Steadfast Love – Page 2

42.w. “Wilderness” – 7.e. Sinai – You Shall not bow down

Exodus 20:5  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Joshua 23:7   that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them

Joshua 23:16    if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

Judges 2:19   But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

2 Kings 17:35    The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them,

Numbers 14:18    ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

Job 21:19    You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

Isaiah 65:6-7    Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap  both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the LORD; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”

Jeremiah 2:9   “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the LORD, and with your children’s children I will contend.

Jeremiah 32:18     You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts,

Romans 8:7     For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

James 4:4    You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

John 15:23-24    Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

Thou shall not bow down thyself to them,…. Perform any worship to them, show any reverence of them by any gesture of the body; one being mentioned, bowing the body, and put for all others, as prostration of it to the earth, bending the knee, kissing the hand, lifting up of hands or eyes to them, or by any outward action expressing a religious esteem of them, as if there was divinity in them: nor serve them; in a religious manner, internally or externally, by offering sacrifice and burning incense to them; by praying to, or praising of them; by expressing love to them, faith and trust in them, hope and expectation of good things from them, and the like. The reason of this second command, relating to the making and worshipping of images, next follows:

for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God; jealous of his own honour and glory, and will not give it to another; even to graven images, nor suffer it to be given to them without resenting it; and jealousy is fierce and cruel, and breaks forth into great wrath, and issues in dreadful scenes oftentimes among men. (Gill)

If God is first in our lives there should be no room for other things to which we serve, honor, and give reverence. No room should be given to make something more reverent than God. We should not allow something to take place of God or the honor and glory due Him alone. We may not make images of gold, silver, or wood and place them in our homes and take time to worship the form or bow down to it, but in essence, we do allow things to become an idol of sorts. Take a look at where your TV is placed and how much time it is given. It may not be an idol, but certainly, it is given more time and reverence than God. How would your lives be different if there was no TV being watched, no internet to surf, and no iPhone available? I would like to think there would be more time for God’s Word, more time for reverence to Him, more time to communicate face to face, and much less being told what to think, how to act, and what to say by the narratives being spewed out day by day, minute by minute. Do we not discern that these narratives proclaim what is contrary to God and things of God? Do we not understand that what we take in will have an effect on our hearts and minds?

What would our lives be like if we studied God’s Word in equal amounts of time that we spend on social media, yet alone watching TV? How much time would we have to meditate on God’s Word and the things of God? Would we live differently, think differently, and speak differently?

Obviously, we all know the answer to this, but are we/you willing to intentionally choose to live life differently than how the world indicates you should? Try it for a week – no TV, social media time reading, or posts on computers or phones or iPads, in the home or away from home. Try using this time for reading, communicating, and discerning things of God. I think there may be a big change in your thought pattern, speech, and actions.

Do not bow down to what this world has to offer. Give God the reverence, honor, and glory through how you spend your time.

39.w. “I wait for Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Genesis 49:16 “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

Judges 18:22-31    When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan.  And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?”  And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”  And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”  Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.  But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.  And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it.  And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first.  And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.  So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

Psalms 14:7  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalms 40:1   I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Psalms 62:1  For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

Psalms 119:41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;

Psalms 119:166   I hope for your salvation, O LORD

Psalms 130:5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Isaiah 8:17    I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Isaiah 25:9     It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Lamentations 3:25   The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Micah 7:7    But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Galatians 5:5    For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

1 Thessalonians 1:10     and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. There is an elegant paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Dan in those words, which signifies to judge, and the sense of them is, there should be heads, rulers, and judges of it. (GILL)

“Dan will procure his people justice as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan become a serpent by the way, a horned adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that its rider falls back.” Although only the son of a maid-servant, Dan would not be behind the other tribes of Israel, but act according to his name (ידין דּן), and as much as any other of the tribes procure justice to his people (i.e., to the people of Israel; not to his own tribe, as Diestel supposes). There is no allusion in these words to the office of judge which was held by Samson; they merely describe the character of the tribe, although this character came out in the expedition of a portion of the Danites to Laish in the north of Canaan, a description of which is given in Judges 18, as well as in the “romantic chivalry of the brave, gigantic Samson, when the cunning of the serpent he overthrew the mightiest foes” (KEIL & DELITZSCH)

Jacob, almost spent, and ready to faint, relieves himself with those words, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord! The salvation he waited for was Christ, the promised Seed; now that he was going to be gathered to his people, he breathes after Him to whom the gathering of the people shall be. He declared plainly that he sought heaven, the better country, Heb 11:13,14. Now he is going to enjoy the salvation, he comforts himself that he had waited for the salvation. Christ, as our way to heaven, is to be waited on; and heaven, as our rest in Christ, is to be waited for. It is the comfort of a dying saint thus to have waited for the salvation of the Lord; for then he shall have what he has been waiting for. (HENRY)

38.t. “And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.”

