There is a great story of a man who was Abraham's servant who Abraham sent back to his homeland to get a bride for his son, Isaac. Abraham gives this man ten camel loads of wealth to purchase a bride for Abraham's son, the "bride's price." He is trusted by Abraham. The man is just a servant and has no wealth of his own! Yet, off he goes for hundreds of miles with a king's ransom and no supervision to pick out a wife for Isaac. When he gets there he falls down on his face and cries out to God that he might do right in his choosing the right woman for his master's son. He puts forth a test and Rebekah, the wife to be, passes the it in flying colors. The servant gives all the wealth to Rebekah and her father and takes her back to Isaac, Abraham's son, with never the slightest thing to gain from the journey, other than the knowledge that God had given his master's son a chosen bride. In that only did he rejoice!!! Here is the text:
Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, "O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. "Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink' --let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master."
And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher."
So she said, "Drink, my lord." Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking." Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, (Genesis 24:10-22, NKJV).
Oh, saints, what a lesson this servant provides us of what God is looking for in those who serve in the Body of Christ, today. He is looking for those who will bring forth a Bride for Jesus to marry, one that is without spots or bruises. For this purpose He also seeks servants who will not take the Bride's price and spend it on themselves. Those who will not take the Bride out into the desert and sully her for their own pleasures. Those who will not try to set up their own kingdom with the Father's wealth, but are good stewards of all that is given into their hands and see to it that it all goes toward the bringing forth of the Bride for the Son's good pleasure and not for their own. For these servants who share the Father's heart, this is reward enough.
Notice the test which this servant of Abraham placed before Rebekah. She must volunteer to water ten camels, and all the servants of Abraham that came to the well that day.
The wells in the Middle East in at that time, many of which still exist to this day, were hand dug and they excavated a spiral staircase in their walls that allowed the dirt to be hauled out as well as the water when it was completed. Many of these were over 100 feet deep.
Now figure that a thirsty camel could drink at least ten gallons and that the men also drank a minimum of three gallons after their trek across the desert. The water jars that the women carried held about three gallons and would have weighed about thirty pounds (the same as about four gallons of milk) when they were full. So the total volume of water that this dear woman with a servant's heart carried out of that well that day was about 103 gallons. 103/3 = about 34 trips into that well carrying out thirty pounds each trip. Do you get the picture here? This was no small test.
It was also interesting that the servant gave Rebekah a nose ring that was a half shekel of gold (and you body piercing types thought you had a new fad!). This also was the price to be paid to the priests for the redemption of a man (Ex. 30:11-13).
So, you see, this story has a beautiful lesson for the Church today. The redeemed of the Lord will have a servant's heart and those who serve the Bride of Christ do so without wanting anything for themselves. Their whole joy of serving is to see the Son gain His spotless bride and that they dwell together for eternity.
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