COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 65 - I WILL GO

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

As Abraham waited with Isaac back in the land of Canaan, his faithful servant Eliezer continued his work in a far country, seeking a perfect bride for Isaac.  He had met the beautiful Rebekah at the well and would have dinner with her family that night.  He would reveal his identity and his purpose to everyone there first, then try to woo and win Rebekah in order to bring her back to Abraham’s house where Isaac would be waiting to claim his bride.

The time had come and supper was prepared.  Eliezer went into a room where a feast had been laid out before him.  He was offered the best chair at the table and offered the best wine.  It was all very pleasant and tempting, but Eliezer knew he could not participate in this meal any further until he explained exactly who he was and why he was there.  He must tell his story in order for them to understand his mission.  It is very similar to the Passover meal when we reach the portion of the meal and come to the telling of the story.  There is much to be understood before the meal can continue.  The details must be laid out for everyone to hear.  The story must be told.

The position of Eliezer here reminds us of Jesus in the Passover observance with his disciples at The Last Supper.  In this service we get to the third cup and remember that Jesus said to His disciples that he would not partake of the third cup, the cup of redemption and the cup of a new covenant, until He could do so with them in the coming Kingdom of God.  It was customary in the wooing of a bride for a cup of wine to be set before her by the advocate of the groom.  If she drank the wine, her answer was "yes."  If she did not there would be no marriage.  If her answer was yes on this occasion, she would drink another cup with the groom to toast their marriage on their wedding day.  The groom did not drink until that time.  

There will be a marriage supper in heaven one day.  Until then, the bride of Christ will drink the cup of communion that signifies redemption and her covenant with her groom.  

Eliezer could not allow Rebekah to come to the table and drink the wine unless she knew his true mission!  He told them he was the servant of Abraham.  That little bit of information alone would have been enough to keep the dinner conversation going all night long, but Eliezer had more.  He explained that Abraham had been very, very prosperous in the far away land and he explained that Abraham was very old now and would not be with them much longer.  Knowing this, Abraham had deeded all he owned to his son, Isaac, who had been born to Abraham from his wife Sarah when she was too old to have a child.  Isaac had grown into a fine young man and Abraham had turned everything he had over to Isaac. 

Eliezer went on to tell them that Abraham had expressed his desire for Isaac to have a bride from the land of his own people.  Abraham had asked Eliezer to go and find this bride.  Eliezer explained his prayer to God when he arrived at the well for a young girl to come and offer him water and also offer to water his camels.  When Rebekah came along and did exactly that, Eliezer knew she was the one that God had intended for Isaac.  When Rebekah had explained that she was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Eliezer knew for sure. 

There is deep hidden symbolism in this story that represents The Marriage Supper of The Lamb and The Bride of Christ.  The dinner where Eliezer asks the family for Rebekah to be Isaac's bride is symbolic of The Marriage Supper of the Lamb that will happen in heaven one day.  The meeting of Rebekah at the well is symbolic of how The Holy Spirit of God finds the Bride of Christ by the well of water from which you will never thirst again, the spring of  the water of everlasting life supplied by God's Holy Spirit.    We know Jesus used the same words in greeting the Samaritan woman at the well at a later time in history when he asked her "Please give me a drink of water from your jar. " Jesus was offering her a whole new life, just as Eliezer was offering Rebekah.  That woman was one of the first to be claimed for The Kingdom of God from all of the lost and wondering sheep of Israel, much like Rebekah, a long lost relative, is being claimed as a bride for Isaac in this story.  

It would have been fun to have been in the room to watch the changes of the expressions on all of their faces as Eliezer revealed his story, gave his true identity, and explained the whole truth of his mission.  They all must have been astounded at his words; especially Rebekah.  Do you think it is possible that she had been praying for such a thing to happen?  Like all young girls she might have been seeking the will of God for her life and asking Him to provide a very special husband intended just for her.  We do not know any of these specifics, all we know is that Eliezer revealed his identity and laid out the story just as it transpired and they all were probably very silent for awhile as they pondered these facts with sincere amazement.

