EXPOSITION L. GENESIS XXIV. 10-15. 10. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. 11. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. 12. And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. 13. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water; 14. And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. Here was, indeed, a praying servant, one of the greatest blessings that any master can possess. Who can tell how many a blessing in our health, in our domestic concerns, in our family intercourse, may have been conveyed to us through the petitions of some faithful praying servant? The prayer of Eliezer is as remarkable for its humility, as for its simplicity and propriety. He calls upon God as the God of his master Abraham, as if he felt himself unworthy to be acknowledged by the Most High. Happy for the Christian servant, however low or inconsiderable, that if he is reconciled to God in Christ Jesus, "God is not ashamed to be called his God," and he may approach a throne of grace, pleading the merits. of his ever-blessed Saviour, with all the "boldness of access," even of Abraham himself. Probably Eliezer knew not so much of the character of him with whom he had to do, as thousands similarly circumstanced under our more clear and merciful dispensation; yet how useful may his example be to many even of the most enlightened among us! "I pray thee send me good speed this day," is the manner in which he applies himself to his duty, the moment he has arrived at the prescribed place. How valuable is the habit of thus beginning every duty, it matters not how simple or how common-place, with earnest prayer to God! how differently would all the duties of servants and masters be performed, if they were thus habitually commenced! And observe by how speedy an answer his prayer is followed. 15. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. "Before he had done speaking," his prayer is answered, his desire fulfilled, his errand in a fair way of being prosperously accomplished. So was it with the prophet Daniel in after ages, when interceding for his people; before his prayer was concluded, or, as he himself expresses it, "whiles I was speaking and praying," the angel Gabriel brought an answer of peace. So is it often, doubtless, with ourselves; so would it be much more frequently, if we could but attain to a stronger degree of faith, and offer our supplications, not like hirelings or slaves to a master whom they neither know nor care for, but like "dear children" of God in Christ Jesus, who believe that the tenderly compassionate parent to whom they speak, is as willing, yea, infinitely more willing, to hear than they to ask, and delights himself in the happiness and prosperity of all his children. [Here read from verse 16 to 49 inclusive.] EXPOSITION LI. GENESIS Xxiv. 50-67. 50. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. 51. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. 52. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. The servant of Abraham had ventured to ask of the Almighty a sign, that he might know whom the Lord had appointed as the wife of his master's son. It had pleased God, as we have seen, to vouchsafe this sign, and to point out, by her kindness and condescension, Rebekah, the daughter of Abraham's brother, to be thus honoured. The man, therefore, accompanied her home, and recounted, in the hearing of her family, all that had befallen him, even to the very words of the prayer which he had offered, and the gracious and remarkable answer that he had received. The verses which we have read contain the reply of Rebekah's father and brother to the proposal of Eliezer, and we see in them much of that ready devotedness to the will of God, that we should have expected from the near relations of Abraham. "The thing proceedeth from the Lord," is their answer. How, indeed, could they doubt it, observing, as they could not fail to do, the providential arrangement so visible throughout the whole transaction? Abraham's servant arrives at the close of his long journey, at that time in the evening when the women were accustomed to come out of the city to draw water; the very first woman that comes is precisely of that family which of all others he would have sought for, had he dared to take the matter into his own hands; while the very words which he had petitioned might be spoken by the intended bride, are the very first that she utters, and the action that follows them exactly that which he hoped and expected. It is very profitable and deeply interesting, thus to trace, even in our own lives, the answers to prayer, and the wonderful, though often minute and scarcely perceptible, instances of providential interference of which we all are, in different degrees, the subjects. The path which we take in our daily walks, the persons to whom we speak, the topics upon which we converse, who shall say, that any one of them is a trifle too small to claim |