Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #49 of Genesis, chapter 24, and we are reading Genesis 24:55-60:

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.

We are moving along to the end of this historical, true tale.  In our last study, we were talking about verse 56 where Abraham’s servant responded to the statement in Genesis 24:55:

…Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

Then he responded, “Hinder me not, seeing JEHOVAH hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.”

I mentioned at the close of our last study that there is a force and a desire among the enemies of God to hinder the work of God.  We see this in many, many places in the Bible.  One major place where the enemies of God attempted to hinder the work of God can be seen in the book of Nehemiah.  Remember, Nehemiah was the cupbearer of the king, and he was sent to Jerusalem to build up the wall of the city that had been broken down a long time before by the Babylonians.  In the Bible, spiritually, “to build a wall” identifies with salvation.  For example, the book of Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 26:1:

In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

Salvation is appointed “for walls.”  This task of building the wall identifies with salvation and, therefore, it is a similar task for the servant of Abraham to bring back Rebekah.  It identifies with salvation and the finding of the lost sheep and bringing them to the Shepherd, or to finding the spiritual bride and bringing them to the Bridegroom.  In Nehemiah, one of the big obstacles was the people from the surrounding nations, as we read in Nehemiah 4:1-8:

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

I do not believe that this word “hinder” is the same word, but it is the same idea.  Here we see a work of God.  Nehemiah the governor was doing what God would have him do to, as well as all the men with him.  And the enemies, led by Sanballat and Tobiah, desired to hinder the work or slow the process and production down.  Why?  It is because the wall identifies with salvation.  Satan in times past was always trying to hinder the work of the Gospel because he knew that if the Gospel was not impeded, the elect would hear and become saved; and the faster that happened, the faster Satan’s kingdom of this world would come to an end.  The whole timeline of the history of this world was designed by God to save His elect people, and once they became saved, we immediately entered into Judgment Day. 

That is why May 21, 2011 was the beginning of Judgment Day.  Leading up to that point, especially during the Latter Rain period during the second part of the Great Tribulation, God saved the great multitude, completing the salvation of everyone whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  In other words, all that were to become saved were saved, and then God brought us into Judgment Day, which is really just a short little period of time.  Even if it does last for 22 inclusive years or 22 actual years, that is nothing.  So God’s judgment program is just a few short years, while His program of salvation lasted for millenniums.  We can see in this that the mercy of God shines through because He was much more concerned with saving a people for Himself and, therefore, He was longsuffering and patient over the course of history, enduring the sinful and rebellious nature of man, day after day, after day.  And yet God still allowed salvation to take place because He still had a people that were to be born into the world in generation after generation, until the time the Lord had established.  And over that entire period, there was Satan.

You can go back and look at church history.  What do you think the burning of people at the stake was all about?  Of course, it was to hinder the flow of the Gospel.  There were emissaries of Satan – false teachers and false prophets – that entered into the congregations as “angels of light,” but they were really under the power of Satan.  What was that all about?  Why sow tares among the wheat?  It was to hinder the Gospel, or at least to slow it down, although he could never stop it.  But he tried to stop it, or at least slow it down, because if he could slow it down, it would extend his time.  Of course, that is a sinful mind at work, but that has always been Satan’s goal, even before these incidents in Nehemiah.  We also read in Ezra 4:1-4:

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto JEHOVAH God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto JEHOVAH God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

You see, they came to the “true Jews.”  These enemies were transplants.  When Israel was conquered, the enemy king took people of other nations he had conquered and placed them in the land of Israel, so they lived in the land, but they were not the people of the land.  That is a wonderful illustration of many that were in churches during the church age or that named the name of Christ, but they were not truly Christians; they were not born again, and they were not “true Jews,” as the Bible calls God’s people.  They were transplants of the world that found themselves in the locale of the church, so they are saying, “Let us join in!”  I am sure they were sincere in wanting to help, but the teaching of the Gospel is such that it causes those that are not truly saved to feel “left out” or offended because they are not a part of God’s people.  They felt jealous or envious of people that said it was only their right. 

