May the mumbling commence!
When we follow the Lord, we will find that God is always
faithful. This was the experience of
Abraham’s servant as he sought a wife for Isaac. Read from Peterson’s The Message:
The
servant took ten of his master’s camels and, loaded
with gifts from his master, traveled to Aram Naharaim
and the city of
Nahor. Outside
the city, he
made the camels
kneel at a well. It was evening, the time when the women
came to draw water. He prayed, “O
God, God of my master
Abraham, make things go smoothly this day; treat
my master Abraham well! As I stand here by the spring while the young women of the town
come out to get water,
let the girl to whom I say, ‘Lower your jug and give me a drink,’ and who
answers, ‘Drink, and let me also water your camels’ – let her be the woman you have picked out for your
servant Isaac. Then I’ll know that you’re
working graciously behind the scenes for my
master.”
It so
happened that the words were barely out of his mouth when Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel whose mother was Milcah
the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with a water jug on her
shoulder. The girl was stunningly beautiful, a pure virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. The servant
ran to her and said,
“Please, can I have a sip of water from your jug?”
She
said, “Certainly, drink!” And she held the jug so that he could drink. When he had satisfied
his thirst she said, “I’ll get water for your camels,
too, until they’ve drunk their fill.” She promptly emptied her
jug into the trough
and ran back to the well to fill it, and she
kept at it until she had watered all the camels.
The
man watched, silent. Was this God’s answer? Had God
made his trip a success or not?
When
the camels had finished drinking, the man brought
out gifts, a gold nose ring weighing a
quarter of an once and
two arm bracelets weighing about four ounces,
and gave them to her. He asked her, “Tell me
about your family? Whose daughter are you? Is there room in
your father’s house for us to stay the night?”
She
said, “I’m the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah and Nahor. And there’s plenty of room in our house for you to stay – and lots of straw
and feed besides.”
At
this the man bowed in worship before God and prayed, “Blessed be God,
God of my master Abraham: How generous and true you’ve been to my master, you’ve held
nothing back. You led me right to the door
of my master’s brother!” (Genesis
24:10-27)
Now read the same passage from the NIV
translation:
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. 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.
Then he prayed, "O Lord, God of my master
Abraham, give me success today, and show
kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am
standing beside this spring, and the daughters
of the townspeople
are coming out to draw
water.
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."
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. 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.
The servant hurried to meet her and
said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."
"Drink, my lord," she said,
and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a
drink.
After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels
too, until they have finished
drinking." 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. Without saying a
word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
When the camels had finished drinking, the
man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing
ten shekels.
Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there
room in your father's house for us to spend
the night?"
She answered him, "I am the daughter
of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she
added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as
room for you to spend the night."
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord,
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." (Genesis 24:10-27)
The differences between Peterson’s work and the NIV do
not alter the Spirit and heart of the Word.
For Abraham’s servant, the answer to prayer was immediate – even before
he had finished praying. It’s good
reason to pray with our eyes open so that we might see the provision of the
Lord. Indeed, answered prayer happened
for a man who did not know God as his own God.
The Lord was God of his master Abraham. Yet, the servant knelt in worship of the Lord
God when he saw the immediate answer to his prayers.
May we pray with our eyes open and take time
to worship the Lord when we see the answer to our prayers.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment