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The King’s Business Requires Kingly Haste (Genesis 24:28-41) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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  I am your host, and I'm so glad you're tuning in with us again.
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  We have a, well, a pretty thick stack of notes here, and we are
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  ready to get into it. We certainly are.
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  Today we are tackling a subject that I think I really do.
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  It keeps a huge percentage of us awake at night.
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  It's that persistent, nagging question of guidance.
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  How do we actually know what God wants us to do?
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  You know the feeling. You're standing at a crossroads.
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  Maybe it's a job offer. Maybe it's a relationship.
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  Maybe it's a huge decision about where to live, and you just feel
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  paralyzed. You're desperate for a sign.
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  It's the universal Christian dilemma, isn't it?
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  Right. What is God's will for my life?
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  And usually when we look at the landscape of how people try to
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  answer that, we see them fall into, well, one of two ditches.
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  On one side you have the Mystics.
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  These are the folks hunting for shivers, you know, private
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  impressions or, or writing in the sky.
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  They want a spiritual experience to dictate their next step.
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  They want to open the Bible at random, point a finger and have
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  that verse tell them who to marry.
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  Oh yeah, the I felt a piece about it crowd or looking for a
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  parking spot to open up at the mall as a divine confirmation
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  that they should buy those shoes.
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  Yes. Lord, if there's a spot in the
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  front row, it is your will. I've heard that one.
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  Precisely. It turns God into a Magic 8
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  ball. And then you know on the other
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  side you have the pragmatists. For them, guidance is just a
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  math equation. Whatever pays the best, whatever
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  works the fastest, whatever makes life easiest, that must be
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  God's blessing. If the door opens, they walk
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  through it, assuming God is the doorman.
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  If the job pays 10% more, it is obviously God's will.
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  It doesn't matter what it does to their family or their church
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  life or anything else. The bottom line is the sign.
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  That's it. It's a very functional but
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  spiritually thin way of looking at the world.
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  I think we've all been guilty of both at different times.
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  I know I have. But today we're going to look at
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  a text that just cuts right through that confusion.
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  We're back in Genesis 24, looking at verses 28, 41.
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  And to set the stage for anyone joining us late, this is not
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  just a nice romantic story about a servant finding a wife for
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  Isaac. The stakes are, I mean, they're
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  astronomically high here. They are cosmic, they really
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  are. We have to keep the seed
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  theology in mind from Genesis 3.15.
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  And we can't forget that Abraham is old, Sarah has died.
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  The promise of the Messiah, the seed who is supposed to crush
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  the serpent's head. It hangs by a thread.
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  A single thread. Isaac is the only link in that
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  chain. If Isaac does not have a wife,
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  or worse, if he marries the wrong woman, a Canaanite woman,
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  the holy line is extinguished or or corrupted.
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  The plan of redemption fails. So this is not just a family
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  matter. No, this is a cosmic conflict
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  disguised as a family errand. And what we're going to see in
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  this is so key is that God governs history not usually
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  through theatrical wonders, but through ordinary means.
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  Ordinary means. That's a key phrase for us in
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  the Reformed tradition. We love that phrase.
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  It's vital we're going to see hospitality, conversation, and a
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  servant who places his duty above his appetite.
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  It's a master class in Providence.
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  It shows us that God is just as present in a dinner conversation
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  as He is in the parting of the Red Sea.
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  OK, let's unpack this. We're picking up the story right
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  after the servant has met Rebecca at the well.
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  It was, for all intents and purposes, a divine appointment.
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  He prayed she appeared. She wanted the camels, all ten
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  of them, which is a massive physical feat.
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  A huge feat. And now the scene shifts.
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  Verse 28 says. Then the young woman ran and
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  told her mother's household about these things.
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  That Berber ran is doing a lot of heavy lifting in Hebrew.
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  It's rue. It communicates eagerness.
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  It communicates urgency. But notice where she runs.
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  She doesn't hide this encounter. She runs her mother's household.
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  Which is interesting, right? Because in a modern context, or
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  even just in a movie, the girl meets a mysterious stranger with
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  gold, and maybe she keeps it a secret for a bit.
