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B'reisheet (Genesis)
chayei Sarah 23:1-25:18 |
Meaning
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Day Two
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Haftara
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B'rit Hadashah
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1 Our Father, we receive Your Words and hide Your commandments with us; 2 we incline our ear unto wisdom, and apply our hearts to understanding; 3 We cry after knowledge and lift up our voices for understanding; 4 we seek it as silver; and search for it as for hidden treasures; 5 We declare that we shall understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. Declaration of Proverbs 2:1-5
Genesis 24:1-27 (NASB)1
1 Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. 2 Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4 but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac." 5 The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?" 6 Then Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there! 7 "The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. 8 "But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there." 9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 10 Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 He said, "O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. 13 "Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; 14 now may it be that the girl to whom I say, 'Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and who answers, 'Drink, and I will water your camels also '-may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master." 15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. 16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar." 18 She said, "Drink, my lord "; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking." 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. 21 Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not. 22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, 23 and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house?" 24 She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." 25 Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in." 26 Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD. 27 He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."
We can certainly see today why the ancients under persecution chose the haftara reading from 1 Kings. When they read: 1 Now king David was old and stricken in years… they were complying with the ban on reading Torah by Antiochus Epiphanes but they were also complying in reading something that brought them right to the same story in Torah regarding Abraham.
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. Genesis 24:1.
They were reading ‘David’ but they were thinking ‘Abraham’! In the aftermath of Sarah’s death Abraham sets out to find a wife for Isaac via his first in command and general manager of all his holdings, Eliezer. Oddly enough however, his name is not mentioned in this story but he is known by the title, ‘the servant’. His actual name means God’s help or strength. Sidebar: (Where ever one sees the prefix ‘El’ one can be certain that their name has ‘God’ in it.)
So the wife of Isaac must be from among his father’s kinfolk (and NOT from the Canaanite stock) and an important stipulation was that Isaac was not to leave Canaan—that his prospective mate must come to him from her location. Commentator John Gill said:
“Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again; for the command to come out of the land of Chaldea, never to return more, and to come into the land of Canaan, and there abide, respected both Abraham and his posterity; and besides, it was dangerous for Isaac to go into a family, where, though there was some knowledge of the true God, yet there was much superstition and idolatry in it, as appears by various hints in the sequel of this history, lest he should be corrupted, and degenerate from the true religion.”
Why could Isaac not take a wife from the Canaanites? There were two major reasons for this. He could not do this because the Canaanites were a cursed people through Noach by The Almighty.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Genesis 9:24-27.
The second reason was if he did take a wife from any other than his own father’s family, then it would skew the blood line. If we’re keeping in mind that this entire five book set we’re reading through now is the ancestry of Messiah and how it came about, then we are going to keep ‘blood lines’ as a primary concern! What a mighty God we serve! He sends this servant to the house of his ‘master’s brethren’ in a straight shot!
24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. Genesis 24:24.
What sort of man must Abraham have been when we see such loyalty come from his servants? We saw how Hagar reacted in her trials. Now we see how ‘the servant’ is nothing if he isn’t loyal to ‘my master’. It appears that the faith of Abraham was of such strength that it was influential on his servants. This one prays to God to send him a sign that he’s in the ‘right place’ and has found the ‘right girl’. It looks like this servant has actually taken on the faith of his master doesn’t it? I wonder if there were a lot of the bond men and women of Abraham’s household that were converted to the worship of the true God.
26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD. 27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren. Genesis 24:26-27.
It was true that Isaac had already, in effect, proved his own loyalty to his father and to his God, but being in the prime of his life and perhaps becoming distracted; Isaac might be led into a direction that both he and his father would regret. It occurs to me that we’ve given poor attendance to the kind of man that Abraham raised as his son. Isaac is celebrated as a ‘type’ of Messiah Yeshua but we don’t often truly consider why. Riddled throughout the entire Bible are stories of those who would serve humbly and obediently with little or NO fanfare. This seems to fit in with what we know Messiah said about servants and leaders.
