Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Sovereign Summons and the Pilgrim Bride: Providence and Obedience (Genesis 24:50–61)

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The Sovereign Summons and the Pilgrim Bride: Providence and Obedience (Genesis 24:50–61) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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  If you're joining us for the first time, or if you've been
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  with us for a while, we're really glad to have you with us.
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  Good. To be here.
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  Today we're opening up the archives of biblical history to
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  look at a really pivotal moment in the book of Genesis.
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  We're zooming in on Genesis chapter 24, specifically verses
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  50 through 61, and you know, on the surface it might look like
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  just a simple conclusion to a story.
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  It can seem that way. But when you get under the hood,
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  it is just dense with theological significance.
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  It really is, and you're right to point out the density.
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  This is actually the end of one of the longest single narratives
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  in the entire book of Genesis. That's a great point, I hadn't
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  even thought of that. Yeah, the amount of, you know,
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  ink that Moses spills on this one event tells us we really
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  need to pay close attention. OK, so to set the stage for
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  everyone listening, this is the story where Abraham's servant
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  has travelled a huge distance. A very long way, about 500
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  miles. 500 miles, all to find a wife for Isaac.
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  And in this specific section we're looking at today, this is
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  where the deal gets closed, so to speak.
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  The contract is signed. Right.
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  But as we were looking through the research for this deep dive,
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  it became clear real quickly that this is not, you know, some
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  ancient romance novel. No.
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  Far from it. It's not just about a boy
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  meeting a girl. The stakes here are just
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  incredibly high. It feels like there's a real
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  tension in this text that it really hits close to home for us
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  today. How so?
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  Well, we live in a world that's just obsessed with decision
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  making, right? And people seem to be split into
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  two camps. You have the people who are
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  constantly looking for mystical signs.
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  You know, the God told me to buy this specific brand of
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  toothpaste kind of thinking. Right, the Super spiritualized
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  approach to everything. Exactly.
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  And then on the other side, you have the cold pragmatists, the
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  people who just do whatever works best for their bottom
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  line. No other considerations.
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  That's the classic battle, isn't it?
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  Mysticism versus pragmatism. And what's so fascinating about
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  this text and why I love that we're covering it, is that it
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  offers a third way. A third way.
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  It shows us Providence acting through, of all things, ordinary
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  means. It's not magic and it's not a
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  secular calculation. It's it's something else
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  entirely. And that's exactly where we want
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  to camp out today. We're approaching this, as we
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  always do, on Reformed thinking from the perspective of
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  Protestant Christians who hold to the Westminster Confession.
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  That's our framework. We want to see how God's
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  sovereign decrees actually interact with human
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  responsibility. And specifically here in the
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  context of covenant marriage, because as we're going to see,
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  this isn't just about two young people falling in love.
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  The future of the Church, in a very real and tangible sense,
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  hangs in the balance right here. So here's the question we want
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  to pose right at the start with us Is divine guidance a private
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  whisper that only you can hear, or is it a public reality that's
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  based on objective facts? That's a great way to frame it.
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  And later on, we're going to get to this incredible climax that
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  hinges on just two words, 2 words spoken by a young woman.
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  Then those two words. They literally alter the course
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  of redemptive history. It's a stunning moment, it
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  really is. OK, let's unpack this.
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  We need to start with Segment 1, the context and the stakes.
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  So we're in Genesis 24. Give us the timeline.
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  Where are we? The first thing to realize is
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  that Abraham is old. He's very old, and his wife
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  Sarah died back in chapter 23. So Abraham is acutely aware that
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  his time is short. There's an urgency.
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  A huge urgency. He's conscious that his earthly
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  pilgrimage is nearing its close, so he charges his most trusted
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  servant with an oath bound mission.
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  And that mission is to find a wife for his son, Isaac.
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  Yes, but with a very specific non negotiable condition, right?
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  He says do not get a wife from the Canaanites.
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  And that is the crucial constraint, he says.
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  Go to my country and to my kindred.
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  Now a modern reader might look at that and immediately think,
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  is this some kind of ethnic snobbery?
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  Right. Is Abraham being racist?
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  That's the first place the modern mind goes.
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  It's a very common objective. People read that and they just
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  assume it's all about bloodlines or some kind of tribalism.
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  But it's so important to understand that it's not ethnic
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  nostalgia, it's it's covenant realism.
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  Covenant realism. Unpack that for.
