Eliezer’s Quest (Part 2)

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Short Summary

The discourse explores the typology in Genesis 24, where Abraham, Eliezer, Isaac, and Rebekah symbolize God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the church respectively, highlighting the spiritual journey of consecration and the qualities necessary for the “little flock.” It emphasizes the significance of divine gifts represented by silver, gold, and raiment, the commitment involved in following Jesus, and the anticipation of uniting with Him, while also drawing parallels to other biblical accounts and the broader divine plan involving the church, the great company, and the ancient worthies. The message concludes with practical lessons for consecrated Christians, encouraging energy, dedication, focus on Jesus, and perseverance toward the ultimate hope of becoming the bride of Christ.

Long Summary

Detailed Summary of the Discourse on Genesis Chapter 24 (Verses 53 onward) and Related Scriptures

Overview and Typology in Genesis 24:
– The discourse begins by inviting readers to Genesis 24:53 and reviewing the previous lesson.
– The narrative of Abraham sending his servant Eliezer to find a bride for Isaac is a type (symbolic representation) of divine realities:
– Abraham = Jehovah God
– Eliezer = Holy Spirit
– Isaac = Jesus Christ
– Rebekah = The church, the bride of Christ (the “little flock”)
– Rebekah’s companions = The “great company”
– Eliezer’s mission to find a bride from Abraham’s family typifies the selection of the little flock, emphasizing qualities of character required for the bride of Christ.

Genesis 24:53 – Gifts as Symbols:
– Eliezer gives Rebekah and her family precious gifts: jewels of silver, gold, and raiment.
– Silver symbolizes truth, especially the doctrine of the ransom for all (cf. John 3:16).
– Gold symbolizes divine nature—the power and qualities like increased mental faculties and spiritual abilities the church will be invested with.
– Raiment (clothing) represents the justification and covering of Jesus’ merit received at consecration.
– 2 Corinthians 4:7 is cited: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels…” illustrating the contrast between divine gifts and our earthly bodies.
– Gifts given to Rebekah’s family show blessings extending to the household of faith, including non-consecrated members.

Genesis 24:54-58 – Acceptance and Decision:
– After a joyful meal and overnight stay, Eliezer asks to depart promptly with Rebekah.
– Rebekah’s family wishes for a 10-day delay, but Eliezer insists, citing Jehovah’s guidance.
– Rebekah decisively agrees to go with Eliezer, showing her commitment to the journey—this represents the point of consecration for believers.
– The difficult sacrifice of leaving family and familiar life is emphasized; Psalm 45:10 is quoted: “Forget thine own people and thy father’s house,” symbolizing consecration’s cost.

Genesis 24:59-61 – Blessing and Departure:
– Rebekah is sent off with her nurse and companions, joined by Eliezer and his men, traveling 500 miles back.
– The family blesses Rebekah to be “mother of thousands of ten thousands,” reflecting knowledge of God’s promise to Abraham (cf. Genesis 22:20-23).
– The companions with Rebekah symbolize the great company who accompany but do not become the bride.
– Reflections on the journey include Rebekah’s probable questions about Isaac, paralleled to believers’ questions about Jesus.

Questions About Jesus (Applying the Type):
– What is Jesus like? (Matthew 11:29: “meek and lowly in heart”)
– What does He look like? (1 John 3:2: “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”)
– What is His favorite food? (John 4:34: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.”)
– Will He like me? (John 13:34: “A new commandment… love one another as I have loved you.”)
– 2 Peter 1:8 encourages believers to love Jesus though they have not seen Him.

Genesis 24:62-67 – The Meeting and Marriage:
– Isaac comes from Beer Lahai Roi (meaning “well of the vision of life”), symbolic of Jesus’ heavenly abode.
– Isaac meets Rebekah at evening; she veils herself, symbolizing going “beyond the veil” (cf. reprint 3953)—the church’s final transition into heavenly union with Christ.
– Eliezer gives a detailed report of his mission to Isaac.
– Isaac brings Rebekah into Sarah’s tent and marries her; “he loved her,” representing the first mention of marital love in Scripture.
– This union symbolizes the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Galatians 3:16,29).
– Isaac being comforted after Sarah’s death parallels Jesus’ comfort at the completion of the church despite past sufferings (Jesus wept – John 11:35).

Additional Types and Parallels:
– 1 Samuel 25: Abigail’s story parallels Rebekah’s:
– Abigail (“Father’s joy”) is a decisive woman who acts energetically to prevent bloodshed.
– Abigail hastens to meet David with her entourage, like Rebekah’s companions.
– Abigail represents the little flock; her companions correspond to the great company.
– The narrative teaches the importance of energetic consecration and service.

Psalm 45 – The Bride and Bridegroom:
– Verses 1-8 describe the bridegroom (Jesus).
– Verses 9-14 describe the bride (the church, little flock):
– “Kings’ daughters” among honorable women, daughters of a great King (Jehovah God).
– Call to “forget thine own people and thy father’s house” (v.10) echoes consecration’s separation.
– The church’s beauty lies in character, not physical appearance, embroidered with divine gifts (silver, gold, raiment).
– Verses 14-15 mention the virgins/companions (great company) led with gladness into the King’s palace.
– Though the great company realize their non-election, they have a role in the kingdom under Jesus’ shepherding (Revelation 7:17).
– Verse 16 refers to the ancient worthies who will be princes on earth during the mediatorial kingdom, tasked with leading mankind.
– Verse 17 speaks of the rest of mankind who will be blessed, fulfilling Ephesians 1:10 concerning God’s plan to unify all in Christ.