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  You know, a secret romance. She might want to keep that
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  connection for herself before letting the parents get
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  involved. That is a very modern instinct.
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  That's the autonomous self at work, right?
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  But Rebecca does the opposite. She brings this event
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  immediately into the light of family authority.
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  And this is a crucial point about integrity.
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  Integrity loves the light. Her running here, it matches her
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  character at the will. She was energetic and serving
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  the camels, and now she's energetic and honoring her
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  household. It is pro order, it's pro
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  covenant community. So she's not operating with this
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  rebellious autonomy that's so prized in our culture today.
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  She's not saying this is my life.
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  I'll decide who I talked to. Correct.
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  Submitting the event to the community that God has placed
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  her in. She's bringing it to the sphere
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  of accountability. And that openness is actually
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  the mechanism God uses to move the story forward.
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  Well, think about it. If she keeps it secret, what
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  happens? The servant stays at the well.
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  The mission stalls her. Transparency is the vehicle for
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  Providence. She acts as the bridge between
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  the servant from a foreign land and her own family.
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  She's the catalyst. Now she runs, but she's not the
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  only one running. We get introduced to a character
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  here who is going to become, well, a major player in the life
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  of Jacob later on. But here we meet him as the
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  brother Laban. And let's be honest, Laban is a
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  character that makes you want to check your wallet.
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  Chuckles. That's a good way to put it.
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  Laban is a fascinating case study.
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  Verse 29 tells us he ran out toward the man to the spring, so
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  physically he is doing the same thing Rebecca did.
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  He's running. He looks eager.
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  He looks hospitable. But I suspect his motives are a
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  little different than Rebecca's. The text gives us a visual cue
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  that is impossible to miss if you're paying attention.
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  You have to ask the question, why does he run?
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  Look at verse 30. As soon as he saw the ring and
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  the bracelets on his sister's arms and heard the words of
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  Rebecca, he went to the man. He saw the bling.
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  He saw the gold. The Hebrew name Laban means
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  white or moon, suggesting brightness or shining.
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  But there's a dark irony here, isn't there?
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  He runs because he sees the shimmer of wealth.
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  This is our first introduction to a man who will turn out to be
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  a master manipulator and a lover of money.
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  The narrator is very subtle, but very sharp.
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  Here, he's showing us that Laban's haste is motivated by
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  greed, not grace. Wait hold on though, isn't that
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  a bit harsh? I mean maybe he just saw his
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  sister wearing cool jewelry and got excited for her, or maybe he
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  realized oh this guy is serious and went to greet him.
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  Do we have to read it as pure greed?
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  That's a fair pushback, and if this were the only time we met
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  Laban, we might give him the benefit of the doubt.
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  But we had the rest of Genesis to look at.
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  The rest of the story? We know who this man is.
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  The scripture interprets scripture.
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  This is the man who cheats Jacob 10 times.
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  This is the man who sells his daughters, essentially for
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  labor. He's a transactional man through
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  and through, and the text here links his action running
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  directly to his site. Seeing the gold.
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  It acts as a foreshadowing. He represents a specific type of
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  person. It's almost like he is the
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  prototype for the prosperity gospel.
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  That is a very apartment comparison.
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  Think about how he greets the servant in verse 31.
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  He says Command, O blessed of the Lord, why do you stand
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  outside? See, that sounds great.
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  He sounds so pious. He uses the covenant name
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  Yahweh. He speaks the vocabulary of
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  Zion, Blessed of the Lord. It sounds so religious, so
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  welcoming. But his eyes are glued to the
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  bracelets the whole time. His eyes are on the gold.
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  He acts on Babylon's motives while using Zion's dictionary.
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  This is a massive warning for us.
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  We have to be able to distinguish true piety from
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  worldly pragmatism that just borrows religious language.
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  Laban welcomes the messenger because he likes the benefits
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  the messenger brings. He sees networking potential.
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  He sees status. He sees wealth.
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  He sees a rich relative from the West who might boost the family
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  portfolio. That hits hard.
