Who
Is The Bride?
By
David Minor, Sr.
In
reading Genesis, Chapter 24, on the surface it seems to be the story of Abraham seeking a wife for Isaac. But interwoven in
the tapestry of Scripture is a picture of the Holy Spirit seeking a bride for Christ. Abraham is a type of God the Father,
Isaac is a type of the man Christ Jesus, and Eliezer is a type of the Spirit of God. Eliezer ruled over everything that belonged
to Abraham. Abraham called Eliezer and said: “Put your hand under my thigh 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 Canannites, among
whom I dwell.” The father that called his servant (the Spirit) desires that he (the Spirit) bring a bride for his son.
Rebekah is a type of the true bride.
"But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife
unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land:
must I needs bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest?
And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither
again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto
me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt
take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this
my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and
sware to him concerning the matter. And the servant took ten camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his
master were in his hand; and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water" (Genesis 24:4-11).
Notice
this – it is even time and the Spirit of God has come looking for a Bride.
"And he said, O Lord of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good
speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of
the men of the city come out to draw water; 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" (Genesis 12:12-14).
Notice
that the sign to Eliezer was going to be that the bride was going to water the camel that would take her home to be with Isaac.
A camel can drink a lot of water and she had ten camels to water. Eliezer said let the one that is going to be the bride to
Isaac come out and draw water for me and for my camels. You're going to find out who the bride is in just a minute.
"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.
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.
And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a
little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave
him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
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. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the
Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden
earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold" (Genesis 24:15-22).
Notice
that the Scripture says no man had known her. She was a virgin, as is the bride of Christ. All of the gifts which Eliezer
had brought to her belonged unto Isaac and unto his father (as do the Gifts of the Spirit). But let's read on to find out
more about the bride...
"And Eliezer said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee: is
there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah,
which she bare unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And
the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not
left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren.
And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things. And
Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. And it came to pass, when he
saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake
the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, Come in, thou blessed
of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw
and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set meat before
him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master
greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants,
and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all
the he hath.
And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son
of the daughters of the Canannites, in whose land I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my son. And I said unto my master, Peradventure
the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper
thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house: Then shalt thou be clear from this
my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.
And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham,
if now thou do prosper my way which I go: Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin
cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink; And she say to
me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my
master's son. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and
she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from from her shoulder, and
said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. And I asked her, and said,
Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daugter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring
upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. And I bowed down my head, and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God
of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.
And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if
not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth
from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be the
master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.
And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he
worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment,
and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things" (Genesis 24:23-53).
Notice
that Eliezer gave Rebekah jewels of silver and of gold and raiment. But he also gave precious things to her brother and her
mother. These treasures and gifts that he brought forth speak of the spiritual abilities and gifts of the Holy Spirit. He
gave them unto Rebekah, but he also gave them unto her mother and her brother. They were all running around with gifts and
bracelets that had come from Abraham and from Isaac. Because of the association with the Bride, there has been a great outpouring
as the Spirit of the Lord has come to bring the Bride home.
There
has been a tremendous outpouring of God and gifts are everywhere. Laban was running around with gifts from Abraham of gold
and silver. Rebekah's mother and everyone in the house was running around with these gifts on them that came from Abraham.
But wait a minute – I want to see a BRIDE. A lot of people have thought that because the gifts are being poured out
in the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Catholic, and the Lutheran churches, and everywhere else, that that is the approval
on them. But hold on a minute. That servant that was a type of the Holy Spirit who gave the gifts said, you've got to get
on that camel and follow me and I'll tell you about Isaac. You follow me and go take on Isaac's name and his nature, and bear
his children – that's the bride.
A
little virgin girl that knew no other man followed Eliezer (the Spirit) until he brought her to Isaac (Jesus in type). All
of the household were going around shaking their little gifts saying, Bless God, we have the gifts of the Spirit. We've got
the treasures of Abraham and Isaac – but Isaac needed a bride. These of the household never took the name of Isaac or
went and bore Isaac's children. But Eliezer said, “If you're going to be the bride, get on that camel and follow me.”
There is a difference between the Spirit coming and bringing precious gifts among the household and FOLLOWING HIM! Rebekah
had never seen Isaac, but Eliezer told her of Isaac as they made the journey.
As
thy rode along, Rebekah said, tell me about this man Isaac. Eliezer began to tell her of Isaac (the Spirit speaks not of Himself,
but of the one that sent Him – Jesus). He told her of his birth, of the great promises of God, and of the tremendous
things that God had done in his life. Although she had never seen Isaac, the servant had caused Rebekah to go with him and
me willing to become Isaac's bride – to love him whom she had never seen, because she followed the servant. That's what
the Holy Spirit is doing now.
As
they came at even time, Isaac was walking back and forth, and she saw the camels approaching. Rebekah said, who is that man?
Who is that one that is walking toward us? Eliezer said, “that is my master's son.” She put the veil upon her
face and Isaac took her to his mother's tent and she became his wife.
We
are living in a tremendous day. It's not who has the gifts and who speaks in tongues... but it is they that are led by
the Spirit of God that become the sons of God. The Spirit of God is bringing to Jesus those that are going to take on
His name and His nature, and become His wife. That's the Bride!
There
is a vast difference between the servant (the Spirit) bringing gifts to us and following the Spirit until He brings us to
become the Bride of Christ. Those of Rebekah's household had the same gifts. They were shaking the same bracelets of gold
and silver (gifts of the Spirit), but Eliezer said the one that waters my camel, the one that will go with me, will be the
bride.
The
land of Isaac's nativity was the Ur of Chaldees, the land of the Babylonians. That's where Eliezer went and obtained Rebekah.
They of Rebekah's household were all running around with the gifts of Abraham over there in the Ur of Chaldees. They all had
silver and gold ornaments (gifts of the Spirit – speaking in tongues and prophesying). But have you taken the name of
Jesus? Are you following the Spirit and being led until you can be identified with Jesus Christ and come into oneness and
unity with Him? That's a beautiful type of Jesus and the Bride.
God
knows those that are His. Are you on the journey? Has the Spirit led you out and led you away from Babylon (man's system of
denominations), and unto Jesus? You're following the leading of the Spirit as He's making Christ real and known to you. Your
heart is panting. You don't care how rough the journey is by camelback. You don't care that you're forsaken by family and
friends. You don't have anything to go back to. You're just following the Spirit until He brings you to Jesus. THAT'S THE
BRIDE!