With all of the truth out now; Eliezer got right down to business!  His very words were: “Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.  In modern day terms this might sound like:  “So give me your answer right away so that I can either take her back with me for Isaac, or go on searching for the right bride in another place.”  

Again, we see a shadow and type in Eliezer of The Good Shepherd.  He is going out as far as necessary, hunting, searching, trying to find that long lost lamb.  When he finds the little lamb that belongs to his master, he wants to quickly bring her home in order to return her to the fold where she belongs.

Eliezer had done his job, he had located the bride.  Just as God woos us with The Holy Spirit and gives us the invitation to be a part of the Kingdom; He also gives us free will.  We, like Rebekah, have a choice.  We can accept or reject the offer.  That one piece of the puzzle is always up to the individual with the invitation.  The rest of this story was up to Rebekah and her family, but Eliezer was not a man to waste time and he was ready to move on!

It isn't discussed, but by now you have to realize that night at dinner that Rebekah drank the cup.  She said "yes" through her actions and deeds without even having to say the words out loud.  When dinner was over Eliezer knew the answer from Rebekah's heart.  

After the lengthy explanation of all that had happened, it did not take Laban and Bethuel and Rebekah's Mother long to answer either.  They had the authority to speak for Rebekah.  They said “This thing comes from the LORD, we cannot speak to you bad or good.  Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.”

Can’t you just hear Rebekah’s heart pounding? One minute she is a simple village girl going about her daily tasks, and the next moment she is going to live in a foreign land and be the wife to a man that she had never even met.

At that point Eliezer and his men enjoyed the luscious feast spread before them.  They had a good nights sleep in a comfortable bed and rose the next morning refreshed and ready to go on their way.  Eliezer thanked Rebekah’s family for their hospitality and asked them to send him on his way back to his master.  The family was a bit reluctant to let Rebekah go so soon.  They tried to reason with Eliezer.  “Let the maiden remain with us a while, at least ten days, after that she may go.”  Eliezer did not give in to this but said he needed to be on his way and about his master’s business.  He felt it was the LORD’s will for him to return right away.  So they called Rebekah and asked her if she was willing to go right away.  

Rebekah’s answer was “I will go.”

Any time God calls us to something, there must be a complete surrender of our will to His.  Rebekah gave the perfect answer for this situation in her life.  It was not an easy choice that she was asked to make.  Her life was instantly changing, never to be the same again.  All her life she had been sheltered and cared for by a loving family, now she was being asked to go immediately to an unknown place to live as the wife of an unknown man.  All she knew of this man was what had been told to her by his father's servant.  It was as if Rebekah was being asked to grow up and leave her childhood behind in one day, in one hour, in one moment of time.  She had decided and she would go.

Here it becomes obvious that Rebekah’s heart was in the same place as Abraham’s when God told him to go to an unknown land and trust Him with the details.  She and Abraham were kindred spirits in these decisions.  Both of their reactions were the same.

  

Rebekah had already committed her heart to this purpose.  She was ready to go.  She said goodbye to the only family that she had ever known and took her seat in the caravan of the servant of her future husband's father.  They left with many camels that carried all the gifts specifically designated to be hers (although some other gifts were also given to her family); gifts from a groom she had not yet met.  

Can you imagine the thoughts in her head as they trod through the desert and headed toward her new home?  I'm sure the biggest question that Rebekah pondered over and over on the journey was the same as any young girl about to be married.

She must have wondered all the way; 

What will HE be like?

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 64 - WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WATER A STRANGER'S CAMELS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We have seen such a beautiful picture of the early beginnings of God’s family in our study of Abraham and Isaac.  It is through their stories that we really begin to see a clearer and closer picture of the true love a Father can have for His Son.

