Genesis 24: Eliezer and the Holy Spirit

Weighing in at 67 verses, Genesis 24 is the biggest chapter in all of Genesis. 

Genesis is a history so epic that its every story could fill up libraries, yet Genesis 24 is given more shelf space than any other chapter. It tells of a servant’s mission to find a bride for his master’s son. Why does this story deserve so much real estate in a book so grandiose as Genesis?

Genesis 24 reminds me of a scene where two guys are flying over the Pacific Ocean in a commercial airliner. Hours and hours go by. One guy keeps looking out the window when, finally, he turns to the other guy and says, “Man, the ocean is BIG.” The other guy says, “Yeah – and that’s just the top of it.” 

Genesis 24, the longest in Genesis, is just like that: big and broad but that’s just the top of it. Half-jokingly, I like to say Genesis 24 is when God sits down and says, “I’d like to tell you more about the Holy Spirit.”

Who is Eliezer?

Eliezer is Abraham’s #1 servant. We meet him back when Abraham says that, if he should remain childless, the heir of his house would fall to Eliezer of Damascus (Genesis 15:2). From this comment we gather that Eliezer of Damascus is Abraham’s chief steward, a servant so esteemed that he could have inherited Abraham’s estate. 

Rolling the clock forward, Eliezer is the most likely candidate to land the leading role in Genesis 24. In Genesis 24, Abraham commissions his servant to complete a mission-critical task: find a bride for his son, Isaac, to continue the family line. Given the scale of what’s at stake, it’s hard to imagine Abraham entrusting this ask to anyone except his most trusted servant, Eliezer. But interestingly, the servant is never named despite his central role in the chapter. Instead, the chapter refers to him as “Abraham’s servant” or as “the servant,” the man who “had charge of all that Abraham had” (24:2). It is by design that the servant (most likely Eliezer) is not named, because in this chapter, the servant is to be seen as an extension of Abraham. We will see why that is important. 

To summarize the longest chapter in Genesis, grant me two paragraphs. (I will refer to Eliezer by name, but remember he is never named in the chapter.) To begin, Abraham instructs his head servant to find a bride for his son Isaac. Eliezer swears to do so and departs on a long journey. He eventually comes upon a community well where he sits down and prays. An attractive woman named Rebekah approaches the well. Eliezer runs to her and requests a small drink. She gives him a drink, then says, “I will draw water for your camels also.” Eliezer watches in amazement as she draws water for his ten camels. When she finishes watering the camels, Eliezer adorns her with jewelry. He tells her, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” When she invites him to her house, Eliezer bows and worships God.

Arriving at Rebekah’s house, we meet her older brother Laban. Laban invites Eliezer inside where Eliezer tells the family who he is, why he has come, and what took place earlier at the well. Laban listens and realizes that this pairing is a match made in Heaven. Laban says, “Take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.” Again Eliezer bows. He brings out garments and jewelry of gold and silver, then gives those to Rebekah. He then gives precious things to Rebekah’s brother and mother. They share a meal and Eliezer spends the night. In the morning, Rebekah and Eliezer set out together. Soon enough, Eliezer and Isaac’s bride-to-be reach their destination. Rebekah sees Isaac in the distance. She asks Eliezer, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” Eliezer says, “That is my master [Isaac].” She dismounts the camel and veils herself. Eliezer greets Isaac and tells him everything he has done. Isaac then takes Rebekah into the tent left behind by Sarah, and there Rebekah becomes his wife. “He loved her,” we are told by the very last verse.

Zooming out, we understand the characters more broadly to consider a story more profound: 

• Abraham is the Father. 
• Isaac is the Son. 
• The father’s servant, Eliezer, is the Holy Spirit. 
• Rebekah is the Church, the Son’s Bride – by extension, you.

Since Eliezer scores the starring role in this chapter, we will keep the focus on him. Borrowing parallels from Genesis 24, here are ways to answer the following question: What does Eliezer teach us about the Holy Spirit?