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  Us. You have to remember the context
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  of Genesis. Up to this point, we've already
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  seen what happens when the sons of God mix with the daughters of
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  men back in Genesis Sex. It leads to total disaster.
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  Total spiritual ruin. So yoking with idolatry brings
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  spiritual destruction. That's the principle.
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  And Abraham is living among the Canaanites who are idolaters.
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  Exactly. They are steeped in idolatry.
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  If Isaac marries into that culture, the distinct line of
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  promise, the very line that's supposed to bring blessing to
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  the whole world, it gets absorbed, it gets diluted.
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  You just vanish. It would.
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  So this is about religious preservation, not about blood
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  purity for its own sake. OK, so the stakes are, as you
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  said, redemptive historical. This isn't just a filler episode
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  to get Isaac hitched. No, not at all.
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  Think about the promise of the seed that God made to Abraham.
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  The Messiah. The Messiah God promised that
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  through his offspring, all the nations of the earth would be
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  blessed. If Isaac doesn't marry, or if he
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  marries outside the covenant line, that promise is, humanly
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  speaking, stalled or corrupted or corrupted.
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  It really hangs by a thread. Wow.
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  It does. The future of the Promise line
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  depends on this one servant finding the right woman in the
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  right place. And what really stands out to me
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  in the research as we were preparing is how this all plays
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  out. You mentioned the tension
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  between mysticism and the ordinary, and when we read this
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  story, there is a distinct lack of fireworks.
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  That's a great observation, a really great observation.
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  There are no angels popping up in this specific scene.
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  The sky doesn't split open. There's no booming voice from
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  the clouds telling him she's the one.
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  Which is hard for us, isn't it? We want the spectacle we do.
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  We want the burning Bush moment. We absolutely do.
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  We want the writing on the wall because, let's be honest, it
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  makes faith easier. Sure does.
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  If you see a clear cut miracle, you don't have to trust in the
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  dark. But here God is working through
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  what the theologians call ordinary means.
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  Like what? What are these ordinary means?
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  Travel. Just getting on a camel and
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  going conversation, Hospitality, credibility of a witness.
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  It's almost mundane when you list it like that.
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  It is, but that's the whole point.
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  The text wants us to see that this is God working.
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  This is what Providence looks like on a Tuesday.
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  So the servant is a good theologian here.
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  He interprets these ordinary details as God's faithfulness.
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  Yes. He doesn't rely on vague
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  feelings. He's not checking his spiritual
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  gut. When he finally gets to the
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  family, that's Rebecca's brother Laban, and her father, Bethuel.
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  He presents a case. What a leer, almost.
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  He recounts the facts he says. Here's the oath I took to my
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  master. Here is the specific prayer I
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  prayed at the well, and here's how the events converged
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  perfectly with that prayer. He's building a case based on
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  evidence. Exactly.
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  He's presenting objective data and asking them to draw a
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  conclusion. Which is the perfect segue to
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  our second segment, the world's confession.
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  We're looking at verses 50 and 51.
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  Now the servant has laid out his case.
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  What's the response from Laban and Methuel?
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  They say the thing has come from the Lord.
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  And that is a massive admission. Huge, especially considering who
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  it's coming from. You mean Laban in particular?
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  The Laban in particular. If you know the rest of Genesis,
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  you know Laban is a bit of a schemer.
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  That's putting it mildly. He's not exactly the model of a
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  St. He's tricky.
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  He's worldly. Later on, he gives his own
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  son-in-law, Jacob, a real run for his money, right?
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  But here, even a man like Laban is forced to acknowledge the
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  objective evidence of God's hand at work.
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  There's a key Hebrew term that the notes highlighted for us,
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  Davar. Yes, Davar, it's often
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  translated as thing or matter, but it also means word.
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  It signifies A settled decree, an objective event that has
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  happened. So they're.
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  Not saying hey, we have a good feeling about.
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  This. No, not at all.
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  They're saying this event, this reality, this Davar has
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  proceeded from Yahweh. It's a statement of fact, not
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  feeling. It feels like they're backed
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  into a corner by the facts. They are the convergence of the
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  servant's prayer, the specific family connection, the timing of
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  her arrival at the well. It's too perfect to be chance.
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  It can't be explained away. It can't.
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  And that leads to their next statement, which is just
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  fascinating. They say we cannot speak to you,
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  bad or good. Now, in English that sounds a
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  bit confusing. We cannot speak to you, bad or
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  good. What does it mean?
