Engagement of Dieter Claassen & Anke Bömer
Genesis 24
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
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:
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:
4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
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.
13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
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.
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.
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.
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
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.
Jesus said in Matt 8:11 & 12 that “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness”.
All of us desire to sit down at the heavenly tables with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That will only be possible, if we already sit here and partake of God’s fellowship through the Holy Spirit. While on earth we must already enter heaven, so to speak.
The east and west is far apart – what makes them to meet? It is their common spiritual inheritance and goal – “birds of a feather flock together”. We too must follow the examples of men of God, like Abraham.
A certain man in Germany finished his matric and desired a present from his uncle. His uncle gave him a present but then asked him about his future and how he sees his whole life, even after death. Finally he answered that he did not know what would become of him after death. His uncle was amazed that he actually finished matric, yet was so foolish that he did not know the most fundamental thing of life and death, which each of us should be certain of. We can be uncertain about other things, but we cannot be uncertain about our destiny after death. We must make absolutely certain about this matter.
When Abraham was old, his wife died and he wanted a wife for his son. He made his servant swear that he would not take a wife from the heathen, but go to his family, to take a wife from there. This servant knew God and asked for God’s guidance in the matter. God led him then to take a wife for his master’s son. These days people look at a girl’s figure, but this servant knew God’s voice in the matter.
Getting married is very serious. Young people, let Jesus be your friend and guide you. Learn to walk with God while you are young. When God prepared Adam’s wife, he slept. So too young people need to sleep with regards to marriage, and serve God, and let Him lead them into marriage.