Awesome Hands – part 12: “Put thy hand under my thigh”

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In “awesome hands” part 11, we read and studied many things concerning God’s work with Abraham as Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his son at the altar.

Of great interest and focus in the last study, we saw that that place of the altar is very significant as well as what is going to happen on that altar.

Abraham was fully prepared to sacrifice Isaac, but at the last the Lord stopped Abraham from following through.

Gen 22:2 –  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Gen 22:11 –  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Gen 22:12 –  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

So, where is this land of Moriah? There is one other place that H4179 is mentioned. It is in 2h 3:1.

2h 3:1 –  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Why is the threshing floor important?

1h 21:1 –  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

1h 21:21 –  And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

1h 21:22 –  Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

“The household of Faith”

Gen 22:13 –  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Continuing this study from part 11, we now come to see that God has provided a sacrifice since before He was going to call Abraham to the altar to sacrifice Isaac.

Just as a sacrifice had been prepared for the first Adam to make a covering for His nakedness, we now see a sacrifice that was prepared for faithful Abraham, in the form of a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.

Indeed, we can only see this in our own lives and walk with Christ as we look back behind us and see how the Lord brought us to being in the situation to being faithful. I think most know that this is through trial, just as with Abraham.

In today’s study, we are going to continue with this mindset and look at the next time we see the “hands” of the Lord working within the scriptures.

We will be continuing to Gen 24:2, and here will read:

Gen 24:2 – 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:

Before we get to this verse, we have a whole chapter of events which lead up to verse 24:2, but it all happens in a short 20 verses.

At the end of chapter 22, we see and are told that our brother’s house is increasing as well because we know that the Lord said that He is going to bless even those around us. God is going to bless both seeds of Abraham, the seeds from both the bondwoman and the freewoman.

In like fashion, we see that the Lord increases our enemies around us and blesses us and them by it.

Coupled with this, we are going to see something brand new happen to this “new man of Faith” in God. This new thing will be a tough trial and one which will also remind us of where we come from.

We are going to see the death of our first wife, our first love.

Gen 23:1 –  And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Gen 23:2 –  And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
Gen 23:3 –  And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Gen 23:4 –  I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
Gen 23:5 –  And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Gen 23:6 –  Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
Gen 23:7 –  And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

Notice that Abraham is dwelling in Canaan and in type and shadow, he is about to be forever connected to his “old man”. He is going to purchase land to “bury his dead’ because that is the state in which the Christ comes dragging us to the Father.

We, as the ambassadors for Christ, will be the pillars of the church in which others will come to see their own demise. We come bringing death in our words, and with it we also bring Life.

For us and those receiving the mind and the Words of the Living God which have been given to us, we find that fire isn’t always an easy place to dwell.

However, no where are we told this will be an easy trial. It will be a life- long trial and God is going to continually put “our Faith” to the test.

Whose faith is it that is being purified within us each time we are put through a trial which leads us to call out to God and be delivered from the things which He has control over?

Gen 23:8 –  And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
Gen 23:9 –  That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.
Gen 23:10 –  And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
Gen 23:11 –  Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

We now are among those who are dead in Christ and are going to bury their dead. Our “soon to be” Canaanite enemies are made to dwell peaceably with us and we even make a purchase of the land we are going to bury our dead in from them. The old will indeed stay with the old.

Gen 23:12 –  And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
Gen 23:13 –  And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
Gen 23:14 –  And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Gen 23:15 –  My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
Gen 23:16 –  And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

We are all paid for in full, but as His disciples we must still pick up our cross and follow Him. In type and shadow, our father Abraham is going to pay for the land for which he is going to bury his dead.

He is paying for that which he is due in order to “count the cost” and take care of that which is dead and this is something which we all must do in our own order. We follow Christ into death, but we are always contending with this flesh, that which comes first and natural…Sarah our first wife.

Now we have arrived at the verses we are covering for today’s study in how God works His will and his hands through the hands of His servants and His prophets.

 

Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh

Gen 24:1 –  And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2 –  And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand [ H3027 – yad] under my thigh:
Gen 24:3 –  And I will 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:
Gen 24:4 –  But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

Now, in type and shadow, we are given a new wife through the seed which comes from God’s covenant with us.

Abraham identifies with the ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Christ himself is dwelling at the right hand of His Father in the heavens which are with you and me Lord willing. As such, we are risen each day with Christ and we identify aioniosly with our daily bread of dying daily.

We are given bread, a grain of wheat daily, to live in us as the Word of God and bring life daily in the daily nourishment Christ, the Word of God brings.

Joh 12:24 –  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

It is Christ Himself, caught in the thicket of us, His earth and His inheritance in which the Head of Christ has placed Christ in. Christ’s anointing comes from the Truth that even Christ the first fruit, is under the Will and control of His Father.

With this mind, we too are seated together with Christ, and we take on our new Love … our “new wife”, Christ is our Head and He has a body.

We become the wife and work together as one, and then we will bring forth fruit that a healthy wife can provide to her Husband.

How this plays out practically for us now, is that we know that Christ is going to reveal to us what he wants us to do daily and how to live by the things He reveals to us when we “be still, and know that I am God”.

Psa 46:10 –  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psa 46:11 –  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

With this faithful mindset, we are going to go forth and look for a wife.  I know we are talking about Abraham and Isaac, but there are many types and shadows which exist at the same time, much like Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb of God.

Christ Himself told us that He and the Father are One. As Abraham is the Father of Isaac, Christ is our Father and Head, we go forth as Abraham looking for the will of God to be done in the selection of our son’s wife.

For us now, we don’t swear at all because we know that there is nothing that we can swear by that will make our will come to pass versus God’s will and His sovereignty .

