Devotional Materials. Week Commencing Sunday 24th July 2022
Call to worship
“The Israelites worshipped and gave thanks to the Lord saying ‘He is good; his love endures for ever.” 2 Chronicles 5:13
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4, 5).
We have so much to be thankful for. God is good; His love endures for ever. We know this is true. The truth of God’s word; confirmed in our experience. We have many blessings. And even when we face difficulty, His love is enduring, strong and trustworthy. By faith, as we lean hard on Him, we find Him faithful.
Hymn
“All people that on earth do dwell” MP 20. Piano
William Kethe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-1dQ8t03mE
Opening Prayer
We are glad to be here Lord; to enter your gates with praise. We thank and bless you for your constant, faithful love toward us. For our families and homes, our friends, our food and clothes. So much material benefit we have from you.
Once we were dead in our sins and self-willed, living our own way, resisting you. We were enemies of you and enemies of our own true happiness.
Thank you for that mercy which refrains from rightful punishment and instead pours out grace and infuses us with new life. We now know your good purposes worked out in our lives. Some are obvious, at other times you make us stronger, more Christ like as we learn to trust you when there is no outer encouragement to do so. We have faith, instead of scepticism, hope instead of despair, and love, instead of bitterness, because of you. Amen.
Reading. Genesis 24: 1-32. Margaret Bickmore.
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 for Aram Naharaim 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, "O 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 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 beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten 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 Bethuel, 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 Rebekah 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 Rebekah tell what the man 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.”
We want to praise our Father because He loves us and we are His. Let’s sing
Hymns
“Your love is amazing” MP 1143. Violin & Guitar
Brenton Brown & Brian Doerksen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vexxu0AbtBU
“When the music fades” MP 1016. Violin & Guitar
Matt Redman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwNBcwFe4pA
Jesus be the centre MP 1076. Violin & Guitar
Michael Frye https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAsK-d3uDt8
Prayers. Polly Lander
Reading. Genesis 24: 33-67
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, `O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have 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, Rebekah 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 Bethuel 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 and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; 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 jewellery and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; 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 ten 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 Rebekah 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 Lahai Roi, for 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.
Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the 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.
Hymn
“All my days I will sing this song of gladness” MP 1024 Piano
Stuart Townend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ILdnift8c
Sermon. “Finding the Right Wife”
There are many stories of broken marriages in the press. Reporters look for celebrity break ups. These in turn reflect wider patterns of marriage failure. Many opt for living together, but co habiting couples are more likely to break up than those who are married. The inner attitude seems to be, if you don’t get on, break up and try again. Our society makes a mockery of the Christian call to marriage, husband and wife promising to care for one another until death parts them.
Marriage is God’s idea and is given for our happiness. Where He is at the centre of a marriage the couple can build their relationship together in union with Him. With God nothing is impossible and He is able to create love where the weeds of boredom, bitterness and hopelessness have taken root.
Joyce Hugget in her book “Marriage on the Mend” writes “What the newspapers and magazines focus on are frozen relationships, ice-bound marriages. But what my husband and I, together with many others, see God doing over and over again is melting the blockages so that the couples concerned can enjoy not simply the thawing of their relationship but the springtime which always follows the chill of winter…as they find afresh the love which returns to those who work at it within the love of God”
The Lord can rekindle marriages with His power and love. But prevention is better than cure. When a couple build with Him from the beginning , they spare themselves much pain.
In this passage where Rebekah becomes Isaac’s wife, we discover God given principles by which a man can find the right wife, and indeed a wife the right husband. Of course what is described here runs according to the customs of the time. It was an arranged marriage. The method used for finding a marriage partner is very different from our western outlook. However, there are still principles in this passage we can build on when considering who to get involved with and marry.
First we see that Abraham insists his son should not marry a Canaanite woman. The Law of Moses did not permit the Jewish men to marry non-Jews. The New Testament maintains this principle by urging Christians to marry “in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:39) and not to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6: 14-18).
