Pastor Samuel Sharing

Brother William Sharing

Introduction

Today let's look at Genesis chapter 24. It is a very wonderful story. It is talking about marriage, finding a girlfriend, and finding a woman to get married to. And it is talking about the girl, Rebekah, finding a good husband. The husband and wife form a wonderful family. And every time they talk about this in churches, there are a lot of girls who are praying very hard: "Oh God, give me a boyfriend", and the boys pray: "Oh God, give me a girlfriend". But the problem is this whether you are an Isaac or a Rebekah, now and then, people quote this story in Genesis 24.

I also need a good opportunity, I need God to lead my path. But the problem is this. In the Bible, you forget about Genesis chapter 22! Genesis chapter 22 is amazing; Isaac offered himself to God. And Abraham gave his only son, his beloved Isaac over to God. And Isaac was willing to offer himself to God. The problem is this. Whether you are pleasing to God is one factor. Whether you are devoted to God, or not, is another factor. If you are like Abraham, even your servants will be blessed. When your servant needs to find a girlfriend or a lady for his son, to be his son's wife, God will lead his path.

God will lead a person with the destiny

At its core, it is not about finding a boyfriend or girlfriend, it is not about kneeling and praying, praying very hard. It is talking about destiny. The doctrine of destiny is derived from the book of Genesis. In the book of Genesis, you see that Abraham was hungry for the promise of Almighty God. Hungry for his destiny, the plan God had in him. And Isaac was the same, following in the footsteps of his father. Later on, in the future chapters, Isaac's son Jacob was also hungry. He has a strong desire for the promise of Almighty God. They want the covenant. But some people have never bothered with this.

There are plenty of Christians, who, when you ask them what is most important in their life, will say: "my job" or "my wife" or "my family". What about the kingdom of God? "What is that? Offer me to God? Come on, how boring can that be!" You see, a lot of Christians live for themselves. If they have not yet drawn the wrath of God, I would consider them lucky. There is a problem today. I am going to talk about this: there are two figures. One is Isaac, another is Rebekah. And what is the main point? The God of Abraham will make me successful today. This is in Genesis chapter 24 verse 12. Another verse is: "The God of Abraham will lead me on a journey to accomplish this mission." The mission is finding a wife.

Rebekah

The most wonderful person in this chapter is Rebekah. They did not talk much about Isaac, Isaac was in the previous chapter. However, I am saying that the previous chapter is the foundation of chapter 24. I will not repeat the story, I hope you have read through Genesis chapter 24.

Rebekah was very beautiful, very good-looking. They probably did not mention that she was beautiful from head to toe. If a woman walking to the well was very ugly, would the servant ask for water? I think not. He did not want to get an ugly woman for his master's son. Just picking anyone in the street is easy. But picking a beautiful, nice-looking one is more difficult, as well as a generous heart. Finding a wife is not a problem. Finding a good wife is more of a problem. Finding a husband is not a problem. Finding a good husband is more of a problem. Be very careful. A lot of people's whole lives were damaged just because they got married to the wrong person.

Fortunately, Rebekah was good-looking and had a generous heart. You know what the servant was thinking, "If I ask her for a drink of water, and she gives me some water from the well, and she also says I will give water to your camel", then she has to be a very caring person. And what if Rebekah was nice looking but very selfish? Do you know what is selfish? If you have a fishand eat it all for yourself? Self fish? Fish is good food and tastes very nice, but if you keep it for yourself, then that is very selfish.

"A drink? Get your water, this water is not for you." Do you think the servant will take a girl like this home to his master? No. Fortunately, Rebekah was generous, beautiful, and had a nice heart. Here, we have young men. I hope you all are like Isaac, and I hope you all get a wife like Rebekah. Do you want a beautiful, generous wife with a good heart? A lot of people's lives are ruined by marriage. They get married and then divorced after they get hurt, and after they will hit each other, and all your property is swallowed through the marriage. And then there is a horrible story.

But if you are like Isaac, are you going to have this kind of problem? Probably not. If you are Rebekah, are you going to have this kind of problem? Probably not. I just say this, but it may happen in other ways. I am sure God will lead the path of the servant of Abraham. Why? Because God blessed Abraham. Abraham offered his son, and his son was also willing to offer himself to God. That is why God led the journey of the servant to finish his task of finding a wife for Isaac. This is the interesting part.

Rebekah, a woman with a destiny

The brother of Rebekah was Laban. Laban said, "This is from the Lord". You see, the language is very different. Did they know the Lord? No, they didn’t. We can see that it was from the Lord, I am not going to disagree with you. “Do you want to take my sister Rebekah? Okay, fine.” That is an amazing sentence, I am going to read it to you.

So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said. (Genesis 24:58 NIV)

And she went! Without even meeting the man, she didn't even see the guy and she was willing to go almost a couple hundred kilometers. She would be walking for days. And after that, she would get married, and probably did not even have a chance to come back to see the family anymore! Worse, she had never seen this guy. She didn’t know whether he was good-looking or not. I don't know! I never met this guy, but I would go. Will you go?

