The Bride of the Lamb

Hamilton Smith

CHAPTER 3

THE CALL OF THE BRIDE

Genesis 24

The 24th chapter of Genesis is of the deepest interest to the Christian, for therein we have a divinely given picture of what is engaging every Person in the Godhead at the present moment.

Occupation with service, constant vigilance against the enemy, and conflict for the truth — entailed by the need of the world, the increasing corruption of Christendom, and the failure of God’s people — may so thoroughly engross our thoughts that at times we may overlook what God is doing in spite of all the power of the enemy, the corruption, and the failure. Hence it is no small mercy that God has given us this beautiful picture which present a comprehensive view of the aims and activities of Divine Persons. Thus, losing sight of man and his failure, our souls may delight in God and His purpose, and be calmed and quieted as we realize that what God has purposed He will most surely bring to pass, in spite of failure and opposition.

To enter intelligently into the typical teaching of the chapter we must seize the connection of the passage with the chapters that precede and follow. Genesis 24 forms part of the last section of Abraham’s history, beginning with Genesis 22 and ending with Genesis 25:10. The early part of his history illustrates the individual life of faith, but in this last section we have a comprehensive view of the dispensational ways of God. In Genesis 22 Isaac is offered up, and received from the dead in figure — a striking type of the death and resurrection of Christ. Following upon the offering up of Isaac, we have in Genesis 23 the death of Sarah, and Abraham, “a stranger and sojourner” (v. 4) in the promised land: all being typical of the setting aside, for the time being, of Israel as a nation on the ground of promise, consequent upon the death of Christ. In the call of Rebekah, Genesis 24, we have typically the call of the Church as the Bride of Christ during the time that Israel is set aside. Genesis 25 completes the picture by presenting the marriage of Abraham, and the sons of this second wife, typical of the restoration of Israel and the millennial blessing of the nations.

Confining our thoughts to Genesis 24 we have the unfolding in a picture of the great mystery of Christ and the Church. We see therein the purpose of God and the way He takes to fulfil that purpose.

Let us however keep in mind that it is God’s purpose in connection with the Church viewed as the Bride of Christ. As we have seen, this aspect of the Church presents God’s purpose to have an object entirely suited for Christ to love. Here then in picture we have the call of the Bride, the adornment of the Bride, and the presentation of the Bride to the Bridegroom in suitability to Himself. Moral suitability to the heart of Christ, and response to the love of Christ, are the outstanding thoughts in connection with the Church as the Bride.

We have seen that Eve, at the creation, speaks of the Bride of Christ. Isaac and Rebekah, eighteen centuries later, again take up the story of Christ and His Bride. There is however a difference, for in Scripture there is no mere repetition; in Eve we see the bride as wholly the result of a divine work which formed her and brought her to Adam: in Rebekah we see the exercise of affection in the bride — the outgoings of love that are called into activity by the servant. If Eve tells us of a divine work for the bride, Rebekah speaks of a divine work in the bride.

The chapter opens with Abraham giving his directions to his servant (vv. 1-9). Then the main portion of the chapter is occupied with the servant and his mission (vv. 10-61). Finally it closes with Isaac and his love for Rebekah (vv. 62-67). Thus in type we have in the first section the Father and His purpose; in the second the Holy Spirit and His work; and in the last, Christ and His affection. Hence in picture we have every Divine Person engaged in securing the Bride.

First we learn that the thought of a bride for Isaac originates with Abraham. He it is that commences the story of Genesis 24. He discloses his mind as to the bride for Isaac; he instructs his servant, and sends him on his way. Thus we learn that the thought of a Bride for Christ originates in the purpose of the Father’s heart. It is, too, the Father who sends the Spirit to bring the Bride to Christ (John 14:26).

The second verse brings before us the one whose activities form the prominent part in the story — “the eldest servant” of Abraham’s house. Very fittingly his name is not mentioned, for is he not a type of the Holy Spirit who has come, not to speak of Himself, but, to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us?