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  Does it mean they just don't have an opinion?
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  It's a Hebrew idiom. It's what's called mirrorism.
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  A mirrorism. Yeah, you use two opposites to
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  encompass the whole by saying from east to West mean
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  everywhere here bad or good means anything at all.
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  They're saying we have no grounds to contest this.
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  So it's not that they're paralyzed and can't talk.
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  No, it's that they realize their opinion is totally irrelevant in
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  the face of what God has done. That is it precisely.
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  It is an act of submission to a superior will.
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  They realize that God has already decided this matter.
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  So if they were to say bad, they'd be fighting God.
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  They'd be opposing God, and if they were to say good, it would
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  imply that their permission is what makes it happen.
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  I see. But they're recognizing
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  something deeper. They're admitting that the
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  verdict has already been handed down from heaven.
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  Their role is simply to acknowledge it.
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  That connects directly to the Westminster Confession of Faith,
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  doesn't it? Chapter 5 on Providence.
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  It does beautifully. The Confession teaches that God
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  upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures, actions
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  and things, from the greatest even to the least.
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  And here we see a narrative form.
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  Yes, Providence is not just some abstract theological concept for
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  a classroom. It is an objective reality that
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  even the world, even a tricky guy like Laban, has to confess
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  sometimes. It's profoundly anti pragmatic.
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  It is. This wasn't a negotiation.
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  The servant didn't come in and offer a business deal that Laban
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  couldn't refuse. Right, here's a pile of gold.
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  Let's make a deal. No, he presented the work of God
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  and Laban had to bow to it. Which transitions us perfectly
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  to the servants reaction, because if the world is forced
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  to confess God's work, how does the believer respond?
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  A great question. This brings us to segment 3,
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  Worship and the earnest of grace.
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  Verse 52 When Abrahams servant heard their words, he bowed
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  himself to the earth before the Lord.
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  I love that. I mean his mission was a
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  success. He doesn't high 5 his entourage.
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  He doesn't say, man, I am a great closer.
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  There is absolutely no self congratulation.
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  None. He just drops to the ground.
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  That is the theology of worship in a nutshell.
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  Success leads to doxology, not to pride.
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  He recognizes God as the primary cause of this success.
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  It is such a stark contrast to how we often operate.
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  You mentioned earlier the seeker sensitive or pragmatic
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  approaches in the modern church. If we achieve a goal, if a
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  program works, we often even praise the strategy.
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  Oh, the marketing plan was brilliant.
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  Right. We were so clever with that
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  outreach event or our small group model is just fantastic.
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  Exactly. But the servant knows better.
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  He knows that he didn't orchestrate this.
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  The text says. God prospered his way.
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  And so the glory goes to God alone.
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  It's instinctual for him. And then immediately after
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  worship he gets practically starts handing out gifts.
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  He does verse 53 jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold and
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  garments for Rebecca. OK, so on the surface this looks
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  like a dowry or maybe just paying the bride price, which
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  was a cultural thing. It certainly functions that way
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  on one level, but the sources we looked at and just the wider
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  context of Scripture, so just there's something much deeper
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  going on here. There's a typology.
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  OK. So we have to be careful with
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  typology, of course. Absolutely.
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  We don't want to allegorize every single tent peg in the Old
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  Testament, right? But in the broad sweep of of
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  history, there is a clear pattern emerging here.
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  The father sends a servant to get a bride for the son.
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  Precisely, Abraham represents God the Father.
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  He sends the unnamed servant who functions very much like the
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  Holy Spirit to do what? To secure Rebecca, who
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  represents the bride, the Church for Isaac the Son, who is a type
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  of Christ. And in that framework, what are
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  the gifts? The gold and the silver.
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  They represent the earnest. That's the biblical term.
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  Or you could call it a down payment of the inheritance.
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  OK, think about the book of Ephesians.
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  Paul says we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
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  Who is the guarantee or the earnest of our inheritance?
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  So Rebecca receives these gifts before she even meets Isaac.
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  That is the key. She gets the gold, the silver,
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  the beautiful garments before she even starts the trip.
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  What's the significance of that? It equips her for her new
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  status. She is being marked out as the
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  bride. The gifts are a foretaste of the
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  full riches of the son's house that she is about to enter.
