THE HUMBLE ‘YES’ THAT BLESSED THE WORLD
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 10, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Mother’s Day Sunday Message; May 10, 2020 from Genesis 24
Theme: God is able to do great things through humble people who simply say ‘yes’ to His call.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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Every Mother’s Day, we enjoy looking together in the Scriptures at the story of a great woman of faith. And this morning, we’ll look at an Old Testament heroine of faith from the very beginnings of the story of God’s chosen people Israel. In fact, she’s so important to the story that she deserves to be called ‘the Mother of Israel’.
Her name is Rebekah.
Now; when I refer to her as ‘the Mother of Israel’, I mean that quite literally. She was the mother of the patriarch Jacob—whose name was changed by God, later in life, to Israel. Jacob was the father of the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of the nation Israel. So, Rebekah is significant in God’s redemptive history because she was not only the biological mother of the man named Israel, but also because it was thus through her that the nation of Israel came into being. And she is even more significant; because, it was from the nation of Israel that came in to existence by her that the Lord Jesus Christ—the Redeemer of all humanity—was born.
All of humanity—throughout the world—in all the ages—is blessed because of Rebekah. And it all came about because, early in her life—when she was just a young girl—she recognized the call of God upon her to do something remarkable … and said ‘yes’ to His call.
Her’s is the story of the humble ‘yes’ that has truly benefited the whole world.
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As I have been thinking about her story over the past week, I have been thinking about the times in my life when God has called upon me—in specific circumstances—to do something surprising and unusual. They were concerning courses of action that I knew very clearly to be the will of God. They were things that had been confirmed to me as God’s will; and that others around me also had recognized to be God’s will for me. But usually, they came to me as things that were very much out of my comfort zone. And in each case, I needed to be brave and say ‘yes’. One of them was God’s call to me to give up the career I had been pursuing, and go to seminary to be a pastor instead. It required my wife and me to uproot and move to another city. Other people saw that call from God and confirmed it to me; but I myself needed to say ‘yes’ to it. Another was when I became the pastor of Bethany Bible Church. Others saw that call from God and confirmed it to me as well; but I myself needed also to say ‘yes’ to it.
I wonder, dear brother or sister in Christ, if God may be calling you right now to a new adventure in His service in some way. It may be something that, through various means, you have become convinced is God’s will. It may be that it is something that others around you—who love and follow the Lord Jesus—are confirming to you as God’s will. But it may be something that involves a new and different and unknown direction that stretches you beyond your comfort zone. And God is waiting for you to say ‘yes’.
I believe we can learn a great deal from Rebekah. She teaches us what great things God can do through any one of us in Christ when we humbly trust Him, and say ‘yes’ to His call.
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Now; for Rebekah, her ‘yes’ to God’s call came very early in her life. But before we look at the story of that early call, and her humble ‘yes’, let’s first consider …
1. HER BACKGROUND.
As we look at her background, we see that she had been providentially prepared for the remarkable role that God had called her to.
Her name—Rebekah—is interesting. The root meaning of her name is “tie-rope”—such as you would use to rope and tie and animal. The figurative sense of her name is as ‘one who ensnares’ or ‘one who captures’; and some biblical scholars believe that this was meant to speak of someone who was ‘fetching’ or ‘captivating’. And indeed, as we read her early story in the Bible, we discover that she is described as “very beautiful to behold”. But I believe there was much more than just surface beauty to her. Her early story—and even the later parts of her story—clearly show her to have been a woman who was strong and industrious and willing to serve the promises of God. She was a woman of beautiful character and a beautiful faith well as a beautiful appearance. It was because of her remarkable character that she was identified—early on in her story—as God’s chosen wife for His chosen servant Isaac.
But we should also consider her family heritage. That was a part of the story that—in God’s providence—was completely outside her control. As it turns out, she was actually related to the man God called her to marry. In Genesis 22—before we even encounter her story—we’re told about her family. Abraham received some family news once from far away about his brother Nahor and sister-in-law Milcah:
“Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother (Genesis 22:20-23).
Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel; Bethuel was the son of Nahor; and Nahor was the brother of Abraham. When you put this all together, you find that Rebekah was the first cousin once removed of the man she was destined to marry—Isaac. God had a remarkable way of keeping it all in the family—and all according to His promises to Abraham.
