(Genesis) Genesis 24:2-9

I'm reading now verse 2, Genesis 24. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord. Now, that's the way men took an oath in that day.

Didn't raise their right hand and put the left hand on a Bible. Didn't have a Bible to begin with. And frankly, I don't think it's necessary for anybody to put your hand on the Bible to swear.

If it's necessary to get you to tell the truth to do that, then it may be you won't tell the truth. But here, this was the method in that day. A man put his hand in the thigh of the man that he's going to make an oath to.

And so this servant, and I think it's Eliezer, he was the head servant in the home of Abraham. And he had a son. Remember, Abraham called God's attention to that.

Now God says to him in verse 3, I'll make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell. My Christian friend today, you got a boy in your home or a girl in your home that's marriageable, you ought to pray that they will not marry one of the Canaanites because they're still in the land and there is always a danger of our young people marrying one of the Canaanites. And if you do, someone has said, if you're going to have the devil for your father-in-law, you're going to have trouble with him.

You always do. And now will you notice, Abraham here says to his servant, verse 4, but thou shalt go unto my country, to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land.

Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. The servant said, Now suppose I can't find a girl, it'll come with me. Shall I come back and get Isaac and take him to that land? And Abraham said, Never take him back.

This is the place where God wants us. And do not turn him to that land under any circumstance. That's very important, by the way, to see.

Now verse 7, The Lord God of heaven which took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that swear unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. Now Abraham is really a man of faith. He demonstrates it again and again, and here he's magnificent.

He says to this servant, You can count on God leading you. God has promised me this. Now you see he's not taking a leap in the dark.

Faith is not a leap in the dark. It must rest upon the Word of God. I find a great many people today, they say, Well, I believe God and it'll come to pass.

Well fine, it's wonderful for you to believe God, but do you have something in writing from God? Abraham always asked for it in writing, and he had it in writing from God. God had made a contract with him, and he says, God has promised me that through my seed, and that's Isaac, that he's going to bring a blessing to the world. Now you can be sure of one thing.

God has a bride back there for Isaac, and you see he rests upon what God has said. We need not be foolish today. Faith is not foolishness.

It's resting upon something. It's always reasonable. It's never a leap in the dark.

It's not betting your life that this'll come to pass or that'll come to pass. It's not a gamble. It's a sure thing.

Faith is the real sure thing, and Abraham here is sure. He said you can be sure of that. Now he says, though, if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear of this my oath, only bring not my son thither again.

Don't ever return my son back there. But if the woman won't come, then you are discharged. Well what does that mean? It means simply this.

Abraham would, I think, have told you very frankly, well, God has another way of working this out. I don't know what it'll be. But he says, I'm sure of one thing, that this is the way God wants it done.

Now friends, that's what faith is. Faith is acting upon the word of God. It rests upon something.

And God wants us to believe his word and not just believe this pious nonsense that I hear today that you can force God to do something and that God has to do it because I believe it. May I say to you, no one wants to be healed more than I have. And I believe in divine healing, and I've made it through now with cancer in my body.

And don't tell me now that I don't believe in faith healing. I do. But I want to say this, when somebody comes along and says that you can force God and that God has to do it, God will heal you and demand it, I'm not in that position yet.

I don't know what his will is. But whatever his will is, I want that done. But I want to make very sure that we pray and ask God to do something.

But God will have to be the one to determine whether it's his will or not. Abraham's got something to rest upon. He's not demanding anything of God.

He says, well, if this doesn't work out, then God has another way to work it out. And we can always be sure of that. Verse 9, And the servant put his hand unto the thigh of Abraham his master, swearing to him concerning that matter.