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  It's the promise made tangible. It's the earnest of grace, it
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  is. And notice the servant also
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  gives precious things to her brother and her mother, right?
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  I saw that. The common grace of God
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  overflows to those who are around the covenant line.
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  But the specific bride adorning gifts, those are for Rebecca
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  alone. And then after the worship and
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  the gifts, they eat. They eat.
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  He and the men who were with him ate and drank.
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  This is fellowship. Peace has been established.
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  The deal is done. Now there is table fellowship.
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  It makes me think of the Lord's Supper.
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  It should. It's nourishment for the
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  pilgrimage that's ahead. We've been called, we've been
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  gifted by the Spirit, and now we feed on the covenant meal before
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  we set out on the long road to meet the sun.
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  But the road doesn't start immediately, does it?
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  Or at least not if the family has their way.
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  No it doesn't. And this is where the conflict
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  kicks in. Segment 4 The idol of comfort.
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  The next morning, the servant is all business.
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  He says send me away to my master.
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  He's ready to move. The mission is accomplished.
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  It's time to go home. But the family, specifically
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  Laban and her mother, they put on the brakes hard.
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  They say let the young woman remain with us a while, at least
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  ten days after that she may go. It sounds so reasonable, doesn't
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  it? It sounds completely reasonable.
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  I mean, if my daughter was about to leave the country forever to
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  marry a guy she has never even met, I think I'd want a few days
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  to say a proper goodbye. Of course, on the surface it
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  looks like simple affection. Long goodbyes, just a little
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  more time, but we have to analyze the motive that's
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  underneath. And the source material we
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  looked at calls this the idol of comfort.
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  Yes, or another phrase I love was control wearing the mask of
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  courtesy. That's good.
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  Say that again, control wearing the mask of courtesy.
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  Because what's really happening here?
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  They're not saying no. Are they?
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  No, they're not saying no. They're just saying not yet.
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  And that is the incredible danger of 10 days.
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  Talk to us about that danger. Why is procrastination such a
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  big deal here? It seems so minor.
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  Because when God's will is clear, delay is disobedience.
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  It's that simple. The servant has just said the
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  Lord has prospered my way. The decree is established.
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  The facts are on the table. The Devar.
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  The devar to say let's wait 10 days is to prioritize human
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  comfort and human sentiment over a clear divine command to move
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  forward. It's the flesh resisting the
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  call of the Spirit. It is and think about the
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  spiritual application for us. How often do we do this?
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  We know what we need to do. We know we need to repent of a
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  certain sin or we know we need to make a difficult change or
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  forgive someone, but we say, Lord, just just give me 10 more
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  days. Let me just wrap things up here
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  and put Aniram first. Precisely, let me enjoy the
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  comforts of the old life just a little bit longer before I start
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  that hard journey you. Also mentioned this connects to
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  the seeker sensitive mindset. How so?
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  Well, there's a tendency in some circles to let people evaluate
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  Christ on their own timeline. You know, Take your time, think
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  it over. No pressure.
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  Right, we don't want to be pushy.
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  But the biblical call is often incredibly urgent today.
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  If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts or repent,
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  for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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  There's an immediacy to it. And the servant is definitely
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  feeling that urgency here for 56 do not delay me, since the Lord
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  has prospered my. Way there's the logic again.
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  It's so clear the prospering is the indicator to.
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  Move. He's not waiting for a feeling.
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  No, he's acting on what God has already done.
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  The facts on the ground dictate the next step.
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  So because God has done the work, the human response must be
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  the immediate movement. Yes, this is a key Reformed
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  insight. God's sovereignty creates
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  urgency. It does not create passivity.
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  Say more about that. That's a common
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  misunderstanding. People think, well, if God is
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  sovereign and has ordained the outcome, I can just sit back and
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  relax. Right, it'll happen when it
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  happens. But that's not the servants
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  logic. He doesn't say, well God is
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  sovereign, so whenever she comes, she comes, he says God is
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  sovereign. He has opened the door, so we
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  must walk through it now. But they can't just drag her
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  away against her will. No.
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  And that's the pivot. That's where human
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  responsibility comes into play. Which brings us to Segment 5,
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  The effectual call the family, maybe a bit reluctantly, says we
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  will call the young woman and ask her.
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  And this is absolutely critical. Providence does not bypass the
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  human will. It works through the human will.
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  So Rebecca is not a pawn. No, she's a moral agent.