Seven Takeaway Lessons from Eliezer’s Quest:
1. Bring energy to your consecration—God is energetic; imitate Him.
2. Do more than requested in your service, like Rebekah.
3. Keep watering the camels—daily study and meditation on God’s Word is vital.
4. Recognize and appreciate your spiritual gifts—use them in service.
5. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and the vision of union with Him.
6. Focus on the glorious destination, not trials along the way.
7. Faithfulness leads to being “mother of thousands of ten thousands”—participation in blessing all families of the earth.

Concluding Scriptures on the Bride of Christ:
– Revelation 21:2,9: New Jerusalem as bride adorned for the Lamb.
– Revelation 19:7-8: The marriage of the Lamb and His bride made ready, arrayed in righteous acts.
– 2 Corinthians 11:2: Paul’s godly jealousy to present the church as a pure virgin to Christ.

Final Encouragement:
– As the memorial season approaches, reflect deeply on Jesus’ sacrifice and the privilege of being His bride.
– The discourse encourages believers to live consecrated lives with energy, faith, and love, anticipating joyful union with Jesus.

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Key Bible Verses Referenced:

– Genesis 24:53-67 (Eliezer’s mission, Rebekah’s acceptance, marriage to Isaac)
– Genesis 22:20-23 (Communication with Abraham’s family)
– John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world…”)
– 2 Corinthians 4:7 (“Treasure in earthen vessels”)
– Psalm 45:9-17 (Bride and bridegroom imagery)
– Matthew 11:29 (“I am meek and lowly in heart”)
– 1 John 3:2 (“We shall see him as he is”)
– John 4:34 (“My food is to do the will of Him who sent me”)
– John 13:34 (“Love one another as I have loved you”)
– 2 Peter 1:8 (“Whom not having seen ye love…”)
– Revelation 7:17 (“The Lamb shall be their shepherd…”)
– Ephesians 1:10 (“Gather together in one all things in Christ”)
– Revelation 21:2,9 (New Jerusalem as bride)
– Revelation 19:7-8 (Marriage of the Lamb)
– 2 Corinthians 11:2 (Paul’s espousal of the church)

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Summary Keywords: 
Genesis 24, Abraham, Eliezer, Isaac, Rebekah, bride of Christ, little flock, great company, consecration, spiritual gifts, divine nature, ransom, faith, marriage, Psalm 45, New Jerusalem, memorial, Holy Spirit, servant, promise, Abrahamic covenant, energy in service, trials, heavenly bridegroom, 1 Samuel 25 (Abigail), faithful servant, eternal reward.

Transcript

I invite you all to turn your Bibles to Genesis chapter 24. We are going to pick up in verse 53, but let’s do a quick review of what we looked at yesterday. This is a type and as you know with types, they have marvelous lessons for all of us. The antitype we’re in this picture here. Quick review.

Abraham in this type and in this picture represents Jehovah God. Eliezer represents the Holy Spirit. Isaac represents Jesus. Rebecca, really, about whom this entire chapter is about, represents the church, the bride of Christ, the little flock, and we will make brief reference to Rebekah’s companions representing the great company.

What we’ve seen so far in our lesson yesterday is that Abraham sent Eliezer to find a bride from his own family. He arrives and remember, as soon as he hit the fountain, the first thing he does is pray. After that 500 mile journey, he asks God’s direction. He immediately sees Rebecca. She fulfills his prayer request and is identified as the prospective bride.

He gives her a gold ring and bracelets. She tells her family. Eliezer gives the family a complete, thorough, precise report. He’s very particular. They endorse his objective and agree that Rebecca should go with him.

Now, all of this types, the selection of the little flock with particular emphasis on the qualities of character that the little flock will have. The little flock must have. So let’s continue in verse 53, and the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and to her mother.

Precious things. This basically is the marriage proposal. The family has accepted it. We’re going to hear from Rebecca shortly about it, but it’s a done deal, and now there are these beautiful, precious, valuable things, gifts that are given to them.

We think about silver, the jewels of silver. Silver is a beautiful picture, a beautiful symbol of truth, and indeed for us, again we’re trying to make application to ourselves is that when we begin our consecration, God gives us jewels of silver. We see most particularly that beautiful doctrine of the ransom for all. I don’t know how many of you first understood the ransom, but I was a Jehovah Witness at the time.

And when I got the idea of a ransom for all, boy, how liberating that was. It’s a paradigm change. I’m able to look at everybody in the world differently when I know that God loves them. Genesis 3 or John 3:16, God loves the whole world. By the way, I was tickled.

Our room was 316 at the hotel last night. God so loved the world and he wants them to live. So you can look at everybody in the world, your enemies, as well as your neighbors and strangers, and say, God’s got something for you. This is a beautiful jewel of silver, this beautiful truth. He gave her jewels of gold.