Genesis 39:19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.

Potiphar knew what kind of woman his wife was and he knew what kind of man Joseph was. His anger probably came because he knew that her accusation against Joseph was not true.

“Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge.” (Kidner)

“He never said a word, that I can learn, about Potiphar’s wife. It seemed necessary to his own defense, but he would not accuse the woman; he let judgment go by default, and left her to her own conscience and her husband’s cooler consideration. This showed great power; it is hard for a man to compress his lips, saying nothing when his character is at stake. So eloquent was Joseph in his silence that there is not a word of complaint throughout the whole record of his life. He felt it a cruel thing, to be under such a slander, and to suffer for his innocence. A young man so pure, so chaste, must have felt it to be sharper than a whip of scorpions to be accused as he was; yet as he sat down in the gloom of his cell, the Lord was with him. The Lord was with Joseph none the less when he was cast into the prison. He knew God was with him in prison, and therefore he did not sit down sullenly in his sorrow, but he bestirred himself to make the best of his afflicted condition.” (Spurgeon)

Joseph went:

· From privilege in his father’s house.

· To the pit his brothers threw him into.

· To being property in the slave market.

· To the privilege of managing Potiphar’s house.

· To the principled stand against temptation.

· To the perjury of false accusation.

· To the prison of Pharaoh.

We can see the mercy in this, because if Potiphar had believed his wife, he certainly would have put Joseph to death. We can see the injustice in this, because Joseph suffered for someone else’s sin. As Christians, we remember someone who perfectly resisted all temptation, who as He stood for righteousness was stripped of His garments, and who was then punished for the sins of others. We can see God’s hand in all of this. All of this moves God’s story forward, putting Joseph in the place where he can save his family and the whole world from coming famine, and prepare a place for them to live with him. If God blessed Joseph in the pit, if He blessed Joseph the slave, we are not surprised to see that He blessed Joseph in prison. None of these terrible circumstances changed or defeated God’s plan for Joseph’s life. As happened before in the house of Potiphar, Joseph rose to the top, becoming the chief administrator of the prison. Through his experience in both places, God sharpened the administrative skills Joseph needed to one day save his family and to save the whole world. (Guzik)

I don’t know about you but when I am wrongly accused I want to state my case and prove it not true at the expense of the offender. The integrity of Joseph is beyond my understanding and yet an example to glean wisdom and understanding from. It is not by our might, wisdom, knowledge, power, or eloquent language skills that we are to reliant but by the power, might, purpose, and plans of God. Oh, that we would not rest in our own power for defense but rather be in total reliance on God alone.

38. “Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed”

Genesis 32:6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Jacob, seeking to reconcile with his brother (who 20 years before swore to kill him), first began by humbling himself and beginning his message with “your servant Jacob.” He wanted Esau to know that he was a man of wealth and that he did not come to take anything from Esau. Jacob tried to anticipate his brother’s thinking and to answer Esau’s concerns. When the messengers returned, Jacob heard news that gave him great concern – Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. Because Jacob could not bring himself to think the best of Esau (for understandable reasons), he was convinced the 400 men were an army intending to destroy him and his family. Before Jacob left home, after his brother swore to kill him, Rebekah told Jacob until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Rebekah never sent for Jacob; therefore, he had every reason to believe that Esau was still angry with him 20 years later. (Guzik)

We see how a consciousness of sin tends to weaken faith, and to produce fear and dread. For, notwithstanding the repeated experience Jacob had had of the divine protection; though he had just seen himself surrounded with a host of guardian angels; though he had undertaken his journey in obedience to God’s express command, and had God’s renewed promise to assure him of a safe return, yet a consciousness of having injured his brother, and of his brother’s having it in his power, should God permit him, to avenge himself, damps his faith, and fills him with the most painful and distressing apprehensions. A lively sense of danger, however, may very well consist with a degree of confidence in God’s power and goodness. (Benson)

A lively sense of danger, and quickening fear arising from it, may be found united with humble confidence in God’s power and promise. (Henry)