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  It makes you ask the question, do we welcome God's truth
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  because we love the truth, or do we welcome it because we think
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  it will give us a nice life? Are we in this for the benefits
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  package? Precisely.
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  Are we serving God or are we using God?
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  Laban is using the name of the Lord to grease the wheels of a
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  transaction. He knows this servant is
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  religious, so he speaks the religious language to make the
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  deal happen. It is manipulative.
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  But to his credit, the hospitality he offers is real.
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  I mean verse 32 says he unharnessed the camels, gave
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  them straw and fodder, and brought water for the servants
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  feet. He's not being a bad host, he is
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  doing the work. No, the hospitality is genuine
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  in its action and that makes it even more dangerous, in a way.
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  Dangerous. He provides the straw and
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  fodder. He provides the comfort.
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  This sets a trap. A trap of comfort?
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  How so? Well, think about the service
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  condition. He has just traveled hundreds of
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  miles across the desert. He is exhausted, his camels are
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  thirsty, he's covered in dust. And now he's offered a foot
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  wash, a soft cushion and a warm meal.
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  The temptation here is to settle in, to relax, to say we can talk
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  business tomorrow. Let me just enjoy this spa
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  treatment for a minute. Right.
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  The soft couch is often more dangerous to the mission of God
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  than the hard Rd. When you're persecuted, you know
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  you're in a fight. You're alert.
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  But when you're given warm water for your feet, a nice meal, and
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  a comfortable bed, the urgency can just drain right out of you.
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  You can forget why you. Can't.
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  That's the danger. Comfort acts as a sedative, and
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  Laban is the master of providing the sedative.
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  He wants to slow things down, make everyone comfortable, and
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  then once everyone is happy and full, maybe negotiate a deal
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  that favors him. That transitions us perfectly to
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  what happens next. The table is set, the food is
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  ready, the aroma of whatever they prepared is filling the
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  room. The servant is starving.
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  And then in verse 33 we get this pivot point.
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  This is the fast of fidelity. The text says food was set
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  before him to eat, but he said I will not eat until I have said
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  what I have to say. I will not eat.
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  That's a bold move in that culture, rejecting a meal or
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  even delaying it was a big deal, wasn't it?
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  It wasn't just like saying I'm not hungry right now.
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  It was a massive breach of social norms unless the reason
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  was grave. Hospitality was a sacred ritual
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  in the ancient Near East. To eat together was to establish
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  a covenant of peace and friendship.
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  So by refusing. By refusing to eat, the servant
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  is suspending the social grace. He's creating tension in the
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  room. He's saying there's something
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  more important than my hunger and more important than your
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  table. He's prioritizing the mission
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  over his biological needs. He subordinates his appetite to
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  his covenant errand. And we have to connect this to
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  the New Testament. Think of Jesus in John 4 sitting
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  at the well with the Samaritan woman.
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  The disciples come back with food and say, Rabbi, eat.
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  They're worried about his blood sugar.
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  And what does he say? My food is to do the will of Him
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  who sent me and to accomplish his work.
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  You're spot on. The servant here is a type of
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  Christ. He prioritizes securing the
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  bride over his own comfort. He knows that if he eats first,
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  the social mood softens. The sharp edge of the demand is
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  dulled. If they fill their bellies, they
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  might get sleepy. They might start talking about
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  the weather or the sheet market. The urgency evaporates.
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  The iron strikes while it is hot.
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  Principle applies here. He needs to secure the bride
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  before he secures his own stomach.
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  And this is such a rebuke to the idol of comfort we have today.
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  I mean, how often do we negotiate our obedience?
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  Lord, I will obey. But first let me get a nap.
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  First let me get a snack. First, let me get settled in my
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  career. We say I will serve God after,
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  after I retire, after the kids are grown, after I eat.
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  The servant says no. The King's business requires
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  kingly haste. He understands that hospitality,
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  while good, can be a tool of delay.
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  He refuses to let the good be the enemy of the necessary.
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  And notice the result. Lavin, who is probably ready to
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  boast about his own flocks or try to make a deal, is silenced.
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  He just says speak on. Holiness commands attention.