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  She has to make a choice. So they call her in and they put
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  the question to her directly. Will you go with this man?
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  And her answer is stunningly brief.
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  In Hebrew, it's just one word. What's the word?
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  It means I will go. Just I will go.
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  No hesitation, no conditions. Well, maybe in 10 days just I
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  will go. Let's connect this to Reform
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  doctrine, because this is a perfect illustration.
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  We're talking about the effectual call.
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  We are Westminster Confession Chapter X.
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  The doctrine teaches that God by His Word and Spirit, enlightens
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  the minds of His elect and renews their wills.
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  So he makes the unwilling willing.
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  That's the classic phrase. It's not that God forces her
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  against her will. That would be coercion.
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  So what is it? It's that God's grace, the
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  prospering of the way, the testimony of the servant, the
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  beauty of the gifts has so worked on her heart that she
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  wants to go. She joyfully and freely chooses
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  what God has already ordained. Her choice is free, yet it's the
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  inevitable fruit of God's prior work.
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  That's the beautiful mystery of it.
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  She chooses the unknown future with the promised son over the
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  familiar past in her father's house.
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  And that's the nature of faith, isn't it?
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  It is. We need to define faith here.
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  It is not some mystical insight. She hasn't seen a vision of
• 18:49
  Isaac. She has no idea what he looks
• 18:51
  like. None.
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  She hasn't seen the land of Canaan.
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  She's trusting the testimony. Yes, faith is trust in the
• 18:56
  promise communicated through a reliable witness.
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  Exactly. She leaves Pad and Arum, which
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  in this story represents the world Comfort, the known for a
• 19:06
  land she has never seen and a groom she has never met, all
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  based on the word of the Father's servant.
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  It's so anti mysticism. She didn't say OK that's a nice
• 19:15
  story but I need my own sign now.
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  She didn't. She acted on the testimony that
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  was provided. The servant said God led me.
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  She sees the evidence of the gifts.
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  She hears the whole story and her heart responds.
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  If that is enough, I will go. That is powerful.
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  It really challenges us, doesn't it?
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  Do we constantly need more signs, more experiences?
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  Or is the testimonial scripture enough for us to say I will go?
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  That is the question the text puts to every one of us.
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  So she makes the decision and that leads to the departure,
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  Segment 6, the blessing and the departure.
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  The family sees her resolve and they bless her, and the language
• 19:49
  they use is just incredible. It's saturated with covenantal
• 19:52
  promises. What do they say?
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  Our sister, may you become thousands of 10 thousands, and
• 19:57
  may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him.
• 20:00
  OK, let's. Decode that language, possess
• 20:02
  the gate. What does that mean?
• 20:04
  In the ancient world, the city gate was the seat of power.
• 20:07
  It's where business was transacted, where legal
• 20:10
  judgments were made, where the elder SAT.
• 20:12
  So it's the center of authority, right?
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  To possess the gate of your enemy meant you had achieved
• 20:17
  total victory over them. You had dominion.
• 20:20
  It's language of conquest and. Rule and thousands of 10
• 20:24
  thousands. That sounds familiar.
• 20:27
  It should. It echoes the Abrahamic covenant
• 20:30
  from Genesis 22, right after the Binding of Isaac.
• 20:33
  God promised Abraham that his offspring would be like the
• 20:36
  stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore, and that his
• 20:39
  offspring would possess the gate of his enemies.
• 20:41
  So even though this family, especially Laban, might not
• 20:44
  fully understand the deep theology of it all, they are
• 20:48
  basically prophesying over her. They are, whether they grasp it
• 20:51
  or not. They are speaking the language
• 20:52
  of the covenant. They are blessing her with the
• 20:54
  very promises that God himself made to Abraham.
• 20:57
  They are commissioning her, in a sense, to go and be the mother
• 21:01
  of the messianic lion. And then verse 61.
• 21:03
  It's so simple and beautiful. Then Rebecca and her young women
• 21:07
  arose and rode on the camels and followed the man.
• 21:09
  The Pilgrim bride. I love that image.
• 21:12
  She rises, she rides, she follows.
• 21:16
  The action is so decisive. It's the typology of the church.
• 21:20
  Again, the church is the Pilgrim bride.
• 21:22
  We are traveling through the wilderness of this present age.
• 21:26
  Guided by the Spirit. Guided by the Spirit, who is
• 21:28
  represented by the servant, and we are moving toward our
• 21:30
  bridegroom, the Sun. What about the camels?