Faced with the possibility of his brother’s wrath, Jacob is conflicted. He was told to leave Laban and come back home. He was visited by angels. He was promised good and offspring numbering as the sand of the sea. He has heard God’s direction for him. Now he hears that after his messengers have told Esau that Jacob is coming with gifts for him, Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob’s mind has to remember how he stole Esau’s birthright and blessing. He surely remembers how Rebekah sent him away in haste because of Esau’s anger and threat to kill Jacob. 20 years does not remove consciousness of sin because it is a distant memory. A hard heart may bury remembered sin so deep and cover it up with self-confidence, denial, or some form of justification. A humble heart will not. The act(s) will be remembered and the conscious seared with the memory of the wrong. Wrongs cannot be righted. They have occurred and cannot be undone. If you hurt someone physically or mentally the pain inflicted cannot be taken away. It may be forgiven or forgotten but the reality of that pain did occur. Some wrongs like lying, cheating, and stealing can be made acceptably right by confessing the truth or repaying what was cheated or stolen, however the feeling of being lied too, cheated on, or stolen from cannot be removed from the person who experienced it. For man it is impossible. Jacob wants to offer Esau gifts as a way to reconcile himself for what he had done. He does not ask for forgiveness. I am unsure of his repentance. He wants to make amends by offering a great gift to Esau – to whom he has wronged more than once. Shame and guilt surely have found a place in Jacob’s mind. How much easier would it have been to seek forgiveness and reconciliation this way rather than trying to buy it with gifts.

How many people miss the importance of the gospel because they want to barter with God and offer Him some means of “good works” as a means of being made right with Him? All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God gave His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.

37.y. “You have known the distress of my soul”

Genesis 31:42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

Psalms 124:1-3 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side— let Israel now say—  if it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

1 Chronicles 12:17    David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.”

Psalms 31:7    I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul,

Proverbs 20:22 Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you.

Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

6 years Jacob endured hardship of the elements and ever-changing terms of his wages (ten times). Laban sought to change Jacobs’s wages in his favor. God was blessing Jacob and when Laban saw this blessing he would try to capitalize on it by changing Jacobs’s wages toward himself to how God was blessing Jacob. Is this any way to treat your nephew? Is this any way to fulfill and live up to a mutually agreed wage contract? Laban wanted what God had blessed Jacob with and was willing to set Jacob’s wages just opposite. He did this 10 times in 6 years.

I have to imagine that the first time God blessed the work of Jacob’s hands, Jacob was in awe of God’s provision and blessing. Can you imagine the feeling Jacob must have had at the first alteration of his wages by Laban? The wages change but the blessings did not. No matter how Laban changed the wages, God’s blessing of the work of Jacob’s hands did not change. Jacob having witnessed this cheating 10 times and the attitude of Laban deteriorating toward him and he is told by an angel of God to return to his homeland, he determines to go back taking his rightful wages. Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Laban, and certainly anyone living here would have seen the blessings of God on Jacob.

We can tell from scripture that Jacob was fully aware of Laban cheating him. Being cheated or trying to be cheated upon never feels good and can affect the heart and mind of the person being cheated, and yet, Jacob continued without recorded complaint. There was no tit for tat on Jacob’s part. This easily could have consumed him and developed into evil intents, bad work ethic, retaliation, etc…. Jacob did not.

We do well to trust God in all things, honor and glorify Him in all things, and give careful thought to how we serve Him in regards to these.

37.d. “Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD”

Genesis 24:39 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, but you shall go to my father’s house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house. Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

“I came today to the spring and said, O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’

“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

Eliezer – Abraham’s servant, doing service to his master, humble, a witness of God’s hand in his affairs, first-hand witness of God answering prayer on his journey, and surely witnessing the fulfillment of the promises and past blessings of God to Abraham. I am encouraged by how this servant relays his purpose and message.

God has blessed my master Abraham
What wealth Abraham has, has been given to him by God
Abraham’s only son was born late in the life of Sarah – an implied act of God
He was sent by his master
He was given specific instructions
He had concerns
He speaks of Abraham’s faith in God by angels being sent before him to prosper his journey
He told them of his prayer to the God of Abraham concerning specific actions at the well
He told them how God fulfilled this prayer
After this he requested an immediate decision as if to say, God’s hand is clearly in this and now you must decide if you will honor what has been said and give Rebekah to my master’s son as his wife?

There are many times in our lives that we want time to think things over before making a decision. Many of these times we are seeking God’s direction and discernment over the information that we have. Time and time again God will give discernment to those who seek His guidance and are surrendered to His purpose with willing obedience.