Because of the servant-hood of Abraham and then Isaac and soon, Eliezer, the next part of God’s plan could be put into operation. It occurs to me that we’ve given poor attendance to the kind of man that Abraham raised as his son Isaac. Could Isaac be the prototype of the servant who is willing to serve humbly and obediently with little fanfare? Isaac could be a type for Messiah Yeshua! It seems that riddled through the whole Torah are stories of those who would serve humbly and obediently with little or NO fanfare! Abraham was one. Isaac served humbly and obediently as well—and this is within the span of only two chapters! This seems to fit in with what we know Messiah said about servants and leaders….and their rewards. Because of the servant-hood of Abraham and then Isaac and then Eliezer the next part of God’s plan could be put into operation!
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. Genesis 24:1.
They were reading ‘David’ but they were thinking ‘Abraham’! In the aftermath of Sarah’s death Abraham sets out to find a wife for Isaac via his first in command and general manager of all his holdings, Eliezer. Oddly enough however, his name is not mentioned in this story but he is known by the title, ‘the servant’. His actual name means God’s help or strength. Sidebar: (Where ever one sees the prefix ‘El’ one can be certain that their name has ‘God’ in it.)
So the wife of Isaac must be from among his father’s kinfolk (and NOT from the Canaanite stock) and an important stipulation was that Isaac was not to leave Canaan—that his prospective mate must come to him from her location. Commentator John Gill said:
“Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again; for the command to come out of the land of Chaldea, never to return more, and to come into the land of Canaan, and there abide, respected both Abraham and his posterity; and besides, it was dangerous for Isaac to go into a family, where, though there was some knowledge of the true God, yet there was much superstition and idolatry in it, as appears by various hints in the sequel of this history, lest he should be corrupted, and degenerate from the true religion.”
Why could Isaac not take a wife from the Canaanites? There were two major reasons for this. He could not do this because the Canaanites were a cursed people through Noach by The Almighty.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Genesis 9:24-27.
The second reason was if he did take a wife from any other than his own father’s family, then it would skew the blood line. If we’re keeping in mind that this entire five book set we’re reading through now is the ancestry of Messiah and how it came about, then we are going to keep ‘blood lines’ as a primary concern! What a mighty God we serve! He sends this servant to the house of his ‘master’s brethren’ in a straight shot!
24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. Genesis 24:24.
What sort of man must Abraham have been when we see such loyalty come from his servants? We saw how Hagar reacted in her trials. Now we see how ‘the servant’ is nothing if he isn’t loyal to ‘my master’. It appears that the faith of Abraham was of such strength that it was influential on his servants. This one prays to God to send him a sign that he’s in the ‘right place’ and has found the ‘right girl’. It looks like this servant has actually taken on the faith of his master doesn’t it? I wonder if there were a lot of the bond men and women of Abraham’s household that were converted to the worship of the true God.
26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD. 27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren. Genesis 24:26-27.
It was true that Isaac had already, in effect, proved his own loyalty to his father and to his God, but being in the prime of his life and perhaps becoming distracted; Isaac might be led into a direction that both he and his father would regret. It occurs to me that we’ve given poor attendance to the kind of man that Abraham raised as his son. Isaac is celebrated as a ‘type’ of Messiah Yeshua but we don’t often truly consider why. Riddled throughout the entire Bible are stories of those who would serve humbly and obediently with little or NO fanfare. This seems to fit in with what we know Messiah said about servants and leaders.
Because of the servant-hood of Abraham and then Isaac and soon, Eliezer, the next part of God’s plan could be put into operation. It occurs to me that we’ve given poor attendance to the kind of man that Abraham raised as his son Isaac. Could Isaac be the prototype of the servant who is willing to serve humbly and obediently with little fanfare? Isaac could be a type for Messiah Yeshua! It seems that riddled through the whole Torah are stories of those who would serve humbly and obediently with little or NO fanfare! Abraham was one. Isaac served humbly and obediently as well—and this is within the span of only two chapters! This seems to fit in with what we know Messiah said about servants and leaders….and their rewards. Because of the servant-hood of Abraham and then Isaac and then Eliezer the next part of God’s plan could be put into operation!
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Matthew 23:11.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matthew 25:21.
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. Mark 9:35.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matthew 25:21.
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. Mark 9:35.
1 Scripture reading from the NASB www.lockman.org and KJV unless otherwise stated.
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