Let me tell you, Rebekah knows about the story. Rebekah, now and then, would be talking about Isaac. How do I know? Let me read this for you. You see, I read very carefully.

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” (Genesis 24:60 NIV)

Come on! Laban and the father of Rebekah, I don't think they would know this kind of language at all. Do you think people in a remote place would talk in the same language as the people in Genesis chapter 22? Let me turn to Genesis chapter 22, verse 17.

Rebecca: A woman with Destiny

“I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,” (Genesis 22:16-17)

In Genesis 22:16-17, we could conjecture Laban knew about Abraham and offered Isaac to God. This was also the reason why Laban mentioned and blessed Rebecca as mentioned in Genesis 24: 60. Let us continue looking at Genesis 22:18

and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18)

After reading this verse, I could put all the pieces together and could correlate with the consistency of what Rebecca had heard about Abraham. Rebecca knew Abraham had a son called Isaac at an old age and through Isaac, all nations would be blessed. Additionally, Genesis 22:20-24 had also mentioned that Abraham heard the news about his brother Nahor and his family. This had shown us that Abraham had communication between himself and his hometown people.

During that time, people communicated by sending a message through merchants who traveled all over the place. This was exactly how Rebecca heard the news about the outside world. She knew Isaac was the son of Abraham and all nations would be blessed by him. In Rebecca’s mind, she was thinking how nice it would be if she married Isaac. Rebecca’s dream was to marry Isaac who was blessed by God.

Will you lay down everything you have for God?

What is your dream? What kind of person do you want to marry? Do you dream of marrying someone wealthy? Is someone good-looking? Rebecca dreamed about someone with destiny, the promise from Almighty God. She wanted to be blessed by Almighty God and take possession of the cities of the enemies. What kind of woman was she? Rebecca was a woman who held on to God’s promises “through your earth, bring all nations on the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.” This was Rebecca’s dream. Now and then, Rebecca would be talking to her brother Laban about her dream of marrying Isaac.

What a wonderful lady! If you were Rebecca, you would be hesitant about going to a faraway place leaving behind your mother and father. You would be saying “Oh no, I do not want that.” Looking at Rebecca’s life after her marriage to Isaac, she had never stepped into her hometown anymore. Certainly, she would not be attending her parents' funerals. Rebecca had made up her mind to choose her path following the destiny of God’s promises. She laid down her father, her mother, her brother, and all her family members, heading to a remote and unfamiliar place after letting go of everything in her hometown. If people have no destiny, they would not have any sense of their destiny. What would they pursue? I do not think they would do it and would find all kinds of excuses not to go instead. If you have a destiny like Rebecca, you will say I will go tomorrow to pursue my destiny without any hesitations or excuses. People with destiny will want to be the blessings to all nations. They want to be as numerous as the descendants, as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies.

Rebecca’s dream was to pursue God’s promises and destiny.

Do you understand this paragraph “take possession of the cities of their enemies.”? You will be wondering what that is. I have a job. I have plenty of things to do. I want to have scrumptious food. I want good food. I want to go shopping. I want this branded bag. I want this branded jacket. I want this branded skirt. I need money not the possession of the cities of the enemies. Am I making sense to you? Laban stated that

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” (Genesis 24:60)

How wonderful! Rebecca had been dreaming and looking forward to this day that eventually came true. Her dream came true when Abraham’s servant sat at the well nearby and she came out to draw water from the well. It was such a coincidence, yet so successful, efficient, and effective.

I know many people are looking for their lifetime partners. They met someone through introductions from a friend or the internet and started dating. They could go through hundreds of boyfriends or girlfriends, but in the end, they still could not find anyone they desired for a lifelong partner. How inefficient was that? Rebecca and Isaac met each other only once and became husband and wife without wasting any time. Their relationship had a success rate of 100%. It was a very efficient, effective, and time-saving process.

Probably I am wrong as this is what I am speculating. I believe my speculation makes sense. Am I right? Making sense. All I can speculate is Rebecca's dream of destiny, God’s promises and God’s swear to Abraham and Isaac about the blessings. These blessings would come upon this young gentleman, Isaac. Rebecca must be thinking how nice it would be if she married him. Does it make sense?

Finally, beyond Rebecca’s imagination, it happened when the servant of Isaac came, and it was coincident that they met each other. Rebecca was generous and kind-hearted. When the servant needed a drink, Rebecca offered the drink to him as well as the camels. It was voluntary and she was not pretentious. She was someone with a destiny for the Lord to be a blessing to all nations. As you could see, she was not a selfish person. You will not be selfish if you have a destiny. If you have a fish, I am sure you will share it with others. If you are like Rebecca, you are not going to be selfish.

If I were a girl, my dream would be similar to Rebekah's. If I was a man, my dream would be to offer myself to the Lord. Do you know what would happen? When I send a servant searching for a girlfriend, never meet each other before, never date and I would put all my trust in the Lord. I believe the Lord would lead my servant to the place where God’s prepared a girlfriend for me. Surely, I would find a good one. Certainly, the girl would not be looking ugly. She would be good-looking with a kind heart.