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  Urgency commands the room. When a man or woman is so
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  singular in their focus that they will not even eat until the
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  truth is out, the world stops and listens.
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  That's powerful. When the Church recovers this
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  kind of priority, where the mission of the gospel is more
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  important than our straw and fodder, the world will listen
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  again. So the floor is his, he has
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  their attention, the fork is put down, and the first thing he
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  does is introduce himself. Verse 34 I am Abraham's servant.
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  4 words in English, but notice what's missing.
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  His name? He doesn't give his own name.
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  We still don't know his name. Most scholars think it's Eliezer
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  of Damascus, based on Genesis 15, but the text here never says
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  it. He disappears behind the master.
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  He has no identity apart from the one who sent him.
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  He's not there to build his own brand.
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  He's just an ambassador. Which is another beautiful
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  picture of the work of the Holy Spirit.
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  The Spirit doesn't speak of himself, but glorifies the Son.
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  This servant is credentialing himself.
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  He's saying, don't look at me, I am nobody.
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  Look at who sent me. My authority comes from my
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  sender. And then he starts listing the
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  assets. Verse 35, he talks about flocks,
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  herds, silver, gold, male servants, female servants,
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  camels, donkeys. Now Cynic might say OK, he saw
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  Laban looking at the bracelet. So now he's playing the game.
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  He's bragging to seal the deal. It's easy to read it that way,
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  especially given what we just said about Laban.
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  But that would be a mystery. We have to use the analogy of
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  faith here. We have to let the rest of his
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  speech interpret this part. OK, the servant interprets this
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  well theologically. He says, the Lord has blessed my
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  master. He's not showing off a balance
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  sheet to impress a business partner.
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  He is proving God's faithfulness to the promise given in Genesis
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  12. So the gold is evidence, not
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  just currency. Right.
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  It's evidence that Yahweh keeps His word.
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  God promised to make Abraham great and to bless him.
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  The servant is saying, look at this.
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  This is empirical proof. The God of my Master is real,
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  and he rewards those who follow him.
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  He's not just saying my boss is rich.
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  No, he's saying my master's God is faithful.
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  He's telling Laban this wealth is not an accident.
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  It's not just human cleverness. This is the hand of God.
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  He interprets the material reality through a spiritual
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  lens. And then he drops the bombshell,
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  verse 36. And Sarah, my master's wife,
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  bore a son to my master when she was old.
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  This is the theological pivot. He highlights the miracle.
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  Isaac is not a child of nature. He's a child of grace.
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  He was born when Sarah was old. When it's biologically
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  impossible, the servant is letting them know that this
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  family is different. They're living in the realm of
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  the supernatural. This isn't just a rich family.
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  This is a miracle family. And then he adds this little
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  phrase that must have made Laban's ears perk up, and to
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  him, he is given all that he has.
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  Isaac is the heir of everything. He's not just one of many sons.
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  He holds the title deed. Again, the Christological
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  parallel is screaming at us. Hebrews 1.2 tells us that God
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  has appointed the son as the heir of all things to join his
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  family. To join Isaac is to inherit the
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  world. The servant is making an offer
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  that is far bigger than just a few gold bracelets.
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  It really is a gospel presentation, he's saying.
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  Come join the air. He's offering Rebecca a share in
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  the inheritance that belongs to the sun.
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  But then the tone shifts. He's established the blessing,
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  the wealth, the miracle. Now he gets to the constraints.
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  Verse 37, he quotes Abraham's oath.
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  You shall not take away from my son, from the daughters of the
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  Canaanites in whose land I dwell.
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  Here is where the rubber meets the road.
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  This is the separation principle, or we might call it
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  the antithesis, the clear line drawn between the people of God
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  and the world. We really need to unpack that
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  because to modern ears, saying don't marry the locals sounds
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  terrible. It sounds like prejudice.
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  It sounds like racism or tribalism.
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  Our blood is better than their blood.
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  How do we defend this against that charge?
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  It absolutely sounds that way to the modern year, but we have to
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  read it biblically, not culturally.
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  The issue is absolutely not ethnicity or DNA.
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  We know this for a fact because later in scripture people like
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  Rahab who was a candidate from Jericho all.