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Now; these pieces of Rebekah’s background all have a great deal to do with the story of God’s remarkable call on her life—as we will see. But before we even get to that remarkable call, let’s look ahead a little further to see what happened in Rebekah’s life as a result of that call—and as a result of her having said ‘yes’ to it. Let’s look at some stories from …
2. HER LATER HISTORY.
Let’s jump ahead to about twenty years after the time she became the wife of God’s chosen man Isaac; and consider how she became the mother of Jacob. Isaac had married her when he was forty years old. And she—in keeping with the traditions of the time—was probably quite a bit younger than he. But as the years rolled on and as the biological clock ticked away, there was a terrible problem. Rebekah was barren. She and Isaac could not have children.
This was truly a very serious problem. Isaac was the son that God had given to Abraham—the only son of his body who would inherit all of the blessings of God that had promised to Abraham. Do you remember those promises from Genesis 12? God told old childless Abraham that He would make him into a great nation, and that he would become the possessor of a great land, and that—in him—all the nations of the earth would be blessed. These were promises, ultimately, about the nation of Israel, the land of promise, and the hope of the birth of the Redeemer—Jesus. God had miraculously given Abraham a son—his only son; but now, that son and his wife could not have children. What would happen to the promise?
The Bible tells us that Isaac pleaded with God for his wife; and the Lord heard his prayers and Rebekah became pregnant. But then came another interesting problem. She bore twins—and those two twins were struggling with each other in her womb. It felt like a fight going on inside her belly. She said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So Rebekah went to ask the Lord about it; and the Lord told her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).
And indeed, when it came time to give birth, out came two twin boys. The first one to come out was a red, hairy little boy. They named him Esau—which means “Red”. He grew up to be a hunter—a man of the field. And he eventually became the father of the nation of Edom. And when the second boy came out, he had hold of his brother Esau by the heel. They named him Jacob—which means “heel-grabber”. He was a man who was of a more delicate manner than Esau. He stayed mostly indoors.
But when it came to his brother, Jacob the Heel-grabber sure lived up to his name! There was a time, when the two boys were older, that Jacob was cooking some lintel stew; and Esau—just having come in from the field—was hungry and wanted some. Jacob told his elder brother—to whom belonged the rights to the promises of Abraham—
“Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:31-34).
You might think, “What a terrible thing for ol’ ‘Heel-grabber’ to do to his brother!” But we should remember that God, from the very beginning, had promised that Jacob the younger would indeed rule over Esau the elder.
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Now; that was a promise from God. Rebekah knew about that promise. It was to her that God had made it—even while the two boys were still in her womb. And so, the next part of her story we need to think about is how she helped to established Jacob’s prominence.
You see; another problem along the way was because of Isaac the father. Rebekah had a special love for Jacob because of the promise that God had made concerning him. But Isaac preferred Esau. Esau was a tough outdoorsman and hunter. He cooked game for Isaac, and Isaac loved it. Esau was the firstborn of the twins; and Isaac wanted him to be the heir of the blessing—even though Isaac knew that God had promised that role to Jacob.
So; another forty years or so into the future—when Isaac was nearly 100, and couldn’t see or hear too well anymore—he told Esau;
“Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now, therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die” (Genesis 27:3-4).
And off Esau went. But you know the story; don’t you? Rebekah heard this; and so she told Jacob;
“Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.” And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me” (vv. 6-13).
And so it happened. Jacob went and got the kids of the goats, and Rebekah prepared them in the way that Esau would have done. Then, she covered Jacob over with the hair of the goats so he felt to the touch like Esau would have felt. And old aged Isaac couldn’t tell the difference. He ended up thinking that he was passing the blessing on to Esau; but he passed it on to Jacob instead—the son whom God had appointed for it.
You might think, “Well; I thought Jacob was sneaky. But Rebekah seems even sneakier!” And I even used to think that too. But I have grown to realize that Rebekah was acting in faith. We might question her methods; but what she was doing was making sure that God’s promise to Jacob would be fulfilled—even though her husband seems to have wandered from faithfulness to that promise. She was a clever and courageous woman who was truly was seeking to honor the will of God.
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And there was one more important thing we need to notice about her later story. Now that she had rightly steered the promise toward her son Jacob, we need to notice how she literally protected Israel’s future.
When Esau understood that he had not only lost the birthright, but now had been tricked out of the blessing, he grew to hate his brother ‘Heel-grabber’. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob” (v. 41).
