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[0:00] Genesis chapter 24. Now, we'll go back to those first four verses, if you would please, because we've had a couple weeks break. Read those first four verses of the chapter, and we're still with Abraham.

[0:23] So, what's going on here? What's Abraham wanting to do? Get a wife for his son. Okay, aren't there women around?

[0:40] Well, he's not marrying them. You've never heard anything like that? What was wrong with the women where he was?

[0:54] They weren't of his family. What? Well, they were pagan, but let's think about that a little bit.

[1:06] What about Abraham's family? They were idol worshipers, too. But Abraham, for whatever reason, whether it's God-directed, well, God directed it, obviously.

[1:30] But, as we'll get into, we're going to see how God directed it, which, by the way, gives me a great deal of comfort for my own life, doesn't it?

[1:41] Not that every detail is directed, but I can rely upon God's immutability. That's one thing he cannot do is change.

[1:56] He cannot lie. I'm very thankful for that. So, he makes no mistakes. So, when he says that if you trust Christ, you have eternal life, do I have to worry about it?

[2:18] Oh, that should be resounding. Absolutely not. Why? Because God cannot lie. He has done it, and he has said, look, this is my plan.

[2:37] You go with it. You have eternal life. You trust Christ. You have eternal life. And we can take it to the bank. So, God was in this.

[2:47] But, for whatever reason, Abraham saw he did not want the women in Canaan for his daughter-in-law.

[2:58] He wanted someone from his own family. So, what did he do? First four verses, we still are.

[3:12] Okay, that's where the family's from. What's Abraham's plan? He's going to send his servant. He's going to send his servant.

[3:22] Not just any servant. Well, it might be Eleazar. If Eleazar's still alive, it is him. But it's his steward.

[3:36] This is the general manager. He's sending somebody important. And he's leaving it up to him. So, he sends his general manager, his steward, to Haran.

[3:49] And he says, go fetch a wife. Now, what do you see in those first four verses? Well, there's something interesting.

[4:12] Abraham asked his steward to do something. What's he asking him to do? To swear. To swear. To swear an oath. In the name of.

[4:29] Okay. In the name of the Lord. I want you to swear by God that you're going to do this. Now, do you have any qualms about that?

[4:43] There are some. In fact, some courts will allow you to do this. Because there are some Christians who say, well, the scripture. Well, let's back up.

[4:55] What did Jesus say on the Sermon on the Mount? On the Mount. He talked about swearing. What did he say? Okay. Now, let's get our debt. Maybe I'd better back up.

[5:09] When I say swear an oath, what does that say to you? Okay, a promise. Anyone think of cussing? Good.

[5:23] Well. Where does cussing come from? Well, okay.

[5:34] But. No. Where do we get that idea? It's a defamation of the word cursing. But. What does the scripture tell Israel later on in the.

[5:49] In the law of Moses? Well. Specifically. It says you shall not take. The name.

[6:00] Of the Lord your God. God. How? In vain. Now. What does that mean? And. I need to think about this.

[6:11] Don't I? When I sit down to my meal. And I. Thank God for my food. See. I usually put that. At.

[6:22] What the guys do in the shop. But that's not it. Taking God's name in vain means taking God's name lightly. Frivolously.

[6:36] Irreverently. Or with no thought. So. That's the. That's the. What we call commonly. Cussing.

[6:47] It has to do with taking God's name in vain. But. On the sermon of the mount. On the mount.

[6:59] Jesus said. To Israel. Regarding the kingdom. What about swearing an oath. Okay.

[7:10] Um. Um. Matthew 5. 33. Somebody grab that please. Either someone grab it.

[7:22] Or all of you grab it. It's better if several do. What. What. What.

[7:32] What's been. What's been the. Stuff bantered around lately. Fact checking. Right. Okay. Well. I heard. I heard a little.

[7:44] Clip from. Senator Kennedy. From. Louisiana. In one of the hearings. And he said.

[7:54] They fact check Noah. And then the rains came. And all the fact checkers are dead. That doesn't include us. Matthew.

[8:06] Okay. Isabella. Would you please tell us. What does he say. About that. Okay.

[8:20] You. You. Have heard it. Said. Of old. You shall not. Forswear yourself. What does that mean. Take the oath lightly.

[8:31] Or take it. Ahead of yourself. Make false vows. Well. Okay. Make false vows. But you shall surely perform that which you said.

[8:43] In Proverbs there's something about that. God takes no pleasure in. Fools. He said fools. Make an oath without thinking about it.