So an unmarried believer will look for a marriage partner from among Christians. The passage from 2 Corinthians 6 describes why “what agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?” When you become a Christian, God comes to live within you by His Spirit. His centrality in your life then begins to influence everything else you do. The non-Christian does not have the same outlook. They may be nice person and seek to live as a good citizen, they may have high ideals. But underneath they are still in charge of how they live, and they are still under the power of what the Bible calls the sinful nature. The person who has not relinquished their life to the Lord will seek to fill that God void with something else; they will worship some idol- usually Money, Sex or Power. This may not become evident initially but when temptation comes or pressure is exerted, their true colours will show. If you are worshipping the Lord and the other is worshipping something else, then obviously there will be conflict. Possibly over Money; one wants to give their money towards what is of lasting eternal value, the other wants to store theirs away and like the rich fool described by Jesus, accumulate goods and build bigger barns. Possibly there will be conflict over Power- one will want to use their time and gifts serving the Lord and others, the other is driven by selfish ambition and self-promotion. Perhaps one is submissive and the other is controlling.
The Christian will want to fellowship and worship with other Christians in Church, the husband or wife will want to do something different. That will also have an effect on the training of children. If a son sees the worship of God isn’t important to their father, it won’t be important to him. I’ve seen too many situations where the Christian ends up capitulating and growing luke warm in their faith. The believer is initially shocked by the difference in outlook he or she had not anticipated. Even if the Christian has freedom to join with other Christians, he or she cannot share with their spouse at that deep level how their faith is giving them insight and strength for this or that situation and find common understanding on those perceptions.
If you are both building together as Christians you will not have these points of conflict. Rather you will enjoy an increasing unity and harmony in all areas of life. Where there is difference in outlook at first, God makes clear to both, over time what is right because each is willing to humbly change as He guides them together. If you should fall out the Lord prompts both to reconcile and build a new according to His Word.
It may be someone becomes a Christian during their marriage, the other is still not a Christian. This is what happened to my mother. She became a Christian in her thirties. The Bible counsels the believer to stay with the unbeliever, unless the unbeliever chooses to leave. My mother knew that’s what she should do, and is still married to my father. God blesses that obedience. 1 Corinthians 7:14 describes how God sanctifies the unbelieving spouse and children in such a relationship. But there are unnecessary conflicts that arise for the Christian who is in a mixed marriage, and these are best avoided from the outset. If you are single and love Christ then be obedient to God’s Word. Look for a Christian to marry. Indeed, look for a Christian to go out with, because you don’t know where that relationship will go. Be “equally yoked” with someone else from the beginning. Someone who has this fundamental love for Christ, that influences everything else they do and who can help you grow spiritually too. As 2 Corinthians 6 says “What fellowship can light have with darkness….what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”
We should also note Rebekah was a virgin, verse 16, “no man had ever lain with her”. In the world today it’s now expected of youth at College or at University to sleep around. The idea that a man or woman should be a virgin when married is considered by many in the world as laughable. But Christian men and women are called to be virgins until they get married. The New Testament prohibits sex before marriage. This is not an arbitrary prohibition as though God is some kind of kill joy. The opposite is the case. He prohibits premarital sex precisely because He does love us and wants the best for us and our marriages. There are good reasons why God intends sex to be reserved for marriage. In their book “Why Wait?” writers McDowall and Day have carried out detailed research from interviews with teenagers, social scientists, medics and others and shown there are powerful physical, spiritual, emotional and relational reasons for obeying God in this. Those who follow him in refraining from pre- marital sex find they are protected from harmful influences and provided with good ones .
They are protected from harmful influences including sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy and abortion. They enjoy protection from guilt and the hardship of breaking up.
