Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #13 of Genesis, chapter 24, and I am going to read Genesis 24:11-14:

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 going through this chapter for the last several studies.  We have discussed this historical event, which is really fairly simple.  It is not something grand or stupendous like the flood of Noah’s day or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  It is not one of the major events we have been reading about in chapter, after chapter, in the early part of Genesis.  It is just a simple errand mission, as Abraham tasked his servant Eliezer to go to his home country and find a wife for his son Isaac.

Then Eliezer loaded up ten camels and goes on his way, ending up at the location that Abraham was from and where Abraham still had family.  And it says in Genesis 24:11:

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.  

This servant will be successful.  He will find a wife (for Isaac) and he will go to the damsel’s home to ask her parents if she can go back with him, and she will do so, and he will return with a successfully completed mission.  A wife would be found for Abraham’s son Isaac.  You see, it is very simple if if we were to just stay on the historical, grammatical, literal level where the churches insist one must stay, and they view you as a heretic if you go on to the deeper spiritual meaning.  And, yet, if you stay at that base level, how many Bible studies could you do with this material?  I mean, how many times could one point out that it was very nice of Rebekah to show such kindness to a stranger?  You see, you can maybe glean a couple of nice, moral teachings that would be forgotten almost simultaneously with hearing it.  And I have had my share of listening to those types of studies during the time I spent in the churches, but that is not how God intended the Bible to be read and studied.  His intent was to give true historical accounts that took place in order to teach a Gospel meaning, and once you see the Gospel, then word, after word, after word becomes important.  We looked at “camels” and the fact that they were unclean animals, and the fact that they were made to kneel down without the city by a well of water.  We saw that to “kneel down” had to do with blessing, and the well of water identifies with the “well of salvation,” and so forth.  You see, it changes everything with all the action.  We have to carefully look at every word to see how it fits the spiritual context or the spiritual situation that God is laying out before our eyes.  And that is what we are going to continue to do.

We are going to continue to look at the words here.  For example, we are told in Genesis 24:11:

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.  

The word “draw” is Strong’s #7579, and let us look at a couple of places it is found.  It is found in 1Samuel 9 where Saul (who will become the first king of Israel) is going to meet with the prophet Samuel for the first time as they were going to inquire of him regarding some lost animals, in 1Samuel 9:10-14:

Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was. And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place: As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him. And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place.

I wanted to read all that because Saul and his servant entered the city and the first people they met were young maidens going out to draw water.  Saul and his servant are strangers to them, just like Abraham’s servant and the men with him were strangers to Rebekah.  Remember it was the time when the daughters of the men of the city would go out to draw water.  It was very customary and very traditional for the young virgin to be given the job of carrying the empty pitcher down to the well, filling it up, and carrying it back to the house.  It would have been pretty heavy, but that was the job they had to do, as they would carry it back to the house and fill up the various pitchers in the house.  So, here, again, Saul entered into the city of Samuel the prophet, and they met young maidens going out to draw water and they asked, “Is the seer here?”  

Now think of the Gospel picture that this may relate to, especially when they are referring to being bidden to the sacrifice.  Just compare that to the language of the New Testament when a king would have a dinner for his son, and he would bid people to come to the dinner.  It is very similar, so we can see the Gospel, so we can see the Gospel in action here, and the young maidens that are going to draw water are a representation of God’s people as they share the truth (of the Bible).  They share the truth with strangers.  That is what the people of God have done down through the centuries in carrying the Gospel to the world.  We were to go out and tell people the truth.  Tell them about Jesus.  Tell them about being bidden to the sacrifice, the feast, or the marriage supper of the Lamb.  So that is the spiritual picture here in the historical parable of 1Samuel 9 where the young maidens that are going to draw water are figures of those that will then have opportunity to share that Gospel water with others.

Also, in Joshua chapter 9 there were some inhabitants of the land of Canaan, the Gibeonites, that feared when they heard the reports of the fall of Jericho and the mighty works that God had done in delivering His people out of Egypt, and they rightly feared the God of Israel.  They understood that all the inhabitants of their land would be destroyed, so they made their appearance as if they were from a faraway land, and they deceived the princes of Israel.  (And remember that the name “Joshua” is the same name as “Jesus.”)  And it says in Joshua 9:15:

And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live…

Now, obviously, what would this picture?  If Jesus makes peace with those that were designated for destruction?  God had instructed His people to destroy all the people of the land of Canaan.  They had been designated to die and, yet, Joshua made peace with them and a league, and the word “league” is the same word as “covenant.”  He made a covenant with them, and this covenant meant they would live.  And, of course, that is the Gospel of grace, where Christ is our peace.  All the New Testament Scriptures apply.  So the Gibeonites are a picture of those that become saved through the Gospel of grace, and when the Israelites found out that the Gibeonites were not from a country far away, but they were from Jericho in the land of Canaan, they should have been destroyed, but because Joshua had made a league with them, they could not be destroyed.   It is just like God’s elect.  We are just like everyone else in this world and, yet, Christ has made peace with us.  We have a covenant with Him that we might live, and all around us in the world God is putting to death all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth because it is the Day of Judgment.  And, yet, we live.  Why is that?  It is because we were spared and granted mercy, and God cannot go back from it.  He cannot change His mind and take it away from us.  He has given us eternal life.