The relationship that we see between Abraham and Isaac is clearly the relationship that The True Church should desire to share with God The Father.  When we hold a mirror up to Abraham and Isaac we see a shadow of their relationship that is to be our example of how to live out our own lives, knowing the ways of The One True God that their relationship reflects.  We see in them a beautiful, full colored type of that holy relationship between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.    

In the section of their story where we studied the Akadah, we learned further how Abraham was a type and shadow of God and Isaac was a type and shadow of Yeshua, The Messiah.   In watching Abraham allow Isaac to be a living sacrifice to God we felt along with them some of the anguish that our Father in Heaven must have felt as He gave His only Son on the altar of the cross so that we might have eternal life.  God was willing to do that for us, just as Abraham was willing to give his son for all of mankind.  Abraham truly pondered whether Isaac could be the One promised to take away the sins of the world, but God decided to give His Own Son, Yeshua instead, and God spared the broken heart of Abraham and allowed His own heart to be broken instead.  As good as Isaac was, he was not the prefect sacrifice.  No One could do this but Jesus, Our Messiah.  Through the picture of God leading Abraham through this test, we see what all good fathers do for their sons; they would much rather feel the pain themselves than to see pain inflicted onto their sons.  Abraham was willing to offer up all he loved to God, as God eventually offered to Abraham.  

  God the Father loved this son from earth named Abraham too.  God loved all of Abraham's descendants so much that He was willing to sacrifice the best part of Himself in order to save them.  He also knew because this Son was perfect that He would obtain resurrection and live again.   Just like Isaac, Yeshua displayed that same awesome love of God for the children of the earth; a willingness to suffer pain for redemption out of love, a type of love where One is willing to lay down their life and put themselves aside for the sake of another.

  

Jesus was willing to lay His life down for us, just as Isaac was willing to be bound and slain on an altar.  They both acted out of the purest highest form of love that can exist.   It is the love that brings God and mankind together.  They both, along with their Fathers, understood the noble cause of great love and the necessity of sacrifice and redemption.  Abraham and Isaac acted on what they understood, what God had shown them in their limited humanity; that One would come and become the promised sacrifice to restore mankind to God and repair the rift between the great love of God for His creation.  All their lives they had longed to see this.  All that was done was done with wisdom and understanding and mostly with great love.   This fact of a need to repair the breach between God and man by offering sacrifice and redemption had been passed down through time from Adam and Eve, who learned it directly from God.  This Promised One who would come to be the perfect sacrifice would be the first step to bringing all of creation back to the abundant life man had enjoyed in the Garden of Eden with God.  It all had to happen to restore things, since evil had brought so much sin and death to the world, but God decided to play the sacrificial role instead of allowing men to keep trying to offer imperfect sacrifices that would never be enough to conquer the sins of mankind.  God allowed men grace and took the task unto Himself in love.  

If you ever learn anything at all about God, know that the thing that matters the most to Him is love.  Love is the answer to everything, and love is what He has given to us in all the highest forms that exist.  It was even condensed down to one final commandment; love God and love mankind.  

 

In these great stories of Abraham and Isaac, Father and Son, we are constantly reminded of the fact that there is nothing more wonderful than the love of a Father for a Son; except maybe that of the love of a Man for his Wife.  This is an even higher love.  It is a different kind of love.  It is a love that God wants us to understand.
  

As we follow the searching paths of Eliezer, that wise and faithful servant of Abraham, on his journey to find a wife for Isaac; we will see another great love story unfold.  This story shows the love of a Groom for His Bride.  It is beautiful in every aspect, and Eliezer is clearly a type of God's Holy Spirit doing the work of bringing about God's will, of making love happen in impossible circumstances and unexpected places.  

We do not want to go fast through these stories, but to take our time.  Every detail given is a shinning jewel to behold as a part of a beautiful story-necklace that shadows the love of Yeshua for His Bride; the true church.  

