Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #29 of Genesis, chapter 24, and we are going to read Genesis 24:32-36:

And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And JEHOVAH hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.

I will stop reading there.  We were looking at verse 32 last time, and we saw that the ungirding of the camels ties in with “loosing” the unclean animal.  And that kind of language in the Bible points to salvation, so it had to do with the camels representing people coming into the church during the church age where they could experience blessing and salvation.  That was the place or location where God was saving for the 1,955 years of the church age.

Then we were looking at the water and how he washed the man’s feet and the feet of the men that were with him.  We went to John 13, and I would like to look at another place before we move on.  Turn to Luke 7:36-50:

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Here, we find another example of foot washing, but in this case the woman, the sinner, is washing Christ’s feet with her tears.  Remember the other references to feet: “How beautiful are the feet of them that…bring glad tidings.”  That is, the messengers of the Gospel identify with feet.  We find the sending forth of the Gospel is also in view in association with “tears” in Psalm 126:5-6:

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

This is describing the sending forth of the Gospel, and the Lord likens it to “sowing in tears.”  We do know from Christ’s parable that the sower went out to sow and cast the seed, and it has everything to do with sharing the Word of God.  In this case, they “sow in tears,” so the sinner woman that washed Christ’s feet with tears is related to the fact that her sins were forgiven and, therefore, she would go forth with the Gospel, sowing the seed of the Word of God with tears.  You know, there was a great deal of crying and tears shed over the course of the day of salvation as we were weeping and beseeching the Lord on behalf of those that might hear the Gospel and become saved.  So God picks up that kind of figure.  The Word of God was sown upon the hearts of men, but it was also sown with the tears of mothers and fathers and loved ones that prayed and prayed so earnestly and diligently that their children (and others) might hear the Word and be saved by the Word.  So that is a way that God describes the sending forth of the Gospel.

So we see in both John 13 and Luke 7 the washing of feet to represent the sending of the Gospel in giving “water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him.”  And that goes with the ungirding of the camels, which points to sharing the Word of God and the blessing that accompanies it.

Let us go on Genesis 24:33:

And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand…

We can see another picture developing here after the servant was brought into the house.  He had been on a long journey.  He spent a great deal of time traveling to do his master’s will.  It would have been very understandable if he had said, “Let us eat first,” and if he would not want to discuss his errand until he had eaten and relaxed a little bit, and had opportunity to sit down in a comfortable chair, and then eventually get to the reason he had come.  But, no, this man (who was very likely Eliezer, the chief servant of Abraham’s house) was a very diligent servant.  He was extremely faithful. 

And, by the way, his master is not there.  Abraham is not with him, and nobody was recording a video or audio.  It was long, long before any of that was possible, and no one was going to say anything.  Abraham himself would not have minded if his servant had a meal first before going about his business.  But that was not the case.  It reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ when he was a young child and had gone missing for a period of time: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”  It was a single-minded focus that we see in this servant throughout our encounter with him as the Lord is telling us about this man.  This is a very faithful man, and one of the most faithful men we can read about in the Bible.  He is just a lowly servant.  He did not do anything spectacular or grand and, yet, we see his character, and remember that God says, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”  This was a man worthy of the trust that Abraham placed in him. 

It goes on to say in Genesis 24:33:

… And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

Laban is saying, “OK, we will listen to you.”  And this is very similar to what we can read in an account we find in the New Testament in the Gospel of John, chapter 4.  This is a chapter where the Lord meets the Samaritan woman at the well, and he has a discussion with her that is shocking in itself.  The disciples had gone to see if they could find some food (and they returned).  Then it says in John 4:31-34:

In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Again, we can see the similarity.  Eliezer was beckoned to eat, just as the disciples beckoned the Lord Jesus to eat.  But Eliezer refused, and Jesus was not eating as He said, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.”  What is the purpose of saying this?  “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”  Is that not exactly what the servant Eliezer is saying?  He said he would not eat until he told his errand because that was the work that he had been sent forth to do: “Find a wife for my son Isaac.”  Again, there was that single-minded focus, and he had to finish the task or errand.

