believe some people are called to be single. There's an old expression, God is saving some man just for you. My grandmother used to say to her unmarried daughter, Winifred, God is saving some man just from you. Oh, that's mean. Well, they had an interesting relationship. But I want you to understand, there are some people who are called by God to singleness. The Bible teaches this. But I believe that if you are intended to be married, God has already planned out a wonderful plan for those who are His. For those who are His children, there is a wonderful, wonderful plan. Now, it is not always easy. It is not always fun. And even in this case, where clearly the text makes it abundantly clear and repeatedly clear that God had planned and arranged for Rebecca to be the wife of Isaac. Even in this case, if you read on in the future chapters, it wasn't exactly the easiest, sweetest, most romantic marriage all the time. They had some problems with each other when it came to things like child rearing. So I'm not submitting to you that if you marry the right person, it'll all just be sweetness and light. That's not the case. There's no hint of that in Scripture. But the fact that no matter who you marry, you've got to work at it to make it a good marriage, does not negate the fact that the testimony of scripture is not just that God had somebody special picked out for Isaac, but that not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father's notice, and that He knows the number of hairs on our head. The idea that somehow our infinitely wise, all-knowing, all-powerful God, who created all things and who has numbered our days, is too busy to find us somebody to marry, is ludicrous. I'd even say borders on blasphemy. God has revealed himself as someone who is intimately concerned about the details of our life. To suggest that he would not have an opinion about who we're to marry, when that is one of the most crucial questions in our life, is in my view completely unscriptural and irrational. Now I realize that at least one famous Christian author who talks about family issues a lot has taken an opposing viewpoint published by a fine evangelical publishing house. I don't want to get picky, but I would point out that if you look at his family history, it turns out his approach didn't have the greatest success in the case of his offspring. Boy, now it's getting personal. It's got a low blow on it. No, I'm just telling you, if you're going to put yourself out there and say, this is the way it's supposed to be, you ought to be able to back it up biblically and it ought to bear real fruit in real life. So in this case, for sure, God prepared someone for Isaac whom he intended to be the mother and the grandmother and the great-grandmother and the great-great-grandmother and the great-great-great-grandmother. God had already scripted what was going to happen. And the responsibility of the people who follow God is not to get God to do our thing. Our responsibility is to get in step with what God is doing. to seek him, to pursue him, and to yield to him that we might do his will. Now, there are a number of things about this that are interesting. First of all, Isaac's 40 years old. I realize there are some people who are late bloomers, but that's kind of late. And secondly, he wasn't the one who was even contemplated to go out there and get himself a wife he's forty years old and his father abraham calls the servant in and says in verse three i want you to swear by the lord the god of heaven the god of earth that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the canaanites among whom i'm a i'm living but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son isaac in other words the question wasn't who's going to get a wife for isaac The question was, where are you going to get a wife for Isaac? Did you catch that? He didn't say, in case you happen to be the one who gets Isaac a wife. He doesn't say, in case Isaac doesn't get around to getting a wife for himself. He says, I want you to make sure that the wife you get for my son Isaac is one of my relatives and not one of these pagan Canaanites. Is that interesting? So now, all of a sudden, if Isaac is really doing the right thing by waiting for an arranged marriage, maybe it's not entirely his fault that he's 40 years old and unmarried. Maybe sometimes the rest of the family needs to step up and say, how old is Isaac now? Did he ever finish that homeschool program we were doing? OK, maybe we ought to get serious about him getting married. So Abraham calls his servant in and has him put his hand under his thigh, which we won't go into this morning, but bottom line is that's an ancient primitive way of saying, buddy, I'm trusting you with the future of the family. And so he swears this oath. And as he swears the oath, he has promised that he's going to go try and get a wife. And the concern is what if I can't keep the oath? I mean, what if I make the journey and she won't cooperate? Here's something very important. I mean, this is wonderful that the text deals with it so clearly and repeatedly in this