Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Welcome to Thru the Bible, where an exciting story is about to unfold. Our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee brings us to one of the most beautiful love stories in scripture. In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his servant on a mission back to their homeland to find a wife for his son Isaac. And the way that servant discovers God's choice may surprise you. Dr. McGee shows us something even deeper here, a picture of how God sends his spirit into the world today, calling out a bride for his son, the church.

So turn with me to Genesis chapter 24, beginning at verse 32. And as you settle into your seat on the Bible bus, let me share a few letters from our fellow passengers. You might say Thru the Bible is still being used by the Holy Spirit to call hearts to Christ. First is a note from a teenager in Kenya: "This program has helped me build a stronger foundation in my Christian journey. I like how spiritual topics are explained in a way even young people like me can understand. I feel guided to correct my life and grow closer to God. The teachings encourage me to read the Bible more and think deeply about my purpose and faith."

I love that, don't you? And now listen to this letter from a listener in Zimbabwe: "I was admitted to the hospital for a while, and I was excited to find that your programs were playing there. They became a daily boost, many times better than the medicine the doctor prescribed. The Bible verses and prayers helped me feel close to God even while I was in pain. My relationship with him was renewed and I felt peace. I was so thankful when they helped me find a place to listen to the program after I was discharged. Thank you for bringing hope into the hospital. I've carried that hope home with me."

I love hearing how God is using this hospital ministry in the Shona language, don't you? And we'll try to share a few more of those stories soon. Now our last note comes from Dan in Indonesia: "God's word has renewed my life. Before I started listening, I struggled with questions about why life is so difficult, what God really wants from us, and how to live out my faith in everyday challenges. Through this program, I've discovered how complete, consistent, and clear God's teaching is. Every episode shows how the Bible fits together beautifully, all pointing to God's love and his plan of salvation through Jesus Christ."

Complete, consistent, and clear. What a wonderful description of God's word, don't you think? Well, if you'd like to hear from listeners like these and then pray for millions around the world, join our world prayer team in our app or at ttb.org. Now let's ask the Lord to bless our time together. Heavenly Father, would you open our hearts and minds as we hear your word, so that we can understand and respond to your mercy and grace that is given to all who believe in your son. In his name we pray, amen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we have seen in chapter 24 here that Abraham sent his servant back to his own country, the land of Haran where he'd come from in Mesopotamia, in order that he might get a bride for Isaac. Now, I think as we come today to verse 32, that we ought to make this statement: that here is a marvelous picture of the relationship of Christ and the church, which by the way, one of the figures of speech that's used is that the church is to become someday the bride of Christ.

And this is the way the church is being won today. The Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit into the world. And the Spirit of God, like this servant, has come to talk about another, to take the things of Christ and show them unto us. Now this servant has gone to get a bride for Isaac. The Spirit of God is in the world to call out a bride for Christ. Now notice the marvelous, dramatic effect that we have here. This is a wonderful and an exciting story.

Now I'm reading verse 32: "The man came into the house, ungirded his camels, gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set meat before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told mine errand. And he said, speak on." Now this servant of Abraham said, "Before I can eat, I want to tell you my mission."

The Holy Spirit's come into the world to tell about another, and that's primary business as far as God is concerned. Now I know that there's other business that's very important: the business of our government, and of course, the news is great business today, and the great corporations, the great automobile companies, the airplane companies—all this is important, is great business. But if you want to really know why God is continuing to deal with this world, very frankly, he's not continuing to deal with it because of General Motors or because of the government in Washington, either Republican or Democrat, makes no difference.

That's not primary in heaven. And the stock market in Wall Street is of no great concern in heaven. The thing that's primary as far as God is concerned is to get the gospel out. The Spirit of God is here, put this first. Now this servant wouldn't eat. And now they tell him to speak on. He said, "I am Abraham's servant." And you notice his name is not given. The Lord Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes, he will not speak of himself, but he'll take the things of mine and show them unto you.

And by the way, what is the name of the Holy Spirit? Has no name. He doesn't come to speak of himself. He's come to speak of Christ, of another. Now this servant is the servant of Abraham. Now notice verse 35: "And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he's become great. He hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses." He tells about the Father's house, and that is something the Spirit of God would have you know when he comes.

He'll convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Those are the three things that he talks to the lost world about. And that the judgment is upon a sinful earth and upon mankind, and men are lost today because they're sinners. I hear the thing said today: men are lost because they reject Christ. They are not lost because they reject Christ; they're lost because they're sinners. And whether they've heard about him or not, they're lost sinners. That's our condition today.