Now we’re talking about divine things, things pursuant to the divine nature, and that’s the whole point of the church, isn’t it, that we are to be with Jesus to fix the world. We have to be invested with the power to be able to do that, and the divine nature gives us that power. Now, just what the divine nature is, how can you explain or how do you understand having the divine nature? We can say this, that your mental powers, your mental faculties are going to be exponentially increased.

We like to speculate sometimes how many of you can carry on more than one conversation at a time. Anybody. There’s some people that do it. Fortunately, air traffic controllers can do that. But you get the point.

Imagine, and this is just imagining. Imagine being able to carry on a thousand conversations at once. That’s something the divine nature will give you the ability to do, and we will need that. Who knows how many of the world will be entrusted to us by Jesus to oversee their development, their growth, their education, their development, and the removal of sin and corruption.

That’s going to be what the Church is entrusted with, and the divine nature will enable us to carry out that trust. Lastly, it says that she’s given raiment. Of course, at the point of your consecration, you have what we call a vitalized justification. You’ve got the raiment of the justified merit of Jesus that has been applied to you. We have a relationship with God now because of the covering of Jesus.

So all of these things are suggested there. I like Paul’s observation in 2nd Corinthians 4:7, where he says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power of God may be of God and not of ourselves. So we’ve got the silver truth, we’ve got the gold, the divine promises that we have, we’ve got the covering of Jesus. These are the treasures, and we have this old flesh, this earthly vessel.

But how kind of God to give that to us, and you’ll notice that it says of Eliezer, he gave also to his brother and to her mother. Precious things. Remember that we are taken from the household of faith. You know, God does not indiscriminately call anybody to follow Jesus.

He calls from the household of faith, Abraham’s household, and so even those Non consecrated members within the household of faith. You know, perhaps those of our family, maybe even people that we work with, they get a blessing by our presence, and so that blessing continues on. Verse 54.

And they did eat and drink. He and the men that were with him and tarried all night, and they rose in the morning and said, send me away unto my master. Now remember, we’ve already got a pretty good idea of the personality of Eliezer. This is a businessman.

And he had control over all of Abraham’s house, and this is the kind of guy that got things done. He was a go to guy. He’s what we call a fixer, right? He can make things happen.

And you remember that when he first sent to the family, they said, well, come on in, we’ll eat and drink. No, no, no, no. I got to tell you what I’m here for. He’s very precise. He got down to it.

And so we find the same thing true here that they had, they did have their meal. They ate and drank and they tarried all night. Sounds like it was a long night, doesn’t it? A long night of rejoicing and appreciating. But now he says, send me away to my master.

All right, I came here, I did what I needed to do. I got acquiescence from the family to have Rebecca come back with me. Let’s get on the road. I want to get back to my master. Now remember that Eliezer arrived late in the day.

So all the things we talked about yesterday, they took place that afternoon and that evening. That’s a lot of stuff that happened, isn’t it? And when they put the meal together and had this joyous feast, now it was time to get back again. Let’s apply it to ourselves. When we first come into the truth and make a consecration, it’s a time of great joy.

I’m sure all of you can think of. When all of a sudden the little light bulb went on in your head when you realized, whoa, this is the truth. This is beautiful. This is. Oh my goodness.

The Creator is inviting me to follow the footsteps of Jesus. Wow. Can’t believe it, but it’s true. I do believe it. I have the faith in it.

Remember those feelings that you had early on in your consecration. But it’s only the start of a long journey, isn’t it? So that’s what we have here. Eliezer now has done what he needed to do there in Abraham’s relatives time to get on to the journey.

What do you think was going through in the mind and heart of Rebecca at this point in time, again, this is the next day. He hasn’t even been there 24 hours. This is the next morning. What is she thinking? Well, she has to have been impressed by the story.

Remember, we’ll see a little bit later that there was communication between Abraham and the family. The family knew who Abraham was. They knew he was a worshiper of Jehovah, and they had respect for that. Remember their reaction when he says, this is what Jehovah wants to do? They were on board for it pretty fast.

No surprise. They represent the household of faith. They were believers. So Eliezer is still mindful of the purpose, and again, after a night of rejoicing, he wants to get back on the road.

Let’s read a little bit more. Verses 55 through 58, and her brother and her mother said, let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least 10 after that she shall go, and he said unto them, hinder me not, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way, Send me away that I may go to my master, and they said, we will call.

The damsel inquired her mouth. Then he called. Rebekah said unto her, wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. Now we have the full buy in from it.

We already got the buy in from the family. She didn’t say too much at that point in time, but she did this. Evidently, Rebekah was a woman of decision. Yesterday I was talking a little bit with brother John Hummel, and he says to me, he says, did you notice in what we were reading yesterday that when she’s welcoming Eliezer, he says, you got a place to eat? Oh, yeah, you can stay with us.

I’m kind of boiling it down here. She didn’t go to the family and say, dad, is it okay that this stranger comes here? She made an executive decision. So that tells us something about her, you know. Thank you, Brother John.

A little point that I hadn’t quite picked up, but here it is. I mean, she says, I will go. She’s in this now, again, all of this represents the point of consecration. The invitation has been received, understood? The prospects ahead are pretty clear.

I will go. It’s where each of us, or what each of us has said at the point of consecration, when we see the invitation through the Holy Spirit, through the antitype of Eliezer, we see the truth. We say, I will go. I’ll be part of this. Now for the family, the whole event came so fast in one day.

