And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh: And I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But you shall go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring your son again unto the land from where you came? And Abraham said unto him, Beware that you bring not my son there again. The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke unto me, and that swore unto me, saying, Unto your descendants will I give this land; he shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife unto my son from there. And if the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son there again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter. 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. And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray you, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down your pitcher, I pray you, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also: let the same be she that you have appointed for your servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that you have showed kindness unto my master. 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. 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. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray you, drink a little water of your pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hastened, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking. And she hastened, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to learn whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had finished 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; And said, Whose daughter are you? tell me, I pray you: is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and fodder enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the LORD. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has 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 kinsmen. And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things. (Genesis 24:1-28)

This passage of Scripture includes the very first place which links the words “mercy” and “truth” in God’s word. Here the LORD describes how Abraham began his search for the bride of his son, his only son, Isaac.  I believe this account to be historically accurate, but today I want you to begin to see the story in a new way. See it as a parable. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus taught the people nothing unless he did it by parable.

But without a parable he spoke not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. (Mark 4:34)

God’s pattern of teaching by parable continues to this day, but we have not understood it. I have actually heard Bible teachers say that Jesus used parables in order to make spiritual teaching easier to understand. Nothing could further from the truth. Jesus used parables in order to hide the truth. Yes, he spoke in parable to hide the truth. Consider the following:

Who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why do you speak unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them. Hear you therefore the parable of the sower. (Matthew 13:9-18)

Jesus specifically says here that “it is not given” to the multitude of people to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. It is for that reason, he told his disciples, that he spoke in parables. Then he privately explained to them the meaning of the parable of the sower. The disciples then wrote that explanation down. This is the only reason why most Christians have some understanding of what the parable of the sower means. What we need to understand now is that God’s method of teaching spiritual things has always been through parables for “without a parable” he speaks not to us. Thus when we read any of the Bible’s many historical accounts we should stop and pray, asking Jesus to reveal the meaning of what we just read.

And why is it that God made it hard for people to understand his ways? Because many are called, but few are chosen. Few people have the desire to or will take the time to really understand God’s word. They desire to be spoon-fed the milk of God’s word. When was the last time to you had fresh revelation from the Bible when you went to church and heard a sermon? Most preachers preach moldy bread and sour milk. It is not fresh because they have not quietly waited upon God to speak to their hearts. They have nothing new to give you, but the merciful word of the LORD is “new every morning.”

And so I suggest to you that the entire story of finding Isaac’s bride in Genesis 24 makes up one large parable that reveals spiritual truth. Next we will discover that truth.