The preparation of the Bride of Christ begins with knowing and understanding this story of Rebekah and Isaac.  The story comes to us appropriately, during a time and season when we are counting the Omer and numbering the days that lead us up to Pentecost.  In these days and in this story God is showing us a picture of the working of The Holy Spirit in our own daily lives by showing us the lives of Isaac and Rebekah.  

It all starts with a servant going into a far country to seek a wife for the Son of his Master.  Is that not how God brings us all to Him?  He sends His servant, The Holy Spirit to draw us unto Him.  

The story takes place in a beautiful time of life for Isaac and Rebekah.  They were old enough to be wise adults, but young enough to enjoy the enticements of true love.  If you belong to God, you too have experienced such a time in your life and may even still be going through that time.  It is a period of courtship.  I am speaking of the time in a Christian’s walk with God that leads to the receiving of The Holy Spirit; the time when they become committed and officially “engaged” to Yeshua.  It is such a love story.  It is a love story very comparable to the story of Rebekah and Isaac.  So let us look deeply into their stories and let God begin to show us ourselves and exactly what He desires from us. 

The Bride for the Promised Son had to come from Abraham’s true family.  God seeks out those who are truly of His family too.  Isaac’s bride could not be one who would rebel against his ways and customs of worship; but one who could be taught by God to forsake the pagan customs of her birth and come into the ways of God that had been shown to Abraham by God, then taught to Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. 

Abraham stressed this one most important point over and over to Eliezer before he left to find Isaac a bride.  God's people cannot be birthed in paganism.  The descendant's of Abraham and Isaac were to be God's people. The perfect bride for the promised son could not and can not have a pagan heart.  She must be able to conform to and keep the ways of God and not the traditions of man and the world.  She must be willing to leave behind the traditions that she once knew in order to follow the traditions of God.  She must be able to set herself apart from those who follow the crowd and are so easily swayed in the wrong directions.  She must learn to follow God and God only.  Her traditions must be God's traditions and her ways must be God's ways.  

Abraham explained to Eliezer again and again that Isaac should never be allowed to leave the promised land where God had promised to bless him; and his bride should not be a pagan idol worshiper, but she should desire to stay close to her husband's side and believe in His God and follow His ways.  She should come from Abraham’s true family tree and be a teachable woman who would be true to the inspirations and ways that Isaac had learned from God.  

Perhaps Abraham was afraid he might die before Eliezer returned; because he was very, very careful to emphasize these things, not once, but many times. 

Eliezer, like all faithful servants, was very determined to stay true to his Master’s wishes.  As soon as possible he quickly prepared to do the task that Abraham had given him.  He had trained many other skillful servants to work with him and under him.  He had trained them well enough to be able to leave them in charge of his tasks whenever he needed to go away on business for the family.  This freed Eliezer to go without worry, to take care of his master’s business whenever it involved long periods of travel.  Oh that our own modern homes and lives today might be in the same order!  We have much to learn from the character traits of Eliezer.  

Some things just could not be trusted to outsiders, and Eliezer was always the one Abraham called upon in these times.  Eliezer was always ready and prepared for whatever Abraham needed whenever he needed it.  He loaded down ten of Abraham’s camels with all sorts of amazing gifts for the future bride of Isaac.  He then set out for Aram Naharaim or as some call it Paddan Aram, the town where Nahor, Abraham's brother lived.

 

When Eliezer arrived in the designated area he went to the town well and had his camels to kneel down.  Those camels must have been very, very tired and very, very thirsty.  They had come a long way to bring so many special gifts to a special bride.  We could tell many stories about the gifts that Abraham's camels carried to Issac's bride; they were indeed very special and abundant, but we must continue with the story at hand.  

It was just before the sunset, the time when the women left their houses to draw water from the town well for the next day, just before the twilight of evening and the changing of one day into another.

