Hello and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #15 of Genesis, chapter 24, and I am going to read Genesis 24:12-16:

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. 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. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

I will stop reading there.  I like to read the same passage at the start of each Bible study to gain familiarity and comfort with the Word of God, and the only way we can do that is to keep reading and reading, and then praying for wisdom that the Lord would open up our understanding to the deeper spiritual meaning, which you and I or anyone else would never know, apart from the grace of God.  That is where spiritual sight is found.  It is in the understanding of a person, and when God grants understanding, it is like giving sight to the blind.   It is “seeing” in the spiritual realm.  Of course, it has to be a right and true understanding.  All kinds of people think they understand the Bible, but in reality, they do not.  But God’s people have proper spiritual eyesight that the Lord gives to us, and it has to do with reading the Bible, but reading alone will not do it.  As we read slowly and carefully, we look up the words and see where they are used elsewhere, and praying all the while, and continually going back to the same Scriptures.

As we do this again today in this Bible study, we have seen that this is a picture of the sending forth of the Gospel, and Rebekah also pictures those that understand the Gospel, as her family was related to Abraham.  And that is why Abraham made sure that his servant went to them, and that he did not take a wife for his son Isaac from any of the daughters of the land of Canaan, because that would be like taking a wife from the people of the world.

So the servant, who was probably Eliezer, followed his master’s direction, which led him to this place and to this well of water.  We have also seen how the well of water identifies with salvation and the Word of God, the Bible, and the truth that is therein.  In verse 12, he is praying, “O JEHOVAH God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.”  He is praying that he would be sent “good speed.”  The word translated as “good speed” is a word in the Hebrew that is actually related to “chance” or a “happening.”  Basically, the servant is asking God to control the circumstances and events because he knows that God is in control of all circumstances and events.  The servant is asking God to arrange the things that will happen at the well as the daughters of the men and the city to come to the well and draw water in such a way as it will be advantageous and an answer to his prayer, as well as to fulfill the mission he was sent forth to accomplish, which was to find a qualified and faithful wife for his master’s son Isaac.  That is all in view in his petition for “good speed.”  

We can understand exactly what he is praying because we did the same thing when we went out with Gospel tracts in the day of salvation or when we sent the Gospel in other ways, whether it was over the radio waves, or on a website, or on Facebook, or personally speaking to someone and handing them a tract.  We would pray this very same thing before we ventured out with the Word of God, the Gospel: “O, Lord, please bless us and bless your Word as we go forth with 100 tracts.  We are going to go to this location, and may it be, O, Lord, that you would go before us and prepare the scene, the people and the circumstances.  And as we go on this Sunday afternoon, may it be that you would arrange for us to connect with one of your elect that up until this point has been of the world and residing in the kingdom of darkness.”  (Again, I am speaking of the time back when we were in the day of salvation.) “And may it be that you would use the message on this tract to be a blessing to deliver your Word and that faith may come through the hearing of the Word, and he or she would become saved and added to the bride of Christ, which is made up of the whole company of elect, and we can find the wife for our Master’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We prayed that same prayer that God would show us “good speed,” and that God would control the circumstances, and then we would hand out tracts to anyone and everyone.  We would not look at a person’s outward appearance and think, “This person does not look like one of God’s elect, so I am not going to extend the tract.”  No – we would never do that, whether it was a young boy or girl, an old man or old woman, or everyone in between.  We would extend our arm and say, “Would you like a tract?  May I give this to you?  Here, please read this,” or whatever we would say in making the offer.  And many times, people would say, “No,” or they would say nothing at all and ignore it, and walk right past us.  But there were also many people that would take a tract, and before you knew it, after an hour or two hours, all the tracts were gone.  We had done what we had set out to do, and we knew nothing further about what might have taken place.  God would take it from there.  Of course, God also set up the meeting of one of his elect that were one of the hundreds that received the tract, and God would take it from there.  That person would read a portion, or maybe they saw the radio station listed on the back; at that time, it was the faithful ministry of Family Radio or a website.  And they would be drawn to the point of salvation. 

And that is what this servant was asking: “I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.”  That is an interesting statement.  Abraham had sent his servant, and Abraham is identified as “Father Abraham” in the Bible.  He is picturing God the Father who sends forth the Gospel.  The Father sent the Son: “How beautiful…are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace…”  And the Son sent His people and, yet, the Father is also the sender of the Gospel into the world in the day of salvation, so when someone would be saved and the bride would be found…of course, we never found the whole “bride” in one location or in one year or in one season of time.  The “bride” was found over centuries and millenniums, as a historical parable cannot paint that picture completely, but we can take away this idea.  When each person became saved and was added to the “bride,” each time it was showing kindness unto God the Father.  It was God’s delight, and He took pleasure in saving a people for Himself and forming the “woman.” 

It was God who in the Garden of Eden caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, took a rib from his side and formed the “woman,” making a wife for His son Adam.  If you look at the genealogies in the New Testament, it goes back to the beginning and it states that Adam was the son of God, so he is picturing the “second Adam,” the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father made a bride for Adam, historically, and God the Father made a bride for His Son, the Lord Jesus, over the course of all history.  It was something that the Father delighted in and, therefore, when the bride was found, it was a kindness to God Himself.