In the OT version, we that God has already ordained what will happen but as it plays out God orchestrates the whole scenario to make Abraham and his servants prayers come to pass.

Gen 24:5 –  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?
Gen 24:6 –  And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
Gen 24:7 –  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 sware 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.

The Lord indeed keeps us connected to our old man via our “father’s house”. He tells us to leave that land which we find ourselves out of currently and still He also tells us to take a wife from the same “land of my kindred”.

We see this working as we find the next two verses in the “hands” He works through by Abraham’s servant.

Gen 24:8 –  And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
Gen 24:9 –  And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
Gen 24:10 –  And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
Gen 24:11 –  And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

Interestingly, Abraham’s servant is going to use what Abraham has been blessed in the flesh, the old man in type in shadow, to appeal to the wife of his seed. Abraham’s earthy completeness, the blessings of his fleshly life, as being carried on ten camels.

For us, the Lord tells us that He will call us in a calling we are in so that He can use what talents He has given us to now be used to glorify Him.

How many of us have things which we now have turned over to the Lord, of His will in us, to be used for His benefit and the benefit of His body.

After all, we are “dead” and we are the Lord’s. As we rise each day, we are given His spirit and breath to continue on in His ministry, our reasonable service to His body.

Gen 24:12 –  And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
Gen 24:13 –  Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
Gen 24:14 –  And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
Gen 24:15 –  And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

The Lord has blessed Abraham to find a wife for his son Isaac by hearing also the prayer of Abraham’s servant. The wife that is found is Rebekah but even she is from Abraham’s father’s house, from the original birth place of Abraham.

Truly, the Lord is with us the entire time of our existence.

We see that as we come to our next verse in this hands series, in verses 24:18 and 24:22.

Gen 24:16 –  And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
Gen 24:17 –  And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
Gen 24:18 –  And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
Gen 24:19 –  And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
Gen 24:20 –  And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
Gen 24:21 –  And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
Gen 24:22 –  And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;
Gen 24:23 –  And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?
Gen 24:24 –  And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.
Gen 24:25 –  She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.
Gen 24:26 –  And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.

We can see the progression of the Lord’s work within His people. He has worked all of these folk’s lives so that they can be used to establish a physical lineage on this earth.

In working with our flesh, the Lord promises that when we call on Him in our distresses and in our most vulnerable time of Faith, we will be delivered.

We will not only be delivered, but just like Job who had everything taken from Him initially save his life,  we will be given everything back double and then some. The NT way of saying it is, “a hundred fold”.

When we obey the commandments of the Lord and do things as He commands us, we are given “ten skelels of gold” upon our wrists.

In other words, the Lord surrounds and prospers the works of our hands, which are His righteous works, while we are still in this tabernacle of clay.

When Faith is given us, and we can call on the Lord as Abraham’s servant saying, “my masters will be done”, then we will have our prayers answered and the Lord will give us confirmation of that just as He does to “the man who bows his head”.

With this humility, the Lord will prosper us in our way.

If we have eyes to see and ears to hear it, we will see that the Lord uses all we are blessed with in this life to benefit His house, His body, and His temple.

Abraham has been blessed among his brethren so that He can be used later to take those blessings to his father’s household and bless “the body”.

This body is the wife Rebekah. The head is Isaac in this type and shadow, and that healthy combination is being set into motion with what we read in the rest of chapter 24.

Gen 24:26 –  And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.
Gen 24:27 –  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
Gen 24:28 –  And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.
Gen 24:29 –  And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.
Gen 24:30 –  And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
Gen 24:31 –  And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
Gen 24:32 –  And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him.

The Lord has truly directed all the steps in this story as we can see because as Abraham’s servant witnesses, it is the Lord that has taken the seemingly random events and connected all the pieces of the story puzzle together.

When we are given a task of our master, we are to have the same diligence and whole- heartedness as we see in this unnamed servant. We do the work and need no credit, and we do only the task that we are sent to do…nothing more and nothing less.

Gen 24:33 –  And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

Gen 24:42 –  And I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:
Gen 24:43 –  Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
Gen 24:44 –  And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master’s son.

In truth, we will be so lead of the Lord as we come to see by Faith, that these things will happen to us “before we are done speaking in our heart” and we will be given confidence to continue through by seeing this confirmation come from others in our lives and walk as well.

Gen 24:45 –  And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
Gen 24:46 –  And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
Gen 24:47 –  And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
Gen 24:48 –  And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.
Gen 24:49 –  And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

 

Conclusion of “Awesome Hands” part 12

 

The Lord has shown us in this study that we are completely reliant on Him. Abraham was sent to sacrifice Isaac; yet, upon Abraham being led to prove his faith, the Lord also had already prepared a sacrifice, “a ram stuck in the thicket by his horns”.

This sacrifice is to show us that we are doing the Lord’s will when we can look back and see that we were given Faith via the trial of sacrificing all that we hold dear. Alas, our “wife” will die and we will continue on to prosper and be blessed to take on our new wife, our spiritual “temple of the Lord”.

This “first wife” that which comes natural, will be buried in the land of our future enemy.

Through all of this, we will send our servant out to do our will. We know as shown by the Faith we see displayed in the NT, that a master’s servant is the same as the master.

We too, are ambassadors for Christ, and as we pray “thy will be done”, we are living out the function of obeying our master and doing only what He has sent us to do. Once that work is done, we will know that the Lord is in control and is working all things for our good.

Mat 8:8 –  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Mat 8:9 –  For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Mat 8:10 –  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Gen 24:50 –  Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
Gen 24:51 –  Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the LORD hath spoken.
Gen 24:52 –  And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
Gen 24:53 –  And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. Gen 24:54 –  And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.

We too can’t wait to bring news to our Master that we have accomplished that which He sent us to do.

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