Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #8 of Genesis, chapter 24, and I am going to read Genesis 24:8-9:

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 this.  It is a picture of the sending forth of the Gospel into the world.  The servant, who was likely Eliezer, is a picture of Christ and of the whole company of the elect, because we mentioned earlier that the Bible says, “How beautiful are the feet of them…that bring glad tidings,” and “How beautiful…are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.”  It is the people of God that go forth as Christ is moving in them, so God reckons it as if Jesus Himself is doing it, and this is how it was throughout the history of the world as the Gospel was sent forth to find the bride of Christ.  It is the bride for the master’s son.  It is a very clear spiritual picture.

Then we saw that Abraham told his servant 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.

We looked at a few verses that indicate that the people of God would be willing, as it says in Psalm 110:3:

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…

God is in complete control and complete charge of the “willingness” aspect of the whole Gospel program.  It was not the business of God’s people or something that we should delve into when it came to the response of the elect to the hearing of the Gospel; that is, Eliezer’s business as Abraham’s servant was to go to the proper place.  He was not to go to Canaan, but he was to go to Abraham’s family in Haran to find a qualified woman, and then present the petition from Abraham in asking that she come back and be Isaac’s wife.  Then the servant brings a question about if she were not willing, and Abraham responded, “If she is not willing, then you are clear from this my oath.”  Then there was the further admonition, “…only bring not my son thither again,” if the family in Haran should say, “Well, it is a dangerous journey for a young woman to take.  Go back and take your master’s son and bring him here, and we will give her to him in marriage.”  It is a very real possibility that they could have said something like that, so Abraham warned his servant, “…only bring not my son thither again.” 

We also spent some time looking at that language that reminds us that the Lord Jesus Christ is not to be crucified afresh, as it says in Hebrews 6, and that has to do with despising the Gospel and the truth of the Word of God.  It is an evil sin that the churches fell into, especially at the end of the church age.  What Christ has done as far as having made payment for sin at the foundation of the world is sufficient, and as far as having entered into the human race and going to the cross in 33 A. D. was a sufficient demonstration.  Do not crucify Him again.  He has done it one time for payment (for sin) and one time in demonstration, and that was sufficient, so the admonition not to bring His son thither again is being emphasized. 

Again, it said, “And if the woman will not be willing,” and we know that God’s people would be willing.  But we also know that great numbers of people were “called.”  They heard the call to the marriage or the wedding feast, and they made excuses.  They did not want to go.  They refused it, ignored it and turned back from it.  Multitudes upon multitudes did not come in a right way.  Many twisted the call itself, and made as though they had responded, when in their hearts they had not responded.  Remember what God says of those that profess with their lips?  You know, they say wonderful things about Him, and they profess to be His people and to love Him and, yet, their hearts are far from Him.  And that is what the true Gospel call was meant to correct.  It grabbed ahold of the heart of individuals and drew those people to God unto the point of salvation, and God gave them a new heart and a new spirit, thereby qualifying that person to be part of the bride for the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, it said, “And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath,” and the word “clear” in verse 8 is Strong’s #5352, and it is found in several places, and I am going to read a few, starting in Exodus 20:7:

Thou shalt not take the name of JEHOVAH thy God in vain; for JEHOVAH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The word translated as “guiltless” is the same Hebrew word as “clear.” 

It says in Exodus 34:7:

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

The words “the guilty” are in italics so it was not in the text.  Here, it means that God will find fault with those that transgress His Law and punish them.  He will not “clear” them or hold them guiltless.  He will find guilt in them, for the wages of sin is death.

It says in Numbers 14:18:

JEHOVAH is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

This is a very similar verse.

Also, it says in Nahum 1:3:

JEHOVAH is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked:  JEHOVAH hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

The word “acquit” is our word.  He will not at all “clear,” just as in those other verses.

And it says in Proverbs 19:5:

A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.

The word “unpunished” is the word translated “clear.”

Then it says in Proverbs 19:9:

A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

So I think we have a very good understanding of what this word means when Abraham was telling his servant in Genesis 24:8:

And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath…

He will be guiltless.  He will not be punished.  Speaking to his servant, he is saying, “Go forth and go to the land I tell you, and go to my family and find a qualified woman, and present this to her and ask her to come back her with you.”  In a previous verse he had said that JEHOVAH would send an angel before him to make all that happen.  But if she was not willing, he was not to force her or kidnap her and throw her on his camel and ride off. “You will be under no penalty.  I understand that you would have accomplished what I asked you to do, even if she is not willing.  If she is willing, bring her back.” 

