Did
you know that camels can go months in the desert without a sip of water?
Contrary to what is commonly believed, camels don’t store water in their humps,
that’s where they store concentrated fat for energy which is meant to primarily
take the place of food, not water. The camel is the perfect desert animal who
conserves water by God’s design. When they drink water their red blood cells
enlarge up to five times normal size and are oval shaped instead of round to
assist in blood flow when their body temperatures rise in the desert heat.
The
respiratory system of a camel extracts water from even the driest of air and
helps to cool their body and reclaims moisture which would be normally lost in
breathing. It has also been believed that camels store some amounts of water in
small water sacs surrounding the stomach which are used to provide
well-regulated amounts of moisture to the body during extreme times.
However
God designed it, two things stand out as utterly amazing: Camels naturally
travel long distances through the desert for days on end without a single sip
of water and number two: When camels finally do get to drink, they will drink
30 to 40 gallons or more of water in only about 15 minutes. They can drink
faster than one person can draw water from a well.
This
brings us to our message from God today. Allow me to set the stage for today’s
Bible Story while you turn to the first book in the Bible, Genesis, chapter 24.
It
is about 2000 years Before Christ and a man named Abraham was 140 years old.
Abraham’s wife, Sarah, died and both he and their 40-year-old son, Isaac,
missed her greatly. It seemed to Abraham that it was time for Isaac to take a
wife only, Abraham dwelled in the land of Canaan and did not want his son to
marry a woman who served the false gods of that land.
Abraham
called his oldest and most trusted servant, (Eliezer), and sent him on a
mission making him swear an oath that he would not take a woman of Canaan as a
wife for Isaac but would travel to Abraham’s family in Haran and find a
suitable wife for him from there. Eliezer loaded 10 camels with the wealth of
his master Abraham and with provisions for the journey.
The
calculations from that time shows the distance from Hebron in Israel to Haran
in the fertile northern Mesopotamian valley, near the modern-day Syrian/Turkish
border, to be about 470 miles and it would have taken nearly 3 weeks to cover
by camel. The servant of Abraham arrived on the outskirts of Haran in the early
evening, just about the time families sent their young daughters to draw water from
the well just outside the city.
Being
at the city well in those day was like going to a local pub or the beauty shop
today, anything you want to know about anyone in the town can probably be heard
in conversation there. Eliezer was looking for the family of his master
Abraham. There was no better place for him to be. Let’s begin reading at verse
1:
Genesis 24 NKJV
1 ¶ Now Abraham was old, well
advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 So Abraham said to the
oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your
hand under my thigh,
3 “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;
4 “but you shall go to my
country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
8 “And if the woman is not
willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath …
As
I said, Eliezer loaded 10 camels and left for the city of Nahor, also known as
Haran. When he arrived, and evening came, Eliezer prayed to the Lord God of his
master Abraham …
14 “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.”
Now that’s a pretty tall order seeing that there
were 10 camels. Where does Eliezer expect God to find a woman like that?
15 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.
16 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.
17 And the servant ran to
meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
18 So she said, “Drink, my
lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.
19 And when she had finished
giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also,
until they have finished drinking.”
Rebekah didn’t just offer to give the camels
a drink, she committed herself to drawing water for them until all ten of them drank
all they wanted.
Remember, thirsty camels drink 30 to 40
gallons of water each. If a person continued to draw and pour 2 gallons of
water per minute into the camel’s drinking trough non-stop it could take up to
3 ½ hours to satisfy the thirst of all ten camels.
Rebekah didn’t just meet the criteria of the
wife Eliezer was hoping to find for his master’s son, she far exceeded his
expectations …
20 Then she quickly emptied
her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and
drew for all his camels.