one chapter, you and I cannot be responsible for what other people do. We're responsible for what we do, but we need to know ahead of time, we can't control other people. And so when he makes a promise that he will go and get a wife, he also has a clause in there that if she will not cooperate or her family will not cooperate, and because of somebody else's failure to do what they're supposed to do, you're not able to bring a wife back for my son Isaac, you're released from the oath. That's a good thing to know. It's a good thing to remember that when we set out with the best of plans and the best of intentions, and we've prayed through it, and we're determined to do what we believe God's telling us to do, but it involves somebody else, we can't control the outcome. We're responsible for our part. The rest of it, if it's not within your control, and other people aren't, if it's not within your control, It's not your responsibility. You do what God has told you to do. You do what you have committed to do and don't commit to something that you cannot control. I'll make her do that. Oh, good luck. That's why as parents, you can say to your child, if you do not do this, I'm not going to do this. That's a commitment you can keep. you can consequence behavior predicated on what you will do not you are going to eat every bite of that spinach uh... well you you know do you have any anesthesia on hand because you can't control what that other person does what you can do is say if you do not finish your spinach you are not going to get to XYZ have dessert play the video game call your friend Whatever got it you can control The things you do by God's grace But don't commit yourself to controlling somebody else it won't work so His servant Promises that he'll do his best And he heads out to the far country, and please notice it's not just Abraham who's praying. Abraham's servant is praying. And he is counting on what Abraham has said will happen. God will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife or my son from there. And so when he gets there, verse 12, He prayed, oh, Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today and show kindness to my master Abraham. Here's how I'll know if this is you. Now, I mean, to some of us, this seems awfully primitive. I mean, for one thing, we usually don't travel around with a bunch of camels that need water. But I want you to kind of fast forward this to modern times and understand that he not only obediently and prayerfully went on the journey, but he went to where the ladies were. If you're looking for a wife, it's good to go where the ladies are going to be. So, I like this turn in the sermon. You're saying, well now wait a minute guys. Think about this. I said ladies. Alright? Not just females. These were going to be ladies doing something that was appropriate, not inappropriate. He didn't go to a saloon. He went to a place where ladies were engaged in good, responsible, domestic behavior. Oh. OK. All right. So like I ought to take a home ec class or something? You probably are a little old for that, and I don't think they offer home ec at Wheaton College. But you want to go to a place where you might meet somebody who would be eligible. And if you go to a place where disreputable, dissolute females hang out, your likelihood of finding a dissolute, disreputable female is pretty high. But if you go to a place where godly young ladies gather to seek the Lord? Well, she wasn't seeking the Lord. She was seeking some water. I know that. But I'm saying he at least went to a place where they were likely to have what he was looking for. If you're looking for a godly wife, fish in a pond that has godly wives. You understand? And ladies. If you want a godly husband, look for a place where there are godly men. Does that make sense? He went away from the Canaanites, because they were godless, to a place where there were God-fearing relatives. And there he waited by the well. He wasn't totally stupid. He didn't stay out in the middle of the desert and say, God, just drop her out of the sky. He went to the well where he knew that the young women were going to be coming to draw water. That's a good place to meet a young lady. But that wasn't all. He prayed. God confirmed for me that I found the right one. And before he's even finished praying, he's praying in his heart, it says. He's not even praying out loud. Now, if you stand there and you say, Father, you know that I am here to find an eligible young lady for marriage. you might attract the wrong sort. So he's just there, looking like a weary traveler, praying silently in his heart. And before he's even finished praying, the answer to his prayer shows up. Did you know that sometimes before we're finished praying, God is already answering our prayer? Because God doesn't say, oh, oh, oh, I didn't know he was going to pray that. All right, just a minute. Just a minute. Hold on. Let me see what I can do. God knew ahead of time. He'd already sent his angel. He'd already prepared the way. This was God's perfect timing. And so, here comes Rebecca. She was