We can actually see another part of God’s Gospel program in this language of Abraham telling his servant he would be “clear” from the oath.  We saw some of the places this word was used concerning the taking of God’s name in vain and how God would not hold him guiltless or “clear” that took His name in vain.  Remember that to go forth with the Gospel, you are going forth as a Christian.  After hearing the Gospel yourself and after God has saved you (if you are truly an elect), then you would immediately be transported into heavenly places upon the ladder, who is Christ, to be seated at the right hand of God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then you would be immediately dispatched back to earth as a messenger of the Gospel and a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then you are to “go forth,” and from that point on you carry the name of Christ. 

But if you are not a “true man,” and you are not without guile, then you still have a heart of stone within and you have not been born again, and God will not hold you guiltless for taking His name in vain.  Likewise, the verses in Proverbs 19 indicate: “A false witness shall not be unpunished.”  That is, a false messenger and a false servant of God who claims with the mouth to be Christian shall not be unpunished.  When they answer the Census question, they are saying, “I am a Christian.  I am a child of God, and I am here to do God’s will.  I am here to find the bride of Christ.”  And, yet, they are false witnesses.  So when these would go forth, they would carry a false gospel or false message, usually.  They would not be faithful ambassadors.  They would not be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God, but they would be unfaithful.  So as they would go forth, they would pervert the Gospel of grace and turn it into a works gospel wherein one has to “accept Christ” to be His bride, or one has to do this or that, rather than coming with the true Gospel of the Bible wherein one is saved by the faith of Christ and by God’s grace.  And He will save His elect whether they are willing, or not, because the Bible says:   “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”  You see, the elect bride’s ears will perk up to the truth – they hear His voice and they are made willing in the day of His power.  But when they hear a perverted gospel message and the messenger has twisted it and turned it into something other than grace by adding some kind of work, the elect would often not be “willing.”  They would not go with such a one, but if they did, they would not go far before realizing it.  But the false witnesses will be punished because they were unfaithful, and they were not good stewards of the Word of God.

But if you are a true man and a faithful servant that went forth in the day of salvation which was the time when God’s people would be made willing in the day of God’s power, they will respond.  If they do not respond, you are “clear.”  You had done everything you were called upon to do.  You blew the trumpet and warned the people.  You know, that is what this reminds us of, if we turn to Ezekiel 33 where we read of God’s instruction to His watchmen.  And all the people of God were watchmen, even in past generations during the church age.  There was still an element of the Gospel call that warned people: “Look, the sword is coming.  You are going to die.  You are going to perish and die in your sins unless you respond.”  So there has always been that element, but at the time of the end when we entered into the second part of the Great Tribulation when the Latter Rain went forth, it took on even greater significance as the people of God sounded the trumpet.  That trumpet did not give an uncertain sound, but it gave a very definite sound so the hearer could prepare himself for battle, the Day of Judgment, for which the date was set for May 21, 2011.  It says in Ezekiel 33:2-9:

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

You see, this lines up very nicely with Abraham’s words to his servant: “Go to the place I am telling you to go and present the words I am giving you concerning your task to find a wife for my son, and the angel of JEHOVAH will go before thee and He will help you to accomplish this.”  Abraham had great confidence this would work out because he trusted God.  “However, if the woman is not willing, then you are clear of this my oath.”  You see, the going forth of the servant had to do with the going forth of the Gospel, and the Gospel was always a two-edged sword.  As the Gospel went out into the world, it was a declaration to mankind that man is a sinner, and because of our sins, we are under the wrath of God, and if God does not save us before we die, we will surely perish.  So that message went out for century, after century, after century, and, finally, at the end it had “legs” with the reinforced date of May 21, 2011 to remind people and to strengthen the message.  It was backing up and supporting the message.  “Do not put it off.  Do not turn away from it and do what you have done in times past, because this is serious.  We are here in Africa handing out tracts.  We are here on the radio in China through broadcasts from Taiwan.  You are seeing a caravan driving down the streets of a major city of North America, and you are confronted by an individual with a tract, and he is standing right there. ‘Here! Take warning’.”

It was the trumpet sound that was certain.  As we read in 1Corinthians 14, if the trumpet is uncertain, then people do not properly prepare themselves.  But it was very certain, and that is why God caused His people to put an exclamation point on the tracts, the billboards, and so forth, because it was Judgment Day.  And the Bible has still not budged or moved away from that declaration of May 21, 2011, Judgment Day.  And people did have up to that day in the hope that the Lord might have mercy and save them, but God’s mercy did come to an end on that date, and His Gospel program concluded.  There is no more salvation today.  So what God told people was absolutely truth and faithful, and what the people of God declared from His Word, the Bible, was absolutely true and faithful concerning the shut door of heaven on that day. 

Therefore, since we did warn the people, we were “clear” from this, God’s oath.  And, of course, the woman (the elect) responded, and we were brought back to the Master’s Son in a spiritual way as we entered into the kingdom of God.  And, so, it was accomplished on every level.  The task was completed.

I would like to talk more about this, but we have come to the end of our time.  Lord willing, when we come together in our next Bible study, we will continue in Genesis 24.