The activities of the Holy Spirit in this world are many and varied, but in this chapter the Holy Spirit is presented in picture as bringing the Bride to light, awakening affection in the Bride by unfolding the glories of Christ, and then satisfying those affections by leading her to Christ.

Very significant are the directions that the servant receives from Abraham and rich with instructions for our souls.

1. The bride for Isaac must be suited for Isaac and hence must not be taken from the daughters of the Canaanites (v. 3). Such were devoted to judgment and therefore wholly unsuited to Isaac. This would show that the dealings with Rebekah are not exactly a picture of the grace of God bringing salvation to sinners, but rather of the love of Christ appealing to saints. Were it a question of setting forth the grace of God that reaches the vilest sinners then surely the daughters of the Canaanites would have been the very people to whom the servant would have been sent as in the gospel story, in which God takes up a Syrophenician woman — a daughter of Canaan — to show forth His grace.

2. It follows that if the bride is to be suited to Isaac she must be of Isaac’s kindred. So the direction to the servant is, “Thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac” (v. 4). We have already noticed that the one who was suited to be the bride of Adam had to be “his like,” and to obtain one “his like” Adam had to pass through the “deep sleep.” Isaac, too, must in type go through death — must be offered up on Mount Moriah — before he could secure a bride from Mesopotamia. So Christ, the great Anti-type, the precious corn of wheat, must fall into the ground and die or for ever remain alone. When His soul is made an offering for sin then we read, “He shall see his seed.” Death which cuts a man off from all hope of a seed, becomes the very way by which Christ secures His seed. And His seed is His like, His kindred, as is the heavenly One so also are the heavenly ones. Thus we see the Bride of Christ is composed of those who are suited in origin through a divine work for them, and stand in relation to Christ as His kindred through a divine work in them, producing faith in Christ. On earth the Lord could say, “My mother, and my brethren are those which hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21).

3. Abraham solemnly warns the servant twice over that he is not to bring Isaac again to Mesopotamia (vv. 6 and 8). Isaac in this chapter sets forth a heavenly Christ and hence after the offering up of Isaac in Genesis 22, his name is not even mentioned until the end of Genesis 24. As Isaac was not again to be linked with Mesopotamia, so there is to be no link with Christ and the world while Christ is on high and the Holy Spirit is here calling out the Bride for the heavenly Christ. Alas! so thoroughly has Christendom lost all true thought of Christianity that its one great effort is to link Christ with the world that has cast Him out. Ignoring the fact that Christ is the Stone rejected by the builders of this world, they seek to make Christ the chief corner stone, as it were, of their great earthly religious systems. His Name is attached to their great religious buildings, their schemes of reformation, their works of philanthropy, and their forms of government. In a word the great effort is to bring Christ back to the world and attach His Name to unsaved and unconverted men of the world with the hope of reforming men, and making the world in which they live a brighter and better place. It is hardly possible to conceive anything more characteristic of the ingenuity of the devil than for the world to attempt to cover its wickedness with a veneer of respectability, by attaching to itself the Name of the One that it has rejected and nailed to the Cross.

However the instructed believer knows by New Testament teaching, as well as Old Testament type, that the Holy Spirit is here, not to bring Christ back to the world, but to take the Bride out of the world to Christ. So we read, “God . . . did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name” (Acts 15:14).

4. Finally Abraham says, “The Lord God of heaven . . . shall send his angel before thee” (v. 7). The angel would providentially clear the way before the servant, but the servant was personally to deal with the bride, “Thou shalt take a wife unto my son.” Both the servant and the angel were wholly occupied in securing a bride for Isaac. In a day to come we know what a large part the angels will take in executing judgment in the world, but to-day they are “sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” As in the picture, so in fact, we see the difference maintained between the providential work of angels and the personal work of the Spirit. The angel of the Lord guides Philip on his way to the desert of Gaza, but the Spirit guides Philip in his personal dealing with the Eunuch (Acts 8:26, 29).

