Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #6 of Genesis, chapter 24, and I am going to read Genesis 24:4-9:

But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. JEHOVAH God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

I will stop reading there.  We have been looking at the spiritual meaning of Abraham sending forth his servant who was more than likely Eliezer, the steward of his house, back to the land of Haran where Abraham had come from.  Again, we saw that Abraham first commanded him not to take a wife from the daughter of the Canaanites, following that by the command, “Go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.”

We spent some time discussing how this is a picture of the Gospel being sent in a very guided way to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to find God’s elect.  There was specific direction given by God.  He sent forth the Gospel into the world to find “the nations of them that are saved.”

I think we understand that.  We have covered that pretty well, but let us look at the word “country,” where it says in Genesis 24:4:

But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred…

Jeremiah 51 is a chapter describing the fall of Babylon or Judgment Day, and it says in Jeremiah 51:8-9:

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

Here, God’s people are to come out of Babylon.  That was the command given in Revelation 18:4-6:

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

“Come out of her, my people.”  Some people have said in the past that it was a command to come out of the churches because that was the only way we could come out of something.  We could come out of the churches and go out into the world, but how could we come out of the world?  That was a natural-minded explanation.  It was not taking into account the spiritual meaning of the word “country” as we found in Jeremiah 51:8: “and let us go every one into his own country…”  What country is that?  It is the “country” of the kingdom of God.  We come out of the world through salvation, just as all Israel came out of Egypt, which was a picture of being delivered from the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and the kingdom of God’s dear Son.  Just as that was a picture of salvation, so, too, it is the same picture to come out of Babylon and go into your own country, because at the point of salvation, we are lifted up and seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus in the kingdom of God.  We are hidden there.  We are protected.  We are safe and secure as God judges and brings His wrath upon Babylon, the world and kingdom of Satan.

It says in Hebrew 11:13-16:

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Here, that “country” is in view, as those that were in Babylon have come out and gone unto their own country.  If they are saved, they came out and went into the kingdom of God, and all the rest remain in the country of Babylon or in the kingdom of Satan. So that is what is in view in Genesis 24:4:

But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

Go forth and find these chosen people, elected by God to salvation before the foundation of the world.  They already had their sins laid upon Christ and paid for, so go forth and find the bride.

Moving on in Genesis 24, it says in Genesis 24:5-6:

And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.

Then it is stated again in Genesis 24:8:

And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

This presents a problem, but not on the historical level in which it is understandable.  Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees and he went into a land that he knew not at God’s command.  And he has lived many years now in the promised land of Canaan, and he has received his son according to the promise of God, so he has no intention of going back to where he started, and he does not want his son to do so either.  Historically or naturally, we can understand.  For example, many people move here to North America from other countries, and then their sons grow up in America.  If one of the sons said he wanted to go back to Italy or wherever they had come from, the father would say, “I do not want you to go back there – this is a much better place.”

So that is no problem (to understand), but the difficulty comes with the spiritual level, and that is because we want to be consistent in looking for the spiritual meaning.  And if the sending forth of the servant pictures the sending forth of the Gospel; and if not taking a wife of the daughter of Canaan has to do with not being unequally yoked with a non-elect; and if going to Abraham’s country and kindred has to do with finding God’s elect, the lost sheep of the house of Israel, then these statements Abraham made are also important on a spiritual level, and we must look for the spiritual meaning.  The servant asked Abraham a very logical question: “If the woman is not willing to follow me to this land, must I needs bring your son again to the land from whence thou camest?”  Abraham answered, “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.”  We have understood Abraham’s going into the Promised Land and we have understood the sending forth of this servant as the sending forth of the Gospel, but now we have to think about Isaac.  We have to look at Isaac because he is Abraham’s son, and we know that Abraham pictures God the Father, and we have seen, repeatedly, that Isaac is a type of Christ.  So Christ is with the Father, as Isaac is with his father Abraham.  I am sure that Isaac was of one mind with his father Abraham in sending forth the servant to find a wife, just as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were of one mind in sending forth the Gospel to find the spiritual bride.

So what does it mean when the servant asked, “Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?”  That question is understandable because bringing the son to the land from where he came is referring to the land where Abraham came from, but then Abraham says, “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.”  He is answering the question, but the way it is worded, it sounds as if his son had already been to that country, and he (the servant) was not to bring him back there again.  Historically, I do not think that was the case because I cannot find anywhere that says that Isaac visited Abraham’s homeland in the chapters we have read up to this point.  Isaac has consistently been with his father in the land of Canaan.