Abraham had previously advised Eliezer that an Angel of The LORD would go before him and prepare the way to find Rebekah.  That was all Eliezer knew, it was all he had to go on; otherwise his task seemed humanly impossible. So, as he sat with his camels all loaded down with many fine gifts beside the well; he prayed for that help to come.
 

“God of my master Abraham, make me successful today.  Show kindness to Abraham.  See I am standing beside this spring where the daughters of the town of Nahor are coming to draw water.  May it be that when I say to a young woman, “please let down your jar so that I may have a drink” and she says “Drink and I’ll water your camels too” that she will be the one You have chosen for your servant Isaac.”

And that was exactly how Eliezer knew Rebekah.  It was no sooner than he had finished praying and looked up that he saw a very beautiful young virgin coming toward the well with a jar on her shoulder in order to draw water.  He did not yet know, but she was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milkah, who was the wife of Nahor; Abraham’s brother! 

Eliezer hurried to her side and asked “Please give me a drink from your jar.”

She gave him a drink, and to Eliezer’s delight she said “I’ll draw water for your camels too until they have had enough to drink.”  

She quietly filled her jar from the well, over and over, and emptied it into the trough for Abraham’s camels to drink.  Now just one camel alone can drink up to 20 gallons of water.  For ten camels to drink, Rebekah would have had to work at least an hour and probably longer.   As she did this Eliezer tried to observe everything about her to be sure that God had brought her to him for Isaac.  

Eliezer cared very little about this girl’s strikingly beautiful appearance; he was trying to discern her character.  Eliezer watched for beauty on the inside as well as beauty on the outside.  The character and beauty on the inside was definitely much more important and took high precedence over any outward appearance.  

It seems that Eliezer might have told his men not to help Rebekah so that he could see a true picture of her character.  There is no specific mention of the men during this time in the scriptures, but one can just visualize them sitting idly by, watching the beautiful Rebekah at work.

Watching her work hard to water his camels, Eliezer realized that Rebekah had a servant’s heart.  This was a very good trait in Eliezer’s opinion, and a very good qualification for the wife of Isaac.  She not only SAID she would water the camels; she moved quickly and went about the work, not waiting for Eliezer to protest her help, or for him to offer for his men to do the work. Rebekah went straight to the task, very willing to do all the work herself.  Rebekah did not even look up or question that  Eliezer's men did not leand a hand.   She did this random act of kindness straight from her heart, willingly, humbly, and as a free gift; even to a stranger.  

Eliezer knew that the gift of hospitality was very important to Abraham and Isaac.  It was the way that opened the door for them to show God's kindness, love and mercy to others.   They had practiced this godly trait throughout the land of Canaan, and Rebekah seemed to have the same natural instinct for making people feel welcomed and blessed.  

Eliezer must have watched her smile and greet the other villagers who came and went as she went about her work. He might have imagined by their attitude toward her that perhaps at one time or another she had done the same for some of these families too.    Eliezer must have seen that she put his comfort above her own, even though she did not even know him.

 

When Rebekah had finished watering his camels; Eliezer took out some very expensive jewelry and held it in his hands as he asked her; “Whose daughter are you? Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”  

“Us” meant all of Eliezer's ten camels, Eliezer and the servants that tended to the camel on the journey.  After all,  there had to be one man to lead each camel, and at least one extra man to help Eliezer with loading and unloading and guiding them through the land.  There must have been at least eleven or more men who came with Eliezer to help bring the gifts of Isaac to his future bride.  

Does anything about that particular number sound familiar?  I think Yeshua also had eleven men who helped bring the gifts of God to His people!  Locating and obtaining the right bride for a noble son would involve using many loyal, well-trained and dedicated servants, all of them workmen who would follow closely and work specifically with the faithful and honored head servant of the Master.

Rebekah explained who her father and grandfather were, and she said they had plenty of room for Eliezer, his camels, and his servants to spend the night at their house.  