Then there are times like this where clear communication to the hand and working of God has been both given and, in part, witnessed. This is when waiting to make a decision adds no value. Nothing more can be said. I liken this to the point in your life when God has opened your ears, mind, and heart to His holiness, your sin, judgment (eternal life or death), and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not the time to ask for time to think it over – nothing more can be said – accept it or reject it, the message is clear.

37.c. “I shall know that you have shown steadfast love”

Genesis 24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD and said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

Generally speaking, circumstances alone can be a dangerous way to discern God’s will. We have a way of ignoring circumstances that speak against our desired outcome (or we attribute those circumstances to the devil), while focusing on the circumstances that speak for our desired outcome. This is sometimes a bad way to discern God’s will. But in this case, Eliezer established what he would look for before anything happened. He wasn’t making up the standard as the process unfolded. Abraham’s servant asked God to show him the woman chosen to be Isaac’s wife through an offer to provide water for his ten camels. Eliezer was wise enough to ask for a sign that was remarkable, but (in human terms) possible. He didn’t tempt God by asking for fire to fall from heaven or for protection as he leapt from an unsafe height. Abraham’s servant cared nothing about the woman’s appearance. He wanted a woman of character, a woman whom God had chosen. (Guzik)

Isaiah 65:24 speaks of this kind of gracious answer to prayer: It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

We have leave to be particular in recommending our affairs to the care of Divine providence. He proposes a sign, not that he intended to proceed no further, if not gratified in it; but it is a prayer that God would provide a good wife for his young master; and that was a good prayer. She should be simple, industrious, humble, cheerful, serviceable, and hospitable. Whatever may be the fashion, common sense, as well as piety, tells us, these are the proper qualifications for a wife and mother; for one who is to be a companion to her husband, the manager of domestic concerns, and trusted to form the minds of children. When the steward came to seek a wife for his master, he did not go to places of amusement and sinful pleasure, and pray that he might meet one there, but to the well of water, expecting to find one there employed aright. He prayed that God would please to make his way in this matter plain and clear before him. Our times are in God’s hand; not only events themselves, but the times of them. We must take heed of being over-bold in urging what God should do, lest the event should weaken our faith, rather than strengthen it. But God owned him by making his way clear. Rebekah, in all respects, answered the characters he sought for in the woman that was to be his master’s wife. When she came to the well, she went down and filled her pitcher, and came up to go home with it. She did not stand to gaze upon the strange man his camels, but minded her business, and would not have been diverted from it but by an opportunity of doing good. She did not curiously or confidently enter into discourse with him, but answered him modestly. On learning that she was of his master’s relations, he bowed down his head and worshipped, blessing God. (Henry)

Given all of the examples of prayer and the mighty works of God answering those prayers of faith in the bible, why is it we lack in prayer and faith?

Note the faithful servant prayed for God’s providence in providing success to him fulfilling Abraham’s assignment to him and showing His steadfast love to Abraham. This is not a prayer for success of self but for another. Likewise the prayer of thanksgiving and worship of God in the answering of his prayer for Abraham’s quest for a wife for Isaac.

35.y. “Keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart”

Genesis 9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Isaiah 54:9-10   “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.  For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Deuteronomy 7:9    Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

1 Kings 8:23   and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

Psalms 106:45   For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

God-established covenant(s) are never broken. His covenants with man show His great mercy and love for His creation. It is through this love and mercy we have communion with the one and only Almighty God. Communicating this covenant to mankind displays His want to have communion with His creation. He has given us free will to choose to have communion with Him. Though we may break our side of the covenant by rejecting or denying His covenant with us, God will never break His covenant with us.

He is steadfast, abounding in love and mercy, and wanting that no one perishes due to sin and rejection of Him. He continually calls out to every soul, knocking on their hearts and minds saying let Me into your life, let Me guide your paths, let me bless your humble service, obedience, reliance, trust, and faith, let Me give you strength for tomorrow, let Me give you hope, joy, peace, love, courage, and power, let Me be your rock, fortress, and refuge, let me be light in the darkness, let Me redeem and forgive your sin through the blood of My Son who gave His life so that you may eternal life………Let Me In.

God has given man free will to choose to open the door to their hearts and minds. Those that intentionally open this door to their hearts and minds there is given a covenant promise of eternal life. Many though do not fully open this door, but rather keep it closed and deafen their ears to the knock upon it, or they think they can open the door just enough to catch a glimpse of God on the other side but never fully open the door. Though they may stand at the door with God, it seems as though they have lost grip on the door handle or the ability to open it. The covenant promise of eternal life will never be theirs. The door must be fully opened with an expectant and desiring heart to want to have communion with God, laying aside all self-worth and self-reliance. How many people open the door to their lives just a crack on Sunday mornings and never think about opening it any other time of the week? This is not opening the door but rather just staying on your side of the door and keeping God on the other side. There is no covenant promise that bridges this closed door. The covenant promise of eternal life is only realized when the door is torn from its hinges by YOU and thereby letting God have free reign in and through your life. He has promised to never leave or forsake a person who has removed the door to the governance and leading of their lives to Him. This is what faith in Him does, it not only removes the door, it tears it from the hinges and casts it away never to be hinged again.