When an unregenerate individual is under the hearing of the true Gospel (that is being taught faithfully and honestly), then they hear it (salvation) is all of God, and that you cannot accept Him or do any work.  You cannot just be water baptized and think you are saved; or partake of the Lord’s Table and think you are saved; or be born into a Christian family and think you are saved.  And you certainly cannot “choose” Christ and think you are saved.  So, you see, it alienates these people because they do not understand, and they do not trust the idea of election and God doing all the work.  It leaves them completely dissatisfied and without confidence.  They want assurance they are saved, and most churches will give that, but when they somehow stumbled upon the true Gospel, they feel they are not welcome and that they are an “outsider.”  And they are outsiders.  They are not truly born again.  They do not have ears to hear.  They are not of the family of God, so this causes them to begin their opposition to these men that they think have “judged” them or offended them. 

But it is not really these Jews or God’s elect that offend, but it is God through His Word.  The Word of God is for His people only.  It is very exclusive.  It is designed for those that God has chosen, and no one else.  So that is one of the reasons, by the way, that there was a growing list of enemies at the time of the end over the course of the Great Tribulation and now in Judgment Day toward God’s people that teach and proclaim the truth.  There were a number of people that “joined in” and wanted to be a part of it, but God’s people just keep proclaiming the things the Bible says and the truths of the Word of God, and those doctrines offend them.  Some were offended at the doctrine of Christ having been slain for sin at the foundation of the world.  Others are offended that “hell” is the grave and the penalty for the unsaved sinner is annihilation and not eternal torment.  And, of course, others are offended by the doctrine of the end of the church age, and even more are offended at the doctrine of the shut door of heaven on May 21, 2011.

And those that are offended have joined forces and are locked in together.  They do not have a fellowship of Christ.  They do not have a fellowship of truth.  They have a fellowship of being joined with other enemies of God that have been “cast out” by God’s Word.

So these people of the land weakened the hand of the people of Judah and troubled them in building.  Then it says in Ezra 4:5-6:

And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

It is a fairly lengthy letter, but it was an accusation and says that if they are allowed to build the city, they will rebel and not pay taxes to the king.  A copy of the letter was sent to the king, as it says in Ezra 4:11-13:

This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.

They certified the king that this would happen, and then it says in Ezra 4:17-19:

Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time. The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.

Then it says in Ezra 4:21-22:

Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me. Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

You see, their evil plan worked.  It worked. Of course, it was all within the permissive will of God.  God had his timetable and program for things.  And in certain periods of history, it did almost seem like the work of the Gospel came to a halt.  For example, from the end of the church age in 1988 to the beginning of the Latter Rain in1994, there was virtually no one that became saved.  The work stopped.  But God is using this historical situation that really happened to paint the picture of the desire of the enemies of God to hinder, slow down, or even stop the Gospel.  That would be the ultimate goal – to stop completely the building of the wall or the city.  Both of those point to God’s salvation program as His people became saved.

So, ultimately, Satan stirs up those under his control as emissaries of Satan to come into some relationship to Christianity or the Christian church (or to the Jews, in this historical example), and they just want to hinder the Gospel. 

That is the spiritual teaching when Laban and his mother said, “Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.”  But, you see, Eliezer was saying, “Hold on!  Hold on!  JEHOVAH has prospered my way, and everything has been worked out by Him, and you have recognized this, so just let me take her and go.”

Let us look at a couple more verses that use the word “hinder” in the New Testament.  It says in Romans 15:19-22:

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation: But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

Paul likened preaching the Gospel to “building.”  He said he preached the Gospel of Christ, in verse 19.  And in verse 20, he said, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.”  And, yet, he was hindered in preaching the Gospel.  Who was trying to hinder him?  Paul’s mission was to go to the Gentiles, but it was the Jews that were in opposition to him.  They were constantly throwing him out of the synagogues, scourging him, and doing all kinds of horrible things in opposing him.

We read in 1Thessalonians 2:14-18:

For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

How was Satan working at that time?  It was through the Jews that were forbidding Jewish converts, like Paul who had been Saul of Tarsus.  Then he went to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, but they were opposing him, so Satan was using that time of transition from God using Israel of old to the New Testament churches.  Israel would no longer be His representatives, but the churches would be.  So Satan was stirring up trouble, and by doing so he was hindering the work of the Gospel.  This has always been his goal and objective, and it is what he was busy doing, but God has always accomplished His goals despite this hinderance and the work of the enemies against the sending forth of the Word of God.

We will stop here.  Lord willing, in our next study we will continue to look at this interesting historical parable in Genesis 24.