Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #11 of Genesis, chapter 24, and I am going to read Genesis 24:10-14:

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. 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. And he said, O JEHOVAH God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: 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.

I will stop reading there.  We have been spending a little time on this, considering that God has written such a long chapter.  There are sixty-seven verses in this chapter that are all dealing with the servant who was sent to Abraham’s family in order to find a bride, and the historical occurrences that happened when he got there, and then the trip home.  So this is a big deal.  It is a big deal or God would not have extended the chapter to the length He did.  And it is a big deal because it is instructing us and illustrating for us God’s salvation program in a historical parable.

So the camels play an important part in this, as we can see from these verses, and that is one of the reasons we have spent the last couple of studies allowing the Bible to direct us as we see how the word “camel” is used in other places in the Bible.

But before I get back to the word “camels,” (and I do want to go back to that because there are more Scriptures to look at), let us look, again, at Genesis 24:10:

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.

Nahor was a relative of Abraham.  We can see this when we turn back to Genesis 11:26-32:

And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Nahor was the son that did not go with him.  Nahor must have remained in Ur of the Chaldees.  He did not go with them when Terah took Abraham and his wife Sarai and Lot, the son of the other son of Terah who had died and whose name was Haran.  It does not tell us that Nahor went with them, so Nahor remained behind.

In the New Testament, it says in Acts 7:2:

And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

So this is telling us that Abram (before he became Abraham) lived in Mesopotamia, but from all we can read here in Genesis 11, it does not mention Mesopotamia, but it just tells us that they were in Ur of the Chaldees.  So I think it would be good for us to spend a little time trying to get a  handle on some of these places.  You  know, it is one of the reasons the Bible is so difficult because God can use several names for an individual or He can use several names for a place, and it just serves to hide truth.  So the more we search out these things, the better, even if we do not find spiritual truth right away when we are searching it out.   Ultimately, it will be a help down the road.

Now Mesopotamia is the word we saw in Genesis 24:10: “and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.”  We know the city of Nahor was in Mesopotamia, and we know that when Abraham was Abram and before he went to Haran, he was in Mesopotamia.  And that was also where Nahor stayed, so that makes sense that if he stayed behind, he grew his family there and that became Mesopotamia.  So when Abraham sent his servant to go find a wife for his son Isaac, he went to Mesopotamia, the place where Nahor remained.

The English word “Mesopotamia” comes from the Hebrew word, Strong’s #763.  There is also a word, Strong’s #758, that is also translated as “Mesopotamia” a couple of times.  But, first, let us look at #763, the word found in Genesis 24:10.  It is also the word we find in Deuteronomy 23:4:

Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Balaam was from Mesopotamia, so he would have been from the general area somewhere near Nahor.  The Hebrew word, Strong’s #763, that is translated as “Mesopotamia” is pronounced in the original Hebrew as “ar-am' nah-har-ah'-yim,”  and that word is transliterated in Psalm 60 in the title of the Psalm: “To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.”  It is really a compound word made up of two Hebrew words, and in Genesis 24:10 it is translated as Mesopotamia.

I mentioned there is a second Hebrew word, Strong’s #758, that is translated as “Mesopotamia,” but that word is simply pronounced, “arawm'.”  It is one part of the compound word that forms #763, translated as “Mesopotamia,” which is “ar-am' nah-har-ah'-yim.”  But with Strong’s #758, it is just “arawm',” and that is translated as “Mesopotamia” in a few places, and you can look those up, but we are going to look at where it is translated as “Aram,”  in Genesis 22:20-21:

And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,

Here, the word “Aram” is Strong’s #758, and this is part of the Hebrew word translated as “Mesopotamia,” and the word itself is translated as “Mesopotamia” in a couple of places.  So that is something to keep in mind regarding that in the city of Nahor one of his descendants was given the name “Aram,” and that identifies with this place, Mesopotamia.

Let us also go to Numbers 23:5-7:

And JEHOVAH put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

Well now, that is interesting.  Balaam said that he was brought by Balak, king of Moab, from Aram, and this word is #758.  But remember that we read earlier in Deuteronomy 23:4 that he (Balaam) was said to be the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia (#763), so this is tying the two words together with Aram, Strong’s #758.

I am giving the Strong’s numbers, and one of the reasons I give these numbers is not just to “fill space,” but it is so you, the listener or reader, can go to your concordance and check it out.  They are about $20 or $30 in a Christian bookstore, but if you do not have the money, that is still no excuse because you can go online and “Google” the Strong’s numbers.  There are a lot of online helps, so just because you do not have the actual book, it is no excuse for not trying to check these things out.

So, again, the number is Strong’s #758, and it is translated as “Aram.”  Also, look at #763, a related word, which is a compound word, and the word “Aram” is part of that, and it is translated that way here regarding Balaam, as well as #763 being used of Balaam, and they are indicating that Balaam came from this place.  He came from Mesopotamia.  He came from Aram.  They are one and the same and, again, this word itself can be translated as “Mesopotamia.”

Now let us complicate things even more, because God uses these words in the Bible in the way that He does, and the same word that is translated as “Mesopotamia” and “Aram” is also translated as “Syria” and “Syrian.”  It is the identical word.  For example, 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.

Here, the word “Syrian” is used twice, and it is really the same word as “Aram.”  Isaac married into this family.  Also, it says in Genesis 28:5:

And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

So when we are reading about Syria or the Syrians in the Bible, they can be traced back to Mesopotamia and Nahor and his descendants.  I think that is important information for us to have and we will just “file it away” and I am sure it will come in handy at some future point.

Let us go back to Genesis 24 where we see that it says in Genesis 24:10-11:

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. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening…

Now it is interesting that Eliezer came with camels, and we know the camels were loaded with goods and riches.  We also know that camels are unclean animals, so we should not limit the things we are looking at in the Bible as far as their possible spiritual meaning.  What I mean is that the camels are unclean; they are thirsty; they kneel down, as positioned by the servant by a well of water.  And what does a well of water point to in the Bible?  It points to the “well of salvation,” so that is one thing we have to look at, and it was said to be “even the time that women go out to draw water.”  Rebekah is also a picture of God’s elect because she is going to become part of the bride of Christ, and she is going to provide water by drawing the water from the well and giving it to the camels. 

That is one picture that we can keep in view, as we look at another picture concerning the camels.  We have looked in Matthew and Luke, but it says regarding the rich young ruler, in Mark 10:23-25:

And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

This is the third place in the Gospel accounts where we find this parable, and in each case, it is in the context of “riches,” and a camel going through a needle’s eye is likened to a rich man entering into the kingdom of God, so the camel is tied to “riches” in this way. 

We also find it says in Isaiah 30:6:

The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.

And it says in Jeremiah 49:30-32:

Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith JEHOVAH; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith JEHOVAH, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith JEHOVAH.

There is the “wealthy nation” and “camels” come into view.  We see it with the caravan of ten camels, with the number “ten” pointing to completeness, and all the master’s goods are on the camels.  It is pointing to the great riches of God and the kingdom of God, and the abundance of “wealth” that God has in store for the bride.  Of course, the servant lavished the gifts upon the family, but they were mainly for the bride.

I just want to read some verses before we close this study and, Lord willing, in the next study we will look at some of the other spiritual pictures that might be in view.

Let us read Ephesians, chapter 1.  There are too many verses to read them all, but it says in Ephesians 1:6-11:

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Then it says in Ephesians 2:4-7:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

These are the abundance of riches that the servant is bringing to Rebekah, the bride for Abraham’s son Isaac.

It says in Ephesians 3:15-21:

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Think of these riches: riches of mercy and glory and honor and grace that are being carried by these “camels.”