Introduction

The struggles of Jacob’s life start before his birth, and the narrative of his life is colored by an intense back story of God’s plan for humanity. He is born to an heir to a great promise from God, Isaac. Jacob’s life is all about God’s presence, but that doesn’t mean that he sees things that way.

Throughout this series, we will journey with Jacob through his struggles and learn what it means to discern God’s presence—even in difficult times—along the way.

A Faithful Servant

Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything. Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh, and I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live, but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?” Abraham answered him, “Make sure that you don’t take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from my native land, who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your offspring’—he will send his angel before you, and you can take a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don’t let my son go back there.” So the servant placed his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and with all kinds of his master’s goods in hand, he went to Aram-naharaim, to Nahor’s town. At evening, the time when women went out to draw water, he made the camels kneel beside a well outside the town. “Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. I am standing here at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” —Genesis 24:1–14 CSB

Preserving the Promise

As Abraham neared the end of his life, he began to focus on securing a wife for his son and heir, Isaac.

Wanting to preserve God’s promise for his son and future generations, Abraham sought a wife for Isaac from among his own family.

Urgent Obedience

Although Genesis 24 is ultimately about Abraham’s desire to provide Isaac with a wife, the main character of the chapter is Abraham’s servant.

God has a way of using unexpected people to accomplish extraordinary things.

Attitude of Prayer

“Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. —Genesis 24:12 CSB

The servant believed that God, at His core, was kind. Not a malevolent or disinterested ruler, but a God who seeks to do good for and bless humanity.

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? —Romans 2:4 NLT

The servant was specific in his request: He asked God to reveal as Isaac’s wife the woman who would respond to his request for a drink from her jar and water for his camels.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. —Matthew 6:7–8NIV

Don’t be afraid to pray bold prayers. God is not intimidated by your request.

You do not have because you do not ask. —James 4:2b (CSB)

A Faithful God

Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—coming with a jug on her shoulder. Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin—no man had been intimate with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jug.” She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.” She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and hurried to the well again to draw water. She drew water for all his camels while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the Lord had made his journey a success. As the camels finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing ten shekels of gold. “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “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 son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” She also said to him, “We have plenty of straw and feed and a place to spend the night.” Then the man knelt low, worshiped the Lord, and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” —Genesis 24:15–27 CSB

Answered Prayers

The God, who already knows what you need, is working the background, aligning everything you need to fulfill His purpose and mission for your life.

If you fail to give God praise and worship for His faithfulness and provision, it won’t be long before you begin taking credit for what God has done.

God Accomplishes His Will

Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me to my master.” But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about ten days. Then she can go.” But he responded to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master.” So they said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her opinion.” They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She replied, “I will go.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her, and Abraham’s servant and his men. They blessed Rebekah, saying to her: Our sister, may you become thousands upon ten thousands. May your offspring possess the city gates of their enemies. Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. —Genesis 24:54–61 CSB

The passage that began in blessing for Abraham now ends in great blessing for Rebekah, the future mother of the promised heir.

In the early evening Isaac went out to walk in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming. Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done. And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death. —Genesis 24:63–67 CSB

The entire account of Genesis 24 is told within the context of God’s providential care for Abraham and his descendants.

You too can be confident that God is faithful to His promises.

A Special Birth

These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. —Genesis 25:19–21 CSB

As the narrative continues, a situation arises with the potential—yet again—to threaten the fulfillment of God’s covenantal blessing: Rebekah, like Sarah, was barren.

The narrative gives no clue as to how much time passed after Isaac’s prayer, but God eventually answered, allowing Rebekah to become pregnant—and not with just one baby, but with two.

Through one of these babies—JACOB, God will continue promise to turn Abraham into a great nation. The Promise must go on.

Close

We often think of God as working in extremes.
We expect Him to accomplish great things through the lives of exceptional people and to work through miracles and awesome displays of power.
Rarely do we see His hand in the ordinary and every day.
Could it be that God has already begun working behind the scenes to accomplish something extraordinary through you?