All this happens in One day. Now, can you imagine? They obviously are not so enthused about their beloved Rebekah leaving so quickly, and understandably, they wish to have a little bit more time. So they ask for, can’t she stay with 10 days?

It is interesting. The number 10 pops up several times in this account. Not completely sure why. Remember, we saw 10 camels, 10 shekels of gold for the bracelets. 10 days delay.

And here in a little bit, we’re going to see thousands of ten thousands. So ten pops up quite a lot. Might be something worthwhile studying a little bit more. But as you saw, Eliezer wishes to get on with his commission and to deliver Rebekah to Abraham and Isaac without delay. She acquiesces.

I want you to think for a moment what it means to leave everyone you have ever known, cut the ties of family and friends, possibly for the rest of your life. You may never see those who you love again. This is quite a sacrifice for Rebecca to make, isn’t it? Again, her and the whole family made this sacrifice in faith, but this is what the sacrifice was. Can you imagine never seeing your family again or.

That’s a big possibility. I’m reminded of Psalm 45, 10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thy ear. Forget thine own people and thy father’s house. That’s what consecration is about.

We are giving up life on this earth. We are giving up life as human beings, and for many of us, we will never, in the flesh, see our family again again. Now, certainly in the kingdom, there’ll be arrangements that God and Jesus makes for us to communicate with our families. No question about it.

It’s the loving thing to do. But nevertheless, that’s what the picture here means. That’s what it depicts to us, the decision that we made of consecration, to leave the human family behind. Let’s Continue on verses 59 through 61, and they sent away Rebekah, their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.

And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them, 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. It seems interesting here that the family said to Rebekah, be thou the mother of tens of thousands. This, I think, is another indicator that they knew something about the promise that God made to Abraham. Remember, it said, by you and your seed would all Families of the earth be blessed.

It almost seems like they had some idea of that. Again, at this point, the Abraham promise had come to its full completeness in Genesis chapter 22. But the family seemed to know that and to believe that, and they say, be the mother of thousands and tens of thousands. Where’d they get that idea?

Nowhere else, except what they knew that had been promised to Abraham. Incidentally, just as one scripture that shows the communication that the family had with Abraham, in Genesis 22, verses 20 through 23, we read this, and it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham saying, behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto thy brother Nahor Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel, the father of Aram and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jiplath and Bethuel, and Bethuel begot Rebekah, and these eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

So they knew what was going on. They had communication, even though it was 500 miles different. You know, I don’t know if they had a mail service or pony express at that time, but they were able to have some level of communication, and their faith in the promise of Abraham may explain their willingness to let Rebekah go, even after just one day of meeting this strange servant from their relative Abraham. So here’s the entourage for the return journey.

We have Eliezer. We have the men that came from Eliezer. We don’t know how many of them were. We know it was at least two because it says men. The original 10 camels, Rebecca, her nurse, and Rebecca’s companions.

This is quite an entourage, and it was an entourage that had to travel the 500 miles back to Beersheba. Note that Rebecca’s companions accompanied her. This would seem to be a reference to the great company who walk with the little flock, but ultimately are not part of the bride. You know, when I was looking at this, I had a question in my mind, and I don’t know that we could answer it.

But these companions that came with Rebekah back to Bathsheba, did they stay there and become part of Abraham’s house, or did they come back to their family with Nahor? I don’t know the answer to that. We could say, well, antitypically, brother David, don’t they represent the great company? So the great company would stay there? Yeah.

So maybe the companions did too, and just were absorbed into Abraham’s household. So now we’re on the journey back. Right. We’ve got 500 miles to go. We’re on the 10 camels.

We’ve got this entourage. What do you think that Rebekah would say to Eliezer? What do you think? Well, if you were going to meet your husband, what questions would you have? I’m sure, I am sure she wanted to know all about Isaac.

What does he like? What does he look like? Does he have a favorite food? Do you think he’ll like me?

Brethren, this trip back to Hebron or Bathsheba is typical of our walk. After consecration. We get the same questions, don’t we? And just like she went to Eliezer, we go to the Scriptures, where the Holy Spirit will guide and direct our studies. To answer these questions.

Let’s take these questions and just apply them to us. What is he like? We’re talking now about Jesus. What is he like? There’s one place in all the gospels where Jesus describes himself.

Only one time he talks about himself. This is in Matthew 11:29, and here’s how Jesus describes himself. This is answer to the question, what is he like? He says, here, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.

What is Jesus like? He’s meek and lowly in heart. What does he look like? That’s the next question, right? Well, we actually have an answer to that, too.

1 John 3:2. Beloved, now, are we the children of God, and it doth not yet made manifest what we shall be. But we know that if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So the answer for us. I can’t tell you what he looks like yet, but you’re going to see him.

You’re going to see exactly what he looks like, and you’re going to be like him. Does he have a favorite food? We have an answer to that. John 4:34. Jesus said, My food is to do the pleasure of him who set me, and to make his work complete.

That’s Jesus favorite food. Is it? Your favorite food should be. Do you think he will like me? John 13:34.

A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Therefore love ye one another. Does Jesus like you? Oh, yes, he loves you, and that same love we ought to give to each other, just as he says there, we should love one another.