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  Right from Jericho. And Ruth, who was a Moabite, are
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  brought into the line of Christ. They are grandmothers of Jesus
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  because they converted to the true faith.
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  They left their gods and their people and clung to Yahweh.
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  So if it's not DNA, it's theology, it's worship.
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  It is theology. It is holiness.
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  The Canaanites are the seed of the serpent mentioned in Genesis
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  3. They are under a curse, not
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  because of their race, but because of the rebellion, their
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  idolatry and their moral depravity.
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  Their culture is toxic to the faith of Abraham.
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  So it's a spiritual quarantine in a sense.
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  That's one way to think of it. Abraham knows that you cannot
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  plant the holy seed in the soil of Sodom and expect godly fruit.
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  You can't. It's the concept of being
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  unequally yoked. Correct.
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  This is the Israel Church to station in seed form.
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  God's people are the ecclesia, the called out ones.
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  We are called out of the world. We dwell in the land, just as
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  Abraham dwelt among the Canaanites, but we do not become
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  of the land. We do not marry into the values
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  of the world. So the servant is bound by this
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  oath. He cannot be pragmatic here.
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  He can't say, we'll look, I traveled 500 miles.
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  I'm tired. And there's a nice Canaanite
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  girl down the street who seems polite.
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  She has a great personality. Let's just make it work.
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  He cannot do that. The command creates A boundary
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  that cannot be crossed. It doesn't matter how convenient
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  the alternative is. And and this applies directly to
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  marriage today. Marriage is a covenant union
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  that shapes worship. If you marry someone who does
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  not bow the knee to King Jesus, you are bringing a conflict of
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  worship into the very heart of your home.
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  You are uniting yourself with someone who serves a different
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  God, whether that God is self, money, or something else.
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  You're inviting a Trojan horse into the household.
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  That is a vivid way to put it. The servant understands that the
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  purity of the line, the protection of the seed, is more
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  important than finding a wife quickly.
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  He would rather fail the mission than succeed by compromising the
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  standard. He would rather go home empty
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  handed than go home with a Canaanite.
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  But the servant is also a realist.
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  He asked the question that any of us would ask back.
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  In verse 39, he recounts what he said to Abraham.
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  Perhaps the woman will not follow me.
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  I love the honesty of ads, the what if question.
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  It is not a lack of faith to see obstacles, it is realism.
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  He knows he can't kidnap this woman.
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  She has a will. She has to consent.
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  Faith doesn't mean pretending difficulties don't exist.
• 18:09
  And Abraham's response is just. It's the anchor of the whole
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  text. The Lord before whom I have
• 18:15
  walked will send his Angel with you and prosper your way.
• 18:18
  There is so much packed into that statement.
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  First, the Lord before whom I have walked.
• 18:23
  That's life, Corumdeo before the face of God.
• 18:26
  Abraham is not guessing about God.
• 18:27
  He has a history with God. He has walked with him for
• 18:29
  decades. He knows God's character.
• 18:32
  His confidence isn't in a vague hope.
• 18:34
  It's in a known person. And then the mechanism he will
• 18:36
  send his Angel. This gives us a robust, reformed
• 18:39
  definition of Providence. Notice it's not.
• 18:41
  It's not open theism. Open theism suggests that the
• 18:43
  future is unsettled, that God is kind of waiting to see what
• 18:46
  happens, wringing his hands, hoping it works out.
• 18:48
  Right, like God is just another player on the field hoping his
• 18:51
  team wins. Exactly.
• 18:53
  Abraham says no, God has a plan. The Angel goes before you.
• 18:57
  So the path is prepared. The path is prepared, the hearts
• 19:00
  are being softened before the servant even arrives.
• 19:03
  God is active in the future before we get there.
• 19:06
  But notice also it is not fatalism.
• 19:09
  Fatalism says God will do it. So I can sit on the couch and
• 19:11
  eat chips. I don't need to do anything.
• 19:13
  Chuckles, right? Abraham says go, you must
• 19:16
  travel, you must speak, you must find her.