One researcher writes: “Sexual intercourse has a psychologically binding effect, particularly for females. The act itself increases the feeling of closeness. In uncommitted and temporary relationships where sexual intimacy, with its psychologically bonding effect, is shared, there is considerable risk of hurt. Nearly always, one partner has become more deeply involved than the other. And there is no recognised religious or social influence to hold a temporary ‘mate’ or ‘friend’ to the other. All that these temporary partners share is the dangerous freedom of ‘for as long as it feels good’ Either partner is always vulnerable to rejection, which happens more often than not in such relationships, and the break is very hard for one or both. One can say ‘no strings’, but that is not possible. There always are strings and tearing them away hurts, inflicting injuries that may take years or a lifetime to heal.”
Those who refrain from premarital sex are protected from other harmful influences including lowered self-esteem and adverse influences on future marriage. The authors also show those who wait for marriage are provided with a beauty, a maturity, a dignity and specialness once they become sexually active within that union.
Young people who keep themselves from sex before marriage in this day and age will need a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ and a strong commitment to Him if they are to have the power and strength needed to face testings and temptations in this area. But they will know God’s blessing for doing so.
Of course if you have engaged in pre-marital sex you must not give up on God’s forgiveness. Even if you are a Christian you can come to God in repentance at any time, for any reason no matter how long you have strayed from Him. To re-establish a damaged relationship with Him 2 things are involved: repentance and forgiveness. Repentance means to agree that sin is sin and forgiveness means to agree that God’s love, specifically his grace- shown to us in Christ’s death on the cross-is sufficient payment for our sins.
If the person you are looking to marry has repented and been forgiven of their previous impurity and are committed to Christ, then they could still be the right spouse for you. Christ has now made all things new for them, it is as if they had never sinned. The same is true for you, whatever your past. But if the other does not agree with God on this and continues to pressurise you for sex before marriage, then you should avoid them like the plague- that is if you value your own spiritual, physical, emotional and relational well-being.
The person who seeks the right wife also relies on God’s Providential Leading
Abraham was aware of the overarching purposes of God. He had been promised numerous descendants. Here is Isaac his son, forty years of age and not married. Isaac must marry and have children if the promise is to be fulfilled. Earlier in his life Abraham had stooped to dubious means-such as having relations with the slave girl Hagar- to try and bring about these promised descendants. But here Abraham trusts the promise. He is not passive. He acts in line with the promise- he sends his servant to get Isaac a wife. But there is to be no forcing of any woman to return and marry Isaac. Neither is there the attitude “let’s get the first available woman from the local people” for Isaac. Rather, Abraham’s faith acts in line with the overarching promises of God. He says to his servant in verse 7 that the Lord had promised He would send his angel before him so he could get a wife for Abraham’s son. Abraham now fully trusts in God’s divine leading and good providence.
And Abraham’s servant has this same trust. He is very reliant on God’s leading. The evidence of this is shown in his continued attitude of prayer.
There are more stops for prayer here than in any other chapter I can think of.
The servant prays 3 times, verses 12, 27 and 52. Verse 12 he prays for success and while he is still praying God sends him the answer to his prayer in the form of Rebekah! Verse 27 the servant praises God, he can discern God’s providential leading thus far; having discovered Rebekah and met her family he’s pleased to discover the Lord has led him to people who are Abraham’s relatives. He is always keeping his eyes open to see what God might do.
The servant is not naïve. He is realistic that humanly speaking the odds are against success. He admits from the beginning he doesn’t know that even if a suitable woman was found that she would return with him. The woman might not listen. But the servant doesn’t allow fears or doubts to cloud his trust in what His God can do. Instead the servant entrusts the whole matter to the Lord and keeps praying.
It is very liberating to entrust God with our lives. He is our Creator. He knows what is best for us. We can confidently entrust our way to Him in all things, including the finding of the right wife or husband! You don’t have to act out of fear and in desperation give all your attention to the first person who shows you any interest. Neither should you feel you have to go out with a non-Christian because you think there are not enough suitable Christians.