Now remember, on this trip back, Rebecca hasn’t yet seen Isaac. You know, she’s got all these questions in our trip to our heavenly Home. We’ve not yet seen Jesus either, but Peter makes this beautiful comment, 2nd Peter 1:8 whom not having seen ye love, on whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye, rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory. There’s the faith. We haven’t seen them yet, but we’ve certainly seen the activities of Jesus within the little flock for 2,000 years.

Quite active.

Back to Genesis 24, verses 62 and 60. 62, verse 62. Here it is, and Isaac came from the way of Beer Laharoi, for he dwelt in the land of the south. All right, so now we’re getting close.

And the note here is that Isaac lived here, Bir Halaroi, in the south, but he comes up here, evidently to Beersheba or Hebron, where Abra Abraham was. Literally means the well of him that lives and sees me, or the well of the vision of life. I think this may be a reference to heaven, where Jesus has been for the Gospel age. But now, since the Birhel Aroi was Isaac’s regular home, he’s not there now he has come up to here to meet his bride. Do we not see in this?

Maybe a veiled reference to Jesus leaving his heavenly abode here during the time of his presence and returning to earth in anticipation of receiving his bride. Beautiful verses 63, 66 and Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide, and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming, and Rebecca lifted up her eyes and she saw Isaac. She alighted from the camel.

She said to the servant, what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? The servant says, it is my master, and she took her veil and covered herself. Verse 66, and the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

What? Interesting that when Eliezer was explaining to the family all the things, it was given to us twice in great detail. But this report is not but we can imagine the reality. Eliezer, being a very precise man, gave him every details. It’s interesting that Eliezer arrived in Hebron on his way out in the evening and he returns with Rebecca in the evening.

We surmise here, as both of these arrivals were at the end of the day, that it might be an allusion to the call of the church which began at the end of the Gospel age, and uniting with Jesus will take place at the end of the end of the Jewish age rather, and the uniting of Jesus and the church would become at the end of the Gospel age. Imagine the excitement when she first spotted him. Is that him?

Yes, and she puts on her veil. I think there’s another beautiful picture here. Remember, this journey has been the journey of the church, the journey of us individually as consecration, also journey of the little flock during the whole Gospel age. But now we have come to the time when we meet our bridegroom and it says she puts on her veil.

We have the expression going beyond the veil, don’t we? She now, after putting on the veil, is behind the veil, and this would suggest the donning of the veil reminds us that we must go beyond the veil in order to be wedded to our bridegroom. In reprint 3953, Brother Russell writes this. The account tells us when Rebekah recognized Isaac, she put on a veil and alighted from the camel.

Applying this to the antitype, we see that at the end of our journey the church shall pass beyond the veil and alight from the accessories of this present journey to be thenceforth under the direct influence and blessing and in the presence of the heavenly bridegroom. What joys, what blessings, what glories are implied in this. Even that little detail. Putting on the veil sort of allows us to see where in the antitype. This is all in.

As mentioned, Eliezer gives a full report. But it must have been very, very, very intensive and exhaustive, and I can imagine Isaac and maybe Abraham came pretty soon after that. But Isaac would have said, well done, good and faithful servant. The Holy Spirit had accomplished its job.

The last verse here in chapter 24, verse 67, and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. This is the first instance of marital love mentioned in the Scriptures. Isn’t it beautiful?

This whole picture is so beautiful. Bringing Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent reminds us again of the Abrahamic covenant. The uniting of Isaac and Rebekah in Sarah’s tent shows the fulfillment of this feature of the Abrahamic covenant in the establishment of the seed which will bless all the nations. This is the end of the covenant of sacrifice and the beginning of something wonderful. Galatians 3:16 talks about the seeds of Abraham.

The seed being Christ in 3:29 says that if you’re Abraham’s seed, then you are heirs according to the promise. I think there’s great emotional meaning in the expression. Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. Let’s think about this For a moment, Isaac represents Jesus and now the acquisition of his bride. The bringing of his bride together is comforting.

After his mother’s death, it says, evidently was really lost. It had been three years since his mother died, and it must have been very difficult for him. But I want you to think about how Jesus from his home in heaven during the gospel age reacted emotionally to the persecution and suffering of the church during the past 2,000 years. It cannot have been easy watching his body members on earth endure the horrendous experiences which came upon them because of their faithfulness and love to Jesus. It must have been very extraordinarily difficult.

Even though he knew how things are going to work out, it must have been very emotional to him to watch the torment, the execution, the torture of many of his body members during the past 2,000 years. You know, we know that Jesus has emotions even though he knows how things are going to work out. Remember, he came to the tomb of Lazarus and he saw all the people grieving. Remember the shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept. He knew he was going to raise him in just a few minutes.

It still touched him here. So I think that when the church is complete and united with Jesus, how comforting it will be at his point to know that the sacrificial experiences of his bride are over. Here’s a beautiful source of comfort, brethren. That’s the narrative of Isaac and Rebekah, Eliezer’s quest, the selection of a bride. You know, when we look elsewhere in scripture, we do find other pictures of the same thing.

By the way, sometimes we wonder, you know, why does the Heavenly Father give us so many pictures of the same things? And it does happen frequently. We’re going to look at it very quickly. Another picture of the same thing in 1st Samuel, chapter 25. But why does God do that?