• 19:18
  The Angel goes with you and before you, but you still have
• 19:21
  to move your feet. Exactly.
• 19:23
  Divine sovereignty works through human responsibility.
• 19:26
  We act because God has promised to act.
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  And we should add a note here for our listeners regarding the
• 19:31
  Angel. We are cessationists in the
• 19:34
  classic sense, meaning we do not expect to see glowing angels
• 19:37
  appearing in our bedrooms tonight to tell us who to marry
• 19:40
  or where to invest our money. Right, No feathers on the floor,
• 19:43
  no glowing lights. But we trust in the same
• 19:46
  governing hand of God. The Angel here represents God's
• 19:49
  active, invisible agency. In ordering the details of
• 19:52
  history, God is working in the secret counsel of His will to
• 19:56
  prosper. The way of His servants uses
• 19:58
  ordinary means, appointments, conversations, whether travel to
• 20:02
  accomplish His supernatural ends.
• 20:04
  Now there is a release clause. I think this is fascinating.
• 20:07
  Verse 41 Abraham says if the woman refuses, you are free from
• 20:11
  my oath. This is a master class in
• 20:13
  ethics. Faithfulness is our job.
• 20:15
  Outcomes belong to God. Abraham does not say.
• 20:19
  If she refuses, knock her out and throw her on the camel.
• 20:21
  Or guilt stripper until she says yes.
• 20:23
  Right. There is no manipulation.
• 20:25
  There is no coercion. We do not use sinful means to
• 20:27
  help God's plan. If the door closes, the servant
• 20:31
  is free. He has done his duty.
• 20:32
  That is incredibly freeing. I think a lot of us feel the
• 20:35
  weight of the outcome. We think if I don't convert this
• 20:37
  person or if I don't make this ministry grow, I have failed.
• 20:41
  And that's a burden God does not ask you to carry.
• 20:43
  You are called to fidelity. You're called to speak the
• 20:46
  truth, to offer the water, to extend the the invitation.
• 20:49
  If they refuse, you are free. The dust falls off your feet.
• 20:52
  You are not the Holy Spirit. You are the servant.
• 20:54
  So the servant recounts all of this to Laban, and then he
• 20:57
  brings it to the present moment. He tells them about his prayer
• 20:59
  at the well. Verse 42.
• 21:00
  O Lord, if now you are prospering the way that I go.
• 21:04
  Use that word again. Prosper.
• 21:06
  In Hebrew it's Salah. It's a dynamic word.
• 21:10
  It means to rush forward, to breakthrough, to succeed
• 21:13
  mightily. He's asking for a breakthrough.
• 21:15
  He's asking God to make a way where there seems to be no way.
• 21:18
  And when did the answer come? Verse 45 gives us the timeline.
• 21:22
  Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebecca
• 21:25
  came out. Before I had finished speaking.
• 21:27
  That gives me chills. It reminds me of Isaiah 65.24.
• 21:31
  Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I
• 21:34
  will hear. It's the doctrine of preventing
• 21:36
  grace. God is moving before we are
• 21:39
  praying. The answer was walking toward
• 21:41
  the well while the request was still forming in his mind.
• 21:45
  Think about the logistics. Rebecca had to leave her house
• 21:48
  probably 10 minutes before the servant started praying to
• 21:52
  arrive. At that precise moment, God had
• 21:54
  her in motion before the servant even knelt down.
• 21:57
  That destroys the idea that prayer is US trying to twist
• 21:59
  God's arm, doesn't it? Completely.
• 22:02
  Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, it's laying hold of
• 22:05
  God's willingness. The servant's prayer was
• 22:08
  aligning himself with what God was already doing, and by
• 22:11
  telling us to Laban, he's cornering him.
• 22:13
  How so? How does a prayer corner Laban?
• 22:15
  He's stripping away that chance explanation.
• 22:17
  He's saying, Laban, look at the timing.
• 22:19
  I prayed and boom, she appeared. This is not luck.
• 22:22
  This is not coincidence. This is the God of Abraham
• 22:24
  closing the net. He's making it very difficult
• 22:26
  for them to say no. He's making it impossible for
• 22:28
  Laban to say no without fighting against God.