We read in Ephesians 2:5-7:

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.

So the kindness works both ways.  We can clearly see the kindness of God in saving a sinner and all those chosen to salvation, but there is also kindness shown to God in the salvation of these same sinners and the accomplishing of God’s purpose and the mission for which this earth was created in which God allowed man to sin in the beginning and for Satan to rebel and become the ruler over this fallen world.  Everything that God has allowed to happen since the creation of this world until now is all related to the purpose of God obtaining a people for Himself and finding a bride for His Son.

Let us go on here, in Genesis 24:13:

Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

We spent a good deal of time talking about drawing water from the well of salvation.  Then it goes on to say in Genesis 24:14:

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.

We want to look at a couple of things.  First, the word “pitcher,” which is used several times in this chapter, is Strong’s #3537, and we will look at a couple of places where it is found.  Let us turn to Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, and I want to read the context because it fits in, although we will focus on verse 6, but it says in Ecclesiastes 12:1:

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

This is speaking of two periods of time, the days of our youth, and the days of our old age.  In the days of our youth, the evil days had not yet come, nor the years when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them.  And notice what it says in Ecclesiastes 12:2

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

These things all apply to “the days of thy youth.”  The evil days had not yet come, and it is spoken of as “years,” and the light of the sun, moon and stars had not been darkened in those “days of thy youth.”  On the other hand, the days of old age are the time of the “evil days,” a period of years in which the sun, moon and stars have been darkened.  In other words, we can understand “the days of youth” to identify with the day of salvation, up and until the end of the Great Tribulation.  There was great salvation available during that second part of the Great Tribulation, but “immediately after that tribulation,” the sun, moon and stars were darkened  And we have learned that Judgment Day is also called “the evil day,” and it is period of years.  Therefore, this time period is after the days after our “youth.”  God is just looking at His people’s time as we live in service to Him throughout the history of the world, and up until the door is shut, it was our “youth,” and after the door is shut, it is likened to our “old age.” 

This is pictured in John 21 after the great catch of fish, which typifies the great multitude that came out of great tribulation.  Therefore, after the catch of 153 fish came in, it is the same time period as after the Great Tribulation, and then we know that Jesus said three times, “Feed my sheep.”  After saying this three times to Simon Peter, it says in John 21:18:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest…

In other words, “when thou wast young” are the “days of thy youth,” or the time up and until May 21, 2011 when the door was shut, and salvation concluded.  Then it goes on to say in John 21:18:

… but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

You know, this is just totally confusing why God speaks of the days of his youth and then the days of his old age until we understand the two identifications: 1) the “youth,” with the day of salvation; and 2) the “old age,” with the end of salvation.

And this is what is going on in Ecclesiastes 12:1:

… nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Remember, God does not delight in the death of the wicked.  He takes no pleasure in it.  On the other hand, why did He save a people for Himself?  It was according to His good pleasure, so when God delights, it has to do with the day of salvation or the time of youth.  But when that time passes, the days and years come where, “I have no pleasure in them.”  It is the time of the judgment of the unsaved or the wicked, and God has no delight in destroying them, but He does so because of His Law’s demand for justice.

Then it goes on in this passage to say in Ecclesiastes 12:3-5:

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

The word “long” is actually the word “eternal,” so man goes to his eternal home, and we can see how that relates to the end of the world and the end of time.  Then it says in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7:

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Here, it says the “pitcher” is broken at the fountain.  The pitcher had been used to go the fountain or well and to fill it with water, but in the Day of Judgment and evil day in the time when “I have no pleasure in them,” the pitcher is broken at the fountain.  If you take a broken pitcher to the fountain, it cannot hold any water.  You cannot take it and run and serve strangers and give them drink, because there is no more Gospel water.

That is one place this word “pitcher” is used, and in another place,  it is translated as “barrel,” in 1Kings 17:12-14:

And she said, As JEHOVAH thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith JEHOVAH God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that JEHOVAH sendeth rain upon the earth.

Here, although it is not water, it is meal in a “barrel,” and it is the same Hebrew word translated “pitcher.”  It is really carrying the same idea because the “meal” has to do with the Gospel.  It also identifies with the Word of God providing spiritual nourishment or spiritual food, so just like a pitcher can be filled with water, a barrel can be filled with meal.

This same word translated as “pitcher” is used during the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal.  They filled the “barrels” with water or the “pitchers” with water and put it in the trench, and the Lord sent fire from heaven and licked up the water.  We see it used in these ways, but one more way is used is in the account of Gideon in Judges 7:16-20:

And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of JEHOVAH, and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of JEHOVAH, and of Gideon.

Here, the pitchers are broken, just as they were in Ecclesiastes 12.  And there was no water within, but there was a lamp that began to shine, and this would point to the end of salvation because there is no water, but God’s Word is like a light.  If you read Revelation 18, the Lord speaks of the earth being enlightened, and that has to do with the Day of Judgment; the light is bringing judgment upon the Midianites and they are destroyed as Gideon and his three hundred men overcome the vast army of the enemy.  So it is also picturing Judgment Day.

We have to close our study at this time, as we have run out of time.  Lord willing, when we come together in our next study, we will continue to look at this word “pitcher.”