1. The Holy Spirit has a mission. He goes into the world to seek and retrieve a Bride for the Son.
2. The Holy Spirit is sent. He is sent by the Father on behalf of the Son.
3. The Holy Spirit works to fulfill God’s covenant with Abraham, just as Eliezer does.
4. The Holy Spirit’s actions are the actions of the Father. Eliezer is not mentioned by name in Genesis 24 because he is to be seen as an extension of Abraham himself. Their identities are intertwined. 
5. The Holy Spirit finds expression in humility, prayer, and worship. Three times in one chapter we see Eliezer bowing and worshipping the Lord. 
6. The Holy Spirit rescues the lost. Eliezer is a war hero, one who goes into battle to rescue the lost. Although this detail comes from a separate story (Genesis 14), it is worth noting in the context of this discussion. 
7. The Holy Spirit defies human logic. In Genesis 24, if Eliezer had acted logically, he would have entered the city and gathered intelligence to learn the whereabouts of Abraham’s extended family. Then he would have knocked on their door, introduced himself, and asked to meet their daughters. Instead, Eliezer visits a well from which the entire community draws water. He prays that the first girl to give him water would be the one for Isaac (and remember, eligible candidates have to be a relative of Abraham per Gen. 24:4). This is a strange strategy. The odds that the first stranger to offer him water would be a relative of Abraham are slim to none. And yet, it works. And it teaches us something about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t concerned with making sense on paper. The Holy Spirit defies boundaries that are inked by human logic. 
8. The Holy Spirit acts with eagerness. In the story, Eliezer runs to Rebekah (24:17). It is with eagerness he initiates their interaction, and in like manner, the Holy Spirit runs to you. 
9. The Holy Spirit is not held responsible if you are unwilling to respond. See 24:8.
10. The Holy Spirit adorns you. In Scripture, the first time we encounter the idea of a woman being adorned with jewelry is in Genesis 24. For deeper study, ponder the details here. Eliezer adorns Rebekah with two bracelets weighing 10 shekels, and he gives her a nose ring (a nahzem) that weighs a beka. Why the nose? The nose is where God breathes His Spirit into Adam, making it forevermore a key touchpoint between us and God (according to first principles). Her nose ring weighs a beka. Because Hebrew is alphanumeric, the word beka equals 172. As it happens, there are exactly 172 Hebrew words in the 10 commandments. On two tablets God gives us ten commandments, just as Eliezer gives the Bride two bracelets weighing ten shekels. It is as if to say, the Holy Spirit adorns us wherever we meet with God’s Spirit and His Word.
11. The Holy Spirit gets excited about a person with a sensitive heart. Eliezer doesn’t stage a beauty contest. He doesn’t pass out applications and select the most qualified applicant. He doesn’t look for the richest girl in town. Instead he looks for a girl with kindness and compassion in her heart. His “interview” involves two aspects: Part 1 is a spoken request: “I am thirsty.” Part 2 is never verbalized: My camels are thirsty, too. Rebekah not only meets the spoken need, she also perceives and addresses the unspoken need. She sees beyond the obvious. 
12. The Holy Spirits gives you gifts and others fruit. In 24:53, Eliezer gives gifts, garments, and “precious things.” Some translations say costly ornaments; mine says precious things. Note, “This term rendered precious things (as found in Songs 4:13) is used to express exquisite fruits or delicacies” (Source). Rashi concurs: he translates Genesis 24:53 to say delicious fruits. In other words, Eliezer gives gifts, garments, and delicious fruits (Source). I like this translation because it yields an insight. Eliezer gives gifts to the bride, but to Rebekah’s family he gives delicious fruits. The fruits are not for Rebekah, but because of Rebekah. They are intended for the others. In like manner, the fruit of the Spirit are for everyone around us, but they get to be shared because of God in us.
13. The Holy Spirit wants to act. Eliezer doesn’t like delay. When Laban wants Rebekah to stay another ten days before leaving, Eliezer tells him, “Do not delay me” (24:56). Eliezer doesn’t want to wait around. 
14. You and the Holy Spirit go on a journey together. On their return to Abraham and Isaac, note the dynamic between Eliezer and Rebekah. Eliezer is returning to a familiar place while Rebekah is venturing toward her new home, a home she has never seen. She follows Eliezer wherever he takes her. Even though she has not laid eyes on the son yet, already she is his bride. 
15. The very thing the Holy Spirit brings you to serve is the thing that carries you to your new home. Rebekah is carried to Isaac by the very camels she watered the day before. Eliezer is who brings the camels to her, but he never demands that she nurture them. 
16. The Holy Spirit serves the Son and His purposes. Eliezer may manage Abraham’s estate, but Isaac is the owner of that estate. There is a similar dynamic between the Holy Spirit and Jesus. The Holy Spirit may manage certain affairs, but everything ultimately belongs to the Son. Reference John 16:13-15 where the Son says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority . . . He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The authority belongs to the Son.
17. You learn your testimony through the voice of the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 24, Eliezer and Rebekah meet at a well and then go to her house. At her house, their special encounter at the well is relayed to her family. As Rebekah listens to Eliezer retell the story of their encounter, she comes to understand more about herself. Think about it: back when she was drawing water for the camels, she focused only on the task at hand. She had no idea what would come of her actions. She doesn’t put it all together until she hears it through Eliezer’s voice as he recounts the events to others. Something special then takes place. It works the same way with our own testimony. Any time we reflect on our past and consider how God brought us to Him, we recount certain moments that, at the time, may have seemed mundane or commonplace. But later we perceive them differently. Those moments become special to us once we hear them through the voice of the Spirit. 
18. The Holy Spirit introduces you to the Son. During her journey with Eliezer, Rebekah does not see Isaac. She merely anticipates meeting him in person. Finally, at the end, she lays eyes on him in the distance. She asks Eliezer, “Who is that man walking toward us?” And Eliezer says, “That is my master.” I love this so much because we journey toward a Messiah whom we have never met in person. But we come to know Him in advance through what the Spirit reveals to us as we walk together. In time, the Spirit will introduce us to one another in person.