Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #46 of Genesis, chapter 24, and we are reading Genesis 24:50-60:

Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from JEHOVAH: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as JEHOVAH hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped JEHOVAH, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing JEHOVAH hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

I will stop reading there.  The servant was probably Eliezer as the Biblical evidence points to that particular servant of Abraham that was a trusted servant to be sent forth to find a wife for his son.  Eliezer had said to Rebekah’s family, “And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”  He wanted an answer, and he was not going to allow them to delay or avoid answering the question.  He was saying, “You have to tell me one way or the other, so I can know what to do next.”  We talked about “the right hand, or the left,” and how not turning to the right or left has to do with going “straight on” that right way of God, according to the truth of the Word of God and what the Bible teaches. 

To turn to the right hand, or to the left identifies in many places in the Bible with straying off that right path and transgressing the Law of God.  And, yet, the servant needed to know: “Have I traveled down the right road?”  Everything seemed to point that way, and seemed to show that God had led him in the right way to accomplish the mission he had been sent to perform.  However, it would all have been for nought if they had denied giving him their sister, the woman Rebekah.  If he could not take her back to Isaac, then it would mean that it was not the right path that he had been on, and that all the previous circumstances were chance.  Remember, when he was at the well, he prayed to the Lord in his mind: “Let the woman you have chosen offer me drink, and offer drink to my camels.”  He was willing to acknowledge that all of that had been incorrect if the final result was that they would not allow Rebekah to go with him.  So that is why he said, “Let me know.  Tell me whether you have dealt kindly and truly with my master, or not.”  They could have said, “No.  You cannot have our sister.” 

And by the way I am referring to her as “sister” here, even though it says that he was talking to both Laban and Bethuel.  It is interesting that it said of Bethuel in Genesis 22 that he was one of eight sons that Milcah bore to Nahor, and he was the youngest of the eight.  It says in Genesis 22:23:

And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

So it would appear that Bethuel was her father, but in the account we are reading, that is not the case.  You know, theologians were often very good at noticing natural events and gathering historical information, and they pointed out that when Rebekah ran back to her house, it says in Genesis 24:28:

And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things.

It does not say she told “them of her father’s house,” so that is curious.  Also, we read in Genesis 24:50:

Then Laban and Bethuel answered…

Laban was put forth first and, yet, Laban was Rebekah’s brother.  And if the Bethuel mentioned here is his father, why is Laban mentioned before him?  It is possible that this Bethuel is his brother, named after their father.  That is the explanation we see in commentaries.  And further on in this account, we read in Genesis 24:55:

And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

It does not refer to her father here, and we do not read of her father again, as far as I know, but Laban is at the forefront.  It is Laban, not Bethuel.  Bethuel played a very minor role to Laban and her mother.  It could be that Bethuel is a “weak man” that is not running his own house.  That is very possible.  I do not think it is conclusive, but it is one possibility that the father Bethuel had died, and this Bethuel would have been a son.  Therefore, he would have been Rebekah’s brother, as well as Laban.  Then some of these other verses tend to fit the idea that Laban is the one speaking and he and his mother are making the decision whether or not Rebekah would return with the servant. 

The servant Eliezer was waiting for this decision to be made, and he was not allowing them any leeway: “You have to tell me.”  And if they would not do this, then Eliezer would be forced to conclude that despite all of the indicators that seemed to show he was on the right way and that God was leading him and blessing him, he had not come the right way.  “Despite all that I have not come the right way.  I was wrong.”  If they would not allow him to take their sister, he was not going to kidnap her, and he would have to go another way.  And that is why he said, “And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.” 

You know, God’s people go the way we understand the Bible to teach.   We compare Scripture with Scripture.  We take the care and time to make sure we have the truth, and we put forth all our best effort to study to show ourselves approved unto God.  And, yet, it does not mean we do it perfectly, and at times there can be an error in doctrine, such as the error we made in thinking we would be raptured on May 21, 2011.  The error was that we had thought God’s elect would be raptured out of the world and not have to go through the judgment process.  It did not work out that way.  Due to forced circumstances, we had to reevaluate and return to the Bible.  This was what we had thought.  And, by the way, we were not alone.  All kinds of churches and theologians had taught that the elect would be raptured and not have to go through judgment.  And, yet, the Bible had locked in the Day of Judgment as May 21, 2011 (and still has not budged from that point of emphasis), so we were forced to make correction in direction.  We went a wrong way in that understanding, and then we had to see whether to go the right or to the left at that point; that is, we had to see if something we had once thought was incorrect might actually be correct.