That's the condition of man. And the Holy Spirit's come to let us know that there is a savior that has borne our judgment, and he's been made over to us righteousness. We have a standing in heaven. He's come to speak of another. And now will you notice: "The Lord hath blessed my master greatly." And he has all these things. How wonderful. My Father is rich today in cattle and goods. Cattle on a thousand hills are his. How great our Father is.

Verse 36: "And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath he given all that he hath." And Lord Jesus, he's the inheritor, and we are joint heirs with him today. He's come now to tell this family, "I'm after a bride for my master's son, and he's going to inherit all things." Now will you notice: "And my master made me swear saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell."

Friends, he's calling out sinners, but they're sinners that are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, of the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. That's the ones he's calling out. Yes, sinners, but they've been made children of God. And if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. He's not taking Canaanites. They have to be transformed. Now will you notice: "But thou shalt go unto my father's house, to my kindred, take a wife unto my son."

"And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with thee, prosper thy way; thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, my father's house. Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath when thou comest to my kindred, and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. And I came this day unto the well, and I said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go..."

"Behold, I stand by the well of water. It shall come to pass that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink, and she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder."

"And she went down unto the well and drew water, and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. And she made haste and let down her pitcher from her shoulder and said, Drink, and I'll give thy camels drink also. So I drank, and she made the camels drink also. And I asked her and I said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son whom Milcah bare unto him. And I put the earring upon her face and the bracelets upon her hands."

"And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left." Now Laban is the spokesman for this family. Will you listen to him? And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, "The thing proceedeth from the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad or good."

"Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken." They said, "As far as we're concerned, this is of the Lord, and you go ahead and take her." But now notice: "It came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, jewels of gold and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things."

Now this is the way the Spirit of God does. We have the earnest of the spirit when we come to Christ. And being justified by faith, we have peace with God. We have access. We have joy. We have a hope. And we have the Holy Spirit. These are the wonderful things that have been made over to the believer today. Now we're told here in verse 54: "They did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and they tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master."

And her brother and her mother said, "Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least ten, after that she shall go." And the very next morning, this servant said, "I want to be on my way. I tell you, this is big business for him." And the brother said, "Why, what's your hurry? Give us at least ten days to tell her goodbye. But after all, we'd better talk this over with her." And he said unto them, "Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."

And they said, "We'll call the damsel and inquire at her mouth." Now we've come to this very important part of this that I think's quite wonderful. I'm reading verse 58 now. Don't miss this. "And they called Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go." Let's go back and look at this picture again. It's an oriental scene, couched way back yonder in the beginning of time at the dawn of humanity, in a way. And yet, man had been on this earth, I'm confident, thousands of years at this time, but as far as we're concerned, it's 4,000 years ago.

And here is this family that they're entertaining a guest, a stranger. And they're entertaining him royally. They fed his camels, taken care of the servants. They set meat before him—a real feast. And he wanted to state his business. He did. And he told his strange business. He'd come to get a bride for his master's son Isaac. And I can see this servant there as he brings out these gifts that he's giving to the family: gold and silver and trinkets.

Abraham, you must remember, was a very rich man. Then he begins to tell about the master. And as he does, I see in that circle, that family circle around that fire out yonder in the background, a very beautiful girl standing just beyond the others with those deep brown eyes. She's listening, and you can tell she's listening. And as she listens, why, she hears the servant tell about Abraham. Tells about how Isaac was born.

Tells about his miraculous birth. Tells about his life and then tells about the day that his father took him yonder on the top of Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice, and how God spared him and would not take his life and gave him back life to the father. And now how the father has sent him, a servant, to get a bride, that they don't want to get one back there among the Canaanites. They'll get one that must be a like-mind, one that has the same capacity for the living God, must be born again, you see, of the word of God.

And looking for a bride, she's listening all that time. And the transaction goes on. Now they turn to her. No one's paid much attention to her up to this point, but now all eyes turn to Rebekah. They said, "Rebekah, what about it? Will you go with this man?" And she doesn't hedge or fudge or beat around the bush or hesitate. She says, "I will go." May I say to you: have you ever noticed the men that the Lord Jesus called when he was here on earth?

They left their nets and followed him. Oh, I know they went back a couple of times, but there came a day when they broke loose from those nets and they never went back to them. They followed him. They went with him. He today is still calling. The Holy Spirit, the one that's taken, again, the servant place. You see, the Father and the Spirit sent the Son into the world to die for the world. And now the Son said when he went back, he'd send a Holy Spirit, the comforter.

And he's come now into the world, and he's calling out a bride. And he's saying, "Will you go? Here is the one who died for you. He'll save you. You have to be redeemed first. You have to come as a sinner to him, take your rightful position and accept him as savior. And when you do, you'll be born again. You'll become a child of God, put into the church that's going to be presented to him someday as a bride." And now you're to be interested in him.