Remember too that God knows what is exactly right for you. You can trust in His good purpose for your life. Your singleness at this time is God’s gift to you. He has given you this time in your life and He will support you in it and teach you the benefits that go with that particular state. In the future you may exchange the gift of singleness for the gift of marriage, you may not. Even the married person has to exchange the gift of marriage for singleness when their spouse dies. The single state has many advantages: the single person can spend more time with the Lord and be more single minded in serving Him. Single people enjoy greater mobility. They have the potential to build many relationships with many people. Single people have more opportunity for personal growth and can take advantage of enriching opportunities to further their education, to travel or to do things they would not otherwise have the freedom to do. So trust the Lord with His current gift of singleness. Make the most of it with Him and resist the idea that life will really begin when you find a spouse. Be free of fear in the matter, find opportunity to mix with other believers, grow in your relationship with God and serve Him and He will lead you to be with the person of His choosing. Like the servant, commit the whole matter to the Lord and be at peace.
Parents and grandparents pray for your children to find the right Christian partner. Christian families can go on through the generations. There is a building on the wisdom that has gone before. This country more than anything needs Christian families who can relate, communicate and bring that message to them.
Are you looking for the right husband or wife? Don’t get obsessed about it. The Lord has overarching purposes for your life. Pray! Yield the matter to Him. Ask him to grant you success yes, but make the most of what He has given you today and confidently entrust your future to the One who loves you more than any other.
The Lord brought Rebekah and Isaac together. Here we have this wonderful final verse- verse 67- Rebekah “became Isaac’s wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
Isaac loved Rebekah. Marriage is a place where you learn to love. The person God draws you to may have many fine qualities. Clearly Rebekah was kind, pleasant, humble, healthy and a good worker. All these things Abraham’s servant had ascertained from his initial testing of her. But whatever Rebekah’s virtues, there would also be failings Isaac would have to learn to live with and forgive. Later in their lives we remember how Rebekah deceived her husband over the business of their sons. It was Rebekah’s plan to trick Isaac into bestowing the birth right on Jacob rather than the first born Esau. Love is an act of the will. For the Christian it is showing Christ’s sacrificial “agape” love. It is to love the other when we think they don’t deserve it or are in some way unlovable, just as Christ has shown this love to us. All married couples need the power of the Holy Spirit to supply the kind of love God expects us to extend to our partner. Isaac loved Rebekah.
And Rebekah comforted Isaac. Christian marriage is a good place to receive comfort. Rebekah comforted Isaac after his mother died. We all need comfort. In marriage we can share with the other the agonies we have gone through. Here is someone we can trust implicitly. Isaac was burdened with bereavement. The burdens we share may be different in nature, but in a Christian marriage we know our husband or wife will not judge us or put us down, rather they will accept us as we are and encourage us just as we must look to be an encouragement to them.
The right wife was found for Isaac. Through Abraham’s servant a simple, penniless girl was summoned to a marriage union with one of the noblest and wealthiest of men living at that time.
In the New Testament the Apostle Paul sees marriage as a type of union between Christ and His Church. Paul saw himself as a servant of Christ inviting everyone of us – not to find the right wife- but the right husband. And that husband is Christ. Paul proclaimed the good news that we who are spiritually bankrupt are invited to unite ourselves with the Lord of all the earth! The Lord wants us to be such servants calling others into this union and nurturing them to be His disciples. As Paul told the Corinthians “I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him” (2 Cor.11:2) Will you and I accept that trust to call others into union with Christ?
Rebekah was prompt in responding to the servant’s invitation. If you are not yet united to Christ don’t delay, I would encourage you to respond to His loving invitation so that on that day you will be found with all His people: “For the wedding of the lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7) PTO Hymn
“May the mind of Christ my Saviour” MP 463 Piano
Kate Barclay Wilkinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5fOXSymBc
BlessingThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all for evermore. Amen.