[8:54] And then they. Say. Oh no. I can't do that. So. Jesus said. You have heard it said.

[9:06] He's not going to contradict the law. He's going to expound the law. Okay. Keep going. If you would please. Isabella. Now hang on there.

[9:21] Isabella. I say to you. What? Don't swear.

[9:33] At all. Don't take an oath. That's what Jesus said. Okay. Keep going.

[9:44] Neither by heaven. Because God's there. No. By earth. Where is his scripture? Not every one. Where is his. Where is his. Where is his great king?

[9:55] Who's the great king? God. Okay. Now shall you stand by your head. Because you cannot make one more. But it is last.

[10:06] But let. Your yes. Be yes. And your no. Be not. Whatever is no. And your. Okay. He says so. Don't take an oath.

[10:19] But let your yes be yes. And your no no. That's what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. James reiterated something like that in James 5.

[10:30] Above all things brethren swear not. Neither by heaven nor by earth. Sounds just like it. Doesn't it? Except shortened. Don't take an oath.

[10:41] But then. Acts 18. Paul. He's been in Corinth for a spell. Took his leave of the brethren and sailed thence.

[10:52] This is Acts chapter 18 verse 18. And sailed to Syria. And with him Priscilla and Aquila. Having shorn his head. Because.

[11:03] He was keeping a vow. Wait a minute Paul. And wait a minute Jesus. Because.

[11:16] Let's back up this. Now Abraham asked his servant. To swear. I want you to swear by God. That you're going to do this.

[11:29] Specifically you're going to do what? You're not going to get a wife for him. From Canaan. You're going to go to Haran.

[11:40] Okay. Now let me think about this. What is that? Can I learn anything? About taking oaths? See.

[11:54] Some courts will now allow. Because there are some Christian groups. That have said. Because Jesus said that on the Sermon on the Mount. You shall not swear. That.

[12:05] They no longer have to. Swear upon the Bible. That they're telling the truth. The whole truth. They can confirm it. Change the word. The meaning is the same.

[12:18] But. Nevertheless. What about. Have you ever known anyone who said. I'm telling you the truth.

[12:29] I swear it. Or some. Semilates of that. Some of you know people. Who. Every third sentence is that.

[12:41] You know. Every time they say something. I think there's a principle there. That I might be able to apply. I'm sorry dear. I. I. Forgot. She's supposed to stop me from walking.

[12:55] Around. So much. There is a principle there though. Isn't there. If. If I tell.

[13:06] If I'm in the habit. Of telling falsehoods. That's not a good idea. Is it. And that. I think that's a.

[13:17] There is a. A reasonable. Principle. That I can learn. In that. Number one. The principle. From Proverbs. Don't make hasty.

[13:29] Promises. That I can't keep. Or that I find that I can't keep. Number two.

[13:41] Don't be. Don't be. In your regular business life. In your. In your normal conversation of living.

[13:56] Don't be. Someone who. Goes back on their word. Or. Whose word doesn't really mean anything.

[14:08] Or. Yeah. I'll. You know someone. Who you say. I'll believe it when I see it. You do know someone. I'm sure of it.

[14:20] And if you don't. You will. For. For some of the. You know. Isabella. If you don't already know someone like that. You're going to meet someone like that.

[14:32] Because they say things they don't. They won't keep. Yeah. I'll do that. But they don't. Do it. So there is a principle there.

[14:44] Maybe I can. Jump. Jump in. By the way. With the comments. You have to interrupt. Because I might just keep. Going. Okay.

[14:54] Okay. Now. I could find no reference. In the epistles. Regarding the taking of oaths. Just for what it's worth.

[15:12] So. Look at five through nine. Verses five through nine. Chapter 24. Verses five through nine.

[15:24] The steward asked.

[15:37] Abraham. For some clarification. What clarification does he ask? Okay.

[15:51] Okay. Per adventure. Per adventure. The woman will not be willing. To come with me.

[16:01] I mean. Here I'm going. Several hundred miles. By camel. And walking. I'm going.

[16:12] Several hundred miles. I'm going to ask. I'm going. I'm going. I'm going to ask. Her family. And her.

[16:24] To come back. And marry somebody. She's never seen. There's good thinking there.

[16:37] Maybe she'll say. No. I'm not going with you. No. So he says. What happens then? What if she doesn't do that? He suggests taking my eyes.

[16:51] To her. To her. To her. To her. To her. To her. To her. To her. Where does he suggest that dear?