When
Eliezer found out that Rebekah was from the family of Abraham he bowed and
worshipped the Lord for prospering him on his journey. He gave her presents and
was welcomed into her mother’s home where he told them how much God had blessed
Abraham and Eliezer then gave them many gifts from his master. Eliezer related
his payer to God at the well concerning the camels and how Rebekah was
evidently the one God had chosen to be the wife of Isaac. In the face of all of
these things they had but one question: What did Rebekah want to do? Was she
willing to go?
57 So they said, “We will
call the young woman and ask her personally.”
58 Then they called Rebekah
and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”
59 So they sent away Rebekah their
sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.
60 And they blessed Rebekah
and said to her: “Our sister, may you become The mother of
thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those
who hate them.”
61 Then Rebekah and her maids
arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took
Rebekah and departed.
Rebekah
was a child of destiny. Today she is still the greatest Old Testament
representation of the Bride of Christ.
·
She
was the daughter of a wealthy, well-to-do family, and was going about her daily
chores without realizing just how important she was to the plan of God.
·
Perhaps
she imagined a life she would one day live or dreamed dreams of being in her
own house someday or maybe she felt a twinge or caught a glimpse of something
she could not understand and had not yet experienced. Maybe she had dismissed
those inklings as youthful imaginations or perhaps she even dared to dwell on some of those thoughts of what her life was
going to be like when she was married or when she got older.
·
Something
seems to have shaped her attitude and her demeanor because when we see Rebekah in
Genesis 24, she is a kind and caring, hardworking and helpful young woman, fit
for her destiny, content in her moment, and yet so willing to embrace a future
only God could offer.
Rebekah
was definitely Destiny’s Child … and so are you!
·
Only
God knows your destiny and it is His Holy Spirit that draws you on towards your
greatest day, your greatest potential, your greatest offering to Him and
eternity. You can dream from anywhere at any age, but you must follow your
dreams to make them come true.
·
Something
speaks to you and makes you yearn, if only for the twinkling of a moment, you
catch a glimpse of something wonderful and it excites your whole being. This is
the Holy Spirit urging us to look up and lift up our head, to feel the wind of
the Spirit and follow destiny’s call on our life.
For
Rebekah, it led her to one moment in life when a new door was suddenly opened
to her because she was:
1.
Where she should be (not out partying but
engaged with her family)
2.
Doing what she should be doing (busy about
her common chores)
3. Content
and Productive (Happy and wholesome where she was)
4.
Willing to work harder with the fruits of kindness as her only
reward.
She
had all she ever needed at home except the one thing she longed for in her
heart … something she could not even put to words and could not explain. However,
the dream in her heart came alive when that door opened. It was like Queen
Esther, and the poor widow in 1 Kings 17 …
·
It
gave her the security she needed to say yes
·
It
covered the gaps in her mind that she could not know
·
It
filled her heart with hope beyond her understanding
·
It
gave her faith to strike out on a new course of life
Something
prepared Rebekah for that moment … and she allowed it … no doubt Rebekah
embraced those feelings she had felt and opened her heart to possibilities
beyond her contrivance and beyond her control … she was destiny’s child. She
simply placed her faith and her future in God’s hands.
Rebekah
felt she belonged to something she had never seen; to somewhere she had never
been; doing something she had never done; she was willing to go for it, and God
made her able. It was, after all, His plan.
The
door of destiny was opened to Rebekah, but it would not remain open forever …
it was a chance and time was critical. Life would go on with or without her.
The servant was under an oath to give her the opportunity, but he would be
released from his oath if she said no or refused to go.
Rebekah’s
faith in her destiny did not make things easy, but it did make things possible.
She had a long journey; she was separated from her family; she was barren for
many years; yet the hand of God was upon her.
At
each stage and every age of life we too are offered opportunity, doors through
which we can take a step into destiny. When one door closes another will open
to us by the hand of God. You are a Child of Destiny. You are headed towards
your next door of destiny. When the door opens, and your heart knows it, will
you say yes to God? Will you trust your future to Him? You are a Child of God.
You have a destined future. It’s on its way!