Clearly then in the directions given by Abraham to his servant, we learn the great mission of the Holy Spirit in this world. He is not here to prosper the Christian in business, or to make us wealthy men in this world, or to make the world a comfortable place for us. He is not here to remove the curse, or hush creation’s groan. He is not here to make the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. He is not here to remove pain, and death, and sorrow, and tears. All this Christ will do in a day yet to come. Nor is He here to convert the world as some think. He is here to bring to light a people who are suited to Christ for the joy and satisfaction of His heart.

Thus in accordance with these instructions we find that in the course of the story the servant does not interfere with the conditions that prevailed in Mesopotamia. He did not attempt to alter its religion, or improve its social conditions, or interfere with its government. His one business was to secure the bride for Isaac. How much disappointment the people of God would escape if once they realized God’s great purpose at the present time, and the special mission of the Holy Spirit in this world.

Believers are oft-times disappointed with themselves. Desiring to do some great work for the Lord, they find they are left to do some quiet work in a hidden corner, and are disappointed. Again they may get sadly disappointed with the local company of saints with whom they walk. They had hoped that God would convert great numbers and bring their little company into prominence as a centre of blessing with the Lord’s public approval and instead they find weakness and failure, and are disappointed. Again we may be disappointed with the people of God generally. We perhaps had visions of getting the scattered fragments of God’s people together to walk in unity and love, and behold we find only discord and further disintegration and we grow disappointed.

Again the people of God may entertain great hopes from the mission field. With thousands of missionaries working in all parts of the world they had hoped that the strongholds of heathendom, Buddhism and Mohammedanism would be broken down before the light of Christianity, and yet they find these false systems are hardly touched, and they are disappointed.

Others again have entertained the thought that after nineteen centuries of the light of Christianity the world would be morally better, and instead they have to admit that never was society more corrupt, lawlessness so prevalent, and unrest so general, hence they are disappointed.

If, however, we abandon our own thoughts and rise up to God’s thoughts we shall not be disappointed. Our expectations are oftentimes too limited, our outlook too circumscribed. We think of the present moment and look only at things seen. Let us, however, “look beyond the long dark night and hail the coming day.” Let us see to what great end God is working, so that, out of the wreck and ruin of this world, He shall secure a Bride that will be suited for the love of Christ. What a thought, that the Spirit of God is here to form bridal affections in the hearts of believers in view of the day — the great day — the day of the marriage of the Lamb!

To this end the Father sent the Spirit. To this end the Spirit is working on earth. To this end Christ is waiting in heaven. And will the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit fail in this great end? Will Divine Persons be disappointed? Impossible! Every purpose of God will have its glorious fulfilment. Nor shall we be disappointed if we think God’s thoughts with God, and keep in view God’s great purpose — the marriage of the Lamb.

Passing to the second section of the chapter (vv. 10-61), we have the deeply instructive account of the way the servant carries out his mission. He comes to Mesopotamia well equipped for his service, “All the goods of his master were in his hands” (v. 10), reminding us that the Holy Spirit has come to teach us “all things,” to guide us into “all truth,” and to show us “all things that the Father hath.”

Arrived at Mesopotamia the servant carries out his mission in dependence upon God, and hence is found in prayer. His prayer shows how thoroughly he is engrossed with one object. He does not pray for himself; and though he mentions “the daughters of the men of the city,” yet he does not pray for them. He prays that he may be led to the one that is appointed for Isaac. It is well to note that the servant is not there to select a bride from the daughters of the men of the city, and then make her suited for Isaac. He is there to find the one that is appointed for Isaac. And the sign that she is the appointed one will be that she is marked by grace. This surely is the force of the prayer, “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” (v. 14). He will ask to be allowed to drink from her pitcher, and if she not only grants his request, but volunteers to do more than he asks, it will be the sign that she is characterized by the grace of God — that there is a work of God in her, and that she is thus of Isaac’s kindred. For grace goes beyond our requests (Matt. 5:38-42).

So it came to pass. Rebekah — one who is of the kindred of Isaac — is brought to light. Having found the appointed bride, the servant at once distinguishes her from all others by adorning her with the golden earrings and the bracelets. The hand and face bear witness to the work of grace (v. 22).

This, however, is only the beginning of the servant’s work. No word has been yet uttered concerning Isaac. These further communications depend upon the welcome that is extended to the servant. If he is welcomed he will speak to them of Isaac, but he will not force his company upon Rebekah, “Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?” (v. 23).

Very blessedly Rebekah’s answer again goes beyond the servant’s request. He only asks for “room”; she says there is provision as well as room (v. 25). Laban too can say to the servant, “Come in thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without?” So we read “The man came into the house.”

Do we not discern in this part of the story the secret of our little progress in the knowledge of Christ, and why our affections are oft-times cold. We hinder and grieve the One who alone can powerfully affect our hearts with the love of Christ. A Divine Person — the Comforter — has come from the Father, from Christ, from heaven, but do we make Him welcome? Do we make “room” for Him?

It is well to take home to ourselves this great question, “Is there room?” Are we prepared to put ourselves about to make room for the Holy Spirit? The flesh and the Spirit “are contrary the one to the other” (Gal. 5:17). We cannot entertain the Spirit if ministering to the flesh. To make room for the Spirit, and to be minding the things of the flesh is impossible. Are we prepared to refuse the indulgence of the flesh in the passing things of time, in order to make room for the Spirit to lead us into the deep and eternal things of God? Are we making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof, or are we making room and provision for the Spirit. “Room” and “provision” were made in the house of Bethuel for the servant of Abraham, with the result that the servant is able to speak of Isaac, to engage the affections of Rebekah with Isaac, and to lead her to Isaac.

Having come into the house (v. 32), the first thing the servant does is to bear witness to Isaac. He reveals the mind of his master concerning Isaac, and in so doing he takes of the things of Isaac and shows them unto Rebekah. He speaks of all the wealth of his master, and then says all this wealth has been given to Isaac, “Unto him hath he given all that he hath.” And well we know that all the Father’s things have been given to Christ, as the Lord can say, “All things that the Father hath are mine,” and then, speaking of the Holy Spirit, can add, “He shall take of mine and show it unto you” (John 16:15).

What, we may ask, must have been the effect upon Rebekah of hearing this witness to Isaac? Did it simply increase her knowledge of Isaac? This doubtless was one result, but it surely did more, much more, for it awakened love to Isaac. And love having been awakened, the servant brings forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gives them to Rebekah. He adorns her with the beautiful things that came from Isaac. Thus too the Spirit would deal with ourselves. He unfolds to us the mind of the Father concerning Christ: He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us. Thus He awakens love to Christ, and then He adorns us with the beautiful things of Christ. He makes us the witnesses of redeeming love — the jewels of silver; the witnesses of divine righteousness — the gold; and the witnesses of practical sanctification — the raiment.

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There follows, in picture, a further action of the Spirit. The servant has found the bride of the kindred of Isaac; he has distinguished her from all others with the earrings and the bracelet; he has awakened affection for Isaac; he has adorned her with the beautiful things of Isaac, now he will lead her to Isaac (vv. 54-60).

The servant says, “Send me away to my master.” He had come to Mesopotamia to secure the bride, and having accomplished that end he would fain be away. He had not come to tarry in Mesopotamia. The mind of the servant was to secure the bride, leave the scene, and return to his master. It was not to secure the bride and settle her in the old home, but to secure the bride and lead her to a new home. And very blessedly he forms the same mind in Rebekah. He longs to be away and reach Isaac, and he creates the same desires in the heart of Rebekah. He wills to go, and she is made willing to go. Her relatives can understand that the servant would be away to his master, but they would fain retain Rebekah awhile — at least ten days. So they call the damsel and enquire at her mouth, only to discover how well the servant’s work had been accomplished, and that his mind had been formed in her mind, so that if he was longing to go she was ready to go.

If we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way — if we hinder Him not — He will form our minds according to His mind. To think as He thinks about Christ; to disengage our hearts from the things where Christ is not, to engage them with Christ where He is.