Well, reality is one thing. Taking a snapshot of reality is something else. Every type that we have within scripture is just a snapshot of the reality. That snapshot doesn’t capture everything that is included in the reality. You know, if you ever watch traffic accident investigators, the police that come and look at.

Do they take just one picture and then take it back? No, let’s look at it from this way over here. Let’s look at it from this way. Let’s look at this. That’s sort of how the types work for us.

Each of the types is unique in itself, and you can’t mix the pictures because that leads to confusion. But there’s multiple types, because there’s multiple things that have to be seen, and so when we see other pictures of the same thing, we will do that. Now, very briefly, let me just give you a quick overview of 1st Samuel 25. We’re not going to read the whole account, but this narrative concerns a woman by the name of Abigail.

By the way, Abigail means Father’s joy. One reason why I named my daughter Abigail. Abigail was married to a man named Nabal, and David, who was on the run from King Saul, asked for some food for his 600 men from Nabal in exchange for some protection that David’s presence would provide for Nabal’s shepherds and flocks. Nabal, whose name means senseless, foolish, worthless fellow.

What parent would name name their son Nabal anyway? This is the beauty of the scriptures, because the name is significant. He was senseless, foolish. He was a worthless fellow, and he denied David any help. Go pound sand.

I’m not helping you. Well, David, when he receives word of this, he’s enraged and he’s about ready to take vengeance. Abigail, Nabal’s wife, finds out about what happened, and here’s another take control girl like Rebecca. She knew that this is a big problem, could result in a lot of blood and maybe some embarrassment for David.

What can I do? Well, she goes to David. She brings food for his 600 men. She asks forgiveness for Nabal’s sin. You know, that’s amazing.

It’s not her sin. She doesn’t have to ask forgiveness, but she asks forgiveness. It’s sort of like Daniel praying to God, asking forgiveness for the sins of Israel. Daniel was a righteous man. He had nothing to do with that.

But nevertheless, he represented him. David is amazed. He’s impressed with this woman, and so he decided, okay, I’m not going to take vengeance on the household. Abigail goes back, tells Nabal what she did to save the lives, and he doesn’t take it too well.

He evidently has a stroke. This is how difficult it was. He hangs on for 10 days. Here’s another 10. Interesting.

And then Jehovah smites him dead. Well, David hears this and he says, here’s a woman I want in my household. So he proposes marriage to Abigail. She accepts and becomes one of his wives. Now, there’s a couple of points that parallel what we saw here in Genesis chapter 24.

When you go through it, you find that she hastes. She’s got the same energy of Rebekah. She’s doing this, she’s doing. She’s getting things done. Remember, we applied that to ourselves by asking the rhetorical question, how energetic am I in My carrying out of my consecration vows and in my service to the Lord, the truth and the brethren.

It’s the same lesson here. Abigail was just such a man, and remember, these women represent the little flock. If you’re going to be in little flock, you better have those qualities, and then in First Samuel, chapter 25, verse 42, at her marriage, it says, quote, and Abigail hasted.

There’s the hurrying again, and arose and rode upon an ass with five damsels of hers that followed her, and she went after the messengers of David. Messengers of David, and became his rice.

She had an entourage, too. She had companions, five damsels. They represent the same thing of the companions of Rebecca. They represent the great company. By the way, it’s interesting.

It’s five. Remember the parable of the five wives and five foolish versions. Five foolish versions. Maybe Jesus is something like that about. We have time, so let’s go to another set of Scriptures.

Psalm 45. Turn your Bibles to Psalm 45.

Now. Psalm 45 is just a beautiful song about the family of God and who would be part of that family and the part that they would play. The first eight verses are about our bridegroom, Jesus. We don’t have time to evaluate them today. We want to focus on the bride.

But this is memorial season. I recommend to you that sometime here in the five days before we have memorial, read the first eight verses of Psalm 45. This is a description of Jesus, our Lord, our Master, our Redeemer. It’s beautiful poetry, beautiful lyrics, and think about them, meditate upon them, because they describe our Lord.

We’re going to focus starting in verse nine, because verses nine through 14 are about the bride of Jesus. They’re about the Rebekah class. They are about the abigail class. Verse 9. Kings, daughters are among thy honorable women.

At thy right hand stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Brethren, when you have been begotten of the Holy Spirit. This came from Jehovah. God. That’s why we can call him our Father.

And Jehovah is the great High King of all creation. Jesus certainly is his appointed king. But if our Father is the great High King, then we are the daughter of a king, aren’t we? And as such, we are in line to be the bridegroom of Jesus. Verse 10.

Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thy ear. Forget thine own people and thy Father’s house. We quoted this just a little bit ago. The consecration of the church means that we divorce ourselves from human society, the human race. We are no part of the world Anymore we forget our Father’s house, our Father being Adam.

We abandon that and now we have a different life. It is the encapsulation of consecration as well as a wedding invitation. Verse 11. So will the king desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord and reverence thou him. We talked a lot about Rebekah, who she’s described as being fair, a beautiful lady.

And again, the application we made is that our beauty lies not in our physical appearance, but it lies in how much like Jesus we are, how loving and kind and generous. The church is just that, and Jesus desires you. He desires your beauty because you are like him. Again, just like Rebecca.

