Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• What happened for the last 60 years of Abraham's life?
• The death of Sarah
• A bride for Isaac
• Abraham remarries and has six children
• The death of Sarah
• A promise of the land
• Death was an important reminder of the greater land
• A bride for Isaac
• A promise of descendants
• These two events record the fulfilling of covenant promises to Abraham

When Guidance was Clear

• Isaac could not marry a Canaanite
• They were tribal peoples
• They had customs of pagan worship
• Abraham had lived amongst them as a nomad
• The people had a very different mindset - Canaanite religion was often wicked [child sacrifice]
• Isaac would be marrying not just a wife, but into the clan, into the religion
• Isaac should not go out of the land himself to procure a wife
• Abraham knew the dangers
• Isaac could have chatted to the family and found himself settling there
• The Lord leads Abraham very clearly
• God has given very clear guidance for Christians
• Looking after our parents
• Committing to a local church (we are bound together)
• The sanctity of marriage
• Taking on an honourable job
• Who to marry?
• 1 Cor 7:39 - Marry in the Lord
• Christians should marry other Christians
• Advice is given on marriages when one becomes a believer
• Non-Christians do not recognise the authority of the bible and God, so conflict ensues
• There can not be prayer and seeking of God together
• Abraham married Keturah - she was likely a servant of his household and saved
• His oldest servant was certainly a man of God
• Cross cultural marriage
• Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldeans and this was very different to Canaan
• Some cross cultural marriages work very well
• People need to think very carefully before marrying cross culturally
• There are often differences in attitudes to the poor, work, money, values, time keeping, privacy, education, etc

The Human Part of Guidance

• What caused Abraham to think now was the time to get a wife for Isaac?
• In God's providence Abraham hears news about his family - 22:20
• God orders circumstances
• We must trace and recognise God's hand of providence
• Be proactive
• Guidance usually comes to those who are doing God's will
• We must try not to make God's will happen (e.g. Hagar)
• We must not force situations but do what we know is right within the situation
• Abraham was too old to go himself but he was able to send someone on his behalf
• Abraham was very serious about this task and made his servant swear an oath
• There was preparation
• A gold nose ring
• Golden bracelets
• Gifts of jewelery and clothes to the family
• Ten camels
• There was more than one servant (v32)
• We must be clear, deliberate and purposeful in our thinking
• Faith in God (v7) but also humility (v8)
• Abraham is not pressurising his servant
• Trusting in God but not being oversure
• We must act according to our faith
• Example of two churches
• Faith with actions
• Abraham was faith in God and does something about it
• God guides the Godly
• Abraham and his servant were both Godly
• The servant was willing to swear a promise to God
• The servant was a man of prayer (v12, 13)
• The servant was very wise - he went to the well
• Ps 32:6,8
• God directs his own people
• Those who are godly and seeking His will
• The servant tells the full and truthful story
• Laban and Bethuel honour this (v50)
• God was working at this time
• The servant worshiped the Lord (v26, 52)

The Divine Part of Guidance

• Why should Rebekah be the first person the servant meets?
• The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord
• Consider Rebekah
• Rebekah was very courteous, gracious and hard working
• Rebekah was very beautiful, a virgin - who had kept her pure?
• Rebekah was willing to marry someone she had never met
• God has made her the person who she is
• The family of Nahor also saw God's hand in the situation

Closing remarks

• Clear guidance
• We must obey
• "Being on the way - the Lord led me"
• Commit your way to the Lord