Although Abraham had been a tribal lord, a military commander, and one who built altars and offered sacrifices akin to the priests of his day, scripture and history remember him even as his name indicates: Abram/Abraham was a patriarch, one who had been promoted by God to be known as the father of many nations.
In this role, Abraham was a kind of Yoda, a master mentor who not only directed or instructed people, but formed and activated them, reproducing himself in the lives of those who were privileged enough to walk closely with him.
Nowhere is this perhaps clearer than in the longest chapter in Genesis, chapter 24. Though the headline of the story is the search for a wife for Isaac, the one who is actually front and center is an unnamed man called “the oldest servant of his house” (v.2). Most scholars concur that this was likely Eliezer, a man from Damascus whom Abraham had once designated as his heir (Gen 15:2). As such, the story also gives us a model and a standard of how we should disciple or train people whom God has put in our lives. It sure has inspired me!
The first question to slap me is: Do I have people in my life and ministry with whom I have this level of trust? Consider the standard. Verse 10 says “for all his master’s goods were in his hand.” As he loads up ten of Abraham’s camels with gifts for the 500 mile (800 km) journey, the wealth here is astronomical. Just the nose ring and two bracelets Eliezer presents to Rebekah at first were worth at least USD$15,000. The rest of the load was silver and gold jewelry and clothing for Rebekah, and expensive presents prepared for all the rest of her family as well. This was a fortune! Yet Abraham trusted him with it, implicitly.
A second qualifier is: Have I passed along information, or have I deposited faith in my followers? Although Eliezer is a servant, and on the surface his mission is to find a wife for Isaac, in truth his actions are of one who himself has tremendous trust and confidence in the Lord. Upon arriving on the outskirts of Nahor, his prayer that the first person he meets will be God’s choice is unrehearsed, spontaneous, personal, and full of faith. And God honors it too. Verse 15 says “before he had finished praying” (NIV), of all people, Rebekah appears. He further prays for God to put it on her heart to give him and all his camels water to drink from the well. Sure enough, it happens just as he asked. It sure would be nice to know the people I train are so effectual in prayer.
A final reflection for me is: Do my spiritual sons and daughters really love the Lord with everything in them? Eliezer’s passion for the Lord really shines through in this story. Upon discovering Rebekah is in fact a virgin daughter from Abraham’s distant family, he bows and worships the Lord right there in the field. And again, as soon as the marriage proposal is accepted, Eliezer, unconcerned by how his hosts might respond, falls on his face to worship the Lord in Laban’s home (v.52). He had refused to eat after such a long and arduous journey until he had told of his reason for coming. Neither was he tempted to party and celebrate for a few days before returning, revealing his motivation was not tainted by any benefits or blessings he might obtain for himself. Perhaps the real reason his name is never mentioned throughout the whole story is that he cared not for the glory and recognition.
Eliezer’s motto could easily have been: everything always and ever for “the Lord God of my master Abraham“, an expression he uses four times (v.12,27,42,48). Abraham had done an amazing job raising up a man as loyal and responsible as Padawan Eliezer. Theirs was so much more than the kind of formal or superficial relationship that too often defines the church connections of our day. Jesus said we’ll know the rightness, the wisdom, of our ways when they are justified and manifest in our “children” (Matt 11:19). Abraham had been like a father to his servant Eliezer. He had also been his Yoda.