But what would this mean when we look at Isaac as a type of Christ, and the servant is saying, “Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?”  Then Abraham said into him, “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.”  Now we start to think: “Well, that means Christ has already come.  He had already been there, so do not bring him again.  You know, this idea actually does fit.  First, let us see how it fits as far as Isaac’s age is concerned.  We talked about this a few studies ago, but we know that Isaac was age 40 when the servant returned with Rebekah.  It says in Genesis 25:20:

And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

Isaac was 40.  He could have been 40 ½ or 40 and several months, but he is still said to be 40.  When did Sarah die?  Sarah died in 2030 B. C.  Isaac was born in the year 2067 B. C. when Sarah was 90, and it was 37 years later in 2030 and Sarah died at age 127, and Isaac is age 37.  We know Sarah’s death is what is prompting Abraham to send his servant, as we read a little later when Rebekah finally came and met face to face with Isaac, and it says in Genesis 24:65-67:

For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

So this action of sending the servant had everything to do with trying to comfort Isaac because of his mother’s death.  He had lost the main woman in his life, and his father Abraham wanted to then find a wife for Isaac and someone that could comfort him.  He got the idea to send his servant.  So that means from the time Sarah died in 2030 B. C. when Isaac was 37 until the servant returned with Rebekah when Isaac was 40.  That does not mean that he had just had a birthday and turned 40.  It could be, but let us just say for now that he was 40 ½ years old, so he is still 40 for six more months, but that means that from the point of Sarah’s death until Rebekah was brought back is a space of 3 ½ years. 

Now let us compare that with the first coming of Christ when the Lord Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in 7 B. C.  We know there are key dates.  In 29 A. D., he began His ministry and that period of ministry lasted 3 ½ years.  At the end of that period of ministry, He went to the cross and rose from the dead on the third day.  Then a little while after that was the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  As far as Jesus’ age, we will look at the calendar years and actual years, even though I think Jesus was 38 ½ years old when He went to the cross, so that does not match up, but as far as calendar years, if we go from 7 B. C. to 33 A. D., it is 40 inclusive years.  (And Isaac was 40.)  And it was in that 40^th year that the Holy Spirit was sent forth in a major way as the Lord began to evangelize the earth, so we can relate the sending forth of the Holy Spirit in the 39^th actual year and 40^th calendar year of the timeline of Christ’s first coming to the sending forth of Abraham’s servant Eliezer to find Isaac a wife.  The Holy Spirit being poured out is doing the exact same thing on a spiritual level, as the Word of God went forth to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Everyone that was found became saved and they were added to the body of Christ, which is identified in another figure as the “bride” of Christ.

So the time matches up fairly well.  I do not think it matches perfectly, but it matches fairly well with Isaac’s age when the servant returned with the bride.  As we read this and the servant said, “Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again,” and we see that Isaac was probably 39/40 with the sending of the servant and when the servant came back Isaac was maybe 40 or 40 ½; it is as though Christ has already come to the earth and already accomplished the task He was sent forth to do in going to the cross and rising from the dead and then sending forth the Holy Spirit into the world to evangelize the earth.  This would relate to that.  You go forth and you find those that are “made willing,” as it says in Psalm 110:3: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…”  God made His elect willing as He drew them to Himself (even against their will) and they are forcibly drawn by the will of God toward His Word, and they cannot resist.  It is irresistible grace. 

So there is no question the bride will be willing to come but, nevertheless, the question was asked: “Must I needs bring thy son again?”  Now this has to do in an interesting way with those that think the Gospel is not good enough for them, and they want more drama.  They want the excitement of tongues and falling over backwards.  They want to see the power of God in miracles being performed right before their eyes, and then they will believe.  I think that is part of it, and it relates to what we read in Hebrews 6:4-6:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

You see, Jesus had come and been crucified.  “Do not bring my Son again.  Do not crucify my Son again.”  It is very helpful instruction concerning the type of Gospel that was to go forth.  It was to be faithful according to the Word of God.  It is a Gospel that was declared, and God’s elect would believe and follow and be drawn to it.  There is not to be a crucifying of the Lord again.

This also relates to the end of the church age, here in Hebrews 6, and it is very hard language to understand, but I think we can see an element of it in these statements to the servant not to bring Isaac again.  It is as though he came once, and that is sufficient.  Do not send Him back again.