I have to pause here and ask a question of the reader.  What about your own house?  Do you have room for The Holy Spirit, the servant of God Most High, to come stay in your house?  Perhaps you own no house, perhaps you own nothing but  your own body; but is the body not a Tabernacle for The Holy Spirit of God to dwell in?  Is there room in the house of your soul to receive all the ways that God’s gifts come to you through this faithful servant of God called The Holy Spirit?  

Will you be a gracious receiver as Rebekah was?  When you look in the eyes of a stranger in your own hometown do you ask yourself if they are not a gift from God that may have come to bless your home?  Do you invite them to rest and be refreshed?  Are you open to hospitality like Rebekah was with Eliezer?

I think we all could take a lesson from Rebekah, I know I could.  This beautiful woman with the sincere servant's heart and the gift of hospitality was becoming more and more intriguing to Eliezer.

When Rebekah indicated that her father and grandfather were relatives of Abraham, Eliezer immediately bowed down to the ground and gave praise to God for leading him directly to the house of Abraham’s brother.  Rebekah was standing right beside him as he offered this prayer of thanks, and she was delighted to find that this stranger she had met was the servant of a member of her own family!  She quickly realized this could not be a coincidence.  She could not wait to tell her family this good news; for they would be pleased to know more of the life of Uncle Abraham who lived so far away!  Long distance communications were very hard in those days.  They had not heard from The House of Abraham in a long, long time.  Rebekah filled her jar one last time and went quickly to tell her family this good news.

Eliezer waited beside the spring while Rebekah ran to tell her family about the important visitors that were coming to stay with them.  She told them he was a servant of Abraham, and she showed them the expensive jewelry he had given to her.  She must have explained to them how he had bowed down to God and thanked God for leading him to the house of his master Abraham’s family.  

   

The jewels Eliezer gave to Rebekah were made of silver and gold; a nose ring and some bracelets that dangled daintily from Rebekah's arm.

Rebekah had an older brother named Laban.  As soon as he heard this news and saw the expensive jewelry that Rebekah was now wearing, Laban, went out to the well to greet Eliezer with a warm welcome.  “Come you who are blessed of the LORD.  Why are you standing here?  I have prepared the house for you and your camels. “

Have you ever had the exciting experience of telling your own brother about a new guest that comes from your Father's people, who lives in a distance land? Or let me put it this way:  Have you ever had the pleasure of telling someone that you loved about God's Holy Spirit?  How awesome is that?  Rebekah got to do that in a similar way when she told Laban about Eliezer.  Isn’t it fun, to relate the interesting circumstances around how you found each other at the well, and to introduce the guest to your brother and watch each of them slowly understand the importance of the visit?  

Isn’t it fun to know that the presence of this faithful servant who often arrives unexpectedly as you go about your daily tasks could totally change everything about your life in an instant?  Or eventually even the life of your brother too?  

So it was in the case of Rebekah.  It was an exciting unanticipated surprise in the middle of a mundane day of daily chores.  God had brought hope, joy and anticipation into the everyday.

Laban led Eliezer to the house of Nahor, Abraham’s brother.  Eliezer's camels were housed in a clean, well cared for barn, and they were well fed by the servants of Nahor, who helped Eliezer's men unload and guard the treasures he brought from Abraham.  

The servants of Nahor must have been amazed at the richness of the things that were loaded on Eliezer’s camels backs.  Laban must have used his most trusted servants to help with this task, in order to prevent theft of the gifts which were exceedingly wonderful and exquisite.  

The servants of Laban and Nahor must have wondered where Eleizer was taking these valuable gifts, and why he had them loaded on the backs of his camels on such a long journey.

 

Eliezer was taken inside to the family's best quarters and made to be very comfortable.  He and the men with him received fresh clean water to wash their feet.  They were given time to rest and be refreshed from their journey.  

Eliezer was invited to a lavish dinner that evening.

It surely seemed that all things were going well with Eliezer's quest of finding a bride for his master's son.  Eliezer could clearly see God's will and help in every direction he turned, and he was feeling like this was the right place to be.    

