Abraham, my Friend 60

A nose jewel and two bracelets

We are watching the unfolding of events pertaining to the father’s son; Isaac. If we continue with our analogy of The Father, Son and Holy Executive we see interesting patterns in this account. We see that this whole chapter is an unfolding of the father’s will in his determination to have a bride for his son — the son who passed through death and resurrection in the symbols of Moriah. We noted the strict admonition of Abraham that under no circumstances was Isaac to ‘go into the world’ to seek a bride. Isaac is the ‘heir’ to whom the ‘father’ has given ‘all that he hath’. Isaac must abide by his father’s side while another is sent, from the father and the son, into the world.

The whole passage, as we have seen, is rich in types and shadows. The stops and the steps are all recorded. Isaac makes no moves in this part of the chapter; the ‘servant’ moves and the ‘bride’ will move, but Isaac must wait…

…but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; henceforth expecting… (Heb 10:12–13 ASV)

The Hebrews quotation runs on to speak of Christ’s victory over his enemies, but in the language of the same book, we read again that he…

…for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1–2 NKJV)

Meanwhile, the servant pursues his mission

Rebekah fulfils the servant’s request and he lavishes expensive gifts upon her; a nose-jewel and a pair of golden bracelets. Perhaps we can pause to consider Rebekah’s response to this gesture.

A complete stranger makes a simple request for water. Rebekah waters both him and his camels. The stranger fills her hands with expensive gifts. There is something about Rebekah’s behaviour that is unrestrained, unguarded. What was it about the stranger’s demeanour that reassured her? Something in his manner must have made her sense that he only wished her well and had no ulterior motives.

In the presence of this stranger, something within her was unfettered; her name implies ‘fettered’. But in the presence of this stranger, she is ‘free’ to make her own generous gestures. We live in a dangerous world —  ‘Don’t take sweets from strangers’ —  and Rebekah’s world was just as dangerous, but somehow in the presence of this stranger her self-consciousness, which would have ended any normal conversation abruptly, is not allowed to ‘fetter’ her. She is amazingly free to respond to the agent of the father and the son.

We learn to be suspicious at an early age

It is part of our survival strategy. It is sad to see a child with all his easy instinctive trust become guarded because he no longer trusts people. If you tease a child relentlessly and play tricks on him you will ‘fetter’ him permanently; you will teach him to trust no-one.

To unfetter us so that we may respond to Christ, the Spirit must restore this childlike instinct; without it, there can be no access to the kingdom.

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” (Mark 10:15 NKJV)

Surely this is one of the first works of the Spirit in our lives; we find ourselves able to trust someone again. God knows this trust is vital; without it, there can be no progress. It is instructive to see, in Scripture, the way that the Lord dealt with men and women — always gaining their trust before insisting upon their commitment.

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”  They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”  He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). (John 1:38–39 NKJV)

Somehow in our evangelism, we have to make time for people to trust us, to ‘come and see’.

Friends… and then converts

The preaching of Paul and others was not the opening salvo of a naval barrage, but the careful laying of a foundation upon which further truths could be built. Did you ever notice the verse which describes the results of Paul’s labours at Mars Hill?

However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:34 NKJV)

Did you notice the order? First, they cleaved to Paul, then they believed. Something in the man captured them and from that place of trust they believed.

This is partly the reason why Paul is so conscious of the conscience in those who hear him. He will not overdrive them. He will not demand ‘leaps of faith’ but build his foundations stone by stone.

But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:2 NKJV)

Our preaching must ‘commend ourselves’ to our hearers’ conscience in the sight of God. If they cannot trust us they will never trust what we say. It is regrettable but much ‘evangelism’ is simply spiritual bullying.

Can an enemy become a worshipper?

We see it in the wonderful account of the woman at Sychar’s Well. Just watch how her hackles go down! It is an amazing journey from suspicion and downright hostility to faithful witness. It was not evangelistic technique which achieved this turn-around, but simply that he ‘won’ her confidence. He did so by talking and listening. He also did so because in spite of all indications to the contrary he knew that under the hurt and the hackles was a thirsty heart. We need to remember this in our evangelism. We would do well to remember this simple but profound word:

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” (Matt 10:40–42 NKJV)

Interesting too that we are back to the drinking metaphor.

What can I give him, poor as I am?

It’s a line from the old Christmas Carol. We usually put the question the other way around — what can he give me? — but has he come to our well ready to receive something from us? The hardliner here says ‘no, there’s nothing that he wants from you’. That ‘pearl’ had ‘great price’ for him even before he ‘went and sold all that he had and bought it’ (Matt 13:46 NKJV). And so it is not true that you have nothing to give; if you can read this and not stumble at the images, he wants you to drink from him, and he wants to drink from you. He desires you — the real you. Not the ‘you’ as we usually regard it, sin-cursed and rebellious, but the ‘you’ that still exists under all that debris.

I spent my childhood in the most derelict area of the UK, or so the Government’s statistics reckoned. My home town had more derelict land and spoil tips (refuse dumps from coal mining, steel manufacture and the pottery industry) proportionately to any other part of the country; the nearest tree was a full mile away in a local park! About a hundred yards from my home was a thing called a ‘shraff tip’ or ‘shardruck’, in the dialect of the Potteries. Hundreds of thousands of tons of the refuse of the pottery industry had been dumped there; plaster of Paris moulds, lumps of hardened clay, broken cups and saucers, half-used barrels of chemicals, broken packing cases. Year on year had compressed it and now it was as solid as bedrock and at least 50 feet thick, and from its base there trickled a little crystal stream gently oozing from underneath the pollution and filth of generations.

We easily become overwhelmed with the weight of all that we have become; the ‘shardruck’ fills our horizons. But there is one who has his eye on the little stream, and who says, ‘Give me to drink.’ Sometimes we are determined to deal with all the rubbish, and he says, ‘Give me to drink.’ ‘But, but, but…’ says the heart. ‘Give me to drink,’ comes the reply.

How was it possible for Rebekah to respond to this request?

Surely it was the special presence of the stranger, and she knew she could trust him. When we begin to respond to the Lord his response is lavish; now a small fortune rests in Rebekah’s hands.

‘He has ascended on high’ says Ephesians 4 ‘… and gave gifts to men.’

This is a quotation from Psalm 68:

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led away captives;
Thou hast received gifts among men,
Yea, among the rebellious also, that Jehovah God might dwell with them. (Ps 68:18 ASV)

For the rebellious also? Has he something for the rebellious? Yes, as long as we begin to open up to him, we will find he has gifts for the rebellious also. I have quoted this poem before, I think, but it will bear repetition:

Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lacked anything.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.

George Herbert, The Temple, 1633

Unearned gifts

It is important to understand that Rebekah did not earn her gifts by her offer of water. The offer of the water is just an indication of the openness of her heart. These simple responses of Rebekah to the servant are vital steps in her destiny. When we respond to the Spirit and are willing to receive from him, we ‘enable’ him to bless us in ever greater ways. There is a little question and answer sequence in Psalm 116:

What shall I render unto Jehovah
For all his benefits toward me?
I will take the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of Jehovah.
I will pay my vows unto Jehovah,
Yea, in the presence of all his people. (Ps 116:12–14 ASV)

‘What shall I give?’ is the psalmist’s familiar question. ‘I will receive’ is his answer. The only thing I have to give is this need into which God can pour all his gracious provision. There is nothing to ‘pay’ until ‘I have taken’. I can come as a ‘rebel’ and as long as I come he has gifts for the rebellious also. I really can come, ‘just as I am’… Of course, I can’t stay, ‘just as I am’, but that’s the next part of our story…