October 23, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, ‘Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.’” (Genesis 24.1-4)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

How far are we willing to go to show our commitment to be true to our master? Jesus told His disciples, “No greater love is there than this but that one would lay down his life for the sake of another.” (John 15.13) Of course, Jesus was speaking first and foremost of Himself and the crucifixion sacrifice which He was about to endure. The very sacrifice demonstrated and thus served as prophecy in the call of God for Abraham to “offer his only son as a burnt offering.” To think back upon that moment on Moriah how Isaac was thus willing to lay down his own life to be a sacrifice trusting “God will provide…Jehovah Jireh.” Yet, it was not simply for Jesus that the teaching was given. Jesus was speaking to what was ahead for the disciples even in that very hour yet to come in the Garden. Who would be willing to lay their own lives down for the sake of Jesus or any of the disciples? Peter took up the sword which was meant only for an association of rebellion to add further fuel to the fire in making both the leadership of Rome and the Temple bring charges against Jesus. The other disciples ran. Stop and think about that scene for a moment. We don’t even hear the disciples, not even brash Peter, confront Judas Kerioth with betrayal. Not one was remembered in calling him into accountability for his actions against his own Master. Yet, it would be Judas Kerioth who would take his own life when he was confronted by the truth. He was the only one of them who was “willing” to die except for Peter. Do you hear the coincidence of their association? Both denied Jesus in their own way. Judas’ denial was to force Jesus to show Himself as Messiah. His hope was to rally the forces of believers in rebellion against Rome and like Judas Maccabee in 166 B.C. and purge the Temple of its great enemies. Or was Judas simply completing his disappointment in Jesus as the Messiah because there was no decision to lead such a revolt? We know that when he realized the scope of what he had done because of his own misunderstanding, he took his life and sacrificed all hope for redemption. As for Peter? Peter’s denial was to save his own life. He acted in fear of association and the fate of being arrested, convicted and crucified as well for rebellion against the Temple and Rome. He did not turn against Jesus and declare that He was not the Messiah. He fell into the valley of the shadow of death and doubt because he believed that Jesus was who He said He was but not so much as to “lay down his own life for the sake of another… or others.“

We do not have such an extreme declaration of servitude in the story of procuring a wife for Isaac as Abraham asked of his chief steward. It is dramatic nonetheless. He asked his servant to place his hand under Abraham’s thigh. While this may sound strange to us today, it was not such an oddity in the days of Abraham. Other cultures had a similar practice of oath swearing which certainly personalized the agreement to complete the task given to the servant for the sake of the master. And personal it was simply because of the placement of the hand. However, for Abraham, it was more than personal. It was spiritual and holy. The intent was to connect the oath of the servant to the promise which God had made and the sign of that covenant having to do with something very personal- the genitalia. On the one hand (not that it is a right hand, left hand scenario), it was a covenant that had to do with the legacy of Abraham promised by God to be fulfilled through “his” only son, a son born of Sarah. It was a birth which only God had made possible showing God and Abraham’s loyalty and affirmation of Sarah to be Isaac’s mother. I say that only because Abraham fathered a son with Hagar who was Sarah’s maid servant. Up to that point, Sarah was barren and carried that burden into her old age when God brought healing upon her so she could carry Isaac which was “no laughing matter.” He was from Abraham’s loins, so to speak, and was born passing through Sarah’s thighs/loins. (Remember, the tradition Sarah invoked by having Hagar become pregnant by Abraham. She delivered her son sitting in Sarah’s lap, so that the boy would pass between her thighs as if she herself had given birth.)

On the other hand, the symbolism reflected upon the blessing of the covenant which was made through the act of circumcision. This was obviously another “loin” situation but one that was commanded by God to separate the descendants of Abraham from all the other peoples of the earth. This was especially true of those in the Middle East. Abraham and his descendants were no longer of “those” people. Now, Isaac, who was circumcised and offered as a sacrifice of blood for which there was a substitution made by God alone, was thus a different person from all others. Ishmael married an Egyptian woman. She and he would be like all the other people of the region and of the world, except for the descendants of Abraham. (With the understanding that Ishmael was circumcised as well with Abraham when the directive from God was given thirteen years before Isaac was born. It could be that Ishmael may have circumcised his offspring and they continued the tradition and thus further validated the promise which God made to Hagar concerning the legacy of Ishmael to be “a father of many nations and peoples” just not of the Messianic covenant.)

In summary, how far was Abraham’s servant willing to go to fulfill his master’s request to find a wife not of the local population but from the family of Abraham in and around Haran? It would seem that his commitment was indeed highly personal and spiritual. He would have understood the seriousness of the request and the consequences of violating his master’s expectation. Mighty ones of God, are we that serious about our commitment to God? Is it worth a blood sacrifice and the swearing of our vitality for the future of our children for generations to come? The summation of that “how far” is demonstrated fully and completely by the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, who is the Christ of God and our Messiah.

TODAYS’ PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness endeavor, but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.