• 22:31
  He's presenting the evidence that this is a divine
• 22:33
  conspiracy. And the test?
• 22:35
  He set up the water for the camels.
• 22:38
  We touched on this in our last deep dive, but it's worth
• 22:40
  reiterating it wasn't arbitrary. He didn't say Lord let the girl
• 22:44
  be wearing a blue hat. Right.
• 22:46
  Wasn't a fleece in the bad sense, looking for a magical
• 22:48
  sign. It was a test of character.
• 22:50
  Watering 10 camels requires immense physical labor, patience
• 22:55
  and generosity. He was looking for a woman who
• 22:58
  had the strength and the heart to be a matriarch of the
• 23:02
  Covenant. So he was looking for specific
• 23:04
  virtues. He was looking for where God's
• 23:06
  Providence aligned with God's prescribed wisdom.
• 23:09
  He was looking for a woman who embodied the very virtues that
• 23:13
  would be needed to fulfill the role she was being called to.
• 23:16
  Wisdom and Providence working together, that is the sweet
• 23:18
  spot. That is the Reformed
• 23:20
  understanding of guidance. We use wisdom, character
• 23:22
  discernment, common sense, and we trust Providence to order the
• 23:25
  steps. It's not one or the other, it's
• 23:27
  both working in concert. So bringing this all together,
• 23:31
  we have covered a lot of ground. We have the servants haste, the
• 23:34
  fast of fidelity, the separation principle, and the angelic
• 23:38
  guarantee. What are the big takeaways for
• 23:40
  the listener driving to work right now?
• 23:43
  I think we have to start with guidance.
• 23:45
  Stop looking for the shivers. Stop looking for the writing in
• 23:48
  the sky. Guidance comes from walking in
• 23:51
  the light of the Word, using ordinary means like advice,
• 23:54
  common sense and character tests, and trusting that God is
• 23:57
  governing the path. And the priority of mission,
• 24:00
  that really stuck with me. I will not eat until I speak.
• 24:04
  We have to ask ourselves, is the gospel our appetite, or is it
• 24:08
  just a hobby we do when we're full and rested?
• 24:11
  The mission must precede our comfort.
• 24:13
  We need to recover that urgency. And then the theology of it all.
• 24:16
  It's so rich. Sovereignty and responsibility.
• 24:18
  God sends the Angel. The outcome is secure in his
• 24:20
  counsel. But the servant must speak.
• 24:23
  We must act. We don't sit back and let go and
• 24:25
  let God. We step out because God is with
• 24:27
  us. We work because he is working.
• 24:30
  There's one final image I want to leave our listeners with.
• 24:32
  You mentioned it earlier, we're not just watching this story,
• 24:34
  we're in it. That's right.
• 24:35
  If you are a believer listening to this, you are not the servant
• 24:38
  in this story. You are Rebecca.
• 24:40
  I love that. The Holy Spirit is the faithful
• 24:42
  servant who has come into the far country of this world.
• 24:45
  He has brought gifts, the earnest of our inheritance.
• 24:48
  He is telling you about a groom you have never seen, a son who
• 24:52
  is the heir of all things sitting at the right hand of the
• 24:54
  Father. And he is asking you to leave
• 24:57
  your father's house, to leave the world, to leave the House of
• 25:02
  Laban with all its shiny but ultimately empty promises.
• 25:06
  The question hanging over this text and over your life is the
• 25:09
  question they ask Rebecca later. Will you go with this man?
• 25:13
  Will you go? Will you leave the immediate
• 25:15
  comfort, the straw and fodder of this world, to travel through
• 25:19
  the desert for a wedding feast with the King?
• 25:21
  That is the call of the Gospel. It is an invitation to leave
• 25:24
  everything and become the bride. That is where we will leave it
• 25:27
  today. Thank you for taking this deep
• 25:29
  dive into Reformed thinking with us.
• 25:31
  We hope you are encouraged to run your race with haste, to
• 25:33
  trust in the Providence of God, and to keep your eyes on the air
• 25:36
  of all things. Amen.
• 25:38
  Until next time.