And that is the reason the servant said to them, …“and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”  In other words, he was willing to be corrected, which is a necessary thing when he was just a lowly servant, as we are.  We are not God.  We are not the lawgiver and the one who has given the Word.  We do not know all things.  We have been given eternal life, but we are dwelling in the finite temples of our bodies that have seen corruption, and we have “feet of clay.”  We do not do things perfectly, as it says in Ecclesiastes 7:20:

For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

There is no perfection in our understanding of doctrine, although there is perfection of doctrine in the Bible.  But since God had sealed up the Word, He concealed much truth until the time of the end.  When we look back at the church age, we see that even the most faithful of men had an incomplete ability to understand the things that God had sealed up until the time of the end.  And then correction have been made, and I wanted to read 2Timothy 3:16:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction…

Why would God give Scripture for “correction” if His people were never in need of correction?

Of course, this was the main problem with the churches and congregations.  It was not so much that they erred in doctrine, “for  there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not,” but it is the fact that they will not correct their errors in doctrine.  They have built them into their confessions and creeds and church belief system, the standards for their congregation: “This is what our church teaches and believes.”  OK, that is fine, in the sense that all God’s people, to one degree or another, stand upon that which we believe the Bible to say.  However, when someone comes along and says, “Well, in this thing you believe, if you will compare it to this verse and that verse, you will see that you are holding onto a doctrine that is not true and, therefore, you need to make correction.”  When you look at Bible verses and the Scripture will not allow for your conclusion to stand, the Scripture is showing forth correction.  For example, it may correct the doctrine regarding marriage and divorce that is built into the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the error they have made in allowing divorce for fornication to be built into that confession.  Therein lies the terrible sin of the churches whenever they have a built in “high place” that usurps authority over the Word of God.  They obey and serve their confessions over what the Bible says. This is the problem. 

And God’s people, including myself, have gotten some things wrong, like the idea of the rapture of the elect on May 21, 2011; the physical earthquake we thought would occur; the Day of Judgment being of a five-month duration; and my error regarding October 7, 2015.  These were errors, and when we put forth a date that we derived from the Bible and we see it points to a particular date, that becomes a doctrine that we are saying came from the Bible.  But the good thing about a date that has been put forth is that when the date comes and goes, that proves it is incorrect because the world did not end on October 7 and, therefore, I no longer hold to that teaching.  It was said to be a “strong likelihood” as I and others looked at that date, and we never said it was absolute, but I did put forth that teaching based upon Biblical evidence that was later shown to be incorrect.  Therefore, I no longer hold onto it, and I have received correction, but the critics of EBible Fellowship would say, “Well, you were wrong, so this disqualifies you from teaching the Bible, especially in looking into the Bible for another date.”  Where do they read that in the Bible?  Where do they get that idea?  It is easy for those that hold onto multiple errors in doctrine to be accusers, but a date is just another doctrine, like the free will gospel is a doctrine, or like speaking in tongues is a doctrine.  The critics of “date setters” can hold onto as many false doctrines as you can imagine and, yet, they never go to the Bible to correct them; they hold onto them and adhere to them.  They will not humble themselves before God and make any correction, and they put up the front that they are without error.  But that is not at all true and, actually, their errors are far more grievous because they will not even admit or acknowledge that the doctrine they hold is erroneous, despite the fact that ten different churches can hold to ten different doctrines.  There can only be one truth, so nine out of 10 or even 10 out of 10 have the wrong doctrine, but they are the ones pointing the finger and saying, “You were wrong!  You were wrong!”

But God’s people do study the Bible and, by God’s grace, we were permitted to make correction.  We learn our lesson and we go back to the Bible to see where we went wrong and to make sure we are even more diligent in seeking the truths of the Word of God.   And this is not the case with the people within the corporate churches.  They are not making correction.   By the way, this is why we at EBible Fellowship just go right back to the Bible and keep studying.  We realize we are not perfect.  We have feet of clay: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that sinneth not.”  Very well, we have errored, and we want to be all the more studious and diligent in making sure we get it right as we study the Bible even more faithfully.  This is the nature of God’s elect people.  It is what we do.  There is no one out there who has perfect doctrine in all points and at all times.

Well, again, this is the reason that the servant Eliezer was saying, “Let me know, so I can turn to the right or to the left,” and then Laban and Bethuel answered him in Genesis 24:50:

… The thing proceedeth from JEHOVAH: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

The more I think about this, the more curious it becomes that they cannot speak unto him “bad or good.”  Again, Laban and Bethuel could be brothers, with Laban seeming to be the leader of the house.  Again, I am just not true.  Bethuel could be the father, but a very weak man.  That is possible.  But they are both answering, “The thing proceedeth from JEHOVAH.”  The Hebrew word translated as “thing” is “daw-bawr,” and it is the Hebrew word that is often translated as “word.”  The word “proceedeth” means  that it comes from JEHOVAH.  “The word comes from JEHOVAH: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.” 

But, again, if the word comes from JEHOVAH, it is understandable why they cannot speak badly of it, but why is it that they cannot speak good of it?  Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will try to answer that question and find out what the Bible may provide as the answer.