Verse 12, and the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. The rich among the people shall entreat that favor. It’s probably a reference to the mediatorial kingdom, when the whole world will recognize Jesus and the church as the kings and priests of the kingdom under the new covenant, and they shall seek our favor with a gift.

Be interesting to see how that did. They will be recognized in the kingdom. Verse 13. The king’s daughter within the palace is all glorious. Her clothing is inwrought with gold.

Remember, we saw the gold items in connection with Rebekah. Gold has to do with divine things. Brethren, are you working with divine things? Are you using the truth and the talents that you have, the talent of influence, the talent of sympathy, the talent of empathy? Are you working with these things in your consecrated life?

If you are doing it, you are embroidering your character with divine things, and in verse 14 a first part of it, we have this embroidery. She shall be led unto the king in embroidered work. Brethren, we are imperfect, which is why we have the covering of Jesus. But we can do embroidery.

We can take the things that God has given us, these gifts of silver, gold and raiment, and use them in the service of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus. You know, there’s an old saying, somebody said, you know, I’d rather see a sermon than hear one. We have a certain amount of opportunities to speak the truth, to share the truth, the witness. But we’ve got a lot more opportunities just to live our lives as Jesus lived. To let our love, our interest in others, our desire to be a blessing, be the witness that we can give everywhere, anywhere at any time.

There’s no limit on that. Limits on our speech, but no limits on our action. Verses 14b. The second part of verse 14 and verse 15 are about the great company. 14b.

The virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto Thee. We saw these companions in the Rebekah picture. They came on the 500 mile journey with her to come to Beersheba. We saw it with Abigail, her five companions that followed her to the wedding of David. This is a reference to them.

Verse 15. With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led. They shall enter into the King’s palace. Now we might puzzle at this a little bit because the Great Company at one point will realize that they have not made their election. Sure, they have failed as respects that.

That’s not a cause for rejoicing, is it? That’s a cause for lament, and the Great Company does go through this period of time when they realize the summer is gone, the harvest is past, and we are not saved. They recognize that. But you know, in the Tabernacle Shadows, Brother Russell writes of the Great Company.

He says, through the favor of the High Priest, and he describes now the blessings that Jesus wants to give to the Great Company. We see that a little bit in Revelation 7:17. Again, this is with respect to the Great Company. It’s the same context.

For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. Yes, they lost something great. They’ve lost that reward of the divine nature. But now God has something else for them too.

You know, our Heavenly Father is a very good economist. He makes use of everything, and you can imagine that in the sin offering which we participate with with Jesus, the Great Company does too. They are being trained and they learn a lot of lessons. They don’t quite get to where they need to be.

Nevertheless, they are a resource in the kingdom, and through the favor of the High Priest, they are permitted to have a part in that. They will have a very important part in the rescue of mankind. Not from the throne, but from before the throne. Notice it says, guide them to waters.

Fountains of waters of life. Here maybe is a little hidden idea here of the idea that the Great Company has lost out on the divine nature. Remember Jesus said, I’m going to make you a well of water. That’s what the Divine nature is. We are a well of life.

When we receive the divine nature. We. We’re a source. Great Company is not. They still need to go to the fountains.

They still need to drink. They’re not a source anymore, but they will be given what they need, and of course God will wipe away every tear from their eye once they accept their situation and they look at what their Hopes are we got a lot of good things we can do and that will take the tears away. Verse 16 is about the ancient worthies. Now notice in this 45th Psalm we spoke about, Jesus didn’t look at those verses, but there’s Jesus, then you have the little flock, then you have the great company.

Now you have the ancient worthies. Verse 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth. We understand that the ancient worthies will have a resurrection to perfection. They will be the visible representatives of the kingdom of God. He calls them princes.

Here they are attached and part of the royal family, the earthly part, and they represent Jesus and the church, they represent that heavenly kingdom and they will have a wonderful job to do. The study of the ancient worthies during the mediatorial age is a very interesting study. Brother Russell has some wonderful comments on it. We won’t go into it just now, but they’ve got a hard job to do.

You ever heard the expression herding cats? Here’s the ancient worthies, perfect now in mind, in heart, perfect human perfection, and they’ve got to deal with this corrupt human race and shepherd them up the highway of holiness. That’s not going to be an easy job. In fact, in one of the brief print articles brother Russell talks about this.

He calls it the future sufferings of the ancient worthies. Accurately. So they really have to deal with this. But nevertheless they will accomplish their job just as Eliezer accomplished his job. Verse 17 is about the rest of the world, the rest of mankind.

I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore shall the people give thee thanks forever and ever. All generations, the peoples. This is the thousands of ten thousands that we saw in the Rebekah picture. Ephesians 1:10 gives us a beautiful wrap up scripture for God’s divine plan that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even as him.

This is the finality of God’s plan. A human race on earth of perfect human beings who have learned the law of loving God and the law of loving your neighbor. Remember, Jesus summed up the whole law in these two things. It should be an interesting exercise to go through all 613 items of the law and say, all right, which of these laws shows love of God and which of these laws shows love of neighbor? He said they all summed up.

Probably some of them hit both. But the law of God will be written on the heart of mankind. So in earth, in heaven, all creation finally will be at peace, in harmony and unity.

