The servant of Abraham part 3.
Genesis 24. 04/20/05
We have been talking sometime now about the servant of Abraham. As we have been studying about the servant of Abraham, we see so much in this the calling of God’s servant. We talked first of all about the calling of the servant. There was six points that we shared about the calling of the servant. The first was the authority for his calling. Abraham said unto his servant go and he went. The servant was to go to Haran to look for a wife for Isaac. In that, we saw the authority of his going and also the assignment in his going; to find a bride.
Next, we talked about the assurance of his calling. Abraham said if you find a girl and she refuses to follow you back here to Canaan to become the bride of Isaac you will not be held guilty.
Then there was the assistance in his calling. Abraham said that an angel with aid him along the way. The angel would be great assistance. I have often wondered how many times an angel of the Lord has gotten you and me out of some bad spots in our lives? I believe in angels strongly. I believe there are some angels the devil sends out to cause you to have a bad day.
We won’t have time to go over the whole message again so we will have to move right along. We also talked about the consecration of the servant. That was our last study. We told how the servant prepared himself and his camels for this 1000-mile round-trip.
Now tonight we want to talk about the comparison of the servant. Listen, I think this is going to be so interesting.
In previous studies, we have noted that Isaac in his birth and in his being offered up on the altar at Moriah, is a wonderful type of Jesus; and that Rebecca in becoming his bride typifies the church, the bride of Christ. Now, this brings us to the typology of the servant who you know had a large part in obtaining a bride for Isaac. It doesn’t take long in our text to see that the servant is a type of the Holy Spirit. I want us to note 4 of these ways that the servant is a type of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s note first of all THE SENDING OF THE SPIRIT. When we think of the task of the Holy Spirit; we know first of all the Spirit was sent by the Father. Now the servant was sent by Abraham to find a wife for Isaac his son. So, not only was the Holy Spirit sent by the Father but sent on behalf of the Son. So, Abraham sent the servant in the name of the son Isaac. In John 14:26 Jesus said “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name.
Now we see not only the sending of the Spirit but Also THE SEEKING OF THE SPIRIT.
Now as we look at the life of this servant we are going to see how the Holy Spirit works. There is first of all the apprehending of the sinner. The Bible tells us the servant “ran to meet her.” That’s how he got Rebecca’s attention. Can you remember how the Holy Spirit got your attention?
Then also there is the awakening of the sinner. The servant made Rebecca aware of the situation of Isaac and her need of him as her husband if she would enter a new and glorious life. That’s exactly what the Holy Spirit does; it awakens us to our sin and a need for a better life in Jesus Christ.
It gets even better. We see the apprehending of the sinner, the awakening of the sinner, and also the abiding with the sinner. The servant would abide with Rebecca till he could present her to Isaac. Once Rebecca accepted the invitation to be Isaac’s wife, the servant never left Rebecca until he brought her to Isaac. The Holy Spirit does not leave the redeemed either until they come into the presence of Jesus.
We see the sending and the seeking but I want you to see THE SPEAKING OF THE SPIRIT.
Another area in which the servant of Abraham foreshadows the Holy Spirit is in his speaking to Rebecca and to her family. First of all he exalted the Son. If the servant is going to influence Rebecca to want Isaac for a husband, he is going to have to speak well of him and he certainly did. He described how great and wealthy Isaac’s father was and then said all of this was Isaac’s. This gave great honor and glory to Isaac. In like manner, the Holy Spirit presents Christ as a most worthy bridegroom. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “he shall glorify me.” Everything that the servant said was all related in one way or another to Isaac. The emphasis was not on the servant but on the son. Something we can learn from this and that he is to beware of movements in which the emphasis is on the Holy Spirit. The servant wasn’t out to win Rebecca for himself but for Isaac.
The servant not only exalted the son but also he enlightened her about the son. The message of the servant of Abraham was to acquaint Rebecca with Isaac. She knew nothing about Isaac until the servant came to her at the well. It doesn’t say in the Scripture but I’m sure for the 500 mile trip to Canaan the servant would inform Rebecca more about Isaac. And when she came into Canaan and saw Isaac walking towards them, it was the servant who enlightened Rebecca about the identity of the man walking to meet them. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit “he shall testify of me.”
We have talked about the sending of the spirit, the seeking of the spirit, and the speaking by the spirit and now we will look at THE SUPPLYING BY THE SPIRIT.
As soon as Rebecca had finished watering the servant’s camels, he gave her a golden earring of half shekel weight. He also gave Rebecca and her family some other gifts. Of course this is a typology of the Holy Spirit who is the giver of gifts. The servant was the giver and the guide for Rebecca until she made it all the way into Canaan.
Just like the servant the Holy Spirit is our guide, our protector and will take us all the way into the Promised Land. So here we have in the Old Testament a promise of eternal security.