[17:04] Verse five. What does it say? Should I take your son back to the land? From there you came. Okay. So when you say he.

[17:14] You don't mean Abraham. You mean. The. The servant. Okay. Okay. So the servant says. If this happens. Should I take.

[17:25] Should I come back. Get Isaac. And take him back. To show him. Look. This guy's not so bad. What is.

[17:37] I assume that meant. Shall I. Take Isaac back. To live with her there. That's what I assume. He was asking. Okay. I didn't think of it that way.

[17:51] I doubt. I. I would have doubted. That that was the. Deal. But. In either case. What's Abraham's reply? Absolutely.

[18:02] No. Under no circumstance. Will you do that? He adds to that. What's he add? What's he add? What's he add? Okay.

[18:34] Now. Abraham makes a prediction. He said. Under no circumstance. Do you take Isaac there? But. God's going to do what? God's going to send an angel before you.

[18:47] And make your way successful. And. Okay.

[19:04] So. If. If she won't come. I believe she will. Because.

[19:15] God's going to. Make this happen. And. And. And. But if God doesn't make it happen, what? You're released from the oath.

[19:29] Okay. Now, but he's adamant still, only do not bring my son.

[19:40] Don't take him back to Haran. Because he has a reason for saying don't go back to Haran with him. Why? Because he and his women, the descendants of Isaac will be.

[20:01] That's right. Isaac's descendants are going to be here. He's not going to marry from here, but his descendants are going to be here.

[20:16] Now, how does Abraham know that? God told him. God told him. By this time, God has told him several times, hasn't he?

[20:30] He's told him several times. And incidentally, God confirmed it with an oath, didn't he? He confirmed it in chapter 15, I think it is, with the covenant.

[20:48] Remember about the covenant? Remind me. Normally, what did they do? What was the covenant? What did they do with the animal? They split it in two.

[21:02] Laid it apart so that there was kind of an alleyway between the carcasses. It's kind of a bloody affair, by the way. But they laid the carcasses.

[21:14] So there's an aisleway. And what normally happened with the covenant? Let's not delay too long. You remember.

[21:27] Normally. Yeah. This is an illustration.

[21:43] Be this done to me if I break this covenant. Right? So, normally, they would go through.

[21:55] What happened in chapter 15? What happened in chapter 15? Well, yeah. All by himself.

[22:08] He put Abraham to sleep. Not euphemistically. Realistically. He made a deep sleep come upon Abraham. And he went through the covenant.

[22:19] The smoking pot. Because. Right. And Paul said that. Did you hear what? Okay.

[22:31] Paul said. That God swore by himself. Because he could swear by no one greater. Than himself. And.

[22:46] God going through the covenant alone. Is a wonderful picture of my salvation. Isn't it? Does my salvation depend upon me.

[23:02] Doing. We. You know. We sing songs that say. Well. I'm not going to turn back now.

[23:12] And. You know. I'm going through. And. And. Those are good commitment songs sometimes. But. I need to be careful that I don't really.

[23:25] Think that that's my salvation. On what does my salvation depend? My commitment? Does it? Does it depend upon my obedience?

[23:39] Should I obey? I should. Does my eternal salvation depend upon my obedience?

[23:51] On what does it depend? Christ. And his work. Who. That's why God says.

[24:03] Look. I've tied all men up under sin. Jew. Gentile. Moralist. All. Are tied up under sin.

[24:14] So that I might be the savior. Of all. So that no one may. It is not by works that you've been saved.

[24:25] We are saved by grace through faith. And that not of yourselves. Keep going. Not of works. That's the point.

[24:37] Isn't it? It's for God's glory. Not mine. It's for God's glory. Not mine. So. Abraham said. Because God has given this land to me and my.

[24:51] Well. To my descendants. So it will be to Isaac's descendants. Don't take him away from it. He has to stay here. Okay.

[25:03] Let's keep going then. So. Verse 10.

[25:16] 10 through 14. Read those. Read those verses. So.

[25:29] What does. Abraham's steward do. Do. Okay.

[26:05] Hang on. So, he took ten camels, but he didn't only take camels, as we're soon going to see. But he took, he chose because, why did he choose?

[26:22] He's the steward, and all the goods of Abraham were in his hand, it says. He had control of all of the wealth.

[26:34] So, he's a pretty smart man, as we're going to see, but he gathers up the camels, he gets his entourage together, and off he goes.

[26:49] And he arrives in Haran, and where does he sit down? By the well of water.