Eliezer, still being a good and very cautious servant, decided to still be carefully cautious and to throw in a few more little tests to determine and confirm his good feelings about Rebekah.  He prayed about these things as he rested before dinner and he waited for further conversations with her family. 

The extra precautions were not unusual traits for this good servant of Abraham.  Eliezer was always very careful in how he proceeded to go about his master's business.  He used great wisdom and sought out God's help each time, in every large or small task.  It would have been totally foolish for him to have blurted out the facts about his mission when he first met Rebekah at the well.  She might have thought he was crazy, and she might not have led him to her family.  The way Eliezer had shown her respect, and given her nice gifts, and waited patiently on her to confirm his signs were less obvious, more respectful and much easier for Rebekah to understand and relate to.  

When Rebekah saw Eliezer bow down and worship God for leading him to the home of his master’s relatives, she must have realized that she too had seen a sign from God.  Eliezer had earned her trust, and she perceived him to be an honest and sincere noble man.  

Now he would continue the process of confirmations that evening when he joined the family for dinner by being totally honest about exactly who he was and exactly why he was there.  It was time for him to reveal the rest of the story.

Eliezer would see what type of reaction Rebekah’s family gave to the whole purpose surrounding his journey, and then if all went well; he would proceed to make the arrangements for Rebekah with great caution, all the time following God’s lead as he went on through the process of securing a bride for Isaac.

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 63 - ELIEZER HAS A NEW ASSIGNMENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf) 

If you ever need an example of a great servant take a look at Eliezer, the 
servant of Abraham.

Eliezer was Abraham’s oldest and most trusted servant.  Abraham had trusted Eliezer with all that he owned from the very beginning of their time in Hebron.

Not only was he a servant who looked after Abraham’s household, Eliezer headed up the band of adopted sons (over 300 trained men) who lived with Abraham and Sarah and protected and defended them when they were in danger.  He was both a great servant and a mighty warrior.  He was also a close friend and advisor.  He was like a member of the family and was treated as such with great respect.  

Eliezer looked after the welfare of Abraham’s family as if they were his own.  All of the above and more are true of Eliezer, yet he was very humble and always remembered his place of servanthood.  He had an outstanding resume, but if asked, the one credential he always gave was “I am a servant of Abraham.”

Early on it was thought that Eliezer might be the one to inherit Abraham’s vast wealth; but that was not his motivation for his faithfulness.  He proved this by the way he stayed with Abraham and looked after his best interest even many more years after the birth of Ishmael and Isaac.  

Abraham loved Eliezer like a brother and would have gladly given him full freedom; but Eliezer did not desire to ever leave the service of Abraham.  He had died to his own life and he lived specifically to be a good and faithful servant to Abraham.

Is it any wonder, when Abraham decided it was time for Isaac to marry that he chose Eliezer to go and find his bride?  

There would be no one better than Eliezer to accomplish this task successfully. He was very wise,  and he would carefully choose a bride that would please both Abraham and Isaac.
   

Abraham thought it very important that Isaac find the right woman to marry.  Abraham had become very wealthy.  God had blessed him tremendously.  Now that Abraham was old and it was well established that Isaac would be his rightful heir, he wished for his son to be happily married to a type of woman deserving of what Isaac would have to offer.    She would not be from the country which they dwelt in now, as it was still full of pagan worship and idols, in spite of the fact that Abraham and Sarah had turned many in the land toward God.   

Isaac’s wife needed to come from the people that Abraham and Sarah had left behind, the original family of Abraham.  The heirs of Isaac would not be from the women of this land.  The LORD would make a distinguished nation from Isaac and they must be a separate and set apart people.