very beautiful. Is it okay if the one God sends me is like really good looking? No. If you're serious about following God, then you need to look for someone who is, well, let's just say you'd only marry them because you love Jesus. That's pretty much the way it works. Because, you know, godly women just aren't good looking. good-looking women don't don't have to be godly they can get guys anyway but but uh... so so you you only you only find godliness in people who are not good-looking is that is that anything any hint of that in scripture not a shred now what is very clearly taught in scripture is that looks don't last they don't well they did in the case of Sarah Remember when she was 90 years old, they were still trying to put her in the harem. Okay. Sometimes looks last. But generally speaking, gravity wins. Okay. It's just true. It's just true. So if you marry on the basis of looks, you're overlooking what Scripture says about charm being deceitful and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. So go for a God-fearing woman whose character is good because that will last and grow more precious with time. But in this case, she was also really good looking. All right, so she was very beautiful, not just beautiful, she was very beautiful. Isn't that cool? She was a virgin, sexually pure. She had never lain with a man. And she went down to the spring and filled up her jar and came up again. And we find out she's hardworking. She's not only willing to give this guy some water, she's willing to water his camels. Did you know that camels are famous for how much they can drink? Do you remember that he had a whole bunch of camels with him? Do you think that she was ignorant about this or do you think she was a hard worker? She was clearly a hard worker. And she was willing to serve others. Wow, that's good character. And she was courageous when her family says, well, let her stay with us about another 10 days. And Abraham's servant says, no, I'd really like to take her back now. And they say, well, we'll ask her. And she says, no, I'll go. You got to like this, right? She's really good looking. She's sexually pure. She is hardworking and she's courageous. What's not to like? Well, I'll give you one more thing about her that I like. She's modest. They're riding toward where Isaac is, and Isaac has gone out in the field, and he's meditating, which is a good thing to do. Remember Psalm 1? On his law, he meditates day and night. Isaac's out there in the field. He's meditating. He's quieting himself before God. He's just getting his mind clear, seeking the Lord. She sees him. She says, who is that? The servant says, that's the guy you're going to marry. And she goes, oh. All right, just a minute. Plumps up her lips a little bit and pulls her outfit down over her shoulders. OK, now let's ride. Is that what she does? No. No, in fact, just the opposite. She took her veil and covered herself. Wow. Well, she did that because she was homely. No, no, no. She was very beautiful. She was very beautiful. She wasn't somebody who was trying to cover up. I can't stand for him to see me because I just look so terrible today. My mascara is running because I'm missing my mom. Wasn't that at all? She didn't cover herself because she was homely, she covered herself because she was modest. Ladies, take a clue. Don't try to make your physical attributes the hook. She's already committed to marry this guy. But she knows that marriage is a lot better if you discover each other's physical attributes after you're married. Is that clear? Well, you got to do something to entice them. Well, why don't you try developing your mind and learning how to speak kindly? That would work and it would last. Because the rest of it, I already told you, gravity gets it. Pastor Wood, I wish you wouldn't say that about gravity anymore. It makes me uncomfortable. Well, gravity makes me uncomfortable. But it's a reality. See these jowls? I didn't used to have those. My face used to be up here. I used to be a Scandinavian with high cheekbones and a nice angular face, and now it's all just falling down, hiding the top of my neck. So my neck is trying to slide out from underneath it and wobble like a turkey's. I'm just telling you. So what happens? I think even my ears are falling down, just sliding down the side of my head. The one thing that gets higher is the hairline. Folks, in this passage we have a beautiful picture of the fact that God can be trusted to provide our mate. And we should take encouragement from that. not think that somehow well that's just that's just a primitive story that was just for them I can believe that happened with Isaac and Rebecca but that has no application to me it does to trust the Lord I have seen it in so many cases certainly certainly in in my testimony which all safer another day but God so graciously answered my prayers and demonstrated that he had in fact prepared someone for me who not only had the same master that I have, but had the same mission in life. God can be trusted. Trust Him. He's faithful. Depend on Him. He loves you. Don't forget it.