By the way, it is interesting that in John 4 the Lord Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work,” which relates to salvation, but there is a similar statement that uses a different Greek word for “work.”  The Greek word “er-gon” is a word that means “work.”  We read in Romans 9:27-28:

Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

In the English, it reads the same.  He will “finish the work,” but the Greek word translated as “work” is different.  In both places it is used in Romans 9:28, it is the Greek word “log-os,” and it is #3056 in the Strong’s Greek Concordance.  And “log-os” is a word that is translated as “word.”  So we could read this: “He will finish the word, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short word will the Lord make upon the earth.”  Of course, the work of Christ is synonymous with the Word of Christ, the Bible, and God accomplishes His work through His Word, so we can understand what is being said. 

I wanted to point that out because when we go back to our verse it Genesis 24, it said, “I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.”  The Greek word translated as “errand” is the Hebrew word “daw-bawr,” #1697 in the Hebrew Concordance, and it is the word often translated as “word.”  So Eliezer is saying, “I will not eat until I have told my word.”  He has to finish the word, just as the Lord Jesus had to finish that glorious task that was assigned Him, the work of salvation that would be performed through the Word of God.  So we can see a reference to that in the spiritual realm as this servant is clearly a type of Christ who has “meat” to eat that these people knew not of, which was to do the will of the one that sent him, Father Abraham.  The Lord Jesus did the will of God the Father.  I think we see that picture.

There is one other thing that also ties in indirectly, and that is the refusal to eat.  What is another word for that in the Bible?  The Bible speaks of “fasting.”  When people are not eating, they are fasting.  It is just a temporary thing here, as he is indicating that he will eat after he has finished telling his word or errand.  But this is the way God paints pictures.  Before he eats, he must “fast” to tell His Word or to share the Gospel.  We have learned that this is the spiritual meaning of fasting, if we go to Matthew 17 where there is a man whose son had a devil and was said to be “lunatic” and “sore vexed” and threw himself into the fire.  The disciples could not cast the devil out.  It says in Matthew 17:16-21:

And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Again, Christ casting out a devil identifies with salvation.  The day of salvation is ended, and we are living on the earth in the Day of Judgment, but salvation was accomplished through the hearing of the Word of God, so the casting out of this child’s demon points to salvation, and it is related to prayer and fasting.  Prayer and fasting, in turn, identifies with sharing the Word of God and bringing the Gospel, sowing it with tears and accompanying prayers.  We can see an element of that in Abraham’s servant’s refusal to eat until he had told his errand.

Let us go back to Genesis 24 and read on in Genesis 24:34-35:

And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And JEHOVAH hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

We find four combinations of things: 1) flocks and herds; 2) silver and gold; 3) menservants and maidservants; and 4) camels and asses.  There are four groups, with two in each group, pointing to universal blessing or blessings to the furthest extent, as well as pointing to blessing for the caretakers of the Word of God.  So we find that Abraham was blessed greatly by God.  And, again, this would picture God’s kingdom of heaven where there is “gold and silver,” pointing the elect.  There are flocks and herds of sheep there.  There are menservants and maidservants, as all those God has saved become His servants.  We are as water bearers or messengers or camels and asses.  We saw back in verse 32 that the camels were ungirded, pointing to salvation.  Regarding the asses or donkeys, Exodus 13:13 is always a good reference verse when looking for the meaning of donkeys; they must be redeemed, or else their necks were to be broken.  So redemption of a donkey points to redemption of God’s elect.  Spiritually, it is indicating that JEHOVAH has blessed His Master greatly – He has a great kingdom of saints, His elect and caretakers of His Word.  And across the face of the earth, He has redeemed and saved this people for Himself. 

We will go to Genesis 24:36 and the following verses, Lord willing, in our next Bible study.