Unlikely

[0:00] A pastor's reflections. Unlikely. Genesis 22-23. And Bethuel begat Rebekah. These eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. Genesis 24-50-51. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take her and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord has spoken. Mark 9 40-41. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. At the end of Genesis chapter 22, Abraham is given word of the eight sons that have been born to his brother Nahor. This seemingly random genealogy at first glance does not appear to fit at the end of this momentous chapter.

[1:12] However, it is not until we learn that one of these eight sons is the father of Rebekah that things begin to make sense. The scripture is giving us the genealogy of Isaac's wife.

[1:26] From what we can tell, there is nothing in Nahor or his family that would make us in any way believe that his offspring would produce a wife fit for the son of promise. Abraham is a man who has been called out from his father's house and away from his father's family. Why then would he expect to find a wife for his son back in a place where God had called him out of? You never know where you will find God's remnant. God has his people positioned in the most unlikely of places. Last on the list, and most likely the youngest, of Nahor's children is Nahor's son Bethuel. Of the various names of Nahor's sons, as well as the five sons of his concubine, none of them would stand out to us except the name of Bethuel. Why? Because Bethuel means man of God. The father of the future wife of the son of promise appears to be a man that at least has some knowledge and perhaps some relationship with the

[2:35] Lord God, Jehovah. What type of influence was in Bethuel's life that would lead him to be a man of God? What spiritual influence did he then pass on to Rebekah? The only thing we ever hear from this man is his acknowledgement that God's hand was upon Rebekah's marriage to Isaac and that they should do as the Lord had spoken. Was Bethuel a man of the word? Probably not. Did he go to church? Again, probably not. What about his daily life? Would there be anything there that would have made you believe this man to be a follower of Jehovah? No, it wouldn't appear that way. And yet here is a man who is able to recognize, acknowledge, and yield to the word of God. You see, there are people all around us today who would never fit our mold for what we think a man of God should look like. They may not attend church regularly, and they may be more coarse than we are comfortable with, but they're still God's people. Yes, we should be careful who we choose to fellowship with and allow his influences in our lives, but we should not allow our own sensibilities to keep us from seeing that God has a plan for his

[3:51] Bethuel's. God was preparing a bride for Isaac, the son of promise. His future bride did not come from the most godly of homes, but God was at work. He had placed the people in Rebekah's life that he knew would best fit her for her future role, and it is no different today. God is still able to find a bride among the most unlikely of homes and situations. So the next time you run into a Bethuel or Rebekah, allow the Lord to use you like he did Abraham's servant. You may have the privilege of being the very person to call forth a bride for the son of promise. 2 Corinthians 5.20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God.

[4:48] Father, we are not worthy to be called the bride of Christ. What do we have that would make the groom want to come back to the place he left behind just to get us? A place that treated him with such cruelty and disrespect, but somehow, a place where he is still able to find a bride. Give us eyes to see that bride, where the world would only see a cast off. Help us to be faithful Bethuels, who are there to encourage the bride to leave her home and go to the son of promise, Jesus. Amen.