The Bible reveals that God’s eternal purpose is to express Himself through a corporate Body and that this purpose is fulfilled by the divine life. If we would probe into the depths of the book of Genesis, we must see these two things. In Genesis 1:26 we see that man was made in God’s image. The man here is not an individual man but a corporate man. We may say that it is mankind, a corporate Body that can express God’s image. In Genesis 2 we see that for the fulfillment of God’s purpose we must have the divine life signified by the tree of life. In these two chapters we have two crucial words-image and life. Image reveals God’s eternal purpose, and life unfolds God’s way of fulfilling His purpose. Never consider Genesis as merely the record of God’s creation and the history of some patriarchs. This view is too superficial. When we plunge into the depths of this book, we see that it is not merely a record of creation and history, but that it is a revelation of God’s eternal purpose and His way of fulfilling it.
With these two points in mind, let us now come to Genesis 24. Everyone who reads Genesis thinks of this chapter as the record of a marriage. However, the important thing here is not the marriage but what the marriage indicates, implies, and typifies. When we were on Genesis 1 and 2, we saw that those chapters are not only a record of God’s creation but a record of life. Everything found in those chapters is related to life. Anything that is not related to life is excluded. If you read those chapters carefully, you will see that many aspects of God’s creation are omitted because they are not related to life. In the same principle, only those aspects of Abraham’s history which are related to life are recorded in chapters twenty-one through twenty-four.
The entire book of Genesis, a book of only fifty chapters, covers over twenty-three hundred years, the first twenty-three centuries of human history. If Genesis were a record of history, it would need hundreds of chapters to cover this span of time. The fact that such a long period is covered in just fifty chapters proves that Genesis is not a record of history. I say again that although Genesis apparently is a record of history, it actually is a record showing God’s eternal purpose and the way of fulfilling it by life. Anything which is not related to God’s purpose and its fulfillment by life is not recorded in this book.
Chapters twenty-one through twenty-four, covering forty years (25:20), mention five main things: the birth of Isaac, the growth of Isaac, the offering of Isaac, the death and burial of Sarah, and the marriage of Isaac. Although this record is brief, it is very meaningful. Here we see a proper birth and the proper growth. This birth and growth produced a burnt offering for God’s satisfaction. After the birth and growth in chapter twenty-one, we have the burnt offering in chapter twenty-two. Then, as we have seen, in chapter twenty-three we have the death of Sarah and a detailed account of her burial. Following this, in chapter twenty-four, we see a wonderful marriage. But this chapter is not merely the record of a marriage; it is a story which has a deep meaning and significance in life.
According to the common understanding of most Christians, the main point of this chapter is that Isaac is a type of Christ as the Bridegroom and that Rebekah is a type of the church as the bride. However, this is not the main point. The primary point is the practical living in oneness with the Lord for the fulfilling of God’s purpose. We should not understand the Bible according to our common knowledge or tradition, but come back to the pure Word. Whenever we read any portion of the Scriptures, we must forget all we have learned in the past and look to the Lord for something new. Fifty years ago I read Genesis 24 carefully, doing my best to remember every point. Nevertheless, when I come to this chapter now, I do not care for what I had in the past. I like to come to this portion of the Word as if I were reading it for the first time. I can testify that just recently I have seen something new in this chapter.
Have you ever realized that in Genesis 24 we can see a practical living in oneness with the Lord? As we have seen, God has a purpose, and the way to fulfill His purpose is by life. These are the two governing points in understanding the Bible. If we would understand Genesis 24, we must apply these two governing points. Why does Genesis 24 give us such a record of Isaac’s marriage? If we only read chapter twenty-four we cannot see the purpose of this record. In order to answer this question we must read the three foregoing chapters. Genesis 21:12 says, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” God called Abraham with a purpose. For the fulfillment of this purpose, God promised to give Abraham the good land and the seed which would inherit the land. God’s eternal purpose is to express Himself in a corporate way. In order to have this corporate expression, God must have a people. This people is the seed of Abraham. Furthermore, in order to have the people to express God corporately there is the need of the land. What then is the purpose of the marriage in Genesis 24? Is it simply that a single man might have a happy, comfortable life? No. If you consider the Bible as a whole, you will see that Isaac’s marriage was altogether for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. Without marriage, how could Isaac have brought forth the seed? If this single man was to have seed for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, he had to get married. After Abraham had been tested in chapter twenty-two, God said, “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (22:17-18). Here we also have the seed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Thus, Isaac’s marriage was not common nor merely for his human living; it was for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
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