God guides people with Destiny

The servant was so shocked to find someone like Rebecca so perfect in all ways. In the past, the servant had witnessed Master Abraham’s bountiful blessings from Almighty God. Abraham was a highly efficient person. God was always with Abraham, He watched how Abraham led the family fighting against the four kings saving Lot and his family. This servant had also seen Abraham going through many journeys. Most likely he was there when Abraham offered Isaac to the Lord. This time, he was delegated the task by Abraham to accomplish it himself. He knelt and prayed to the Lord to lead him on the journey of looking for a wife for Isaac. He did not walk into wrong paths or take wrong turns. He walked all the way to the well as God had already paved the way for him. God was doing a wonderful job.

The angel of God-inspired Rebecca to go to the well to draw water. God was the director of this scene between Rebecca and the servant. God was directing this show to tell us how important it is to have a destiny. What do you dream of? **Isaac’s dream was about the promise of the Almighty God and that was his destiny. They lived for God, died for God. Isaac and Rebecca had the same dream.**Isaac offered himself to God. Isaac and Rebecca were the same kinds. Probably, in the whole Bible, their marriage was the most successful one. As I did not see any other marriage like theirs. Both of them carried destiny.

Destiny is not a weak word but an extremely strong word. Let me tell you what destiny all is about. What do you live for? What do you die for? Why did you come to the earth? Why do you come to the world? What are you willing to die for? If you live for nothing, you will die for nothing. If you are a person with no destiny, I guarantee you are going to waste a lot of time finding your other half. After listening to my Bible study and if you are married, you might not feel good. Why? You may think you have married the wrong person.

No! That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is yes, you did not get it right that you got married, but don't be disappointed. You can restore your destiny from now on, you get it right. From now on, God will lead you, not only you, even if you send a servant on an errand, God will bless him as well. Why? Because you are a person who lives for God, dies for God and God will promise you. God will promise you the same as He did for Abraham. You will take possession of the city of the enemy and all nations will be blessed through you. How nice it is! Very encouraging!

Restore our Destiny in God

In the past I didn't know what I was living for, it was just like anyone else on Earth. So many people live like that. I was just one of those who finds a partner, then they get married, and so did I. They gave birth to children, and have to go to work, so do I. When they fall they go to the hospital. It seems like that's a normal life. But life has become a life of sorrow and I wish you good luck.

Because sometimes life doesn't go as we have planned. Such as we do not want to get cancer but somehow we got it. Yet, we do not want to get COVID-19 somehow we do. We want to have a child who can be successful, but it turns out to be the opposite, that he can't even make a living for himself. A lot of sorrow that you and I both have been through.

However, that is in the past! From now on, I'm going to be Isaac! I'm not saying you can get another partner as that's adultery. One thing to do is to restore our destiny. Why do I come to this world? What am I living for? If you live for the job, then the job will be over one day. If you live for the family, the family will be gone one day. To restore your destiny and want to be a blessing to many people! Don't be selfish! If you only have one fish but keep it for yourself. That's not a good option. I do not want to be a selfish person! I want to have a destiny. I want to be a blessing to many others and that is what I strive for.

God will lead your path, your journey, and your life will be totally different from today onward! Because you want to be Isaac, you want to be Rebecca, you want to lay down a lot of things that are dangling in your life and pulling you along. All of these will take up most of your time and prevent you from taking on your destiny. This is very sad!

What do you dream of every day? This is the story of Genesis chapter 24. Of course, there are other topics but today I'm not going to talk about them. For example, "going back to hometown, cannot bring Isaac back to hometown". Do you know why today I'm not going to emphasize that? And "you were going to get a wife for my son from the daughter of my own relatives, do not get a wife for my son from the daughters of Canaanite". A man whom I'm living with, the servant had questioned and Abraham said: "don't worry, God will send Angel and He will send His Angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there".

“The LORD , the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. (Genesis 24:7)

Summary

This is the kind of talk of the spiritual person. There are a lot of people who like to have an angel sent by the Lord before them. but the problem is whether you are Isaac or Abraham? That makes a huge difference.

There are times God sends a devil and sometimes God sends an Angel. Sometimes God sends a devil to make you go astray. All because of what you dream of, what you want to do, who you want to be, and what kind of people you want to be. And this is the doctrine I'm promoting, and I call this Doctrine the Doctrine of Destiny.

I prefer Ming-Ding, as Ming-Ding is Chinese and it is translated as Destiny in English. Compared to Ming-Ding, Destiny in my opinion is definitely a lot weaker in what I want to express. Ming-Ding, what I live for is much stronger. But the Doctrine of what I live for is too long and doesn't sound nice. Therefore, I compromised a little and called it the Doctrine of Destiny. And I try it out, and it works! If you really live for God, God surely sends an Angel before you, and your life will be full of excitement because God will lead your path.

Thank you very much!

May the Lord bless you!