Rebekah was told of Esau’s words. She knew that her son Jacob’s life was in serious danger. If he was killed, what then would happen to the promises of God to Abraham? And so, she called Jacob to herself and told him,
“Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, 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. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?” (vv. 42-45).
She sent him away to her brother Laban in Padan Aram—about 450 miles away. Thus, Jacob was kept safe—and lived to see the promises of God.
But did you know that—as far as we can tell from the Bible’s story—Rebekah never lived to see her son Jacob again? She had been used by God to give birth to the father of the nation of Israel, to elevate him to the place of prominence in God’s promise to bless him with the blessings of Abraham, and even to protect his life so that the promises of God concerning him would be fulfilled. This remarkable woman of faith was used by God to give birth to two great nations—one of them being God’s chosen people; to establish God’s promise to that nation; to protect the capability of that promise being fulfilled; and ultimately blessing the whole world because of the fulfillment of those promises through Jesus Christ.
And when her work was done, that’s the last that we hear of her.
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Now; Rebekah could never have imagined—way back at the beginning of her story—how much would happen when she had said ‘yes’ to God’s unique call upon her life. And now; it’s time for us to go back and consider …
3. HER ‘YES’.
The story is found in Genesis 24. Old Abraham was very, very advanced in years. God had given him the promised son Isaac; who was forty years old at the time—but unmarried. Abraham needed to make sure that Isaac would be able to have a family—and so that the promise would be passed on to him. So Abraham called his oldest and most trusted servant and said;
“Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the 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” (Genesis 24:2-4).
This trusted old servant took ten of Abraham’s camels, and much of Abraham’s goods, and departed. He traveled to the place where Abraham came from—up in Mesopotamia. And he came to the city of Nahor—Abraham’s brother. He made his camels come to rest by the city well at evening time; and then, the servant offered this prayer up to God:
“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” (vv. 12-14).
And before he had even finished offering this prayer, who should come along but the daughter of Bethuel, the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Her name was Rebekah! The Bible tells us that she “was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her.” And as she filled her pitcher at the well, the servant ran to her and asked, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” 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 (vv. 18-21).
This would have taken her a lot of work. But she was a woman of beautiful character as well as in appearance—a woman who cared about people and who was willing to serve their needs. When she was done, the servant was convinced. He had asked God for a very specific sign; and he was now sure that she was the woman of God’s choice. He placed some rich jewelry upon her asked her who her family was. And when she told him that she was the daughter of Bethuel—and when the servant realized that she was from Abraham’s own family—he burst out in praise to God!
“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren” (v. 27).
Can you imagine how all of this would have stunned Rebekah? But she ran home and told her family; and they all came out to bring the servant to their home. They set a great meal before him; but before he could eat a single bite, he told the whole family of the story of how God had led him to them. He wanted them to decide: May he now take Rebekah to his master’s son as wife? And they all recognized the hand of God in it all. Her brother Laban spoke for the whole family and said,
“The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken” (v. 51).
They wanted their sister to stay for a few days more; but the servant wanted to move on right away. And so, it was all put to Rebekah. Would she stay or would she go? Just imagine the situation that was put before her. This had all happened within just a few hours. She didn’t know who Isaac was—except that he was a relative. She would have to travel a long journey to a land she didn’t know. And little did she realize the great things that God would do through her. But it was obvious that it was the call of God upon her life. She could clearly see it; her family could clearly see it; and the servant of Abraham could clearly see it.
And so; in verse 58, she said, “I will go.”
It was the humble ‘yes’ that blessed the world. Because of that ‘yes’, we have the nation of Israel—and we have a Redeemer.
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; there may be many times in our lives when God calls us to do something unusual—something unexpected—something that involves a lot of unknowns for us. They may not be large, world-shaping things such as was the case for Rebekah. They may be small, every-day, seemingly-ordinary things. But they are things through which God wishes to use us to bless those around us. God wants us to be faithful and trust Him—whether the call is to something small or something great.
So as Rebekah’s story teaches us; when you sense God’s call to serve Him in some unusual way—and when you are convinced that it truly is His will—and when others who love you and love Him also confirm to you that it is God’s will—don’t be afraid to say ‘yes’.
It may be the ‘yes’ that opens up the way to great blessing to others.
EA