And that was the case with these Gibeonites.  The Israelites could not renounce the covenant they had made with them.  It says in Joshua 9:17-21:

And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by JEHOVAH God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by JEHOVAH God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.

We can see here how the Gibeonites are a picture of God’s elect children, those that were predestinated to salvation.  You are delivered from the wrath of God.  You are delivered from destruction.  You are not going to die.  You will live.  However, now get to work!  You are alive.  You have been spared the fate of your fellow man, but now get to work in serving the congregation of Israel water, as well as being hewers of wood (for the men).  But for the daughters, they were to go get their pitchers and go down to the well, and fill up the pitchers with water and serve the men that are standing watch and serve the people as they go about their daily tasks and serve all Israel by bringing them water. 

And, again, we see that it is a very consistent picture of sharing the Gospel.  We have always known that when we became saved in the day of salvation, in the spiritual realm we were instantaneously lifted up and transported into the heavenlies to be seated in the Person of the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God.  And, just as instantaneously, we were dispatched back to earth to be messengers of the Gospel.  And that is why it says in John, chapter 1:51: “…ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”  As messengers, we went up in Christ and we came down in Christ to continue living on the earth, but living as a servant – that is what a messenger is.  A messenger is not the king.   A messenger is not the lord.  A messenger is a lowly servant: “Let me run, carrying the tidings! Let me run, and take the tidings to the king!”  It is a similar picture to be a “drawer of water,” someone bearing a pitcher of water and taking it around, like Rebekah would do: “Let me serve you, the men and the camels as well.  Let me give everyone drink.” 

You see, it is a beautiful picture of sharing the Gospel.  We will go to one more place where we see this, in Isaiah 12:1-3:

And in that day thou shalt say, O JEHOVAH, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the JEHOVAH JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

You see how this follows?  First, “JEHOVAH JEHOVAH is my strengeth and my song; he also is become my salvation.”  He has saved me.  I have been lifted up and I have ascended upon Christ Jesus into the heavenlies, and then immediately dispatched (back to earth).  “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”  In the day of salvation, we ran to the well and we said, “Let me carry the water.”  And this was exactly what everyone was doing as part of the tract trips or those handing out tracts on their local street corners, and whatever else we did to share the Word of God, whether it was talking to people, or giving people Bibles.  Whatever it was, it was Gospel water.  It was water in the Spirit, and we were sharing it.  I think of the picture of standing on a street corner and extending your arm to everyone approaching, saying, “Here, let me give you some water.  Here is water.”  Of course, a lot of people refused: “No – get that away from me.”  They did not understand or realize what they were refusing.  But we were there as servants to serve water to those that God would have to drink.  It was beautiful work that we were assigned, and it was a beautiful task we were given to do that has now been fulfilled.  Of course, the world knows that the people of God are “drawers of water” or messengers of the Gospel, just lowly servants of God that bring forth the Gospel.  They recognize this, but maybe not in those figures, but in the fact that the people of God have strongly desired to share the Gospel with them for century, after century, after century.

And that is why it is shocking to us – even stunning – but it is the situation today that the “rich man is in hell.”  In Luke 16, keep in mind that when God shut the door of heaven, the earth entered into the condition of “hell” or the “grave,” and that is the reason everyone’s spiritual condition is now fixed, just like when a person dies.  They are either righteous or filthy when they die, and their condition can never change one way or the other.  They either died saved or unsaved, and so it will be.  And because God shut the door, He fixed everyone’s spiritual condition and, thereby, brought the condition of “death” to the whole world.  So the rich man that died and is in “hell” or the “grave” is a picture of what God has done at this time, as He has shut the door of heaven and ended His salvation program, fixing everyone’s spiritual condition.  And, yet, the rich man had been trained and accustomed to the “offer of water,” so it says in Luke 16:23-24:

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

In other words, he wants the “water bearer,” and he is not asking for the whole pitcher or even a cup.  He is just asking him to dip the tip of his finger in water.  And this is significant language because it is revealing to us that there would be people in the Day of Judgment who will not try to address this “shut door of heaven” head on, but they will come around the ends and they are going to try to get you to bend a little bit on a point: “Well, how about God saving little babies?  Sure, there is a shut door, but just a little drop here and there – just a little opening.”  It is like the “edge of the wedge,” and they are saying, “Just give us a little crack that we can just stick the edge of the wedge in,” and as soon as you provide the “crack,” down comes the hammer and splits the whole thing wide open.  No – there is no opening.  But the rich man just wanted Lazarus to do the service he had been performing for almost two thousand years in the churches.  Of course he would want this: “Just send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.”  That is how God did have mercy on people for centuries, but look at the answer in Luke 16:25-26:

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

If I could I would delight in this, and so would you.  We would delight to come with a drop.  We would bring the whole bucket, if we could, but we who would, cannot.  The inability is not in our desire, but the inability comes because of what God has done in establishing that “great gulf,” or that shut door of heaven.

We will look more at Rebekah’s task of filling the pitcher and serving the water, Lord willing, in our next Bible study.