Let’s conclude this. Brethren, take away lessons. Here are seven takeaway lessons from our study of Eliezer’s quest. Number one, bring energy to your consecrations. God is a God of energy.

He’s an energetic God. He is the Creator. We follow his own example by bringing energy to our consecrations. Number two, try to do more in your consecrated service to anyone than is requested. Remember, Rebecca did that.

I’ll drink. You can. I do your camels too? Always. Look, is there something more we can do?

Don’t be satisfied. You just do what you’re asked to do. That’s good, but better is to do more than you can do. In fact, you can seed that soil a little by saying, is there anything else I can do for you? Number three, keep watering the camels.

Remember, the camels represent God’s word. Study and meditate on God’s word every day. That is the source of the Holy Spirit. That is the source of the gold and silver jewels that God has for us. You’re not going to get any of them unless you spend a good deal of time and study.

Now, some of us are more given to study than others. I understand that for some, study is hard. But do what you can do. God doesn’t expect anything more than that. Do what you can do.

Number four. Recognize and appreciate the golden gifts that God has given to you. You know the scripture that says of the church. Every joint supplieth, every one of you has a set of talents and skills mostly different from others. But every one of you has something none of you lack.

Everything. You wouldn’t be called. You wouldn’t be here. So take a real good look at what are your skills and talents? What can I do for the betterment of others?

Again, our focus ought to be on the household of faith in the church. But it’s not restricted to that. Do good unto all men. As you have opportunity, take a look at what you can do. Number five.

Keep your mind fixed on Jesus and the vision of being united with him. That 500 mile journey, I’m going to guess, went pretty fast for Rebecca. Every day she was thinking about Isaac, my bridegroom. She must have been wondering so many things. We, we covered just a few.

But the lesson for us is keep your eyes on Jesus. Every day. Think about the time that we will be with him, united with him in doing this wonderful work. The more you keep your eyes on Jesus, the more stable you’re going to be, you know, the picture of Peter walking on the water. This is an old lesson, but it’s worthwhile here.

As long as he was seeing Jesus, my goodness, I’m walking on water. But the storms and whatnot, he took his eyes off, and what happened? He started to sink. Rebecca kept her eyes on Isaac.

We should keep our eyes on Jesus. Number six, do not focus on the trials of the way, but rather the glorious destination. I don’t know how far 500 mile journey on camels took, but they couldn’t have been pleasant to the flesh. They had to camp out a lot of times and I don’t know how big a problem robbers were at that time. I don’t think they worried too much about that because they were in the hands of God’s angel.

Remember, Abraham said, he’s going to send my angel with you. But it was a rough journey. Nevertheless, brethren, we have a rough journey. We’ve got trials, we’ve got tribulations, we got difficulties, we got things that keep us from doing what we want. You know, I remember some years ago, I kind of learned a lesson about the difficulties of the flesh.

Our dear brother Tom Gilbert had a heart operation. This is going back 20 years. I think it was the first time. He had some things for those of you that have heart operations. I don’t know what it is, but I remember David Duran said, I don’t want to go through that again.

It’s very difficult. So Tom was off of work for, I think, 12 weeks. So I gave him a call a couple weeks after, a couple or three weeks after his operation and chatted with him. I said, boy, it must be nice to have all this time. Now you can study and whatnot.

And there was silence on the phone. He said, well, Brother David, it’s not just that way, huh? You know, I’m deer in the headlights, so I’m clueless, right? He says, you know, with the drugs they’re giving you, he says, I find it very difficult to concentrate. I read a paragraph.

What did I just read? I go back and do it again. It’s very hard. That represents what we’re talking about here, the hardness of the way. But in spite of these trials, keep your minds and your precision focus on what we’re going to do, what you can.

Again, I’ve emphasized this several times in the past couple of hours. God does not require from us what we can’t give. That would be unjust, but he does require what we can give. So take a look. Number seven.

Our last takeaway. Remember the lesson that if faithful to the end of our human lives, we shall be a mother to thousands of millions, all the families of the earth. Remember, that’s what they said to Rebecca. Be thou the mother of thousands of tens of thousands. Brethren, we are the Eve to the greater Adam.

We will be part of the great work of restoring life to the human race that was lost in Adam. A few scriptures here in our conclusion. Revelation 21:2 9, and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from out of heaven, from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. That’s what we’ve been talking about, being the bride.

And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues and spake with me, saying, come hither, I will show you, show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. New Jerusalem. This is the bride adorned for her husband, you and me. Revelation 19, verses 7 and 8. Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give glory unto him.

For the marriage of the lamb has come, and his wife hath made herself ready, and it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Brethren, we are all working hard to make ourselves ready. Prophecy said that his bride would do that.

Lastly, 2 Corinthians 11:2. Paul writes, For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I espoused you to one husband that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. It was very important to the apostle Paul that he equipped those that listened to him, those that received the Gospel message, that they be prepared and ready for Jesus. Paul took that very seriously. Look at all the letters he wrote, all of the encouragements he gave.

And brethren, not just to those in the first century, but to the church through the whole age, especially to us at the last, as we approach our memorial season in five days, our memorial observance rather, in five days, may we deeply reflect on the great sacrifice that our bridegroom has made for us and the indescribable privilege of being called to be his bride. May the Lord bless this to.

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