[27:01] Okay, because it's going toward evening, and people are going to come, and I'm going to get a good look at these girls. That is his plan when the women come to draw water, right?

[27:17] So, I'm going to get to have a view, but he doesn't stop there. What does he do now?

[27:29] He sits down, and he does what? He prays. It's not a bad idea, is it? To ask God to direct us.

[27:41] We're going to get into a bit of that. But, what does the steward pray? Hang on.

[28:05] Success? He asks for success. Success in what? Finding the right woman. Not finding just any woman. She's got to do more than breathe and walk.

[28:19] He wants the woman. Well, keep going. Go ahead, Isabella. Tell us what kind of a woman he's looking for. She says, drink from the water, and you're going to have a place for your children.

[28:47] That's the one. And by this, I will know that you have shown promise to my master. What woman does he want?

[29:04] That's the one. That's the one. Now, yeah, she should be kind, but he's talking about God's kindness to Abraham here.

[29:17] He's, and yeah, she'll be kind. We say kind because she'll give me a drink and draw water for the camels.

[29:28] But he's not asking just for somebody who'll be kind, because there could be a kind woman that's not going to draw for ten camels. Now, I don't know how far it's been since those camels drank.

[29:44] But as I understand, I looked up a little bit about the camels, because it's kind of appalling to me, realistically. It is. The dromedaries, which would have been in this area, the single hump camels, they can go a number of days in that desert country without drinking.

[30:10] They store water and fat in the hump. Now, it's not a bucket. It's not a, but their flesh absorbs a tremendous amount of water, and they conserve it.

[30:25] But when they do drink, they can drink up to 40 gallons each. He's asking her to draw 400 gallons of water, maybe.

[30:43] Maybe they only got a sip. In any case, that's a lot of work. That's not me turning on a faucet, is it?

[30:55] That's a lot of work. So, he's not just asking for a kind woman. Yeah, she'll be kind. That's true. But that's not really what he's asking for.

[31:09] He's asking for what? Well, we don't know if she's going to be godly. She's coming from a pagan society.

[31:20] He's asking for God to give him a sign. He's... This is Gideon.

[31:35] Gideon... God came to Gideon, or the angel of God. I don't know. God came to Gideon, and he said, You're the man that's going to deliver Israel from the Midianites.

[31:50] And Gideon says, I heard it, but I'm not sure I believe it. I'm paraphrasing a little bit. So, what did Gideon do?

[32:03] I'm going to lay a fleece out on the ground here. And Lord... In the morning, let the ground be wet with dew, and the fleece dry.

[32:22] And then, did God do that? Okay, God did that. Then the next morning, Gideon goes out, and he says, Let the ground be dry, but the fleece have dew on it.

[32:40] This is what Abraham's steward is doing. He's real specific here, isn't he? I'm going to ask this woman to give me a drink.

[32:56] She's going to give me a drink. And then, she's going to water my camels. And then I will know what? That she is the woman, not just the woman for Isaac.

[33:13] She is the woman that God chose for Isaac. Now, wouldn't you know it that we come to within seven minutes of the end, right at this point.

[33:28] So, we will defer until next week to really finish it. But, let me prime the pump, since we're talking water.

[33:51] By the way, does God answer the steward's prayer? Yes. What's her name?

[34:05] I'm sorry? Rebecca. Okay. So, Rebecca does exactly what he had prayed.

[34:20] Now, the priming of the pump is here. How many of us know someone who talks about, God told me to do this?

[34:38] Well, only one of us admitted it. But, really, only one of us knows someone who said something along that line? How many of us know that there are people who do that?

[34:54] God told me this. Or, that have said, I prayed for a sign. Usually, they say, I put out a fleece.

[35:10] Have you ever heard that one? I have heard that. I'm not going to ask that. Okay, no responses here. Have you ever done that?

[35:20] Nathan doesn't listen, does he? He gave a response anyway. How many of us want to know God's will in every decision?

[35:40] Yeah. So, we'll get into that next week, if we may. Okay. So, think about that.

[35:54] And how? Think about it in the context. Okay, Gideon put out a fleece. The steward asked a specific prayer.

[36:05] It was a big deal. And, Rebecca fulfilled it. God did that. Is the Christian enjoined or told to look for signs?

[36:20] Or, are we told how to know the will of God? And, I'm going to leave that as a very open-ended question for now. So, that we can chew the cud a little bit on that one, right?

[36:38]  And, God bless you. Look forward to next week.