Eliezer - Abraham's Faithful Servant - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards

"See you in the morning!" Danny said to his best friend,
Rick, as he walked out of the room and gently closed the
door. The two boys lived next door to each other for as
long as they could remember. They had gone to school and
church together and were nearly inseparable.

Since Rick had gotten sick, Danny had been
bringing his homework assignments to him every afternoon
and picking up the finished work the next morning. Every
day Rick looked forward to the visit. He knew he could
count on Danny to cheer him up and help him get his mind
off his sickness, and every day Danny looked forward to
being with Rick. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his
very best friend.

Abraham had lived a long life and Yahweh had
richly blessed him with land, flocks, herds, maids, and
servants - everything a man could possibly want. However,
he had one concern that deeply troubled him: His son,
Isaac, was not yet married.

That was a great problem for Abraham, because
Yahweh had promised that he would have many grandchildren and
great-grandchildren and they would become a great nation.
Since Isaac was the only son of his beloved wife, Sarah, it
was extremely important to him that he be married so that
the promise of Yahweh would be fulfilled.

Abraham called for his most trusted servant,
Eliezer, and talked this problem over with him. "Please
promise me that you will go back to my country and my
people and bring back a young lady to marry my son Isaac. I
don't want him to marry any of the young ladies around here
because they worship idols and are not godly."

Eliezer was not only an important servant in
Abraham's household; he had been with Abraham so long that
they considered one another as friends. Eliezer didn't want
to disappoint Abraham in any way.

Eliezer thought it over very carefully before
making a promise to his beloved friend. "What if I can't
find a woman that is willing to leave her family and come
here to live?" he asked. "Should I take Isaac back to your
old home town to live among her people?"

Abraham didn't have to think very long about
that question. He had a ready answer. "No. If you can't
find a woman willing to move here, then you are released
from the promise," Abraham replied. "Yahweh called me many
years ago to leave my home country and follow him. This
land, the land of Canaan, is where he led me. Yahweh promised
to bless my family and children here. Isaac must not return
to the country from which I came."

Eliezer made the promise to Abraham that he
would do his very best to find a bride for Isaac. Abraham
trusted Eliezer so much that he had put him in charge of
everything he owned. Eliezer was free to take whatever he
felt was necessary. Nothing was kept from him.

Eliezer cherished that trust and thought
carefully about what he might need. He chose ten of
Abraham's very best camels and loaded them with supplies
for the trip. He also packed several expensive gifts to
give to the young lady he would be bringing back with him.
After carefully looking over everything one last time, he
climbed up on the lead camel and started his journey to the
city of Nahor which was in the country of Mesopotamia. The
other nine camels were following closely behind.

After traveling quite a distance, Eliezer
reached the country of Mesopotamia. Even though he was hot,
tired and hungry, he kept the camels clomp, clomp, clomping
along, knowing that he would soon reach the city of Nahor.

We might think that after traveling such a long
way on those hot, dusty roads, on top of a lumpy, humpy,
bumpy, uncomfortable camel, most people would want to go
straight into the city to find a place to cool off, get
something good to eat, and then rest. But that was not the
case with Eliezer. None of those things even entered his
mind. Eliezer took this mission very seriously and wanted
to be sure to do it properly. As soon as Eliezer reached
the gates of the city, he did something that most people
would find to be very strange. He got off the camels and
made them kneel down. Then he kneeled down right outside in
the open . . . and he prayed.

"O Yahweh-Elohim of my master Abraham, please let
this be a successful journey. It's just about time for the
young ladies to come to the well to get water. I won't know
any of these girls. I won't know which one would make a
good wife for Isaac. So this is what I will do. I will ask
one of them for a drink of water. Please show me which one
is the right one by having her say, 'Yes, I will give you a
drink, and will also give your camels water to drink.' This
way I will know which young lady you have chosen to be
Isaac's wife."

Just as Eliezer finished his prayer and stood
up, the young ladies from the city of Nahor came to the
well. This was their time to enjoy one another's company.
They were talking and laughing and didn't even notice the
stranger standing nearby. Eliezer carefully looked at each
one. "This is really important. I surely do hope I choose
the right one," he thought to himself. "But I prayed and I
know Yahweh will help me."

Eliezer noticed one particular young woman. He
approached her saying, "I have traveled a long way and am
thirsty. May I please have a drink?"

She smiled gently and replied, "Yes, I will give you a
drink, and I will also give all your camels water to
drink." She quickly filled her pitcher with water and gave
it to Eliezer. When he had finished, she filled the
pitcher, then poured the water into a bucket and gave it to
the lead camel. She then went back to the well and refilled
the pitcher for the next camel. She repeated this over and
over until all ten of the camels had enough water to drink.

Even though Yahweh had answered his prayer and
the response of this young lady was exactly the way he had
prayed, Eliezer stood watching her and wondering,"Could
this really be the one? She is the first one I approached.
How can I be absolutely sure?"

When all the camels were finally finished
drinking, Eliezer reached into a pouch and took out a
beautiful golden earring and two lovely golden bracelets
and gave them to the young lady as a thank you gift. He
then asked her name and asked if her father might have an
extra room at his house so he could spend the night.

"My name is Rebekah and I am the daughter of
Bethuel. Nahor is my grandfather." Eliezer paid close
attention to every word, as Rebekah continued. "We have
plenty of room at our house, and you don't even need to
worry about the camels. We have plenty of straw and food
for them."

Eliezer bowed his head and worshipped Yahweh
right there at the well, because his prayer had been
answered. Yahweh led him exactly where he needed to be. From
talking with Abraham, he had heard of Bethuel and Nahor. He
knew this was the right family, and from Rebekah's actions
of patiently giving water to all ten of his camels, he knew
for certain that she was the right young lady to take home
to be a bride for Abraham's son, Isaac. Yahweh made sure that
everything worked just perfectly in answer to his Eliezer's
prayer.

THINK!

Why was Abraham troubled?

What was the name of Abraham's trusted servant?

What was the first thing Eliezer did when he reached the
city?

How did Eliezer know which young lady was the right one?

What gifts did Eliezer give to Rebekah?

What was the last thing Eliezer did after Rebekah told him
Who she was?

REMEMBER:

Pray! Yahweh answers prayer.

A VERSE TO LEARN

"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray" (Psalm
55:17).

LET'S PRAY

****************************************************
Dear Yahweh, thank You that we can learn
important lessons from Your Word, the Bible.
Help us to remember to pray and trust You
with important matters throughout our lives.
In Yah'shua's Name, amen.
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CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
Genesis 24:1-27

You can view this Bible story in full color with pictures and
resources to go along with the story at
http://childrenschapel.org/biblestories/eliezer.html

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