35.w. “They were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

Matthew 24:37-39    For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,  and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Hebrews 11:7   By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Psalms 91:1-10    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Proverbs 14:26    In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.

Proverbs 18:10    The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Psalms 33:18-19    Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,  that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

2 Peter 2:5-9     if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;  if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;  and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked  (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

The call to Noah is very kind, like that of a tender father to his children to come in-doors when he sees night or a storm coming. Noah did not go into the ark till God bade him, though he knew it was to be his place of refuge. It is very comfortable to see God going before us in every step we take. Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build the ark, and now he was himself kept alive in it. What we do in obedience to the command of God, and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort of, first or last. This call to Noah reminds us of the call the gospel gives to poor sinners. Christ is an ark, in whom alone we can be safe, when death and judgment approach. The word says, Come; ministers say, Come; the Spirit says, Come, come into the Ark. Noah was accounted righteous, not for his own righteousness, but as an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Heb 11:7. He believed the revelation of a saviour, and sought and expected salvation through Him alone. Thus was he justified by faith, and received that Spirit whose fruit is in all goodness; but if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. After the hundred and twenty years, God granted seven days’ longer space for repentance. But these seven days were trifled away, like all the rest. It shall be but seven days. They had only one week more, one sabbath more to improve, and to consider the things that belonged to their peace. But it is common for those who have been careless of their souls during the years of their health, when they have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the few days of their sickness, when they see death approaching; their hearts being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. As Noah prepared the ark by faith in the warning given that the flood would come, so he went into it, by faith in this warning that it would come quickly. And on the day Noah was securely fixed in the ark, the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The earth had within it those waters, which, at God’s command, sprang up and flooded it; and thus our bodies have in themselves those humours, which, when God pleases, become the seeds and springs of mortal diseases. The windows of heaven were opened, and the waters which were above the firmament, that is, in the air, were poured out upon the earth. The rain comes down in drops; but such rains fell then, as were never known before or since. It rained without stop or abatement, forty days and forty nights, upon the whole earth at once. As there was a peculiar exercise of the almighty power of God in causing the flood, it is vain and presumptuous to attempt explaining the method of it, by human wisdom. (Henry)

34.y. “They do all their deeds to be seen by others. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility.”

Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others.

Luke 11:46    And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Acts 15:10   Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

Philippians 2:3     Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

John 12:43    for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Luke 16:15    And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Proverbs 3:3    Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 6:21-23    Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.  When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.  For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Then spake Jesus to the multitude,…. To the common people that were about him in the temple; the high priests and elders, Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, having left him, being all nonplussed and silenced by him: and now, lest on the one hand, the people seeing the ignorance and errors of these men detected by Christ, should be tempted to conclude there was nothing in religion, and to neglect the word and worship of God, on account of the concern these men had in it; and on the other hand, because of their great authority and influence, being in Moses’s chair, lest the people should be led into bad principles and practices by them, he directs them in what they should observe them, and in what not: that they were not altogether to be rejected, nor in everything to be attended to; and warns them against their ostentation, pride, hypocrisy, covetousness, and cruelty; and, at the same time, removes an objection against himself, proving that he was no enemy to Moses, and the law, rightly explained and practiced. (Gill)

Legalism in any form of justifying ourselves before God is a lie continually proclaimed by satan, always wrong, and temps those that seek redemption apart from complete reliance on Jesus Christ. It does not take much tempting by satan to get a person to wear good deeds in pride. As good of deeds as they may be, they are wasted in that person’s heart for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ alone. Do we think that counting and keeping track of our good deeds in some way puts God in our debt? Likewise, do we do good deeds out of fear of God or because we love God? Do we expect more of others than we do of ourselves?

There are many who proclaim many do’s and don’t’s for a Christian to follow. Let these be summed up in a few. Love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul. Do that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ in all you say, think, and do. Do not be conformed to this world and what it has to offer. Do love others above yourself. Do read scripture with an expectant heart and mind for the purpose of gaining more understanding, wisdom, and knowledge of Jesus Christ and how you might honor and glorify Him more and more each day.