• 21:33
  Are we allowed to find meaning there?
• 21:34
  Well, we don't want to get too silly with the allegory, but in
• 21:37
  a sense, the camels and the gift she received are the means of
• 21:41
  grace. They are what support her on the
• 21:43
  long pilgrimage. This is sanctification.
• 21:45
  This is sanctification, Westminster Confession, Chapter
• 21:49
  13. The Christian life is a long
• 21:51
  trek. It's a movement away from the
• 21:54
  world and toward Christ. But we're not walking alone and
• 21:57
  empty handed, no. We are supported by God's
• 22:00
  provision. We have the earnest of the
• 22:02
  inheritance, the gifts of the Spirit to sustain us on the way.
• 22:05
  And the destination is always Christ.
• 22:07
  Always the focus is Christological.
• 22:10
  Jesus is the true and better Isaac, the Son who waits for his
• 22:14
  bride. And this marriage is not just
• 22:16
  for personal happiness, it is for the sake of the Kingdom of
• 22:19
  God. And there's an important
• 22:20
  distinction to make here, isn't there?
• 22:22
  The distinction between Israel and the Church.
• 22:24
  Yes, that's a good point. To clarify, this specific
• 22:27
  narrative is about preserving the ethnic line of Israel.
• 22:31
  Isaac needs a wife from the clan to keep the line pure so that
• 22:36
  the Messiah can come according to the flesh.
• 22:38
  Very particular. It is but that ethnic
• 22:40
  preservation eventually yields the Messiah for the whole
• 22:43
  Church, for both Jew and Gentile.
• 22:46
  So we as Gentile believers can look at this text and see both
• 22:52
  the history of Israel and a picture of our own salvation in
• 22:55
  Christ. That's it exactly.
• 22:56
  It works on both of those levels simultaneously.
• 22:59
  It's historical and it's typical.
• 23:01
  This has been substantial. I feel like this has been a
• 23:03
  rigorous trek through just a few verses.
• 23:05
  Pilgrimage through the text. Let's try to summarize the key
• 23:08
  takeaways here. If you're listening, what are
• 23:10
  the big bullet points to take with you?
• 23:12
  OK, I think first is that God's Providence is comprehensive.
• 23:17
  It's total. It covers everything from the
• 23:19
  death of Sarah to a chance meeting at a well.
• 23:22
  But, and this is the key, it uses ordinary means.
• 23:25
  So don't wait for the sky to split open.
• 23:28
  Look for God's hand in the ordinary duties and decisions of
• 23:31
  your life. That's good.
• 23:32
  What's? Second, Second, faith looks like
• 23:34
  immediate obedience. When God's way is prospered,
• 23:37
  when his will is clear from his word, You move, you say, I will
• 23:41
  go. You don't ask for 10 days of
• 23:43
  comfort. You don't delay in the face of
• 23:45
  clarity is disobedience. OK.
• 23:47
  And 3rd. Third, marriage and Scripture
• 23:50
  carries the weight of the covenant.
• 23:52
  It is not just about personal fulfilment or romantic love.
• 23:55
  It's a primary vehicle for God's redemptive purposes in the
• 23:59
  world. That's a high view of marriage
• 24:01
  that we've largely lost. We have.
• 24:03
  That brings us to our final provocative thought.
• 24:05
  We always like to leave you, the listener, with something to chew
• 24:08
  on this week. Here is the question based on
• 24:11
  everything we've seen. Where are you asking for 10 more
• 24:13
  days? That hits hard.
• 24:16
  Think about it, if the Lord has prospered the way to the cross,
• 24:20
  if He has provided the Lamb, if He has sent the Spirit to call
• 24:23
  you and convict you, what valid reason could possibly exist to
• 24:27
  stay in the familiar comfort of the old life?
• 24:30
  Is it the idol of comfort like it was for Rebecca's family?
• 24:33
  Is it the fear of the unknown? Whatever it is, the call of this
• 24:36
  text is clear. Do not delay.
• 24:38
  The servant is ready to lead you to the sun.
• 24:40
  I will go. That's the good vision that is
• 24:42
  required of us. Amen.
• 24:44
  Well, that wraps up this session.
• 24:45
  We hope this deep dive has challenged you and encouraged
• 24:49
  you to look at God's Providence with fresh eyes.
• 24:51
  This has been Reformed thinking. Until next time.