The question is: will you go? Will you accept the invitation? Will you trust Christ as your savior? Now you don't beat around the bush about this. You either do or you don't do. I never shall forget that I was speaking in a certain place back east—in fact, the matter of it was in Texas. And I presented Christ and I said, "Will you accept him?" And I wasn't really through preaching. I never shall forget there sat a young man, I could tell he was interested.

He just got right up right there and then walked down. It had a tremendous effect upon the audience. He didn't have to be wishy-washy. There wasn't anything uncertain about him. My, I love a clean-cut decision like that. That's the way he wants you, friends. That's the way he'll accept you and the only way that he will accept you. Now will you notice this. That doesn't end the story. They start out now and they're going back to the promised land.

And on the way back, will you notice: verse 59, "They sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them." That's been fulfilled, friends, already. We're not talking now about unfulfilled prophecy; this is fulfilled. And Rebekah arose and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man.

And the servant took Rebekah and went his way. And now will you notice, they had a long trip back. We're not told anything about that trip, but it's not easy riding a camel. I rode one from the little village there outside of Cairo down to the pyramids. And friends, that's as far as I want to ride on a camel. They call them the ship of the desert. Well, it is as rough as any trip I've ever had in a boat. It was rough. And they're not easy to ride.

Imagine riding on those camels across the desert. I can see that they've had a hard day across that hot desert, and of an evening they stop at an oasis. And the campfire's built, and they have their evening meal. And they're sitting there before time to go to bed and have their sleep. And I hear Rebekah say to this servant, "Tell me about Isaac again." And the servant said, "Well, what do you want me to tell you? Tell me about the way he was born."

"Tell me about the way that his father offered him on the altar. Tell me the old, old story of Jesus and his love." The servant said, "Well, I told that to you last night." She said, "I know, but tell it again. Tell it again." And he tells it again. Never grows old. And so that night she has that sweet sleep, dreaming of the time when she'll meet this one. And then the next day they start out on the journey again in the desert.

It isn't quite as hot, and the camel isn't quite as rough, but it's a long ways. And so they continue. And finally they come in sight of the land of promise. They enter it. And now they come down to Lahai-roi. And we read in verse 62: "And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi, for he dwelt in the south country." Way down in the pleasant country, you see, down at Hebron and Beersheba. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide, and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, the camels were coming.

Now we're given a view of the coming of Christ that we do not have. So many are saying today, "Won't it be wonderful when the Lord comes and we'll be caught up with him?" Well, there's another view, and that's to be with him when he comes. And most of the church has already gone through the doorway of death, and they'll be coming with him when he comes, and that the bodies might be raised and the spirit and the body joined together.

Now we read here that when he went out, they lifted up the eyes and they saw the camels were coming. Those that are alive are to be caught up with the dead, be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so those that have gone before in death, they're going to see him when he rises from the right hand of the Father and then when he starts out to call his church and to meet his church yonder in the air.

This is the picture. And what a glorious, beautiful, wonderful picture this is before us. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, "What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "It's my master." Therefore she took a veil and covered herself. And we'll have to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, but he's been made over to us righteousness.

He was delivered for our offenses, and he was raised for our justification, that is, that we might have a righteousness that would enable us to stand before God. And so she wants to know who he is. Whom having not seen, we love. And I wonder today, when he does come, are we going to know him? Oh, I know there's a song, "I shall know him, I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hands."

And I think that's going to be the way that we're going to know him when he comes. This is the union of these two. What a glory, beautiful, wonderful picture this is before us. Now we read in verse 66: "And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done." The Holy Spirit will deliver us at the day of redemption. We've been sealed unto the day of redemption. Believe me, this servant was going to get the bride to Isaac.

"And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife." Now notice: "And he loved her." The Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. "And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." And this reveals to you that Christ gains a great deal in our salvation. Oh, he wants us. He longs for us. Oh, that you and I today might be faithful to him, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Well, just as Isaac longed for his bride, Jesus longs for his. Will you be part of the bride of Christ? Will you trust Christ as your savior even today? If you've been listening to this glorious picture and haven't received him, it's time. Find out more about his offer of everlasting life when you come to him in faith. For more information, click on "How Can I Know God" in our app or at ttb.org. Again, these resources and many more can be found at ttb.org or call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can send some by mail.

Now that Isaac and Rebekah are married, what will their family life be like? What kind of parents will they be? Well, join us for the rest of the story. I'm Steve Schwetz, and let's keep walking with the Lord in the light of his word. I'll see you next time.