10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.14 May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ —let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night? ”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor. ” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham,who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
There is one word that occurs three times in this passage that must be addressed...kindness, or in Hebrew....hesed.
This word is seen twice in the prayer at the beginning of the story (vv. 12-14) and once in the doxology at the end (vv. 26-27).
Without this word, this story seems very secular, as if God is not involved in this process, it is just a mere coincidence. For it was polite in that culture to help traveler's coming and going through your village.
But coincidences in the Bible are usually not coincidences, but divine appointments. They are part of God's plan.
And this is how the servant sees what happens from vv. 15-25. First, he asked God to be kind, or literally, to show hesed, or covenantal faithfulness.
This word was used to describe lovingkindness shown in different relationships from one person to another, even when the other person did not deserve it.
But when referring to God, this word is referring to the fact that God, not only is faithful to the deals or covenants he makes with his people, but that that faithfulness comes out of his love.
God loves us more perfectly than anyone has ever loved anything, and out of this love comes the truth that he is faithful to us, because he loves.
In this story, the servant is asking for God to be faithful, to show his love, his kindness, on to his servant. For this little love story is part of God's master plan to rescue the world from sin. It is part of his covenant to Abraham, to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. And because of this, this servant is asking for God to be faithful.
And look at what happens.
A woman comes, offers water to the man and his camels, which would have taken multiple gallons, and God provides.
The man prays and God provides,
The man steps out in faith, and he finds that God is faithful.
That is why in his prayer at the end of this story, he thanks God for his "kindness", or as we know it, hesed, faithfulness.
And in vv. 15-25, there is no mention of God doing anything....yet....don't we see his fingerprints all over the story.
In the midst of the craziness of our lives, when we feel that God is distant, just remember that God is faithful, he will show you kindness. But he desires for you to be faithful back, to love him back through obedience.
So obey today, for God will be faithful to the very end.
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