Genesis 22 speaks to us about Abraham receiving word from his brother Nahor, who still dewelt in the land of Abraham’s origin, Aram Naharaim, an area we now know as modern day northern Syria.  Nahor now had many children, one of them being a young daughter named Rebekkah.  We are not sure if Abraham had Rebekkah in mind when he told Eliezer to go and find a wife for Isaac among his people, but perhaps Abraham knew of her and wondered if she was the one for Isaac.

 

Perhaps he thought sending Eliezer would be a good test to confirm that she was the right one.  If Abraham did not tell Eliezer whom he sought, and Eliezer was led to Rebekkah by God, Abraham would know that his suspicions about her were correct.

So Abraham called Eliezer to him and, saying nothing at all about Rebekkah, told him to go to the land where his family dwelled and find a suitable wife for Isaac.  Isaac’s wife must not be one of the idol worshipping women in the land of Canaan; but a godly woman with the same heritage and fear of God as Isaac’s Mother, Sarah.  Eliezer knew this was not an easy request. All of the people living in Aram Naharaim were not godly.  What if he did not find such a woman?  Why did Abraham not go himself or send Isaac?
 

These questions became clearer to Eliezer as he discussed the details of this important task with Abraham.  God had brought them out of a foreign land and and planted them here in the land of Canaan.  He had promised this land to them one day.  They were never to go back or return out of the promised land.

 Abraham took great care to make sure that Eliezer understood that Isaac was never to leave the land of God’s promise.  All of his blessings were tied to the place where God had planted him.  Eliezer understood and swore to Abraham that he would never allow Isaac to leave the land of Canaan. 

This promise from Eliezer must have given Abraham comfort in his old age.  He knew he would not always be around to protect Isaac and to remind him of the great promises that God had given.  Isaac was very obedient, but what if that should change?  Abraham knew he could trust Eliezer to correct Isaac in his absence.  Isaac had respect for this great and mighty servant, and he would see reason when Eliezer pointed it out to him if needed.

The bond between Isaac and Sarah had been very, very strong.  No mother had ever loved a son more that Sarah loved Isaac.  When Sarah died, Isaac mourned even more than Abraham.  The old stories have mentioned from time to time that the ties between Isaac and Sarah were so strong that they had kept Isaac uninterested in finding a wife until after Sarah’s death.  It wasn’t that Isaac did not desire a wife, but finding a woman who could live up to the standards that Sarah had modeled to her son would be very, very difficult.  Sarah would be a hard act for any young maid to try to follow.  It would take a woman of great spirit, faith and beauty, one who was very wise, to attract such a man as Isaac.

Eliezer had a great task before him, not so different from our own task as children of God, which is to go out into the world and bring strangers to the knowledge of their bridegroom Jesus Christ.  

Yes, in a sense, we too are all Eliezer’s making our way through a foreign land, looking for the perfect bride, bringing the creation unto The Creator, all the time in the name of our Master acting as His servants.  God is preparing a wedding for His Son and The Church.  The Bride must be made ready.  The Eliezer’s of this world play a huge part in getting the bride ready for the wedding.  A good servant of God will do the same as Eliezer, they will stay focused on the task at hand and be sure to keep the Master’s work first priority.  The Messiah is returning and the Eliezer’s of God must acquaint His bride with who she is to marry.  She must know all about him.  He must tell her how wonderful her husband will be and what a grand marriage they will have.  He must make room and allow for the infinite wisdom of God to work among the finite logic of men.

When we look at the life of Eliezer, we can also see how God's Holy Spirit works in our own life, like the faithful Eliezer, bringing us to our Master who will give us away to our Bridegroom.

 Eliezer knew he had his work cut out for him, but he swore to Abraham to not let Isaac leave the land.  Eliezer would be the one to go to the original home of Abraham and seek a perfect wife for Isaac among Abraham’s brother’s people.  How different Abraham’s people were from Abraham and Sarah and Isaac!  This would not be easy.   

It was a long, long journey, so Eliezer hastened to perform his task.  God went ahead of him, preparing the way for exactly what needed to happen next.