Rebekah was not a penniless orphan; she had indeed a father and mother, a home in Mesopotamia with prospects of wealth and possessions in the land of her birth. To enjoy all these blessings she had no need to leave her native land and face a wilderness journey. Nevertheless all is left. She forgets her own people and her father’s house, and she faces a wilderness journey to reach a person whom she has never seen. Such is the mighty attractive power of a person when faith and affection for that person have been awakened.

In like manner the Holy Spirit has come to bring our hearts under the constraining influence of the love of Christ. He is here to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us. He is here to lead us into the deep things of God — things which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.” He is able to so strengthen us in the inner man, “that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith that being rooted and grounded in love, we may be fully able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowing.”

All this He is able and ready to do. How is it then we are so little attached in affection to Christ, and detached from things here? Is it not that we hinder? Hence the servant’s word, “Hinder me not,” should have a powerful voice for us. We may say we cannot enjoy these things apart from the Spirit’s work and we cannot make the Spirit work. This may be true: but alas we can hinder the Spirit working. We can cling to the world, the politics of the world, the religion of the world, the pleasures of the world, and we may even be so engrossed with right things — country, kindred, and father’s house — that we hinder the Holy Spirit.

Whether we allow the world to hinder, or not, depends not upon the world but upon ourselves. The brother and mother may seek to detain Rebekah. This they admit, for they say, “we will call the damsel and enquire at her mouth.” If like Rebekah our answer is “I will go” then indeed the Spirit will so powerfully affect our hearts, that all the power and attraction of the world will be unable to detain us.

Thus it came to pass, “Rebekah arose . . . and followed the man.” She put herself entirely under the guidance of the man, with the result “the servant took Rebekah and went his way” (v. 61). Not her way but his way. We are not always prepared for the way of the Spirit. It is a way that goes entirely across the will of the flesh. Further we do well to remember that following the leading of the Spirit does not mean following some “inner light.” If following the Spirit we shall walk according to the Word. The Spirit does not lead apart from the Word nor contrary to the Word.

The immediate result of following the man was that Rebekah found herself in a wilderness scene. She had neither the home of Laban nor the house of Isaac. So with ourselves, as one has said, “We have neither the earth in which we are, nor heaven to which we are going.” However, as she travelled the desert journey of four hundred miles she had a bright prospect before her, and on the way she had the servant to talk of the things of Isaac and show them unto her. At the end the person who had won her heart was waiting to receive her.

In the close of this beautiful story Isaac personally comes into view. In all these wilderness scenes Isaac has taken no active part, though not unmindful of all that was taking place. He comes from the well Lahairoi — a word of deep significance, for it means, “the well of Him that liveth and seeth” (Genesis 16:14). How good to know as we travel on our way, that at the end of the journey we shall find One who has not been unmindful of His people. He sees and He lives, yea the word is “He ever liveth” (Heb. 7:25).

But further Isaac came to meet Rebekah, for she asks, “What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?” We travel on to the great meeting, but let us not forget that He is coming to meet us. The picture presents Isaac as one who was waiting for and wanting his bride. Our desires after Christ may often be feeble, but His longings are toward His Bride. He can say, “If I go away I will come again and receive you unto Myself.”

And the meeting time is not far off. When at last Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel for the journey was over; and when at last we see Him face to face our journey will be over. And it will not be long, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. When the moment comes our translation will not take long; only the twinkling of an eye and we shall be there.

After the meeting Rebekah took a veil and covered herself. The bride made herself ready and the marriage followed, for “Isaac took Rebekah . . . and she became his wife and he loved her.” So too after our wilderness journey is over, after the great meeting, when for the first time we see Him face to face — when He receives us to Himself — then we read, “the marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife hath made herself ready.” The Church will be presented to Christ all glorious not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing — “holy and without blemish.” Then indeed it will be manifest that Christ has found an object suited for His love, and responsive to His love, and He will be satisfied. He will look upon His Bride and say, “I am satisfied.” “He shall see of the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.”

As this glorious prospect opens up before our vision, how all the lustre of this world grows dim; how dull its fairest prospects, how poor its riches. How vain its passing pleasures, and how empty its honours in the light of these coming glories.

H. S.