The Nameless Servant

"Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, 'Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.' And the servant said to him, 'Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?' But Abraham said to him, 'Beware that you do not take my son back there. The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.' So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. 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 finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milkah, 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.' (Genesis 24:1-21)

As you read this part of the telling of how Abraham acquired a bride for his son, Isaac, you will find that what takes place on a natural or physical level, has a parallel in the spiritual as well. Look at these points in the event:

-the servant obviously has a name, but it is never used. Instead he calls himself the servant of Abraham. He speaks of Abraham and Isaac, but you know nothing of him personally except as regards his service to Abraham. The Holy Spirit has His name as well, yet He doesn't speak of Himself; rather He lifts up the Father and the Son.

- the servant came out from his home with Abraham, just as the Holy Spirit came out of from the Father – both with the same purpose: to find a bride for the Son.

-the servant brought gifts to give to the bride; the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to the Bride of Christ as well.

- the bride is chosen by "the angel of the Lord" but she has a choice: to come with the servant and BE the bride, or to decline; the same choice each of us has when we are called by the Lord.

-and Rebekah has a humble servant's heart, running to bring water both to the servant and even to his camels. The bride of Christ will have that heart as well.

This is but one more example of the layers of understanding that the Bible contains; as well it would: it was written by men who were inspired by God. The depths of the bible reveal to us the depths of God Almighty Himself.

The bible is the LIVING WORD of GOD. The WORD of GOD is LIFE to us who have been "born-again," born not just of flesh and blood, but of the Spirit of God. And it is that seemingly "nameless" servant of God, bringing no glory to Himself, it is the Holy Spirit who sustains our lives from this bottomless and limitless WORD of GOD. I thank God for His Son Jesus Christ who died for my sins and gave me undeserved life everlasting, and I thank God for the Holy Spirit who breathes into and sustains my life each and every day through His Word.